Lucy thought she'd have to be the one waiting up in the gardens for Levy, yet as she turned the corner around a powerfully scented thicket, there she found Levy sitting on a stone bench with a book bearing the Imperial seal of approval on its cover. She had a gray overcoat on with the lapel of the Twilight Division on its left side. Her dress underneath was a flowing black, similar to Lucy's, yet Lucy had no other articles of clothing besides it. It was strange for her to be out and about with nothing to carry or bring around, but Axel had full possession of her things.

Levy only noticed as Lucy sat down. She startled and closed the book, quickly. The cover didn't appear to have any words, yet, the glasses that Levy was taking off probably helped her read. Levy set the book down, then squeezed Lucy's hand. Lucy wanted to dive into Levy's arms for a hug, but, the walls were always watching.

"This is unbelievable," Lucy said, holding Levy's hand with both of her hands. "How are you here?"

"It's a long, long story," Levy said. She drew forth her Light Pen and weaved the word Silence on the bench. She flicked her wrist, and the words bubbled up and burst over them. "Phew. Okay. Now we can speak freely." She eased back and reached for her book. "They've had me reading this thing nonstop. Rules, regulations, all sorts of stuff about the Empire. Hisui would love it."

Lucy's jaw slackened and she glanced around.

"That silence makes it so no one can listen in unless I want them to," Levy said. "Honestly it's one of the few good things I've learned from the Empire."

"You're apprenticing?"

"Not really by choice but yeah. August, the Captain of the Twilight Division, came and recruited me. He said I would be a valuable asset to the Empire. What a dream come true, right? At least he's been training me. It's been only a few days but the amount I've learned from him is astounding."

Levy handed Lucy the book. All of the writing was indeed invisible until Lucy placed her hand on one of the pages and the words appeared, scrambled.

"There's a code word you need to read it," Levy said. "Kind of activates the book."

"So, Hisui wouldn't be able to use it without the code word, or another copy," Lucy said.

"I could try working on making another, but they're really tight about this." Levy gestured at the book and said, "Ankh."

At once, the words formed into sentences Lucy could conceivably understand, even though what she was looking at dictated the Imperial mandates on states and cities that get folded into the Empire, and how they are to be handled. Lucy sighed.

"So, recruited, but still looking to help the little guys?"

"Just doing my part. But what about you and this Axel guy?" She sneered and nudged Lucy with her shoulder. "How come I've never heard of him?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned. "I don't know what I was thinking, Lev. Just had to act on instinct and save everyone."

"Must've been pretty desperate for things to be like that," Levy said. "How are you holding up now, living with him? Sl…eeping with him?"

Lucy almost vomited. "Absolutely not. We sleep in different rooms and I've only kissed him twice."

"Oh, kisses?"

"Had to get what I want somehow." Lucy sat up, hands resting on her knees, as she stretched her back. "I'd like to say I met my quota for the year on that, though. But what about you? Twilight Division, eh? What, did they finally unshackle you and let you walk around?"

Levy raised an eyebrow. "What'd you mean?"

"You said you were recruited. Come on, Levy. You were the member of Fairy Tail that was kidnapped, right?"

Levy's expression dropped. She bit her lip and shook her head.

Lucy once more tried to run down the list of people it could possibly be until Levy cut her off at the answer.

"It's Mirajane. She was able to destroy an entire airfield before Mard Geer Tartaros, the Captain of the Tartaros Division, fought her. Beat her, and brought her back. Now, she's one of them."

"Them?"

Levy nodded. "Tartarus is a Division comprised almost entirely of Demons. At least, their leadership is. Remember Lullaby, Deliora? Demons of the Books of Zeref? Think of it like that, but much stronger. These are Etherious creatures and don't even use Magic. They have Curse power."

"So, Mirajane does, too?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. Invel took me to see her once, but she was still in her…" Levy blanched. "Transformation, I guess."

Lucy couldn't even imagine. She'd seen Mirajane in her Takeover forms, each of which was demonic in property. But for her to become a demon? The thought was scary enough, let alone the results.

"What does that mean, though? Becoming a demon? She'd be forced to join them, brainwashed?"

"Probably. I don't have the specifics."

Lucy balled her fist. "We have to get her out, then. We have to save her!"

"It's not that easy, Lu. Trust me. Nothing here is. My understanding is that you're just now being let out of your house. You're lucky to get to go to the Grand Magic Games today, right? How do you expect to save Mirajane?" Levy patted the book. "The secrets are here. They have to be. I hate to say we need more time, but I think that's just the honest truth."

Lucy relaxed her hands and nodded. The Empire didn't move at a breakneck pace until it was time to do damage, and it did so with the swiftness of a thousand storms. They sat and lurked about, and in one fell swoop, clashed so violently with Fairy Tail it nearly left some of its strongest members dead and Lucy was taken away.

Two people, likely no matter how strong, wouldn't be able to dig through Crocus—Lucy understood that the Tartaros Division had a tower, yes, but all of its operations were carried out deep below Crocus in what was known as the Abyss—and rescue a woman already under intense scrutiny.

It was the sort of reckless thing Natsu would do. He was in the city. He could help. Or he, and Erza, and whoever else the others managed to smuggle into the city, would be up against the full strength of the Empire with no backup.

August alone would probably wipe them all out.

"I'm honestly risking enough coming here to see you," Levy said. "I'm sure, soon, we'll be able to work it out so we can see each other routinely, but August has me on a short leash."

"I hear you there, sister."

Lucy grabbed Levy's hand once again. Levy tapped her hand atop Lucy's.

"We'll get through this, okay? We have friends on the outside willing to help us. You know that, right?"

Levy could hardly meet Lucy's eyes but nodded nonetheless. Lucy knew that look, the one of someone who faced the desperate situation of living in Crocus surrounded by nothing but Imperial force and decree. There wasn't much of a light in the tunnel, a thin silver lining around the clouds.

It all came down to the fiery hope one had in their heart, the few embers they had to protect with every ounce of their sanity no matter how hard the Empire's torrential gusts came to snuff it all out.

Wendy followed Kip closely, Carla clinging to her arms thankfully with her claws retracted. Gajeel's heavy footfalls were not far from her at all. Gray yawned once more. Happy padded next to him, while Elfman helped Kip clear away another stone. Juvia clung to Gray's arm once more as a massive opening finally appeared before them.

It held little more light than the cavern Kip had created for them, but with more space and the faint light from above in the small crevices in the ceiling at least they could see what was ahead of them. Gajeel and Wendy stepped forward while Kip searched for an easy way down.

"This is it, huh?" Gajeel asked. "The Dragon Graveyard?"

"It's awful," Wendy said. Her stomach sank.

Hundreds of corpses, ranging from fairly large to humongous, littered the ground all around them. Skeletons all, sure, but their sheer number….

Some clung to the walls, as if desperately trying to escape, while some were completely broken upon the ground.

Kip eased his foot out and the ground molded into stairs for them. Gajeel hopped down a slope and Carla hefted Wendy up and then down the ground. The others, save for Happy who simply drifted down on his wings, took the steps Kip provided. Kip nodded.

"I can sense the way ahead," Kip said. "Gajeel, Wendy, you good?"

Gajeel rested his hands on his hips. "It's a lot, ain't it, pipsqueak?"

"Too much," Wendy muttered. "There's so much death and sadness here."

"You can sense it?" Gray asked.

"Yes." Wendy clutched her hand to her heart. "It's an old, old evil that's still here."

The ground was not entirely made of skeletons, and from much of the death, there was clearly life. Odd plants grew from all over the bodies of some old dragons. The air wasn't foul, but the permutation of its magic certainly was.

The place was forgotten to time, and it was almost as if that saddened the atmosphere. Wendy wasn't quite sure how that could be. She hugged Carla a bit tighter to her chest.

And yet at the same time, it almost felt as if all of this emotion was pointing somewhere, and the more steeped in the cave Wendy became, the more targeted this sensation became. Kip walked one way, yet Wendy's mind was drawn elsewhere.

"Sensing it too?"

Gajeel approached Wendy.

"Yeah. It's weird."

"Weird how?" Kip asked.

"Like there's something else in here with us. A spirit, or something I just…I can't really put my finger on it, honestly," Wendy said.

She meandered around another pillar, leading to a massive gap in the cave. There were, of course, more skeletons, all of them on different parts of the cave that'd clearly seen some battle, though signs of the battle were from a long time ago. Yet this was like stepping almost into into a parallel crevice, a space filled with only sorrow and hollow air. Wendy eased her hand against the cold stone.

"Without you here, Kip, I doubt we'd be able to find our way out of here," Wendy said.

Gajeel gestured at some rails nearby. They'd been torn up, but their frame remained. "We could probably follow those out of here."

"I doubt they'd bring us anywhere," Kip said. He raised his hand toward the rails. "The stone around them is a jumbled mess."

"They caved it in," Gray said.

"There has to be some sort of secret down here then, right?" Happy asked. "Why else would Zeref care about keeping this protected?"

"We haven't the time to find out," Carla said. "Natsu and Erza will need our help soon. We must press on."

"After you," Gajeel said to Kip, who led them with a nod.

He removed his worn shoes so that his bare feet patted the ground. Every few steps, he would twist his foot, and after one of them, he changed direction. He was probably sensing the right way to go, Wendy figured.

She continued to swivel her head around. Though they were following Kip, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out for something suspicious or…

Wendy reached out and snagged Gajeel's arm. Gajeel stopped.

"Who is that?" Wendy asked.

Kip raised an eye and looked out in that direction. Everyone else did the same.

"I…can't…" Kip pursed his lips. "Over there?"

"Right there," Wendy said, pointing.

Perhaps a hundred, two hundred, yards away stood a woman, small and slender. She had brown hair draped down her back, wearing a white dress inlaid with gold. A crown stood atop her head, though it was worn. She meandered aimlessly, adrift.

"It can't be…" Kip muttered.

"You know her?" Gajeel asked. He took a step closer as if to move toward the woman.

The shifting of his feet knocked pebbles loose down a small slope, snatching her attention. Wendy's breath caught. She didn't know the woman, nor recognize her, but even Gajeel couldn't help also becoming frozen at her glance.

Her eyes widened, and though she attempted to take a step forward, she then vanished into the room around her.

"Wait!" Wendy exclaimed and rushed to where the woman was. Yet when she reached that location, there was nobody there, and no signs of a person.

No footsteps, no scent, nothing.

"Who was that?" Gajeel asked, barking back toward Kip.

Kip joined then, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I…I think it was…"

Queen Sonya jolted up in her bed, startling an attendant right next to her. A few beads of sweat slid down her face. A phantom grasp on her hand finally let her go.

"Zeref," she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

The attendants, several of them, gasped. The old women, wearing gray masks over their dark dresses, at once flung free their masks so Sonya could recognize them. She tried, desperately, but could not pry any names from her memory.

This room she did recognize. Lavish stellanium twinkled in the pre-dusk light, and gold ribbons and banners draped all along the walls.

Someone handed her a glass of water. She stared into the reflection, at once catching the reflection of another before she saw herself.

Something stirred within her. Further still, in her soul, someone stirred, awake again at last, too.

"Who brought me here?" Sonya asked.

A figure materialized next to her, little more than an illusion but one nonetheless. August. Sonya, unlike her attendants, didn't flinch at his appearance.

"I did, Your Highness," August said. "I prayed for the day you would wake once more."

Sonya tried to sit up. Something was bothering her still. A pain. But from what? An injury?

"The day?" Sonya asked.

August nodded. "I'm afraid it's been over a year since you've graced us with your presence, Your Highness. You've been dearly missed."

"That's impossible," Sonya said. She sat up further. "And Zeref? Where is he?"

Someone else. There was someone else that she'd been around before…before…

You need not think of it.

The voice rumbled from Sonya's heart.

Focus on the here and now, Empress.

Sonya grasped her sheets. Her body was still weary, her mind and heart even more so. Thus, she nodded to August, who bowed to her.

"Catch me up to speed on all that has transpired, then," Sonya said. "And find my husband."

"He is away for now," August said. "But will return soon, we believe."

"Away where?"

"I cannot tell you."

"I am Empress."

"And he Emperor."

August said no more. He stepped back to allow Sonya's attendants to shower her with soft foods, warm compresses, and dear blessings that she had awoken safely. Sonya glowered at the illusion of August as it faded away, attempting to dig further into her memory, but was stalwartly blocked by that which always guarded her soul.

Animus.

The village could not have looked more like heaven itself when Lisanna at last crested the hill. Another pang of hunger struck her, and her entire body was prepared to give out beneath her. Some of the refugees hollered to her for good news.

She straightened her back, then returned their concerns with a thumbs-up. They whooped and hollered. Lisanna let her arm drop. It was stained with sweat and dirt from the arduous journey back to the village. Several refugees were hanging onto each other for support. Lahar had one feeble old man in his arms.

Lisanna braced her vocal cords for a moment, testing them, until she at last shouted out, "Romeo!"

Her voice rang across the valley, bouncing between the house walls and alleyways, scattering until it found its target. The young man rushed outside, a big grin on his face.

Not far at all behind him was Flare, who started her run toward Lisanna.

At the sight of the red woman, Lisanna's legs gave out. More of the refugees followed her, rushing toward the village. Romeo jogged after Flare, waving them down toward him.

Flare caught Lisanna, who let her head drop into Flare's bosom, and the rest of her body gave out.

"Thank you," Lisanna muttered.

Flare stroked some hair out of Lisanna's face. "What's happened to you, lovely? You looked terrible."

Lisanna tried to speak up, tried to say anything, but then the nightmare that kept her away for the last several days returned.

Mirajane, swooping in and killing her. Destroying the refugees. Levy, on her knees in front of the greatest wizard in the world. An unstoppable force.

Death incarnate.

Finally, the tears came out, bursting from Lisanna, who simply succumbed to them while Flare, who had no idea what was going on, simply held her.

It wasn't enough for Lisanna. It couldn't be, but for the moment, it had to be.

The roar of the crowd in the Domus Flau blew the one from Clover Town out of the water. The stadium, too, was far more impressive. There was so much more room for the combatants to go at it. Fans were still just as close to the action, but there appeared to be some sort of magical, illusory partition that would spare them the debris of battle.

Tall towers stood all about the stadium for the elite to come watch the contest. A lone announcer was in the middle of the arena recapping the events of the Games as they'd proceeded in Clover Town.

Natsu drowned him out, staring instead ahead at the arena itself, assessing how much room there was for pure carnage.

"You seem nervous," Erza said next to him. She adjusted her armor.

"You should be," Natsu said. "This won't be like the other times, Erza. I have a lot more tricks."

"I bet," Erza said. "Because I do, too."

"It'll be one heck of a show."

"Shame that one of us has to lose here."

Natsu nodded. He balled his fists, raring to go. He was all fired up already, and he hadn't even been introduced. Hadn't heard the sheer roar of the crowd. Would they be as excited as Clover Town for Fairy Tail, or just to see the Final?

"You understand what will happen after the match, right?" Erza asked. "They'll take the loser away, likely to the dungeons or to be recruited, somehow."

"I know. Not that I was going to just sit on that. When I win and they put you away, I'll get you out. Don't worry about that part."

Erza smiled and chuckled. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page."

Dusk continued to creep toward them. Overhead, lacrima blared on to light up the stadium. There was a lone, massive screen over the stadium for fans way up in Domus Flau to see the events clearer, with dozens of other viewing lacrima floating around for the best camera angle.

Natsu sighed and grasped the scarf around his neck. The crowd continued to cheer as the announcer spoke highly about Erza, who departed to the arena. They roared for her. He let go of the scarf, watching his friend, his opponent, go ahead of him.

The announcer pointed to him. The entire Empire, it seemed, put their eyes upon him.

"Natsu Dragneel!"

Fire blasted out of his fists, and Natsu strode into Domus Flau, surrounded by draconic statues, the crowd of the elite, watched by the most powerful people in the Twilight Empire, as he prepared to fight one of his best friends.