It was a calm night in Magnolia. The only sounds were those of crickets chirping in the areas nearby. Zelos was lying down on the roof of Kardia Cathedral, staring up at the night sky. "Ah…each star is only a fragment of the limitless beauty out there." The mysterious male chuckled to himself before he felt something vibrate in his pocket. "Hm…" Zelos dug in his pocket before pulling a lacrima phone out and held it to his ear. "Helllo! This is the wonderful Zelos speaking! How can I help you today? Oh! It's you! Yes yes, everything is proceeding as intended. Nothing has really changed…and Mii-chan has been keeping an eye her." There was a pause and Zelos nodded a few times. "Yes…no notable changes as of late. It appears that it may still be sleeping…I'm not entirely sure what to do when it does. Just keep an eye on her? Okay, as you wish!" After that the call ended and Zelos sighed while staring back up at the sky. "What should I do…? Damn…can I really do this?" It seems the male had some issues of his own to deal with as well. Just who was he and what was he doing here…?

.

Lucy had a long, exhausting mission with Team Natsu. Luckily they didn't have to deal with Zelos or Mii poking around this time. So when she was returning home, needless to say she was very tired. When she opened the door the sight before her in the living room…wasn't exactly one she expected it to be. "Huh!?" Mii had her clothes scattered about the living room as they were covered in paint. Mii herself donned a robe and had a palette and brush in her hands as she started painting something. "Mii, what are you doing?"

"Oh hey, you're back." Mii turned her head, revealing the splotches of paint across her face. "Guess they took the news of the black mark well?" Mii used the brush in her hand to point at Lucy's exposed arm.

"Huh…? O-Oh yeah…" Lucy nodded and rubbed her arm. "Of course they were worried, but I told them nothing bad was happening to me, so it's okay. More importantly….what are you doing wearing my robe!?"

"Oh, this?" Mii glanced down. "Sorry about that…I was panting and things kinda got everywhere on my clothes as you can see. It turns out…we're actually the same size for a lot of things. Minus bras…and well, I think your thighs are thicker than mine, which is fine. You can still squeeze my head between them."

"Why are you like this?" Lucy brought to fingers to her forehead and sighed heavily. At least Mii was keeping her hands to herself…but her words really weren't much better. Changing the topic, the celestial mage took a glance at the canvas Mii had in the corner of the room. "What are you painting..? I didn't take you for an artist." On the canvas was a decent coloring of Mii and an outline of a few other people.

"Nothing special." Mii replied with a shrug. "I asked Reedus for some tips…and you'll see the finished product eventually! …And yes I'll clean this up."

To that, Lucy grinned and tapped Mii on the shoulder. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

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It was a bright and early morning at Fairy Tail. The entire guild gathered around with various topics of gossip and discussion. Cynthia had her nose in a book, furrowing her brows as she was reading intently. Cynthia usually wasn't one for reading so whatever was in her possession really had her attention. "Hrmm…"

"She's reading…?" Natsu tilted his head.

"She's already going to be smarter than you." Gray smirked. But he remembered Erza's comment from earlier and before she could even completely turn around they were all buddy buddy!

"I thought so." Erza scoffed.

"I'm worried about her." Wendy sighed to Lucy. "She's been reading a lot…more so than usual. I think she's looking for something…but she's gone through a number of books over the last few days."

"Hmmm…" Lucy paused before deciding to take the simplest approach, since it looked like nobody else wanted to ask. "Cynthia…what are you reading?"

Cynthia didn't respond immediately. She wanted to finish the page before letting out a sigh, leaning back in her seat while turning her head to Lucy. "Nothing useful….I don't know why everyone's been dancing around the subject…I'm looking for a way to get rid of Rose."

"I see…" Erza understood what Cynthia was going for. "A way to get rid of another personality…but I don't know if that's possible. Your case isn't exactly common…"

"It's gotten really bad…she'll say things through my mouth…" Cynthia frowned. "Like, hey, you're all dumbasses! …" After that, Cynthia immediately covered her mouth with her hands. "T-That was Rose…!"

"We know." Erza said while placing a hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "We'll help you the best we can."

"I told her she shouldn't use your mouth to say that stuff..." Wendy pouted.

"You're not the boss of me." Cynthia's hands still covered her mouth. But by the tone, it was clear which of the two sides of her said that.

Mii took a passing glance at the book Cynthia had. "Huh…you know…this material looks a little familiar…I think I've seen this stuff before…?"

"It's an old book…" Levy remarked from the sides. "She asked to borrow it and I said it was fine. It's just one of the few I haven't gotten around to reading yet. What's it about?"

"Ooooh! I remember this!" Zelos swooped in, swiping the book before Mii could grab it. Mii was a little annoyed but eventually shrugged it off. "This is a book on the Mirror of Truth, with the honorable mention to Verona Partheon."

"Huh…The Mirror of Truth…? Did she make that? Can that help me…!?" Cynthia peered at Zelos since he seemed to have information. "Please tell me, Zelos…I can't stand this anymore…"

To deny Cynthia of this information was like going against life itself; he couldn't do it. Zelos cleared his throat. "Pay attention. Professor Zelos is going to give you all a history lesson!"

"I think he talks so much because he wants to hear the sound of his own voice…what a loud mouth…" Cana grumbled. She wasn't quite drunk enough to tolerate his presence just yet.

"Ahem!" Zelos cleared his throat before speaking. "The Mirror of Truth is a creation by the gods and the Celestial Sprit King himself. It is said to reveal a being's true nature. Now this all happened a while before issues with the dragons and whatnot…and before you ask, I just know my history. Not much is known about the specifics…but there was a lot of bloodshed over this contraption. There was one woman; Verona Partheon, who was a pure soul and held onto the mirror. She was the only one untouched by the malicious intent…things seemed fine…but humanity soon spiraled into chaos and despair. It seems even little Ms. Verona was unable to fend off humanity's growing darkness. The details are very vague…there's no clear explanation for what happened, but Verona snapped. Now…that woman was a forced to be reckoned with. At the time she was considered the strongest mage alive. Her wrath nearly brought humanity to its end."

"S-Seriously…?" Gray was a little taken aback by this story.

"And you said this happened before Dragons vanished from the world…?" Erza asked for clarification.

"That's right. So…it was more than 400 years ago to be precise." Zelos confirmed.

"So…what happened to Verona..?" Lucy asked, intrigued by the story.

"That is also vague…but clearly the gods couldn't just let a lady roam around killing everyone. So I believe they got rid of her and hid that Mirror. Who knows where it is now…" Zelos shrugged. "It's pretty scary learning about such events that happened well before your lifetime, yeah? History does love to repeat itself."

"D-Don't say stuff like that…" Lucy shivered at the thought of a mass genocide occurring once again. "…But when you say that, it makes me think of what we've been fighting lately…it's pretty scary to think about what would happen if we lost."

"You needn't worry about losing ever again!" Zelos said while wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulder, causing her face to turn pale. "As long as I, the great Zelos, am with you, you will never lose another fight!"

"….Do you EVER stop talking?" Lucy asked while giving Zelos the side eye, slinking away from his grasp. "Geez…"

"Ouch…the cold sting of rejection…" Zelos pretended to be hurt…or was he actually hurt? It was hard to tell…or care.

Cynthia wasn't getting any real useful information with everyone bickering with Zelos. So she slinked away from the group and went to Mira. "Mira…can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?" Mira tilted her head, cleaning a glass with a rag.

"Well…I was going to ask Lucy or Erza but…" Cynthia gestured over to the group. Zelos made a comment, Mii responded to it, someone got offended, Wendy was trying to defuse the situation poorly, and it was just a pretty big ruckus that was about to escalate into the usual guild brawl. "Uh…I wanted you to come somewhere with me. Only if that's okay…"

"Where to?" Mira asked. Cynthia leaned closer and whispered in her ear. Mira blinked a few times. "There? Okay. Lisanna, can you watch over the bar for me? Cynthia and I are going out for a little bit."

"Huh? Okay!" Lisanna nodded to her older sister. She was working with Mira behind the bar often so she felt she would be able to handle it…besides, everyone was preoccupied with the brawl that Zelos started. Of course Wendy did notice that Cynthia was going out…but she left it alone. Besides, her hands were tied trying, and failing, to defuse the situation that was yet another guild brawl.

.

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Cynthia and Mira eventually came to the front doors of Radioactive Decay. It was clear how nervous Cynthia was and Mira noticed this. "You wanted to come here...I see why now…" Mira placed her hand on Cynthia's shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be okay, Cynthia. I'll be here with you if something happens."

"…I'm a little nervous honestly…" Cynthia said while rubbing her arm. But despite her nervousness she took a deep breath and walked to the front doors, knocking on them a few times.

There wasn't a response for a few moments. Cynthia figured this was a bad time and was prepared to leave, however the doors opened. Avani had a smile prepared, but when her eyes laid upon Cynthia she felt a knot in her stomach grow. "H-Hello…"

"Can we come in..?" Cynthia asked while nervously looking up at Avani. She did offer a small smile. "I-I promise this has nothing to do with any kind of revenge…"

"Of course…!" Avani nodded, opening the doors for Mira and Cynthia to step inside. The fairy pair stepped inside after Avani let them in. Avani took a seat and Cynthia sat next to her, the two of them fidgeting about in awkward silence for a little bit. The guild was nowhere near as noisy as Fairy Tail, but the noise level was enough to keep people preoccupied. Minoru wanted to read in silence but just couldn't find a quiet place, but his eyes did go to the women he called his wife. Her uneasiness did put him on edge.

"It's okay." Mira reassured Minoru with a smile.

"…." Minoru gave a silent nod.

Cynthia remembered her last encounter with Avani very clearly. "…Insanity sucks, huh?" Cynthia finally spoke. She could relate to Avani….because of Rose, she never felt like she was quite the same person.

Avani lowered her gaze, unable to look Cynthia in the eye. She regretted her actions very dearly and she wasn't sure if there were any words that could even try rectifying what she had done. "I…I'm sorry, for my actions. There was a darkness inside of me that continued to hide…it still lurks there. But with the promise of a future comes hope…" She said softly, still keeping her gaze on the floor as she spoke. "That doesn't change what I did, however. I hurt a lot of people, including those I love." There was sweetness to her tone that was so unlike the monster she had been before. She twisted her hands in her lap as her green eyes began to water. "I won't ask for your forgiveness…but I'm so glad that you're alive."

"How can you talk to her so casually!? She's the one that killed you! She's the reason you and I are intertwined! Don't tell me you're seriously okay with this! Don't be such a pushover! Kill her!" Rose screamed in Cynthia's head. It was taking all of Cynthia's mental strength to keep Rose from using her mouth to make a poor comment, so the demon within had to settle for screaming in her head.

Cynthia stared at her lap, subconsciously tugging at her skirt while she listened to Avani speak. She let out a heavy sigh while trying to find the proper words. "The one who beat you was Wendy…my best friend and the most important person to me in the entire world. I don't know where I'd be right now without her…and yet I was easily tricked into thinking she abandoned me…I turned into a monster too…and let out my aggression on so many who didn't deserve it. My friends…my family…I never wanted to hurt any of them…but it always seems like I do. It hasn't been an easy road since then, you know…? I'm not right in the head either at all, so…I can understand where you're coming from. We're not too different…but…" Cynthia lifted her head to face Avani, flashing a small, genuine smile. "I can tell you're a really nice lady. I wish we could've met under different circumstances…I can forgive you."

"WHAT!? Are you MAD!? Don't be such an idiot! Kill her! Take her life! Make her feel the same pain you did! It's her fault we're like this! It's her fault I'm here!" Rose continued to scream, but Cynthia forcibly bit her tongue to silence her.

The tears began to spill from Avani's eyes as she listened to Cynthia, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Getting up from her chair, she knelt in front of Cynthia and took her hands within her own. The grasp was tight, yet gentle at the same time. "I see so much of what I could have been in you…that strength at such a young age." The woman smiled sadly. "Thank you, for coming here. I couldn't even seek you out myself…"

"You can still be who you want to be. Never let that dark side control you…no matter what, okay? And remember you have people who love and care for you…and one on the way." Cynthia said in reference to Avani's stomach. She did have a child on the way after all. Her eye twitched as Rose kept screaming in her head. "It was no problem…but I think we should get going going…we don't want to overstay our welcome."

"Of course. It's getting late. I hope we can talk again." Avani released Cynthia and smiled. Mira and Cynthia made their departure from Radioactive Decay. Audrey watched from the background. She didn't want to interrupt, but she swore she'd seen Mira before...

.

.

On the way back to Magnoila, Mira smiled at Cynthia. "That was very big of you Cynthia. I'm proud."

"Thank you…" Cynthia said with a weak smile. "I wanted to get that out of the way…I know she's not a bad person at all…she just had bad things happen to her in the past. I couldn't bring Wendy because I know she still feels upset about it…but I'll tell her everything is all right now…" Cynthia then came to a stop, falling on her hands and knees and began coughing profusely, some blood coming out.

"Cynthia…!" Mira knelt down with wide eyes, placing her hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "What's wrong? Are you okay!?"

"Ugh…it hurts…" Cynthia groaned. Her body was shaking and it was hot to the touch. "It hurts so much, Mira…Rose keeps screaming in my head and I can't get rid of her. It's driving me up the wall and there's nothing I can do about it…my head always feels so foggy and I can't even tell who I am anymore…"

Cynthia's skin was steaming. Mira didn't allow this to faze her and embraced Cynthia tightly despite the burning sensation. "It's okay, Cynthia. We know this has been hard for you. But this is what family is for. Demon or not…you'll always be Cynthia to us." Mira smiled softly while holding to Cynthia for as long as she needed. "I'll help you through this…I promise. I won't let anyone take you away again."

"T-Thank you…" Cynthia smiled weakly while holding onto Mira. She needed to get rid of Rose as soon as possible…and she would one way or another…

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Next Time: A Personal Mission