Chapter 31

Not Tonight

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas

.:+:.

Hora started forward with a ragged gasp, lungs heaving and heart pounding a million times a minute. Her blue eyes snapped open to dim, the world around her shadowed and engulfed in the throws of nighttime dotted with bright lamps- the clash of dark and light made it hard for her eyes to adjust to it, and her mind had an even harder time coming to terms where the hell she was at all.

It seemed... Like way too quiet. Peaceful even, but how the hell could that be right...?

Just like the first time coming back from the Current, she felt like she'd been snapped backwards, wrenched from it with little warning and dumped in her regular world quite abruptly... Only this time her body ached a million times worse, but her lungs felt... Fine...?

Her eyes dropped quickly down, looking herself over and eyes glinting.

... I'm not... Bleeding to death...

Her arms and torso were covered in small bits of dried blood here and there, but she wasn't covered in it- not like she should have been... In fact most of her was fairly well clean, her arms sporting three shallow little cuts each that were the remnants of the clawmarks that had ripped through her. And everywhere else on her chest, neck, ribcage and abdomen- she felt the sting of pain from the cuts still there... But they weren't bad, or at least they didn't feel that way- she couldn't see them at all, what for the bandages that been wound around her person from stomach to chest... The bandages stopped short of her neck and she blinked, the slice that had run over the flesh of her collarbone just as shallow and pink as the ones on her arms- not at all bad and not even a bother.

... That's... Kind of insane...

... Even if Wendy... Used her Magic... And if what Lixue said was... True...

... How am I this okay...?

... I mean... I feel exhausted still... But... I'm not like... Super screwed up anymore...

Her mind whirled, the questions flitting across her thoughts in the few seconds from joking up and quickly giving herself a once over- and in those few seconds she remained utterly unaware of anything, or anyone else around her.

"H-Hora!"

"Atia!"

"Y-You're awake!"

"T-thank goodness...!"

She stiffened, several pairs of arms suddenly snatching her up and piling on top of her in a rush of breathless voices, half-stifled sobs, and shaking bodies pressing tightly against her own. They latched onto her, and held on tightly as if she was going to slip through their fingers altogether, and they gripped harder without meaning to. She nearly toppled over at being jumped upon like that, but one of the many someones had hugged her tightly from behind and saved her from it- but four others were holding her everywhere else, around her neck, shoulders, stomach, even mostly in her lap, and she cringed slightly for being jostled so much, and what sharp stings of pain ran through her for it.

... Owww... Owwww... What the hell...?

Her hands hovered uncertainly, quickly trying to piece together who all had her wrapped up between the lot of them... And who were all crying, their faces pressed against her, trembling and sobbing, and she faltered.

"...e-eh...?" Hora mumbled quietly, blinking several times over to find heads of blonde, blue, and white on all sides of her, as well as the blob of blue that was Happy.

"... Y... You're awake...!" A voice hissed next to her ear, two sets of arms wrapped around her neck and shoulders, and both people with their faces pressed into either shoulder, soaking her with tears. "... Y... You're alive...! H-Hora... I... I was so worried...!"

It was Yukino who said it, the poor girl's voice broken by shaky gasps of air as her body hitched with every word, her grip on Hora getting slightly tighter, and Hora paused- quite surprised, actually.

"... Yukino..." Hora mumbled quickly, "... But... When did you... Find me...? Are you okay...?" Hora asked slowly and the pale-haired girl stiffened at the question. Hora's eyes trailed to her left and found the head of blonde hair, Lucy being the one behind her and also hugging tightly to her shoulders. Wendy was hugging her too, her little arms snaked around Hora's stomach, Happy in her lap and hugging her quite the same way too. "... Are... All of you guys okay...?" Hora asked quickly, and they all stiffened at it, their breaths hitching. "... And... Where are we...?" She mumbled too, glancing up at the night sky for a brief moment in confusion.

It's like... Really quiet...? What's going-?

"N-never mind that, Hora...!" Yukino hissed,

"Y-yeah, do you even realize what happened...!?" Lucy muttered shakily, "... You can't go asking stuff like that, l-like... Like everything's fine...!"

".. Y...you weren't breathing, Hora...!" Wendy hissed, "... I tried everything, I tried to heal the wounds as best I could, b-but even when I did, y-you still weren't...!"

Hora faltered slightly at the words, her eyes flashing.

... I wasn't... Breathing...?

"... Y-you've been so still for so long now, we thought we... We lost you...!" Happy sobbed, "... B... but then you just... You just woke up... H-Hora... I'm so glad you're awake...!"

... Ah... I really must have 'frozen' or whatever, while I was in the Current, like you said I might, huh Lixue...?

'... It would seem so. I imagine you did seem quite dead indeed, not breathing, not moving... It's not much a wonder why they are all so worked up.' Lixue rumbled coolly,

"Y-yes, but are you okay...?!" Yukino asked quickly, pulling back from Hora enough they were face to face instead. There were tears spilling from Yukino's eyes still, glittering like mad and shaking so badly as she looked Hora up and down and her hands quickly moved, trailing over Hora's shoulders. "You were down for so long, and these injuries, t-they were so awful...! A-And there was so much blood...!" She hissed, her voice breaking painfully and so terrified Hora felt her heart twist.

"... Y-you shouldn't be sitting up like this...!" Lucy told her quickly,

"Y-you need to rest, you can't be moving so much, n-not after what happened..!" Wendy stammered too, and Hora stiffened, her eyes flashing as she shook her head quickly,

"I-I'm fine..!" Hora assured them right away, but they grimaced at it, and she broke off.

"Hora you are not fine!" Yukino snapped hoarsely, her eyes scrunching closed tightly and the tears spilling faster for it. "T-There is no way you can be fine, not after that...! Not after not breathing for that long, not after losing that much blood, not after you... Not after you got ripped apart like that... A-and not after everything else that happened to you, w-with Jiemma, and the Possession Link...!"

Hora flinched slightly, her hands still hovering and hesitating to reach out for the other girl just then, because she wasn't sure the contact would do any good. Her eyes flashed and she looked between the rest of them crowded around her, Lucy, Happy and Wendy- all still crying, all still holding on to her, all still trembling terribly and Hora swallowed against it.

"... I... I'm sorry, for worrying you so much... Really..." Hora mumbled slowly, her eyes dropping closed as her hands moved, slowly, carefully, and she snaked them around all four of them, hugging them closer to her and she felt them stiffen against the embrace in surprise. "... And I realize this isn't gonna be convincing... But I am actually okay... And I'm not just saying that... I'm tired, and a little lightheaded maybe, but that's it... Please stop crying..." She mumbled, her voice dropping again the end and she felt their bodies hitch underneath her.

"... B...but... You stopped breathing..." Wendy stammered, her voice barely above a whisper and Hora grimaced at it.

... And I can't explain that away without talking about the Current... Which will make everything a lot more complicated... Ugh...

"... Yeah, I'm sorry I know that was scary... But I do feel pretty fine now..." Hora mumbled, "... You healed me a lot, huh...? The wounds seem pretty much gone, and I feel okay, please trust me on that..." Hora murmured, "... And anyway, I don't mean to skip over it, but... We're not out of the woods yet, we need to talk about what's going on, and what's coming..." She added tensely and they stiffened at the words, their sobbing cut off for a few seconds. They didn't move right away, they seemed hesitant to do so at all and Hora gave them a small squeeze that was meant to reassure them a little bit more. "... Come on... Please..." Hora mumbled, "... I know you're all worried, and I appreciate it... But we have more to worry about than me right now, okay...?" They paused further still and she bit the inside of her cheek. "... And... Uh... You all hugging me so tightly kinda... Stings..." She added quietly, not really wanting to mention it, but the tears across her torso were starting to throb the longer they held on, and she winced internally for it. They jumped off quickly, releasing her and immediately flustered and frantic as their still tear-filled eyes glinted uneasily.

"O-oh no, I'm so sorry...!" Yukino hissed,

"We didn't mean to hurt you...!" Lucy and Wendy stammered quickly.

"... S-sorry Hora...!" Happy mewed tensely,

Hora let out a small breath, shifting slightly to sit crosslegged where she was, shaking her head slightly and casting them all a weary smile. "... It's okay, really... It wasn't that bad..."

"... Are you sure you're alright...?" Lily asked, he, Carla, Loke, Mira and Virgo stepping up behind the four around Hora and earning the Saber Woman's eyes. She hadn't noticed any of them hanging back and she blinked, before nodding to him.

"Yeah I'm sure, I'll be fine... I'll sleep for a week after all of this, but I'll be okay to see it through." She murmured, her hands holding on to either arm as she let out a small sigh, biting the inside of her cheek again.

... I hope...

"... Here, might as well cover up a bit while we talk."

Hora jumped slightly, something suddenly falling over her shoulders, set there by someone who had come up beside her when she wasn't paying any mind. She blinked in surprise at the coat around her, and her eyes met a man with orange hair in a suit, who smiled coolly at her from behind his tinted glasses. She didn't recognize him, beside maybe faintly recalling him being the one who'd caught her back after the Future Rogue had hit her... She expected to see blood on his shirt and hands though, but there was none, he'd seemed to have cleaned up. And the woman standing beside him in the maid outfit was unfamiliar too- wait... The girl is one of Lucy's Spirits... Virgo, right...? ... So he just be a Spirit too, yeah...?

The orange-haired Spirit smiled as he caught her eye, "Wouldn't want you to catch a cold, hmm?" He hummed lightly and she paused a moment more, before nodding slightly.

"Oh, ah... Thank you..." She mumbled quickly and he nodded.

"Of course, my pleasure pretty lady~" he chirped and Hora blinked, her face flushing slightly, and instantly confused.

... Pretty... Lady...?

"Now is not the time for that, Loke...!" Lucy hissed at him, and he simply smiled.

"Yes, yes my bad Princess- you needn't be so jealous." He hummed and Lucy looked like she wanted to pull her hair out. Hora stared, quite confused still, but her attention got diverted soon after anyway.

"... Hora, how did you know about the Dragons coming?" Mirajane asked gently as she settled down to sit on her heels in front of the Saber, and Hora looked from Loke and toward her. "You said that Drille was supposed to warn us, but how did you know about it...? How could you know about it...?" She asked,

"... Did... Did the... Future Rogue... Say something... When he... When he left you in the city...?" Yukino asked quietly, her voice shaking badly as she asked, and Hora felt her heart twist so painfully at the thought of it she almost winced... But she ignored it, swallowing hard as she shook her head at her friend.

"... No he didn't tell me anything... All he told me when he did it was that I was gonna die... That I was supposed to..." Hora replied quietly and they all stiffened at it, while Hora pulled the jacket a bit more over her chest and she sighed. "... And he was right about that, I was supposed to die." Hora added lowly, and their eyes widened.

"... The other Lucy said that, b-but..." Lucy mumbled quickly and Hora cast her a small glance. "... B-but you didn't die, Hora... How... And how can... You say you're supposed to...?"

"... I don't know why it didn't happen, but I know it was supposed to happen because someone else told me as such." Hora explained softly, "When I got separated from you guys I... Met this woman named Ultear." Hora mumbled, and the Fairy Tailer's faces lit up in shock and recognition of the name. "... It was a Memory of her from four days from today, and she told me about the Dragons coming, and that she and her Guild had been warned about it by the Future Lucy... And she told me that I was supposed to be dead, but that because I wasn't, it's kinda like the future that's supposed to be coming has been altered, and can keep being altered- but it's gonna keep fighting to try and unfold the way it already has... Toward the future where everything gets destroyed." Hora murmured lowly and they all visibly swallowed at it.

"... All of this is really complicated and kinda beyond me, honestly... I don't get it all, and Ultear didn't really even understand why I didn't die either... Its just all really crazy... But that's how I knew, she warned me about it. And Drille was supposed to tell you guys about the Dragons, but I guess he didn't get to it, sorry..." Hora mumbled, her expression twisting slightly as her fingers curled around the jacket tightly. "... And I'm really sorry about what happened with... With the other Lucy, and the other Rogue... I was rushing to get there because I realized... That... It was him, who snatched me, and I had this terrible feeling that something was going to happen... I knew he was going to do something bad, but... I couldn't move..." Hora said next, her voice tensing despite herself and eyes dropping into her lap. "... I meant to... I knew I needed to... I just couldn't do it... And... I still can't believe he did that... That he's changed that much..." She mumbled, her voice just shy of a whisper now and they all grimaced slightly at it, and how pained her voice became so suddenly. Yukino especially felt her heart twist, both at the thought of what he'd done to both Lucy and Hora, and just how uneasy Hora looked just then... And how much she seemed to hate herself for doing nothing, and how painful it was for her to think about having to do anything at all- and Yukino understood it better than anyone.

Of course Hora couldn't fight him, not even if he was no longer the person she or Hora knew. Rogue was Rogue for her, no matter what.

"... You don't have to apologize, Hora...!" Lucy told her quickly, "Especially not when you got hurt, and you did guard us against him at the end..." She told the Saber, but Hora didn't look at all assured by the words.

... But I knew... I sensed that he was going to do something... Unforgivable... And I couldn't even force myself to move when he killed Lucy...

"... Lucy, listen to me." Hora murmured lowly, her tone suddenly shifting to something steady and grim, and the blonde stiffened at it, her heart skipping a beat as Hora's eyes locked with hers, unflinching. "I know what he said about the Eclipse Cannon, and that it was supposed to take out the Dragons- and that you end up closing it. And I know the other Lucy said she never closed it, and I know you never will- not if it means everything gets destroyed. I know you would never do that." Hora told her lowly, and Lucy nodded stiffly, but Hora shook her head curtly at the gesture, and Lucy faltered. "I don't care what he said- you cannot take him at his word, not on anything. Not about what he told you about the Eclipse Cannon, or what it's supposed to do, or that you closing the Gate is what leads to disaster- you cannot trust anything he said." Hora hissed lowly, and Lucy went rigid, her eyes widening and stunned.

"... W..what do you mean...?" She asked breathlessly, her question echoed by most everyone else, but Hora's eyes never left the blonde.

"I can feel that there is something wrong, something else that's not right about all of this, something that doesn't make sense- and I don't know what it is, but I am telling you- you can't trust what he said, not blindly." Hora grumbled, "He might be lying, he might not, he might be hiding something- I don't know... But I do know that he isn't my Rogue." Hora hissed, her eyes flashing as she seemed to grit her teeth a moment. "... He's not my Rogue, my Rogue would never try to kill you, or be willing to leave me to die- not even if he thought it was gonna avert something terrible, or save the future. He would never do what this Rogue has done, ever." She hissed, a tad shakily now as she shut her eyes for a moment and shook her head furiously. "Tch... I don't know what happened to him, but he isn't the Rogue I know... And because of that, I can't trust anything he said, or anything he's doing. If he's willing to go so far to kill you and me, then he's definitely willing to do other things just as bad, and maybe worse." Hora grumbled lowly, her hands balling into fists around the jacket and shoulders hunching, before she forced a breath and looked back up at Lucy.

"... I don't know this Rogue, but I do know you." Hora murmured steadily, "I can't trust any of his actions or his words, because he's not the Rogue I know- but I know you Lucy, and I trust you- the Future you too. She was trying to stop what's coming, I don't doubt that for a second, and I don't doubt that you would do anything to keep things from getting destroyed. I can't trust this Rogue, but I can trust you- so you have to be careful, don't just assume what he said is right." Hora told her quietly, "I can't say for certain he was lying about any of it, but I do know you can't just believe it right off... And I don't know that whatever future he's aiming for is a good or bad one, but anything he said is suspect. You have to trust me on that."

Lucy hesitated for a minute, her eyes gleaming as her attention stayed steady on Hora for a few tense heartbeats, before she nodded stiffly, faint inklings of steadiness working their way into the blonde's expression. "I trust you, Hora." Lucy told her firmly, "And I understand what you're saying... Something about all of this isn't right. I'll be cautious from here on." Lucy murmured,

"We all will." Everyone else murmured steadily, and Hora nodded slightly.

"... Good..." She mumbled with a small sigh, her posture wilting for a moment as she glanced up at the moon, and paused to see the edges... Turning red.

... Well that's creepy...

"... Did you guys send out a signal flare yet?" Hora asked next and they stiffened,

"O-oh, no we were too busy and w-with...!" Wendy stammered quickly,

"We totally didn't even think about it...!" Happy hissed,

"... That's fine, I can just send one up now-" Hora mumbled,

"-you shouldn't use Magic, Hora!" Yukino cut her off,

"E-especially not so quickly...!" Wendy hissed, and Hora sighed internally.

"... It isn't like a flare is terribly hard or anything..." She mumbled softly, "... And besides, I do feel fine... I've not even used that much Magic today at all-" she explained but another round of roughly shaken heads from Yukino, Lucy and Wendy alike made her cut herself off with an internal sigh. "... Who are you gonna get to send up a flare if not me?" Hora mumbled, "Salamander ain't here to do it..." She mumbled, before trailing off, her eyes narrowing. "... Wait, where the hell is Natsu...?" Hora asked quickly, the pinkette's absence fully dawning on her for the first time and everyone stiffened slightly at it.

"... He stayed back to keep the Future Rogue busy, so we could get away." Happy told her quietly, and Hora stiffened for it. Her eyes shift sideways toward the palace again, her attention on everyone else fading to none as the instead focused on her ears... She heard the rumbling of fighting from within the castle, and figured it must be Natsu and the other Rogue still going at it... Quite hard, from the sound of it, and she grimaced slightly.

He was up there fighting, like hell, against someone clearly with no qualms about murder... And he was alone doing it because they'd had to get away, just not to get killed.

... Because I froze... And couldn't...

... Shit... Please be careful, Natsu...

"... Right..." Hora mumbled softly, forcing her eyes away from the palace and to those in front of her again. "... anyway, if you're so bent on me not sending up a flare, I'm gonna at least try and get ahold of someone with the Calling Card." She murmured rather matter-of-factly, one hand raising already to stick itself through a Magic Circle for her Requip that appeared beside her. She pulled the Calling Card out and tapped the face, connecting the Call through to the other one and waited for the other end to pick up... And kept waiting.

Five minutes went by and no faces appeared on the screen, the other Card never got answered and Hora felt her stomach knot at it, her blue eyes glittering and tense.

... Why is nobody picking up...?

Another few minutes in silence and no answer, she stopped trying to connect the Card and hissed quietly.

... Shit...

"... Nobody answered...?" Yukino mumbled uneasily, and Hora shook her head.

"... No..." Hora mumbled, her eyes trailing drone the card and toward everyone else. "What are you guys planning to do from here?" She asked and they faltered at it, looking uncertainly between themselves. "... It's almost time for when the Kingdom is gonna open the Eclipse Gate, right?" She pointed out, "Even if all of that about the Cannon is true, I don't think it'll be able to take out all 10,000 Dragons- there's probably gonna be some left over, and if that's true, we need to be ready for a fight." Hora murmured lowly, "And right now, we don't even know what happened with the GMG, or Lector, and everybody else in the city probably doesn't even know what's coming. They need to know, they have to be warned... I could send Drille, but after earlier when he didn't get to tell you everything I sent him off to deliver, I wouldn't trust sending him off by himself now. Not with so much important stuff." Hora told them, and they seemed to bite the insides of their cheeks.

"... I... I think we should go to the Gate." Lucy murmured after a moment, "... Knowing what the Other Rogue said, and what you did too, Hora... I think we should be there to see what happens when it opens." She told the Saber, and she earned small nods of agreement from the other Fairies, and Yukino too.

"... I agree." Hora murmured softly, biting the inside of her cheek a moment as her eyes diverted from the blonde and back toward the inner city, dark and quiet.

... You said... Do what I normally would... As if this was just another problem, like all the rest... Right Lixue...?

'... Quite.'

... Well... Then I think...

Her eyes flashed as she forced a small breath, looking back toward them all and suddenly quite steady, her gaze unflinching and her posture straightening too.

"... Okay, then you guys go to the Gate. I'm gonna go and find the other Guilds, and warn everybody if they don't already know... And see what happened, between the GMG and everything else." Hora told them coolly and they all stiffened at it, eyes going wide.

"H-Hora we're not just gonna let you run off by yourself...!" Lucy and Wendy hissed in unison,

"Yeah Hora, you're still hurt, you shouldn't be on your own!" Happy mewed,

"Y-you should stay with us..!" Yukino told her, but Hora shook her head.

"I can't, somebody has to tell everyone else what happened, and what's going to happen. And they need to know that we got you both out of the prison." Hora replied evenly with a look at both Celestial Mages. They faltered at it, because they knew it was reasonable- but even still...!

"W-well then... I'll go with you!" Yukino told her, but Hora shook yet head again, still steady, unflinching even.

"No, you and Lucy need to stay together." Hora told her lowly and they blinked. "The Eclipse Gate needed your Keys to work, right? If anything happens, and you guys have to act- I think you two are gonna have to be together. I think you're gonna have to work together, if it comes to anything like that... So you have to stick close, go to the Gate, and be ready for anything."

They swallowed hard at the words, their eyes flashing and looking at one another uneasily. They didn't want to split up, but they knew Hora was making sense- they'd been taken Prisoner in the first place for the express reason that their Magic, and their 12 Zodiac Keys, were the things needed to make the Gate work at all.

"I agree with her, Princess."

Everyone jumped slightly, their attention snapping around toward the voice and Loke who said it, the Lion Spirit steady and calm as he caught his KeyHolder's eyes.

"You two have the full Zodiac between you, the Eclipse Gate requires our Keys to function properly." He murmured, a hand falling on his chest while Virgo beside him nodded. "You should both go to the Gate, it's too risky right now to not have all the Keys together- especially if we might be needed. Horatia is right, you two just remain together, and go to the Gate." He murmured with a nod toward the Saber, and Hora smiled faintly at being backed up like that, and so unexpectedly.

The Celestial Wizards seemed stunned slightly for the Lion Spirit's words of agreement and urging, before they looked away uneasily, but nodded stiffly in agreement anyway.

"... Alright, we'll both go." Lucy murmured with a glance at Yukino, who nodded at her steadily.

"Then one of us can go with you, Hora." Wendy murmured next,

"Yeah..!" Happy chirped, but Hora just smiled wearily at them both and shook her head again.

"No, I'd actually feel better if you guys went with Lucy and Yukino." She murmured softly with a nod at Wendy, Happy, Carla, Mirajane and PantherLily all- and their eyes widened in surprise. "If things go sideways, you'll do better in a bigger group. You can back each other up, and you'll need each other more than I'll need any of you." She murmured, "As it is, we still have a little bit of time before things are supposed to go down- I'll be fine to make my way back into the city on my own, there shouldn't be anything dangerous about doing that. And then I'll have everybody else with me, once I find the other Guilds- so I'll have plenty of people to watch my back then." She smiled slightly and they grimaced for it... But hell, she wasn't wrong, about any of it. She was making total sense and they knew it, but worry had them faltering anyway, and making their stomachs churn.

"... Are... You sure...?" Yukino asked slowly,

"... Yeah, I don't really like this idea, Hora..." Happy mewed softly,

"... You are being rational." Carla mumbled grudgingly,

"Yeah, I'm sure." Hora murmured, nodding to them. "Here, you guys should take this for now- when I catch up with the others, they should have the other Card. We can keep in touch like this, if need be." She murmured, handing the Calling Card to Yukino, and she took it slowly, everyone nodding in understanding.

"... Alright..." All few of them mumbled softly,

"... Please be careful, Horatia." Lily told her evenly and she nodded at him.

"I will be." She hummed, "You guys be careful too, kay? I expect you all to kick ass, even without me." Hora told them all, smiling faintly and trying to lighten the mood... Which it kind of worked, they smiled a little in reply, nodding.

"Before you go, might I offer you a change of clothes, Princess?" A voice asked to Hora's right and she looked around quickly, at first not sure who was being addressed- only to falter when she found Virgo's face not a few inches from her own quite suddenly.

"...u-uuh... Are you asking... Me...?" Hora stammered quickly, she said Princess right..?

"Yes." The Spirit replied evenly, nothing about her expression changing and Hora blinked. Virgo lift a hand and gestured toward Loke to her left, though her blue eyes never left Hora. "Brother will be needing his jacket back, and your shirt is no longer wearable- I would be happy to give you a new outfit. Unless you would rather go without wearing anything at all?" She hummed and Hora faltered, before blushing slightly.

"O-oh, uh... Yeah, if you have something I could wear I would appreciate it..." Hora stammered, "B-But I don't need a whole outfit, just a shirt would be good...!" She added quickly, and Virgo nodded just once.

"As you wish, Princess." She murmured, straightening up from having bent over to be at Hora's level, and Hora kept staring.

... Why does she keep calling me Princess...?

Virgo stuck a hand out for Hora in an offer to help her up, and she blinked at it, before slowly taking the Spirit up on the gesture and their hands connected. "Very good, I will get you cleaned up." Virgo said simply, easily pulling Hora up on to her feet again and not letting go of the Saber's hand at all, even when she was on her feet.

... Cleaned up-?

Hora let out a startled yelp, the earth under her and Virgo's feet suddenly dropping, tunneling down with the two of them and leaving a circular hole that rose up around them- and had them cut off from view or everyone else who had been left ground level above them. What happened next was a bit of a blur, Hora stiff in her space and reeling, Virgo quickly working away, hands deft and lighting fast. The Spirit did her work in sheer silence, gentleness, and speed- wrapping Hora up in something else, readjusting things, whatever else- and then the ground rose again under their feet to be as it was a few heartbeats before, like it had never sunk in the first place, and they were both standing ground level with everyone else again. Hora's eye twitched, stiff in her spot and kind frozen for a second or two, not really sure what had just gone on...?

"All done." Virgo told her lightly, handing Loke's jacket back off to him without even a glance at the man, and Hora blinked, glancing down at herself slowly.

... With... What...?

Hora's eyes went wide in surprise, finding herself now very much cleaned up- all of the dried blood and muck that had been clinging still to her form was gone, and all that was left of the injuries were the bandages around her torso, and the still pink (but mostly closed) scratches across her arms and around her neck. Virgo had gotten rid of the blood, and the dirt, and even got the stain of it off her clothes- she'd brushed her hair too, and redone the braid at the front, replacing the beads and all the earrings in her ears to boot... As well as retying the red ribbon around her right wrist.

And as per Hora's request, Virgo had refrained from an entirely new outfit change- she'd left Hora's black shorts, shoes, and her red fishnet thigh-high socks alone. But the Spirit had replaced Hora's nonexistent shirt with a red tube-top, and gone a little further- throwing in a sleeveless white jacket lined in blue on the edges that reached her knees on the back, and was fastened around Hora's chest and shoulders by a series of white laces. The laces curled around her shoulders, and in an 'x' formation across the top of her chest, before winding around behind her and back to the front- tying into a bow just under her bust. With the tube top and the way the jacket tied, and flowed open on the front- you could still see the bandages wrapped all the way from her chest to her stomach, but even then it wasn't super noticeable against the white of the jacket itself.

Hora stared a few seconds, reeling again at how quickly all the gore had gone, and more so for the jacket and it's weird lacing... She didn't hate it, she was just a little surprised by it.

How did she... Do that so fast...?

"... Oh you look so much better, Hora...!" Lucy sighed in relief, earning the Saber's eyes, but Lucy had glanced to her Spirit. "Thank you for your help, Virgo...!" She hummed, and Virgo dipped her head.

"Of course."

"... You do look better, with all the blood gone..." Yukino murmured, looking a little relieved herself- everyone else seemed reassured by it too, and Hora smiled faintly.

"I like the jacket and the top too, it goes really well with the rest of what you were wearing...!" Wendy smiled slightly, clapping her hands together in front of her. Mirajane and Carla nodded in agreement to the comment.

"You're so cute, Hora...!" Happy trilled and the woman blushed at it, looking away nervously- which the reaction earned quite a few amused smiles from everyone else, which Hora was all too aware of.

"Wonderful work as always, Virgo." Loke smirked, his chin pressed between his pointer finger and thumb as he gave Hora a thorough once over, smiling all the while until he seemed to pause. His head tilted and he stepped closer to Hora, earning her immediate attention, and quite uneasily as he narrowed his eyes at her, pensive for a moment. "Hmm..." He hummed lowly and Hora drew her arms in toward her a little uncertainly.

"... Is... Something wrong...?" She asked slowly and Loke's hand left his chin, pointing at her instead as he tilted his head just a little further.

"Have we met before?" He asked lightly and Hora blinked several times.

"... Uh, I really doubt it...?" She mumbled back slowly, "I haven't met any other Celestial Spirits besides Yukino's, so..." She mumbled and he smiled faintly,

"Hmm, well I did live in the Human World for three years as a 'human' of sorts." He replied lightly, and Hora blinked in shock at the news- but he did not pause on it, he just kept smiling, his hand falling into his pockets and shrugging a bit. "Three years is plenty of chance to cross paths, and you do look familiar, though I can't quite place it... Perhaps it was a brief, but fated encounter, sometime in our past?" He hummed, smirking slightly now and Hora smiled faintly,

"... Uh... Maybe...?" She mumbled, though she really doubted it, she was pretty sure she'd remember him.

"... Huh, you know it's kinda weird that you mention it, Loke." Lucy mumbled, moving up to stand at the Lion Spirit's shoulder and giving Hora her own once-over now. The blonde tilted her head and Hora paused, blinking. "... I kinda thought you looked familiar too, Hora, when we first met." Lucy told her, smiling slightly and completely oblivious to how rigid the Saber woman went in the next instant.

W-wha...?!

"Ah, so did I...!" Wendy breathed, coming up beside Lucy and giving Hora a quick up and down as well, her hands clapping together in front of her.

"Really?" Lucy and Loke asked the little Dragon Slayer in unison, and Wendy nodded brightly.

"Yeah...!" She breathed, her attention diverted by the two, but quickly returning to Hora, her head tilting again. "Hora's scent is familiar too...! She smells a lot like Natsu-san, because of her Magic... But she kinda smells like Gray-sama too...!" Wendy chirped and Hora's heart stopped.

SHIT

"Because of the Ice Magic, huh?" Happy mewed,

"Yeah." Wendy hummed, though she paused a moment, her nose twitching. "... Though it's kind of weird, her scents more similar to Gray-sama's than it is to Natsu-san's, even though she uses her Fire Magic more." Wendy pointed out softly, and Hora wanted to pull her hair out.

Can we not talk about this, please?!

"... That is weird." Lucy mumbled, all eyes turning to Hora one last time and the Saber woman smiled at them, nervously so though she did her absolute best not to be that way.

She needed this train of thought to end, for the topic of her supposed familiarity and similar scent to a certain Ice Mage to just quit... Because of course she looked familiar, of course her and his scents were quite the same. It made total sense, but they didn't know why and she really could not handle opening up that can of worms right now.

"Well, whatever the reason- maybe we ought to get going...?" Hora suggested, her fingers tapping together a tad uneasily and they blinked at the suggestion. "Time's gonna run out pretty soon..." Hora added softly, and they nodded a bit.

"You're right, we should probably start moving." Mirajane murmured,

"... Please be careful, Hora." Yukino murmured tensely, stepping up in front of her friend and grabbing Hora's hands in her own gently. "And please don't push yourself so hard, when you get to everyone else... Lean on them, please. Don't try to do everything yourself, you don't have to do anything super huge, or drastic... Please just do your best to get through this, okay...?" The girl murmured quietly and Hora stiffened slightly, the words ringing slightly familiar to what Lixue had said.

"... I will." Hora smiled gently, her hands squeezing Yukino's slightly to try and reassure her a little. "You gotta do the same for me, okay? I expect you guys to come back safe, kay?" Hora murmured, "We gotta get you another SaberTooth Symbol soon here too." Hora murmured, and Yukino's eyes gleamed at the words, her hands trembling in Hora's a moment as she nodded, smiling faintly.

"Yes... I look forward to it." Yukino told her breathlessly,

"... Hora, when you find the other Guilds you should see Sherria." Wendy piped in quietly as she came up on Yukino's shoulder. "She could heal you some more, and help you recover more than I can." Wendy explained and Hora paused, before nodding a bit.

"Well, go kick some ass." Hora hummed, her and Yukino's hands separating as Hora cast a glance at all of them.

"I'll see you when this all done, yeah?"

.:+:.

... Damn it... Why does the Palace have to be so far from everything...?

Hora puffed slightly, growling to herself as she slowed down in her jogging and more into a brusque walk. Though even as she slowed she had to blink several times over to try and get rid of the haziness over her vision... And it didn't go away, of course.

She'd left everyone behind a few minutes beforehand and started making her way quickly from the palace grounds and back into the city, her nose on high alert for the scents of her Guild-mates and headed steadily in the direction she caught whiffs of them in... Which was not back toward the SaberTooth Inn, as she might have guessed- instead it was toward the center of Crocus, and she huffed.

... Ugh... My body doesn't really hurt so much... I'm just... Getting really lightheaded... Really fast...

It ached to move, and the injuries across her whole top-half stung and pulled uncomfortably with the movement, but they weren't painful enough to hinder her much or at all. She could push passed the discomfort, but what she couldn't shake was the dizziness that hit her, and continued to grow heavier as she kept going. Any amount of exertion was enough to make her feel woozy, and running was hard without tripping or swaying. She was having way too hard a time keeping going, her head spinning and panting with the effort of it, and it shouldn't have been that bad- but totally was, and was aggravating as all hell.

'... You did lose quite a lot of blood, you shouldn't push yourself so fast.' Lixue intoned coolly, 'Lest you end up collapsing here in the street before you ever return to your comrades.'

She growled at the comment but slowed to a not-so-brusque walk anyway, just for a little. He had a point of course, she realized the dizziness was from having lost so much blood, and she was at risk of just conking out if she pushed it too far- but still, it was aggravating as all hell.

She forced a sigh, her forehead falling into the palm of her hand and shooting the ground a disgruntled glare, still walking, but slowly still... And the world was blurry for a while regardless of the change in pace. She glanced up slowly, her eyes narrowed at the streets surrounding and how deadly quiet everything was. There didn't seem to be anyone at all in the city and it set her on edge, her blue gaze flashing in the dim.

... Where did everybody go...?

... I mean the GMG must be over by now, there should be plenty of people out and about, celebrating, drinking, whatever...

She sniffed at the air, a flood of many scents hitting her nose. There had been people here, their scents weren't faded to none, just a little stale, so they must have just... Left here, she guessed...?

A rumble of voices and calls in the distance caught her attention, her walking drawing to a small halt as she strained her ears to make out what was being said. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and holding it, focusing passed the breeze and the sound of her own heart- searching for the low drone and picking up on many voices, front quite a ways away she had to guess.

"... Please, this way..."

"... We must evacuate... City..."

"... Why, why do we..."

"... Please keep moving..."

Her eyes opened again and she let out the breath she'd been holding in.

... That sounds like the Royal Army or whatever has been evacuating the civilians...

She looked back the way she'd been heading before pausing for a moment there, biting the inside of her cheek.

... That's probably for the best... Less casualties if this all gets worse, before the end...

The dread that had been biting at her heels for days had not gone away, not even after seeing and confirming what she'd been afraid of- that it was Rogue, behind so much crazy... It hurt still, knowing it, but the dread remained and she knew all too well there was a fight coming, no matter what happened with that damn Gate.

Her eyes found the slowly turning blood-red moon in the sky and she grimaced.

... A big fight...

She shook her head at herself and started forward, jogging again despite Lixue's warning and her own immediate bout of lightheadedness, but she pushed through it.

Just like before she could feel time ticking away, and she swallowed against it.

I gotta keep going, I don't have much time

Keep going Hora... Get through this, make it okay, fight like hell- do what you do...

... Just... Be stubborn until you get through this shit, just like back with North Wind...

... I defeated a Demon of Zeref yeah? How hard can some Dragons be...?

'You know-' Lixue started, but cut himself off nearly right after- Hora rounded a corner and her running came to a jolting, painful halt when she rammed into something... Or rather, someone.

Her body ignited in pain all over, her bones rattling for the impact and her head whirling too. She lost her footing as her body bounced back against the other, both of them stumbling backwards and then promptly hitting the cobbled stone in a mess of limbs and white fabric, their startled yelps cut off by hisses of pain as they smacked into the stone. Hora landed on her left shoulder, her body curling in on itself slightly for the very unpleasant pricks of pain that ignited on an all time high across every single length of the clawmarks that had been torn into her body. She shut her eyes against it for a few moments, holding her breath and waiting for the initial intensity to cease, and not even giving a second thought to who she had crashed into until the pain tapered off... And when it did she hissed, pushing herself up and turning an incredibly agitated glare on the offending party- who also had sat up and turned his own glare on her.

And then they both halted, their eyes meeting and shock washing the agitation away for only a second, before it returned and in twice the intensity.

"You!" She and Doranbolt hissed in unison, both of them bristling instantly.

"What the hell are you doing running around?!" Doranbolt snapped in agitation and Hora growled,

"I was trying to find my Guild!" She snapped back hotly,

"Eh? Don't you know all the Wizards got called to the Town Square by the King...?!" He hissed back and she stiffened in surprise, but he was pushing himself up onto his knees, a vein ticked on his forehead. "Oh, wait- of course you don't! Because you were off breaking into the Palace and stealing prisoners away all day, right?! Did you really think I wasn't gonna find out that you had Ira help you break in this morning...?!" He told her hotly and Hora grimaced, "And did you really think we weren't gonna find out about all this Eclipse Gate nonsense from him too...?! The Kingdom is breaking over a dozen laws, Lahar is absolutely furious, and of course you're all wrapped up in it, aren't you?!" Doranbolt snapped hotly and Hora glowered, her own vein ticking on her forehead.

"Tch, well of course I am- they took Lucy and Yukino and threw them in jail for no good reason!" She shot back, "I wasn't gonna just sit there and let them rot!" She hissed, but he shook his head furiously at her.

"Why do you have to get involved in everything?!" He snapped, "It's like you can't help putting yourself in the middle of all the crazy- because you are crazy!"

"I am not crazy damn it!"

"Yes you are- I have never met anybody so insane in all my life!" He hissed, "Any reasonable person wouldn't just constantly throw themselves into anything involving things like Time Travel, or Zeref, or an entire Dark Guild, or a Demon of Zeref- or threaten to burn people when they're just trying to do their job! And sane people do not talk to themselves!" He hissed,

"Well for your fucking information I wasn't talking to myself back then, I was talking to Lixue!" Hora shot back shortly, "And it's not my fault I keep getting sucked in to all this shit, I didn't have a choice about North Wind or Neveleous, and I didn't have any choice but to help Yukino and Lucy! Do you have any idea how terrible the last week has been- yesterday and today especially?! I've almost died, twice- and that was on top of all the shit that almost killed me at North Wind! Do you really think I would keep jumping into things that are trying to kill me if I had a choice?!" She snapped and he paused this time around, his eyes narrowing at her and seemingly trying to process the information... And then his eyes narrowed further, trailing quickly over the state of her and quirking a brow.

"... Wait a minute, are you hurt?" He mumbled slowly and she grit her teeth.

"Oh, now you notice." She muttered lowly, and he huffed at it, but he kept his agitation at a simmer now.

"... Tch... What the hell do you mean you almost died twice? You can't have run into this much trouble just trying to break a few people out of jail- it's not like the Royal Army should be a match for you." He grumbled, and she paused slightly, grumbling internally to herself. "What the hell is going on?"

"... Shouldn't you already know?" Hora mumbled, and he sighed in exasperation.

"Why would I know? All we know is what you told Ira." Doranbolt grumbled, "The Kingdom has been keeping this whole thing under wraps, we wouldn't even know about it at all if you'd not told Ira... Even right now I'm supposed to be with him and Lahar, going to that meeting the King called all the Wizards for, so we can figure out the rest of what's going on." He explained and Hora let out a small sigh,

"... Dude, all of this is so complicated, I wouldn't even know where to begin." She grumbled, her head falling back a bit, before she blinked, her head snapping back down nearly right away and he jumped at it. "W-Wait a minute, before any of that- how did the Games end?!" She hissed quickly and he hesitated, not sure why she seemed so frantic all of a sudden...?

"Who won?! What happened between Erza and Minerva?! A-And everyone else...?!" She pressed and he blinked again, before seeming to let out a silent breath.

"... Fairy Tail won." He murmured and Hora's heart skipped a beat. "And it was kinda... Like the hugest upset ever- no one on their team got defeated, they beat everybody. Minerva included, she and Erza went at it really hard." He told her, the Saber woman's eyes gleaming at the news. His hand lift to rub the back of his neck, sweatdropping slightly. "But that wasn't even the most surprising part- at the end it was just the Fairy Tail team left, and that guy Sting from your Guild. They were all beaten to hell and he could have probably taken them all down... But he surrendered." Doranbolt explained and her eyes went wider than ever, breathless now as her heart sped up a million miles and hour.

He surrendered...?!

Then that must mean...!

Hora's hands swept forward, grabbing tight hold of Doranbolt's shoulders and jerking him forward to be right in front of her, their noses barely apart. He jumped at it, startled and effectively trapped in her iron-like grip, and quite lost as her expression became suddenly urgent.

"W-what the hell are you...?!" He stammered,

"You gotta take me to where the other Guilds are all gathering, right now!" She told him quickly and he faltered,

"W-why...? I thought you were supposed to be telling me what the hell is going on...?!" He stammered, but she shook her head curtly.

"There's not a lot of time so here's the quick version! There's 10,000 Dragons coming to the Kingdom and they're gonna destroy everything!" Hora told him quickly and he went deathly still at the words, his eyes wide. "They are gonna try to use the Eclipse Gate to kill the Dragons- but I don't know if that's gonna work, or even if it does- there's no way it'll take them all out! We are probably gonna have to fight a shit ton of Dragons tonight- and that's probably what the King gathered all the Wizards to talk about!" She hissed, her hands balling into fists around the fabric of his jacket and pulling him a fraction of an inch closer, her eyes flashing. "Take us to there to the Square, right now! You can hear the rest with Lahar and Ira- I have to see my Guild!" She hissed, her expression pulling slightly in worry and unease that was so unlike the steadiness and demanding she had become so quickly, and he stared at it. "Please Doranbolt, I wanna see them before things get too crazy all over again!" Hora hissed, her voice trembling slightly now and his heart skipped a beat despite himself. "I have to see them, make sure they're all okay- and they need to know that everybody I was with is fine too! We don't have a lot of time, so please! Please take us there!"

He paused for half a heartbeat, his expression falling neutral as he met her eyes, felt how tightly she was holding on to him... Heard how close her voice dropped to something of a pleading tone. He'd not seen her like that before, she'd always been so stern and heated with him (and let's be fair, he'd been the same back), but this time she wasn't demanding anything- was asking, and it almost looked like she needed it... Like really needed it.

And he didn't get it, none of this made sense, there were too many missing pieces, too much crazy- but he knew instantly she meant it when time was running out.

His hands moved, falling on her shoulders lightly and little bits of resolution trickling into his stunned expression, and he nodded once at her, firmly- and Hora's heart sped up at the look.

"Yeah, I'll get us there."

.:+:.

"10,000... Dragons...?"

The huge mass of the Wizards from every Guild present in the City stood assembled in the Square, all of them stiff and wide eyed as they listened to the King's explanation of the impending Dragon Attack, and how they planned to use the Eclipse Gate as a weapon on the Dragons.

The King, a small old man, stood at the head of the mass of Wizards, perched on the fountain erected there and grim-faced. His words, much more than his expression- had everyone instantly silent, and reeling for the revelation.

"... Yes... Even with the Eclipse Canon, we anticipate a few dozen, or maybe even a few hundred Dragons will survive." The King murmured lowly, and a shiver passed through the crowd, the hearts of the Wizards skipping a beat. "... Due to the sheer amount of Dragons coming, and those that may survive... I now ask you, Wizard Guilds... Please cooperate with us... We want to use your power... Help us protect this country." The King went on, his voice dropping by the second as he bent over. He bowed to them, the Guilds stunned with the gesture, and any amount of anxious murmurs among the crowd fading off to nothing. There were several heartbeats where no one moved, no one spoke- no one even really dared breathe, and why not...?

This was insane... 10,000 Dragons insane, and to most all of them- mention of the Eclipse Gate was new, and sudden, and they were all reeling. Naturally so, who could have anticipated such a turn after a day filled with such tumultuous events? To Fairy Tail's upset in the GMG, Sting's surrender at the end, and then even Fairy Tail's quick and rushed explanations to some of the other Guilds, explaining what had happened the night before and relaying what team they had sent to rescue the Celestial Mages? So much was going on, and so much more than they'd even all been aware until just then in that Square... And the reality of all of it was daunting, to say the least.

They could see the King shaking as he stayed bent over, see the way his hands had balled into fists, how hard a time he seemed to have standing there, shaking further for the silence that stretched on and the Wizards glanced between each other warily... Before they all nodded firmly, their countenances straightening and a light igniting in all their eyes at once- like a ripple of water stretching over a pool.

"Leave it to us!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll take down those Dragons!"

"Ain't no way we're gonna let some monster's take us down!"

"Hell yeah, you can count on us!"

"We'll fight like hell, don't you doubt it!"

The silence shattered, the air of the Square shaking and suddenly sent alive with the shouts and cheers that sprung up from the Wizards- all suddenly brimming in energy and anticipation for the sure to be soon battle, even against the daunting odds of it.

The King's head snapped up, stunned as he stared, shocked into silence as their calls reached him and the fervor behind it too. He swallowed, his head bowing again as he let out a shaky breath, silent tears beginning to stream down his face and splatter against the stone at his feet.

"T-thank you..."

Many people smiled slightly at it, others stiffened for it- but they all felt the weight of those tears, and they felt heaviness get a little weightier on their souls- though they kept up the noise and the vigor, determined not to bend to the looming catastrophe hanging over their heads.

The SaberTooth Guild was the quietest of the lot- they of course called their own assurances out that they would fight, with everything they had- and they meant it in earnest too. But they didn't dare speak up too loudly, they stayed huddled together slightly at the edges of the mass of other Guilds, wary of the distrustful looks they were receiving from many... And they didn't return the looks with the heated, hateful, venomous ones that many of the other Guilds had grown so used to from the SaberTooth Guild. No, they kept their eyes down, quiet and tense in their spots, and almost like they were afraid of catching anyone's eyes at all. They would not look at them, they couldn't- they felt the angry and hateful looks and they wilted, they knew they were being muttered about, and they knew why... They knew they deserved it, and they were ashamed for all of it.

All the years of putting up face and being brash, and harsh, and cruel, and ruthless- power hungry and cold, and so hurtful to all these other Guilds and all those Wizards... Years of being monsters and alienating everyone, out of fear. But now with Jiemma and Minerva gone, they didn't put up those faces again. They would never dare put up those faces ever again, and what replaced it was just the guilt and the shame, and it was almost painful for those Fairy Tailers who had been told by Hora the night before what the Sabers had suffered through, to look at that Guild now and see nothing but hunched, sullen, regretful figures.. It was harder still to see how hard the Sabers tried not to tread on anyone's toes, or hunched against the nasty looks they were getting from all around. They were distancing themselves, none of the Saber Wizards had said a word to any of the other Mages, and they were afraid to.

The other Guilds noticed the sudden shift in behavior of course, and they had no idea what prompted it- and that just made them all the more wary, which did nothing to ease the tension.

"... Tch, what's with SaberTooth...?"

"Yeah they're acting weird..."

"... I don't like it..."

The Sabers hunched further at the suspicious grumbles, their faces twisting for them and shaking slightly too. They fidgeted, all of them, teetering on the edge of moving, saying something, maybe trying to come up with an explanation... but words would not come and they hissed against it.

How were they supposed to explain it...? There was no excuse for all these years of being... Being such terrible people to all the Guilds... Would they even get it? How could they? How could they get the other Guilds to understand why they'd done it, that they hadn't meant it, that it was all out of fear and terror...?

... Ow... was that just... An excuse...? Would they see it that way...?

"... They're acting like whipped dogs, what the hell?" Someone muttered crossly,

"Tch, they can't even talk to us when we're about to be fighting together?"

"Typical..."

The Sabers grimaced against the comments, hunching even further in on themselves, some of them shutting their eyes against it. Sting and Rogue grit their teeth, their eyes locked to the ground while Lector and Frosch let out small mews, their ears pressed against their heads and casting their partners anxious looks. Rufus tipped his hat forward enough it hid his face, and Orga beside him had his eyes shut, arms crossed over his chest and looking disgruntled and uneasy all at once.

Only Rogue's red eyes dared to lift from the ground and dart quickly over to the Fairy Tailers, his hands shaking at his sides and stomach churning so terribly. He wanted to go and ask, see if they'd heard anything from the team sent to the Castle- they should have been back hours ago, and there was no sign. Something must have gone wrong, he felt so nauseous at the thought, and it was almost enough to make him forget the tension and just go... But what would they do, if he just strolled up to them like that...?

How do we... Explain it...?

... Make up... For it...?

They hate us... They have every right to hate us...

"... They're gonna pretend like he don't exist, huh..?"

"Tch... That damn Guild..."

"... Can't even stand to look at us, huh?"

"Those ba-"

"Enough!"

The comments and grumbled words got cut off by a clear and stern voice, everyone jumping and those SaberTooth Guild especially as their eyes snapped around toward the owner- the redheaded figure of Titania Erza, bandaged to hell like many of them were, and walking calmly through the crowds toward the huddled-together Sabers. She walked through them without hesitation, her order cutting off the naysayers, which earned curious looks from everyone- namely the other Fairy Tailers, Lamia, Mermaid, Pegasus and Cerberus alike. Erza stopped in front of the Sabers, her eyes narrowed and steely as she looked not at them, but instead she scanned the crowds and those that had been grumbling shrank under the stare.

"Cease with your ill-will toward SaberTooth, all of you." Erza commanded firmly, earning no small amount of incredulous looks all around- and the Sabers stared too, eyes wide and stunned that she'd even spoken up for them at all. Everything got rather quiet then, Erza still trailing her gaze around the crowds and unflinching, even as a few started to grumble again.

"...eh?"

"Why? They ain't ever had anything but ill-will for us..!"

"I said enough." Erza said again, cutting the murmurs off just as easily as before and her tone dropping just a tad. "Your ire is understandable, but SaberTooth does not deserve your wrath- not right now. And they do not deserve your anger, not until you understand why they have done all they have, and they have a chance to explain themselves." She murmured firmly, her eyes moving back to the Sabers and softening a tad, especially when they went rigid under the look, and the words... At the prospect of that- explaining themselves.

"We do not have time to explain things fully right now, but I ask you all to take me at my word- these people have suffered for far too long to deserve your anger tonight. Not with everything coming." Erza murmured, nodding her heads to the Sabers and everyone stiffened at it. "We must band together to face this incoming enemy, we cannot pull apart or fight amongst ourselves. SaberTooth is with us, give them a chance to prove who they truly are to you all- judge them on their actions here tonight, and not one what has come before." Erza said calmly, her voice ringing on all their ears and all of them at full attention- the Sabers' faces falling slack, shocked, and stunned, their souls suddenly aching so very much with every word... Every calm, steady word in... In their defense.

They did not expect it, not in a million years- there was no way a Wizard from any one of the Guilds they had treated so terribly could be calling for... For time to let them prove themselves, promising they weren't what they were, they they could show they weren't- and Erza seemed to really believe they would. They could see it in her face, they could tell instantly that she knew- she knew that the people they had shown themselves to be before now were not the true them, and their hearts swelled a little at it.

Titania Erza the Fairy Queen was defending them, and calling on everyone else... To... To give them another chance...!

The SaberTooth Wizards collectively took in sharp breaths of air, holding them in against the sudden siege of emotion that hit them in that moment, the disbelief and the fear, the shock and the hurt, guilt and... And maybe even little bits of hope too, and appreciation.

It was such a simple thing on Erza's part, but it meant the world- and it was the last thing they needed to get a little push passed the uncertainty, and the hesitation. A sudden surge of energy rushed through the Sabers, all of them breathless and stepping up quickly, all of them moving by some unspoken word between them. Every single SaberTooth Wizard bowed, their heads and bodies bent to the Fairy Queen, and all the other Guilds and Mages behind her, and the Square went deadly quiet.

SaberTooth was bowing to them

"... We... We're gonna prove ourselves, to all of you...!"

"We... We swear, we're not gonna be like we have been, not anymore...!"

"We will never treat any of you like we have, ever again...!"

"We... We're so sorry...!"

"... This is so hard to explain, and... We can't possibly make you understand it all, not right now but..."

"... But please hear us when we say we will show you who we are- the real us, not the people you've seen before..."

"... We never wanted any of this... To act like this... But..."

"... Please... Forgive us..."

"... We won't make you regret it, we just... We need a second chance, to show you... To prove who we are..."

"... Please... Just let us show you..."

"... We'll be who we've always wanted to be... We'll be better, we'll be kinder, we'll fight with you with all we have in earnest...!"

"... Please let us show you what we can do, we want to help, we will help, we swear...!"

"... We aren't what you think, all we ask... Is that you let us prove it... Please." Rogue murmured softly,

"... We will remake ourselves, in the image we've dreamed SaberTooth of being for so long, now that we have a chance to at least try." Rufus murmured solemnly, his hat in his hand and not on his head as he remained bowed like all the rest.

"And we'll be that SaberTooth, don't doubt it for a second." Orga grumbled lowly, "We ain't gonna keep on as we have, never again."

"... Please forgive us all we have done before, and how we've treated you all." Sting mumbled, his eyes on the ground and hands straight down at his sides. "... There is no excuse for it, we knew it was wrong, but we were afraid... We won't be afraid anymore. We're not going to be that anymore, we're going to be better." His words earned quite a few stiff nods from many of the members, and the other Guides stared, completely stunned.

...w-what...?

... What did they... Mean...?

They were afraid...?

What... Was all of this...?

They were apologizing- asking for forgiveness, admitting they were wrong, that they'd done wrong, and they regretted it all.

SaberTooth never apologized

SaberTooth never admitted they were wrong

SaberTooth never regretted, anything

They all stared, their minds grinding to a halt with every word, every please, every pleading, shaking, breathless sentence- every pained look among the Sabers and even the tears falling from some of their eyes, their bodies trembling and barely holding back sobs.

The other Guilds couldn't fathom it, it was like their minds wiped clean and all they could do was just keep staring, keep being stunned, keep looking at all those Saber Wizards and with every single second they did- they all realized more and more... This... This is SaberTooth, but it's... Not the same SaberTooth, they'd known all this time.

This is not the Guild full of ruthless people and wicked smiles, full of bravado and downright cold and uncaring. This was not the Guild full of people willing to go to any lengths, who only cared for power, and image, and prestige, and nothing else. This was not the Guild who had berated them, fought them, and even hurt them in the Games- for years.

This was a Guild full of people desperately trying to hold back tears, people with heavy hearts full of guilt and despair and pain of a like they couldn't fathom. People who looked away in shame, bent their heads in humility, freely admitted their faults and asked for forgiveness of their mistakes. These were people who asked for a second chance, even though they seemed terrified, and yet they had never been more resolute- to be different, to be better, to prove themselves and show... Them. These same people, this same Guild- and yet this was the SaberTooth they had never seen before, and it was... This was SaberTooth.

The real SaberTooth

There was awhile of nothing, everyone still stunned, reeling as the face that SaberTooth had put up for all the rest of the world to see was disappearing in front of their very eyes, revealing the heart of all of them- the real them that was vastly different. Almost impossibly so... But so genuine still, they all saw it.

And no, they didn't get it, they didn't understand- they didn't know, not the years of abuse and terror the Sabers had lived in, and what had driven them to be that terrible version of themselves... But they didn't need to know, not right then. They saw the sincerity, and the honesty- the genuine SaberTooth, and their drive to be better- and they believed it, wholeheartedly. That was all they needed, just for right then.

The tension halved, and then went to almost nothing, the other Guilds behind Erza shifting slightly as their expressions steadied, and they looked at the Sabers not with hate, or suspicion- but acceptance... Or at least the willingness to give them that chance they asked for.

"They're so different all of a sudden..."

"... Dude, I've never seen SaberTooth like this... Ever..."

"... This is is insane, I can hardly believe it..."

"... A second chance, huh...?"

"... They're... Totally different people..."

"... Where has this... Been hiding...?"

"... Hmm... She said we gotta work together yeah...?"

"If you guys are really be different from now on, show us by kicking some ass, yeah?"

"Yeah! We got some Dragons to beat, so let's go..!"

"We'll trust you for now, show us the people you wanna be!"

"Prove to us you mean what you say!"

"We wanna see this new SaberTooth you're talking about, huh guys?!"

"Hell yeah!"

The mood shifted entirely, the other Guilds calling out, smirking, asking for them to do what they said- prove themselves, show them the real SaberTooth, make good on all their promises to be better and to never be what they hated again. Their spirit's lifted, energy coursing through them all, and anticipation too- energy and drive and the will to do, to fight hard, to make something of themselves, and the hope that they did be that new Sabertooth they all wanted.

The SaberTooth Wizards eyes gleamed at the sudden chorus of voices and calls, their hearts aching at the suddenly invigorated mood and the faith- they could hardly believe it, they were a little unsure still... But they had also never felt so relieved nor determined in all their lives. It was like the calls of the other Guilds were melting away some of that dark shadow that had hung over the SaberTooth Guild for so long now, and they could breathe a little easier for it. The Sabers straightened up, standing taller, heads held a little higher, and they matched eyes with the other Guilds without flinching.

"We will!"

"We're gonna be better than ever!"

"SaberTooth has all of your backs!"

"YEAH!"

"Alright! Lets get it on!" Gajeel smirked.

"All the Guilds joining forces." Ichiya smiled.

"What a wonderful Parfum." Nichiya replied.

"Lets do our best, all of us." Hibiki smiled.

"WILD!" Quatro Cerberus yelled out.

"Lets fight." Jura smiled, crossing his arms over his chest and shooting the Sabers a glance. "I'm excited to see this new SaberTooth in action."

"... Me too!" Sherria grinned, her eyes darting to Lyon and finding him watching the Sabers quietly, his expression neutral. "... Something wrong, Lyon?" She asked and he let out a small breath.

"... I was just thinking, about something Horatia said to me." He mumbled quietly, his eyes flashing. "... I think I understand it now..." He said and Sherria blinked, her eyes trailing to the Sabers and biting the inside of her cheek.

"... Speaking of, Fairy Tail said she and Wendy had gone to the Castle this morning... They're still not back yet, huh...?" Sherria mumbled and Lyon frowned slightly for it,

"... No..."

Erza smiled slightly at the suddenly brightened moods, especially in the Sabers- and she hummed under her breath for it, her eyes falling closed. Rogue glanced her way, rather quiet still even with the rise in energy, and he stepped slowly up toward the redhead, Frosch trailing after him, and Sting and Lector too- though they hung back a bit.

"... Miss Erza." Rogue mumbled softly as they all came to a slightly uneasy stop in front of the redhead, her eyes opening to look Rogue's way immediately.

"Hmm?"

"... Have... Have you or anybody else heard anything, from Hora and the others...?" Rogue asked tensely, his red eyes flashing as he wrung his hands together in front of him. "... They should have been back a long time ago, and they were supposed to send up a signal flare, right...?" He mumbled and Erza's smile faded to none, her expression growing serious too as she shook her head at him.

"No, we haven't heard anything." She replied lowly and he immediately stiffened at it, his lips pulling into a frown, and his folded together hands trembling too. Erza noticed it and grimaced slightly herself, a small breath escaping her. "... I am worried too, but we should have faith in them. They are all very capable Mages, they can take care of themselves, and they have each other." She pointed out softly and Rogue just swallowed, his eyes dropping into his hands. Frosch let out a troubled mew, while Sting grit his teeth and frowned at the ground, Lector tapping his paws together uncertainty.

... Hora... Yukino...

Erza sighed quietly, lifting a hand to place it gently on Rogue's shoulder, causing the man to jump slightly at the unexpected contact. "... I'm sure they're just fine, you'll seem them all before you know it." Erza assured gently,

"Yeah, there ain't no way Salamander and the rest of them are too far over their heads." Gajeel huffed, coming to a stop beside the group suddenly and earning the Saber's surprised eyes. "Salamander's an idiot, but he's strong- and Lily is there too. Plus that Hora chick of yours packs a punch, they can handle whatever the hell gets thrown their way." The Iron Dragon Slayer mumbled lowly.

"... I... I hope you're right..." Rogue stammered quietly,

"Fro hopes so too..." Frosch mumbled,

"... T-they have to be fine...!" Lector huffed, trying to put up some semblance of a brave face. "Atia's really strong, and so is Yukino...! And Natsu-san is strong too, they'll be okay...!"

"Y-yeah..!" Frosch piped in with the other Exceed,

Rogue and Sting glanced to the two quietly, their eyes glittering and tense still, especially at how quickly the Exceeds moved to shoot them both slightly shaky, but determined smiles to reassure them.

"They'll come back, don't you worry Sting-kun!" Lector purred, and Sting's eyes flashed at it.

"Yeah, Atia will be okay, and so will Yukino...!" Frosch piped in, and Rogue seemed to nod slightly, though only so. Lector gave both Dragon Slayers a more confident smirk next and a thumbs up, his tail lashing behind him as he floated in air before the Twin Dragons.

"That's right! They'll be fine! For now though, we gotta get ready to fight-!"

"LECTOR!"

Lector broke off, his name being shouted cutting what he said short, and everyone stiffened- the red Exceed was there before them in one second, and then the next he wasn't.

A blur of white and red rushed passed Rogue, Sting and Frosch- small glimpses of Lector trapped in someone's arms darting passed and behind them in a blink of an eye, and for a heartbeat or two they stood there, stunned and not really sure...?

"... What...?" Sting mumbled,

"... Just happened...?" Rogue finished for him, both Dragon Slayers blinking several times over and stuck in their spots, lost.

"Fro..." Frosch mumbled uncertainly,

Rogue and Sting stiffened in the next second though, the little rush of air passed them with the blur finally hitting their noses and their hearts stopped. They both whipped around in unison, eyes wide and jaws dropping.

No way-!

"You're okay! I was so worried about you, Minerva didn't hurt you did she?! I am so sorry I wasn't there when she took you- I will never let her lay a finger on you ever again!"

Their eyes immediately locked to the bundle of red that was Lector, being hugged tightly against her chest, her arms locking him in place and having snatched him so quickly- and so out of the blue. Lector just stayed still, trapped in the hug, eyes wide, stunned, and not really sure he was seeing things right... For a moment or two Rogue and Sting weren't really sure they were seeing things right either, nor was Frosch. Even Gajeel and Erza had gone quite still, staring and lost for words as the woman stood there hugging Lector so tightly she was probably squishing him- and she certainly did not notice any of the incredulous looks she was getting, from anyone. All of her focus was on Lector, after only briefly having stood at the edge of the square in silence and watching the apology on SaberTooth's behalf unfold, and their earnest promise to do better.

Seeing the Guild all bowing like that and apologizing, vowing to change had been heart wrenching- and then a million times more when the other Guilds responded as they had... Sincere and seeing what she always hoped everyone else would. The SaberTooth she knew and loved, and had feared would never be out in the limelight as it should. Words could not begin to describe how much her heart both ached, and lifted with the scene- but her attention on it faded soon after as she caught sight of Lector among the many, and she was rushing forward toward him before she even realized what she was doing. And she certainly gave absolutely no thought to Doranbolt- who had Teleported them both here and was somewhere on the very edges of the Square, probably with Lahar and Ira- though she'd not actually seen either of them before she rushed off.

She pulled Lector up in front of her, holding him in her hands and releasing him from the hug a moment as she held him up eye level with her, a shaky, breathless, but no less relieved smile on her face as their eyes matched.

"I am so happy you're okay...!" She breathed, abandoning waiting for him to reply to any of her rushed words from before. Lector's stunned expression melted quickly after that, his ears falling and his eyes going wide, teary now and quickly shaking for it. Whatever little confidence he'd had to be all 'she'll be fine' a few moments before was shattered and he sniffed,

"A-Atia...?" He nearly squeaked, and she smiled a little more.

"Hora!"

She jumped, her attention on Lector snapping away from the shout of her voice- and she didn't notice how quickly Lector wriggled out of her hold either. Not before her feet were knocked out from under her and she got swallowed up in someone's else's grasp, both of them quickly falling backward and she couldn't stop herself.

They ended up on the ground, her back saved hitting the stone all the way because he was hugging her into him so closely, straddling her as he leaned over with her pinned to him and he buried his face into the crook of her shoulder. She blinked, stunned with the sudden embrace and how quickly it had come... But more so with how tight it was, while still being gentle, and how much he was shaking against her as he stayed right where he was, both of them locked together on the floor and not daring to move even an inch.

"... Y...you're back..." He hissed, his voice shaking just as much as he was, his arms around her tightening a little more, and her heart fluttered as his scent hit her nose, heavy and warm, and so achingly his.

"... Hora, I'm so happy to see you... I've b-been losing my mind... All day...!" He hissed, his voice breaking off in a stifled half-sob and so, so quiet... He was breathless, relieved, happy, scared- all at once, and it was nowhere near dead or cold... Not like the other one.

"... Y...you're back... You..."

He was crying, she could feel the way his breaths and body hitched with them, she could smell the salty tang of the tears and felt them against her shoulder. He was so happy, so much it was too much, his body and emotions a mess and now a hundred times more so at seeing her there so suddenly, the tension melting away and leaving him trembling like a leaf... And...

"... Please... Please don't scare me like this again... I can't take it... The thought of losing you, Hora..."

He broke off again, his voice strangled in a sob and she felt her heart break. Her breath got snatched away by it and she quickly returned the embrace, her fingers digging into his clothes and shaking herself.

This...

She grit her teeth against the way her eyes stung, her own tears threatening to come up and the well of hurt, relief, sadness, terror, happiness and everything else- all that she'd felt that day, and those before it... And especially that of which had shook her to the core when faced with the Future version of him, and how much it wasn't him at all.

She grabbed to the Shadow Dragon Slayer tightly, both of them locked now in eachothers arms and she didn't dare let go. She drank in his scent, reveled in the warmth of his body against hers and how gentle and comforting his arms around her were at that very moment.

... This... This is my Rogue...

Her fingers gripped harder into his shirt despite herself for the thought, and she held her breath against the way her heart hurt and warmed all at once.

... My Rogue... I don't what happened... To the other one... B... But...

"... Please don't ever change... Rogue..." Hora mumbled aloud, her voice barely above a whisper and so low Rogue barely heard it at all- but he did and his crying ceased for a few seconds in confusion.

What did she...?

She sniffed slightly and his eyes snapped open at the sound, his hold around her slackening just enough so he could try and get a look at her face, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the tears pecking at the corners of those dark blue eyes he knew so well. She smiled sadly as their gazes matched, her hold around him easing slightly too so they could be more face to face, and she wrapped her arms around his neck instead, pulling forward enough that their foreheads pressed together gently. He stared, both at the tears and the sudden closeness of their faces and the forehead touch, while Hora just let out a small breath, the tears spilling down her cheeks in a thin, quiet line.

"... Heh... Damn, now you've got me crying too..." She mumbled, and his expression softened at it, his eyes glittering further even despite his own tears, and Hora shook her heart slightly, their bangs mussing up and twining together in black and fiery orange. "... That's okay... I'm glad to see you too... I'm sorry for worrying you so much, I know I promised to try and do that less... I'm failing miserably though, please forgive me..." She mumbled softly, her breath washing against his face and he let his eyes fall. He straightened, pulling Hora with him so they were both sitting upright and she pulled her legs in, so he wasn't straddling her so much. And though they moved, their foreheads never separated as they adjusted, and Rogue moved his hands to hold either side of her face, his thumbs gently wiping away the tears as he met her eyes again.

"... There's nothing to forgive, Hora." He told her softly, and her eyes flashed, her hold around the back of his neck tightened and she swallowed hard at the words. She took in a deep breath and her hands moved to his face too, wiping away his tears. Their foreheads came apart finally as she pulled herself back to put space between them again, smiling faintly at him as she did so.

"... You're too good for me..." She mumbled quietly and he blinked in question, but she did not linger on it, instead her attention fixed to the bandage pulled across his face and nose and she tilted her head at it... Before her eyes dropped to the rest of him and she saw the bandages wrapped around his arms and chest, where the robe he was wearing let it show through. She faltered, her eyes narrowing at it all, "... Are you okay? You like you got the crap beaten out of you..." She asked quickly and he smiled wearily at her, his hands pulling hers back down from his face and holding on to them.

"Yes I am fine... It was a difficult battle between Gajeel and I, but it was a good one." He hummed, his eyes falling from her face now and instantly his smile shattered when he found the bandages around her chest, and the angry red marks stretching across the whole front of her body on her arms and neck, and he went rigid. He sucked in a sharp breath of air, his hands instantly fumbling for her arms and holding on to them gently as he looked the wounds up and down in rapidity, and Hora sighed silently at the immediate shift.

... And there goes the moment...

"O-oh my god, are you okay...?!" He hissed, his eyes raking over the lines and paling when it became clear they were continuous- they weren't broken apart, they were five huge lines torn through her, from her left to her right and he looked ready to pass out.

Because what the hell could have left wounds that stretched over her whole body in a continuous line like that?! And five of them no less?!

They weren't small wounds, they were big- serious even! And even if they looked closed, they were still raw and inflamed- and they had not been there this morning!

He let out a shaky, terrified breathe of air, the tears threatening to come back. "T-these look awful, H-Hora...!" He stammered and Hora caught his arms lightly in her hands, making him come to a halt with his suddenly panicked movements. His eyes snapped to her again, and she winced internally at the fear in his face, and so quickly.

"I'm okay." She told him calmly, "Really, Wendy healed me up as best she could- they don't even hurt much at all, they just sting a little. You don't need to freak out." She assured and he stared, his eyes falling to the wounds again and swallowing against it.

"... B...but... What happened...?" He stammered breathlessly and she grimaced despite herself.

She could not tell him the truth- not that it had been some version of himself from seven years in the future. She could not tell him, because she knew him, and he would never forgive himself for having hurt her, even if it hadn't been him. He would never be able to get over with the idea that any version or incarnation of himself had done something that awful to her, so she couldn't tell him. She would never tell him... But explaining this?

... Shit...

"... Not to interrupt, but we would very much like to know what happened as well."

Hora and Rogue's eyes snapped up at the voice, their eyes landing on Erza- who was the one who said something just then- and Gajeel beside her, with Sting, Lector and Frosch close by too. Erza let out a small sigh, her eyes flashing as she met Hora's eyes,

"What happened? You all must have run into trouble- but where is everyone else? Natsu, Lucy, Yukino and the others?" The redhead asked and Hora blinked, hesitating for half a second, and more so than anything to see the redhead was covered in wounds and bandages and the like... Gajeel too...

H...holy shit... How hard did they fight...?!

The Exceeds took that small bit of hesitation to jump forward and into Hora's arms with tearful mews, and Hora rushed to catch them as they did, her eyes widening slightly and not having been aware they'd been holding themselves back as long as they had. And because she was so busy hugging them to her, she failed to answer Erza's questions for a bit longer, to which the redhead stayed quiet, though she did sigh slightly under her breath.

"A-Atia we missed you...!" Frosch mewed,

"Are you sure you're okay, Atia...?!" Lector stammered, and Hora swallowed, hugging them still as they buried themselves in her arms and chest.

"... Uh yeah, I am fine, I promise... Please don't worry..." She mumbled quickly, patting their heads reassuringly and they nodded stiffly at it, but kept hugging her anyway. She let out a small breath at it and let it be, her eyes moving slowly back to Erza and swallowing slightly. "Uhm, yeah, sorry... They're all fine..." Hora told her quickly, "We found Lucy and Yukino pretty much right away, but we got dropped into some labyrinth under the Palace, and the Kingdom's Royal Executioners got set on us, so we ended up fighting..." She explained and Erza's eyes widened at the news, along with everyone else's.

... Well, they all ended up fighting- not me, since I got separated... But that's not important!

I'm not gonna talk about all the Ultear and the Current stuff, that'll just make things waaaaay too complicated right now...!

"... And then after fighting, it took a really long time to get out of the labyrinth at all, it was huge." Hora kept on, "Uhm... And then we ended up running into someone from the Future- who had seen what happens when the Dragons come and everything gets destroyed... She warned us what was coming and wanted to try and find a way to stop it..." Hora mumbled,

"... Someone from the future." Erza mumbled lowly, nodding slightly. "The King explained as much, though I'm surprised you all ran into them as well." The redhead murmured,

"S-so, you already know about the Dragons...?" Rogue stammered and Hora nodded stiffly,

"Yeah, I know." She murmured, "When I heard the King had asked all the Wizards to meet, I figured he was probably gonna tell you guys about what was coming, and the Eclipse Cannon and whatever." She told him, her eyes flashing. "I was actually on my way to find you all and warn you guys about the Dragons myself, but the King beat me to it I guess..."

"B-but what happened to you, was it the King's executioners that did this...?" Rogue stammered, his eyes finding the wounds again and she bit the inside of her cheek at it.

"... Uhm, no... There was someone else from the Future, a second person..." She started slowly and they all stiffened,

"A second person?" Was the collective murmur, "Who?" Was the next and Hora shook her head slightly.

"... I didn't recognize him." She mumbled, and it wasn't a total lie- that had not been a Rogue she recognized or knew, after all. "... He did this, we got in a fight... Because he was really convinced that things had to work out a certain way for the future to unfold in the way he wanted... He claimed that Lucy was gonna close the Eclipse Gate before the Cannon could be used, and that she was gonna destroy everything." Hora murmured tensely, her eyes dropping into her lap, and the top of Frosch's and Lectors heads.

She couldn't tell them about the Future Lucy, just like she couldn't tell them about the Future Rogue- she couldn't say the former had been killed by the latter, it was just... Too awful, and too complicated, and too much. So she omitted it, even when it was something of a lie and she hated herself for it- her intentions were good, but a lie it was still... Shit.

... I just... Don't wanna make this any harder... Than it already is...

"Lucy would never do such a thing." Erza grumbled hotly, and Hora nodded.

"... I know, but he was really convinced... I don't get it myself, even still... But... That guy, he went after her, I tried to get in the middle of it, but I ended up getting hurt for it." She mumbled, "That's where all this came from... But like I said, Wendy healed me up as best she could. And Lucy is okay too, I promise, we all got away... Minus Natsu, he stayed behind to keep the Future guy busy and away from Lucy." Hora explained, and the Fairy Tailers nodded tensely for the explanation.

"So where are they now?" Erza pressed,

"Lucy and Yukino went to the Eclipse Gate, since they're Keys combined are what opened it in the first place... They're kinda just waiting there now, in case anything happens." Hora mumbled, "I dunno how to explain it, but there's something not right about all of this that I don't get... And Lucy agreed with me on that, so she and Yukino headed off to the Gate, to be there, just in case... And everybody else is with them." Hora mumbled, "They should be there now, and they are fine- they were all okay when we split up, and they have each other, so I wouldn't worry about them too much... At least not more than we should worry about everything else." She sighed, and Erza and Gajeel nodded grimly.

"... I see." The redhead murmured quietly, "Thank you for coming to tell us what happened, Horatia. I am very glad to know you all made it out of the Castle, and mostly alright, even despite the complications that have arisen." She hummed, and Hora nodded slightly back.

"... Uh, yeah..." She mumbled, "O-oh, a-and thank you too, Erza...!" Hora added in quickly, straightening up as she faced Erza a little more directly and bent her head to the other woman in a half-bow... She would have gone all the way, it not for the Exceeds in her lap and arms.

Close enough-!

"... Thank you so much for beating Minerva...!" Hora told her, her head still bent. "... Thank you for keeping your promise, and defeating her... And helping make sure Lector was okay...!" Hora murmured, Lector, Frosch, Rogue and Sting all stiffening suddenly and blinking in question to the words- what did she mean, 'promise'...?

Had Hora... Asked Erza to beat Minerva...? To help... Get Lector back...?

Erza smiled faintly at the girl, nodding slightly and smiling a tad more for the incredulous looks that passed over the other Sabers- Sting especially, who had done nothing but stand there to the side, rigid and utterly quiet. But now his eyes went wide, staring at Hora with her head bent and something about his expression pulled, a mix between pained, disbelieving, and grateful- though he did his utmost to hide any shred of emotion from crossing his face at all.

"... Of course, you're very welcome." Erza hummed, "And thank you for keeping yours, I have no doubt how hard you worked to keep Lucy and Yukino safe today." She told the Saber lightly, and Hora jumped slightly, her head still bowed and biting the inside of both cheeks rather hard.

... But... I didn't really... Do anything at all, in the end...

... I hesitated... And for it... Tch...

Hora did not reply, and Erza was not sure why she failed to- but she did not linger on it long anyway, she uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Well now, I will relay to the Master and the rest of the Guild what you have said. I am sure they will be relieved to hear you all made it out in the end." Erza announced coolly, "In the meantime, you should have a little bit to settle things with the rest of your comrades." Erza murmured, tilting her head toward where the rest of the SaberTooth Guild was further from them, and to Rufus and Orga in particular who were aware of her sudden return, and had been waiting and listening rather patiently (less so in Orga's case). Hora followed the redhead's gesture and saw them there at last, her eyes widening slightly as she nodded a bit.

"O-Oh, alright..." Hora mumbled, and Erza smiled one last time, before turning and heading away, Gajeel following her slowly without ever having said a word at all.

Rufus and Orga moved up right off, Orga much faster than the blonde and Lector and Frosch quickly moved out of Hora's lap as he approached- and she smiled nervously at the large and incoming man.

Ah-

Orga picked her up off the ground and in his burly embrace with extreme ease, holding her tight and her feet not at all close to the ground. She smiled at it though, especially so when he hugged her, and then moved to holding her in one arm, his other raising as his hand found the top of her head, and then he promptly mussed her hair up- a lot. It was an affectionate gesture, and also a slightly exasperated one too, and he clicked his tongue at her as he did it.

"You are just getting into all the crazy stuff lately, huh?" He grumbled, "I'm surprised you're still keeping up- my head's spinning already at just what the King said, but your stuff is making it lot worse...!" He huffed, before letting out a small sigh and his rubbing her hair all the wrong directions ceased. "Well anyway, it's good to see you- even if you got banged up again. You sure you're all good?" He hummed and she smiled slightly, nodding.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She hummed, and he set her back down easily, his hands falling on his hips as Rufus stepped up beside him, smiling faintly as his hands found hers and held on.

"It is very good to see you back and safe, Horatia." The blonde hummed, squeezing her hands gently with his own and she smiled back.

"Thanks, it's good to be back." She hummed, glancing between him and Orga and her eyes shinning at the bandages on their person and the damage- just like with Rogue. "... Are you guys okay? You look like you got beat to hell..." Hora mumbled and they seemed to sigh at the mention, Orga gritting his teeth in agitation and looking away from her rather pointedly, while Rufus simply gave her a small, somewhat weary smile.

"We are alright." He told her softly, "Fairy Tail was full of surprises today, it was quite a spectacle to behold- today will remain imprinted in my Memory for all the years to come." He hummed and Hora blinked, her eyes falling from him for a moment as she bit the inside of her cheek and... hesitated.

"...so... he won, against you...?" She asked at length and Rufus tilted his head slightly in question, especially so when she failed to meet his eyes again as she asked, and her hands still in his trembled, ever so faintly. "... Gray... He won... you two fought... right...?" She asked quietly and Rufus' eyes flashed at the question, his expression falling slightly slack in intrigue, before he smiled just a tad, and nodded.

"Yes, it was a splendid battle." He murmured lightly, his eyes flashing as he dipped his head slightly to her, and his voice dropped to something quite low, "You needn't worry over either of us, we fared just fine in our battle." He added quietly, and Hora jumped slightly, her eyes snapping up toward him in shock, but Rufus only smiled, squeezing her hands one last time and pulling away entirely.

W-wait a minute... that look...?

Rufus crossed his arms behind his back, stepping back a pace as well and tilting his head toward his Guild-Mates around them, "At any rate, we may have taken a bit of a beating in the Games today, but we have had plenty of time to recuperate. We will face this incoming storm with the same strength and will befitting of the SaberTooth, to which our Guild is named." He murmured coolly, earning a stiff nod from Orga, Lector, Frosch, Sting and Rogue alike. Rufus smiled a touch more and tilted his head toward Sting and Orga, "I expect Sting and Orga are quite looking forward to the coming fight, given they did not get much a chance to expend their energy in the Games today." Rufus pointed out lightly,

"Tch, I'm gonna wreck those Dragons, don't you doubt it." Orga huffed,

"Yeah..." Sting mumbled, though he sounded much less enthused with the idea than Orga did. Hora paused only a moment more, her eyes trailing toward him for the first time, and tentatively so. He hadn't rushed to catch her up in his hold like Rogue, or the Exceeds, or even Rufus and Orga- and until that very moment he had not said a thing at all. He'd just been standing there rigid as can be, watching the whole thing unfold and listening to what she said and what everyone else said too, but never butting in. And he kept standing there even after Erza and Gajeel left, his arms crossed over his chest and utterly quiet.

Then just there, when she caught his eye for that first time, he seemed to stiffen, averting his gaze from her quickly as his lips pulled into a tight line, and Hora felt her heart wrench at it.

... He still... Won't look at me...

... a...and he hasn't said anything to me... or... or hugged me... like...

... he's still... pissed at me...?

...s..shit...

She swallowed hard at it, her eyes dropping to the ground and her hands wringing together slightly in front of her.

... he's... still angry... even...

... he's... never gonna forgive me... is he...?

'... do not let yourself believe that.' Lixue intoned softly, but she told him to shut it right off. She didn't want to hear it, she didn't want to be comforted or patronized- she couldn't, not right then. There was no time for it, or her issues, or whatever she'd screwed up between them, and maybe screwed up forever... she just couldn't handle that right now, not on top of everything else. She felt like she was barely holding on by a thread, and having to even think about that right now was gonna send her tipping over the edge.

So she sucked in a big breath of air and stuffed it all away, putting up a small smile and a brave face and hoping it was as reassuring as she meant it to be... And she never saw the way Sting's expression twisted when she put on that brave face, or how hurt she looked right then, and she never knew how much Sting's stomach flipped at it. He almost said something too, but guilt stopped him, and he looked away again, his fingers digging into his arms, and crosssing them tighter over his chest.

"... Well, I guess I probably ought to catch up with the rest of the Guild, huh?" Hora murmured, "Let them know Yukino is okay... And explain a few other things too..." She mumbled,

"... They already know, Atia. About all that stuff with Jiemma and the Possession Link, and that you went to go get Yukino and Lucy back." Lector piped in quickly and she jumped at the confirmation.

"W-what?!" She snapped, and Lector shrugged slightly, shooting her an apologetic look.

"Well... I kinda let it slip earlier, after the GMG ended..." He mumbled and she bristled, "I figured you'd told everyone else already... I didn't realize you hadn't..."

"How did you know?! You weren't even there when I told everyone...!" She hissed, and he paused, his ears falling slightly.

"Uh... Well, Minerva listened in on you guys last night, and she had me listen in too... You didn't put up a Silence Barrier on the room like you usually do, so we could hear you easily." Lector explained, and Hora's heart nearly stopped. "We heard everything you said about the Possession Link, and what happened with the Fairy Tailers, and how Lucy and Yukino got taken... And... About your family, too..." He mumbled softly, and Hora just stared. "... I heard everything you said and so did Minerva..." He mumbled,

"... S-so she knew... I was gonna go talk to Fairy Tail, last night...?" Hora stammered, and Lector nodded slowly. "B-but... If she knew I was gonna go talk to them, t-that I was working with them... W..why wouldn't she have... Confronted me, o-or said something...? Or tried to stop me...?" Hora stammered quickly, and the questions earned uneasy looks from the lot of them.

"... I don't know, Atia..." Lector mumbled, "... When she was listening... I don't know, something seemed different... She seemed really surprised to hear it all... Maybe... Maybe she had some kind of plan, but it fell through when she and Erza were fighting...?" He suggested and Hora's eyes narrowed.

"... What do you mean she was surprised about it all?" Hora asked lowly, and Lector blinked.

"... Just that... She seemed really shocked." He mumbled uncertainly, but Hora shook her head.

"She can't have been shocked, she knew about the Possession Link- there's no way she didn't. And why would she care enough about any of the rest of it to illicit shock?" Hora grumbled and Lector's eyes widened slightly, his paw tapping his chin slightly as he gave her a sort of uneasy look.

"... Atia, I don't really think she knew about any of it all... Especially not the Possession Link..." Lector mumbled, "... She looked... Like really shocked..." Lector told her, and Hora could only stare.

... But... That doesn't...?

... She... She knew... The whole time... Right...?

... How... Could she not have...?

She didn't get it, she couldn't fathom it- none of it. Not that she didn't know, not that she'd heard all that shit last night and didn't do anything- not a word about her going off to see Fairy Tail, not an attempt at spoiling Hora's plans with it, none of it. It didn't make any sense, how could Minerva not do anything- anything at all? How could she have not known all these years about her bastard of a father and the Possession Link he'd put on her?

Just what...?!

"... W... Where is Minerva now?" Hora said at length, and they all cast another round of unsure glances between themselves.

"... We do not know." Rufus murmured coolly, "She disappeared shortly after the Games concluded, and we have not seen her since."

"... Maybe she left...?" Frosch imputed quietly, and Hora grimaced slightly.

... Would she...?

... maybe, after getting beat by Erza... But hell, none of this makes sense...

... Shit, another thing I can't worry about right now... Ugh...

She let out a long sigh, her hands moving up to push her bangs from her face for a moment in exasperation, and she shook her head a few times.

"Alright... I just can't try to mull through all her crazy right now... we have bigger things to worry over..." She sighed lowly, her head tilting back in exasperation and her eyes closed for the moment, her hands coming to a halt on the top of her head. "... I just don't get it, and we don't have time... I guess it'll be easier to talk to everyone else now, since they pretty much know the gist of it all..." She mumbled, and they nodded stiffly to it, though she did not see it. Her hands fell and she tilted her head back down, her blue eyes glinting in the dim as she glanced toward the rest of SaberTooth, all of them still a little closed off and fidgety, but they were talking to some of the other Guilds now, and her eyes gleamed. She rolled her shoulders, linking her fingers together and cracking her knuckles as she forced another sigh, and tilted her head to the rest of the Sabers with a faint smile.

"Well, time to catch everybody else up, hmm?"

The amount of noise that rose up from SaberTooth the minute they realized Horatia was there in the clearing was even louder than the chorus of voices that had appeared when the Sabers had vowed to show their true selves to the rest of the Guilds. The other Guilds faltered for the sudden commotion, their eyes darting quickly over to see what was going on- and then either stalling in confusion and question, or smiling at the sudden elated moods from all the Sabers when they found her- Horatia... who was fairly well surrounded on all sides in about three seconds, and subjected to a round of hugs, yells, relieved words, apologies and quite a few tearful ramblings and disbelief to all they had been told about Jiemma and the Possession Link.

More than a few tearful faces and mumbles, shocked words and questioning things, actually... and Hora found herself quickly thankful that the Possession Link was the only super terrible thing Lector had 'let slip'. She couldn't imagine how much worse, how more hurt, and how much more worried they would have all been if they knew the rest of it... about her family, her village, and Deliora. She had a hard enough time reassuring them all she was fine and that the worst of the issues with the Possession Link were averted (for now), and that they needed worry so much, and how sorry she was for keeping it from them all for so long. With every breathless and shaking word she heard, every face twisted in worry and ache and concern, and every apology she heard about how they 'should have realized' or done something more, been better, been enough to help- she felt her heart aching all the worse with every second, and she had to fight hard against crumbling under it all. She felt her own guilt getting worse, the realization of how much she had hidden and how much it hurt them to know she'd been willing to suffer in silence for so long- and it all just reminded her how long she had been willing to let all of them be abused and hampered down by Jiemma and Minerva's cruelty, and she hated herself more for all of it.

She promised several dozen times over that she would do better, that she would lean on them more and never hide so many things ever again... she promised to try, and be more open- and she did mean it... it just wasn't any easy thing to be done, and still there was so much that everyone didn't know. And right then, she couldn't find a good enough reason to dump more of those hidden truths and crazy on their heads, they had been put through enough with what they'd already learned and had happened, and had more still to worry over with the looming threat. So like last night and yesterday, and so many times before... she kept her mouth shut and she didn't say all the things she knew now she needed to.

Not tonight

It took so long to calm them all and get over the initial rush of emotions, but they did get there (with no small amount of prompting on Hora's part). Eventually they were settled enough she was able to relay them what she had told Erza and the others about Yukino, Lucy, and everything else involving the Gate and whatnot. They had questions of course, naturally so- but Hora could not get too far into it, so she said what she could, and enough they understood what they needed. She then moved and counted up heads, making sure everyone was alright and making sure they were all ready and prepared for what was coming- and assured them herself that they had this in hand and some Dragons weren't going to take the SaberTooth Guild down so easily, and she meant it... and she meant it so much more when she told the whole of the Guild how proud she was they were standing so firm in all the chaos, and how determined and genuine they were in trying to better themselves, as they had vowed to the other Guilds.

She told them how proud she was at their resolve, and how much she knew they would be the people they really were- the strong, kind, determined people with so much to give and such drive to do good. She knew they would fight like hell, and she knew the other Guilds would see what she always had- a Guild full of people who were loyal, and steadfast, and genuine- and the whole of Crocus would know it tonight. This was the night SaberTooth would be seen in the way it should have always been, and they replied to her surety and her faith with wide grins and soaring spirits, their voices growing louder and more steady than ever. And she smiled at them and their fervor, her deep blue eyes gleaming at all the energy and the determination, and her heart soured with them. She truly did believe in them, and that they would show their true selves- she knew these people and always had, and like she had told Salamander;

"I'm defending them, no matter what happens- no matter how the SaberTooth Team Acts, and no matter what they do- what any of them in SaberTooth do, I am going to defend them. They are good people- regardless of everything."

And with the whole of the Guild's suddenly ignited drive, she felt a fire in her core that had been simmering quickly coming to life- a fire in her belly, and she smirked at them, her hands clenching into fists and head high.

"Alright, we're gonna kick ass tonight, yeah?!" She called out, and they smirked back- all of them, including Rufus, Orga, the Exceeds, Rogue and Sting- their hands raising and their voices loud enough the whole of Crocus could have heard them. It was quite the sight to see and hear, and the other Guilds smiled softly at the little spectacle.

"HELL YEAH!"

"SABERTOOTH!"

"LET'S KICK SOME DRAGON ASS!"

The noise died down but their fervor did not, they stayed pumped and all too ready for anything- and with the sudden hype the Sabers did break off a little more, start moving themselves among the other Wizards and gearing to go. A quick word between Master Makarov, Rufus and Horatia had them quickly splitting up between the other Guilds and getting ready to break off into different sections of the city- the Guilds would spread out, and place most of their Members in one strategic spot around Crocus, and station Wizards with other Guilds where needed.

"... We should spread the Dragon Slayers between the Guilds as well." The Fairy Tail Master murmured grimly, the Lamia, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid, and Cerberus Guild Masters (or the equivalent, in Kagura's case) listening in. "As we are to be facing Dragons, and their Magic is especially made for that, we should leave no Guild without one to lend a hand." Makarov explained, and they all (Hora and Rufus included) nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense." Hora mumbled,

"Indeed." Rufus mumbled beside her, his head tilting toward Sting and Rogue standing not far from them. "We should focus the Dragon Slayers in Guilds that do not have their own to help them."

"Gajeel will go with Mermaid Heel and fight with them." Makarov murmured with a nod to Kagura, who just dipped her head once in aknowledgement. "Laxus will stay here in the sqaure with the rest of Fairy Tail that hasn't split up."

"We shouldn't need one with Jura in our ranks!" Oobaba, Lamia's Master piped in, and Hora blinked at it.

... I suppose that's probably fair...

Hora glanced toward Rufus for a moment, and he dipped his head slightly at her, and she sighed, her hand waving Rogue and Sting a little closer. They obliged, quietly moving forward and Rogue stopping at Hora's shoulder, while Sting stopped at Rogue's.

"... Alright, I'm gonna have Rogue go with Quatro Cerberus, and help you guys out." Hora mumbled with a nod toward the Shadow Dragon Slayer and the Cerberus Master both, and Rogue blinked at her, looking like he wanted to protest, but he didn't. "And Sting... will go with Blue Pegasus, and help you." She went on, her voice dropping slightly as she tentatively caught Sting's eye, and his expression didn't change, but he nodded stiffly and she took just took what she got, and dipped her head to the Blue Pegasus Master, who smiled kindly at the offer. "Between Rufus, Orga and the rest of the Guild, we should be fine." Hora went on, "Even though Orga isn't a Dragon Slayer per say, he still uses a Slayer Magic, and combined with everyone else- I think it'll have to be enough... we're short on Dragon Slayers without Natsu and Wendy around, unfortunately..." She mumbled,

'Horatia-' Lixue imputed after a long while, and she paused, her eyes glinting at the sudden interrupt- but he got interrupted quite quickly too, and her attention snapped to a familiar voice not too far away.

"... actually Hora, you've got one more..."

Her attention snapped around quickly, her eyes widening to find Ira standing close by all of a sudden, and she blinked at him. Everyone else's eyes snapped his way quickly too, wide and glittering that the young boy all done up in Rune Knight attire- and poor Ira seemed to fidget under the stares, though he never looked at anyone other than Horatia.

"... Ira..." Hora mumbled in surprise, her head tilting. "... What do you mean we have one more..?" She asked, and he tapped his fingers together nervously as he quickly shuffled a little closer and seemed to avoid the stares he earned from Sting and Rogue like the plague- so he rounded them and stepped up on Hora's shoulder where Rufus was, the blonde stepping a pace to the side to allow him room without a word. Ira smiled nervously as he stopped beside her,

"... uh, well with all of this going on, and the threat of the Dragons... Someone suggested to Lahar that maybe we should get as many Dragon Slayers as possible..." Ira mumbled quickly, "So... he kinda ordered Doranbolt to go and get the only other Dragon Slayer we know of, and bring him here to help..." Ira told her and Hora's eyes narrowed, everyone else's doing the same, especially so when Ira let out a low, exasperated, and dry chuckle next. "... so I'm not the only one of us who's done some jail-breaking today..." Ira told her, and Hora's eyes went wide as her thoughts clicked together quite quickly after that- because who was the only other known Dragon Slayer and was in jail?

"... he went and broke Cobra out of jail?" Hora asked quickly, and Ira nodded slightly.

"Yeah..." Ira mumbled, "... he's already here... he went to go and join up with those in Blue Pegasus that already headed out into the city..." The young boy explained, and Hora could only stare.

"Oh my...!" Master Bob hummed, "I haven't heard anything from Cobra in awhile, what an unexpected turn..! It's wonderful to see him trying to turn over a new leaf and help us...!"

"... Quite." Master Makarov mumbled, and Hora let out a small breath.

"... alright, thank you for telling me, Ira. This does help out." Hora told Ira softly, and the young Knight nodded at her.

"Of course..!" He hummed, "Are you gonna be alright, Hora...? I'm sorry the Magic Council can't get more involved, I think the Chairman would be really, really mad with the King about all of this, so we can't really tell him right now... there's bigger things to worry about..." Ira mumbled, and Hora gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. The rest of us will be too, thank you for doing what you can, with Cobra... tell Doranbolt and Lahar I said thanks too, will you?" She hummed, and Ira nodded again, his eyes shinning at her.

"I will!" Ira murmured, his eyes darting to the other Guild Masters and Mages breifly, and dipping his head respectfully to them all, "Thank you all for your promise to fight this, I wish you all luck...! Please, you and your Guilds, be careful...!" Ira told them quietly, and they nodded slowly in return. Ira straightened up again, and with a last nod, he disappeared in a haze and quickly heading back to wherever Lahar and Doranbolt were.

"... okay, so I guess with Cobra helping out Pegasus instead, Sting can stay here with SaberTooth..." Hora mumbled, rounding back to the topic at hand after the momentary distraction (and more or less skimping straight passed it). She caught a stiff nod of agreement from Sting from the side, though he didn't look her way this time and she just let it be. The Guild Masters and Kagura nodded to the words and she sighed, "... and I'll go with Lamia then." She mumbled, earning blinks of surprise from everyone and she just sighed. "... I don't doubt that Jura could probably take on a Dragon of course, but it's probably safer to split up the Slayers as much as we can anyway, even if we're not technically Dragon Slayers." Hora pointed out, and Oobaba seemed to grimace at the decision, her finger twirling in air in agitation, but the old lday huffed anyway.

"Fine, fine- but don't you go doubting us, our I'll spin ya!" She relented lowly, and Hora stiffened without meaning to, wary of actually being spun- but thankfully it didn't come.

"Alright, we should continue moving everyone out then." Makarov murmured, bringing the ittle discussion to a halt. The Guild Masters moved off to relay instructions where needed, and the other Sabers stayed where they were, Rogue immediately turning to Hora with concerned, glittering red eyes.

"Hora, are you gonna be okay fighting right now..?" He asked quickly, "I don't really wanna split up from you, you're hurt still from yesterday, and all that happened with Jiemma..." He mumbled tensely, and Hora gave him a small, weary smile.

"I'll be okay." She murmured, "There's not really much choice but to fight, and I'm not gonna leave you guys to do it all yourselves while I sit on the sidelines. This is an all hands on deck situation, and we need to help out wherever we can, alright?" She told him and he seemed to frown at it, still unsure, and her smile softened a tad at him. "... besides, I'll have everyone in Lamia with me- it's not like I'll be on my own. You need to focus on yourself, and everyone you'll be helping."

Rogue stayed quiet a few moments, before nodding stiffly- relenting, though he really, really did not feel good about it... at all. He did not want to let her out of his sight, not after a whole day of worrying constantly over her and being seperated- and Hora knew that. But she also knew this wasn't a situation where they could just choose whatever they wanted, and he knew it too, deep down.

"... alright." He mumbled tensely, "... But please, Hora, be careful? Don't put yourself at risk if you can help it, promise me?" He mumbled and she paused at the question, her stomach churning slightly, and she nodded stiffly.

"... yeah, I promise." She murmured, "I won't, not if I can help it... but you guys gotta do the same thing, okay..?" She asked, her eyes trailing over them all as she said it, and they nodded too, grim-faced.

They moved off slowly to their respective places, and the groups of people they'd been paired with. Hora watched them go quietly, her arms crossing over her chest and biting the inside of her cheek at the sting of pain that came with bumping the wounds, though she didn't react outwardly to it at all.

... please be okay...

"Horatia!"

She jumped slightly at the voice suddenly behind her, loud and a touch irritated(?), and she glanced over her shoulder quickly to see the fiery-haired Sherria suddenly there, the young girl's cheeks puffed up in agitation, and Lyon at her side (calm, as opposed to the girl). Hora blinked at them both, but mostly the annoyed look on the young God Slayer, and she turned slowly, her eyes gleaming as her heart picked up a bit.

"Sherria, Lyon-!" Hora hummed quickly, but cut off when Sherria stomped right up to her, fists clenched and almost steaming- though Hora hadn't a clue why...?

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to talk to you since you got here..?!" Sherria puffed, and Hora stalled.

"Uh..?"

"Ages! I haven't seen you at all this whole week, not even at the GMG Arena..!" Sherria grumbled, and Hora wilted slightly.

"Ah, I'm sorry... things have been really complicated..." Hora mumbled quickly and Sherria's cheeks puffed up further as she let out a little growl.

"No kidding! Why didn't you say anything about your Guild Master, and that thing he put on you...?!" Sherria grumbled hotly and Hora faltered a second time,

"... you... know about that...?" She mumbled,

"... forgive us, we were eavesdropping on you and your Guild a bit ago." Lyon murmured softly, stopping beside Sherria and shooting Hora a weary, slightly pained glance, and Hora swallowed at it. "And from what we overheard, and what the rest of Fairy Tail said... it seems things have been quite difficult for all of you in SaberTooth, but especially you, hmm? I can scarcely believe your own Guild Master would do such a thing..." Lyon grumbled and Hora's shoulders sank slightly, her hands twining together in front of her and eyes dropping.

"... oh..." Hora mumbled, "... I'm... sorry... for not saying anything, but it really was just... hard, to even begin to explain. And the whole thing with the Possession Link was just... impossible, really..." She murmured and Lyon and Sherria seemed to grimace at it.

"... you needn't apologize, we understand. I'm simply sorry you've had to endure so much." Lyon told her softly, "Are you alright though? You look a little worse for wear." He pointed out and Hora let out a small breath, a small smile on her face again as she nodded to him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be totally good to help you guys fight." She hummed and they both smiled slightly at it,

"Well, let me Heal you up a little bit beforehand, okay?" Sherria smiled and Hora blinked at it, but smiled a little more, nodding.

"Ah, yeah that would be great... thank you, Sherria." Hora murmured lightly and the younger girl stepped up brightly, reaching out for Hora with no hesitation and her Magic flaring. Hora stood still in her spot, watching quietly as the blue haze of Sherria's Magic enveloped her in it's cool, soothing embrace- and soon enough the sting and ache over her body lessened considerably, along with a new warmth and surge of energy and strength returning to her tired limbs. The scratches across her arms faded from the raw red hue and to something more pink and less irritated along with the newfound energy, and Hora let out a long, releived breath, before she smiled brightly. Sherria stepped back again, her hands clapping together in front of her.

"All done!" Sherria chirped,

"Thank you, I feel a lot better now." Hora told her. And though she did feel better- she knew better than to think she was fully healed. It wouldn't be that easy, there was too much damage still and lurking at her heels... She would be hurting, and quite badly once all of this was over, and Over-Drive had it's way, and she and Lixue finally hit their Limit. But even if she wasn't healed all the way, this would help give her a boost to keep going, and for long enough hopefully they got through all the crazy before she really hit a wall and just couldn't go on.

"I am happy to help!" Sherria told her, and Lyon nodded.

"Yes, and all the unpleasantness that has gone on aside- it is very good to see you again, Horatia." Lyon told her lightly, and her eyes flashed at him. "I am also excited to fight alongside you, I am curious to see your Magic firsthand." He added, and she chuckled slightly.

"Ahh, it's good to see you again too, Ice-Boy." She replied brightly, and he smiled slightly at the nickname, if a touch wearily. "And likewise! I wanna see your Maker Magic in action for myself! And your Magic too, Sherria- it was really interesting to see you and Wendy go at it in the GMG." Hora told them both, her hands clapping together in front of her slightly and mood significatnly lightened now- and why not?

She was actually quite happy to see them again, she'd enjoyed what little time they had been allowed together back when she was at Lamia, all that time ago now that felt like a million years... she'd even been instantly happy to see them both as they came up to her, though it'd gotten put on hold for mention of all the unpleasantness to start. But now the conversation steered from that entirely, and she found herself quite excited to fight alongside them, especially with the newfound energy and strength provided by Sherria's Healing Magic. And even better, now without Jiemma (and Minerva) around to lorde over and cause her worry for being found 'fraternizing' with other Guilds, she could be friendly and open with them without worrying about being punished- as it should be. It should have been like that from the start, she should never have had to worry about it- but now it was just a big burden off her shoulders, and that made seeing them again a little sweeter.

... Plus, she kinda needed something nice and good to feel about and look forward to just then- just a little something, under all the awful and crazy and insane that had gone on.

"This is gonna be so fun!" Sherria chirped, "I'm so excited to work with you too, Hora! I bet you're a splendid Mage..!" She hummed,

"Ah, I do alright." Hora replied somewhat modestly, and Lyon shook his head slightly at it.

"I have a feeling you are selling yourself short." He pointed out, and she smiled a touch flusterdly at it.

"Eh, maybe... I guess we'll find out soon enough, huh?" She chuckled, and he nodded at it, smiling coolly still.

"I suppose we will." Lyon murmured,

"Let's see between the three of us whose Ice Magic is king, yeah?"

Hora went absolutely rigid, her smile shattered in the span of a single second and her ears ringing with his voice just behind her- his voice. Her heart felt like it stopped and dropped into her feet all at once, and Lyon and Sherria both blinked at the words (more so than Hora's face just then).

"Gray-Sama will be the winner, Juvia is sure of it!" Juvia piped in right away, the bluenette standing beside Gray as they both drew up next to the little group of Hora, Sherria and Lyon, the two Fairies coming up behind Hora without warning. Hora went rigid, paralyzed even and stuck in her spot- she didn't even dare turn her head as they came up, and when she caught sight of both Juvia and Gray coming up on her left, she didn't let her eyes trail their way at all... She was afraid if she did she wouldn't be able to stop staring, just like last night.

"... Ice Magic...?" Lyon and Sherria murmured in question,

"Yeah, that Lacrima in you runs on Ice Magic, right?" Gray murmured with a glance toward Hora, and she kept staring at her hands folded together in front of her, and not him. Anywhere but him.

She stepped a pace or two to the side, bringing her closer to Lyon and Sherria and more sort of facing the two Fairies, though her eyes stayed glued on her hands regardless, and she just barely managed to nod a little.

"..u...uh... Yeah..." Hora mumbled softly, her eyes darting sideways toward Lyon and Sherria for half a second. "... That's the Magic in the Lacrima that... Jiemma put the Possession Link on..." She mumbled quietly and they both blinked.

"... So you use both Fire and Ice Magic?" Lyon asked, and Hora nodded stiffly.

Sherria's head tilted, her blue eyes narrowing at Hora curiously and the news, her nose twitching as she quickly went to pick up on Hora's scent and wondering how she had never noticed any scent of Ice Magic on the girl before now... Before pausing when Hora's scent hit her nose, and it was super familiar. In fact, it was eerily similar to someone else in their little group just then, and Sherria blinked several times in surprise, though she stayed quiet.

"I already know your Fire Magic ain't anything to sniff at, but what little of your Ice Magic I saw wasn't nearly enough to get a good gauge of it." Gray kept on, smirking slightly as he slammed his fist into his palm. "I don't intend to get shown up by either of you, just so you know." He chuckled, casting both Hora and Lyon a competitive stare, and Lyon smiled coolly at it.

"... Careful Gray, I do think Hora and I might just outpace you tonight." Lyon replied lightly, and Gray smirked some more.

"Don't go getting cocky now Lyon, or I'll have to wipe the floor with you for a second time today." Gray shot back, and Lyon let out a sigh.

"I do not intend to allow myself to be defeated by you a second time." Lyon replied evenly, Gray chuckled at it.

"What do you mean 'a second time'? I've been kicking your ass since we were kids!" Gray replied, and Lyon huffed slightly, his arms crossing over her chest a bit stubbornly.

"You are certainly exaggerating..." Lyon sighed, but Hora's eyes widened, her eyes darting toward Lyon in surprise at the little exchange, her heart skipping a beat.

Wait a minute... What did he say...?

"... You... Two have known each other, since you... Were kids...?" She mumbled reflexively, her voice quite low and Lyon blinked at the question, and how uneasy she sounded as she said it. His head tilted slightly as he caught her eye, confused- because why did she look... So tense...?

His eyes flashed, and he nodded very slowly. "... Yes, we trained under the same Master to learn our Maker Magic..." Lyon explained quietly and Hora seemed to stiffen a tad further at the answer, though he hadn't a clue why.

Hora's heart dropped at the words though, panic running through her all at once.

I d-didn't even think about, but they do use the same Magic...! A-and Lyon did tell me he trained under his Master with someone else, b-but that was... G-Gray...?!

His Master, Ur... She... She got killed defeating Deliora...

... I... I... Was... Supposed to do it, but she... She did and she... Died......t...their Master got killed, both Lyon's and Gray... Oh no...

...s...shit...

Her eyes darted quickly away from Lyon and he paused, his eyes narrowing further at her and how tightly her hands wrung together- she did look tense... Like extremely so, but why-?

"Shouldn't you have already figured that out by what Magic we use?" Gray grumbled, his hands on his hips and brow quirking at Hora, and she jumped quite noticeably this time, her eyes snapping up toward him before she could remind herself not too. Gray blinked at it, his eyes narrowing to slits and grumbling under his breath at the little jump, how stiff she was where she was standing, and just how unsettled she looked as she caught his eyes just then... It was all posture and behavior he had instantly noticed of course, but chose to ignore to start- and somewhat hoped maybe she'd just been startled by them walking up, and would get over it...?

But she didn't get over it, just like last night she was strangely uneasy with him there and talking- and even when Gray tried to work her into something of an easy-going conversation and the lure of a contest between them, it didn't do anything. She still seemed on edge, and he didn't get it, and it seemed to get ten times worse when he addressed her so bluntly like that. Gray huffed under his breath, agitation flaring anew, and impatience with it too. Lyon, Juvia and Sherria saw it just as easily as Gray did, and they watched in confused silence for a moment, just as unsure of Hora's behavior- but none of them moving to comment on it, not like Gray did.

"Geez, do you have a problem with me or something?" Gray muttered, and Hora flinched slightly at the question, her eyes going wide at it.

"N-no of course not..!" She replied quickly, waving her hands a bit in suddenly flustered animation and he grimaced further at it.

"Then what is your deal? You always act like I'm gonna murder you whenever I'm around. And then you either stare at me like I have three heads, or do everything you can not to look at me at all." He muttered hotly, earning curious looks from Lyon and Sherria while Juvia just huffed slightly. "It's not like I've ever done anything to you- we only just met a day ago. So why the hell are you so jumpy around me?" He huffed and Hora averted her eyes entirely, her fingers linking together tightly and putting up a small, not at all convincing smile.

"... A-ah, I'm sorry...! It... It's really not anything wrong with you, i-it's just... Uhm... Things have been crazy the last few days, yeah...? S-so I'm just jumpy in g-general...!" Hora stammered quickly and Gray just gave her a flat stare in return- which was fair... But fuck, what was she supposed to say...?!

I can't say anything, not right now...! It... Its just too much...

"You ain't been jumpy around anybody else." Gray replied flatly,

"... U-uhm, I'm sorry...? I really don't have an issue with you, I am sorry if I seem to have been..." Hora mumbled uncertainly,

Lyon and Sherria blinked, watching the exchange quietly and still quite confused with the behavior on Hora's part... Because she was really jumpy all of a sudden. Quite so, and it definitely seemed to be something about Gray that set her off- despite her being quick to say otherwise and explain it away (rather poorly).

"... That's weird..." Sherria mumbled under her breath, the little comment catching Lyon's attention and diverting him from Hora stammering a few more things that were meant to assure Gray that nothing was the matter between them.

"... What is...?" Lyon asked softly, Sherria shook her head a bit, tapping a finger to her cheek.

"Hora and Gray smell really similar." Sherria replied, Lyon paused.

"... Do they...?" He echoed, "... Could their scents seem similar because they have a similar Magic...?" He asked and Sherria pursed her lips slightly, her head tilting in thought... Meanwhile the little exchange between Gray and Hora kept on with Juvia jumping in now slightly annoyed, and the small diversion of Lyon and Sherria continued to go totally unnoticed.

"...mmmm... I guess that could be some of it, but they smell a lot alike..." Sherria murmured, "... I can't really put my finger on it, but it is really weird... Usually only people who are related smell that similar, you know?" Sherria hummed lightly and Lyon blinked,

Related...?

"... So weird..." Sherria shrugged, tossing the thought away with a sigh but Lyon paused a few seconds more, his eyes trailing from Sherria and toward Hora and Gray. He glanced between the two of them slowly, the slightly heated words being said by Juvia toward the Saber not really registering on his mind. He just looked between the nervous smile on Hora's face and the flat stare on Gray's for a few long moments, his eyes narrowing further in confusion.

He did not understand the suddenly uneasy behavior on Horatia's part, but clearly she was very uneasy- and very quick to try and change the subject. Lyon had not come to know Horatia as a nervous person- sure she'd been uneasy at first back in his Guild, but she'd relaxed quite soon afterward... This was quite unlike her, and the change was instant once Gray popped into the picture.

What about him would have her so suddenly (clearly) nervous...? Especially if they'd only just met, as Gray had mentioned...?

And why would they smell similar to Sherria..? Especially when their scents would only be that similar if they were... Related...?

Lyon faltered slightly, his eyes widening a tad as he glanced between the Saber and the Fairy once, twice, and then several times more.

Wait...

.:+:.

"... I understand, Lyon." She murmured, earning his gaze and surprised look. She smiled softly, "I understand how you feel... We just keep trying to be better, right? That's all we can do, and we do it. You're friends clearly care for you, so maybe you shouldn't worry too much." She smiled a little more, he stared, eyes a little wide and a little taken aback by her sudden understanding of what he said- and how easily she seemed to understand how he felt.

For a small moment he swore... He swore he saw pain and guilt in her eyes too, and haunting. A look he knew, from seeing it in himself.

He nodded, smiling slightly himself. He seemed to know... She did understand, almost too well.

"Right." He agreed, Hora nodded slightly.

"... You mentioned a creature." Hora murmured, suddenly realizing what he said. "A Demon of Zeref...? One that... That destroyed your home? And your... Family?"

Lyon nodded to her a little gravely, "Yes, it's the same with Sherry, Tobi and Yuka as well." Lyon replied, "That Demon destroyed everything we had, we were left alone... I was fortunate enough to be taken in by the woman who taught me my Magic, others were less lucky." He sighed slightly, that haunted look coming back into his eyes a moment as memory seemed to flood his mind.

"... The Demon Deliora. It destroyed our lives, yes... But now it can no longer harm anyone, my Mentor- Ur, she defeated it."

Hora went rigid, her eyes widening and all sense of thought suddenly derailed as her heart began to race, and sudden true and utter panic and terror rushed through her body. She must have gone very pale, or at least something about her suddenly had Lyon looking stunned, and a little concerned. Her heart was racing, she was breathing in slightly panicked breaths, her head and eyes falling away from him and locking to the floor, her hands gripping her arms tightly and a large bead of sweat falling down her face.

Her eyes locked on to the long, jagged scar running up from her wrist, that curled up her arm and over her shoulder, and she gripped her arm tightly,

"Horatia," Lyon's voice broke through the waves of echoing and ghostly screams of terror falling on her ears. He had moved closer, his hand resting gently on her shoulder, "... Are you alright?" Lyon asked, his voice serious as Hora took in a small breath, eyes closing as she lift her head a little, nodding once.

"... I'm ok..." She mumbled, one eye opening to cast a glance his way and the confused look he wore, as well as the sudden worry etched on to his face- which she had begun to realize, was mostly always nearly expressionless and neutral. "Sorry... I didn't... I guess I just wasn't expecting that to be your answer." She chuckled lowly, humorlessly and a little nervously.

"... Did... Are you...?" He started slowly, seeming to have a hard time piecing the words together as the look of utter shock took over his features, eyes glinting in sudden understanding and a faint look of recognition. He knew that haunted look that had passed over her face all too well... It was a look he saw in himself, in Sherry, Yuka, Tobi, and Gray.

"... Yeah." She mumbled lowly, smiling a little nervously with a small nod of her head. "... I was really, really young... When Deliora destroyed my village, and my family. I got out," her grip on her arm tightened a little, his eyes flicking toward the long and deep scar.

"... Barely."

Lyon's eyes glittered, sweatdropping a little as concern and a sudden softness took over his features a moment. He never imagined he'd ever run into anyone else whose life Deliora had managed to ravage, let alone someone who seemed... Young.

How old could she have even been? When Deliora...? She was younger than he was, by quite a number of years.

Hora's eyes remained fixed on the bar counter, sweatdropping heavily as they passed into a small strained silence a moment.

"... I didn't know anybody else managed to survive in that Demon's quake..." She said quietly, eyes dulling a little. "... Especially... Not after knowing my entire village was killed... I thought I was the only one who managed to make it through..."

.:+:.

... She... Her Village was destroyed but Deliora...

Lyon stiffened, the dodging of his eyes between her and his childhood friend growing a tad faster as he swallowed. He looked over them both, his eyes tracing over every detail of their faces, the shape of their jaws, the deep blue of their eyes- everything, and his heart skipped a beat.

No way-

.:+:.

Hora smiled shyly at Sherria, who still beamed about the small display like a child would. "Ah, it wasn't that cool..." She murmured,

"It totally was! Nearly as cool as love~"

Lyon's eyes narrowed, seeing Hora smile at Sherria softly, calmly... Again he was hit by the sense; she somehow seemed familiar. But still, he wasn't sure why.

.:+:.

"You seem to have relaxed."

Hora's eyes moved sideways toward Lyon, who had been sitting beside her in silence for some time now. Her attention and her eyes moved toward Lyon, having been faintly aware he was still sitting beside her, but thinking nothing of it as she was lost in her own thoughts. He gazed at her steadily, as she nodded a little.

"Yeah, I suppose I have." She smiled slightly, he blinked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"... You seem familiar somehow." He said suddenly, catching her slightly off guard. Her head tilted, blinking in question.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure... Its almost like I've seen you before. Just something about your face." He murmured and she sweatdropped slightly, shrugging a little.

"Hmm, well I wouldn't see why." She replied, "I think I would have remembered if we had met before."

"I suppose that's true." He relented, sighing slightly as he shook the thought off.

.:+:.

-He knew that face

That face in a boy he'd grown up with, trained with, fought with- and that same face echoed in a girl who he'd met only a few months ago, and had grown close to in near record time. He knew that face, he'd recognized it right away though it never clicked in his head until that very instant- and when it did, Lyon felt like his breath had been snatched away by the realization, the shock, the impossibility... And the absolute certainty that followed it, despite it not being rational, nor should it have even been possible.

He knew that face and he knew instantly why- his attention got fixed on her eyes and he found himself suddenly staring into the same ones he had known for years... They were exactly the same color, and he'd seen exactly the same fear, pain and grief in those eyes between both of them. When Deliora was mentioned, or their thoughts wandered to the horrors lived through at the Demon's claws... Horrors they both lived through, and in the exact same time and place.

There was no way, but there was no doubt in Lyon's mind either- just shock, and a rush of it as he looked between both Horatia and Gray and it all came crashing down on his head at once.

It all made sense, all those little moments of thinking she looked familiar, the way Sherria said they smelled the same, knowing about Deliora, the way Hora was acting nervous and on edge- all of it.

He saw it in an instant and he could not unsee it... Nor could he still his racing thoughts and all the questions, confusion, and shock that followed. Especially when he saw Gray huff and look away in agitation, ending the conversation abruptly and so terribly, terribly clueless-

"Tch, fine whatever... I'm not arguing anymore, it's a waste of time." Gray muttered, crossing his arms over his chest hotly. "Whatever the hell your problem is, I don't care. Just make sure it's not gonna be a problem when we're fighting, got it?" The Ice-Mage grumbled flatly and Hora nearly flinched again at the sternness of the tone, and the 'I don't care'. Her eyes dropped to her hands as she wrung them together tightly in front of her, nodding stiffly as her expression twisted, and Lyon swallowed hard at it.

"... Yeah, it won't be a problem, I swear..." Hora mumbled quietly, Gray paused half a second, before shaking his head and letting it be.

"Well, probably ought to start heading out then, yeah?" Gray hummed, his eyes turning toward Lyon next, and the Lamia Wizard paused half a second, before offering up a cool and placid smile.

"Yes, we probably should." Lyon hummed, "You ought to let the rest of your Guild know we'll be going." He murmured and Gray and Juvia nodded,

"Yeah, see you in a bit." Gray replied easily, smirking as he waved a hand at them and turned, Juvia at his heel. "When I get back I'll wipe the floor with you." Gray chuckled, and Lyon simply let out a breath at it.

"Sherria, will you please let everyone know we're about ready to start heading out?" Lyon said coolly, turning toward the young girl and earning a blink from her. "I'd like to have a quick word with Horatia before we go." He murmured, and Sherria and Hora both jumped a little in surprise.

"... You do..?" Hora mumbled, and Lyon smiled faintly at her.

"If you're willing." He hummed, and she paused, before nodding slowly.

"... Uh, sure..."

Sherria smiled slightly, nodding brightly toward Lyon and backing up a pace. "Okay! I'll let the Guild know!" She chirped, before turning on her heel and skipping away. She cast a sly glance over her shoulder back at the two, clapping her hands together in front of her a little gleefully.

"Ah, Love~!"

Hora glanced from Sherria skipping off (not hearing anything of the 'love' comment) and slowly toward Lyon, her hands still linked together in front of her and quite unsure with the 'quick word'. "... Ah, so what do you wanna talk about?" She asked softly, her head tilting at him and how quickly the smile he'd put up went away. Instead his expression fell flat, almost unreadable now, but she swore she saw... Tension...?

"... Let's move over here, alright?" He told her softly, gesturing in a direction off to the edges of the square and as far from everyone else as was possible. She faltered at it, but followed him anyway as he lead her there, and then drew up once he was sure they would not be eavesdropped on... With Hora fidgeting more by the second.

"... Uhm, Lyon...? You're acting a little weird now, is something wrong...?" She mumbled quickly and he seemed to bite his cheek, turning back to face her slowly and his eyes steady on her. "... Ah, if this is about me being okay to fight, I will be okay, I promise...!" She started quickly but he shook his head, and she cut off.

"... It's not that... At least not entirely." He murmured, his eyes dropping a way from her for a moment as if he wasn't sure what he meant to say next, and Hora swallowed a little.

... Okay something is definitely off-

He forced a small breath, the neutrality in his face being replaced with something like ache, and unease, and even sadness- and she stared, her thoughts stalling at the look.

"... Your name is not Horatia, is it?"

She froze, her breathing stopped, her heart did too, she just stopped- the question rang deafeningly on her ears and the world shuddered to a halt too. She went rigid, her fingers immediately latching together so tightly her knuckles turned white, and she almost felt like the ground dropped out from underneath her.

W-wha...?

"... Forgive me being so forward, but I have to ask." Lyon went on carefully, oh so very aware of how quickly she went stiff, and the fright that ignited in those dark blue eyes of hers- the reaction was enough that he actually did not need an answer, and his stomach curled. He stepped closer to her by half a pace, his voice dropping slightly as she just stood there, rigid, paralyzed.

"... Your real name is Aida Fullbuster, you're Gray's younger sister, aren't you?"

She was wrong- this time the ground definitely fell out from under her.

She sucked in a shuddering gasp of air, the color draining from her face in an instant and the question leaving her feeling sick, and panicked.

She'd not heard that name in so long- she'd not even thought it, not in years, a lifetime.

She'd not heard it spoken aloud in a time too long to even remember, and now when she did it sounded foreign in her ears. Frighteningly so.

No

No, no

No, n-no...!

H-how... W...would he...?

He can't... K-know that...!

N-Nobody knows that..!

She was shaking now, trembling and scared, she stepped back from him and he grimaced at it, his hands reaching for her instinctively, only to falter when she recoiled at the gesture. His face fell when he saw the tears start to well at the corners of her eyes,

"... Are you alright...?" He mumbled quickly,

"...h...how... How do you... Even...?" She hissed shakily and he grimaced faintly,

"... Well, I didn't realize it until just now... Sherria mentioned your scents were quite similar..." Lyon explained quietly, "... When we first met I thought you looked familiar, do you remember...? It makes sense, your hair may be different than his, but your facial structure is so similar... And your eyes are exactly the same." He told her, "... And then knowing about how when you were young and your village was destroyed by Deliora... Well... with how you were acting around him, it just... Made sense... I've known Gray all the my life, I'm frankly a little shocked it took this long for me to... See it..." He mumbled, before trailing off a little when she stiffened further at the explanation, her eyes flashing and a shaky hiss escaping her.

"... B...but... He... Gray... T.. Told you... A...about me...?" She stammered, her voice barely above a whisper and Lyon faltered at the question,

What did she...?

"... O-of course he did..." He answered quickly, "... Why would he not...?" He mumbled and she dropped her eyes from him, her hands tightening together so hard she must have been bruising them.

"... T...tch... B... Because... What happened... Was just... Awful..." She hissed through gritted teeth, "... W...why would he... I-if it just... Brought back up... A-all the bad...?"

Lyon stared, his eyes widening a tad and feeling like something struck him straight through the chest.

She didn't mean-?

He swallowed, his hands moving forward again and this time not drawing up halfway through- he caught her hands up in his own, holding firmly to her but tenderly still, and she jumped slightly at the gesture. "Of course it... It's always been difficult for Gray to talk about what happened with Deliora, or his life before it... It was hard on him, as hard as it was on I or you... But none of the feelings or the fear, or anything else would ever make him try to ignore it happened, or forget it either." Lyon told her steadily, "For all the time I have known him, he mentioned you and your family very rarely- but he did speak of you. And I know he's always kept you and your parents in his thoughts all this time, even if the memory of you ached for him." He murmured, his hands around hers tightening slightly. "... You're his family, he would never forget you." Lyon told her quietly, and her shoulders hunched further at it. "... Why haven't you told him who you are? He'd be overjoyed to know you're alive, he deserves to know...! You need to tell him-!" Lyon murmured steadily and this time her eyes snapped up to him, all full of pain and fear, but suddenly steely too and he broke off.

"I can't!" She hissed, "I can't tell him that right now..! N-not with all the shit going on...!" She growled, "I... I didn't even know he was alive until last night!" She snapped, her voice cracking painfully and Lyon stiffened. "A-all this time I thought everybody died, and that I w-was the only o-one who got out..! I didn't know he was alive, or a Mage, or in Fairy Tail- I didn't know any of it..! I w-was out in the middle of Crocus with Jiemma t-trying to kill me, and then I woke up and he was there...! I couldn't fathom it... I... I wanted to tell him right then, b-but... But I can't...!" She snapped lowly, the tears still pecking at the corners of her eyes, and it was taking everything she had not to let them spill completely. "All of this has been so... So fucking insane...! The last few months have been awful, but the last week... W-with almost not coming back after North Wind, a-and Yukino getting kicked out, the Guild b-being stuck under Jiemma and Minerva... A...and then Lucy, and Lector, the P-Possession Link, the Eclipse Gate a...and... Fuck ... I... Everything has been spinning further and further out of control, and I am barely keeping up...!"

Her voice broke again and she had to stop for a few seconds to just breathe, Lyon's face pulling with every word and every shaky, painful gasp that broke those words apart.

"A-And... Now... We... We're about to be facing... 10,000 Dragons...! A-and trying... T...to divert a Future that's... That's already won before... H-how the hell could... Could I tell him about... M...me... R...right now...?! W-what good would it do...?! It'd j-just be dumping more c-crazy on top of all the r-rest of the insanity..!" She snapped hoarsely, her eyes scrunching closed against the stinging in her eyes and she let out a low growl at it. "... F...fuck... I... I'm barely keeping myself from falling apart completely... I... If I tell him now... I can't handle anymore... Not... Not tonight... I... I can't..." She stammered breathlessly, her head bowing slightly and the tears speckling the ground at her feet. Her knees were shaking so badly now they threatened to give out on her, and Lyon swallowed hard, his hands unfolding from around hers and instead catching her elbows in an attempt to steady her a little.

He hadn't anticipated this reaction at all, nor how quickly she was falling apart... He'd already known things had been crazy with what he'd managed to overhear, but this...? It was like she had the world crashing down over her head, and all he'd managed to do was make it fall over her head all the worse.

"... Ai... Horatia..." He started uncertainly and she sniffed, holding her breath for a few seconds as she seemed to fight to calm herself down again, and it was not an easy task. "... Forgive me I didn't realize talking about this would be so difficult for you... I wasn't intending to pressure you..." He mumbled softly, his eyes flashing. "... I understand why you wish to wait... and I will leave it be." He told her calmly, "... It's not my place to interfere... But you will tell him eventually, yes?" He asked softly, "Once things settle and you're ready...?"

Hora swallowed hard, nodding faintly as she took in a deep breath and held it, her trembling stilling slightly as she rubbed at her eyes rather roughly. When she glanced back up again the tears were gone and she let the breath she had been holding out, sniffing one more time as she let out a little sigh.

"... yeah... I will..." She mumbled quietly, "... Just... after we get through all this..." Lyon nodded slightly, and she shot him a slightly uneasy look. "... sorry... for getting so... worked up..." She apologized quickly,

"Don't worry about it." He mumbled, his hands leaving her elbows slowly and tilting his head at her. "Are you alright...?"

"Yeah." She murmured, her eyes closing as she took in one big, deep breath, and then her hands lift toward her face, smacking her cheeks twice and rather roughly- Lyon stiffened at the action, but Hora did not seem to care. She let the breath she was holding out again and her eyes flashed, a little bit of steadiness creeping back into her, and so quickly it was like all that pain and discomfort and fear hadn't been there at all... And Lyon wondered how long she'd had to practice to make it seem so easy to hide all that... turmoil.

Hora's hands closed into fists, her posture straightening and a small, only faintly weary smile crossing her face. "You ready for me to show you up, Ice-Boy?" She hummed and he smiled slightly, though it was a little more sad than he meant it to be. He dipped his head to her, his hands hooking behind his back.

"I look forward to it."

They headed back toward where the rest of Lamia Scale waited, Hora sticking close to Lyon and smiling faintly as they met back up with Sherria, and then a little less when Gray and Juvia came back up to their group, but she tried her best.

Both Lyon and Hora never saw the way Rogue and Sting were watching them intently across the square, both of them stiff in their spots and minds racing. They hadn't intended to tune into the conversation, but they couldn't help themselves when Hora walked away to the edge of the square alone with the Lamia Wizard. At first they just wanted to know it was nothing bad that Lyon wanted to talk about... and then when they heard the topic, they could not stop listening.

Not to every hitching breath, stammered word, every painful thing, and how quickly Hora seemed to be crumbling and how desperately she fought against it, and still ended up failing. They stood in stillness with their heads tilted toward the two and utterly fixed, their ears trained to nothing else and their hearts racing and dropping into their feet all at once. They couldn't believe it, they couldn't fathom it- they didn't know what to think, or feel really at all.

How could they not have known? How could they not have seen it themselves..? Their scents were a dead giveaway, they realized it the instant Lyon said Sherria had picked up on it.

And her name...? It wasn't the one they knew so well, and had known her by for so long...?

On top of everything else... she was still hiding this...? Forcing herself away from... from telling her own brother she was... alive...?

Because... it would only make the situation worse...?

And... she couldn't do it... without breaking...?

They grimaced to themselves, their eyes darting away from Hora and to the ground, their hands balling into fists at their sides.

... Hora...

.:+:.

Hello! everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, we're heading right into the fighting in the next one- and just that little bit closer to the big reveal! QwQ

Thank you all for sticking with me so long!

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