As Ophelia made her way from Sabertooth, she groaned because having to drag both Yukino and Orga around was really just a pain in the ass. "Ugh…Why are they so far away from the guild. This is a nightmare…" After a few more moments she felt that same presence from before watching her. These games were starting to annoy her. "Oh cut the crap…I know it's you." Ophelia sighed while rolling her eyes.

"I'd be offended if you didn't." The voice finally spoke. The one who stepped out from the shadows was...Daityas. He was dressed in a nice suit, holding a cigar in his hand that was perpetually lit. "I was wondering when dear Auntie was going to make a move. I see she's making you run the errands as usual."

"She keeps me out of the house a lot. Whether it be because she doesn't want to see me, or she just has faith in me to do it…I couldn't say. Well, Cousin, it's been lovely seeing you again, but as you can see I'm just swamped with work." Opehlia said while continuing on her way.

"One more question. What exactly is she planning? It's not often she pokes her head out from the shadows to interfere." Daityas asked. "And whenever she is involved…the scale usually involves this continent. Occasionally the world."

"Ask her yourself." Ophelia didn't look back as she kept walking. The sooner she could get home with the deadweight on her shoulders the better. "Besides, I'm surprised you're on your feet again. I heard you got your ass kicked." There was a grin on her face as she thought about it. She could also feel Daityas' scowl on her back. "You feel a lot weaker than you did. What happened~?"

Daityas growled at Ophelia's words. "They did everything they could to try and take me down. Of course it wasn't enough." But there was no denying the fact he was defeated. That much was certain. "My desire to see this world burn is too strong to be quelled by human resolve!"

"Uh-Huh." Ophelia had a hard time buying that one. "You lost and you can't fight for a while. Did my other cousin's poison really hinder you that much?"

"Laugh while you can, pipsqueak." Daityas snarled. Ophelia's words weren't wrong. Trinity's poison was still lingering in his system. His own brother was currently his curse. If he tired to fight or burn anything, that poison would intensify within his body and weaken him even more. "It's only a matter of time until I burn all of from my body. And when I do..."

"Hah, there won't be a world left by the time you actually do that." Ophelia snickered. "I know how much you want this world to burn, but it's even funnier than you won't be the one to do it. You can sit and watch like a good boy." And she finally started to leave."

Daityas merely shrugged as Ophelia left. "You really think it's going to be that easy, don't you? I hope those humans give you a real kick the mouth. It would be funny..."

.

Lucy returned to the apartment, groaning because of how much heavier the rain had gotten. "I should've packed an umbrella…" Lucy then heard some familiar snoring sounds coming from the couch. Glancing at the floor, she saw Mii's boots carelessly discarded. "Come on…at least put your shoes away properly…" Lucy walked over to the couch, nudging Mii gently to wake her up. "It's not even that late. Come on, wake up…"

"Ugggh…five more minutes…" Mii grumbled in her sleep while turning over, burying her face into the couch cushion. After a few minutes Mii groaned, turned over and opened her eyes. "Oh hey. Guess you guys are finished at the guild?"

Lucy nodded and took a seat next to Mii. "Mhm. I'm sorry…"

"Ehhhh….?" Mii titled her head as visible question marks started to pop around her head. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Because I didn't take into consideration how you felt. You always act so happy and carefree…I didn't want to believe that you were hurting…" Lucy sighed while averting her gaze.

Mii let out a silently groan. "What? …Oh, you mean what happened earlier. I'd already forgotten about it." Shrugging, the female scooted closer to Lucy while wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Listen, Lovely Lady Lucy."

Lucy shuddered. "Don't do that."

"You're not completely off the mark. I'm not the happiest person in the world, but that doesn't really matter as long as I can pull off a smile. If I didn't smile at least once a day, then I'd be a stick in the mud. Boring Mii really isn't the best Mii there is, you see. Someone has to keep you on your toes." She was really trying her hardest to resist the urge to grope Lucy then and there, because she was being serious, and she hated being serious.

"…I just feel bad because I realized that we don't know anything about you." Lucy said while somehow managing to look Mii in the eyes. She could tell Mii was trying to be serious and that had her attention. "You betrayed us to help us…helped us again…and those scars on your body haven't completely faded away. Plus you're helping me keep this little secret away from everyone…" She tugged her scarf away somewhat to stare at the black markings on her body.

"The big one isn't going." Mii remarked. "Being stabbed isn't fun."

"What I'm trying to say is…you've done a lot for us at the end of the day…and I want to get to know you better." Lucy nodded.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…." That was….a really long sigh. Mii backed away and stood up with a stretch. "Least you're finally making an effort. But now's not the best time…I'm tired. But hey, my story is filled with twists turns and sadness! You could write a book on it, ehhhhhh!?"

"I haven't told you that I…" And suddenly Lucy realized that leaving Mii alone in her apartment was a terrible idea. Cheeks flared red from embarrassment. "D-Don't tell me you were reading my stuff!?"

"I got bored waiting for you to come back!" Mii said with a widening grin. "I gotta say, your writing is really entertaining. You have some very astute tastes."

"No stoooop! It's not finished! I-I mean don't read it!" Lucy fled to her room in embarrassment. She was really kicking herself for thinking Mii wouldn't read her stuff.

Mii placed her hands on her hips, sighing as Lucy retreated to her room. "Geez…why are you worrying about me so suddenly? Your time should go into finding Juvia….I really don't understand you people at all and it irritates me…but I suppose that's one thing we've got in common to work on." She was still tired. The search was likely to begin anew tomorrow and she was going to take part in it. For now, she flopped back on the couch and began to snore away any and all worries.

.

.

Yukino slowly began to awaken. When she did she realized that she felt no magic flowing through her body and her hands weren't moving the way she wanted them to. Groaning she looked around as her vision began to return. "What the…? Where…" Wincing, she realized her side was bleeding…actually; there was just a trail of crimson leading up to the door and presumably beyond it. No wonder she felt so light headed. However there was someone in far worse a condition than a simple wound. Yukino didn't even recognize Juvia with all those bruises, cuts, and other marks on her. "J-Juvia-sama…i-is that you…!?"

"…." Juvia didn't respond. She was still breathing but it was difficult to tell if she was conscious or not.

"J-Juvia-sama! Please wake up…"! Yukino nudged Juvia very carefully. Juvia responded to the slightest touch with a hiss of pain, backing away out of instinct due to her experience over the last few days. "A-Are you okay…!? What did they do to you….!?"

"Juvia…wants to go home…with Gray-sama…." Juvia spoke in a monotone tone. She didn't even seem to acknowledge Yukino's presence, but Yukino did notice the dull look in her eyes and it absolutely horrified her.

"J-Juvia-sama…what have they done to you…" Yukino wriggled around, trying to get her hands free but it was useless. She didn't have her keys either since Ophelia stole them from her, and she was worried about the wellbeing of those in Sabertooth. The last thing she remembered was the building collapsing on them. "If only I could…"

Ophelia banged her fist on the door a few times. "Oi, wake up. It's morning." With that fair warning out of the way, the half breed pushed the door open with her hands on her hips. "Are you two getting acquainted? I suppose that'll make things a little more fun later…but then again I don't think I'm allowed to touch you on Mother's orders…"

"Where is Orga-sama?" Yukino glared at Ophelia.

"Voicing demands are we?" Ophelia sighed and walked forward, swinging her boot at Yukino's cheek. Yukino ended up spitting out some blood from the impact and the wraith side. "What's with you humans and failing to understand the situation you're in? But if you must know, he's with my Mother. She wanted to see him…which sounded really odd at first. But I suppose it's been a rather long time since she'd fed on a living being. The servants here are too afraid to step out of line…but that doesn't stop them from being victims of a foul mood."

Despite the fact she was just kicked, Yukino didn't falter. She made sure to position herself in front of Juvia. Juvia's eyes glanced up at the scene in front of her, just barely processing it. The only thing that confused her were Ophelia's words. "I-I don't understand…" Yukino responded.

"Don't you listen?! He's basically as good as dead." Ophelia groaned. "You will be too. Probably." Without having much more to say Ophelia then took her leave, leaving the females to themselves.

.

"Ugh…" Orga slowly came to while rubbing his jaw. "That little brat hit like a truck…"

"I agree…she is indeed a nuisance at times…" Desdemona walked into the cell, catching Orga by surprise. "But she does do as she's told which is good enough for me. My daughter is a special case after all. But I do see you've awakened."

"…The hell're you?" Orga questioned. He realized he wasn't in the best situation since the magic sealing cuffs prevented any of his lightning from coming through.

"You may call me Desdemona. I've spent a long time watching the happenings of this world." Des replied while casually making her way onto Orga's lap. Under normal circumstances he probably wouldn't have minded since Des was very beautiful…but right now, there were multiple red flags waving in the wind. "I've watched it all from the very beginning. The beginning of the world, the rampage of a once pure soul nearly wiping out humanity, the Dragons' plan…Fiore's End, Dealer, Angels, Tartartus…The Isle of the Dragons. It seems this country winds up in mess after mess. I've seen it all play out, you know? Not just once, but twice."

"W-What's your point…?" Orga questioned. He didn't have a single clue as to what she was referring to after she listed the incidents.

"I'm sick of it all." Des' tone grew sharper at Orga's question. "Each and every time you humans manage to miraculously find a way out of destruction. Personally, I want it all to end in one fell swoop. I want to see how total annihilation looks like this time. I want to see how it ends this time, too. Things have been different this time around. The flow of time has changed significantly. I wonder if I can shake it enough to destabilize it completely, or does it always prefer its original course?"

Orga was completely lost. He had zero idea as to what Desdemona was talking about. "You're…weird…let me go! And where's Yukino? I know that brat got her too!" Orga demanded to know…but he then felt strange. When he looked down at his arms, the strange oddly colored scales on Des' skin began to stretch onto his own! He could feel his life force rapidly fading away and there wasn't anything he could do about it. "W-what the…?"

"It's been such a long time since I've fed off the energy of another. If there's one thing humans are good for, it's food." Des yawned as Orga's face began to turn pale as the life was quite literally being drained out of his being, and she didn't intend on stopping until passed out.

.

Cynthia yawned, leaning her head against Wendy's shoulder. The two were sitting at a table in the guild and Cynthia was just completely exhausted. "Ugh….I'm so tired. Rose kept me up all night with that stupid mission of hers…"

"Where did you go?" Carla asked. "She told us not to follow and we didn't. But I assume you have an idea of where you…er…your body was taken last night?"

"I don't remember…it was all a haze…" Cynthia sighed. "I think we were in a town…and there was a girl with green hair dragging away some people…"

"Green hair…?" Gray's interest perked at the conversation. So far it coincided with everything that had been happening so far. "Cynthia, do you know where she went?"

"I don't remember…" Cynthia sighed once more. "Rose might, but she's having the luxury of sleeping away in my head and…"

Before Cynthia knew it, Gray was kind of in her face. "Cynthia, try to remember! This is important! If you saw that girl we could get a lead on her! If not, get Rose out here!"

"Gray, don't yell at her." Mira frowned while serving a guild member a mug of beer. "I know you're worried about Juvia…we all are, but yelling at Cynthia isn't going to help."

"Yeah, Ice Princess. Calm down! We're all trying here." Natsu grumbled.

"…Tch…sorry…" Gray returned to his table for now.

"I'm sorry..." Cynthia frowned. If Rose was willing to help, it would be a different story. But try as she might, Rose was not responding to her summons.

"Speaking of worried…." Bickslow said while staring at the front door. "Freed hasn't come back yet. He said he was going to walk around town last night to see if anything would be up…"

"I'm sure he's fine." Evergreen said while fanning herself. Now that the rain stopped it was very muggy and humid outside. Enough to make the fairy make use of that gigantic fan of hers.

"I don't have a good feeling…" Wendy mumbled. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't feel as though things were exactly right. This situation was really keeping everyone on edge, herself included.

"It's still been a little too long…" Erza stood up from her seat. "I'll go see what's keeping him so long." The scarlet knight then began to walk towards the door, and as soon as she reached it it opened. She was greeted by a grinning Zelos who was a little TOO close to her personal space. "…Eep…!"

"My my, what a lovely way to start the morning. Good morning my Scarlet Beauty~" Zelos winked.

"Oh great…he's here…" Mii rolled her eyes but decided to keep herself quiet.

"What do you want?" Laxus asked. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something important?"

"Well, actually…" Zelos' tone dropped. Erza stepped aside to let him in and he held a sword up in his hand. "This look familiar to you?"

"That's Freed's…." Laxus didn't like where this was going.

"Yeah…I found it washed up in the canal early this morning. I followed the path up and found that Freed guy." Zelos said.

"You found Freed? Where was he?" Laxus asked.

"He did not look good, I'll tell you that." Zelos shrugged while placing his hands behind his head. "When I stumbled upon him, he was barely holding on. Now, I may prefer the ladies, but I'm not so heartless to leave someone to bleed out. So I healed him and wrapped him in some bandages. Couldn't really move him, though. So he's just unconscious in a building in the north side of town."

"You saved him...?" Bickslow didn't think Zelos would. But the fact that he did... "Damn...thank you."

This didn't settle well with Makarov at all. "Unsatisfied with kidnapping one of my children, now they're attacking more of them!?" This situation was already angering him, but now it was going to an entirely different level.

Natsu clenched his hand into a tight fist at what he just saw. His veins were beginning to show and his teeth grit in absolute anger. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Freed's attacker came from. "Those bastards are just toying with us….well I won't have that anymore!" Flames erupted from around Natsu's body as everyone's attention turned to him. "They just keep attacking people for fun and taking the lives of not only innocents, but our family members….I've HAD ENOUGH! These bastards have past wanting a fight…they want war. And I'll be more than happy to give it to them."

.

.

Des emerged from the cell she had Orga in, appearing rejuvenated from the experience. "Oda. I believe it's time we stopped playing around now…I want to get this started as quickly as possible. I want to see this world burn from the power of its own inhabitants. But more than that, I want to see how things play out this time."

.

Next Time: Final Preparations.