Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait! Life was a bit hard for us the past two months, and parts of this chapter were kinda hard for us to write. In fact, originally this chapter was going to be longer...but we realized it would have been too long, so we decided to cut it in half. You'll have the next chapter by march i promise you that much.

But for now...your here for everyone's favorite quincy! Bambietta Basterbine! Rest assured that this chapter will be well worth the wait. I do however really, truly do hope that you will all leave a review for this chapter. Id like to see if we can get past 300. I know for a fact that we can, and we would really, REALLY love to hear your feedback on this chapter in particular. Many hours of hard work went into this, so we hope it all pays off!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach of fairy tail. Those belong respectively to Tite Kubo and Shounen jump and Hiro Mashima and Weekly shounen magizine. This is just for fun!

Well, enough with me, lets get onto the show!


Bambietta Basterbine had to admit that the battle with Phantom Lord was apparently going better than she had ever hoped. The magic circle of the Abyss Break was faltering, power draining from it. That was a clear sign that Liltotto Lamperd's plan to take out the Element Four and their substitutes was progressing well enough. However, to the Quincy, the sight of Erza Scarlet tearing apart one arm of the Super Mage Giant Phantom and defeating Jin Kariya in one fell swoop was the true testament to Fairy Tail's future victory.

Still, there was one part of Bambietta that wished she could do more to battle the forces of Phantom Lord than simply take care of Jose Porla's shadowy creations. However she also had no problem fighting side-by-side with Lucy Heartfilia. She had fully expected herself to have to protect Lucy at all costs, but the Celestial Spirit Mage was more than holding her own. That alone made Bambietta one content Quincy.

"What?" That was when Bambietta could feel a sudden surge of spiritual power nearby. There was no way it could belong to Kariya, Kusaka or the two Arrancar. No, they were all busy fighting their battles. That only left Bambietta with one other option when it came to Phantom Lord. Her eyes narrowing, Bambietta whipped her body around quickly, all the while summoning Damon Stechen Bogen into her right hand. She forged an arrow of blue light within the bow and took careful aim. "Hanza."

"The Quincy." That was all the shinobi of the Soul Society had to say, his eyes cold and unfeeling, the rest of his face a mystery thanks to the mask upon his face. The tone of Hanza Nukui's voice, however, betrayed his emotions. "Upon Master Jose's orders I've come for Lucy Heartfilia. However, I will take your head for myself."

Bambietta stared back at Hanza, her eyes narrowed as she looked past the glow of her arrow. "I'm glad you recognize I've got a good head on my shoulders, but most guys would want the full package. As for Lucy, I prefer her being right here at my side, so why don't you go scurry off with your tail between your legs before I put this arrow there instead?"

Hanza said nothing in return, the ninja inching one foot forward. Bambietta paid it little mind, instead keeping on the peculiar sword the man was wielding. Just as she had felt back in the basement guild hall, Bambietta was still of the opinion that it was no Zanpakuto. However, it was much to strange in design to be a traditional sword either. She would have to be on her guard. That, however, did not mean she could not be her typical self.

"Well, you want to win and take my head and my big buddy here, right?" Bambietta asked.

Lucy brought up a hand, pointing one index towards herself. "Big?"

"Trust me, it's a compliment," Bambietta replied without resorting to her baser instincts and looking towards Lucy. She instead kept her eyes locked on Hanza. "Well, you know what I want if I win? That nifty little sword of yours."

"You're not worthy to hold a secret sword of the Kasumioji clan," was all Hanza had to say to Bambietta. "Your throat, however, will be graced by its blade."

"Man, aren't you a grim little sadist," Bambietta retorted. "At least be chipper about it. Tell a joke, crack a smile, something! But I guess boring little Hanza just wants to slash away, right?"

"Exactly." Hanza inched forward once more. "You caught me unawares last time Quincy, but now I'm ready for you. Your bow and arrows won't do you any good once I'm in close."

"Oh," Bambietta began to say, her eyes widening, "snap."

Hanza suddenly lunged for Bambietta, his speed befitting an assassin. The Quincy let loose her arrow, aiming right between the shinobi's eyes, but he was too quick to evade. His body flicked for a moment, a Flash Step taking him closer to Bambietta from he side. Her arrow struck the ground, tearing it asunder but nothing more.

Hanza was crouched beside Bambietta's left side then, his sword at the ready. "It's over, Bambietta Basterbine!"

Hanza stood suddenly, bringing his sword's edge dangerous close towards Bambietta's throat. He was ready to enjoy the of tearing flesh and bone. Yet that was not what echoed through his ears.

No, it was the sound of metal against metal.

Hanza's eyes widened while Bambietta's simply glared down at him. A confident expression on her face, but that was not what Hanza looked out. No, what he was staring at was the clash of twin swords. His and Bambietta's.

"That's not possible," Hanza whispered. "You Quincy only use bows and arrows."

"Is that what impression you were under?" Bambietta asked. "Oh, how dangerous it is to be ignorant."

That was when a savage smile played out across Bambietta's face, her eyes widening with delight.

"Let's get dangerous, shall we?"

With a casual movement, Bambietta parried Hanza's sword, pushing him away. The ninja was quick and nimble, stepping back so as to get a small amount of distance between himself and his opponent. He needed to get his bearings back. This was not right. Everything he had been told of the Quincy was simple and to the point. Spiritual archers and nothing more, that was all the Soul Society and the Kasumioji clan had ever spoken of. Not bloodthirsty swordswomen.

Bambietta, meanwhile, was trying her best to curb the vicious streak in her. Much to her surprise, it was harder said than done. That simply did not seem right. Bambietta was far too used to succumbing to her baser instincts, the ones that had been drilled into her by the Vandenreich. Yet Erza, she had done her best to change that. Oh yes, she remembered it well.


"So what do you know about the sword?"

That was not what Bambietta had been expecting from Erza right from the start. She had asked this wizard to teach her how to use a blade without going for the kill, not to start asking questions immediately. When they had stepped out into the solitude of the woods outside Magnolia she had expected to receive tutelage, yet this was how it was going to start? Yet Bambietta knew she had to expect that sort of thing. This was no different from her instructor in the Vandenreich after all.

"Well, uh," Bambietta said, her voice as lost as her thoughts were. "I know the pointy end is supposed to go into the other person."

Erza took a deep breath. "And?"

Bambietta stared at her quizzically. "The edge of the blade should too?"

"Heavens above, give me strength," Erza whispered. She looked at Bambietta, trying to look at it from her perspective. "I suppose neither is necessarily untrue. But you wanted me to show you that there's more to swords, right?"

"Well, yeah," Bambietta said. "All I can do is kill with them. But you... I've seen you fight. You and all those swords of yours brought down just about everyone in Eisenwald without spilling a drop of blood. Not a single casualty."

"That I did," Erza said simply, her eyes locking with Bambietta's. "Bring out your sword."

"Okay." Bambietta raised her right hand, letting magic flow into the palm, converting it into power. Her short sword formed instantly, Schragstrich at the ready. Bambietta's body began to tense up, her own eyes narrowing as she felt against her hand the instrument of her blood lust.

"No." That was all Erza had to say in response to the shift in Bambietta's posture, the alteration of her body language. "That's where you're making a mistake."

Erza stepped around Bambietta then, standing directly behind her. Bambietta tensed up further in response, the Quincy finding it very hard to let anyone get close to her under these circumstances. It felt wrong to allow someone to do that while she was wielding a sword. She knew this was not a combat situation, but it was so hard to ignore the instincts that had been drilled into her for decades in the Vandenreich.

"Let me do what I can to assist you," Erza said gently from behind. She turned to face Bambietta's back, the wizard leaning in close.

"Okay." Bambietta could say nothing else, the Quincy's battle instincts faltering as she felt Erza's chest press against her shoulder blades. For once did Bambietta wish Erza was wearing her armor when she got close to her. This was proving rather awkward with only cloth and fabric between them.

Erza's right hand slipped past Bambietta's arm, softly touching her wrist. Erza began to reposition Bambietta's sword hand, giving it a different, more relaxed posture. "I understand why you get so tense when you hold a sword," Erza said, "but you're going too far with it. It's working against you, not for you. And this posture..."

Bambietta's eyes widened as she felt Erza slide down her back. The wizard knelt down behind Bambietta, leaving the Quincy to be further caught off guard. She could feel Erza's hands on her thighs now, the wizard carefully shifting their position. "Hey, Erza?"

"Relax," the wizard said, giving Bambietta the clearest of impressions that she had no idea that her fingers were too close for Bambietta's comfort. "I'm just improving your stance."

"Relax she tells me," Bambietta whispered. "Right while her hands are at the hem of my skirt..."

"There," Erza said as she stood back up. "How does that feel."

Erotic seemed like the wrong answer so Bambietta kept that to herself. Besides, she did feel different. More relaxed despite holding her treasured sword. More confident, something Bambietta had not thought possible. More importantly, however, she already felt stronger.

"You can't let your sword control you," Erza said. "You can't be a slave to the instincts it brings to the surface. You are the master, not it."

"Yeah, yeah," Bambietta said, her flippant ways refusing to fade away. "Kings and horses, got it."

"That's just the start," Erza said as she stepped away from Bambietta, the wizard requipping the silver armor that the Quincy had grown accustomed to seeing her wear. "I used to be wild in battle once too, ever since I first began to use the Knight. It felt... right, to lash out at those who had wronged me. And I stuck to that way of fighting. But Master Makarov brought me to one who helped me, one who showed me that there was more to swords than... putting the pointy end in the other person."

There was a flash of golden light then, a broadsword appearing in Erza' armored right hand. She turned to face Bambietta, a look of genuine compassion on the wizard's face.

"So we will spar, Bambietta Basterbine," Erza said. "And I will help show you what else swords have to offer."


"A sword can protect as well."

Bambietta spared a glance away from Hanza, looking down at her sword. She did not even have to look back, her spiritual senses feeling Lucy's presence behind her. This was what Erza had made very clear to Bambietta earlier and now, in the midst of this battle with Phantom Lord that seemed to be without end, did the Quincy at last begin to understand.

"What?" was all Hanza had to say.

"Oh, it's nothing," Bambietta replied, the Quincy raising her sword arm and aiming the blade towards the shinobi. "Besides, I'm still mighty tempted to make sure the pointy end of my sword goes in the other person. You know, you."

"Charming." Hanza lunged for Bambietta then, his strange sword thrusting forward as if the ninja was clearly intent on making her threat his own. Dust kicked up from the ground where his feet had once been, the ninja propelled across the ground.

Metal clashed with metal once more, Bambietta's blade once more parrying Hanza's. The shinobi was relentless however, going for another lunge towards the Quincy's throat. Bambietta saw it coming, however, her sword meeting his only inches from her flesh.

"You are just a one trick pony, aren't you?" Bambietta asked as she pushed forward against Hanza. She wanted to get him as far away from Lucy as possible, the Quincy unwilling to allow him even the chance to try and take her away. There was one way she figured she could do it, a manner she had seen when the Vandenreich had been observing the conflicts of the Soul Society. Keeping one hand gripped tightly around her sword, she reached out towards Hanza's masked face. "One loser ninja to grab and go please!"

Take hold of his unwilling face and a dash of Hirenkyaku and Bambietta would have what she wanted. Hanza would be far away from Lucy, preferably thrown into a mountain range or something, and it would look cool to all those around. At least that was what Bambietta was hoping for.

Hanza, however, had other plans. As he could feel Bambietta's gloved fingers tightening around his face, fingertips digging into flesh, he tried his best to concentrate on his sword instead. It was locked in combat with Bambietta's own, yes, but the shinobi was able to twist his wrist and shift the angle of his sword.

More importantly, he was able to shift the position of the sword's mirror hilt. Be it the light of the moon or the sun, it mattered not. What the sword Hanza wielded was light and either would do. The rays of the son began to reflect upon the mirror's surface, casting outwards towards Bambietta's face.

"You're going to blind me?" Bambietta asked as she prepared herself to leap away with Hirenkyaku. "Man, you are so lam-"

Bambietta's voice stopped then, her body frozen in a state of tensing up. Hanza peered out through the Quincy's fingers, his voice full of a smug nature that was always a part of him. "Now you see what Saiga can do, don't you? Yes, the Bakkoto of the Kasumioji are not to be trifled with, Quincy!"

Bambietta wanted to say something, anything, to counter Hanza's statement. She simply could not live with herself if she allowed an enemy to boast without her returning fire. It just was not in her nature. However, her mouth could not move, leaving her unable to speak. No, it was worse than that. She herself could not move, not in the least. The light, it had frozen her in place.

All Bambietta could do was swear internally, her inner voice ranting in her head.

Hanza, his face still held by Bambietta's hand, raised Saiga up high, the light of the sun now catching the blade and not the mirror. Then did Hanza swing his arm down, fully intent on cleaving Bambietta in two. "Die!"

Bambietta was so very annoyed by her predicament, her desire to fight or give in to flight weighing heavily on her mind, her body unable to do either. She could not keep an eye on Hanza's attack even, her glazed over eyes unable to look around. All she could do was look ahead and await the feeling of the Bakkoto on her flesh.

"What?"

Hanza was left dumbfounded. His sword had found its mark, the sound of spiritual metal against flesh and bone having become music to his ears. However, there was no sign of blood, no torn skin. The most he could see was his sword pressing against Bambietta's shoulder, having torn her coat and nothing more. Hanza could only gaze upon the the flesh beneath the damaged fabric, his eyes settling on the faint blue glue that was pulsating from under Bambietta's skin as if it was a product of her very veins.

"What kind of Quincy are-"

Hanza's question was lost to time itself, the shinobi suddenly feeling Bambietta's hand tighten around his face. the tips of her fingers plunged deeply against his mask and skin, leaving Hanza's eyes to widen in shock. Saiga's affect had dissipated, the vulnerability it had granted him squandered and wasted.

"Now you listen here," Bambietta hissed, her body's dazed state a thing of the past, her physical form hers to command once again. "Just because my nickname kind of sounds like a lovable Disney character, it doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over and be a deer in the headlights for that technique of yours."

Hanza flinched from Bambietta's grip the ninja once more attacking with Saiga. Much to his concern, however, Bambietta caught the blade with her free hand. Her glove was cut open, giving Hanza a glimpse of the pale blue light that was flowing beneath the surface of Bambietta's skin.

"See that? That's Blut Vene," Bambietta hissed. "You're not the only one with a magic light show, Mister McNinja. Now, for my next trick, I'm going to make a jackass disappear!"

Bambietta made her move then, her plan of attack having changed. She did not leap forwards to propel Hanza away like she had initially intended. No, she simply spun herself around, dragging her opponent's feet off the ground. Having built a good amount of momentum, Bambietta cast Hanza aside. It was done in an instant and nothing more, Blut Vene shifting to Blut Arteria, leaving Bambietta with much more physical force at her disposal than before. That was all she needed. She let go of Hanza's face then, leaving his momentum to take hold, unfettered by Bambietta's grip. The shinobi spun helplessly through the air, moving far and away.

"Better."

Bambietta wore a smug expression then. She was chiding herself for her original plan, having found fault in it. Yes, she would have dragged Hanza away like she had seen one War Potential do to another long ago, but that would not have been for the best. Hanza would be away, Bambietta taking care of him, but that would have left Lucy here without her.

That just would not do in Bambietta's eyes. Liltotto had given her the task of watching over Lucy and she was determined to see it through for many a reason after all.

"Going," Bambietta said as she peered out from underneath the visor of her hat. She could see Hanza's flailing visage growing smaller the further he flew towards the horizon. "Going, going and gon- Damn it!"

Bambietta had seen it then, Hanza hitting the ground only to quickly rebound. He was coming back towards her, his body vanishing for several seconds before reappearing closer time and time again.

"Stupid Flash Step!" Bambietta shouted. "Hirenkyaku is so much cooler! And so's this!"

Bambietta allowed her bow to manifest, the Quincy loading it with a glowing arrow. She took careful aim, her eyes narrowing as she watched Hanza approach. Then did Bambietta pause.

"Wait, why am I even doing this old, hard way?" The Quincy glared at her right hand. "Stupid Sanrei Glove, you got one job, so let's put it to good use!"

Bambietta let loose with her hand, allowing the arrow to fire forth. Hanza saw it coming, the shinobi sidestepping it as his momentum continued to propel him forward. Yet then did his eyes widen in a panic. There was another arrow already coming towards his new position. No, there was more than one. If he had to guess, it was dozens.

"Surprise, mother fucker!" Bambietta shouted as she kept pouring her spiritual power into her bow, allowing dozens of arrows to keep firing off. She could see Hanza using Flash Step to evade to the left now, but it did not matter. Bambietta simply turned to match his movement, guiding her bow towards Hanza nonetheless.

"Damn it!" Hanza cried out as the onslaught of arrows began to strike him. Pain enveloped his body, the blue lights tearing into his flesh. He brought his sword up to try and block or parry what he could, but it was to no avail. The ninja could feel his feet skidding across the ground, Bambietta having him pinned under her assault. "No! It's not over!"

Bambietta watched as a energy began to flow down the length of Hanza's arm and into Saiga, the weapon glowing in response. Then did the light flow back towards Hanza's covering his entire body. Bambietta did not like what she was seeing, the strange power blocking the arrows that had remained in transit. The Quincy could only watch as the sole piece of red armor on Hanza's left shoulder began to shift, to change. It was growing, extending outwards around his entire upper torso, its mass taking on a new form. Soon he was adorned with massive, crimson armor, spiked pauldrons covering his shoulder. A black cape began to flow out from underneath the plating, the fabric coming in contact with the ground itself. Worse, Bambietta could see that Saiga had also grown in size. What had once been merely a katana blade was now more apt to belong to a broadsword.

"Huh?" Bambietta did not know what to make of it all. Something was different. Something had changed. It was not simply Hanza's armor and sword that had been altered. No, it was something more. He himself had changed, as if to make his armor. The shinobi was taller, bulkier, his lavender hair longer and wavier as well. "You some kind of Super Shinobi? I guess that's the secret of the Bakkoto."

"One of many!" Hanza shouted, his dark cloak beginning to waver as the wind tugged at it in passing. "Through me it finds strength! Through it I find victory! Now, Quincy, you shall suffer!"

Hanza charged at Bambietta once more, the shinobi doing nothing to hide his momentum. He left himself in clear view, avoiding the usage of Flash Step. Bambietta had to wonder if it was an attempt at intimidation. That she found simply foolish. She was unwilling to be scared by him of all people. No, she simply looked forward to taking him down a beg.

"Yeah, yeah, come closer," Bambietta whispered as she took aim with her bow. "Drag the edge of your over-compensating sword across the ground for all I care."

Bambietta prepared herself to fire off another barrage of arrows, intent on taking out the big target that Hanza had become. However, much to her surprise, she saw something else new. Over the blue glow of her bow she could see a violet energy flowing around Hanza's massive sword. Then did Hanza's advancement stop, his arm swinging around past his torso, the sword known as Saiga following along. The energy flew away from the weapon then, forming what appeared to be a lavender burst of pure magic.

"Now what?" Bambietta complained. She put all of her power into Blut Vene, her bow shifting to her sword. She held the weapon vertically before her, one forearm braced against the dull back of the weapon. Hanza's arc of energy crashed against the short sword then, the unimaginable force of the attack catching Bambietta by surprise. "Guess he's more of a video game Super Shinobi than a movie sequel one. Great! Terrific!"

Bambietta felt herself go head over heels then, the violet wave finally pushing her over. She hit the ground on her back hard, left to watch as the crescent projectile shot past her so fiercely that the wind kicked up, dirt scattering about Bambietta.

"Well,' Bambietta began to say as she stared up at the sky above and tried to get back her bearings, "shit."

Something completely obscured the azure sky from Bambietta's field of vision. No, not something. Someone. Hanza in all of his dreadful glory was standing before her, his dark cloak spreading out as if it was intent on consuming all that there was. However, amidst the shade he cast down, Bambietta could see the sunlight reflecting off of his terrible blade.

Worse, she could see it coming down towards her. That was enough to get the Quincy to repeat her last chosen word with much more spirit.

"Shit!"

Bambietta could see the end of the sword coming right towards her, Hanza no doubt intent on piercing her torso. Panicking, the Quincy's gloved fingers closed, tearing into the dirt itself until their very tips made contact with the palms of her hands. It all hinged on that moment and none other, Bambietta allowing the magic she had absorbed into her body and converted into spiritual power to form beneath her back. It was desperate, it was insane, but Bambietta had to admit that she was both of those, though she only liked admitting the latter.

It was only natural to use Hirenkyaku with one's feet, to ride the spirit particles beneath the soles, but there were other methods. Robert Accutrone had tried time and again to impart the wisdom of free thinking to those under his tutelage. This was one of them. Their was no momentum to be used in Hirenkyaku. It was not a matter of using your muscles to move. No, you had to surrender yourself to your own spiritual power. It was just so much easier for a Quincy to comprehend the technique if they gave themselves the illusion of moving under their own power.

Bambietta, to her credit, was willing to fight through that illusion. The particles beneath her back went into motion, clinging to her back. The Quincy was propelled along the ground quickly then, leaving nothing but an empty space for Hanza's sword to impale. His blade drove into the ground then, Hanza glaring at the retreating Bambietta with much annoyance.

"Wow, I haven't had to use that technique since I had to get out from underneath Askin and his premature little Voll Stern Dich!" Bambietta shouted as she let her power dissipate, the Quickly rolling off her back and allowing the soles of her feet to touch the ground. She stood to her full height again. "Talk about a kinky flashback!"

"You're a maniac," was all Hanza had to say in response, the shinobi unsure of what kind of Quincy he was dealing with, both in terms of powers and personality.

"Now don't go and try flattering me," Bambietta said as she brought her sword into existence again. "It won't save you."

Hanza's shoulders began to rise and fall, the ninja unable to help himself. He had to laugh, that was all. "Save me? You're unbelievable! You can't even begin to understand what power you face! No mere Quincy can ever hope to challenge the power Saiga grants me!"

"Mere?" Bambietta puffed out her cheeks, her annoyance building. "Okay, so I liked it better when you were trying to flatter me."

"Away with you!" Hanza's shout was one of complete annoyance, the shinobi's mirth fading in light of Bambietta's attitude. He swung Saiga outwards again, another chain of violet lightning shooting away from its blade.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bambietta said quite casually as she sidestepped the attack with Hirenkyaku, "that sort of thing isn't going to strike twice with me!"

Hanza swung his blade again and again, the man growing frustrated as Bambietta kept on advancing, her unsettling movements closing the distance again and again. Worse, he could see that the Quincy was smiling all the while. That only unnerved him further.

"Back off!" Hanza shouted as Bambietta appeared not a single yard away from him. The shinobi swung his sword out once more, this time not with the desire for a projectile attack but simply to cleave Bambietta in two.

Yet then there was the clash of sword against sword, Bambietta's having come forth into the material world once again. She held it tightly with her right hand, the left bracing the flat back side with her opposing forearm. Blut Vene flowered through her once more, giving her the strength to withstand the strike. Yet still did Bambietta feel her feet slipping across the ground, the force behind Hanza's attack proving significant.

"Damn it," Bambietta hissed between grit teeth. "First that boulder and now you? I am so sick of all of you trying to push me around in front of Lucy! You better believe it!"

Bambietta dug her heels into the ground, the Quincy unwilling to give Hanza another inch. This was more than a matter of pride. This was more than for herself. This was for Lucy and Bambietta was unrelenting in allow her to break in front of her. Not when her safety was on the line. So Bambietta let it all go. Blut Vene left her then, Blut Arterie taking its place. She was fighting to defend Lucy, not herself, and their was no room for the former skill in that endeavor. To be truly defensive of Lucy required Bambietta to be offensive. So she drew a line in the sand, unwilling to fall past it any further. No, it was much more than that. Her body, her muscles, empowered by Blut Arterie, Bambietta pushed forward. There was another line in the sand the sand that she had envisioned, its location being directly behind Hanza's back, and she was determined to push him back across it.

A scream echoed out from Bambietta's vocal cords, the Quincy putting all that she had into parrying the massive sword that was Hanza's. Her arm swung out wildly as she did so, all the while the ninja's flung out to the side. Hanza took a step back then, trying to regain his sense of balance as Saiga's redirected mass tore at his arm's shoulder.

Bambietta took that moment to step forward herself. She had pushed Hanza over the line she had drawn, yes, but she wanted more. She wanted him to fall. To no longer be a threat. After all, if you did not definitively defeat your enemy in battle, then what would be the point in winning?

Fear seized Hanza's heart for the briefest of moments. He could see Bambietta's sword tearing through the empty space between himself and her, leaving him to wonder if she was intent on ending his existence to protect the guild she was in now. He was determined to parry the move, to counterattack, but he knew it was out of the question. The Quincy's sword was short and lithe, the polar opposite of Saiga's released form. No matter the reflexes he possessed, time was not on his side. He could not hope to swing the massive sword around before Bambietta's own had found its mark. All he could do was fall back on trickery. So Hanza twisted his wrist, bringing Saiga's hand-guard into view. The sun's light caught the mirror then, it's reflection aimed directly towards Bambietta's eyes.

"Oh no you don't!" Bambietta shouted, her eyes narrowing. She twisted her own arm around, changing the trajectory of her sword. It struck home then, the tip of blade piercing Saiga's mirror just enough. The sound of shattered glass rang in Bambietta's ears, shards of the broken surface spreading out from the point of impact. She smiled in response, knowing that she had taken from Hanza's his true trump card. "I already told you, dumbass. You can't fool me with the same trick twice!"

"Then I suppose it's good that I had another trick prepared for you." Hanza simply laughed again, leaving Bambietta annoyed. "And you walked right into it, Quincy!"

"Hey," Bambietta said in a huff, "don't you go all 'I planned this all out,' Mister McNinja! I got you fair and squa-"

Bambietta's eyes widened then, a column of light bursting out around her. She looked around in a panic then, catching the briefest of sights of Hanza through the pure white energy. He was stepping back from her, yes, but she could see a look of supreme confidence in his eyes.

"I bid you farewell, Quincy. May you suffer."

Bambietta wanted to say something, anything, even if it was born from spite against her enemy, but it was not to be. She could only scream as the world around her faded to white. Hanza took in that scream and reveled in it. His black mask folded slightly as his lips curled up in a smile.

He, however, was not the only one to hear. "Bambi!"

Lucy ran forward then, her eyes on the column of light that had enveloped her friend. Then, as she was nearly upon it, the light faded. All that remained was Bambietta herself, the Quincy's body going limp. She began to fall to the ground then, leaving Lucy little choice. She leapt to the side, bringing her arms around her friend. They both tumbled them, Lucy using her body to cushion Bambietta's fall.

"Bambi, please be okay..." There was no answer from the Quincy however, something that unnerved Lucy. She shook her body gently then, trying to get her attention. "Please, don't..."

Lucy could feel a heart beat, she could hear the sound of Bambietta breathing, but there she was not responding to her. The Celestial Spirit mage turned her body around so as to see Bambietta's face. Lucy gasped then, her eyes focusing on Bambietta's own. They were cold and lifeless, a dull color upon them. Lucy pulled her closer then, her own voice threatening to split the heavens with its cry.

"Bambi!"

"Call her name all you want," Hanza said as he took own step closer to Lucy and the unconscious Bambietta. "It will not save either of you."


Bambietta felt her consciousness stirring, her thoughts beginning to coalesce. She could remember it, the blinding light that had engulfed her. Now however she could only see darkness.

No, that was not it. Bambietta was seeing nothing. She began to open her eyes, the pitch black void fading as she took in her surroundings. This was not the battlefield she had come to grow used to in recent minutes. No, but it was oddly familiar. This was her home. No, not the one she shared with Lucy and Wendy.

"where am I?" This room she found herself in possessed no warmth or color, a clear sign that it was not the quaint apartment she had found herself calling home in recent time. This was just a cold, barren room that had she grown used to over the course of several decades. The familiarity tore at her heart then and there. "Silver Cross Castle?"

Bambietta began to move then, the Quincy beginning to at last realize the soft material beneath her. She shifted around before at last sitting up. She was in her bed, blankets rolling down off her chest and into her lap. She sat there for a moment, processing that she was simply alone in her room, dressed in purely white nightwear.

"This..." Bambietta brought one hand up to her face, her thumb and index finger rubbing against her eyes. "That was all a dream? No, that was... too real. Wendy, Levy Erza... Lucy..."

Bambietta felt her skin grow cold, the Quincy pulling one of the blankets up towards her chin with both hands. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember those she had just spoken of. Those she had gotten to know in Fiore.

"No, Bambietta whispered. "That couldn't have been a dream. They can't be fake. They can't be fake. They can't be a-"

Bambietta stopped then, her eyes opening up. A cold satisfaction played out within her mind, her lips curling up a bit. If that was all a dream and she was as alive as she felt, then that made other things nothing more than a nightmare. Yes, that had to be true. It had to be because it helped Bambietta feel at peace. She had lost one cherished thing to the imaginary depths of her inner self, but she had also lost something that she did not want her her memories. It would be cast aside, lost and forgotten within her mind as all past dreams and nightmares were.

"It was all..." Bambietta paused once more, the Quincy trying to process it all. "My death, my return, all of it... false. That's great!"

Bambietta suddenly flinched, the image of a woman with her blonde hair skirting past her eyes.

"No, it's..."

Bambietta lowered her head then, her legs pulling up until her knees were against her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs then, resting her chin atop her knees as she stared out blankly. The Quincy said nothing then, unsure of what to say, to think. She closed her eyes then, trying to shut everything out. The pristine world of frozen reality faded to nothing but black, leaving Bambietta to try and recall the memories of someone. On and on it went, the Quincy clawing at scraping at those fleeting images. If it was all a nightmare, then why did those images tug at her heart so deeply?

"Bambietta."

The Quincy opened her eyes then, the calling of her name take hold of her attention. However, what Bambietta did then was nothing but gasp. The Vandenreich fortress was gone. Bambietta's home away from home was no longer in sight, replace instead by something she could only faintly remember.

Her home.

The lavender walls, the pink carpet, it was just as she remembered it from decades earlier. Memories began to surface, freeing themselves from the deepest parts of Bambietta's mind. It was all coming back to her. Glancing about, the Quincy could see that she was sitting in a bed still, but not the one that had been provided to her by the Vandenreich. This one was both much older and much more comforting.

"Bambietta!"

The Quincy froze up then, the stern voice she had heard just moments before repeating itself, rage apparent in its voice. Bambietta turned her chin up from her knees, casting her eyes forward. She saw him then, the man standing in the open doorway. Dressed in impeccable white, a contrast to his black hair and neatly trimmed goatee, was a man who had been lost to time and yet still remained both faithfully and cruelly tucked away in Bambietta's mind.

Bambietta spoke then, her voice nothing more than a hushed whisper. "Daddy?"

There was a glare then, a narrowing of Hass Basterbine's eyes as he kept his attention focused on his daughter. "You know better."

That was it then. With only three words had her father made her feel smaller. It was not simply a state of mind, no. Bambietta looked around herself nervously then, catching her reflection in the mirror on the wall to her right.

There was a face looking back at her that she only faintly remembered. One of stolen innocence, of spoiled youth. The tear stained face of a young girl who had been denied for so long the distant musics of a calliope, to have been forced to quickly grow up past the parks, the merry-go-rounds and the cotton candy.

Just like that had Hass Basterbine made truly Bambietta feel like a child. A broken one at that.

Her mind lost in the moment, unable to understand the nature of what was happening, the young Bambietta looked towards the overbearing presence that had stepped into her room. She spoke once more, her voice carrying the slightest hesitation, her body trembling for the slightest moment. "Father."

"That's better." That was all Hass had to say then, the man's cold expression never wavering. He held his ground, one hand always on the knob of the door. He was never one to step further. If only he would, Bambietta would have loved that. For him to come closer, to treat her as a father would, but that was not to be. He would never enter her domain, even if he was wanted. He simply never wanted it himself. "Tomorrow, Bambietta. I've arranged for a instructor to come tomorrow so that you may continue to hone your Quincy powers. Bambietta, do you feel capable now of carrying on the Basterbine bloodline?"

A question? He had asked a question? He was asking her what she wanted to do? All those questions and more ran through Bambietta's mind, the options presented to her unfathomable. She felt it then, the first ray of hope since her mother had died. Looking at her father with a hint of newfound optimism, she began to speak.

"Father, I..." Bambietta shivered for a moment. "I don't know. I just... I miss Momma's teaching. Can't you... can't you train me, father?"

Hass' expression hardened then, his lips curling back for the fleetest of moment's. Bambietta could have sworn then that she saw a flash of his teeth grit together. "Within our blood flows the greatness of our predecessors, Bambietta. Of what concern is my daughter when an entire village and its people require my ruling? So do not play this game with me. Whether you want it or not, you will train with the instructor I have selected. You are my living legacy, Bambietta, and I will not let the weakness of your mother's blood ruin that."

That was it then. The question posed to Bambietta was gone, leaving her to wonder if it had ever truly been a question at all. There was no choice to be had, not with her father. She understood that now.

That was when Bambietta heard it then, a piercing howl that shook the room. It tore at her soul then, leaving her skin to crawl. This all seemed so familiar, so familiar indeed, but she had no control over it. She had no control over even herself in this circumstance. All she could do was quiver, as if she was being forced to live things out as if that was all she was a capable of.

"What music that Hollow makes," Hass said as he looked out past the room's window, the panes of glass still shaking from the roar. "I suppose your instructor has brought with him a particularly nasty Hollow for to fight, Bambietta. One only a third seat Soul Reaper could hope to vanquish."

"What?" Bambietta's heart seized up then, fright consuming the young girl. She leapt from her bed and ran towards Hass, her breathing erratic. Completely lost in a panic, she gripped at the sleeve of her father's right arm, looking up towards his unmoving face. "Father, please! I can't-"

"Silence!"

The palm of Hass' left hand made contact with Bambietta's face then, forcing her head to turn to the side. The skin of her right cheek began to redden, Bambietta's eyes began to tear up. It only lasted for a moment then, Bambietta's expression becoming cold. This was nothing new after all. Her hands limply fell away from the grip they had had on Hass' sleeve, leaving him free.

"I will not tolerate such disgrace from you, Bambietta," Hass continued, his voice no longer shouting but no less harsh in tone. "You who dared steal Hollow Bait from my stockpile to try and fight the monsters yourself. Where has your drive gone, Bambietta? Do not tell me it died with the mother."

Bambietta said nothing. Her face, void of emotion, simply continued to look away from Hass.

"Look at me when I am talking to you!" There it was again, the projection of Hass' voice. His left hand suddenly wrapped around Bambietta's jaw, fingertips pressing into the skin severely. He yanked her head to the side, forcing Bambietta to look into his eyes. "You are the blood of my blood, Bambietta, and I will not allow you to be this weak! Despite what your mother was like, she was of Quincy nobility and I will not allow you to tarnish the marriage I endured to cement my progeny!"

Bambietta's eyes widened, the emotion of fear finally playing across her face.

"The whole point of fighting is that you don't want to die! That you'll be killed if you lose!" Hass continued to shout, her rage consuming him. "If you throw your life away in battle, where's the point in winning? So why are you running away from this fight? Answer me, Bambietta!"

"Father..." Bambietta whimpered. It was all she could do.

"Liebe threw her life away for you?" Hass continued to shout. "You? And this is how you honor us both? By throwing away your life? Your potential?"

Once more did Bambietta cry. Her tears began to slip down her face then, coming closer to the hand that was tightly wrapped around her jaw. Hass pulled away then and there, not allowing those very tears to make contact.

"So then," Hass began to say as he looked down at the sobbing Bambietta, "my daughter is dead."

Hass simply closed the door then, not giving Bambietta another word. Not a one. Not even the ones she longed to hear. She knew better. She had to know better. A word such as love could never come from her father. It never had before. Yet still she longed for it. She yearned for Yet all she had received was his condemnation.

"Father..." Bambietta whimpered, body growing numb. "Daddy... please, just... don't hate me..."

It was all so familiar to Bambietta, the memories she was lost in. The pain, the anguish. Yet she could feel something different. Amid her sad soul was something else beginning to light aflame.

Anger. As if driven by the emotion, her body began to change, to transform. The little girl, crying for her father began to vanish, an older woman taking her place once more.

Stern Ritter E. A member of Fairy Tail. Bambietta Basterbine.

"Father!" she screamed, rage consuming her. She reached out then, the hand encased in the Sanrei Glove grabbing hold of the door knob. She tore the obstruction open then, intent on running after the man who's approval she both craved for and despised. Bambietta prepared herself to step forward, to walk out into the hall and give pursuit, yet she stopped.

The hall was dark, consumed in shadow, yet it was not empty. Bambietta could hear it then, a low growling sound within the dark, a pair of glowing, amber eyes appearing. They stared at Bambietta, growing closer. That was when she saw the beast in full.

It was a brown colored wolf, one that was slowly pacing towards Bambietta. The creature was obscene in size, as if very nearly dwarfing Bambietta in both height and width. Saliva dripped from its jaws, fangs bared as it continued to snarl.

Bambietta felt it then, a desire to fight, to defend herself, but she was caught in the moment, as if unable to process anything. Even the option of flight seemed out of the question, her body unwilling to respond to her.

Then the wolf was upon her, the beast leaping forward. Before Bambietta knew it she felt nothing but pain, the wolf's fangs sinking into her throat. Her eyes opened wide, her mouth falling open into a scream. Hot blood began to pour out from her neck then, staining her white uniform. No, that was not all. The very same crimson liquid sprayed out from her mouth, gushing down from her lips.

The wolf pulled back then, leaving Bambietta to stumble away. She clutched at her wound, hacking and coughing as she did so. The pain was indescribable, yes, but worse was the horror of simply watching the wolf that had inflicted it. The beast was stepping back, turning its head so as to spit out the ragged flesh it had torn from Bambietta. The wolf simply slipped back into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but its amber eyes until those two vanished from sight.

Bambietta crumpled to her knees then, her cloak draping down around her as more blood sprayed out from her mouth. She thought it over then, her life bleeding out from her one ounce at a time. The Quincy planted her hands against the carpet, trying to steady herself. Yet there was something wrong.

There was no carpeting. The pink fabric was not what had been adorned with her split blood. What Bambietta found herself staring at, what she found herself holding herself up against was nothing more than smooth, gray stone. Turning her head weakly, Bambietta glanced around from the position on her knees.

"The..." She tried to speak as best she could, her exposed vocal cords pulsating with blood with each syllable. "Soul... Society?"

"Aww, look at that," a voice called out from behind Bambietta. "Bambi sure got roughed up. I guess that's what happens when we leave our little leader to fend for herself."

Bambietta felt her entire body go numb, the Quincy peering over her shoulder towards the source of the familiar voice. She saw them all then, her sense of dread pervading across her entire soul.

Liltotto, Candice, Meninas and one other.

"Giselle." It was all Bambietta could say in her condition, her cords screaming at her for ever daring to say the two syllables. She had meant to speak it in spite, to display her disgust, but it had not been possible. The Quincy had spoken the name with something else, something that concerned her.

She had said it with nothing but fear.

"I'm sorry, Bambi," Giselle said as she began to skip forward, her eyes beaming. "I know we were mean to ditch you, but don't worry. We won't let it end here..."

"Stay away!" Bambietta's breath seized up in her lungs then, the Quincy scrambling to get up on to her feet, her knees scraping against the ground, her fingers clawing at it as she began to rise. She began to swung her right hand forward, her bow coming into existence. An arrow fired forth then and there, aimed directly towards Giselle.

It never hit its mark, the repulsive sight of a mouth extending and expanding outwards. The maw opened wide, swallowing the arrow hole, keeping Giselle from harm. The mouth returned then, Liltotto's eerily calm face returning to its original state.

Bambietta further went into a panic, the Quincy prepping another arrow. She never got the chance however, her entire body igniting with electricity. The currents tore through Bambietta's form, leaving her muscles to spasm in response. Her bow began to fade from sight, leaving Bambietta defenseless. Her teeth grit together as the agony continued to spread, leaving her locked in place. All Bambietta could do was scream, watching as darkness began to descend upon her.

She was caught not only Candice's lightning but the shadow of something threatening to overwhelm her. She could see it then, Meninas standing close, a massive building held high atop her head with both hands.

"Sorry, Bambi."

The structure came crashing down on the prone Quincy then, the electricity fading from Bambietta's body then. One form of pain was replaced with another, rubble and debris smashing into Bambietta with such force that she could only imagine bones were being broken. Then did the momentum of the collapsing building stop, leaving all of the world around Bambietta still.

"No..."

Bambietta lay there, unsure of if she could even move. She was left in the debris, half buried in it as she stared up towards the blue sky. She could see the sun clearly, the light shining down upon her. Then there was shadow once again, Giselle coming into view, her head and shoulders obscuring the sun itself.

"Silly little Bambi," Giselle said in a chipper tone, "don't be like this. We're all friends here."

"Get... away..." Bambietta gasped out. She reached out with her hands, her arms all but screaming in response. Her fingers found purchase in the debris and she began to pull herself away, her back sliding across the battlefield. "Gigi, please, just..."

"Don't go, Bambi," Giselle said, her tone wavering. "Please don't leave us..."

Giselle took another step towards Bambietta, leaving her to go deeper into a panic. She turned her head away, hoping to see anything but Giselle.

"Lucy?"

Bambietta could see it, even if barely. Not far away, standing not even a few yards away was the blonde she had remembered before. No, it was not just her. There was a petite young woman with light blue hair. A young girl with pig-tails. Another woman possessing both scarlet hair and plated armor. By her side was a young woman with peculiar shade of hair, pink if Bambietta could see it clearly.

"Fairy... Tail..."

Bambietta did not know entirely what she had said, nor did she understand the sounding desire welling up within her, but she simply knew she had to get to those people in the distance. They were her salvation. They had to be. She just had to crawl further forward. She just had to get away from Giselle. From the others. From the Vandenreich. From the Soul Society.

She had to get away from it all. So she reached out with her right hand, her fingers extending out towards those people in the distance. "Please, just... save me..."

"Where are you going, Bambi?"

Bambietta froze then, hearing Giselle's voice far too close, as if she was right over her shoulder. Bambietta began to scream then, the fingers of her right hand closing inwards and clutching around her sword as it came into being. She turned violently then, swinging that blade out. "Just stay the hell alone!"

Bambietta could hear it, the sound of metal tearing through flesh, muscle and bone. It was a clear sign that her weapon had found its mark. More evident of that, however, was not the sound but the sight. Bambietta could see the blood spraying out, flesh and white fabric tearing as her blade made its way through Giselle's torso.

"Oh." That was all Giselle had to say, the Quincy barely fazed. She looked down at the sword as it stopped and lodged itself in her midsection, then at Bambietta. Giselle shook her and smiled at the futility of it all. "You can't keep me away, Bambi. Because I love-"

"No!" That was a word Bambietta had longed to hear from others, yes, but not Giselle. She refused to hear it from her. "Don't you dare... Please... I just..."

Bambietta thought again of those she had called Fairy Tail. The fire inside coming alive again, she pulled her sword out from Giselle and prepared herself to attack. Perhaps decapitation would work. Or splitting Giselle in half from top to bottom. That always worked.

"I just want a happy ending!" Bambietta screamed as she pulled her arm back, preparing herself to attack.

Then she felt it, a force pulling back on her arm, leaving her unable to attack. Caught off guard, Bambietta turned her gaze behind her. She something then and, in her fright, all she could do was gasp.

There were Quincy behind her. Several in fact, all of them familiar if not entirely recognizable. Not by names at the very least. That was unnecessary to Bambietta. She knew them all by their fates. All because she had been responsible for each and every one of their deaths.

"You..." the one holding Bambietta's arm said, a red mark running from the top of his face down to past his chin, vanishing into the collar of his white coat. "How could you deserve happiness after what you've done?"

"I..." Bambietta had no answer, none at all. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do; not in this situation.

"Don't go away, Bambietta," Giselle repeated as she knelt down beside the Quincy. "I'd be lonely without you. I mean it. And that's why..."

Bambietta looked at Giselle and only Giselle, her breaths becoming labored and ragged due to the panic that was mounting within her. "No... Don't... Don't do it, Gigi..."

Giselle silenced Bambietta then, her right hand gripping down around her nose and mouth, holding both shut. Bambietta began to struggle then, her body and soul beginning to weaken. She could not breath, it was as simple as that. Giselle's grip on her in this weakened form was too great to resist, yet Bambietta tried anyway. On and on it went, her struggle beginning to wane little by little with each minute.

"Don't resist, Bambi," Giselle whispered. "This is for your own good. And I... I want... Bambi, I..."

Bambietta could feel her lungs threatening to explode, her body dying around her as all hope began to fade. Giselle leaned forward then, her mouth so close to Bambietta's left ear as to make contact.

"Bambi," Giselle whispered as if speaking to a lover, "can I keep you?"

Bambietta wanted to answer, to scream her defiance, but it was to no avail. All around her went to black, leaving her to fall into despair.


Lucy Heartfilia was left aghast. Bambietta Basterbine had fallen before her, the Quincy's back hitting the ground after she had stared into the reflected light of Hanza Nukui's mirror-like sword. That had prompted Lucy to rush forward, to reach out to her friend and roommate, but from there had the situation only grown worse.

Not a moment before she could have taken hold of Bambietta, to try and pull her away from the battle, had she been denied. A barrier had enveloped Bambietta, en-trapping her within a cocoon of pure, white light. No longer could Lucy reach her now. She could not even see her.

All that remained was herself and Hanza, the rest of Fairy Tail caught in the battle with Jose Porla's shade-like servants. The cloaked ninja, his massive sword held by his side, was fast approaching both Lucy and the prison that held Bambietta.

Yet Lucy was not the least bit frightened, at least not for herself.

"What did you do to her?" she asked, her body inching closer to the cocoon of light.

"I've trapped her in a hell of her own making," Hanza said as he took another step closer. "The specifics don't really matter, however."

Lucy screamed then, repeating her question. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Do you really wish to know?" Hanza asked with some annoyance, taking a moment to stop in his tracks. He grinned beneath his mask then. Yes, such knowledge could very well cause this wizard despair. No doubt not as much as the Quincy was experiencing, but enough to rob her of the will to fight. "Saiga's trump card is the ability to trap a victim within their own soul, within the inner world that dwells there. Sealed away as she is, that Quincy will be subjected to the whims of Saiga. It will poke and prod, finding weakness and insecurities. Then it will bring them to life, tearing apart her mind with nightmare after nightmare."

"You..." Lucy trembled, her eyes looking back at the veritable coffin of light that had claimed Bambietta. "No..."

"In the end, the Quincy will fall into misery and despair," Hanza continued, "and will commit the most desperate of acts. Saiga will force her to commit Soul Suicide, and she will not only die, but cease to exist in this life or the next."

"No!"

Lucy's teeth came together, tears slipping out from the lids of her eyes. Her hand trembling, she reached into the pouch on her skirt's belt, fumbling for a key. There was despair, just as Hanza had hoped, but all it had done was give way to desperation. The will to fight was not taken from Lucy. It had only been ignited.

Bambietta had fought to protect her and now she would do the same.

"Open the Gate of the Golde-"

Lucy never got the chance to finish the sentence, the wizard gasping in pain. The toe of Hanza's boot had driven into her midsection. She was thrown back then, her body hitting the ground and skidding across it. Hanza watched as she did so, her momentum slowing as she hit the edge of the ground not a few inches away from the nearby lake.

"Do you believe that by defeating me you would be able to break Saiga's spell on the Quincy?" Hanza asked as he began to walk towards Lucy. "I suppose such such an idea would render my words unable to break your will. In that case, my actions will have to do that instead!"

Lucy did not pay him any heed, the wizard intent on never letting that happen. Fairy Tail had fought so hard to protect her. Bambietta had done so, right until this very moment. She had to do the same. She had to save her. She had to see her again. So she reached for her golden keys, preparing to summon an ally. Taurus, Virgo, Cancer or Sagittarius. All she needed was someone who could stand up to Hanza.

Yet then Lucy felt it, a coldness against her shoulder. She turned quickly and could see it. Her shoulder had made contact with water. Looking further, Lucy could see that Hanza had thrown her aside far, having left her at the edge of the land itself. Behind her was one of Magnolia's most treasured tourist locations, Lake Sciliora.

Feeling a new rush of confidence, Lucy pulled out one of her keys and quickly thrust it into the water. "Open the Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

"Oh?" Hanza asked as he stood ready, watching as a golden light began to form from the lake itself, shining down upon the water. "What's this?"

Hanza kept his eyes on the spectacle, preparing himself for anything that was to come. This wizard could summon any beast, mythical or otherwise, that she wanted. Nothing could surprise him. No, not even the sight of the mermaid with azure hair and matching scales. Hanza simply kept his grip on Saiga tight, curious as to how this mermaid, this Aquarius, would attack. He could see within her hands a large urn, giving Hanza pause. Was that her weapon of choice? Was it a mystical object, one that granted her the ability to hover in midair, free from the water itself?

Whether it was or not, Hanza did not care. Nothing would take him by surprise.

Yet then did something do just that. Aquarius' eyes suddenly narrowed, veins bulging at the sides of her forehead. Then she turned on Lucy, beginning to yell at her.

"Lucy!" the mermaid shouted as she floated down towards her summoner. "I suppose I should be happy you called me out with a lovely body of water, but do you have any idea what you just interrupted?"

Lucy stammered. "Well, no, but-"

"But nothing!" Aquarius continued to scream. "Do you have any idea how little Scorpio is around in the Celestial Spirit World? I swear, that summoner of his never gives him any time to just hang with me! 'Oh, don't be like that!' he always say! 'She's a darling little angel' my ass! Can't a girl hang out with her boyfriend without one of their summoners interfering?"

Hanza was simply mystified at the spectacle before him.

"Boyfriend?" Lucy asked. "You... have a-"

"Did I say boyfriend?" Aquarius panicked for a brief moment, her anger suddenly coming back to the surface. "I swear, if you two ever meet, you are not to breath a word to him about how cranky I can get! Not one wor-"

"All right!" Lucy shouted in response. "I won't, so just stop yelling and listen to me!"

Aquarius stopped speaking at all, the mermaid caught completely off guard. Had Lucy just interrupted her? Had she just yelled at her? Lucy? The young girl who had always summoned her on Wednesdays just so she could have some company? The young girl who had grown up to be afraid of Aquarius' anger? The Celestial Spirit was not sure if she should be upset or proud.

"Do whatever you want," Lucy whispered. "Do what you do whenever I needed your help in a fight. Attack me in the process if you want to, but I need you to take out that man over there. Do whatever it takes. I just..."

"Him?" Aquarius said as she looked at the cloaked figure that was Hanza. "Is he threatening you?"

"Yes, but..." Lucy paused. "If he isn't stopped, then Bambi... Then Bambietta... She's going to die."

"Bambietta?" Aquarius was unsure of who Lucy was referring to, but it did not matter. Time and again had Lucy summoned Aquarius in the past. To simply speak with her. To simply stop herself from being lonely. To save her in a pinch. Yet now could the Celestial Spirit understand. Lucy had not called her simply for company in some time, something she had attributed to being a part of Fairy Tail. However, Aquarius could see there was more. Lucy had spoken back to her, she had risked her wrath not for herself but for another. "This... Bambietta is precious to you?"

"Everyone in Fairy Tail is precious to me!" Lucy exclaimed before becoming withdrawn. "But yes."

"Enough of this!" Hanza shouted as be began to step forward. "I have a task to complete and I will not be delayed any further by your talking!"

Aquarius turned to face the approaching shinobi, the mermaid holding tightly to her earn. "Step away, Lucy."

"All right," Lucy said as she slipped back, having not expected Aquarius to ask her to do that before attacking. "But-"

"Don't get me wrong," Aquarius said as she raised her urn above her head. "What you want to protect doesn't matter to me in the slightest! But if protecting what I want does that too, then so be it!"

Hanza kept his pace consistent and deliberate, watching as streams of water from the lake began to defy gravity itself and flow into the urn the mermaid was holding high. "What nonsense is this? Lucy Heartfilia will be taken to Master Jose, Aquarius. While you and the Quincy will die together!"

Aquarius said nothing, the mermaid simply throwing her urn forward. A torrent fired forth, all of it formed by the collected water from earlier, but Hanza paid it no mind. He readied his sword, prepared to cute through the meager attack and press his advantage.

"Fool! You can't possibly hope to defeat me with-" Hanza's voice was shut down, the onslaught of water colliding with him with such force that he found his feet leaving the ground. "That's not possible!"


Bambietta found herself alone, standing amidst the shadow. There was nothing for her to hear, to feel, to see. Nothing but the incandescent aura of blue light of which she stood upon. It made no sense, she knew that much. She had been dying just a moment ago, a victim to Giselle's unassuming madness, yet here she was. Alive but clearly not well.

"Lucy?" she called out, her voice trembling. The blonde. She wanted to see her so desperately even if she did not know entirely why. Then there were the others, leaving fleeting memories to dance across her mind. "Levy? Wendy? Erza? Natsu?"

There was no response, not at all. Nothing more than a voice echoing through the darkness, leaving Bambietta to withdraw into herself. Her head tilted forward, locks of dark hair falling down and obscuring her eyes.

"Anyone?" Bambietta whispered, unwilling to speak loud enough to hear the echo again. "Giselle?"

There was nothing, which was precisely what Bambietta expected. So she stood there, alone and withdrawn, unable to find a reason to speak any further. Unable to find a reason to even think, to breath, to exist.

There simply was no point.

"I'm," she at last began to say at last, "in Hell."

Bambietta closed her eyes, trading one realm of darkness for another. However, much to her dismay, it did not last long. Images began to play across her mind's eye. Soul Reapers' corpses lining the ground. Hollows dead and dying in pale deserts. The remains of Quincy after Quincy upon her bedroom floor. Then, at last, there was the sight of her mother walking towards her death. All of them dead. Each and every one of them. All dead for her.

Because of her.

"I... deserve it."

Bambietta's shoulders began to perk up before dropping back down. Over and over it went, a low laugh slipping out from between her lips. It began to rise and rise again, reaching a fever pitch as she at last raised her head high. Yet, despite the laughter, her lips were trembling, her eyes running and her face stained with tears.

"No, you don't."

Bambietta paused then, her twisted, depraved madness coming to a stop. She had heard it, a voice in the darkness, fast approaching. It was a familiar voice. One far too much so. It was her voice.

Bambietta watched in horror then as a reflection of herself came forth from the darkness, stopping only a yard away. She looked similar in some respects, even if her uniform was in tatters, leaving much flesh exposed. Skin that was blood red in color. That was enough, yes, but it did not stop there. Bambietta could see the wounds across the body, the most apparent being the missing right arm and the thin wound running through her face.

That face, however, was the most chilling of all. The wide, vacant, glazed over eyes. The slack jawed mouth hanging open, drool seeping down around the chin.

"This shit is what you deserve," the mutilated reflection replied. "What we deserve."

"Now, now," another voice called out from the darkness, "what did we say about that filthy mouth of yours? Am I going to have to wash it out with my blood again?"

Bambietta watched as another familiar face, one last deformed but equally horrifying nonetheless came into view. Giselle skipped over to the blood red corpse that stood before Bambietta. She nudged the walking corpse in the side gently.

Then, quite suddenly, did Giselle lash out, striking the other Bambietta across the face. "You're so dirty, Bambi!"

Bambietta herself noticeably flinched in response as she watched her damaged self fall to the floor of the darkness. "That's not..."

The blood red corpse was quick to pick herself up, staying and her knees. Bambietta watched as her other self began to tremble, a brighter shade of red leaking out from what appeared to be a broken nose. Worse, however, were the tears that were forming at the edges of her glazes over eyes. "I'm sorry, Gigi! Please don't get mad at me! I just... I just need it... Please... Give me it... Your..."

Bambietta grit her teeth in response, her own body beginning to trouble. "Stop that..."

Giselle knelt down by the corpse, quickly embracing her. "Oh, Bambi! I could never stay mad at you! I love you to bits forever and ever after all! But you really need to stop being such a pig about my blood! That's just nasty!"

The reanimated Bambietta sniffed back her tears and returned Giselle's embrace with the one arm she had, pulling her close. "Gigi, I'm so sorry for making you upset! You're so kind to forgive a bitch like me! Just... please... One drop... I need one drop! I don't... want to go another minute without a taste!"

"Oh, you want it that bad, huh?" Giselle said as she pulled away from Bambietta. "You really are a dirty girl!"

Bambietta watched as Giselle's right hand clasped around the pleading face of her other self, fearful eyes peeking out from between the fingers. She felt rage and despair once more come together in an unholy union, one that festered as the deplorable events, perhaps a product of her fragmented memories, continued to transpire before her.

"And I thought Lil was the glutton, Bambi!" Giselle suddenly screamed, a frenzied expression etching itself into her face as she slammed the corpse's head back into the floor of the darkness over and over again, staining the environment with both blood and brain matter. "You terrible little sow, Bambi! I'll share when I'm good and ready for you to have good and plenty, okay?"

"I'm... so sorry..." the corpse gasped out in response, the words nearly lost in the violence. "Gigi, please... don't be cross... with me..."

"No!" Bambietta screamed at long last, her emotions getting the best of her. Her hands slipped around her torso then, clinging to the opposing arms as she continued to shout. "This isn't me! That wasn't me! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Aww," Giselle suddenly said, turning around from the bloodied corpse that was lying on the floor. She looked at the actual Bambietta then, a wide eyed expression evident on Giselle's face. "But I thought you wanted someone to love you. To pay attention to you. And you know that I'm always going to be there for you, Bambi. Don't you like that?"

Bambietta did not know what to say, how to react to such a question. All she knew for certain was that there was a sense of dread pervading her very being, her stomach heaving as if she was growing ill.

"Please say yes, Bambi," Giselle said as she stood up. "Because I... I..."

Giselle sudden leapt forward, wrapping her arms around the shivering Bambietta, leaving her to stare blankly over Giselle's shoulder.

"I love you to bits, Bambi!" Giselle suddenly shouted, her voice a cacophony of excitement. "So please say you love me too!"

Bambietta tried to pull away, to free herself, to free herself, but Giselle was holding much to tightly.

"Come on," Giselle whispered. "Say you love me too. 'I love you, Gigi.' I want to hear it. Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Bambietta kept herself peering over Giselle's shoulder, her expression a blank one. Then quite suddenly did she flinch, Bambietta feeling a change overcoming her. She was dying.

No, that was not it. It could never be as simple as that. She could feel her very body rotting, every fiber of her being changing for the worse. Her skin was reddening, slowly spreading across her body, forcing it to begin to match with the living dead girl that Giselle had left on the ground.

"No, I..." Bambietta's lower lip began to tremble, the Quincy feeling water building beneath her eyes. She wanted to hold it back, to keep herself calm, but it was not to be. "Giselle, don't... Gigi, please..."

"Nothing will ever keep us apart, Bambi," Giselle whispered into her ear, trying to be as comforting as possible. "Not even death..."

Bambietta shut her eyes then, the agonizing, creeping death spreading across her body continuing. She could feel it now, her face becoming crimson and rotten. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do to make Giselle stop. All she could do was beg. If not to the Quincy then to the world itself.

"I just... want to live..."

"No, a voice suddenly said, "you just wanted to be loved."

Bambietta opened her eyes up and found herself staring into the eyes of another. It was not Giselle, the Quincy still embracing Bambietta in a death-like grip. No, it was the brown eyes of the woman from before. The woman with the blonde hair. The one who the very glimpse of gave Bambietta nothing but a sense of hope.

"Lucy, please-"

Yet that belief, that desire, was destroyed with the simplest of movements. The Celestial Spirit mage's hand struck across Bambietta's reddening cheek, forcibly twisting her face to the side. What the person who Bambietta identified as Lucy Heartfilia said next all but broke the Quincy's heart.

"How could I ever love someone like you?"

Then Lucy turned her back on Bambietta, leaving her within Giselle's grasp. The wizard walked off with a slow, deliberate pace. All the while did the group of familiar faces appear, stone cold in their expressions as Lucy joined them by their side. She turned back to look at Bambietta one last time, Lucy's own eyes staring at her with nothing but disdain.

Then she was gone, the lot of Fairy Tail wizards fading into the darkness.

"Don't... leave... me..." Bambietta could only choke the words out, her eyes shutting tight as if to hold back her tears. The Quincy spoke again, her voice trying it's best to tear through the darkness. "Don't leave me, damn it! Don't leave me!"

Bambietta felt her heart grow truly cold then, the Quincy realizing all that she had left. There was Giselle. If salvation was not an option then there was surrender. Yet as Bambietta opened her eyes, she took notice of one thing.

Giselle was gone.

Bambietta was alone in the darkness, now and forever.

"Gigi?" Despite her skin having returned to its true complexion, Bambietta felt no relief. She slipped her arms out from beneath her cloak, wrapping them around her torso and clutching at herself with both hands tightly. She slowly began to descend down, her knees bending until at last they hit the ground. The white cape settle down around Bambietta then, as if to protect her from the shadows. "Anyone?"

There was nothing. No response, no words, nothing. Bambietta simply knelt there then, her body growing number by the second, the Quincy beginning to sob.

"No..." Bambietta grit her teeth then, the Quincy pulling her hands away from her upper arms. They balled into fists, Bambietta peering out from the visor of her hat. Her face began to twist, to morph, until at last she allowed sorrow to fuel an emotion she knew how to handle.

Rage.

"Who cares if no one wants me? Who cares if my father didn't give a damn about me? Who cares if all I was to him was a means to an end? Who cares if Yhwach considered me and everyone else a tool? Who cares if Giselle saw me as her bitch? Who cares if Fairy Tail.. If Lucy..."

Bambietta's throat began to pulse slower and slower as her screaming began to falter, her mind growing tired from the stress that was tearing at its seams. She felt something running down her face, the tears she had tried to force back with angry resisting her every attempt.

"Why?" Bambietta slumped forward, her balled up fists resting on the darkened ground, her face hovering not a few inches away from it all. "Why am I crying? I don't need anyone! No one! No one! No-"

"Bambietta."

The Quincy felt her heart go still for the briefest of moment's her breath catching itself in her throat. That voice, she knew it far too well. Trembling, Bambietta began to pull herself up from the floor, though remaining on her knees, and turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened then, taking in he sight of the person who stood by her now within the dark.

"Momma?"

There she was, standing directly before Bambietta. Her white dress and alabaster skin piercing through the darkness, her dark hair appearing as if to blend into that very same reality. She was there in the flesh, Liebe Basterbine looking towards her daughter with auburn eyes.

Pulling herself together, Bambietta began to pull herself up to one knee, shifting her posture around almost entirely. She brought one hand up tentatively, her fingers reaching out towards her. This was all that there was The one person who had come to Bambietta in her time of need, who had not abandoned her in this hell.

"Look at you," Liebe said quite calmly. "This is what I died for?"

Bambietta's hand stopped then and there, the Quincy peering up into her mother's eyes, finding them void of any and all light or emotion. She spoke in turn then, her choice of wording different but her tone of voice no less pleading. "Mother?"

"You're all alone," Liebe spoke. "Not a single friend to call your own. You have nothing. You are nothing."

Bambietta all but flinched.

Then did Liebe suddenly change, her expression lightening, her eyes glowing and a smile adorning her face. "But I can set you free, my darling daughter. I can give you the very same peace you gave me. The very same release."

Liebe moved closer, dropping herself down to one knee. She reached out with her right hand, gently caressing a side of Bambietta's face. Slowly did her hand move about, her thumb slipping underneath Bambietta's eyes, wiping away her tears.

"I died for you, my darling daughter," Liebe asked as she embraced Bambietta with a hug. "Won't you do the same for me?"

Bambietta's eyes widened once more, the Quincy taking in just what her mother had asked of her. Yet that shock soon gave way into submission. "Mother, I..."

"Die with me, daughter," Liebe interrupted. "Come with me to Heaven and you'll never be alone again."

Bambietta saw it then, a figure in the distance. A small one, yes, but possessing no less presence. It was herself, another past reflection in the madness, yet this one was of herself from a time she wished to forget.

It was the young Bambietta who had been present to see her mother's death so long ago.

She was staring now, her eyes daring to bore into Bambietta's soul, as if to tell her to stop. For the briefest of moment's did Bambietta have to wonder if this was the last vestige of her spirit daring her to stay where it was, to keep herself whole, but if it was then Bambietta knew it had played a foolish gambit now.

All she could see within her mind's eye was a past nightmare, another reflection. Of herself strangling her past self. What Bambietta had said in that dreamscape came to her again, a hazy memory growing sharper in recollection, leaving her able to repeat herself now. "This is your fucking fault! Do you hear me? Your fucking fault and no one else's!"

The younger reflection of Bambietta faded away then, leaving the true self alone with her mother.

"Yes," Liebe replied, still holding Bambietta tight. "Yes, it is. But I will forgive you, all of you, once you end it all."

Bambietta held her mother tight then with her left arm, all the while stretching her right arm outwards. She kept her hand open, summoning power into it. Soon did her sword come into sight, Schragstrich held in a reverse grip as Bambietta's fingers tightened around it's hilt. She kept the blade angled as such, the tip of the weapon pointed towards the back of her mother.

That was it. All it would take would be one thrust and the blade would pierce through Liebe and into Bambietta herself. It was simple, so simple, yet the hesitation was clawing at soul.

"Do it, my daughter," Liebe whispered affectionately. "Prove to me that you love me."

Bambietta closed her eyes for a moment, doubt still seeding her thoughts. She wanted something to pull her away. No, she needed someone to keep her safe. She wanted to picture them. Lucy. Levy. Wendy. Erza. Natsu. Liltotto. Even Giselle. Just something to keep her from the abyss.

Yet there was nothing in her thoughts, not even a spark of light. It was as dark as the void that she had found herself in. Opening her eyes, the Quincy made her choice then.

"Yes, mother," Bambietta said, succumbing to her failings. She tightened her grip on Liebe with her one arm, pulling her closer. Bambietta took one last deep breath, closing her eyes once more and embracing what fate had chosen for her. "I... love you."

Bambietta began to pull her sword inwards then, prepared for the pain, the death and the peace it would bring.

Yet none of it came.

Bambietta opened her eyes then, looking toward Schragstrich. Her hand was gripped tightly around it still, yes, but it was not budging. However, Bambietta could see why she could not bring about her hand.

Hers was not the sole hand holding the sword.

Bambietta blinked for a moment, forcing herself to focus. There was a hand that was gripping the blade of the sword itself, yet nary a drop of blood was being split. There was no torn flesh, nothing. All there was was the rough and worn hand itself, an arm encased in a white sleeve that pulled back into the darkness.

No, not the darkness itself. The arm was partially obscured by a shadowy black cloak, one that set itself apart from the rest of the world around it. Bambietta could see it faintly through that cloak, the body the arm belonged to existing beneath that cloak. However, what truly caught her eye was the sight of the head that rested atop the cloak.

His was a rugged countenance, an unshaven face covered by translucent sunglasses and surrounded by a black mane of wild hair. It was a face that was as familiar as it was different, leaving Bambietta to find herself in awe of the presence.

"His Majesty," Bambietta whispered, as if lost in the moment and completely forgetting herself, "Yhwach."


And so, the Quincy Kaiser has shown himself! But how is he here? Why?...Well, im sure many of you probably know why or at least have a idea of sorts.

This chapter was hard for Ankoholic to write just because of how DARK it was. Putting Bambietta through this personal pain wasn't an easy task for either of us. However in order for characters to grow, sometimes pain is needed...and Saiga's ability was the best way to do this.

I used Hanza specifically for this reason. While a strong enemy on his own right, I wanted there to be something special for Bambiettas battle. Just having her defeat someone strong wasn't going to be satisfying enough for me...But to battle her inner demons AS WELL as a strong enemy, THAT was something i knew she could use.

You've already seen a small glimpse of her past with her father. Rest assured that we'll be revealing more about that as the story goes on. Her father is...Well, lets just say Gendo Ikari is going to have some competition as worst father of the year.

The fight with Hanza will be concluded in the next chapter, and trust me...I think you'll ALL enjoy how that's going to go down.

Please feel free to leave us a review to tell us how you felt about that chapter. Any and all criticism is welcomed and appreciated. Not to mention its also our biggest motivator. We're so close to getting to 300 reviews. I KNOW we can get past that number with this chapter, so lets make it happen!