Atem

I watched in anger as Gahiji held Liliana by the throat and as she passed out she said my name.

"She has never met you. How did she know your name?" Lucy asked.

"She must be remembering who she used to be-my queen, Kamilah." I kept staring at the limp, barely clothed woman who called my name. She looks exactly like she did then.

"Hey Iron Breath! Let go of my sister! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu launched himself at Gahiji, fire engulfing both fists and him pulling his right fist back ready to throw the punch. Before Natsu could get there, Bakura intercepted him and took the hit.

"Diabound!" Bakura yelled as loud as he possibly could, causing Natsu to cover his ears.

"Dragon slayers have heightened senses," Lucy explained, just before Diabound smashed through the ceiling. Leo rushed and pushed Natsu out of the way, but dissolved into gold dust after Diabound landed on him. Natsu landed on Gahiji, making him drop Liliana. Virgo got her and tunneled back behind Lucy.

"Virgo, take her to the celestial spirit world and get her back to Fairy Tail."

"Hime, I'm not strong enough to open my own door for the two of us."

"Then ask Loke to get her there. She needs Wendy. Look at her throat." I glanced back at the unconscious woman and saw her throat was black, scratched up from the scales, and so swollen that her breathing was extremely ragged and shallow- almost like she was gasping for air.

"Yes, Hime." Virgo disappeared in a puff of dust, taking Liliana with her.

"Pharaoh?" Black Chaos was looking at me. "We need to focus here. You know I can feel auras and the queen will be safe with her." I nodded my agreement and summoned my most loyal creature and friend- Mahad, my Dark Magician.

"Combine attacks. Dark Black Chaotic Bomb!" My magicians crossed their staffs and aimed at Diabound. He disintegrated once the blast hit. Bakura staggered a bit and Mira- scary as she is now- took this chance to knock him out and Lucy tossed her some cuffs that I have never seen before. Natsu had finally taken down Gahiji, but also exhausted himself in the process. Lucy walked over and cuffed Gahiji and Taurus picked both men up and started carrying them away. Lucy knelt by her husband.

"Come on, Baka. Let's go home. Happy's probably worried since we made him stay at the guildhall." Lucy proceeded to pull Natsu up onto her back with Mira helping to position him. I walked to the ladies after telling my magicians they could return to the Shadow Realm.

"Lucy, let me carry him. I am the only other man here and I would feel bad if I didn't at least offer to carry him."

"Thanks Atem, but I am used to it. If I get tired, I will let you know." I nodded my agreement and the four of us set off to the guildhall. I took Natsu from Lucy when we got to the outskirts of Magnolia. She at first refused, but I insisted as I could see how much she was struggling to keep up. Once I had Natsu positioned on my back, I understood the struggle- Natsu is HEAVY. Like not really heavy in terms of weight, but that he was very densely built. We made it to the guildhall when Natsu woke up and socked me in the head.

"Gee, that's the thanks I get for carrying your heavy ass back to the guildhall? Should've left you at the junkyard." I said grudgingly while rubbing the growing knot on my head. Next thing I know, he was face first on the ground with both ladies standing on either side of him with their hands where Natsu's head was when he was standing up.

"Stop being a baka. Let's go check on Liliana." Lucy started to walk to the front door, but Natsu beat her to it and kicked the doors open. A young lady with blue hair and an orange hair band comes running to us.

"Lu! Why did Taurus put Gajeel in the dungeons? He won't let me take him to Wendy."

"Lev-chan. I love you, and I love Gajeel, but right now he is not in his right mind. Did you see Lili's neck? He did that, so we can't take our chances right now. I'm sorry. It hurts me to do this, but Atem has a better understanding of what is going on with Gajeel than we do. Once we fix Gajeel, he will be released. I promise." Levy nodded her head with tears still in her eyes. Lucy turned and headed to the infirmary. I followed her because I too wanted to check in on Liliana. Once we got there, there was Leo and a petite blue haired girl who couldn't be any older than Liliana. She had her hands hovering over Liliana's neck and they were glowing a very pale blue. I could see that Liliana's neck was in better condition than when we rescued her, but she still had a long way to go.

"Lucy? I'm going to go see if Mira can get me something to eat and drink. I have used too much magic today. Will you let me know when she wakes?"

"You do look tired, but I will. She might want to meet the man who helped save her life. Enjoy your meal." I nodded to everyone and made my way to the bar and found Mira back behind the bar.

"Hey Mira, could I have something to eat and drink, please?"

"Sure. Anything in particular?"

"Um…not sure. Whatever is popular and not spicy." Mira nodded and got to work on my order. Within a few minutes, she handed me a plate with what looks like pork, soba noodles, sauteed vegetables, and a strawberry cake slice, plus two cups- one with water and the other with alcohol. I ate everything but the strawberry cake.

"What's wrong? You don't like sweets?" Mira asked, slightly upset.

"No, I do. I'm allergic to strawberries. Do not be upset, Mira. You didn't know. Is there someone who likes strawberry cake? They can have it so it does not go to waste." Just then, a tall red haired woman walked up beside me and started staring at the cake. "Miss, do you want the strawberry cake?" She looked at me.

"I don't want to take your food."

"Go ahead. I'm allergic anyway." The red haired woman took the cake and asked mira for a fork and her usual drink. Once she had both, she walked to a table in the corner and dug into the cake.

"That's Erza. She is easily the strongest woman in Fairy Tail. I'm not too far behind. My magic is called Satan Soul Takeover. Erza uses Requip: The Knight and telekinesis. You use some kind of summoning, like Lucy, but no keys. How do you call on your spirits?"

"I use these." I pulled out my deck and handed it to Mira, but she refused to hold them. I instead flipped through until I found the two magicians I called to battle earlier and laid them on the bar between us. Then thumbed through for a few more monsters, trap, and spell cards. "Ok so you know these two are monsters, but so are all these," I said, pointing to my magicians and my other monster cards. "Note the stars in the upper right corner? That's the strength of the monster. The stronger the monster, the more of my energy it needs to battle. The insignia above the stars is the monsters' and cards' attribute-light, dark, fire, water, earth, wind, divine, trap, or spell. And some monsters also have effects when summoned. Take this monster for example," I hold up Lord Gaia The Fierce Knight. "I can summon him when I have no monsters and my opponent has at least one under his control during a battle." Before I can continue, a woman with brown hair and matching eyes walks over and slumps down in the seat beside me. She is very drunk.

"Mira, another please? Oh, cool! You use card magic?! I do too, but I am limited to only spells." A half- drunk, half-clothed woman walked up beside me. She is wearing a blue bikini top on her upper half and light brown capris, complete with blue heels. Mira returned with her drink.

"Here Cana, and Atem uses Shadow Magic. No, not like Master Jose did. His is used for good."

"There's nothing good about Shadow Magic." Cana walked away. Mira looked at me apologetically. "We are all weary of anybody who uses Shadow Magic."

"Might I ask why? I feel like my magic is a sin, but I was born with it. So, nothing I can do about it."

"That's rare. To be born with magic. Only ten percent of the population can do magic. You are like Natsu and Cana combined in terms of magic. Natsu is a Natural- he was born with his magic and can manifest it from himself- whereas Cana is a Holder- her magic is within the cards she wields. Cana also does tarot readings to predict the future."

"What about you? You said 'Take Over' during the battle earlier." Before Mira could answer, Lucy interrupted.

"Lili is awake and asking for you." I nod and thank Mira for the meal and conversation.

Lucy

After Atem left, Wendy worked on Lili for about five more minutes.

"That's all I can do for now. Her throat was so badly bruised, it was swollen shut. If not for Loke, she would have suffocated before you got her here."

"Thanks Wendy. You too, Loke." Wendy nodded and left the infirmary and Loke returned to the Celestial Spirit World, leaving Natsu and me alone with my sister. "I don't know what I would've done had we not gotten there in time."

"I don't think they would've killed her yet. They want her to remember something that they and Atem know, but it makes no sense. Why? What is the connection?"

"You're right. Atem thinks he and Liliana were married in Ancient Egypt and she was reincarnated here while he remained in his world to fight evil. Once that was done, he was to return to the spirit world, but was instead sent here with a physical body. Even though that sounds completely insane, he is telling the truth because he never once turned his head down or turned his eyes away. He looked at every single one of us when he was talking earlier."

"I didn't hear his heart speed up either, except when he saw you." We sat in comfortable silence and worry for about fifteen more minutes when Lili finally opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but winced in pain when she tried.

"Lili, your throat was swollen shut, so it will probably be a bit sore when you try to speak."

"Water, please." It was but a whisper, barely heard, but Natsu got up and brought her a cup of water. Thank gods for Dragon abilities.

"Better?"

"Yes. Where is that man who was with you? Atem?"

"How did you know his name?" I asked with confusion.

"I don't know. Maybe you guys said it or the ones who kidnapped me."

"Nobody said his name before you did when you passed out."

"I wanna meet him. Say thank you." I nodded and went downstairs to get him.