Hey guys, sorry for the wait. Everyone needs a break, you know how it is. Regardless lots of stuff is going on right now, and we won't be having that many filler chapters. Not another filler arc, anyway. This chapter, maybe one or two more, and then arc stuff.

Enjoy!

"I'm sure she's fine."

"That why you brought her roses?" Damien made a face and brandished the bouquet at his sister, waving it in her face.

"Mom gave these to me," he replied. "This wasn't my choice." Steph rolled her eyes at this.

"Oh I'm sure it wasn't," she said sarcastically. "Totally not your idea." Damien grumbled at this and leaned on the cane in his other hand as he hobbled along. Currently, instead of resting up as Wendy insisted he should have been, he was walking with his sister towards Bella's house. They'd gotten word a few days ago that she'd woken up, and Damien wanted to see how she was. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to talk to her before now, so he wanted to do so.

It had been his mother that had shoved the flowers into his hands before he'd left.

"Girls love flowers!" She said to him. "I'm sure she'll love them!" Damien was sure that was true, but he knew his mother had different reasons for why she'd given him these. He knew her far to well to just take her at face value.

"How do you think she is?" Steph asked, breaking Damien away from his thoughts.

"She's tough," Damien replied. "She'll be okay."

"Like you are, huh?" She quipped. Damien nodded, whacking her ankle with his cane. This caused her to stumble and curse him out.

"Yep," he replied. "I feel great."

"You won't if you whack me again," Steph warned. Damien rolled his eyes as they made their way towards the house. He didn't want to tell his sister he felt like garbage. Even the walk from the train station to her house was exhausting him, and he could feel sweat trickling down his forehead. He certainly was in bad shape, but as far as Steph was concerned he was healing fine.

"It's over here," Damien said, nodding towards their left. "I think, last time I was here was all blurry." Steph snorted.

"That right?" She asked. "Can't imagine why."

"One more joke, kid." Damien warned. "And you won't feel so hot either." Steph didn't say anything back, but Damien knew she was just storing up insults for later. She loved teasing him. Damien watched the houses pass by before he stopped in front of one.

"This it?" Steph asked. "Doesn't seem as high end as I imagined from her." Damien shrugged and walked towards the door.

"Yeah, it really isn't," he agreed, knocking on the door. He waited a few seconds before doing it again.

"Hold on a sec!" Someone shouted from inside. Damien did as he was instructed before the door opened, revealing Mami standing there. "Oh, hey guys."

"Hey Mami," Steph greeted. "How's Bella doing?" Mami sighed and pushed her bangs from her face.

"Good," she replied. "In bad shape, but she's getting better." Damien nodded and gestured past her.

"Can we see her?" He asked.

"Of course, come on in." Mami replied, moving to let them paste. Damien walked in and Steph followed him, door being closed behind them.

"I was going to get her a drink," Mami said. "You know where her bedroom is, right?" Damien heard Steph hold in a giggle, but he shrugged and pointed behind him.

"Somewhere over there, right?" He asked. Mami nodded, and the two walked in that direction. They reached a slightly open door, and Steph peaked inside.

"Here it is," she said to Damien, opening the door all the way. Once they were inside, Damien got a look at Bella, who was lying in bed. She was pasty and looked to be in pain, face torqued to hide it as best she could. Damien felt his throat closing as he suppressed the sadness he felt from looking at 'd never imagined he'd see her looking so weak.

"Hey," she rasped weakly with a smile. "What're you guys doing here?" Steph smiled at her and sat on the edge of her bed.

"We wanted to see how you were doing!" She said, peppy as ever. "How do you feel?" Bella laughed weakly and put her head down on her pillows.

"Like shit," she replied. "I just want to sleep all day, but Winter said that isn't good for me."

"How so?" Steph asked.

"She said if I stay in bed all day I'll get weak and my body won't recover back to my peak condition. So she makes me walk to the park and back every day." At this, she looked over at Damien and smiled as best she could. Damien sensed an empty feeling from it, however. "Hey Damien." She said. "It's good to see you awake and moving."

"You too," Damien replied, embarrassed as his voice was raspy as well. "You worried me."

"You don't get to talk," she said weakly, before her eyes fell downwards. "Are those... Roses?" Damien looked down at the bouquet in his hands, and raised them up.

"Oh, yeah." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Our Mom thought you might like them, so she had me bring them over." Bella once again smiled, but Damien still sensed it was forced.

"Thanks," she said. "They're beautiful." Damien nodded. He supposed they were. He wasn't a flower guy.

"Do you want them anywhere specific?" He asked. Bella nodded and pointed towards her nightstand.

"There's good." She said. Damien nodded and put them down, making Steph groan.

"Damien, you're supposed to put flowers in a vase," she scolded, making Damien snatch them up again quickly. She rolled her eyes and grabbed them from him. "I"ll get one from Mami." With this she left the room, leaving Damien and Bella alone.

"God she's a pain," Damien muttered.

"She reminds me of her brother," Bella said. Damien made a face at her.

"How so?" He demanded Bella just smiled at him.

"She acts just like you." She replied. "Even after all these years you spent apart. You're both pains in the ass" Damien made a face and crossed his arms.

"I guess so," he replied. The room feel silent at this, and Damien spent far too much time wondering what was taking Mami and Steph so long in getting a couple glasses of water.

"...You worried me." Bella said, breaking the silence. Damien looked at over at her to see her staring at her roof, eyes rimmed with tears. "When we came, and we saw you...I thought-We thought you were going to die." She said. Damien made a face and walked over to her.

"Sorry I worried you," he said, trying to soothe her. "But why did you go out there and fight? You came closer to dying than I did." Bella looked over at him, looking lost.

"I..." She started. She sat up a bit, slowly due to her pain, but once she was upright she stared at her hands. "Have you ever been consumed by rage, Damien?" Damien nodded, remembering his loss of control in front of Taisho.

"Happens to all of us," he replied. Bella nodded.

"That's why I did what I did," she said. "I was so consumed by anger and revenge all I wanted to do was find him and erase him. The damn voices didn't help." Damien knew what she meant. The Voices of the Damned that called out to a Demon Lord takeover wizard were quite annoying.

"You're lucky you didn't lose total control." He said. "Or else things would have gotten a lot worse." Bella nodded.

"Yeah, I know." she replied. "I came close, though. So close..." Damien made a face. Pulling the chair near her bed closer, he sat down.

"It'll be fine," he replied. "It's over now, alright?" Bella nodded weakly, and before either could say more Mami and Steph returned. Mami had a glass of water, while Steph had put the roses into another glass and set them down where Bella had told him too earlier.

"See?" Steph asked. "Doesn't that look better?" Damien rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." He replied. Steph just snorted as Mami walked over to Bella.

"Here," she said. "Have a drink." Damien watched as Bella opened her mouth, and Mami carefully placed the cup against her lips. It was strange watching someone make someone else drink from a glass, but Damien guessed Bella didn't trust herself holding the glass. Once the glass had been emptied, Bella moved away and took a deep breath as Mami set the glass down.

"Thanks," Bella said. Mami nodded.

"No problem." At this, the girl looked down at her watch and clicked her teeth. "Shit, I gotta go."

"Where?" Steph asked. Mami walked towards the door and looked back at them.

"My Dad had a stack of requests I need to cover. A few are urgent." She looked over at Bella. "Taro will be over to look after you once he gets back from a job. Will you be okay for an hour or two?" Bella nodded.

"I'll be okay." She said. "Damien and Steph are here, anyway." Mami nodded and looked towards Damien.

"Try taking her to the park," she said. "She hasn't gone out yet today." Damien nodded, and Mami left the room.

"How about it, Bella?" Steph asked. "Want to go to the park?" Bella made a face.

"Well, I suppose." She replied. "Do I get an option?"

"No," Damien replied. "It'll be good for you." She sighed at this.

"Alright, we'll go. I need to get dressed first."

"I'll leave that too Steph," Damien said, standing up. Steph snorted.

"Why's that?" She asked. Damien ignored this question as he moved past her to exit the room. The last thing he needed was Steph making fun of him. He dreaded to see if Bella would jump in.

"Alright, up you go." Steph said, helping Bella sit up. She wandered over to Bella's closet and looked through it. "Anything in particular you want?"

"No, not really." Bella replied. "Something I won't get blood on." Steph made a face at this as she shifted through shirts.

"Blood?" She asked. Bella hummed.

"Yeah, sometimes my wounds reopen. Minor ones, but still. Don't want to get all bloody." Steph nodded at this and finally decided on a basic black shirt and jeans. She brought them over to Bella, and the two of them stared at them silently.

"So, how are we doing this?" Steph asked. Bella shrugged.

"Hell if I know," she replied. "Put my arms up and hope for the best?"

"I guess." Bella nodded and painfully lifted up her arms, and Steph did her best to pull her bed shirt off of her. Once they'd managed to get it over her head, it occurred to Steph Bella was now topless.

Totally.

Steph slowed as she got a full frontal view of the scars lining Bella's form. Huge light red gash marks were lined up and down her body. Multicolored bruises also lined her form. They looked painful, and not totally healed. Bella looked down at herself.

"Wow, they look that bad huh?" She asked. Steph swallowed hard.

"Don't worry about it," she replied. "You'll heal up alright. They'll fade."

"I sure hope so," Bella replied, lifting her arms up once more. "I look horrible." Steph managed a chuckle.

"You look great," she replied. "Don't lie to yourself." Bella remained silent as the new shirt fell over her head, and they repeated the process with her pants. This time Steph ignored the gashes and jut got her pants on her as quickly as possible.

"Thanks," Bella said as she did the jeans up. "Couldn't have done it on my own."

"No problem," Steph replied. "Ready to go?" Bella frowned.

"Almost," she replied quietly. Steph raised an eyebrow, and Bella gestured towards the corner of her room. Steph turned, and her eyes fell upon a walker that was sitting there.

"Oh," Steph said.

"I'll need that to walk," Bella said. "Otherwise I won't make it to my front door." Steph nodded and brought it over, positioning it in front of Bella. Slowly standing, Bella grasped the walker and gritted her teeth.

"You okay?" Steph asked, arms ready to catch her should she fall.

"...Yeah," Bella said, taking a deep breath. "Just taking it one step at a time." Steph made a face as Bella made for the door. She didn't like seeing her so weak and frail, but it was no one's fault but Bella's. After all, she'd refused to leave so many times Steph had lost count.

Following her out, Steph saw her brother eyeing the walker with a pained expression on his face.

"Ready to go?" She asked in his direction, making him look over.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

Damien knew the walk down towards the park was going to be slow, what with both him and Bella pretty hurt. But he hadn't been anticipated what looked like a ten minute walk to be forty minutes.

Most of that time was spent making sure Bella was okay, as she was the pressing matter. She said she was doing fine, but Damien could see her wobbling all the time, and it only worsened the farther along they got. He could tell she was trying to be independent, but it was failing her.

After what seemed like forever, they reached the park. A breeze rolled past, which only slightly alleviated the sweaty feeling Damien had. He too was tired out from the walk here. He wasn't supposed to stand up too much, only as much as he felt he could handle. The benches around them looked like a safe haven.

"Want to sit down?" He asked Bella. She only nodded in response, and the three hobbled towards the bench. Bella turned and basically threw herself down on the bench, which caused her to wince in pain.

"Shouldn't have down that," she said. Damien sat down next to her and took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Feels nice to sit," he said.

"I'm thirsty," Bella said. "Steph, can you be a dear and go get me a drink? There's a store over that way." Steph followed her finger and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll get you something." She said. "Stay put, you two." Damien nodded and watched his sister walk off, leaving him and Bella by themselves.

"Man, walking over here was tough, huh?" he asked. Bella hummed in agreement. "I mean I knew I was in bad shape, but I didn't think it was that bad." He got no agreement noise that time, so he fell silent. After a few seconds, he whistled. "I suppose it's good that it's a nice day, huh?" he asked. No response. Looking over, he saw that Bella had a far away look in her eyes. He nudged her, which made her close her eyes. "You okay?" He asked.

"...We shouldn't be here," she said.

"Huh?" Damien asked. Bella opened her eyes and surveyed the park, people walking around with their friends and family. Having a good time. Damien didn't get it.

"You and I," Bella said. "We don't belong here."

"Why not?" Damien asked. Bella looked down at her feet.

"We're monsters," she said. "Both of us." Damien frowned.

"What the hell did those Hunters say to you?" He demanded. "Why're you thinking that way?" Bella didn't reply right away, but she then sighed and looked over at him.

"What they said made sense to me," she said. "You and I? We're a different breed. At any second we could go feral and kill everyone in this park."

"No we wouldn't," Damien replied. "We can control ourselves."

"Can we?" Bella asked. "Or is that what we tell ourselves to feel better about who we are?" Bella put her head in her hands. "I nearly lost control against Quinn. If I had, I'd...I'd have...I'd have turned on the others without a second thought."

"Bella..." Damien started.

"What if that starts happening any time?" She asked. "What if we can't keep the beast down? You know what it feels like! We won't be able to stop anything!" Damien knew she had a point. He'd only attempted Xisplate's takeover a few times since he was a kid, and even then control was basically an illusion. "What if we turn and kill people we love?"

"We won't," Damien said, putting a hand on her shoulder. This made her scoff. "I promise, we won't ever do that."

"Don't make me promises like that," Bella said. "You mean well but it's an empty gesture and you know it."

"No the hell it isn't. Look at me." Bella swallowed and looked at Damien, who held her gaze. "You are a beautiful, kind, free spirited woman. I don't believe for a second you'd lay a finger on those you love."

"But it isn't me when I'm like that!" Bella replied. "It's her! Meridia's in control then."

"No she isn't," Damien replied. "You are. Right up until you lose control, it's you in that scantily clad body. And you are more than strong enough to keep her in check."

"I am not."

"You are," Damien replied. "Don't believe for even a second you aren't." Bella remained silent at this, and Damien made a face. "Hey. You and I, we're going to find a way to prevent that kind of thing from ever happening."

"How?" She asked. Damien didn't know. He honestly had no idea what he'd do. But he'd find a way. There had to be one.

"We'll find a way," he replied. "I don't care how, but I swear you won't ever have to wake up and wonder what happened when you went to bed. Got it?" Bella was giving Damien an odd look, but he didn't back down. After a few seconds, she sniffled and let out a small laugh.

"How chivalrous." She said. "Very like you." Damien smiled at this.

"I like to try," he replied. "So just take it easy, okay? We do belong here. We aren't evil."

"Whatever you say," she replied. silence fell over them, and Damien looked out over the people around them. They did belong, he believed that. They just needed to be strong, that was all.

"Hey, Damien?" He heard Bella asked.

"Hm?" He asked, still observing passerby.

He felt his stomach drop when he felt a pair of lips brush up against his cheek, and then a head rest of his shoulder.

"Thanks," she said. "I needed to hear that." For once, Damien didn't detect any mockery or taunting in her shows of affection. This caused his face to heat up a bit.

"N-No problem," he replied. "Just don't want you feeling down."

"Well it worked." Damien nodded, and the two stayed like that for a little bit before Bella groaned.

"God my back hurts," she hissed, twisting around. "We should head back when Steph gets here."

"Alright," Damien replied. "Don't worry, Nashi and her parents went to get some kind of herb that'll speed up your healing process."

"Oh yeah?" Bella asked. "How is Nashi, anyway? Haven't seen her in forever."

"Neither have I." Damien replied. "Last I saw she was trying to make me stay conscious when we were attacked by hunters. But I'm sure she's fine." Bella nodded.

"She's a strong girl," she agreed. Damien nodded.

"She sure is."

Zeus looked up as Athena entered the room.

"Athena," he said. "Can I help you?" Athena frowned.

"We have a problem," she said. "I can't find her."

"What?" Zeus asked, turning to face her fully. "What do you mean you can't find her?" Athena made a face and played with the screens that always circled her, before one flew over to Zeus. Looking down at it, he saw a map of Fiore, where a red bleep in the north was. Not long after it began to fade, and before long the magical signature of Nashi - END, rather - disappeared from the map.

"It seems her magical signature is being concealed." Athena said. "I've tried since it disappeared, but I cannot locate her." Zeus made a face.

"Interesting," he said. "She is rather far from home as well. I believe Natsu might have something to do with it."

"Perhaps," Athena said. "In any case, I can't run tests until I find her again." Zeus nodded.

"I understand," he said. "Without knowing where she is we cannot see if we should move along with our current plan."

"Shall I prepare plan B?" Athena asked. Zeus nodded.

"Yes, as a fail safe. Alert me when she reappears." Athena nodded and left the room, and Zeus turned to look out the window.

So she's disappeared, eh? Seems we're not the only ones watching her, eh Natsu?

Lucy yawned as the sun bore down on her. She decided it was time to get up. Sitting up and looking around, she noted that she was indeed still by the tree line where they'd set up camp. Looking over, he could see Luke sleeping soundly in his little cot.

Her husband, nor her daughter, were anywhere to be found.

Sighing, Lucy got up and walked towards Luke, picking him up. The boy barely reacted, and with this Lucy walked into the forest. The area was quite pretty, but she ignored all of that. She had a destination. After a bit of walking, she reached a stone wall, connected to the mountains above her. Reaching out, Lucy put her left hand on the stone, and waited.

Before long, a small circle began to glow where her hand was, it the shape of flames. Looks like she had access. Pressing down on the stone, it reacted like a button and went into the stone behind it. After a large rumbling sound, a passageway opened up in the mountain next to Lucy. Holding Luke closer to her, Lucy descended into the passage, hearing it close up behind her.

Her path was only illuminated by torches every two dozen feet or so, so Lucy watched her step as she descended the stairs. Luke had woken up during the rumbling, and was now making distressed sounds.

"It's okay, honey." Lucy said, holding Luke tighter. "It's alright. Mommy's here." This didn't seem to calm Luke down, nor was she really expecting it too. She knew if she could feel the immense pressure, he could as well.

The walk felt endless. No matter how many steps she took more just appeared from the darkness. Although she'd known that.

After all, sixteen years had been spent building this cavern. She knew it had to be well hidden.

After what felt like the longest time, the passage began to open up, and stairs disappeared. Lucy walked out of the stairwell into the open cavern, and surveyed her surroundings.

Over to the side, her daughter was underneath a blanket, and her head was resting on a pillow. Still unconscious.

Near the center of the room was Natsu, legs crossed, watching the center of the chamber.

And in the dead center of the chamber stood a pedestal. And on that pedestal was something Lucy hoped she'd never see again.

It had been so long, and yet the burnt, scarred and rusty locked book of END still gave her chills.

We'll leave it here for now. I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!

Chapter 268: Seventeen Year Secret