"Etherion is being fired in one hour!"

Ultear rolled her eyes at the chaos, set in motion by her push to finally fire the Satellite Square. She took a look around. The other members of the Magic Council seemed caught between anxiety and irritation while they all signed the order. Ultear took the pen last, staring at the paper. June the 5th, X786. By order of the Ishgar Magic Council, the Satellite Square shall be used to destroy a single R-System (colloquially known as the 'Tower Of Heaven') in the waters off Ka' Elm. Masking her smile, Ultear gave the last signature, allowing the sole dissenter – Yajima – to hand it off. The look he shot her said what the others would not: they were all holding out hope that they could rescind the order off contact from Siegrain. He won't make contact. He can't, and he may very well be dead. And, if he is not, someone will be once the Tower absorbs the energy of Etherion. She sauntered off. It would not be long. Etherion was the final piece. The Tower Of Heaven would be operational. Will I see you after, then, mother? Will you finally see I am not as weak as you were when you chose to abandon me? Will my manipulation of Jellal amount to the answers I deserve? She sighed, leaning slightly forward against the balcony of the Council Situation Room. This is it. Ultear glanced around when the other members of the Council began to enter the room. A hint of dread arose in her. I'll have to create enough chaos to blame the misfire on one of you. Who will it be? She took a look up at the projections of the satellite images, the maps, and trajectory. After a moment, she smiled to herself.

Siegrain, you have no idea what you have walked yourself into.

Her mind began to wander, and her fingers bounced up and down against the balcony railing.

"So, of all the twenty year olds on the continent, you were granted the title of Wizard Saint, and by the King of Fiore, no less? Impressive."

Siegrain had raised an eyebrow when the twenty six year old woman strutted into one of the libraries of the Magic Council.

"I appreciate the warm welcome to the Council, then," He had replied. "Considering that I have been rather taken aback by how much younger I am than the rest of the Council's members."

"You're not too much younger than me," Ultear had replied, stepping between him and the books he was perusing. "But I will not pretend I'm happy to no longer be the youngest member of the Council."

Siegrain had raised an eyebrow.

"Have you been in Era long?" Ultear had smoothly gone on. "It's quite the city."

"It is," Siegrain had agreed, taking a small step back when Ultear took his hands in her own. "Have you…" He had tried to focus. "Have you lived in Era long yourself?"

"About three years," Ultear had silkily replied. "If you need a place to stay, I'm happy to provide."

Siegrain had stared at her for a minute.

"You don't have to do that."

"I'm more than willing to," Ultear had countered. "You fascinate me."

You were quite the enjoyable plaything for that time. Ultear laughed to herself under her breath. Everywhere from your personal library and office to my apartment and bedroom…

Heels clicked in pace behind her. Her eyes narrowing, Ultear turned around, expecting to see any of her fellow Council members, only to see and hear nothing more. She shivered, and then forced herself to regain her composure. You don't believe in ghosts, do you? You can't honestly believe in any of that. She closed her eyes. Everything suddenly took on a deeply unnerving feeling. She tried not to dwell on it. Her mind began to whisper again, however. For a few seconds, she wondered if it were her concern and wonderings about the girl in her care. She was safe, wasn't she? Her thoughts began racing again. There were only three places she ever would be without her, and those were the apartment in Era, the home about thirty miles outside of Magnolia (and therefore just about in the middle of nowhere) that had been bought and paid for entirely under the table, and with the rest of Grimoire Heart. It was not as reassuring a thought as she had hoped. Ultear took a look around again. This time, the other members of the Council were starting to enter the room. They spoke in worried, hushed tones about what they were doing. She looked up at the monitors.

Sometimes, it's better to leave the skeletons in the closets, because, once they come out, you never know what they are going to say.

Those had been Siegrain's words.

Ultear frowned.

She closed her eyes once again, and hummed softly before opening them again.

There was a storm following Etherion as it began to move towards the Tower Of Heaven. What would lie in its wake would be up for fearsome debate.

Angel laughed, still amused by the way Natsu continued to launch himself at her with his flames all but engulfing him. She perfectly masked her irritation at struggling to get both clear shots on him, instead choosing to focus on his immense struggle against her strength. What annoyed her far more, while she swung her flaming magical sword, were the seeming relentlessness of the others and the damn flying cat that came at her too. She glanced over to where Jellal was seemingly even against Siegrain and Erza. She flicked her fingers to summon more spirits, fixating them on all of the others but Natsu, whom she continued to slash at with her sword. Her focus split, she felt almost to be somewhere else. It makes perfect sense. The spirits take on the painful damage you don't want to endure, and they duly fight the others. The ones weaker than whomever this child and his cat think they are. With a small smirk, she watched them struggle to find a way past her posse of spirits to injure her. Lazily, she also pushed Natsu back. The pink haired dragon slayer grew only more enraged, and broke through just long enough to kick her in the stomach. In the recoil, he singed off most of her waist length hair. The temporary distraction allowed one of Lucy's own spirits to strike her, but Angel quickly recovered, and snapped her back into the wall with her spirits.

"Lucy!" Natsu shrieked.

He broke from fighting Angel on impulse, darting towards Lucy and helping her up. She was bruised under her left eye, and her right cheek was bleeding.

"How quaint," Angel said with a false smile.

Lucy steadied herself again with help from Juvia.

Natsu let out what could only be described as a growl.

"You'll pay!"

Natsu, with little thought, tackled Angel while she began to set her spirits on Lucy and Juvia. She cursed, and was not fast enough to stop him from punching her in the face. She was, however, fast enough to redirect her spirits to attack him and get him and his flying cat off of her. Happy, taking advantage of the situation and likely mistaking the feathers in her headdress for fish, began gnawing on her hair in potentially the most obnoxious way possible. Dryly, Gray laughed. If things weren't so dire, this could be incredibly amusing. Backing up Lucy and Juvia, he drew up a wall of ice to lessen the impact of Angel's onslaught of spirits. The wall shattered and flew out all around them, turning into almost dusty snow. The impact sent a few of Angel's spirits back on her. She crossed her arms in front of herself, summoning a shield that was not quick enough to block an attack from Virgo, whom Lucy had summoned on impulse. Another attack from the rampaging Natsu slammed into Angel. The woman let out a short, sharp scream, and shoved him back. Struggling to shield herself, the weakened mage shouted at Jellal. Caught in a stalemate with Erza and Siegrain, Jellal paid her no mind. Dizzy, Erza's vision was blurred, struggling to reorient herself. She grit her teeth.

You cannot do this, Jellal. What is the point of this?

She and Siegrain finally knocked him into a wall. Jellal hit his head, and started bleeding a little. The others, preoccupied, did not notice.

"So…" Jellal panted, struggling to get off the ground. "Are the two of you honestly –"

He stared at Siegrain in shock when his brother warily approached him.

"Neither of us want to kill you," Siegrain mildly told him. "How in the hell did you get like this?"

Jellal laughed dryly. His head pounding, and something feeling not quite right, he staggered back up onto his feet only to fall over again a few seconds later. The voices were shouting, but less intensely. How? Erza did not come closer to him and kept herself ready to begin fighting again. Her vision blurred a little bit. Siegrain stood in front of his brother, still on the ground. Jellal gaped at him, and tried to get off the ground. He struggled again. The voices grew intense as they had before, and then worsened. Siegrain, emotion and exhaustion plaguing him, looked at his brother. Jellal barely met his eyes, resisting the urge to grab his head to silence the voices. It would not do anything, he knew. He wanted to nonetheless. Siegrain sheathed his sword. His brother's eyes seemed tired. He was worn. He was fighting more than them, but what was it? A few seconds passed. Then, acting purely on emotional impulse, Siegrain sighed heavily and reached out a hand to help his brother up. The fight could be over, he told himself, apart from Angel. It wouldn't take long, would it? Jellal met his brother's eyes fully for the first time.

Siegrain, what are you doing?

He reached out his hand towards his brother, but was prepared to settle the –

In a flash of painful light, the Tower turned a bright blue upon a sharp force of magical energy coursing through it. The second the dust cleared, they all realised that the infamous Tower Of Heaven had become active for the first time.

He wrenched himself away from his twin, and ran at Erza yet again.

"I found something you might want," Elina spoke softly, setting down a thick folder in front of Irene. "You spoke of wanting to know what became of your daughter to create a child? I haven't the faintest clue how that could be possible, but take a look at this. I found her, or, at least, what she looks like."

Irene's eyebrows raised in a split second.

"It's not just that," Elina went on. "The girl, Wendy. From her accent, like I said, I think she's from Fiore. But do you know for sure if she is?"

"How should I know?" Irene coldly replied. "I told you everything I know about Fiore, and that is very, very, very little in the present."

Elina sighed. "I know. Speaking of which, what did you mean when you said the royal family dabbled in dark magic?"

"Specifically?" Irene frowned. "Well, for one thing, they are well aware of something known as the Eclipse Gate, and, I reckon, may have the capacity to use it."

Elina blinked. "What on earth is that?"

"Eclipse, though many doubt its existence, is essentially a doorway to the past and/or the other side," Irene said, beginning to page through the folder. "But, if we can interact with that side, they can interact with us, too."

"What do you mean by 'the other side,' Irene?" Elina's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "You can't possibly mean death."

"I don't mean death," Irene agreed. "I mean the spirit plane, within which, among other things, celestial spirits reside."

"Of the zodiac?"

"And other types. Frankly, I know very little on all of these subjects, and have merely pieced them together over the years. But, if the legends hold true, the twelve gate keys of the zodiac would be required to open the Eclipse Gate."

"And you believe the Fiore royal family has those keys?"

"No. Although I certainly wouldn't trust the queen with them."

Elina paused, stunned.

"Did you ever now Heather Nuvelle Fiore?"

"A bit," Irene's voice darkened. "She was, after all, the woman her husband betrayed me for."

Elina bristled at the thought.

"He loved you, didn't he?"

"He did," Irene's lips briefly twisted into a smile. "Which is why I took his son."

Elina took a few steps back.

"You took his son?"

"How else did you expect me to learn of the royal family's use of forbidden magic?" Irene smoothly countered, briefly falling silent when her eyes fell on photographs of her daughter. She regained herself in a matter of seconds. "I came across it, and punished them in the process. Irregardless, the boy would have been my son if Toma had married me. I simply took what was mine."

Elina took in a deep breath. "What happened to him?"

"I have no idea," Irene shrugged. "I left him – he was about four or five years old – near a farm. I suspect he's still alive, and probably works on that same farm, now, with the people he presumes to be his family."

Elina laughed a little. "That's rather ironic for a prince."

"Yes," Irene took a look around the room, and then closed the folder. "I am going to check up on Wendy. She's healing nicely, isn't she?"

"She is," Elina could not hide the relief in her voice. "There's something about her I cannot quite place, though."

"I feel the same," Irene shook her head. "Most likely, it's magic. She either knows she has it and can't use it, or simply has none and is simply shedding off an excess of magic energy from wherever she came from."

"She's your granddaughter, though," Elina replied. "It must be the former, then."

"Perhaps," Irene said, beginning to leave the room. "But I am not curious enough to find out."

Elina sighed. "I'll never understand that."

"You don't have to. It is mine to deal with, not yours, though I am grateful you saved her life."

Silence. Irene's boots clicked against the floor. Elina chewed at the inside of her cheek, then pressing:

"And what of your daughter? Are you going to try and find her when you send Wendy off?"

Irene lingered in the doorway in consideration.

"No," She said monotonously "Because that would require a lot of – emotionally – blood, and love I just don't have to give her."