Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. A lot of things caused this delay, but i'm very happy to finally have this chapter out and ready for you all to read...However, there is something i'd like to go over with you all on. As some of you may be aware, BLEACH has had a new light novel out for a while called "Can't fear your own world" which takes place after the defeat of Yhwach but before the final two chapters. I've been following it over the past few years. Somethings in it I like. There are some concepts that we may consider using...but there is something that I feel needs to be discussed, since it is relevant to this story.

Bambietta and the other Fem ritters are in CFYOW and play a noticeable role in the story. One would think that I would be ecstatic about this...but I'm not. Far far from it. If I were to be truthful to you all, IHATE what CFYOW has done to my favorite quincy.

Whys that? What has it done to possibly make me so upset? Well that's simple really. It takes the clearly abusive relationship between Bambietta and Giselle...and tries to normalize it. To make it seem like its "ok" that Bambietta is the way that she is and that it doesn't need to be fixed. That Giselle did nothing wrong.

To hell with that nonsense!

I find this not only infuriating to me as a fan of Bambietta...but also insulting. Let's be clear on something, how Giselle was treating Bambietta is NOT ok. It's just not. I'm well aware that Bambietta herself wasn't exactly an angel, but it's just wrong of me to try to pass of...this as the solution to the problem. It's not. It's sickening to me.

Character development is the right solution or just a more honorable death. This is not the best way for the character to answer for her misdeeds. Two wrongs never make a right and this is very very wrong.

I love Bleach. I really do, but this?...…...I really hate this. Ankoholic has gone through some very powerful and emotional stress over this and has now, unfortunately lost the love he has had for the series. I can't say I blame him after this really. As I said before, I love Bleach...but not this.

Not this.

Rest assured however that this story will continue. We will continue to write, not just for Bambietta, and not just for the fun and enjoyment we have for Fairy Tail as a whole...but to right the wrongs that CFYOW has done to Bambietta. To give the character the ending that is more satisfying.

Now before we get to the chapter itself, I have some words from Ankoholic who wants to leave some words.

"Once I was filled with blind hope. I thought that had let me down in 2016. Then the curtain rose on another chance for fictional salvation. This time, however, my hopes were tempered by bitter cynicism. Optimism and pessimism mingled together for two years.

Now, nearly three years since optimism let me down, the time of reckoning has come once again... and pessimism won. I wanted the best. I was willing to accept a some what bittersweet even. I would have taken either, but I expected the worst.

Imagine my surprise when the true worst case narrative situation was worse than what I feared deep down for two years.

Regardless, you may have noticed a few chapters ago that the plot point of Ankhseram placing 'Doombots' in the world the likes of Bambietta and Liltotto have left behind. The reason I wrote that in was two fold. The first I still wanted this story to 'fit in' with the official one in some capacity and I had to take in account materials published after this story had begun. Hopefully there will be no more from that side of the crossover, either new or adapted in another medium. The other reason was because of my pessimism. If things ended badly for Bambietta Basterbine, if a world of fiction that asked not to be feared proved itself one worth looking upon with contempt, I was ready to work around it even while acknowledging it.

My pessimism was proven well founded. I honestly wish it had not been. We have arrived at the final truth and, to be honest, sometimes the truth is not good enough. Sometimes people deserve to have their wasted optimism rewarded.

Bleach hits hard. It's given me a black eye, a busted lip, broken bones... all metaphorically of course. However, as another work of fiction once said through an amazingly awesome an inspirational boxer: "But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."

So go on; bring your final arcs and your light novel trilogies. Cause me despair to your heart's content. You can bloody my nose and I'll just come back twice as strong.

I'm still standing.

And, to quote a certain scientist from my favorite movie this year...

"Sometimes... the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them." "

Well said.

In any event, this chapter was written by my good friend Draconichero21 once again. He did a terrific job I feel and he'll be doing the next chapter as well, which is one im very excited for.

Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.


The Heartfilia-Basterbine household wasn't always privy to guests in the evening, but after today, the household saw itself making an exception. Levy joined the house's usual residents of Bambietta, Lucy, Wendy, and Rukia after a long mission of basilisk wrangling. This mission, of course, was only made possible by Wendy's ability to cure status ailments. Everyone was exhausted bringing no less than 6 frilled basilisks back to the ranch they were raised in.

Wendy collapsed on the floor with Carla and Lucy and Levy spread out on the couch.

"Can't…take…another…step," Levy panted.

"Oh come on, you can't be that tired," Bambietta stated.

"Easy for you to say. Some of us don't have monstrous seemingly never-ending stamina," Lucy stated.

"I'm hungry," Wendy whined.

"Don't worry," Bambietta said, putting a hand on Rukia's shoulder. "Me and Rukia will go buy a big pre-made feast."

"Yes. We…we will?" she asked, looking at Bambietta.

"Yup, come on," Bambietta said and grabbed Rukia, who yelped as she was escorted out the door.

"Dinner on Bambi," Lucy said, leaning up off the couch. "That doesn't sound too bad actually." She took a deep breath and decided to make small talk with Levy. "So, how's that book you're reading?"

"Which one?" Levy asked. She usually read several books at once.

"You know the one Bambi got you," Lucy said. "I think it was called Zephyr through the Doorway."

"Oh, right! I'm about halfway through it. I think I'm going to get the next one in the series. Wanna borrow it when I'm done with it?" Levy asked.

"Sure," Lucy responded.

An awkward silence fell between the two women before Levy posed a question. "So, how are you and Bambi getting along?"

"Getting…along?"

"You know, relationship and all," Levy said.

"Oh! That! It's been better than it was at least. Bambi's certainly getting better at the relationship thing ever since we had that dinner. I scared her pretty good unintentionally though," Lucy said, laughing. "She thought I wanted to break up with her." Lucy put her hands on her knees and stared at the ceiling. "You know, it's nice to have someone to be around that cares about you the way Bambi cares about me. I think, knowing that, is enough to keep us together. I should find out when her birthday is, do something special."

"I'll find out for you. Knowing Bambi, if you asked, she'd either make demands of you in nothing but a ribbon in bed, or act like a child younger than Wendy and pester you if your question meant you were doing something special."

Lucy broke out into a fit of giggles. That sure sounded like her girlfriend all right. After calming down, her stomach grumbled a bit. She sank back against her couch. "Sure hope Bambi gets back with the food soon. I'm hungrier than I realized."

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Lucy sighed. "Can you get it?"

"It's your house. You get it," Levy said.

"I don't wanna," Lucy groaned.

"Maybe Bambi's arms are full," Levy said.

"If they were she'd be complaining about it," Lucy stated. Levy opened her mouth to protest, only to shut it and agree.

After the bell was rung a second time, Lucy marched up and answered the door with a yawn. Before her was a pale-skinned man about 5 and a half feet tall with black hair and no facial hair. He was dressed like a dapper gentleman with his suit and cravat. "Hey, if you're selling door to door goods," Lucy said. "Can you come back later? I'm exhausted."

The gentleman smiled, taking off his top hat. "My dear, I've no interest in selling goods. I was simply wondering if you'd let me into your home. You see, my feet are weary and they are still setting up my room at the hotel. Please, would you be a kindly neighbor and let me in?"

"Sure, I guess. There's a chair in the kitchen. Just don't touch anything," Lucy said. As long as he didn't ask for money, he could stay. Weirder things had happened around her. Besides, good karma never bit her before. She crossed back over to the couch, careful not to step on the now drooling, snoring Wendy in the middle of the floor like she was part of the furniture. Lucy let out a sigh of relief as she plopped down on the couch next to Levy.

"Who's Sir Can't Be Bothered to Go Out in the Sun a Lot?" Levy asked.

"He just needs a place to rest his feet for a couple of hours. His hotel room isn't ready," Lucy said. "It's no big deal. We're mages. We'll be fine."

"I guess," Levy said.

The man approached Lucy and Levy, bowing to them. "I want to thank you ladies for letting me into your humble home."

"Her home," Levy said, pointing to Lucy. "Not mine. I'm almost as much of a guest as you are."

The man chuckled. "Seems fortune favors the friendly."

Lucy shrugged. "Eh." She was too tired to be more hospitable.

"Perhaps I could ask for a small favor from you two," he said.

Oh boy, here it comes, Lucy said. Of course. Of course, a weary traveler would want something more. Give an egg and then they come back to the henhouse. Her dad always said that.

The man's eyes glowed a thick red. "Please strip for me, if you would."

Lucy and Levy's pupils turned red to match the sheen of the man's entire eyes. "Yes, master," they said in a drone-like state. They began to strip down to their bras and panties, standing almost nude in the middle of the living room. Wendy was still asleep behind the man, completely oblivious to the situation.

The man smiled more as his hair stood on end and his canine's extended. As he strode towards Lucy, he bore no reflection in the mirror on the side of the room opposite the door. He brushed a finger under her chin. "Hmmm, both of you are such fine young women, but I think I'll sample my larger bounty first. I'm a sucker for blondes."

The man stood behind Lucy and snaked his arms around her body. He slowly reached with his fangs for Lucy's throat, savoring the moment.

Suddenly the door was thrown wide open, slamming against the opposite wall. "HEY, GUY! WHATCHA DOIN'?!" Bambietta asked, glaring. She didn't have to have a read on the situation to know what was up. She'd sensed his reiatsu and sprinted ahead.

"What am I…doing?"

"What are you doing?!" Bambietta repeated.

"…nothing much."

"Drinking my girlfriend's blood?!"

"Drinking your girlfriend's blood?"

"ARE YOU?!"

"N-no…what do I look like to you, a vampire?"

"Bambietta pointed to the mirror on the other side of the room. "No reflection, kind of a dead giveaway."

The vampire gulped. "Ummmmm-"

Bambietta glared at it. "I'm gonna fucking kill you."

"Oh…oh yeah! One false move," he said, grabbing the hypnotized Lucy by her cheeks, "And…and I'll snap her neck! You can't stop me."

"Oh no, threats of neck snapping if I move a single muscle, my one weakness," Bambietta said facetiously. "Oh wait," she said, snapping her fingers as a yellow bolt tore through the window in the shape of an energy rope and bound the vampire in place, Bambietta using Hirenkyaku to grab Lucy before the vampire knew what was what. "It's not!"

Wendy started to wake up from the noise and didn't have much time to get her bearings before Bambietta whistled like it was a dog call. Wendy then bolted to her feet as Bambietta grabbed the vampire by the arm and threw him out the open door.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy shouted. She kept the blast condensed until it was outside, upon which it expanded into a massive tornado and launched the vampire skyward. He tried to turn into a bat and fly away, but Bambietta met him in the air, fingers curled like a claw as her entire arm glowed bright blue.

"Wha-what the-" The vampire tried to speak, but it was simply far to late.

"Atomiiiiiiic…" Bambietta said as she opened her fingers and spread her palm wide, "Blast!"

A powerful condensed ray of blue energy blasted into the vampire's face, shredding skin off his skull and then fully disintegrating him. Bambietta then dropped completely to the ground and dusted off her skirt.

"Dumbass!"


After a chance to recover and put their clothes back on, Bambietta quickly explained the situation to Lucy and Levy, finishing off with. "Man, you guys got vampires too? And he could survive in sunlight? Well, at least he didn't sparkle."

Wendy, not getting the joke, could only think of a vampire completely covered in glitter.

Levy was slightly more concerned however. "Bambi, don't think I'm not grateful that you rescued us and all that, but how did you do that so easily?"

"Whatdya mean?" Bambietta asked her.

"Vampires are magic resistant. In short, magic can still hurt them, but the effect is lessened by about half or more depending on their age, experience and strength."

"Oh, that," Bambietta said with a knowing smile. She opened a drawer and began taking things out. "Where is that dusty old thing?" She asked. As she looked for it, she explained, "Quincys specialized in hunting vampires for hundreds of years. Hell, we almost succeeded in making them extinct." She stopped her explanation as she exclaimed. "Aha!" she grabbed a thick, leather bound book and held it up. The characters at the top read "The International Quincy Vampire Hunting Guide" "It's all thanks to this baby," she said, patting the thick 400+ page book.

"Soul Reapers as well can also cure vampirism if it's brand new, but these types of enemies were typically left to the Quincy to deal with given they're considered the problem of the world of the living," Rukia stated.

Bambietta cracked open the book. "Man, this thing and I go waaaay back," she said. She looked at the contents of the random page. "Warning, beware of a vampire dressed all in red wearing sunglasses at night and wielding guns. Death imminent." She snapped the book shut. "Eh, whatever. I'm sure I could handle a fashion victim like that. Now then," she said, putting the book back. "The pizzas we ordered should be ready soon. One pepperoni, one sausage, one spinach, one deep dish plain, and a little something we called Hawaiian back in my old guild."

"What's Hawaiian?" Levy asked.

"Oh, it's the best!" Bambietta exclaimed. "You put ham and pineapple on the same pizza."

"That…sounds…interesting," Levy said.

"That sounds disgusting!" Lucy shouted.

"It's good!" Bambietta protested.

"It's an abomination. Why would you ruin a perfectly good pizza with fruit?"

"The noblewoman is telling me about weird food combinations? Don't people in your social class sometimes eat hot peppers with ice cream or should I bring up the abomination that is caviar?"

"I'm not putting that on pizza!" Lucy shouted.

"Natsu eats it," Bambietta said.

"Natsu will eat anything!" Lucy shot back.

The two continued to argue as their roommates, and guest, shuffled out the door to go get the pies.

In the end, surprisingly, Lucy ended up liking the pizza.


The next morning, when Erza Scarlet woke up, it was to a most delicious aroma. She motioned to get out of bed, but something heavy was in her lap: a thick iron tray. And sitting on the tray was a plate of strawberry pancakes with icing and maple syrup, piled high with freshly washed strawberries, stuffed French toast, and a strawberry cheesecake crepe. A knife, fork and napkin, a glass of milk, and a glass of orange juice were already prepared for her to enjoy.

Erza stared at the bounty before her, wondering where it had come from before feeling something move by her right arm. She leaned to one side to see Liltotto on her knees, snoring. Erza smiled, reaching out to pat her Liltotto's head. For the moment, she ignored her breakfast and remembered her chat with the small quincy from about a week ago.


A little bit past dinner, just as Erza was scraping off the bones on her plate into the garbage can, the owner of Magnolia's biggest pub wandered into Fairy Tail's guild hall and he looked rather frantic.

"Please help me," he whined. "There's a bunch of ruffians making a mess of my bar."

Erza glared hard. "Not on my watch." She tossed her hair with her hand to one side and strode out the door. "I'll take my payment in a whole strawberry cake," she said.

"Ah, yes, thank you Miss Scarlet," the old man said, holding his hands together in prayer.

Erza wandered into the bar and immediately took general note of the scene. The waitresses were being skirt chased, tables and chairs were broken, and beer was being poured by said ruffians with no money going into the cash register.

"By order of I, Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail, you will all be swiftly punished!" Erza shouted.

Complete chaos could be heard just outside the bar where Liltotto Lamperd was curled up on two ratty blankets, using a half-full sandbag as a pillow. She could hear bone hitting bone and bodies breaking wood as she pulled the sandbag over her head face-down on the street. It was hard enough sleeping on the street. The last thing she needed was more noise. Men screaming like little girls about as young as she looked didn't help matters.

Liltotto growled, eventually getting up to give these loud mouths a piece of her mind. However, by the time she got in the front door, the grown men all had lumps on their heads, stacked in a pile with industrial strength rope tying them all down. The waitresses were dutifully sweeping and fixing all the broken glass and one was serving Erza cake.

"Erza?" Liltotto was confused at first, but quickly put the pieces together.

"Oh, Liltotto," Erza said with a friendly smile and patted the stool next to her. "Come, sit."

"O-okay," Liltotto said as she cautiously sat on the stool next to the strongest woman in Fairy Tail.

"One more cake," Erza said, holding up a finger to the waitress.

"Certainly," the woman replied and plated up an entire strawberry cake for Liltotto.

"Ah, w-wait, I-I didn't…" Liltotto began to protest only for her skull to collide with Erza's breastplate.

"It's fine. Treat yourself," Erza said, rubbing Liltotto's head affectionately. "It's on me today…well…on my hard work to be precise."

"But…" Liltotto stared at the cake miserably. She didn't want cake. She didn't deserve cake, even if she was hungry.

Unfortunately, while Erza failed to notice Liltotto's misery at first, something else bothered her immediate vicinity.

"What smells like garbage?"

Liltotto froze. Uh oh. She should probably leave, like…now, except that would be really suspicious.

Erza looked at Liltotto and sniffed the area above her head so as not to be completely intrusive.

"Um…had a very rough mission earlier this morning. Got too close to a cyclops, haven't had a chance to shower up. You know what they're like."

Erza had never known a cyclops to smell like rotten banana peels, but she let it slide. Still… "Then, as soon as we are done eating, we'll go back to Fairy Hills and you can use my shower."

"Um, th-that's not…a-are you sure…I-I can just do it how I usually do it."

CLANG!

Liltotto's head collided with Erza's armor again.

Thank god I have Blut vene, Liltotto thought, otherwise I might have a concussion by now.

"Nonsense," the red head said, petting her head. "A bath between girls is meant to be a way to build the bonds of friendship tighter, or so Mira has said."

Liltotto began stuttering incoherently. "That's…really…nice, but I really hate to impose. I don't…deserve it."

"My apologies!" Erza said, swinging her head down towards Liltotto. "I must be being too forward in my approach. We do not have to shower together."

Phew, Liltotto thought.

"However," Erza said, standing up, fist firmly on her chest over her heart, "Poor hygiene is simply unacceptable! I will make sure you shower tonight and sleep soundly for eight hours!"

"I…" Liltotto tried to think of a rebuttal, but all that came out was a miserable, "I don't deserve it."

Erza's first instinct was to continue her overly friend magnanimous approach to forging the bonds of friendship, but before she could act, she was able to see the subtle nuance in Liltotto's behavior. Something was clearly wrong. "…You still haven't touched your cake," Erza said.

"Well, I…"

"Is something wrong?" Erza asked. "You can tell me." She sat down and faced Liltotto, hands in her lap. "I promise to listen."

Liltotto sighed. "I don't…I don't have a place to stay. You know, you know how my power works, right? I don't have enough money to rent because of all the food I eat."

"What kind of jobs have you been taking? You've been recommended for S-class so there shouldn't be a job on the first floor you aren't capable of doing, many could pay for a month's rent at Fairy Hills twice over and that's just one day's worth of work."

Liltotto looked away from Erza and stared at her hands in her lap.

"Lil, I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"I don't want help," Liltotto mumbled.

"Pardon?" Erza could barely hear her.

"I don't want help, okay!" Liltotto shouted, staring at Erza, not realizing that tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. "I don't deserve it! I don't deserve any of this kindness! Do you know what it's like looking at your former best friend everyday knowing you could've done something to help them out and you did nothing? I know she's said she's forgiven me! I know she's always acting friendly around me! I don't know how true that is! I don't think she means it! I don't blame her one bit!"

Erza's friendly disposition faded into a look of concern. She vaguely knew about the sour history between Bambietta and her former guild members, but she wasn't privy to the specifics. And she'd failed to notice Liltotto's guilt over it all. Erza damned her obliviousness, even though it was far from her fault. Liltotto had intentionally hid it well until just now.

"And it's not just her…I couldn't do anything to save Candice from Captain Kuchiki! I knocked out Meninas and the Aschwallen killed her! The only one I could save was someone I should've let die in the first place! I just thought if we just went…along with Giselle's plan I could just delay the inevitable and wish her back once everything was over. We could start over. We could be a family again. I just…I just…" Liltotto couldn't talk anymore and buried her face into Erza's armored chest.

Erza calmed her guild member as a mother would a crying child. She waited until Liltotto had completely stopped crying.

"Feel better?"

"No," Liltotto answered, sniffing, staring down towards Erza's skirt.

Erza sighed inwardly and pat Liltotto on the head. "I don't know what happened between you and Bambietta, but I've known her for a bit longer than I've known you, and I think she's sincerely appreciative that you've apologized and tried to do better for her." Erza hesitated before continuing. She didn't know if the next words out of her mouth should leave her brain, but…Liltotto had opened up to her. Erza felt it was only fair to do the same.

"I was once betrayed by someone very close to me as well. I think…I think if he thoroughly apologized, was truly sorry, and tried to atone, I could probably forgive him as well. Because I'm the one who abandoned the rest of my friends and left them all behind…in order to save myself. But…there are others…who helped me escape and wanted me to live freely. If I punished myself, I could never look the others in the eye when I did my best to set things right." Erza pat Liltotto on the head a few more times. "You are lucky. You only hurt a few. The ones I hurt…the ones I feel guilty towards…are too many to count. My past will eventually catch up with me, yours already has, and you're doing something about it. In that way…I envy you."

Liltotto stared blankly at Erza. The words "envy", she felt, should never come out of Erza's mouth in between the words "I" and "you".

"If you want to see, truly, if Bambietta is faking it or not," she said, putting her hands on Liltotto's shoulders, "If my words are not good enough to take at their utterance, then spend a day with her, alone. Try to act like things are normal. Do something dangerous, make a mistake. If you're truly friends, she'll stand by you…and I know you'll stand by her too."

"Do you really…mean that? Do you really think she…feels that way? I'm sorry I just…I find that really hard to believe."

"There's only one way to find out," Erza told her.

"But I'm…"

Erza flicked Liltotto in the forehead. "Don't make so many assumptions. If you don't try, you'll never know the answer. A wise old mage once said, I fail one hundred percent of the quests I don't take."

"I…I'll give it a try."

Liltotto had time to fortify her Blut Vene when her head collided into Erza's chest again. She'd seen it coming this time.

"That's the spirit! Now have some cake and I'll walk you home."

Liltotto gulped, but…by now she was too hungry to argue. The cake looked really yummy.

She and Erza left less than thirty minutes later and both were out the door and into the streets. "So," Erza said, "Which way?"

"Um, it's…um…over there…" Liltotto pointed loosely. "I'll…uh…I can see it from here…heh…" Liltotto began walking towards a random building before Erza grabbed her shoulder firmly.

"Please don't lie to me, Lil. After everything we've been through tonight," Erza said, the two parallel to each other.

"I…" Lil sighed deeply. "I don't have a home."

"I see," Erza said, only for her brain to suddenly realize what Liltotto said. "Wait…what?" Erza was decisively confused. "But…no…that's not possible…you were…I saw you…" Erza began tracing a mental image on her palm as if trying to recall that she had to have seen or heard Liltotto go home or at the very least use a hotel room, or know that someone else had been to her home. However, realization set in, no one in Fairy Tail knew where Liltotto went after the guild closed everything except for its "Serve Yourself Bar".

"I'm honestly surprised no one found out sooner," Liltotto said. "It suited me fine though. I just thought I was so beneath everyone's notice that no one cared."

"I care," Erza said, "We all care. And no more sleeping outside," she said. "Come," Erza scooped Liltotto up under her arm, the blonde suddenly feeling like a hauled log.

"W-wait a sec...wh-what are you?"

"I suppose if you have nowhere else to go, we could be roommates. My room is excessively big for storage, but there's enough room for a guest until you can find your own." Erza then began walking.

"Erza, wait, that's really not necessary."

Erza held Liltotto up by the back of her shirt in front of her. She then gave Liltotto one of her famous glares. "You will not stay homeless. If you need money we can help. Understand?"

It was amazing how Liltotto had been on the receiving end of As Nodt's Fear during training and yet Erza's glare seemed to transcend fear itself. Liltotto felt that disobedience would result in a bunch of sharp, pointy objects being in places on her body they shouldn't be.

"Y-yes, Erza," Liltotto said, gulping.

Erza then switched her glare to a smile and flipped Liltotto around and up onto her back, giving her a piggyback ride with Liltotto's legs on either of Erza's shoulders. "Excellent," Erza said, her grip like vice, indicating she had no intention of letting Liltotto go or fall. "Let's go."


Erza pet Liltotto's head. The Quincy had been living with her since that night and seemed extremely grateful over it. The breakfast in bed thing was new. Erza pet Liltotto like she was a cat or a dog she owned and then began eating.

Erza was almost finished when a loud knock came to her door, waking Liltotto up. Erza quickly shoved the last of her pancakes in her mouth and chased it down with orange juice. "Come in," she said. The person at the door was Cana.

"Oh, Cana," Erza said. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, we've got a bit of a situation at the guild hall. How fast can you get ready? Mira sent me to fetch you."

"Must be serious," Erza said. "Ten minutes…no, I can make it in five."

"Ten minutes should be fine. It's not that much of a rush."

Okay, that indicated that no one was injured at least and that the council wasn't breathing down their necks. "Lil, get up," Erza said. "We've got work to do."


After a pair of rushed showers and the minimal amount of makeup, Erza and Liltotto walked into the halls of Fairy Tail with Cana. Erza noticed how most of Fairy Tail's male members had left on missions for the day, including Natsu, but most of the women were standing around gossiping.

Knowing her resources, Erza casually leaned over the bar on her elbow. Mirajane, noticing her, slid down the bar, scrubbing a plate clean. Quietly, the redhead said to her friend and fellow S-class mage, "What's going on?"

"Vampire attacks," Mirajane stated. "They've been after our female members since last night," Mirajane told her.

"Any deaths or crippling injuries?" Erza asked.

"Nothing that Porlyusica can't fix," Mirajane told her. "We seem to be pretty strong in spite of that though."

Erza nodded and then looked around the room. "Where are Bambietta, Lucy, Wendy and Rukia?" she asked.

Before Mirajane could answer, Bambietta barged in, seeing everyone standing around chit-chatting. She had had every intention to go over to the job board and grab something, but the commotion and the unusually disproportionate female to male ratio in the guild made her realize something was up.

"Sooooo, are we planning a girl's night out or something?" Bambietta asked. "Cause I'm all for that!" Lucy lay a gentle smack with the side of her pinky against the back of Bambietta's head. "Ow."

Levy turned towards the quartet. "You guys haven't heard yet? There were vampire attacks all around Magnolia last night."

"Wait! We weren't the only ones?" Bambietta exclaimed, loud enough for Erza to hear. "What's going on? Some kind of vampire and wizard war? Cause if so, let me grab my d20 and some wooden stakes."

Lucy sighed, shaking her head, and trying not to laugh.

"No, not exactly," Erza said, approaching. "Most vampires these days are actually peaceful. They drink animal blood to avoid drawing the ire of wizards. However, judging from this, it appears the rogue affiliation, the Karat Fang, are on the move."

"You recognize them?" Lucy asked.

Erza nodded. "They're the only rogue vampire squadron within 10 kilometers of Magnolia. Additionally, they've tried to attack Fairy Tail before. I wasn't even S-class the last time they showed up, but Master sent them all scurrying back to their homes. I imagine they think that with him gone, they can return to seek their revenge."

"Wooooooow, these guys do not do their research, do they?" Bambietta asked rhetorically.

Erza let fly a self-assured smile. "Certainly not."

"Well, wait," Liltotto said. "We weren't attacked. Why was everyone else?"

"Oh? That? That's because the last time they showed up, even though Makarov made them all flee in terror, I stabbed one of them in the mouth and out the throat."

It's scary how she says that with a straight face like she's proud of it, Lucy thought.

"Neat, but there can't be much left of them, right? I mean, I killed mine," Bambietta stated.

"Most of us only had enough power to drive them away," Cana said. "Even animals know not to stick out their noses where it hurts."

"True that," Bambietta replied.

"Drive them away? I seduced mine," Mira said. She licked the tip of her middle finger, looking like some kind of deranged witch as she looked at the others. "He was tasty."

"Wait…so did she eat it or—"

"NotinfrontofWendy!" Bambietta exclaimed quickly, cutting Levy off. The quincy then looked at Lil, having been disturbed by the look on Mirajane's face. She leaned over to the short quincy. "So, when I was…you know…was I ever…?"

"You were bad, but I've never seen you look like that," Liltotto said.

Bambietta visibly and audibly shuddered.

"Listen up!" Erza exclaimed, standing on a table. "Those of you that have been here as long as I have or longer know about these creatures. Without Master Makarov around, these monsters of the night will no doubt be back, bringing stronger forces within their ranks to devour our lives and our magic. To ensure that this does not happen, I'm invoking a strict 7pm curfew for those of you that aren't going out of town for jobs. Any woman planning on leaving out of town must bring a communication lacrima and at least one other member of the guild, male or female, doesn't matter. I will be discussing the situation with the town mayor to ensure civilian safety. I won't consider it a war, but battle may come to our doorstep and we cannot allow the innocent to get hurt."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement on this, as they nodded in unison.

"Wait, why a curfew? How does that help? Why not just plot a sentry in town and rough 'em up?" Bambietta asked.

"Vampires can't enter anyone's house without being invited in," Stella said to her. "Don't you know that?"

Bambietta looked dumbfounded. "Wait, seriously? I thought that was just in the movies."

Stella, Cana, and Laki all nodded at her.

Bambietta put her hands over her face and hung her head at the floor, mouth uncovered. "Oh my god, that's so lame," she said in a loud, strained whisper.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"No," Bambietta replied. "No, I am not." She picked her head up. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. At least they still don't sparkle when exposed to sunlight."

Levy and Lucy both gave Bambietta an estranged look.

"You don't want to know," Bambietta said, shaking her head. "Right then, enough about those fangy bi…" She almost forgot Wendy was standing there. "Bipeds!" she said, swapping the last word. "Who's ready to get to work?"


Elsewhere, in a cave tucked into the foothills of a mountain, there was a small wooden door. Behind it was a staircase that burrowed down and around like a spiral into a spacious lair underneath the ground. This was the base of operations of the Karat Fang, the vampires currently hounding Fairy Tail.

Four tall pillars were erect in the corners of the spacious cavern, reaching up to the ceiling. Tiled flooring lay the groundwork for the elegant, underground, torchlit base.

Standing near an altar, fangs dyed red as he feasted on an already dead woman's body, sucking her blood out through the neck, was a blond, blue skinned, knife-earred vampire with stubby legs, a regal red robe and cape, and nails that wouldn't look out of place on a dragon.

This was Judusha, the current head of the Karat Fang.

"Master Judusha," A purple skinned, bald vampire with an outrageous goatee and sideburns called out as he approached the blue demon, "Reports from the surface."

Judusha turned his attention to his underling, Tara, setting his feast down. "Speak, Tara."

Tara got down on one knee, "Sir, our hunt was a massive failure. The Fairy Tail Wizards proved stronger than we could've imagined and Erza Scarlet has bolstered Magnolia's defenses. She is not taking the bait, sire."

"Disappointing, but not wholly unexpected."

"There's more, Serzas was killed in battle. The rest of us were able to flee," Tara stated.

"Serzas…Serzas…oh, was he the one with the long hair and the funny nose?" Judusha asked.

"No, sir, you're thinking of Dalka before he cut his hair off," Tara responded.

"Oh, yes, yes, now I remember. All within acceptable parameters then," Judusha said with a fiendishly evil smile. "Still. We, as a close-knit clan, cannot allow this act of violence to go unabated. If our bait has failed, we simply need more bait."

"Sir, with all due respect, why are you so fixated on the human mage girl? We have other queens to bolster our ranks, none of which you sent into battle if memory serves."

Judusha remembered the attack on Magnolia from years ago, smiling as he thought of it. "When all the other wizards cowered in fear, that one stood by her master and killed one of our own. I saw it all. And I've kept an eye on her with clairvoyance. She's powerful, Tara, more powerful than any mage I've ever laid eyes upon. She will be our greatest queen. She is already terrifyingly strong, a powerful mage like that under the thumb of the Karat Fang would allow us to completely take this country over little by little. The Vampire will become the dominant species."

"Then, permit me to speak freely…"

"Permission granted," Judusha responded.

"Why don't we draw out the one that killed Serzas? Our scouts reported that she seems to have emotional weaknesses and close ties to Miss Scarlet. While we don't want all of Fairy Tail raiding our lovely lair, a small squadron would not be unstoppable."

"How small of a squadron?" Judusha asked.

"At worst, seven with no officially titled S-class support."

"See it done, Tara," Judusha responded after a bit of pondering. "I leave this entirely in your hands."

"Yes, sir," Tara said and vanished like mist.

Judusha sucked out the remaining blood of his long dead feast and then waved a hand over a crystal ball, showing Erza minding her own business in a pub somewhere, having dinner. "Erza Scarlet, your blood, and your essence will be so…" He bared his fangs, "Delicious."


Bambietta Basterbine was famously known for her explosions, foul mouth, and visceral joy in spilling the blood of her enemies. Less known was her consistent love for all things pop culture, more than a dozen of which had resulted in mind-numbingly long lectures from Haschwalth—and not all of them worth the price of admission.

So, given what she knew about horror movies, she felt it best to corral an extra party member in her already cramped home, Liltotto Lamperd, in order to better protect Lucy from the looming threat of vampires.

"In movies, it's always the damsel in distress archetype that gets attacked first, as well as previously targeted victims," Bambietta had reasoned.

"Can't Lucy take care of herself," Liltotto had responded.

"Well…yeah, but she's often always in trouble more than she is able to get herself out of trouble. And…you know," she said, rounding her hands to show the cup size difference between her and Lucy, "her curves. And she's a blonde."

Liltotto shook her head. "You watch too many movies."

"Hey! You say that now, but who's going to save your ass when the Facehuggers finally decide to drop egg-shaped plants all over the country?"

Liltotto sighed, realizing further argument was pointless.

So that was how it had been for the last six hours, Liltotto missing Erza's company by the second, but feeling more than confident that Erza wouldn't be caught unawares by anything. Bambietta paced back and forth in front of the door like a sentinel, willing to sacrifice sleep for one night—or two…or three…maybe upwards of five—if it meant keeping her Lucy safe.

"You know, pacing makes you age faster due to stress," Liltotto said from the couch, bored.

Bambietta merely rolled her eyes sarcastically and gave no verbal response.

"You know, in all your attempts to, in your words, give a giant middle finger to horror tropes, I'm surprised you haven't brought up the classics."

"Classics? You mean the original Dracula?" Bambietta asked.

"Mmmhmm."

"How does that relate?"

"Oh, I don't know," Liltotto said sarcastically, "Maybe because Dracula's first female victim in the novel goes by Lucy."

It took a few seconds for the gears in Bambietta's brain to turn fast enough to connect the dots, but once they did, she shouted, "OVER MY DEAD BODY THEY'LL TAKE MY LUCY!"

"Hey!" Lucy snapped, throwing her door open, "I'm all for you protecting me, but how about protecting my need to sleep too while you're at it!"

"Sorry," Bambietta replied sheepishly.

Lucy then shut the door and went back to her bed.

"Smooth," Liltotto said sarcastically with a smirk.

"Zip it," Bambietta shot back, blushing.

Another couple of hours passed before real conversation finally started up again. Rukia was in the kitchen making herself a midnight snack—melted cheese and ham on crackers with a tall glass of milk—but everyone else was asleep except for Bambietta and Liltotto. The Reigai then sat at the kitchen table with her snack and munched away as she observed the two quincies chat away.

"Hey, Lil," Bambi said in a sing-song voice, grabbing something from under the pull-out bed. "Look what I got."

Lil looked at the scroll Bambi had clenched in her hand and said with no mirth or joy. "Oh, yippee, a ratty piece of crumpled paper you hid under the bed. What are you, a cat?"

"Oh Lil," Bambi said, not falling for the provocation of her friend's snark, "So naïve in the ways of the world. This isn't just any piece of paper. It's a job request." Bambi unfurled it. "Ta-da!"

Lil couldn't read the fine print, but she did see the big red S on the lower right side of the scroll, indicating it was an S-class mission. "You stole an S-class mission posting from the job board again?" she asked in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"I sure did. I'm gonna complete it and then Fairy Taill will have to recognize that I have the qualifications to be an S-class mage," Bambietta boasted.

"Bambi, that's a terrible idea."

"Screw you, this idea is great! It's just monster extermination for an S-class beast out in the middle of nowhere. Easy! It's not like it's Godzilla or Gamera or anything. I'm not even near the ocean."

Liltotto sighed. "You always do things like this without thinking."

"Nonono, I've thought this one through this time. All I gotta do is kill the monster and bring back proof of its demise. Erza's done it dozens of times."

"You're not Erza."

"You're right! I'm better!" Bambietta boasted.

Liltotto was beginning to lose her patience with Bambietta's arrogance and pride. "This is exactly why we left you behind when the war started! You're so gung-ho about everything!"

She regretted the words almost as soon as they left her mouth and Bambietta's response only made it worse. "Yeah? Well maybe if you didn't do that, I wouldn't have died in the first place!"

Bambietta's words stung far more than she realized. She watched Liltotto get up and run out of the house, door open and swaying before Bambietta even realized she was gone.

"Yeah, that's right, you better run, you no-good friend abandoner!" Bambietta shouted into the dead of night. "Hmph!" she exclaimed and slammed the door.

"You know," Rukia said, eating her snack. "Maybe you should cool that temper of yours a little."

"Please, what's a fake soul reaper know?" Bambietta asked.

"I'm going to ignore the fake part," Rukia responded, given she was trying to help. "Sometimes when people are angry, they say things they don't mean and hurt others' feelings. I've done it. Renji's done it. Nii-sama's done it, though he's better at hiding it."

"What the hell is your point?" Bambietta snapped.

"My point is, Bambietta Basterbine," Rukia said, rising from the table. "Is that your thoughtless argument just sent your so-called reinforcements into the dead of night, alone, to be preyed upon, breaking Erza's covenant of the buddy system. If something happens to Liltotto, it will be your fault."

"Pssssh," Bambietta brushed off. "Liltotto's fine. She can handle a measly vampire. …Right?"

Rukia didn't have to say anything more. Bambietta's guilt and paranoia got the better of her and she went skulking into the night to look for her friend. They'd buried the hatchet, so why the hell had she called her a friend abandoner? Frustrated, Bambietta searched all over Magnolia for Liltotto, but the blonde was exceptionally clever at hiding her reiatsu. When she didn't want to be found, Liltotto was a master of making sure she wasn't.

"And this is why I stopped playing hide and seek in Silburn," Bambietta stated, looking around frantically and coming up empty.

Bambietta, fortunately for Liltotto, didn't know her friend well enough to know where Liltotto would go in a time of crisis. If not to Erza's side, then Liltotto's next choice would be Natsu. She knew Erza would force her and Bambietta to make up and she really didn't want that right now. She needed Natsu. She needed him to stand by her and tell Bambietta to shut up and apologize. His hotheadedness and warmth could be really helpful to her right now. His strong arms, his kind eyes his…

Liltotto slapped her cheeks, blushing, realizing she was drifting off in an unintended direction. She and Natsu were friends, nothing more. That's how it had to be. That's what she deserved.

Unfortunately, while Liltotto was a master of not wanting to be found, that sentiment was completely different from being stumbled upon, which is how she suddenly found herself surrounded by five vampires. Having not been watching her movements or casting our her reiatsu sensory, she'd completely failed to notice that she'd been followed and, worse, ambushed.

Still, Liltotto wasn't about to take the ambush lying down. Flaring her reiatsu, she manifested her bow and said to them. "Bring it."

The first vampire lunged at Liltotto from her 2 o' clock position. Remorselessly, she fired an arrow that hit it square in the chest, burning a hole in its pectorals, but the vampire got right back up.

Impossible, an attack like that should've evaporated it on the spot.

From behind, three of the vampires tried to dogpile Liltotto at once. Turning her head, Liltotto glanced at them with a bored expression, only to use Hirenkyaku and disappeared from view. Unbeknownst to the vampires, since Liltotto was moving so fast she could not be seen by them, she'd rushed to the left and then made a sharp turn like the corner of a triangle and now all five vampires were in front of her.

Taking aim, she fired another arrow. The shot hit one of the vampires square in the head and this seemed to kill it.

Strange, isn't the heart supposed to be the most precious organ to any given vampire? Oh well, headshots it is. Firing like a professional archer, Liltotto let loose a steady volley at these masters of the undead, pelting them with arrows. Using strafing tactics taught to her in the Vandenreich, she gained ground while making solid strikes against her foes. Their claws and teeth couldn't get close to her. She had full control over the battlefield.

And then, a goopy glob of dark magic came hurtling towards her. Liltotto used Hirenkyaku to get out of the way.

Casting spells? That's different. But, just add what you know about Shinigami kido to the battle, Liltotto told herself.

She then almost didn't notice when another ball of magic was dropping down on her from above. She leapt back and up into the air, firing an arrow at the ground, which exploded into a small shockwave and caused the vampires to recoil and hold their ground. However, a shadow then loomed behind Liltotto and she realized the error she made.

Flight! And I thought that one was dead!

Pivoting her body to focus on the enemy behind her, she fired an arrow down the monster's throat. The resulting clash between the vampire's internal organs and the pure power of her quincy blood caused the monster to explode from within into black dust.

One down, four to go. Using Hirenkyaku while still in midair, Liltotto perched on a nearby tree as the vampires lobbed multiple dark magic attack balls at her. She abandoned her post from the tree and began flanking around the vampires, now with her back in the direction of Natsu's house. The pathway was slightly slopped and she was on higher ground. Good. That gave her momentum.

Turning her body, she held one arm out behind her and manifested her spiritual melee weapon: a saw-toothed long sword. But this was no ordinary saw-toothed sword. With a little bit of spiritual power imbued into it, the teeth rotated. The weapon resembled Selee Schinder, but it had a proper handle and guard, making it designed entirely for melee purposes. It also did not have the same properties as its vibratory arrow counterpart. It was just a violent cutting tooth, like Liltotto's teeth.

Rushing down the hill, one arm in front of her mouth, body leaned forward to reduce air drag, Liltotto tore forward and spun in a circle when she was surrounded, sending her foes flying back with her reiatsu and the feeling of their blood staining her sword. Her foes were injured, but no less ready to continue fighting.

Using Hirenkyaku, Liltotto was able to dodge the incoming blasts of dark energy that surrounded her. Weaving around her foes, she made it towards the one she was facing directly and momentarily activated Blut Arterie, slicing through her opponent with significant ease. Her foe's spine and arms were severed, reducing him to naught but ash.

"Such incredible skill for such a small lady," one of the vampires, who appeared to be the leader, said.

"Well, you know what they say," Liltotto said as she turned back to face the other vampires. "Powerful things come in small packages."

The remaining vampires began pelting Liltotto with dark energy blasts as she cut through them all with her sword and then dashed towards the remaining monsters. They dispersed from her charge, surprising her.

Huh?

She then felt the icy touch of undeath at the back of her neck.

Pivoting quickly, Liltotto retreated away from her enemies and held her shoulder that still had goosebumps on it. What the hell was that? And why am I… she panted, suddenly breathing heavily.

"It appears to be working," the leader vampire said.

Liltotto only then noticed that the moon was shining down directly onto the battlefield. I was careless. She knew as well as any other quincy that a vampire's power could be amplified under direct moonlight.

"Has your energy finally begun to dwindle little girl?"

Liltotto twitched at being called Little Girl. Angrily, she launched her blade threw the skull of one of the remaining vampires, killing it instantly.

"You've discarded your weapon," the lead vampire said.

"A good tactician always knows never to throw something away you can't get back easily." Liltotto snapped her fingers and her blade was back in her hand. "Don't call me "little girl"."

The lead vampire snickered. "I see, there are certainly powerful wizards among Fairy Tail these days. You will be the first to join our legion."

"Sorry, not interested," Liltotto said and then charged towards her foe with tremendous speed. However, the opposing vampire surprisingly blocked her swing with a font of energy manifested from his hand in the form of a blade.

Liltotto immediately thought to back away, but the other still alive vampire was now behind her and he cast a spell that completely immobilized her.

Eh?

With her reiatsu diminished by the glow of the moon and the vampires having silently been casting curses all over the area, Liltotto had been far more careless than she realized. She immediately activated Blut Vene since that didn't require movement, but the vampire before her was far more interested in keeping her alive than harming her.

She could sense dark energy emanating from his blank white eyes. Hypnosis? No! Impossible! I'm a quincy! Quincies can't be hypnotized by vampires!

That, however, was only true in part. Quincies were ordinarily immune to vampire hypnosis, but that was due to a combination of will and reiatsu and not only had Lil's reiatsu been diminished, her self-loathing had severely cut her willpower to the point that these vampires could hypnotize her.

Liltotto tried to mount a mental defense, but her will was overturned as magenta and violet energy began to form inside her pupils, an indication that she'd fallen under vampiric control.

"What should we do with her now, Master Tara?" the vampire that had immobilized Liltotto asked its master.

"We'll take her back to our abode and convert her there," the vampire replied.

"Yes, sir."

Then, with a magic spell, the two vampires and Liltotto were transported instantaneously back to their hideout. Mere seconds after they disappeared, Bambietta came running onto the scene. She could sense the reiatsu all over the place. Battle had definitely happened here and the dense reiatsu was too volatile to tell exactly what had happened. Bambietta wasn't exactly cut out for reiatsu play by play. To her, the leftover reiatsu just felt like she'd found a garbage can dumped on its side and couldn't tell what had been thrown away in what order by the contents all over the floor.

What Bambietta did know was that Natsu was farther down the road, or at least his house was. While she didn't detect any of his energy here, she figured he was probably asleep.

Lil's probably on her way there now. Yeah, like I thought. Nothing to worry about, Bambietta said and headed for home. I'll apologize tomorrow, she thought, not realizing the horrible error in judgment she'd just made.


Upon arriving in the hideout, Tara lay Liltotto's body on the altar for her to be converted into one of the Karat Fang's unholy horde.

"Well done, Tara," Judusha said. "Is this the one?"

"Yes, this is the girl that ties that Serzas' killer and Erza together," he answered.

"Mara, why don't you do what you're best at?" Judusha asked a female vampire with purple skin and plum colored hair.

"Yes, my lord," the vampire woman responded. She approached Liltotto and opened her mouth, revealing her sharp fangs as she sunk them into the small woman's neck, sucking up quite a bit of blood, but not too much as to kill her. However, when Mara swallowed the blood she sucked out, before she could begin the next step, her entire body wracked with pain. Stumbling back and groaning, Mara panted before letting out a loud scream and exploding from the outside inward in a flashy blue light until nothing was left of her but her skeleton, which then turned into dust.

The other members of Karat Fang all backed away from the smoldering ashes.

"A saint mage?" Tara questioned.

"Interesting," Judusha said. "Fairy Tail has anti-vampire mages at their disposal. It seems we won't be able to convert this one after all." He snapped his fingers. "Someone get a vase for Mara's ashes. We'll conduct the funeral the day after tomorrow."

Two vampires shuffled off to the pottery room to grab the appropriate object.

"What do we do with her now, Master Judusha?" Tara asked.

"My dear Tara, there are far more uses for a vampire hunter than converting them into a vampire. Someone bring me a photo taking grimoire. I believe we have just the bait necessary to lure Erza Scarlet out."


The next morning, Erza Scarlet performed her usual routine of getting out of bed, showering before anything else, fixing her hair, and putting on her Heart Kreuz armor with requip once she was completely dry. She found it weird at first that Liltotto was nowhere in sight, only to remember that she'd stayed over Bambietta's house to help protect Lucy.

Erza smiled as she remembered this, figuring that Bambietta and Liltotto were bound to fix things between them after the discussion she and Liltotto had. Unfortunately, that couldn't have been further from the truth unless one had killed the other the night before.

Going through the motions, Erza made her way to Fairy Hills' front desk with her mailbox key to fetch her mail for the morning. Among the usual fanmail she received regularly, Erza found an unmarked envelope that just said "Erza" on it in rather occult script. Erza wondered if the letter could be one of those spam letters that contained a curse within, but those usually got vetted by the Magic Council before they ever made it out of the postal service to individual guild halls. Figuring it was probably safe, but still keeping her guard up, Erza opened the letter. The contents made her want to strangle the nearest living being.

Her face was contorted with rage with a picture of Liltotto in the dungeon of the Karat Fang group's hideout, lying on her side, her eyes clearly hypnotized with the word "Help" scrawled on the image.

Erza crunched the envelope in her grip, pissed off that Liltotto had been captured. In her crunching, she realized that something else was also in the envelope besides the picture. It was a letter.

Dear Erza Scarlet,

As you can tell by the picture we sent you, we have your friend captured. If you don't want us to kill her, come to our hideout alone. You know the location, I'm sure. I hope to see you soon.

Love,

Judusha of the Karat Fang

The love part made Erza's skin crawl far more sickeningly than Ichiya ever could. So in the end it was all a ploy to get to her, but why her? Don't tell me they hold a grudge against me because I was the only one to help Master. Curses! This is all my fault!

The part of Erza wracked with guilt started screaming that she should give herself up for Liltotto's safety. Fortunately, Erza was far more rational than that and the voice was quickly drowned out. To go alone would only result in both her and Liltotto becoming vampiric slaves, Erza worse off that Liltotto.

They likely can't kill Liltotto because of what Bambietta said about quincies and vampires not mixing, Erza pondered. That means I should be able to call their bluff about going alone if I move with a small group. Don't worry, Lil. I'll rescue you. I swear it! I swear it on my pride as a mage of Fairy Tail!


Upon arriving at Fairy Tail, everyone could tell that Erza was in a mood.

Bambietta, who was eating at the same table with Natsu and Lucy, whispered to the rose haired dragon slayer, "What did you do?"

"Me? What makes you think I did something?" Natsu replied indignantly.

"Because you're her favorite punching bag," Bambietta responded. "Every time she's angry it's almost always your fault."

"Bambietta! Natsu!" Erza spoke sharply.

Both mages went rigid. "Y-yes ma'am," they stuttered at the same time.

"I need to speak with you in master's office. It's important."

What did I do? Bambietta wondered. …Oh please tell me this isn't about Lil. Is that why I can't find her this morning?

"Lucy, Cana, Bisca, you all come too," Erza stated.

"Me?" Lucy was surprised.

"Us?" Bisca and Cana asked as well.

"Did I stutter?" Erza asked, giving a gaze to the three ladies that would've made even the hardiest of soldiers pee their pants and flee in terror.

A shiver ran up everyone's spines the whole guild over. Some even wondered if Erza was about to throw a body out of Makarov's office as an example to everyone else.

Feeling like criminals walking up to the hangman's platform, Natsu, Bambietta, Cana, Bisca and Lucy all followed Erza to Makarov's office where upon the redhead locked the door and sat down in Makarov's chair. She certainly looked angry, yet something in her eyes suggested that her anger was not directed at the five mages before her.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called this meeting."

"Yes," Bambietta said, answering the obviously rhetorical statement out of pure fear.

"I got a letter this morning. Liltotto has been kidnapped."

"What?" Bisca asked.

"Kidnapped?" Cana quickly added after her.

"By who?" Natsu wondered, heart sinking.

"She's been…" Bambietta started only to trail off. "N-n-no! She's too strong for that. There's no way she—" Bambietta cut herself off as she recalled the argument from last night. I have made a horrible error.

"Natsu, Bambietta and I are closer to Liltotto than most. For me to go alone to rescue her is suicide, so I'm asking you two to accompany me," Erza stated.

Natsu punched a hand into his awaiting palm. "Just point me at the guy I need to set on fire. They aren't going to get away with this."

Bambietta nodded. "I'm definitely going. I won't turn my back on Lil." I have to make up for the past…and be the bigger person.

Erza turned her attention to the other ladies in the room. "Lucy, Bisca, Cana, you three have magic in your arsenal that is incredibly effective against creatures like vampires."

"So the Karat Fang kidnapped her then?" Bisca asked.

Erza nodded.

"Then I'll bring all of the holy guns I can store," Bisca stated.

"I've got just the cards for the job," Cana smirked.

Erza informed Lucy of her advantage, since she seemed at a loss. "Spirits have a natural advantage over vampires."

"Ah," Lucy said, getting the point, nodding firmly.

"Everyone stay close to me and no matter what do not separate until the fighting starts," Erza stated.

Everyone nodded at this.

"Good," Erza said and strode over the door to unlock it. "Let's go."


The group followed Erza out into the mountains where they came across a crudely affixed wooden door into the base of the mountain.

"How did you even know this was here?" Lucy asked.

"I tried to exterminate the Karat Fang once before on my own," Erza stated, "But the council said that as long as they remained docile that they were going to grant the group asylum."

"Soooo, are we…breaking the law?" Bambietta asked.

Erza manifested a sword and cut the door in half. "Hmph, I don't care," Erza said, flipping her hair.

Bambietta gulped. "Um, Erza, don't you think you're—"

Erza cut Bambietta off as the group walked down the spiraling path down into the bowels of the mountain. "We're going to get Liltotto back at any cost. No one that harms Fairy Tail will ever get off lightly. If this becomes a bloodbath, so be it."

Okay, either she's really mad or vampires aren't human enough to have basic civil rights in this world, Bambietta thought. She wasn't sure which option made Erza more terrifying.

"When we get to the bottom, allow me to walk out alone to speak with the leader, Judusha," Erza stated. "I'll try to negotiate Liltotto's release. Natsu, as soon as things look bad, cover my back."

"Got it," Natsu said with a grin.

"Bambietta, stay close to me. If they try to use Liltotto against us, you keep her busy while I deal with Judusha. He and I have a score to settle," Erza stated.

"Right," Bambietta nodded.

"Natsu, I'm counting on you to figure out which vampire hypnotized Liltotto and deal with him," Erza said.

"I'll torch him to ash!" Natsu said, punching his knuckles together as flames sparked from his fists.

"I've been meaning to say something about that," Bambietta said. "Quincies are supposed to be immune to vampiric hypnotism. How did Lil fall under their control?"

Erza, having her own extensive knowledge of vampires, and having read Liltotto's copy of The International Quincy Vampire Hunting Guide, only said, "It's not important how it happened, only that it did and we'll free her."

"I mean…y-yeah…I guess," Bambietta said. Leave it to Erza to point out the obvious.

Erza, of course, knew the real reason of how Liltotto had become hypnotized with everything she knew, which is why she wanted Bambietta to fight Liltotto. Perhaps this vampire fiasco was exactly what the two of them needed to put everything behind them.

As the group neared the bottom of the winding path, Erza stepped out into the candlelit lair underneath the mountain to greet Karat Fang.

"Judusha!" she called. "I've come as you've requested. Where is my friend?"

"Tara," Judusha said with a smile.

Tara went to one of the holding cells and brought Liltotto out on a leash. She was dressed in a dull, yellow cape and a one-piece yellow dress that had a symbol woven over the stomach like a heart-shaped hourglass. Liltotto was wearing pointed, dull yellow boots, her hat missing, and she looked completely zoned out.

"Liltotto, dear, do you want to go back with your friend?" Judusha asked.

"No," Lil said in a zombie-like state. "I want to serve and kill for Master Tara."

Natsu looked at Tara. So that's the bastard that hypnotized her.

"Oh well, too bad," Judusha said with a sadistic grin, showing off all of his fangs. "I guess she wants to stay with us. And you came all this way."

"That wasn't what you promised, Judusha!" Erza exclaimed, throwing her arm down and out at her side.

"Don't worry, my dear Erza, for soon, you will join her!" Judusha exclaimed.

A monstrous shadow rose up out of the ground as a blond, purple skinned vampire with gigantic eyebrows and a long, trailing beard appeared behind Erza, prepared to wrap his hands over his eyes and hypnotize her.

Fortunately, this was exactly what Erza was prepared for.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

From his hiding place in the entrance to the lair, Natsu's foot collided with the vampire's neck, burning his entire head and causing him to crash to the ground. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Natsu's powerful flame incinerated his target, reducing him to ash.

"I said to come alone!" Judusha exclaimed.

Erza expressed a crafty smirk. "I can't help it if I was followed. Your letter didn't specify that I couldn't be."

"You expect me to believe that they just followed you here?" Judusha asked.

Erza called forth a sword. "Whatever the circumstances, I have company." She pointed the weapon at Judusha and glared. "And you're going to pay for what you did to Liltotto." Erza charged with her blade straight at Judusha. Liltotto attempted to block it by shooting Erza square on. However, her arrow was deflected by a shot from Bambietta's bow.

"Whoops, my hand slipped," Bambietta said, her smile expressing that she was literally lying through her teeth.

"You!" Judusha growled.

"It's Serzas' killer!" one of the vampires shouted.

"I have a name you know," Bambietta said. "It's Bambietta Basterbine. Remember it, because it is the name carved on your sorry ass corpse. As for this Serzas guy, was that seriously that asshole's name?" She shrugged. "Eh I guess it doesn't matter. I kill so many vampires I really don't care to know them personally. The day I killed Serzas was the most important day of your life, but for me," Bambietta said with a smile as she nocked another arrow. "It was Tuesday."

Judusha shrugged. "Not quite. I don't even remember what Serzas looked like."

Bambietta fired her arrow, which Liltotto deflected with her sword. "Wow, with morals and employee recognition that bad, I'm surprised you still have followers left to help. Oh well, soon it won't matter. You're all going to look really nice when I use your remains for my next campfire, or build an ash castle. It's like a sandcastle, but with ash."

One of the vampires looked sick to his stomach.

"Bambi, maybe tone down the sociopathic remarks," Lucy stated.

"Hmm, how about no?" Bambietta asked rhetorically.

"But—"

"They hurt my best friend," Bambietta said, switching her bow for her sword. "None of them are getting away with it."

Lucy blushed a little. Bambietta could say some really cool things when she was angry.

"Liltotto, protect your master," Tara declared, pointing at Bambietta.

Liltotto acted on command and blocked Bambietta's sword with her own. Then Natsu leapt over Bambietta's head and shouted "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" His punch was aimed at Tara, but he missed as Tara dodged to his right to avoid Natsu.

And now, Erza had made her way to Judusha, her sword clashing with Judusha's magic beam growing out of his arm designed to resemble a sword.

"I have been waiting for this moment for so many years, Erza Scarlet," Judusha said with a giddy grin. "Your blood will be so delicious and then you will be my queen."

"I will never yield to disgusting fiends like you," Erza glared. She slid inward so that her arms weren't as strained in their extension. She got practically right in Judusha's face. "Assuming it doesn't dissolve into ash, I'm going to put your rotting head on a pike in the middle of Magnolia as an example of what happens when monsters hurt my friends!"

Tempering her strength. Erza put force against Judusha's energy blade and sent him flying back by swinging hard enough with her blade already slammed against his. Judusha collided into a wall and then steadied his aching back as he looked at Erza. Shadows cast upon her from the torchlight around the lair as she stood on one of the altar steps, several feet above the dirt covered ground Judusha was standing on. Her face was completely shadowed out save for a single, glowing red eye. Erza stood with her sword angled down by her foot and her free hand balled into a fist.

"I hope you have a death wish as well," Erza said. "Because today is your reckoning. You're not the only one who hoped to clash once more, but unlike you, I'm fighting for a much more noble cause. A monster like you could never understand."

Judusha grinned ear to ear, showing off his fangs. "You will certainly be a fine queen."

And then, right after that statement, Erza pounced. Her physical blade clashed against Judusha's magically conjured one. With furious vigor, Erza pounded away with her blade against Judusha and then, mid-strike, swapped out her one-handed longsword for a two-handed Zweihander.

The two continued to clash as they jumped and parried attacks, all around the lair. Erza remained firmly on the offensive. They passed by Liltotto and Bambietta unknowingly. The two quincies were locked in melee combat, sword to sword with Bambietta swinging fiercely against Liltotto's sword, hoping a small dose of pain might wake her up.

It's either that or an air horn level scream down her ear hole for being so stupid! Bambietta exclaimed internally and she put one foot behind and let herself be on the defensive. "Snap out of it, Lil! You're better than this!"

Liltotto gave no response though. She just gave Bambietta a blank stare with a little bit of drool hanging out of her slightly open lip. "Dammit, wake up already!" Bambietta exclaimed. She lost her temper and punched Liltotto in the face. Bad move. Not only did Liltotto protect herself with Blut Vene, but she twisted the shape of her mouth and bit Bambietta right on the right forearm. "ARRRRRRRRRGH!" Bambietta screamed in bone crunching pain as Liltotto began to suck out her reiatsu through her mouth.

"Bambi!" Lucy exclaimed.

"You should worry more about yourself little lady," the vampire she was fighting said. Thrusting his arms out in front of him, chunks of stone smashed into Lucy's currently summoned summon spirit: Taurus. Taurus look seriously injured by the constant attacks and his foe still was in relatively pristine condition. His dark purple mantle had barely budged, though it was caked in dirt and his full, scruffy blond beard had lost nary a hair.

"Moooo, so strong," Taurus huffed.

"Just try to keep it up for a bit longer," Lucy encouraged.

Taurus raised his battle axe in the air. "MOOOO! For Miss Lucy and her boobs, I will fight till my last breath!"

"I could've done without the part about my boobs!" Lucy exclaimed, covering herself, tears jumping out of her eyes comedically.

As Taurus charged back into battle, axe swinging wildly and cutting through barrages of stone chunks, Lucy looked over to where Bambi had managed to free herself from Liltotto. Now down an arm, Bambietta was using Hirenkyaku to dodge arrow bolts from Liltotto, energized by Bambietta's own stolen reiatsu.

Lucy looked glum. For all the times she'd scolded Bambietta for her inappropriate wisecracks, seeing her engaged so seriously and not saying something along the lines of "Why not? They're nice and perky" was…disheartening. Lucy could see how much Bambietta was just not herself. It worried her, but it was also a bit of a relief. It was good to know that there was more to Bambietta than a laundry list of references and sex jokes.

Turning her attention back to her own fight, Lucy threw her arm out at her side. "Okay, Taurus. Good work. I understand his powers perfectly now. Close the gate of the bull!"

Taurus snorted as he returned to the spirit world. Lucy then brought out a new gold key.

"Open the gate of the virgin. Come out, Virgo!"

Virgo emerged, looking prim and petite as always. "You have need of me, Princess?"

"Take that guy out. Your magic should be perfect to counter his. Do a perfect job and I'll…" she blushed and sighed, "…Ask Bambietta to punish you later."

Those were the only words Virgo needed to hear before tearing after Lucy's foe. Unlike Taurus, who had to use every ounce of his massive strength to cut through the boulders, Virgo could bypass their hardened structure completely given her attunement to the Earth.

"Virgo! No mercy!" Lucy exclaimed as Virgo got within striking range.

"Understood," Virgo said, crouching down as she spun her hand like a drill and plunged it into the vampire's chest, tearing through his heart in place of a wooden stake, causing him to turn to ash.

"Yeah!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping for joy. "You did it!"

"Was that a perfect job, Princess?"

"Job's not over yet," Lucy said. "Let's see if the others need any help."

Virgo nodded.

While Lucy had been focused on one strong vampire, the other, weaker vampires were starting to die out and Bisca and Cana now stood back to back, the former out of holy bullets and the latter running low on magic.

"So, for a vampire name," Cana said, trying to joke despite the situation, "I'm thinking Camilla."

"Would you be serious?" Bisca asked her.

The timely arrival of Virgo tearing through vampires like tissue paper put both of them at ease.

"Phew, thought I was gonna have to start sleeping in coffins for a second there. Thanks, Lucy."

"No problem," Lucy said, flexing her arm. "I think we can leave this to the others now, what do you say?"

Cana took a look around, it seemed only Natsu, Bambietta and Erza were still fighting. "Guess so."

No sooner had she said that however, more vampires entered the lair from the corners, leading deeper into the lair.

"Guess we're not done yet," Bisca said, loading dual sub-machine guns.

"Hold the line!" Lucy said. "Let's do this!"

"Girl power!" All three exclaimed.

As Lucy, Cana and Bisca fought the fodder, Natsu was in deeply heated combat with Tara.

"Let Liltotto go, you bastard!" Natsu shouted, punching forward with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

Natsu's fire went out as Tara blocked the attack with his open palm. "She is a willing member of our kind as will you be soon enough," Tara stated.

"Like hell she is!" Natsu exclaimed and threw a punch with his other hand. "Lil's our friend! She'd never want to be a vampire!"

"Heh, you don't know the first thing about her, boy," Tara chuckled. "I know all and see all when it comes to my puppets. That girl has a death wish. Did you know she'd been sleeping near a dumpster for the longest time?"

"Huh?" Natsu was taken off guard by the question as a giant fist of darkness emerged from Tara's chest, slammed Natsu upward in the chest and threw him back onto his back. Natsu landed hard and got up, wiping his mouth. "Shut up, there's no way Lil would—"

"I've no reason to lie to you, boy of fire. I gain nothing from it. Now hold still, this will only be bothersome for a second."

"What are you—" Natsu could feel it then, an attempt to overtake his mind closing in. His thoughts suddenly felt blanketed in shadow, his mind suddenly feeling not his own. His mouth hung open and all of his cognitive functions seemed to come to a screeching halt. Even his fire seemed to go out as the hypnotism set in, trying to brainwash him.

"Natsu!" Happy called out from the sidelines. "Are you okay?"

"He can't hear you anymore, tiny creature. His mind now belongs to me."

"No, that's not possible! Natsu, wake up!" Happy shouted.

"Now, my puppet," Tara said as Natsu stood hunched over. "My first order, destroy that tiny blue thing. It's annoying me."

Only a growling breath could be heard from Natsu. No confirmation of the order was given. And when Natsu picked his head up, Happy and Tara could see why. Dragon-like slits had replaced Natsu's pupils and his sclera was yellow. Black mist emitted with Natsu's breath.

"Natsu?"

Natsu roared like no one had ever heard him roar before.

"What the—" Tara gasped only for Natsu to impale him through the chest with his fist, ripping out a lung out the other side. Thankfully for Tara, vampires could last without those for a short time.

In his seemingly blind rage, Natsu crushed said lung and flung Tara off his arm against the wall to his left. Tara smacked his spinal cord against the sturdy rocks and coughed up blood, doing his best to try and cling onto life.

Erza and Bambietta were both alerted by Natsu's animalistic howling, resounding through the lair.

"Natsu?" Erza gaped, eye shrinking in.

"Worry about yourself, my future queen," Judusha said and attacked Erza outright, forcing her on the defensive. Great, as if she didn't have enough to worry about.

"Whoa, sure is Ichigo Kurosaki up in here," Bambietta said, watching the black mist pour out of Natsu's mouth like no tomorrow. Her attention was then diverted from Natsu to Liltotto, but not because of an attack.

Liltotto recoiled, dropping her weapon and clutching her head. "Hnnngh."

"Lil! Is that you in there? Say something."

"Bam…bi…is that…you?" Liltotto looked at Bambietta with both eyes as one eye was normal and the other looked possessed.

"Lil, you gotta fight it."

Bambietta was going to say more, but Liltotto said something first. "Kill…me."

"Huh?" Bambietta looked at Liltotto flabbergasted.

"Bothersome brat," Tara focused his hypnotism on Liltotto, only to cough up blood. Damn, my body…won't last. I'll have to take the blonde's. Tara began focusing his magic through Liltotto's mind as purple smoke began to envelope her arms, blood dripped out of one eye and the iris turned bright yellow. From this, however, did Liltotto resist.

"Arrrrrrgh!" She exclaimed, clutching her head and gazing up to look at Bambietta, clutching her now shivering body. "Please…quickly…before I'm no longer myself."

"Lil?"

"It's what I deserve," Liltotto said, her voice becoming echoy.

In the background, Natsu grabbed Tara by the gaping hole in his chest and flung the vampire against the perpendicular wall.

Liltotto lurched in pain, but quickly recovered. Both eyes were yellow, but it was still the quincy speaking to Bambietta.

"Please…I left you to die…You're my friend…and yet I let…Giselle…" Liltotto coughed hard due to Tara's body's mangling getting mixed with her personality and mind.

"Natsu, cut it out! Serious conversation!" Bambietta shouted at him.

"He can't hear you," Lil said coherently. "Something feral in him woke up. Not sure what. There's a link between me, him and Tara right now. Please…if you kill me, Tara will die too and Natsu will wake up."

Bambietta bit her lip. Oh hell no. This wasn't how it was gonna go. And when Bambietta wanted things to go her way, she always knew exactly what reference to pull out of her backside. "Lil…" she said, charging Blut Arterie through her good arm. She clenched her hand into a fist. "Grit! Your! Teeth!" Bambietta punched Liltotto in the jaw as hard as she could, hoping to literally knock some sense into the girl. Liltotto tumbled to the ground as Tara's body went limp in Natsu's hand as he was held up by his coat by the dragon slayer.

Natsu, like a beast, seemingly losing interest in this lifeless dummy body began sniffing around to find something else to vanquish. He eventually began prowling slowly towards where Lucy, Cana and Bisca all were fighting with all their heart and soul.

Tara still lived on, his energy trying to possess Liltotto's mind.

Liltotto lay upon the ground, holding her sore jaw as she looked up at Bambietta.

"Do you think dying for me will make me happy, huh?" Bambietta shouted, glaring down at Liltotto. "I thought we buried the hatchet on this already and yet here you are acting like a sad sack entitled to a public pity party! Well not only am I ripping up the invitations, I'm cancelling it, crashing it, however you want to call it! It stops and I mean right now," Bambietta said, pointing at the ground. "You wanna know why, cause you're Liltotto Lamperd, the smartest female quincy I know and one heck of a good friend. You already made up for the Giselle crap so why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself and push that stinking undead menace out of your goddamn head! Stand your ass up and tell him where to stick it! And I mean up his ass!"

"Bambi…"

"She's right you know," Erza said having managed to get the heels of her feet near Liltotto's head. Judusha was currently shoving pillars turned into rubble off his back in order to stand. "You're not in your old guild anymore. This is Fairy Tail. We look after one another. And no one is going to let you fall, even if you want to." A small voice told Erza 'practice what you preach', but she ignored it.

"It's a family, right Erza?" Bambietta asked.

Erza nodded.

"You two…" Liltotto said and then pushed herself to her feet. Then, with all her strength, reiatsu surging, she forced Tara's mist form out of her body and towards the ceiling.

"You brat, give me your body!"

Liltotto aimed her bow at Tara. "Sorry, but I'm saving it for someone special and it ain't you," Liltotto said, licking her upper lip. "But you can still take a big one down the throat."

I am so proud of you, Bambietta thought, hearing Liltotto emulate her mannerisms.

Liltotto then harnessed the power of an enormous arrow that shot cleanly through the mist. Tara's screams echoed as the arrow continued up into the mountain, making a clean, cylindrical hole towards the sky as the moon shined down on the group.

Egads how long have we been down here? Bambietta wondered. Wasn't it noon when we left?

Liltotto then shook on her feet and slumped to one side. Bambietta caught her by her shoulders. "Easy there."

Liltotto then saw Bambietta's injury. "Bambi, your arm."

"Eh, it'll heal," Bambietta said.

"But…"

Bambietta bopped her lightly on her head with the bottom of her fist. "We got bigger things to worry about, but I think we can let Erza take it from here."

As the moon shone down on the group, Judusha turned into a giant bat monster, as tall as a two-story building. "Fools! Under the power of the moon, my power is unrivaled!" Judusha exclaimed.

Erza looked at Judusha and looked at Bambietta. At a glance, she sized both of them up. She then turned her back on Judusha with a smirk, sheathing her blade and walked past and behind Bambietta.

"What?! What are you doing?" Judusha demanded.

"I was worried that your power had grown considerably since all those years ago, so I was pacing myself," Erza said. "You're the only one left." Without turning to face Judusha, she pointed to where Natsu was squatting on the ground, kicking the side of his head like a dog trying to evict fleas. "Even Natsu is back to his old self."

I question Natsu acting like a dog being normal, but whatever, Bambietta thought. She knows him best.

"No! You fight me! We're not finished! I'm not finished!" Judusha exclaimed.

"Yeah, seriously," Bambietta said. "What about all that 'we have a score to settle' stuff?"

"Oh, that," Erza said, expression impossible to read. "I only said that so that you would focus on your fight with Liltotto. I don't even remember Judusha."

"HUH?!" Bambietta and Judusha exclaimed in unison.

"Bambietta, finish him off and let's go home. I missed dinner," Erza glared. "And I'm hungry."

Bambietta swallowed. "Y-yes ma'am." Wincing in pain as she rolled up her good sleeve with her bad arm, she wound her shoulder. "And I got just the thing to take him down."

"You? You're going to take me down! Absurd!"

"Nah, Erza's got a point," Bambietta said, grinning. "You might look menacing, but to someone like me you're just a big target. And I'm gonna make you go boom like a sky full of fireworks!"

Liltotto sat down and watched Bambietta pull her arm back, her arm beginning to glow green as Blut Arterie surged through it and then surged some more.

What the…? That's way too much power to be just Blut Arterie and she's focusing it all into her arm…no to just her hand. Incredible! Liltotto thought, watching.

(Recommended song to play here, Overcoming a Detestable Fate G Gundam OST)

Bambietta spread her fingers back as much as she could then, with mild effort then clenched a fist as a draft of wind was pulled into her closed fist. She then slowly raised her arm up above her shoulder. "This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!" Her hand flashed with bright, whitish-blue energy that seared her glove right off her hand, revealing the Fairy Tail mark. "It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!"

Then, launching from the ground, using Hirenkyaku to both gain momentum and height at the same time, Bambietta's now open hand was now on a collision course with Judusha's much larger forehead. "Take this!" she said and smashed her palm, putting most of the pressure into her forefinger, into Judusha's forehead. "SHINING FINGER!"

Bright greenish-white lightning cracked through Judusha head and then all down his body and across his wings until holy energy exploded out his mouth and eyes, along with his screams. And then he just exploded into nothing. Bambietta then fell a good dozen feet down onto the ruined altar as Judusha's ashes trickled down the wall in front of her.

"Woo-yeah!" She exclaimed, grinning madly, holding up a V for Victory with her left hand. "That was awesome! Evil can suck it!"

"What…what did you do?" Cana asked, having barely caught the tail end of that attack.

Bambietta jumped down from the altar onto flat dirt. "Article one of the International Quincy Vampire Hunting Guide," she said as she gave Cana a thumb's up and a wink. "Go for the head. So I did."

Erza, with a tired, snoring Liltotto now over her shoulder, walked towards the group. "Well, we came what we set out to do here. Let's head back."

"Right," Bambietta said.

"And Bambi."

"Yeah?"

"When Liltotto wakes up, I want you to be with me. Don't leave my sight," Erza told her sternly.


While Lucy, Cana and Bisca thought they had cleared the entire clan of the Karat Fang, one particular member, a female, had decided to flee for her life rather than stick around and die in an obviously losing battle. She was losing blood from a wound in her shoulder and was down about half her magic, but at least she was alive. With the moon out, her wound would slowly heal. That just left the issue of her magic. If she could replenish her health, she could lay low, maybe come up with a new plan, maybe entrench herself in another vampire clan to protect herself for the time being.

But low and behold the fortune she found, a tent, and it was lit with a lantern inside. Two people seemed to be inside the tent. Travelers perhaps. Perfect. And one of them seemed to have plenty of magic to feast on. Excellent. She could just sneak up on the tent and…wait, what happened to her meal ticket?

A bright glow of lightning could be felt and as the vampire turned she could see a bow made entirely out of lightning being jammed in her face, arrow tip almost in her eye. On the other end of the bow was a woman dressed all in white with her breasts almost hanging out and shorts so uncomfortably small and tight they could be mistaken for men's boxers. The woman had green…or was it blonde hair? With the lightning sparking in her face, it was hard for the vampire to tell.

"Don't try it," the girl said and vaporized the vampire's head clean off her shoulders after letting the arrow loose in her face. "First rule," she said as she put her thumb against her breast. "I rule." She then walked back to the tent and pushed into it.

"Yo, tent mate, you good?"

"What the hell was that about?" Another woman in the tent around the vampire killer's age with dark skin and green hair asked, bolting upright.

"Just a stray vampire looking for a meal. I took care of it. No big," the blondeish woman said, switching off the lantern. "Get some rest, rookie. Tomorrow's a new day."

"I have a name, you know, Candice," the green haired woman said. "It's Jade."

"Look, we're not friends, you're my tent mate. You agreed to travel with me in exchange for free food and use of your tent and I keep the big nasties away. Make it to three weeks and I might learn your name, make it to four and I'll actually give a shit. Till then you're a meat shield!" Candice then got into the sleeping bag and flopped onto the pillow to go to sleep.

I traded a life serving Lady Emberella for this? Jade thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Still, it was better than dying to something that went bump in the night alone out in the wilderness with no friends to call her own, at least…that's what she thought, but Candice was certainly…trying company to say the least. Jade had been fast asleep when Candice switched on the lantern, claiming she noticed something and it was just a rogue vampire. Ugh. She should've just squatted down in a town somewhere and racked up bills at an inn, but no, she had to backpack it. She had to prove she was independent.

But, Candice was right about one thing. Tomorrow was another day. Hopefully it would be less eventful than this.


It was mid-day the next day when Liltotto finally opened her eyes. She was on her back in Erza's bed, but she didn't notice that until later. The first thing she smelled was food and her stomach was growling like a demon's.

Liltotto bolted upright and began tearing through everything on the big wide plate in front of her: fried pork cutlets, curry, salad, pancakes, grapes, scrambled eggs, miniature chimichangas and more.

"Like I always say, once she gets going, Lil doesn't stop."

Bambietta's voice caused Liltotto to stop shoveling food into her mouth. She looked to her left where Bambietta was sitting upright in a chair.

"Bambi?"

"Oh, don't mind me. Please. Eat. We made it all for you."

"We?"

"Yes, we."

Liltotto flipped her head in the other direction where Erza was sitting. "Are you feeling better?"

"I…" It was only now Liltotto noticed that all the food was being served on hot plates. "…I don't deserve any of this." The response to that statement was Bambietta grabbing her hair and pulling her whole head towards her.

"Now you listen to me, Lil!" Bambietta exclaimed, trying her best not to glare. "I don't want to hear any of this 'I don't deserve' crap. You fucked up. You know you fucked up. You apologized for fucking up and I said it was o-kay. So what the actual fuck do you think you're doing? Was my apology not good enough? Goddammit, Lil, I was the one that was zombified not you!"

"I…"

"Friends shouldn't fight," Erza said. "Bambietta stayed up almost all night to make this for you. I helped a little, but only with the recipes."

Liltotto look at the food. "Bambi…you…you cooked all of this?"

"Wasn't easy, but I did."

"But Lucy…"

"Time and a place," Bambietta said. "Lucy's fine. The vampires are gone. Wendy and Rukia would let me know if there was an emergency. You don't get lifelong friends easy Lil. It's even harder to lose them. Sure, I was pretty pissed that you didn't do anything to stop Giselle, but everything you've done since joining Fairy Tail has spoken louder than any words that you want things to go back to how they were." Bambietta started to get choked up. She wiped her tears. "Goddammit, stupid estrogen." She talked through her tears. "I want things to go back to how they were too. I want my friend back. I want to laugh and joke and cry and ki…" Bambietta chose her next word carefully with Erza in ear shot, "Kick things' butts with you, just like in the good ol' days of ignorance, but now with the benefit of hindsight. So, stop punishing yourself and eat for fuck's sake. If you don't, well then you'll really make me mad."

Bambietta expected a question from Liltotto. What she didn't expect was for Liltotto to start hyperventilating and break down crying. "Bambi," she said, looking at her with eyes filled with so many tears they could double as petri dishes, "I'm so sorry." Bambietta pulled Liltotto into a tight hug and Liltotto cried into her bosom loudly and in relief.

"I forgive you, Lil," Bambietta said, patting the back of Lil's head reassuringly.


The next day at Fairy Tail, Bambietta and Liltotto were seen walking out of the guild hall by Lucy and Wendy.

"Bambi, you're up early," Lucy said. "I figured you and your waking the dead snoring would still be filling up my couch."

Bambietta laughed at Lucy's too close to home joke. "Nah, Lil and I decided yesterday to go on a mission together today. It's gonna be just like old times…minus a head or two."

"Can we come?" Wendy asked. "You know…since you're missing two heads."

Bambietta ruffled Wendy's head. "Sorry, just gonna be us today." She looked at Lucy, blushing a little. "Ah, you don't mind, do ya Lulu? It doesn't make me a bad girlfriend, does it?" She asked looking guilty.

"I…wait, Lulu?"

"Yeah, I um…" Bambietta blushed harder and looked sheepish. "You don't like the pet name…er, nickname?"

Lucy let out a stifled giggle only to let out a few more unstifled ones. "No, I like it. You can call me Lulu any time you want, Bambi. And no, I don't mind. And it doesn't make you a bad girlfriend," she said, shaking her head. She put a hand on Wendy's shoulder. "Come on, Wendy. You and I can do something together today."

As the two headed inside, Bambietta called to her. "Don't let Natsu push you into something ridiculous unless he wants a lump on the head from me!"

Lucy drew a check mark in the air.

Speaking of that idiot, gonna have to ask him about the black mist mouth he had the other day. I hope it's nothing…or something Porlyusica can fix.

Liltotto grabbed Bambietta by the arm. "Come on, let's go," she said. "We're gonna be late."

"Right. Right. I'm right behind ya. Lead the way o' living compass."

Liltotto sighed shaking her head and then she smiled as she and Bambietta headed out of Magnolia. It seemed that some things never really did change if you tried hard enough to get them back. And Liltotto was never happier than to have Bambietta back as a best friend.


All's well that ends well. I've wanted to do a chapter about Liltotto for some time and this seemed to be like a good time to do it. Survivors guilt is a very real thing and I felt it was the perfect thing for me to do with her character. Now, finally, she can move on and live her life.

I also decided it was about time that Bambietta got herself some "official" attacks. The first, the atomic blast, was inspired by the king of the monsters himself, Godzilla. (The Heisei version specifically.) The other, the shinning Finger, is a very famous move from an anime that I love, G gundam. I do hope that you all like these addition's to her arsenal.

Also yes, Natsu was going practically E.N.D at the end of his fight.

Finally, we've introduced two more characters near the end, though their importance will be made more apparent as the story goes on, Stern Ritter T, Candice Catnip and Jade. What role they'll play will be made soon enough.

In any event, im so happy to finally have this chapter out and done. I hope that you all enjoyed it. If you want to show your support for the story, Please leave us a review. It's really appreciated.

No MPF's this time around.