[Flashback: Dealer hideout approx. three days ago (after the events in the previous chapter]

All the members of Dealer gathered before King, who looked down at them with a smug grin. Heartless was on King's side, being his right hand female and all. "My children, you have all done rather well despite the results of some of your battles."

"We got our asses kicked..." Spade grumbled while rubbing the back of his head.

"My defeat is excusable...I had Titania..." Strong said while attempting to justify his loss. "But Spade and I trounced those Twilight Zone mages!"

"Y-Yes!" Spade quickly nodded.

"You guys lost?" Diamond huffed and crossed her arms. "I had Natsu and Gray! I took out Juvia, too! But then...!"

"I had Laxus!" Spade immediately replied.

"We had the odds against us!" Strong said.

"Geez, quiet down you two..." Diamond groaned while shaking her head. Arguing about it was pointless now, because in the end... "We all lost, deal with it..." It made her feel bitter. Winning smaller fights didn't matter if they lost in the end.

"Enough you three, King is speaking." Heartless said in a sharp tone, quickly causing the three to hush.

"Joker, what is your report?" King asked while shuffling a deck of cards.

"It appears the hypothesis was correct." Joker replied.

"Hypothesis...?" Tia turned her head to face Joker, a brow raised in question. "What hypothesis...?"

"You saw my battle with Salamander and Mirajane," Joker replied while showing a recording of the events before the battle and during. "It appears their strength rises when one of their guild members or someone they care about is in danger. However, if that person is dead, they will just run off of pure rage in attempt to defeat the opponent."

"Rage is an emotion that cannot be controlled..." Heartless commented.

"Exactly," Joker nodded in agreement to Heartless' statement. "Their will to protect is what drives them, not the will for revenge of a fallen comrade. Little Queen was correct in her assumption after all. A shame she is not here to see it. But it is for the best."

"So, is that their weakness? Confusing the will to protect for revenge?" King asked with a brow raised; he was clearly interested in Joker's report.

"It appears to be that way, Mr. King," Joker gave a nod.

"Excellent!" King grinned widely. "Joker, I am pleased with your results! At this rate, my machine will be complete, and Fiore, and the rest of the world will be mine!"

"Of course..." Heartless nodded.

"You are all dismissed." King waved his hand, dismissing the other members of the guild, and off they went. "Ho ho ho...things are coming along just nicely..."

"King," Heartless started.

"Yes?" King turned to face Heartless, his hands now behind his back.

"I have a question. Tell me, have you ever heard the phrase, "Serving Justice Wherever it's needed"?" Heartless asked. "It's the slogan of the former Seven Magic Council."

"Why are you bringing this up?" King asked with a slight sneer.

"Just to remind you that the Magic Council of Fiore will be catching wind of us soon." Heartless replied. "You saw what they did to that White Eclipse mage the other night."

"Ho ho ho..." King's shoulders began to bounce up and down as he let out a laugh. "Ho ho ho! I am aware of that! And as everyone in Fiore saw, he handled it quite nicely. For now, we shall remain under the radar. The attention is now on Siegrain and his power, while Siegrain's focus is elsewhere, we shall remain in the shadows. If we must deal with them, I trust you to handle it as you did Seven's once before."

To that, Heartless nodded autonomously. "Yes. King."

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Outside the main room, Tia was in front of her room. She was just about to enter when Joker called out to her. She turned, a brow raised at the large male approaching her. "Joker...?"

"Tia," Joker gave a nod before crossing his arms. "I couldn't help but notice, but you and Jack have been rather quiet the last few days. Is there a problem?"

Tia remained silent for a few moments before replying. "...Did you really have to kill her?"

"What are you asking? Did I really have to kill Lisanna Strauss?" Joker was now on the end of the questioning, but he allowed this to see what was bothering Tia.

"That's what I asked." Tia replied. "You...you knew she wasn't a threat, she couldn't stand up to you even if she trained for 7 years straight. Yet, you killed her. Why?"

Joker's expression turned into an annoyed one at Tia's response. "I thought I explained this to you. She was a stain upon Earthland. Her weakness was the exact reason she deserved to die. You seem to forget where you are. They are the enemies. They are the future victims. She was just the first to go."

"I thought this was about our goals!" Tia nearly shouted while barely keeping her calm composure. "I didn't know killing innocents who posed no threat was apart of that. I can understand the demon and Salamander, but you let them live."

Joker's irritation began to show as his magical pressure caused the section of Dealer they were in to shake, his eyes locked onto Tia's. "You're forgetting who I am. You're forgetting who you really are. Set aside your "morals" and do what we of Dealer ask of you. Now, I will ask one more time. Is. There. A problem?" Tia began to shiver a bit, from what, she didn't know. She looked down to the ground, staying silent. "There is no problem then." Joker turned on his heel and walked off.

[End Flashback.

Flashforward: Lissanna's funeral outside of Kardia Cathedral]

To match the mood, the weather was gloomy, a light rain falling down from the gray cloud filled sky. Tia and Heartless were watching from a building not too far away from the funeral Fairy Tail was holding for their lost Lisanna. "I still don't understand..." Tia sighed while placing her hands on her lap.

"I can understand." Heartless replied while observing the funeral. "Human emotion, and all that."

"You're the last person I expected to talk a out human nature, Heartless Demon..." Tia replied with a huff.

"There are all kinds of things you wouldn't expect from me, Tia." Heartless replied. "I know you haven't been the same since that event a few months ago."

"Tch..." Tia merely scoffed, turning her head away. "I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Don't be that way, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Heartless responded. "Before the event, you were attempted to be cruel, ruthless and while some of that was true about you, it did change after the event. Now you're just quiet...you try to show no emotion, but your human nature is getting the better of you, isn't it?"

"Shut up..." Tia replied, now scowling as she watched the funeral. "I know we're on a mission, but I know when something crosses the line and that was it. I'm a walking contradiction. Just before I wanted to hear them scream in pain." Just then, Tia stood up, and began walking off.

"Where are you going?" Heartless asked, looking over her shoulder as the S class walked off.

"I'll be back," Tia replied.

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Fairy Tail stood in silence at Lissana's new grave. No one was expecting to have to do this once again, not so soon. Everyone of course wore black to the occasion. Lucy placed her hand on Mirajane and Elfman's shoulders. "I'm sorry about all of this..."

"You don't have to be sorry, Lucy..." Mirajane replied, holding back another seemingly endless stream of tears.

"I failed in my duty as a Man that day..." Elfman replied, instantly going silent after. There was the look of sadness and determination in his eyes. He was going to get stronger so he could protect his family.

"Next time I see any one of those Dealer scum I'll make sure deliver a pain 100x worse than death..." Natsu said while clenching his fist. "I swear on it, Lisanna."

"I don't like losing family..." Cynthia sniffled, staying close to Wendy for various reasons.

"It'll be alright, Cynthia..." Wendy said in a soft tone, though she gave a sniffle herself. This was the time to mourn, later would be the time for payback.

"Ahem..." Tia cleared her throat to alert Fairy Tail of her presence. She could feel the emotions emanating off of the wizards as they gave her the death glare.

"Queen Tia..." Lucy whispered to herself.

"So, is that one of Dealer's mages...?" Gildarts asked while cracking his knuckles.

"Hold on..." Tia said while shaking her head. "I am not so evil to disrupt a mourning."

"Then why the hell are you here?!" Natsu roared, literally ready to jump at the next thing Tia said, no matter what it may be.

"...I am here to give my condolences." Tia replied. Natsu didn't care, as in the next instant, a fiery hook connected against her cheek, tilting her head to the right.

"N-Natsu!" Erza's eyed widened at the sudden attack by Natsu, now ready to strike if Tia decided to retaliate.

On the roof of the cathedral, two hooded figures were watching the scene, one taller than the other. The shorter one took a step forward after Natsu made his strike, but the taller one held their hand out in front of them to stop them, shaking their head. "Don't." The taller one said; the voice coming from them was male.

"R-right..." The shorter one said, their voice feminine. "Sorry..."

After a few moments, her head tilted back to normal, a burn mark now on her cheek. She didn't flinch, nor change her facial expression. She blinked slowly, looking down a the livid Natsu, who was ready to strike again at the next thing she said. "I'm not here as an enemy right now, so don't take your anger out on me, Salamander...I didn't take her away from you...but don't think this changes anything...we are all still enemies..." Tia turned on her heel, and began to walk off.

"What was that about...?" Gray questioned with a befuddled expression.

"Juvia doesn't know..." Juvia replied while giving the same expression as Gray.

Lucy stared in the direction Tia walked off in for a few seconds before walking after her. "...I'm going after her."

"Wait, why?!" Happy questioned, his eyes wide from Lucy's action.

"She's not here as an enemy, and while that's that case, there something that's been bothering about her," Lucy replied as she headed into town. After a few moments of walking, Lucy spotted Tia walking down the street, so she ran over to her. "Tia...!"

Tia stopped once Lucy called out to her, turning around slowly to face the celestial blonde. "What do you want...? I can't bring Lisanna back to life."

"Why...?" Lucy nearly shouted. "Why did you come by? Were you making a mockery of her?!"

Tia sighed and shook her head slowly. "I would do no such thing to the departed...I stopped by because I know when the line has been crossed. She was one of the few mages who wasn't a threat overall. Yet Joker eradicated her. Jack and I haven't come to terms with his actions yet."

Lucy blinked a few times, taken aback by Tia's response. There was a human side to her, unlike any of the other Dealer members she encountered. She then shook her head, refusing to believe Tia's words. "Is that so?! Then why did you prevent me from helping Natsu and Mirajane? Joker would've-"

Tia cut her off, her scepter now in hand as she pointed it towards the blonde. "You seem to forget, he was after you in the first place. If you stepped into that battle, there would be a funeral for the both of you. I was being generous by stopping you."

"W-what...?" Lucy blinked a few times, her brown oculars staring into Tia's azure eyes to see if there was any hint of a lie. Tia wasn't showing any emotion, but she was certainly telling the truth. "I don't understand...why are you in Dealer if you're going against your superior's?"

Tia turned her back to Lucy, but she didn't walk off just yet. "I'm not going against my superiors, I'm not as vacant in the head as you are. Jack and I joined Dealer to create an order. Killing innocents isn't apart of the order Jack and I have envisioned...though it very well may be soon. Don't expect my act of generosity ever again. I gave you my reasoning, so take that to be a warning. If you stand in the way again, don't expect me to be so merciful..."

Just then, Erza walked up behind Lucy, her arms crossed. "There you are..."

"Erza?" Lucy turned, a look of confusion on her face at the presence of the scarlet knight. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure she didn't try anything," Erza replied to Lucy while keeping her gaze on Tia. "Why did you avoid Natsu's attack? I know you could've avoided it."

"I thought I already told you..." Tia sighed, shaking her head from side to side. "I'm not here as your enemy. If I avoided the attack, I would've been seen as such. I'm not here for confrontation, I came to give my condolences...Human emotion is what drive us all, though the emotion depends on the person. Blind rage only works to a degree, you know..." The rain began to pick up as Tia spoke. "But, I've already explained myself to Lucy, so she can explain and give you my warning..." Tia turned on her heel, and began to walk off.

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[Kardia Cathedral: Approximately at the same time of Lucy and Tia's conversation]

"Man...these funerals are really a downer, huh?" Jack asked with his back leaning against a tombstone. His presence brought forth another wave of rage from Natsu.

Laxus stepped forward, his arms crossed as he glared down at the S class child. "What the hell are ya doin' here..? You asking for a beat down or something?"

"Nothing of the sort, old geezer," Jack replied while waving a dismissive hand. "You already heard it from my sister, so I'm not gonna say it again. I wouldn't say it even if my life depended on it. Just know I'm not here for a fight...for now."

"If you're so sorry, why didn't you even try to stop it?" Mirajane asked with a deep glare.

"Don't direct your hate towards me, I didn't do anything. And you must be crazy if you think I would stop JOKER of all people from doing what he wants. He showed you mercy, you know. If I stepped in, he would've taken me out too. But, I had no reason to step in in the first place, so why get upset at me for that?"

"If you're here just to mock-" Gildarts started.

"Oi, oi...calm down, idiots..." Jack sighed. "Just because I'm on Joker's side doesn't mean I agree with what he did. I'm gonna let you guys in on something. Sis and I are after a certain type of order. Joker's actions go against our order and our, as Heartless said, human nature. Though this was a little bump on the road, this won't stop us, or Dealer from reaching our goals. Now that I'm telling your part of our motives, don't expect things to be so easy next time we meet. We are enemies, after all, and I want to use my talons to rip your heads off from your shoulders. BUT, I won't for now."

"For now, huh..?" Cynthia couldn't help but glare at the boy.

"Don't worry about it, short stack," Jack chuckled and patted Cynthia's head in a condescending manner, but she swatted his hand away.

"This is Lisanna's time" Natsu started as his fist clenched tightly. "You should leave before I do something I might not regret...You have three seconds." Natsu growled towards Jack, who merely shrugged.

"I'm done anyway." Jack replied, turning around and walking off. "Just remember, don't get in our way. If you do, you'll share the same fate as your little animal friend..."

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[White Eclipse: The same time as the events in Magnolia]

White Eclipse held two funerals at the same time; one for Heather, and the other for Skye. The mood was just as sullen in the mountains as it was in Magnolia. "While we were off dealing with those Dealer scum Skye got captured..." Reve grunted in frustration.

"And while we were captured they got the jump on he and Heather paid the price for it..." Luke let out a heavy sigh, looking down at the snow.

"I didn't know this would happen to Skye-chan..." Saeko sniffed, her tears falling into the snow.

"I was a terrible sister to her..." Kairi let out a heavy, depressed sigh. "I wasn't even around her that much..."

"Don't blame yourself," Reve said while shaking his head.

"I just can't believe the council had the nerve to do such a thing..." Aira said in a low tone. "Even if she was a killer, that was something we would have to deal with...it was our problem to handle, not theirs..."

"She's in a better place now, that's all we can ask for, right..?" Nami asked while looking around to the others.

"I suppose so..." Reve merely replied while looking up into the sky. "Tomorrow, we go back to training."

"Can't let our guard down this time...!" Almaz exclaimed.

"What he said..." Takeru nodded.

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A male in a steel suit of armor stood across from Hyde, sword and shield at the ready. "Who are you, and what business do you have here?"

"Now, now..." Hyde said while shaking his head. "I haven't done anything (yet) and nor am I here to pose a threat. I merely have a proposal for you and your guild, Tristan Gareth. SS class of Black Phoenix, correct?"

Tristan kept his guard up, but he showed some interest in Hyde's speech. "What is it...?"

A slow smirk appeared on Hyde's face. "I'll make this short and simple..."