Bacchus Groh frowned as he sat in the office of his guild master, glancing over at where Guy Aleus was seated next to him before looking at Goldmine who was busy looking down at a letter that came in this morning.

"This isn't a joke, right? If it is, it's too damn early in the morning for this shit, master." Bacchus broke the silence with his words while taking a sip from the whiskey placed in front of him, Guy nodding in agreement at their Ace's words while Goldmine sighed as he shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it is not. This letter from the Royal Family and it explains that Fiore's latest hero is actually a man from an alternate timeline just like the man that summoned the dragons."

"Any chance of him turning bad?" Guy asked and Goldmine frowned as he shook his head.

"No, the Queen only has the highest praises for him, but what is surprising to me is the final bit."

"Which is?" Bacchus asked with a bored look before both he & Guy froze as their guildmaster looked them in the eyes & spoke.

"He was a member of Quatro Cerberus in his timeline, an S-Class one at that."

"…I guess the you from that timeline must have taken anyone for an S-Class considering the only S-Class mage in our guild is just Bacchus here."

"Not my fault you lost that fight against me." Bacchus spoke with a smirk, chuckling as Guy rolled his eyes before they turned as Goldmine cleared his throat.

"It appears I was because according to this, the other S-Class mages were Bacchus, Guy, Warcry and the new recruit Screecher, with Bacchus of course being the Ace. Not just that, but your counterpart apparently trained him and you were far more powerful than our new Hero was."

"…I'm calling bullshit." That was all Bacchus could say after his shock gradually vanished, surprised to hear that someone who killed seven dragons that even the strongest S-Class mages struggled with was not even the strongest being in his timeline.

"Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same if not for the fact that he knew your secret stash & your magazine collection were. Before you go and see if they're there, I've already taken them out because you have a restraining order against you and you know that stealing from the storage is a two week ban from all booze in Oak Town." Goldmine said to Guy & Bacchus respectively, to which both men looked at him before grumbling as they slumped back into their seats.

"I haven't even met the guy and already I want to punch his face in."

"Same." Guy grumbled, Goldmine rolling his eyes at his two strongest mages' whining before both looked at him as he stood up.

"Ignoring that, I will be heading to Crocus late this afternoon and I want you two to come with me."

"Why?"

"The Queen believes that since he's familiar with us, he might feel more at home if we're there. Also, while on the way to Crocus, we'll be picking up another mage at the final station."

"What mage?" Guy asked and Goldmine frowned as he looked down at the name on the letter, a bit concerned & confused at why the King wanted her specifically.

"The now former Raven Tail Mage called Flare Corona."

"Urgh!" Arcadios grunted as Eric's palm impacted his sword, feeling the blow reverberating through his body and thankful for the fact that the mage wasn't using his fire or else he might have been a scorched Arcadios by now.

'Even with just pure physical strength, he's leagues above anyone in the castle. I guess that's a hero for you.' Arcadios thought with a frown as he dug his heels into the dirt of the training field, stopping himself before quickly lunging back in as Kama leapt at the dragon slayer from behind.

Yet, it was not enough as Eric spun around while delivering a heel kick to the scythe, making Kama grunt as the blow sent his right scythe flying away before pushing off the ground with the left one just as Eric missed hitting him with a follow-up kick.

Flipping backwards & over Arcadios' stab from behind, Eric was at ease as he landed behind the knight while landing in a split to duck under Kama's attack, quickly rolling to his feet and spinning through the air just as both men swung at him.

Barrel-rolling in between their attacks, both Arcadios & Kama were in shock as their pincer attack barely missed the mage right before the wind was knocked from their sails as Eric landed a heavy split kick that sent the two blasting in opposite directions.

"And with another two wins, Eric wins again, 20 to 0 this time." Cosmos drawled out with an amused smirk hidden behind her hand as she watched the two fighters slowly making their way to their feet, her amusement stemming from Hisui & Kamika as they clapped for Eric's win.

"You two okay?" Eric asked as he landed on the ground with a flourish, standing up and straightening out his clothes before chuckling as he simply heard two groans before the two men slowly stood up.

"Yea-Urgh! …Maybe a cracked rib or two." Kama groaned while holding his side, where a dark purple bruise was beginning to form while Eric watched as Arcadios held onto the dented side of his chestplate where he had kicked.

"Let's take the rest of the day and tomorrow off."

"Y-You won't hear me complaining." Kama grumbled as he slowly made his way towards the medical room, Eric looking over to Arcadios only to roll his eyes as the man stood tall despite the strained look on his face.

"Arcadios, go get yourself checked out."

"As the persona-arrlll…bodyguard to the Queen, I must stay by her side at all t-!"

"Arcadios, please go and get yourself checked out. I have Cosmos and Kamika to protect me while you're there and that's not mentioning Eric here." Hisui spoke with a smile and a pleading look, to which Arcadios hesitated before sighing as he nodded, glaring at Kama as the man chuckled before the two began to walk away.

"As prideful as ever." Kamika spoke with a smirk as they watched Arcadios leave, Cosmos nodding in agreement before blinking as they found Eric already sitting down next to Hisui with a cup of tea in his hand.

"If you weren't a hero, you would make quite the assassin, Mr. Creed."

"Really? That's what you want to talk to him about?" Cosmos asked with a groan at Kamika's words, who merely huffed while Eric looked amused and Hisui giggled.

"I am merely speaking the truth. As far as power goes, no one would be able to stop Mr. Creed from getting to his target and that's if they manage to find him before he takes out his target."

"I thank you for the praise, Ms. Kamika." Eric thanked her with a nod, Kamika giving Cosmos a smug smirk that made her friend roll her eyes before smiling as she turned & nodded at Eric.

"It was my pleasure."

"So, Eric, what are you going to do now? It's been a few weeks and you haven't decided yet."

"Already trying to chase me away, princess?" Eric asked with an amused smirk, to which Hisui blushed while the other two stifled their giggles.

"N-Not at all! I simply wish to know what you-!"

"I know, Hisui. It was a joke." Eric spoke, chuckling as Hisui stopped before glaring at him.

"Not funny."

"It was a bit." / "Just a little bit." Kamika and Cosmos answered respectively, to which Hisui simply pouted before looking up at Eric as he cleared his throat & leaned back into his seat.

"To answer your question…I do not know."

"You don't know?" Hisui asked, frowning in confusion as Eric nodded.

"Yes, I do not know. My fiancée and I had plans to get married, start a family & perhaps retire considering we had enough money to live in luxury in the capital for the rest of our lives and that's not mentioning the job offer your counterpart gave us."

"I still can't believe you got offered to be a noble. I know some nobles that would have killed in their past for that opportunity." Cosmos spoke with a shake of her head, Kamika nodding in agreement while Eric chuckled & shrugged.

"Like I said, if you know the right people, your life is pretty easy. Back to my answer, I can't do any of that considering the timeline is…well, gone, so I'm at a loss for what to do."

"W-Well, y-you could teach at Crocus' Magic Academy. I know the principal personally and I could put a good word in, though I don't think it would matter since no one would turn down the opportunity to learn from a dragon slayer and a hero." Hisui spoke with a teasing smirk, to which Eric rolled his eyes with a smile before taking a sip from his tea with a thoughtful look.

"That…might give me the kickstart that I need to find my new dream. Perhaps figure out a new path for my life."

"Ha! He commits genocide and all of a sudden, he thinks he can teach children? You're a murderer, fucker!" Eric didn't even flinch as Bacchus' loud voice shouted from where he was sitting on the back of Hisui's throne, keeping his attention on the Queen as her eyes lit up in joy.

"Really? I'll go finish the rest of the paperwork, then. Make sure to report to the school tomorrow!"

"Wait, what?" Eric asked, not receiving an answer as Hisui quickly stood up & rushed away with Cosmos walking after her while bursting out into giggles.

"…I walked into her trap, didn't I?" Eric muttered with a sigh, shaking his head as Kamika just gave a smirk & a nod.

"Good luck trying to escape the capital now."

"…Hah, I guess I should look for a place to stay."

"Also, you won't have to worry about accommodation! Your room in the castle has been fixed so you can stay there!" Hisui's voice shouted from one of the windows above them, a happy smile on her face while Cosmos' laughter echoed from behind her.

"Forget what I said. Good luck trying to escape the country."

"…I should have flown when I had the chance."

Flare Corona was a nervous wreck as she paced around in her hotel room, dressed in nothing but a pair of fluffy pink pajama pants & a shirt while her hair was a mess.

Usually, she would be dressed by now, but as today was the day that she was supposed to meet the King and the new Hero of Fiore, she couldn't stop her heart from racing in panic as she didn't understand what men of such high importance wanted with her.

'Was it because I was part of Raven Tail? Are they going to spin a story that the guy with the dragons was in an alliance with Raven Tail and thus, all members of their guild are enemies of the country? Am I going to be arrested? Wait, they're not going to sell me as a sex slave to one of the nobles, right? Maybe I should just leave and say I didn't feel we-'

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Flare was knocked from her thoughts as knocking came from behind the door, freezing in her tracks before taking a few deep yet shaky breaths as she slowly walked towards it.

"Y-Yes?"

"The master wants to know if you're ready yet?" Guy's voice came from behind the door, the girl hesitating on her answer as she stood there before a determined look appeared on her face as she nodded at the closed door.

"G-Give me half an hour."

"Sure thing, breakfast will be ready in an hour so come down when you're ready."

"W-Will do. Thank you." She spoke, waiting as Guy's footsteps grew silent over time before turning to her closet and taking out her usual outfit.

'If I need to, I think I'll just blow myself up with fire magic and take out as many as I can. Better that than be someone's bed slave.'

"Look who is finally up! How did you sleep?" Goldmine asked as Flare made her way down the steps to the dining floor, the girl now dressed in her usual very revealing scarlet dress while her hair fluttered freely behind her, the girl blushing slightly as Bacchus wolf-whistled while Guy raised his glass at her.

"Good, but not as good as I was hoping. I-I guess the nerves kept me awake."

"I can see that by the way your hand's shaking. Come & sit. We still have half an hour before we need to head over to the Mercurius Palace."

"Okay."

"Don't be so nervous. The queen wouldn't call a former Dark Guild mage back to Crocus, so we can assume that this Eric Creed was the one who wanted to see you."

"W-What? What would a hero want with someone like me?" Flare asked in surprise, to which Guy shrugged before they turned as Bacchus chuckled.

"H-How funny would it be…if you two were in a relationship or something? And he wants to see if you're the same as the one he knew?"

"I don't that's what happening here. I think they're close friends that grew up together and he sees her as a sister."

'W-Would that be why he called me? If so, my other counterpart has lived a far better life than I ever did.' Flare thought with a frown as she continued eating, ignoring Bacchus & Guy talking with each other as she remembered the beatings and the groping.

While none of the guys at Raven Tail ever went too far, everyone at the guild thought that since she was the prettiest, she would be the guild's stress ball.

One soft poke became a hard poke, which began a soft slap which turned into a hard slap & a punch and it all snowballed from there, to the point where she would be lucky if she only got beat up once a month & groped once a day.

"Flare." Flare was drawn out of her horrible memories as she heard Goldmine's voice, looking at the guild master to see him giving her a soft smile.

"If you don't want to meet them, you can say and we'll make up some excuse."

"Yeah, while we would rather avoid the wrath of the queen & the hero, it wouldn't sit right with any of us to force a lady to come with us." Bacchus spoke with a grin, Guy giving him a subtle nod as Flare gave them a thankful smile before shaking her head.

"Then, if it's all the same, I would like to see this through if only to appease the part of my brain that wants to do this." She spoke, to which Goldmine nodded before wiping his mouth clean & standing up.

"Very well, let us not keep our esteemed hosts waiting then."

'So, that's the hero, huh? He looks the part of a dragon slayer at least.' Guy thought with a narrowed gaze as he looked at Eric, who was standing directly right of Queen Hisui on her throne while he was dressed in a pair of black pants, dark grey boots, and a dark brown leather jacket with a fur-covered collar that was left open to reveal him not wearing a shirt.

"I present Sir Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus and his entourage: S-Class mage & Ace of Quatro Cerberus, Bacchus Groh, mage of Quatro Cerberus, Guy Aleus, & former mage of Raven Tail, Ms. Flare Corona."

"Thank you, Sir Nathaniel." Hisui thanked her announcer, who bowed to her before marching back to his post as she watched her court of nobles whispering to each other.

"Can't you believe he placed himself on the Queen's right side?"

"He must believe himself superior to us nobles." Frowning a bit at her court's crass words, she looked up at Eric before hiding her smirk as she saw the bored look in his eyes, turning back to the gathered group before drawing everyone's attention as she cleared her throat.

"Ahem! I hereby call this gathering in session. Firstly, I will thank you four for heeding my request and coming here on such short notice."

"If the queen wishes it, we will cross a thousand oceans to heed her command." Goldmine spoke with a smile and a bow, Hisui giving a thankful nod before continuing.

"However, I am not the one who called you here. Our great Hero, Sir Eric Creed, wished to see you all and therefore, I shall leave him to explain. Eric?" Hisui asked while turning to Eric, who looked each of his friends' counterparts in the eyes before frowning slightly as he saw Flare looking away.

Before anyone could blink, Eric disappeared & reappeared in front of Flare with naught but a slight breeze, the three mages of Quatro Cerberus along with the court freezing as none of them had even seen the man move let alone rush over towards them.

' 'Weaker than me' my fucking foot! What fucking monster trained him that he could move like that?' Bacchus had only caught a slight glimpse of Eric taking that first step before he lost all track of the man only to find his presence appearing right besides him the next second, Goldmine sweating slightly while Guy decided that the best thing to do was to just mind his own business.

On the other hand, Eric cursed himself for his impulsive movement as Flare jumped when he appeared in front of him, slowly raising his hand before freezing as he saw her flinching back.

As he slowly raised his hand towards her, he watched as she was now taking ragged, deep breaths the closer his hand got, her breathing growing still as his fingertips caressed her face.

However, as she expected the blow, she was confused as none came, slowly opening her eyes before blinking at the slight watery marks on the floor below her.

Looking up, she was just surprised as anyone else to see slight tears brimming in the eyes of Fiore's Hero and as she looked closer, she could feel herself relaxing as nothing but love & comfort shone in his eyes.

"What did they do to you?" Eric whispered as he looked at Flare, who didn't answer as she broke eye contact and looked to the side.

"Who?" He asked, waiting as she didn't answer while her body began to shake.

"Was it Raven Tail?" He asked once again, his blood boiling as he saw her shaking increasing while tears began to flow.

"Eric, I can understand, but stop & think what you're about to do." Hisui spoke slowly as she stood up from her throne before freezing as Eric turned to look at her and the sheer hatred & wrath burning in his eyes had her feeling as if she was standing naked in front of an eldritch monster.

"Oh, I know what I'm about to do and I'm going to enjoy it."Eric growled in a guttural voice before screams echoed in the throne hall as Eric & Flare were consumed in a scarlet inferno, Hisui letting out a sigh as the meeting doors & walls around it were burned to a crisp when Eric smashed right through them.

"Hah, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

A/N: And Eric is pissed! Next chapter, a massacre!

So, I expanded on this Flare's backstory a little bit as we do know that she was beaten up by how she looked after her match against Lucy and yes, I tried to keep it tamer as I couldn't bring myself to take that step over the line to make it darker.

However, just because she was groped & not graped, doesn't mean fingers were kept out of places they shouldn't be.

Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.

Also, go check out the new story we started on my profile. It's a Bleach OOC System story featuring our lovable tall Fullbringer Chad.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...

Enjoy the cliffhanger & Ba-Bye~!