Chapter 18

For anyone that doesn't know much about Warhammer Fantasy lore, there isn't much lore around Lokhir's family, so I had to make things up if I want to expand upon them. Sorry if this displeases anyone.

Austin- You'll see.

"Impossible." Thought Naestra as she looked at the symbol before her. It was the symbol of a great sea serpent about to devour a ship while storms were brewing everywhere. A high Elf ship. "That house was destroyed over five hundred humans years ago. Yet its symbol is here." Taking the picture from the grasp of the mayor of Hargeon, Naestra examined the symbol, trying to determine if it's really the symbol or not. After some time examining it, Naestra can conclude, with reluctance and dread, that it was indeed the symbol of House Dreadwater, a former rival of the Fellhearts.

This house, much like other noble houses of the Druchii, was utterly sadistic and cruel. They used their wealth and noble status for their own petty goals and to eliminate their rivals as discreetly as possible, even their own family members.

As their namesake may suggest, the Dreadwaters were skilled in traveling through the seas, particularly in the art of slave raids for the Dark Elves were always in demand for slaves for a wide variety of tasks. Ranging from common tasks to sacrifices for their twisted gods.

Members of this house were known for their skills in the art of raiding towns and even cities for slaves as well as being masters of sea warfare. The house was responsible for bringing in thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of slaves, to the Karond Kar, otherwise known as Slaver's gate, where countless people meet a fate worse than death, becoming slaves to the Druchii.

Indeed, this house was dreaded for a long time. They made raids far and wide. From the jungle forests of Lustria to Ulthuan itself. Even Norsca was raided by these fearsome Druchii. It seemed that the house would become a fearful tool for the Witch King, ruler of all Druchii. Fortunately, however, this house met its end by another Druchii house, which proved to be its better.

Like all Druchii houses, the Dreadwaters had rivals in other houses, particularly those that also brought in their fair share of slaves for the Witch King and the other noble houses. One such rivalry would become the Dreadwaters' downfall. It was their rivalry with the noble house from Karond Kar, the Fellhearts.

Strange was this house. For it held a trait that was atypical of Druchii. Unlike many other houses, the Dark elves of the Fellhearts held strong family bonds with each other. Many of the stories told in Athel Loren of this house speak of the strange loyalty between family members of this house. How some members refused to betray other members of the family, even if doing so will give them and their family wealth and power beyond recognition. There was even a story of how the Fellhearts went to war against a fellow house for attempting to make two members of their house turn against one another. They were also known for siring some of the greatest Druchii fleetmasters. From Luthern Fellheart, who commanded a great fleet of warships before dying, to Laithikir Fellheart, who charted out raiding maps that allowed Druchii raiding fleets to pillage the distant lands of Ind and Cathay. So, a rivalry was only natural between these two houses, especially since they were both based in Karond Kar and were well known for bringing in many slaves to fuel the slave industry of the Dark Elves.

The rivalry came to a climax when the former head of the Fellhearts, Ramon Fellheart, father of the current head of the Fellhearts, Lokhir Fellheart, challenged the head of the Dreadwaters that would decide the fate of their houses. The fleetmaster has had enough of the Dreadwaters. For a time, he tolerated their presence as they were one of the houses favored by the Witch King for all the slaves they've brought, but things turned for the worst when a member of the Dreadwaters forced himself on a member of the Fellhearts, rumored by the Wood-elves as the mother of Ramon, during a party made to celebrate the Witch King Malekith in Naggarond. Not only did this enrage the Fellhearts, but the protection given to the Dreadwaters by the Witch King has waned for this affront was done when the Witch-King was in a dreadful mood.

Normally the Witch-King would not care of such acts between his subjects, but his mood that day was foul, and the party was meant to appease and calm his anger. Instead, the act done in a party made to celebrate his greatness, combined with his own foul mood that day, sent him into a terrible rage. As a result, Ramon made a plan that would not only get rid of the rival but also increase the power of his house exponentially and calm the Witch King down, for no noble house wished to be around the Witch King when he was in a rage, not even the ones that held his favor. Thus, Ramon made a competition that endangered his family and that of the Dreadwaters.

From what the Wood Elves have gathered around this event, the competition was a dangerous one that would have either pleased the Witch King a great deal or enrage him so much that both houses would suffer, regardless of who won. Beyond that, they knew it involved Ulthuan and the High Elves. What exactly it was, they didn't know. What they did know, however, was that the Fellhearts won and that house Dreadwater was destroyed, all bearing their name was either killed as sacrifices to Mathlann, the elven god of the sea, and Khaine, the elven god of warfare and bloodshed or never heard from again. All material possessions of the house, such as contacts and items of value, like weapons or gold, were seized by the Fellhearts, increasing their power significantly.

It was said that a few hundred years later, Ramon was killed by a loyal servant of the Dreadwaters, resulting in his son, Lokhir, taking his position as head of the Fellhearts, after killing all those responsible for the death of his father of course.

Although the Dreadwaters have never once attacked Athel Loren, for it was too deep inland for them to attack without risking themselves, their reputation was enough for the Wood Elves to hear about them and wish for them to never set foot on their forest. To see this symbol beyond paintings of it was something that Naestra never thought she would come to pass. The two were stunned at seeing the symbol, that the mayor had to speak up to make them snap out of it.

"I take it you know this symbol?" Asked the mayor, causing the Twilight sisters to snap out of it.

"I'm…afraid so." Said Naestra as she placed the picture in a little knapsack she had on her, realizing that they now had to tell the mayor something to avoid causing too much alarm than there needs to be. "This symbol. We recognize it. It belongs to a family of vicious slavers, known for their brutality and skills in the arts of capturing slaves." Upon hearing that, the mayor shuddered in horror.

"I…this is worse than I thought." Said the mayor as he placed a hand over his hair as he tried to grasp all this. "I thought it was a mere serial killer that we were facing. Not slavers." He then looked at the two sisters and began pleading with them. "Please. Find my people and get these ruthless slavers to stop. I beg of you. I cannot bear to think of what cruelty and pain my people are going through by the hands of slavers."

"We understand." Said Naestra. "We will put an end to this slavery and bring back your people."

"If they're even still alive." Murmured Arahan, knowing what kinds of torment the Druchii do to their would-be slaves to make them compliant with their new masters. Fortunately, the mayor didn't hear that and thus he gave out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." Said the mayor as he thanked both sisters for their continued support of his people. "I promise you that you will be given a generous bonus if you put an end to these slavers as well as bringing my people back safely. And if you need any assistance, let me know. There is an entire battalion of soldiers on standby if you need them."

"You are too kind, mayor." Said Naestra. "If that is truly all, then we must be off. Every second we dally, the more chances we give these barbarians to whisk your people away from you." The mayor nodded at that in agreement and thus let them leave. Once they were out the door, they found Lucy, Happy, and Natsu talking to each other. Taking the children and cat with them, the group left the town hall to plan their next move.

"So, what did the mayor want from you guys that he couldn't tell us?" Asked Lucy as she walked with everyone. Though the mayor believed neither teen was ready to hear what happened in the warehouse, the Twilight Sisters didn't.

"There was a massacre in one of the warehouses in the port." Said Naestra, causing Lucy and Natsu to stop in shock. "A military platoon raided it as they thought it was where the missing people were. None survived. And they all died horrific deaths not meant for people so young."

"Oh." Said Lucy, suddenly not feeling well. "So, we're dealing with a serial killer, huh?"

"Big deal." Said Natsu with confidence. "When we get to this guy, we're going to make him wish he never crossed Fairy Tail."

"As admirable as that is." Started Naestra before Arahan can make a comment about how dumb he was. "We're not dealing with such a thing. We're dealing with slavers." That caused the eyes of both Natsu and Lucy to widen in shock.

"Slavers?" Asked Lucy in shock. Naestra nodded at that.

"Yes." Said Naestra before getting the picture given to them by the mayor and handing it to Lucy. "That is a symbol of a slaver family that we have encountered before." A lie. Both Naestra and Arahan had faced the Druchii a few times before, on missions of great importance to Ariel, but they had never once encountered the Dreadwaters ever in those times. They knew enough of how the Dark Elves conduct war that they had a fair idea of what to expect should they encounter any Druchii on this mission. Enough to warn Lucy and Natsu of the dangers of facing such despicable elves.

"Really?" Asked Natsu in confusion. "You faced them before while in Fairy Tail? How come you never told of these guys?" Arahan rolled her eyes at that and spoke up.

"We never encountered them while in Fairy Tail, fool." Said Arahan as she crossed her arms. "We did have a life before joining the guild." Natsu growled at Arahan for calling him a fool but otherwise kept silent.

"These particular slavers are ruthless." Explained Naestra to prevent a fight from going on. "They strike fast and without warning, taking what they want and leaving before retribution can be inflicted on them. And they are utterly vicious to face in battle."

"And they're the ones responsible for the missing people?" Asked Lucy in horror. From the description alone, Lucy wasn't eager to face them at all. They sounded like a real mean bunch.

"Big deal." Said Natsu, not getting what made them so dangerous. "We're also dangerous too. We don't have anything to worry about. When those slavers face us, they're gonna wish that they never faced Fairy Tail." Naestra sighed at that while Arahan shook her head.

"This is no game, Natsu." Scolded Naestra. "These are not foes that you should joke around. They are vicious warriors that are not to be underestimated. You need to be careful when facing them. Otherwise, you may end up losing your life." Natsu went quiet at that. When Naestra scolded, it was for a good reason. Plus, the way she spoke about these slavers left Natsu a bit puzzled. She sounded almost afraid. Afraid of these slavers. In all his life, he had never seen or heard Naestra be afraid. Scolding and anger, sure, but never afraid. It left him a bit stumped. "So please, don't be overconfident in taking them. And if you must face them, be careful. Please." A bit quiet at that, Natsu just nodded his head, not sure what to make of this.

"Good." Said Arahan, seeing Natsu nod his head. "Now, our only lead is the warehouse this all happened. If neither of you has anything else to add, we're going there." Before Arahan make a move, Lucy spoke up.

"Actually, if I may, I think I have an idea where to go." Said Lucy while raising her hand, slightly nervous. Upon seeing Arahan look at her with a stern gaze, Lucy gulped before speaking up again. "You know that jerk that would have scammed me earlier? That blue haired guy with the charm magic?" Upon seeing Naestra nod, Lucy explained, more confident now. "Well, he invited me to a party tonight on his boat. Since he tried to use charm magic against me and you've told me of people being kidnaped in small amounts, I think he's working for the guys that have been kidnaping people." Upon hearing that, Arahan raised an eyebrow, both laughing internally and curious to see why she would think that.

"Why would you think such a thing, Lucy?" Asked Naestra, curious to see why she thought this fake Salamander and the Dreadwaters have any semblance of unity between them.

"Okay, here's my thinking." Said Lucy, happy that Naestra was giving her a chance. "So, these kidnappers must have blown their cover when they got those soldiers as that would have made the military lockdown the port to anyone without the proper registrations. So, with no way to get the people they've taken out of town safely without being caught, they get the blue-haired jerk to transport them out of town. All he needs to do is just land his boat, get the kidnapped people on board, and get out after the military checked his boat for the missing people."

"I don't see how this involve this fake Salamander." Said Happy as he scratched his head. "And why he tried to invite you to a party."

"It's obviously a way to get even more slaves." Said Lucy. "Think about it. He charms people, get them onto the boat, and then use a different magic to make them slaves to those that hired him. This just gives him a bonus from his employers for a job well done, right?" Arahan, having heard all this, couldn't help but scoff.

It sounded logically in whatever mind Lucy had in her head, but Arahan knew better. The Druchii thought of themselves as the master race. Superior to all other races, even the other elven groups. They would never seek help from those they deem their lesser. She was about to tell Lucy this when Naestra stepped in.

"It's certainly probable." Said Naestra, surprising Arahan. "Are you certain of this?"

"Positive." Said Lucy with a smile. "It all makes sense. Plus, even if he isn't working with the people, we're looking for, we still must capture him, right. He used illegal magic after all. That's ground for an arrest."

"She got a point." Said Happy with a scratch of his head. Naestra nodded in agreement while Natsu was shaking in his sandals due to Lucy saying the party was on a boat and he hated anything moving because of his motion sickness, a weakness that both sisters found amusing and sad at the same time.

"Indeed." Said Naestra. "And if they truly are working with the ones, we're looking for, then it's a stroke of good fortune. Right sister?" Arahan just scowled before nodding. "Then it's decided. Lucy, I hate to say this, but you may be forced to do something that can endanger your life. If you don't wish to…" She was interrupted when Lucy spoke up.

"Don't worry about that, I'm in." Said Lucy with a big smile, showing confidence in her eyes. "If I'm going to be a member of Fairy Tail, I must do risky stuff, right? So, this seems like a good opportunity to do so, right? Plus, I want to see that sleazeball go to jail for what he did here. No one should have their affection played for, right?" Everyone can agree to that. And upon seeing that Lucy was willing to be the center of it all, Naestra began to hatch up a plan. A plan that made Natsu yell out in terror when he heard all about it.

After calming him down, everyone left to go do their parts of said plan. As they walked alone, Arahan talked to her sister.

"Do you truly believe the Druchii of the Dreadwaters would stoop so low to have help from another race?" Asked Arahan, skeptical of all this.

"Yes." Said Naestra, knowing why her sister was so skeptical of all this. "But they wouldn't do so willingly. More out of desperation. They were decimated by their deal with the Fellhearts. It crippled them. And the travel here must have exhausted whatever resources they had left even further. I imagine they were desperate. Very desperate. And desperation can lead to one making decisions that they may have never committed under normal circumstances."

"I doubt that any Druchii would seek help from those they consider little more than animals, sister." Said Arahan, still not convinced if this. "If there is anything our dark kin are beyond malefic and cruelty incarnate, it's that they are prideful, much like fancy folk of Ulthuan."

"I know, sister." Said Naestra. "Pride is a powerful motive, but so is desperation. We shall see which is the superior in this instance the moment we learn if this human is involved with the Dreadwaters or not." Arahan just stayed silent at that.

"And if he isn't, then he'll be a fun prey to hunt." Said Arahan with a sadistic smile, causing Naestra to sigh.

Night

Ship

"Why?" Whined Natsu as he and Happy were floating above the ship that Lucy had gone in just a few minutes ago with the Twilight sisters. To their great fortune, the blue-haired jerk that Lucy spoke of, Bora as he called himself, invited both sisters to the party. Just one look of them was enough to cause Bora to want them to come aboard without much question. Lucy didn't even get the chance to ask if it was alright, she brought guest. Bora just asked them to come aboard. This, of course, was suspicious to all three ladies when they heard his invite, further convincing them that Bora was a slaver or something among those lines. So, to not arouse suspicion that they're onto him, the two sisters accepted his invitation with grace, acting like they were simply too foolish maidens that knew nothing about the dangers of men. Thus, with them on board along with a few other women, the boat, which was a large, cruise ship-like ship, went out of port and to the ocean. All according to plan.

The plan that Naestra came up with was simple. After Bora revealed his allegiance to the people responsible for the kidnappings for weeks, either Naestra, Arahan, or Lucy would send out a signal to Natsu and Happy, where they would bring in the weapons of both Naestra and Arahan from the air before heading off to alert the military of what was going on. It was a decent enough plan, especially since there seemed to be a limited number of crew for the ship that Bora was on, the only problem, however, was Natsu. Well, for the boy at least.

"This is totally unfair!" Yelled Natsu as he held onto Arahan's and Naestra's bows as well as their quivers and spears. "Why the heck do we get stuck with the boring job, Happy!? We should be out there, kicking that lying, no-good jerk a thing or not for trying to use our guild's good name for his own benefits! Not be delivery boys!"

"Well, unless you can fight while on that moving boat, I don't think that's ever going to happen." Said Happy as he held onto Natsu. Grumbling at that, Natsu held onto the bows and quivers for dear life, knowing that if he dropped them and they fall into the ocean, never to be seen again, both Naestra and Arahan will murder him for losing their prized possessions. They loved their quivers and bows. Almost as much as they loved their son. And, as much as he complained about holding onto them, he could understand.

The scarf that he was wearing right now was one of the few things he had left that reminded him of his father, Igneel. It was also the only physical thing that reminded him of Igneel. For it wasn't made from any cotton or other stuff scarfs are made from. No, it was made from Igneel's molted scales. A bit disgusting to some, but it was soft. No kidding, Happy can attest to its softness. It was like being cuddled by an angel.

But enough of that, since the scarf reminded Natsu of someone he wanted to find, perhaps the bows and quivers reminded Naestra and Arahan about something or someone. He may not be the brightest man in the world, but even he could tell that Naestra and Arahan were longing for something. Every now and then, the two would gauze upon their weapons and look a bit sad. Well, Naestra anyway, Arahan kept her gauze neutral whenever she looked at her bow. It wasn't a sad like what happened with Lisanna, but just a sadness that came from missing something. That was something Natsu can know for sure. But he wondered what it was. He didn't ask out of respect as it seemed that neither was rather interested in talking about their past. Any attempts were met with deflection, cryptic answers, and insults from Arahan. But he was growing curious every day whenever he saw them do this, and it was only a matter of time before he cracked.

But for now, he was going to complain about his task and how he wasn't going to help much in taking this scumbag Bora down. Because he didn't join Fairy Tail to become a delivery boy.

Meanwhile

Naestra

"Such a nice place you have here." Said Naestra as she looked around the fancy room that Bora had led her, Lucy, and Arahan to. It was a large spacious room that had its own bar. And Bora was currently serving them all drinks. As he did so, Naestra and Arahan could hear partying outside, on the main deck of the ship. It seemed many people were having a good time. Though many would see this as a sign that Bora wasn't up to something, the Twilight sisters knew better.

"Why thank you." Said Bora as he poured four cups of wine for everyone. "It's truly an honor that two such beautiful women, such as you and your sister, would come aboard my ship in such short notice. I had no idea Lucy would be so generous in inviting her friends to this party."

"Well, what can I say, I'm a generous person." Said Lucy, trying to act like a dunce, which honestly wasn't hard to do, what with Bora not recognizing the Twilight Sisters at all. "Like seriously, why the hell did this guy does not notice Naestra and Arahan. Sure, they're not wearing their armor and all, but the hoods are still on! C'mon, their faces are even plastered on Sorcerer Weekly from time to time! Ugh, how did I fall for this guy's trick in the first place?"

"And we do enjoy a party." Said Arahan as she crossed her legs. She absolutely hated the dress she was wearing. To blend in, both Naestra and Arahan went dress shopping as they didn't bring any such dresses with them on this trip to Hargeon. With only a few hours before Bora's scheduled departure, the two simply picked the first two dresses they could find. Naestra picked a lovely black dress while Arahan picked a white one that hugged her body a little too well and was far too short for her tastes. The bloody thing didn't cover half of her thighs for Isha's sake! She was just glad they were thoughtful enough to have those horrible hoods around that covered their hair and ears because she cannot stomach the thought of getting terrible hoods as well. "But I must ask, why are there only women as guest on this ship?"

"Well, what can I say, I'm a bit of a player." Said Bora with a chuckle. Before anyone could make a remark, Bora used his magic to cause some of the wine to flow out of their cups in tiny little balls. As he did this, Naestra and Arahan could hear movement coming from the curtains behind them. From the sounds they were making, it sounded like a dozen or two men coming in, carrying something with them. A lot of things. Narrowing their eyes, they saw Bora using his magic to try to charm them into eating one of the balls of wine. That, however, was a mistake.

Swiping the balls coming at them, destroying them, the three women stopped the acts and got serious.

"Alright, enough of the act." Said Lucy with a glare at Bora, who was surprised a bit. "We know your plan, Bora, so drop the act and show your true self." Upon hearing all that, Bora snickered and shrugged.

"Well, if you insist." With that, Bora snapped his fingers and the curtains behind the three ladies pulled back, revealing a bunch of thugs, many of them holding unconscious women in their arms. While Lucy was in shock at this, Naestra and Arahan glared at Bora.

"Slavers, I presume?" Asked Arahan as she glared at Bora while Naestra looked at the men, ready to fight if needed.

"You got that right, gorgeous." Said Bora with a smile. "You see, when you combine magic along with good looks, you get wonderous results in the slave trade. Women that are good-looking always fetch high prices in auctions. Especially if they're virgins or in their twenties. And you'll all fetch a handsome price when we get to Bosco." Lucy glared at Bora at that. Bosco was a country that allowed slavery in its territories. And it was a place that Lucy had no intentions on going to.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no way are we or any of these women going to become slaves!" Yelled Lucy as she attempted to get out a ring of keys from her person, but Bora, acting quickly, sent out a whip of fire at her, smacking the hand holding said ring of keys before grabbing it and handing them to Bora. As this was happening, however, Arahan went into action.

With the grace that should be expected for an elf, Arahan was upon Bora as he grabbed the ring of keys, stunning him. Before he could do anything, she landed a kick on his face, sending him crashing into the floor while also making him drop the ring of keys, stunning the rest of Baro's gang as they watched him fall. Catching them midair, she tossed the keys to Lucy, who caught them with some luck. She then picked one out of the keys she had and yelled out.

"Open Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Yelled Lucy as a golden glyph appeared on the floor in front of her. The slavers around her watched in awe as a giant, buff, humanoid bull came out with a double-bladed axe on his back came out of the glyph.

"Moo!" Yelled the buff bull-man as he drew his ax with a smile. "Miss Lucy! How about after I take out all these other guys you give me a big old smooch!"

"Whatever, just beat them all up!" Yelled Lucy as she tried to get out a small flare launcher that Naestra gave her to signal Natsu. The Sisters were busy holding the Bora and the goons off, so she had to signal Natsu to bring them their equipment.

"At your command!" Yelled Taurus as he charged at the stunned goons to beat them up for his mistress, careful to not hurt the unconscious women and the Twilight Sisters with his swings. By then, they had all recovered enough to attack. Dropping the women, they were holding, the men drew out daggers and swords and charged at the three ladies and bull-man.

Taurus, being far stronger than any of them, simply sent a good chunk of them flying with one swing of his mighty ax while the rest were dealt by Arahan and Naestra. Though they didn't have their weapons with them, the twins were still deadly combatants. Dodging the attacks of their foes, the sisters gave powerful kicks and punches to the slavers, knocking quite a few of them unconscious. While all this was happening, Lucy fired a flare out a window, hoping that Natsu will see it.

Meanwhile, Bora recovered from the hit to him and glared at the one that caused it as she elbowed a man in the face, breaking his nose, before grabbing his head and smashing it on a wall, knocking him out.

"Why you bitch!" Yelled Bora as he was about to cast magic. Before he could, Naestra came up behind him and, with a simple chop to his neck, knocked him out. Shaking her head, Naestra then gracefully dodged a knife from another slaver and quickly disarmed him. Much as she was fine with using her hands and legs to defeat her foes, she wished that she had her weapons so that she can fight them off more effectively. Though she and her sister had training in hand-to-hand combat, as the humans called it, she much preferred her bow and spear right about now.

And as if called by divine intervention, their weapons came to them with Natsu in tow. Glaring at everyone, including the Twilight Sisters, Natsu was about to yell out something when suddenly he got sick.

"Oh, this was a bad idea." Moaned Natsu as he dropped what he was carrying and fell to the ground in pain, shocking everyone baring the sisters, who then took this opportunity to grab their weapons. Twirling her spear, Naestra glared at the remaining slavers as she and Arahan stood next to Lucy with Taurus in front of them.

"I suggest you all surrender." Said Naestra while Arahan gave a sadistic and crazed smile at the slavers before them, scaring them all. "We've just taken down, what I can only assume, to be your only magic user and we have a celestial spirit at the ready to fight you all. Not only that, but the army will be here soon. Surrender now and leniency will be granted to you."

"Or don't and be prepared to suffer a painful death." Said Arahan with crazed delight. "My spear has longed to cut a man in half and you all look quite useful for that." That scared the crap out of the men as they looked at the crazed, she-half. Lucy was a bit uncomfortable with what Arahan just said but kept a brave face on.

"And I got a lot more spirits where he came from." Said Lucy, holding up her keys, showing she had more to call on. "And they're just as powerful as him, if not more. So, give up or be prepared to face a lot more of him."

"And you got me to deal with as well." Natsu struggled to say with his motion sickness. The poor teen was behind the girls as he suffered from his motion sickness. Baring Natsu's threat, the threats from both Arahan and Lucy were enough to make the slavers surrender, dropping the women they were holding to raise their hands in surrender.

"A wise choice." Said Naestra as she stood down along with Lucy and Arahan, though to the reluctance of the latter.

Later

It only took an hour, but the army arrived to bring the boat back to port and arrest the crew of the ship as well as rescue all the poor women aboard. A great victory indeed.

As she watched Bora be taking away along with his crew, Lucy gave a big smile.

"Well, I saw that was a job well done, right?" Asked Lucy, turning to Natsu as he watched Bora be taken away.

"Yeah, I guess." Said Natsu, glad to finally be off that ship. "Just wish I got a good hit on him. That jerk not only used my nickname, but he also used Fairy Tail's name for his own selfish schemes. That man deserved a good pounding."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Said Lucy. "Arahan and Naestra gave him a good pounding. Trust me on that. He's going to be sore about it for weeks."

"And we did." Said Arahan as she finished dressing up in her armor, relieved to be rid of that awful dress. "Now we just need to interrogate him and see if he's truly with those that have been kidnapping people from this town as of late."

"Indeed." Said Naestra as she too finished suiting up in her typical armor. "If he truly is affiliated with those responsible, then he may be our only lead to saving those people." The young teens nodded at that while looking at Bora.

"So, you going to interrogate him now?" Asked Lucy, looking at the Twilight Sisters.

"I do not see why not." Said Arahan before looking at Naestra. "Sister?" Sighing a bit, Naestra nodded.

"Do not be so harsh, however, Arahan." Said Naestra. "We need him to cooperate." Arahan rolled her eyes at that before walking with her sister to Bora. While they did, Lucy asked Natsu if she was going to be in Fairy Tail after all this.

"Huh, I don't see why not." Said Natsu, causing Lucy to squeal out in happiness. So much so that she began to do a little victory dance, much to Natsu's and Happy's amusement.

Meanwhile, the Twilight Sisters stopped the soldiers escorting Bora to a wagon that would take him to the nearest police station. Upon looking at Bora, sporting a bruise from where Arahan kicked him, Naestra spoke out.

"Bora, I promise to lighten your sentence if you tell us about this symbol." Said Naestra as she drew out the drawing that was given to her earlier this day. Upon seeing that picture, Bora widened his eyes in shock before rapidly shaking his head.

"No way!" Yelled Bora in fear at seeing it. "No way am I going to give out info about those guys!" Upon hearing that, Arahan and Naestra realized that he did knew something and that their previous assessments were right. The Dreadwaters were here.

"You're going to." Said Arahan as she grabbed Bora by the collar. A few soldiers saw this and readied their spears, but Naestra calmed them, assuring them that Arahan wouldn't hurt Bora. "Because if you don't, I'll make sure your stay in prison will be the worst moments in your pathetic life."

"You think that's going to scare me?" Asked Bora incredulously as Arahan glared at him. "You think prison is going to be worse than what those crazies will do to me if I reveal anything about them?"

"So, you're afraid of the Dreadwaters more than even Fairy Tail, is that correct?" Asked Naestra, causing Bora's eyes to widen. Not at the revelation that these two were in Fairy Tail, but rather that they knew the name behind that symbol.

"How the hell do you know that name?" Asked Bora as he looked at both Naestra and Arahan.

"We know about them than you do." Said Naestra, trying to convince the human to cooperate. "We also know that they will kill you for your failure this day. Regardless of how much your failure is due to your own skills or mistakes."

"That's correct." Said Arahan as she pulled Bora every closer to her face. "You're already a dead man. So why don't you stop trying to defend these monsters and tell what they're doing here in this port city." Bora looked hesitant about doing what Arahan just said. Before he could even decide on what to do, a small dart zipped past Arahan and hit Bora in the neck. Stunned at this, both Arahan and Naestra looked around to find out where that was shot, only to find a shadowy figure on the rooftop of a building quickly made its escape. Upon seeing this, Arahan dropped Bora and went after it, leaving Naestra to try and figure out what happened to Bora. Upon getting to the man, her eyes widened in shock as she saw him rapidly convulse as blood came out of his eyes, mouth, and ears. Before she could yell out for someone to get a doctor, Bora just died before her, landing on the floor of the wagon. As his crew panicked around his dead corpse, fearing they were next, while soldiers were either panicking or trying to get things under control, Naestra looked to where her sister left and hoped that she was fine. Worrying for her sister, she pulled out the dart that was responsible for killing Bora. Upon looking at the dart and seeing its intricate and design focusing on being as intimidating as possible while only a small margin of practicality, Naestra realized it was the dart of a Druchii assassin. If this wasn't proof that the Druchii was here, then she didn't know what was. The design was far too alike to the designs of Druchii weapons she encountered before. Combined that with what else she had with her, the symbol, and how Bora reacted to it, she can safely say what she always knew.

The Druchii of house Dreadwater were here, and their presence was a source of great worry for the black-haired elf. As Lucy, Happy, and Natsu made their way to her to figure out what was going on, Naestra wondered what the future entailed for her, her sister, and their son now that the Druchii were revealed to them.