Violet's POV:
My stalker laughs as a ring on one of his fingers turns to ashes. "You take me for a fool? I am ready for your death magic."

"Holy Light." Sting says, still holding Meredy in his arms. The whole area is bathed in light, Natsu's scarf turns white again and the rings on my stalker's fingers vanish. He gets a look of fear on his face as Natsu holds a fist of flame above his face. "Now you'll answer some questions."

I look at Zeref in surprise. "Nii-san, you controlled your death magic."

He clenches his jaw and nods at my stalker. "He taught me how."

"You stay away from me and my family." Says Zeref, his eyes turning black again.

"Wait! We need to question him," says Sting. Meredy is awake now, he kisses her on the forehead and puts her down. She stands there stunned, holding her hand where he kissed her.

"I am not going to tell you anything," the man sneers.
I look at Zeref to make sure he is okay and make my way over to the creep. I call the shadows to me until I am looming over him in the form of a demon. "You will." I say in a voice that is not my own.
"Natsu, step away from him please."

"Yes, Ma'am."
The man whimpers and puts his hand over his face to block his view of me. "How old are you and how do you know my brother and I?"

"I'm just 42. M... my family used to own you as slaves."

"How do you know about us?"

"When I got married and got my inheritance, there were diaries in the attic. There were pictures and descriptions of you. It was a previous owner of the house. Her diary says that when she was a little girl she saw you kill her aunt. She was searching for you, because we are good at controlling people, you see... my family... it is our skill, for generations. We study psychology and mind control, but our magic is weak. We wanted your power. Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"One more question. Are you the one who was controlling my husband?"

"Aaaahhhhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was me!"

My eyes turn black. I throw a shadow cage over the creep before I do something I regret.

"You will take us to this attic of yours," I say. "Wait here."
I stand there in shock, not knowing what to do next.

Natsu runs over to me and pulls me in for a hug. "It's okay, Violy. It's almost over."

"He never mentioned Sabertooth." Sting says to himself.

I see that Rogue is keeping an eye on Zeref, and head over there.

"What do you mean, he taught you how to control your death magic? He's only 42 years old, that's impossible."

"It must have been a relative." He answers. "But in any case, I only wanted him to die, not me, or anyone else here."

"What now?" I ask.
"Let's just get to Meredy's guild like we planned and then go from there. The day is half over anyway." Says Sting, looking at Meredy.
"Meredy, would you put an obedience spell on our criminal so that we can take him out of that shadow cage?"

Meredy gets wide eyes and blushes at him, nodding her head.

We arrive at Meredy's guild, which is in a cave. There are only 2 other people there. I am surprised to see Jellal, and he introduces us to Ultear. They explain that their guild is illegal and secret, which is why we hadn't heard of it before.

We decide to go ahead and make dinner here and head out to the creep's place in the morning. Sting and Meredy are asking him more questions. Finally, Sting is satisfied and tells me to put him back in a shadow cage. My stalker never had anything to do with Sabertooth. He just said that to throw us off. Meredy says that her obedience spell isn't nearly as difficult as the sensory link, and the creep's place is halfway between here and Fairy Tail, so tomorrow shouldn't be a problem.

Jellal is talking to Zeref, so I head over there. Jellal explains that he and Meredy both have sleep spells and Ultear can alter time, so they aren't worried about Zeref's death magic. In addition, they are all fugitives with a past, like him. No pressure, but he is welcome to join at such time he is ready to decide.

Zeref smiles at this and looks at me taking my hand. "Not if I have to leave my sister."

Rogue joins in on the conversation. "What if we all stay for a while? That is if Jellal and Sting approve."
Sting and Jellal agree. Zeref gives me a hug and offers to sleep outside of the cave so that no one has to keep an eye on him and we can all get more sleep. "Thank you Nii-san." I gratefully agree. I fall asleep in my husband's arms, thinking about the day ahead and what secrets we will uncover.

Lucy's POV:
"Leo, you are here now." I try to say, but I am still shivering and it won't come out right. I grab his tie and pull him to me.

He puts his hand on my face. "Lucy, you are freezing!" Leo starts stripping off his clothes.

"What are you doing?" I try to protest, but my words come out sluggish.

"Shhhh. You need the body heat." He says, slipping under the covers with me and wrapping his body around mine. "Stay awake, Lucy don't fall asleep! Lucy, wake up!"

I'm awake. I just can't respond. Leo grabs my phone. "Wendy, Lucy is very sick, you've got to come right away!"

"This may be against the rules my love, but I've got to keep you awake." He whispers, then his lips are on mine. My heart starts pounding and I open my eyes in shock. He runs his hands up and down my arms. "Good, stay awake. Stay with me." Stay with me. I think sluggishly. Each time I start to close my eyes, Leo finds a new way to shock me and send my heart beating.

Leo's POV:
Lucy's body temperature is dangerously low. She must have been cursed by one of those guild members earlier. Why did I fall in love with a human? She is so fragile. I hate myself for leaving her like this. Wendy and Warren are at the door. I can't leave her. I grab Virgo's key. "Virgo,"
"Yes Pr..." Virgo looks at me surprised.
"Open the door, hurry, then go back home. Lucy is sick." She nods and does as she is told.

"It's her body temperature, she's freezing. Wendy hurry!" I say, getting off of the bed so Wendy can work on her. Don't let me lose her.

"Leo! What are you doing exposing Wendy to this?" says Warren.

I forgot that I am in my boxers. "Sorry." I run off to find a robe.

"She's fine now. The curse is gone." Wendy says as I return.

I touch Lucy's face. It feels normal. "Thank you." I grab Wendy and hug her. "Thank you for saving my Lucy. It's okay that she is sleeping?"

She nods her head. "She'll be fine in the morning."

I just let Warren and Wendy out, too tired to say anything more. I climb back in bed with Lucy. "I am never leaving you again." I whisper.

I wake up in the middle of the night to Lucy pushing me out of bed. "Get out Natsu! She says.
I light up a little so she can see me. "It's me Lucy."

"Leo? Oh, I must be dreaming," she says and snuggles up to me to go back to sleep. Heh, so she dreams about me does she?

I wake up to Lucy pushing me out of bed again. At least this time it is morning. "What are you doing? Seducing me is against the rules!" She yells at me, all red in the face. "P-put your clothes on and get out!"

Violet's POV:
Today's the big day. Finding out what these people have been doing to me and Zeref. We should reach my stalker's place by nightfall.

We all eat breakfast and agree at a stopping point for dinner. I see Sting whispering to Rogue about something and motioning to me. I don't like secrets. I pull him off to the side. "What was that about?"

"He was just giving me a hard time." He laughs and wraps his arms around me. "He said that for the rest of my life everyone will assume that I robbed the cradle. But I don't mind." Squeeee! I never get enough of his kisses. I am so happy that my smile keeps messing it up.

Ultear pulls me to the side and offers to take "Zeref watch" so that I can have a break. Not a good idea. She is the one person here that Zeref is noticeably nervous around. "What? I enjoy time with my brother." I say, shaking my head at her and heading over to him. "Are you ready for this?" He nods his head, with a look of peaceful determination.

Ultear walks over to Zeref. "Looks like your sister isn't sharing you," she says nervously. "I-I just wanted to apologize, for Tenrou Island. I'm sorry." She bows.

Zeref says nothing and just looks away from her. I'll have to ask someone about that later.

Jellal calls a meeting to talk about our plans before we head out. "We need to be prepared for this man to have servants at his place, ready to ambush us."

"No prob!" Grins Natsu, firing up his fists and punching them together.

"Not so fast, we don't want to hurt them if we don't have to. They are probably under his control like Rogue was."

"Right," says Meredy. "I'm on it. I'll make sure that I give him orders for his servants before we get there."

Jellal gets a phone call, from Erza I assume, and we are all left doing nothing but waiting on him.

"While we are waiting, why don't you fight me, old man?" Natsu says smirking at Ultear and firing up his fists.

"What do I have to do to convince you that I am not an old man!" She says, and charges at him. Heh, he really got under her skin.

Sting clears his throat. "Am I going to have to put you two in separate corners?"

They look at him in surprise and back down. Sting winks at Rogue. Huh?

"You Twin Dragons and your secrets." I grumble.

"Are you jealous Sensei?" whispers Rogue, into my ear from behind me. "Me too. I am a young dragon slayer with a delectable mate who seems to be touching everyone but me." He knows that I can't resist him, and grabs my breast while pulling me close.

"Must you assert your dominance in front of everyone?" I whisper back at him.

"If not in front of everyone, then where? We are never alone. Besides, what did you expect when you married a dragon slayer?" He says, proceeding to mark my neck.

My eyes find Natsu, who nods at me and heads toward Zeref, who is already surrounded by Seb and Frosch. I take my husband's hand and lead him to the cave.

"Rogue, I'm sorry, I..."

"No time for talking." He growls, pulling me down with him.

****

"Well they are probably waiting on us now." Rogue reminds me.

"I don't want to go." I say.

"I promise you a proper honeymoon when we get back home," he says, pulling me to my feet.

"Rogue, these were the people controlling Zeref. I'm scared."

"Violet, we have the most powerful magic users with us, including the Immortal Dragon. Zeref was alone with no support. Now you have your family with you. It will be fine."

Surprisingly, Zeref seems to be in much better shape than I am. As we head out with the group I still find myself clinging to Rogue and Seb, fearful of the unknown.