Hello, my dear readers, I have returned with another chapter. This is a much shorter one this time around, but I didn't want to leave you guys with no updates for too long. For those wondering, we'll be getting to the tower of heaven arc in about 2 or 3 more chapters. It's just that the chapter we originally planned to be the following is a bit more complicated than first thought, so it may take some time for it to be finished. Thus, I wrote this one in my spare time, just like I did with chapter 39. I'm a little nervous since I'm still not all that confident in my own ability to write, but I hope that you all enjoy it despite that. That said, I'd be eager to know what you all thought about it in a review, so please leave me your thoughts.

But that's enough on that, let's get right into the chapter, shall we?

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.


It was late into the evening when Liltotto Lamperd had returned from her latest guild quest. It wasn't anything too hard, just a simple monster destruction job. However, the long-distance between the job site and Magnolia was what caused her to return so late. If not for Hirenkyaku, the young woman wouldn't have returned for a whole day.

While this was, at most, a minor inconvenience, Liltotto was still a bit upset at this. She had hoped to see Natsu once more before heading off to sleep. She blushed just thinking about him. Something about the Dragon Slayer made her heart beat just a little bit faster and brought her a kind of comfort she never thought she would have experienced.

"Natsu," She said affectionately as she sat down on the park bench. Oh, how she wished she could get him to notice her in a more meaningful way. To have him look at her the same way she did for him. Looking at her hand, a heart-shaped arrow appeared in it.

After having eaten Pepe, an experience that she wished she could forget, the taste especially, she had managed to gain control over his Schrift. A little known fact about her Schrift, "The Glutton", was that it allowed her to take the powers of whoever she had devoured a portion of. However, in order to keep the powers, she would have to devour the person fully. Anything less would result in her only having the powers temporarily.

She had never used "The Love" once she had ended up in Earth Land, her disgust of the ability being the main reason why. She doubted it would have been all that useful against the likes of Jose anyways, his Shade magic had been more than capable of stopping a simple "The Love" arrow.

But as she looked at the arrow, she couldn't help but wonder. I...I could just use this and then...he would be mine.

No one would know it was possibly her, Liltotto never having shared the knowledge of her having this Schrift with anyone else. All she would have to do was hit the pink-haired Dragon Slayer with her arrow and then Natsu would belong to her forever.

Liltotto then quickly shook her head. No, I couldn't possibly do that to him! I want to, no, I need to earn this. If I just did this, I would be no better than...Her.

Liltotto stood up from the park bench then, the thought of the necromantic Stern Ritter giving her a feeling of unease and guilt. She knew that Bambietta had forgiven her now for not intervening when she should have, but the young woman couldn't help but berate herself over another thing she did.

She had saved Giselle's life, without a moment's hesitation, a stark contrast compared to what had happened with Bambietta

What the hell was I thinking, saving that maniac? I should have just let her rot like her Schrift-

"Ah, Lil, I finally found you!"

Liltotto's eyes widened in surprise as she slowly turned around to face none other than the Quincy she had been thinking about seconds ago. With a goofy expression on her face, hands behind her back, Giselle Gwelle stood before her.

"You...What are you-"

"Isn't it obvious, silly?" Giselle interrupted as she approached Liltotto. "I've been looking all over for you today!"

"I...I see," Liltotto said as she took a step back. Bambietta had told her about her brief encounter with Giselle and even now Liltotto was beyond surprised that she had left Giselle alive. Truth be told, Liltotto had hoped she would never have encountered Giselle ever again.

Afterall, she was the reason everything had gone straight to hell during the war for her.

"Yeah, I was thinking about stopping by at Fairy Tail to ask where you were, but I didn't want to let Bambietta know that I was here, "Giselle said as she continued to smile. "She was pretty mad the last time we had some girl talk, but luckily for me, she's out of town on a mission, so all I had to do was just wait for you to show up."

"What do you want?" Liltotto asked as she stopped backing away from Giselle. She was not going to let herself look like she was intimidated by the woman before her.

"I would suggest you get out of here before Bambietta show's up. She'll be back home soon enough, and knowing her, she'll likely shoot first and ask questions...well, never with you."

She wasn't saying this out of concern for "The Zombie" but merely to avoid any potential destruction or injury to Magnolia's citizens. It was the only reason she hadn't done anything to Giselle herself.

"Oh but that's why I need you," Giselle said before she sighed. "I really don't know why, but Bambi was so mad when she saw me."

Maybe it's because you turned her into a mindless slave that you treated like your own personal punching bag? Liltotto thought to herself.

"But I just figured I could ask you to work things out between us," Giselle said. "You're the smart one after all, and I've seen you calm her and Candice down more than anyone else. I'm sure we can get this whole mess sorted out."

"Why in the hell would I do that?" Liltotto asked, her anger beginning to make itself known in her voice.

"Well, we're friends, right?" Giselle asked as she leaned in to hug Liltotto. "You, me, Meni, Candi, and Bambi, we're-"

However, before she could wrap her hands around Liltotto, Giselle felt herself being hit by a massive force that sent her flying through one of the trees in Magnolia's park. She landed with a thud, several pieces of wood sticking out of her body. If she was in pain however, she hid it well. She looked over at Liltotto, who had her fist extended. "Lil?"

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, Giselle," Liltotto said. "You are not my friend anymore. You lost that right a long time ago."

"Lil? What's gotten into you?" Giselle asked as she began to stand up. "Of course you're my friend. You saved me."

"A mistake that I've never stopped regretting!" Liltotto yelled. "Do you know why I bothered to save you? It had nothing to do with you."

Giselle tilted her head in confusion. "Um...I like, don't get it. How does saving my life have nothing to do with me?"

Liltotto growled before she began to speak. "Ever since my parents sold me into slavery, all I've ever wanted was a family. A real family. When I joined the Vandenriech academy, I had nothing. No friends, no family. All I had were my grades and our teacher. None of my classmates ever liked me. I excelled in all my classes to the point where they thought I was either a freak or a cheater. When I graduated and became a Stern Ritter though...It all changed. Bambietta came to me. She wanted me, as a friend."

She then slowly walked over to Giselle. "She didn't care that I wasn't the strongest of the Stern Ritter, or that my power was weird. She didn't care that I always called her out on her over the top and idiotic plans, she didn't care that I graduated the top of my class or any of that. She liked me...for me. She introduced me to Candi, to Meni, to you...For the first time in my life, I finally had what I wanted."

She then looked down at Giselle, her eyes narrowing in fury. "But then you had to go and ruin everything. You killed her."

"Noo, I saved her-"

"Shut up!" Liltotto yelled, not in the mood to hear another word. "You told us that you could fix it! You said you had a way to get around Yhwach's rule for Stern Ritter who lost. You said everything would go back to how it was!"

She threw her right hand to the side. "But you lied! You killed her and warped her mind into someone else!"

"Warped her mind? What are you talking about silly?" Giselle said. "Bambi was still Bambi-"

"NO! Don't you even try to tell me for even a second that was Bambietta!" Liltotto shouted. "Bambietta is confident, proud, arrogant, battle hungry and a true warrior! That...thing was not her!"

Tears began to flow down Liltotto's face as she continued. "Do you know what it's like to see one of your closest friends treated like dirt!? How hard it was for me to not demand you to stop, Yhwach's wrath in response to infighting being the sole thing that kept me from doing so? Do you want the truth, Giselle? The only reason I saved you was because I was so damn desperate to keep whatever part of my family I had left! You were all I had at that point!"

Liltotto clenched her fist. "But it's clear to me now beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're not a part of my family. You never were. You're just a vulture, Giselle Gwelle. An animal that preys on the weak and dying. If you were really a friend...you would have never hurt Bambi the way you did."

"Now who's been feeding all these lies to you?" Giselle asked as she got up. "First Bambi and now you? I'm starting to think Fairy Tail is having a bad influence on you two."

"No. Their the light that got me out of the Vandenriech's shadow."

"Gosh, you're so serious about this whole thing," Giselle said as she frowned. "Honestly, Lil. But I think I get the idea. You're not exactly fond of me anymore are you?"

"That's putting it mildly," Liltotto responded.

"Golly, that's such a shame, I thought we were soooooo close," Giselle said as she looked down. "We used to spend so much time together when the others were so busy."

"No...We were," Liltotto said. "You were my friend. Sure you could be a bit odd at times but...I knew that you really did like me. You weren't just hanging out with me because you had nothing better to do and...I appreciated that."

Liltotto then looked down to her feet, not wanting to look at her former friend any longer. "But those days are over now, Giselle."

"Even if I could get Natsu to love you?"

Liltotto turned around instantly. "What...did you say?" She asked, more out of shock than anything. "How do you even-"

"Oh, I've been watching you from a distance up until two weeks ago. I had other stuff to take care of. It's pretty obvious to me that you got quite the crush on Mr. Pink Hair. Really, I find it hard to believe that he hasn't noticed!"

The realization that Giselle had been watching her and Natsu from afar gave Liltotto a sense of dread and anger. Fear that she hadn't noticed her at all...and anger that someone had been spying on her during such emotional moments she would have rather kept private.

"But that's not all that important. I can easily get some of my blood into some of his food when he isn't looking, and then I can make him love you just like you always wanted! All you need to do is just-"

Giselle was interrupted before she could speak another word, the Quincy feeling a powerful pain hit her in the chest. A large hole was now where her stomach once was. She looked at Liltotto, a bow now in her hand. Before Giselle could do anything, Liltotto then grabbed a hold of one of Giselle's arms and threw her with a yell, sending the Quincy out of Magnolia and into the nearby wilderness. She fell with a loud thud, the ground around now a small crater as she began to finally realize what had just happened. She began to get up before she was hit with another arrow, this time destroying her throat.

"Stay. Away. From. Natsu," Liltotto looked down at Giselle, any attempt at hiding her anger now gone. "If I see you anywhere near him...No, if I see you anywhere near my family, I swear to you, you will regret it."

"I… I think I get it," Giselle said as she looked at Liltotto with sadness.

"Good. Now get the hell out of here...and for your sake, I hope I never see you again." Liltotto turned around and began to walk away.

It looks like I don't have much of a choice now do I? Giselle thought to herself innocently enough as she began to get up, her throat and chest wounds healing. Here I was thinking you could do me a solid and talk some sense into Bambi and make her see things my way...but now I see I'm going to have to use more...unfortunate methods.

Giselle then drew a knife from her uniform as she looked at Liltotto. It's such a shame that things have to be this way Lil, but don't worry, you won't feel a thing.

With a sprint of Hirenkyaku, she appeared right behind Liltotto, her knife just about to cut the small woman's throat. Soon, we'll all be together forever and ever.

Giselle brought down the knife expecting to have caught her fellow Quincy off-guard, but instead of hearing the desired gurgle of pain and the sensation of cutting flesh, all she felt was her weapon hitting something hard. Looking down, she could see Liltotto's throat now glowing with the use of Blut Vene.

What?

Before she could wonder how Liltotto had activated her Blute Vene fast enough to block her surprise attack the Quincy was rocked with pain as Liltotto elbowed her chest, causing her to let go.

"A surprise attack? Seriously?"

With a powerful kick, Liltotto sent Giselle flying once more. This time she had acted with no restraint, causing Giselle to crash through several trees. As she struggled to get up however, Liltotto was already in front of her and pulled Giselle up by her hair.

"Did you really think I'd turn my back on you and drop my guard for even a second? Or were you just that desperate to make up with Bambi that you would try something so asinine?"

Giselle tried to reach forward but Liltotto's mouth extended and bit off her hand. Giselle cried out in pain.

"It looks like someone needs to be reminded of the pecking order," Liltotto said as she spat out Giselle's hand before she threw a punch, breaking Giselle's nose in the process. "To begin with, your Schrift doesn't work on your fellow Quincy unless we're already dead...But I don't have that disadvantage."

Liltotto threw another punch, causing more blood to splatter onto her hand. Giselle then kicked at Liltotto as her arm began to heal, causing her to let go. Moving away with Hirenkyaku, Giselle formed her bow and began to fire at Liltotto. However, the smaller Quincy was able to dodge her arrows without much trouble, bobbing and weaving through the volley of projectiles.

"You were always the weakest out of the five of us. Candi being stronger than you by a fairly large margin and I've was stronger than her. Meni's a powerhouse that I would have never managed to take down if not for Pepe's influence letting her fall into one of my traps and Bambi...Well, she could beat all of us at once if she wanted to back in the day."

Liltotto then caught one of Giselle's arrows with her hand as she looked in her direction. "So If you honestly think you can beat me in a fight like this...You're more insane than I thought."

Liltotto then formed her own bow and spoke out. "Licht Regen."

Thousands of arrows began to fire from Liltotto's bow, easily overwhelming Giselle's own arrows. The Quincy tried to dodge the oncoming attack, but the arrows were too numerous and she soon found herself skewered by them and left in her a pool of her own blood. Gasping out in pain, Giselle began to remove the arrows that remained stuck in her body but, with a quick burst of Hirenkyaku, Liltotto appeared before her.

The former Stern Ritter, having finished removing the projectiles, tried to vanish with a Hirenkyaku of her own. However, as she flashed away, Liltotto was behind her already and kicked her to the ground. Giselle quickly got up and drew out her knife as she tried to slash at Liltotto, but her attacks missed their mark, Liltotto managing to avoid each of her strikes. Liltotto soon formed her serrated blade and began to swing her weapon at her enemy, Giselle barely managing to block most of her attacks. Several of Liltotto's attacks had managed to hit home, however, and she began to slowly cut away at the Quincy, her regeneration being the only reason the fight was still continuing.

Giselle formed a bow in her spare hand and fired it straight at Liltotto, the smaller Quincy barely managing to duck her head underneath the arrow that was fired. Finally, she had enough and caught Giselle's wrist and by merely squeezing her hand, a loud SNAP was heard, the bones crushing underneath Liltotto's monstrous strength.

Giselle growled out in equal parts anger and pain and tried to pull away, but Liltotto's grip held firm. "Let go!" Giselle demanded.

"No. You're the one who started this whole mess, but I fully intend to finish it."

Liltotto's weapon forming in her right hand, she swung her serrated sword, cutting Giselle in half, separating her belly and legs from her chest. Giselle landed on the ground with a thud, and once more tried to get up, but as she tried to do so, Liltotto's blade quickly removed both of Giselle's arms and then lodged itself into her throat. Giselle tried to speak but found that she could only sputter out loud gargling noises with the blade wedged inside.

"You know, I've been resisting a certain temptation ever since I saw you tonight...but I've been fighting it because I've turned over a new leaf," Liltotto said as she watched Giselle slowly heal. "Ever since I've come to my senses since I've come to this world... I've wanted to kill you."

She began to move the blade up slightly, slowly inching it closer and closer to Giselle's head. "It wouldn't take much. All I have to do is just destroy your brain and not even you could come back from that."

Giselle's eyes widened as she realized just how serious Liltotto was about this.

"The only thing holding me back was this," Liltotto said as she showed Giselle her guild mark on her left hand. "They value life quite a bit, even for scum like you."

Liltotto's blade had worked its way up to Giselle's chin now, the quincy looking at Liltotto with pleading eyes. "Lil, you wouldn't...We're both Quincy!"

"That didn't stop you from murdering Bambi, did it?" Liltotto asked as she spat onto Giselle's face. "But you've made something very clear to me. You're not going to stop until you make Bambietta yours again, are you?"

"That's not true!" Giselle said as tears formed in her eyes. "I just want Bambi and me to be friends again, that's all!"

"LIAR!" Liltotto shouted as she then forced her blade up into Giselle's mouth. "If that were true, then why the hell did you just try to kill me earlier?! You're too dangerous to keep around...I know now that if Bambietta is going to enjoy her life here in Fairy Tail, there is one thing I have to do. Get rid of you."

Having healed one of her arms in the time she spoke, Giselle managed to grab the blade and tried to slowly remove it. "But...if you do, Fairy Tail will-"

"Kick me out? Hand me over to the Magic Council? That suits me just fine. I've been willing to pay for my sins for quite some time now...If it means Bambietta gets a chance to be happy...I'd gladly pay that price. If you meet her again, I don't know if she'll be able to stop herself from killing you...so I'll take responsibility for it instead!"

Liltotto narrowed her eyes as she got ready to deliver the finishing blow. Soon, all of this nonsense would be over!


You do not need to take such responsibilities. All of Fairy Tail will share them with you.


Liltotto froze as she was just about to plunge her blade into Giselle's head, Erza's words from long ago entering into her mind, all the while she could see members of Fairy Tail looking at her sadly as she was taken away by the Magic Council. Erza with a sullen expression, Natsu yelling at the Magic Council to not take her away, and Bambietta crying into Lucy's embrace. Was this what she wanted?

No.

Slowly, the small quincy removed her sword from Giselle's body as she looked down at her. This isn't the way to resolve this. I don't have to do this all alone anymore.

"Lil?" Giselle asked, surprised that her life had been spared. "Did you change your mind?"

"You were right...in a sense," Liltotto whispered. "Fairy Tail has been an influence on Bambi and me. And a good one..."

Slowly, the Quincy's wounds began to heal once more as she stood up. "I knew you didn't mean what you said! Thank goodness! I'm having such a hard time getting this Bambi situation figured out that I really didn't need any more drama!"

"No, I still hate you," Liltotto said as she began to walk away from Giselle, the Quincy not even bothering to look at her. "But I'd only end up hurting my guild in the long run if I disposed of you. Besides, Bambi told me that you're on our side in this war. As much as I hate the idea of that being the case, your ability would be invaluable in the coming battle. So for that, and that alone, I'm going to let you live."

She turned around once more to face Giselle. "But if you ever come close to my guild ever again, to any of my friends...I swear I will make you regret it."

"Oh gosh, are we really going down that road again?" Giselle whined.

Liltotto sighed. She really just didn't get it did she? Well, fine. She made her point. With how much damage Giselle had taken from her fight, she doubted that the Quincy would be a threat to anyone in the guild, her reiatsu levels at a considerably low point. Liltotto began to take another step forward...only to find that she couldn't move!

What?! Liltotto thought as she tried to do whatever she could, to move an arm, or a leg, anything! However, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't find it in her to move, unable to even blink! What did she do to me!?

"Finally, I was wondering when it was going to take effect." Giselle slowly approached Liltotto. "You remember what you said about my Schrift earlier? How I couldn't zombify a Quincy unless they were already dead? It's true, my Schrift cant does that...But luckily, I've been learning some handy dandy magic since my last meeting with Bambietta went so array."

She was now within arm's length of Liltotto as she drew out her knife. "It's called Paralysis Pathogen! When my blood ends up on my opponent's body, I cant cause their body to no longer move!"

Giselle's knife soon found itself on Liltotto's cheek as Giselle slowly rubbed the blade on her soft skin. "It takes a while to work when my enemy is a lot stronger than me, but I knew it would just be a matter of time before you could no longer move."

Slowly, she began to trail the knife downwards. "You'll be unable to move for about one whole minute. More than enough time for me to work my magic."

She pressed the knife gently against Liltotto's throat, a small cut being made. "You really hurt me earlier. But that's okay, you can make it up to me by talking Bambi into seeing the light. Then you, me and Bambi will be together again!"

While outwardly, Liltotto had a calm expression on her face, her mind was anything but calm. No! Don't you dare Giselle!

She could see it now, being made to forcefully hurt her own friends, to take Bambietta by surprise and allowing Giselle to repeat the horrible events of the past all over again. No, not Just Bambi, all of her friends could end up as Giselle's servants! Slowly, a single tear fell from one of her eyes.

Natsu...Bambi...Erza...Someone!

"Why so glum?" Giselle looked at Liltotto's face, honestly confused. "Now, now, Lil...Let's put a smile on that face."

"Galvano Blast!"

A large bolt of lighting came hurtling down from the sky, striking Giselle dead center and Liltotto sent flying back. The blood now removed from her body, Liltotto was able to stand up. Giselle was charred by the lighting, her skin burned and muscle tissue exposed all over her chest and arms, half of her hair now gone as well. She fell with a thud and was silent.

"Now that's what I call bringing down the thunder."

It was Candice, Liltotto smiling as the tall Quincy landed in front of her. "Candi...How did you-"

"Know you were in trouble? I and Jade just got back from a mission when I sensed your reiatsu spike like crazy. Figured I'd come and see what the deal was. Wasn't expecting to see Cockroach though." Candice grinned. "But I don't think we'll have to worry about her anymore."

"You really are unbelievable aren't you?" Liltotto asked. "Still...I can't thank you enough. I thought I had everything under control...but she surprised me with a new trick."

"Yeah, she tends to do that. A cockroach is many things but predictable was never one of them," Candice said.

"So what now?" Liltotto asked as she began to approach Giselle's body. "Do we tell Fairy Tail the truth?"

"Your life was in danger, so I'm sure they'll understand," Candice said as she joined her. "Besides, I'm sure Bambi will be more than pleased to know that the cockroach is now...The fuck!?"

Confused by her friend's sudden change in tone, Liltotto got a better look at the cause of Candice's outburst. Once she saw Giselle's corpse she could understand why. No longer was the long black haired goofy Quincy laying down in a pool of her own blood, but rather what looked to be a bald man with blue eyes and a mustache.

"When the hell did this guy get here!? I swear I was throwing a blot of ass-kicking at that bitch, not some old fart!"

Kneeling down, Liltotto got a better look at the body. She was silent for a few seconds before she sighed. "It was a clone."

"Excuse you?" Candice asked as she looked at her short friend in confusion. "You mean like the "Y" Twins?"

"No, not quite like that," Liltotto said before she continued. "It's a technique Giselle was trying to perfect before the war started. She wanted to see if she could use any of her zombies to act as duplicates of her. All she had to do was just change the body's structure and voice with her power, and then, presto, a perfect look-alike. She never got it quite right when she showed it to me...but that's clearly no longer the case."

She then groaned. "I should have known. She went down way too easy. Giselle may be the weakest one of us, but she at least knows how to fight. It felt like I was dealing with an armature straight out of the Vandenreich academy than proper Stern Ritter. Which means that the real one is still out there...somewhere. Odds are she just sent this clone as a scout to get a better feel for how things are for when she wants to plan something more elaborate."

"Well, that's just fan-fucking-tastic," Candice said with a roll of her eyes. "So you're telling me we're still gonna have to exterminate her down the road?"

"No. We're Fairy Tail," Liltotto said to Candice. "We both made a vow once we became part of this guild, and I'm going to stick to it. You should too if you know what's good for you. You're not in the high tier of the food chain anymore, Candi."

"Yeah yeah yeah, thou shall not kill, I get it.." Candice placed a hand on Liltotto's head. "I was just using a figure of speech."

Somehow Liltotto doubted that. If that were the case...then why did you go for a kill shot first thing?

She wanted to press more, she really did but decided against it. Candice wasn't the kind of person you could just poke at to get information out of. Unless you were a superior officer, if Candice wanted to keep a secret, she would. It would be best to let someone like Erza or Makarov handle it down the line.

"Come on, let's go home; I'm sure Erza is getting a bit worried about you as it is," Candice said as she placed a hand on Liltotto's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Liltotto said.

"Oh, one more thing...Let's keep what happened tonight a secret from Bambi," Candice said to Liltotto.

"What for?" Liltotto asked.

"I'd rather not have Bambietta freak out over the cockroach showing up, especially since she was going to put you through the same thing. Once Bambi starts to worry about something, she tends to not stop until the problem is dealt with...and I'd rather not have her worry about this twenty-four seven."

Liltotto was about to object, to tell Candice that Bambietta wasn't that bad with stress...Until she recalled that the former Stern Ritter couldn't sleep when Candice and Juvia disappeared for a whole week. "Fair enough."

"Ok, now let's get you a shower...You're covered in dirt from that scuffle."

"Only because your lighting bolt made me hit the ground."

The two looked at each other, then snickered before finally going home.


So there we have it, everyone. I know that it's a much shorter chapter than usual, but as I said before, I figured something like this would be better than nothing. I do hope to still get your thoughts on this chapter, however.

Liltotto's ability of power absorbing ability is one I took from CFYOW. While I may dislike what that light novel series has done to Bambietta as a character, at the very least it's done favors to my 2nd favorite stern ritter.

As for Giselle, I decided to add to her arsenal, thus I had her learn a bit of magic on the side. While it won't pop up often, it is possible for bleach characters to learn magic.

I don't have much to say this time around, so feel free to leave a review and give us your thoughts.