When Florence stepped into the room, she knew right then and there that she'd only get out of there alive if Alec didn't. Whatever she'd been led into was something she couldn't escape from so easily.

He sat down in a folded chair, waving his hand lightly to one of his men to retrieve his "gift" for Florence. He wiped his face, sighing as the men locked the door. "Now then, 'civilized adults', right?" 

"I'd prefer it that way, yes," Florence said quickly. 

"It's funny of you to say that," Alec chuckled, "given the fact that I'm the one who helped tame you." Tamed was a horrific choice in words, in Florence's opinion.  "Nonetheless, I'm glad you arrived, I've been holding onto something for a while now." 

The wooden box arrived in his hand, and he brushed off the top lightly. "I know you've been looking for your father, and you'll be glad to know this, he's been looking for you too." 

"So he's alive," Florence swallowed, trying to conceal any sign of joy. 

"I don't know how he did it, but he's been looking in the right places." Alec glanced at one of his men, sharing a soft laugh. "He managed to get my attention, and we met."

Florence furrowed her eyebrows, "May I ask, what happened at this meeting?" 

"Well, he asked where you were," Alec shrugged his shoulders, "I said I didn't know. You really should've kept in touch, love. I'm sure things might have worked out better had you not run away from us like that. I can't say you were the smartest girl, but you were good at what you did." 

"Stop stalling Alec," Florence ground her teeth. "The box, what's in it." 

"Well, that's a funny story," Alec smiled, "you know, seeing that I didn't know where you were, but suspecting I would see you sometime soon, I asked for your father to give me something to give you. For the next time I saw you, that is."

Her eyes widened, anxious of what this was. Was he playing with her, could he be rewarding her with grace. Could she finally find a connection with her father she hadn't seen in years? 

His arm stretched out, and without thinking, Florence desperately latched onto the box. Her fingers pried at the wood, trying to open it as quickly as possible. She would regret this.

She looked into the box, finding what her father had left her.

His hand. 

"I have to say, he wasn't so generous handing it over," Alec chuckled, "I mean, I wouldn't be so interested in rekindling my relationship with him if I were you. He seemed rather selfish, if you ask me, love." 

With two shaking hands, clutching the side of the box, she asked, "Why?" 

He stood up, stepping forward slowly as his hand reached out to shut the box, forcing Florence to look up at him. His fingers fell under her chin, holding her head sturdily in his direction. 

With a smile, he said, "Because I own you, love, and I didn't want you to forget that." 

That's when Florence tore Alec apart from the inside. Then everyone else in the room. 

The murders were unpleasant, to say the least, but they ended far more quickly that Florence would have hoped. Now everyone was dead, and she didn't feel any better.

When Basil arrived, Florence wasn't sure how to react. Her mind was warped, and there was something in her eye so she couldn't even tell it was him at first. She just saw him as yet another attacker, another enemy. As if she'd forgotten the trust she'd worked so hard to put into him. 

He calmed her down, wrapping his jacket around her and slowly wiping her face. The blood smeared onto his own skin and clothes, but he didn't seem to mind. 

When she was finally calm enough to communicate to Basil in English, all she could give out was loud sobs, clutching onto him until she said, "It isn't working." 

 Basil spoke softly and slowly, "What?" 

"Basil." 

He turned his head, it was Felicity. She looked worn out and most definitely exhausted. However, she didn't care much about that, she just wanted to know why almost every inch of the room Florence was brought into was covered with blood, and why she was the only other person alive besides Basil. 

"Did she..." 

"Felicity--are they okay--" Zalio arrived, just in time to stop Basil from answering. However, when he arrived in front of the door, he didn't even make it that far into the room. He stood just a few feet back from the frame, looking through the open door at the mess Florence had made. 

Felicity turned towards him, looking over her shoulder casually as if surprised he was reacting in such a way. Slowly backing away, his chest heaving with an unsteady breath, wide bloodshot eyes. "Zailo, are you okay?" She asked, taking a step towards him, but he was already running away. "ZAILO!" 

"Go after him," Basil instructed, still holding onto Florence, who had finally stopped sobbing, "I'll take care of everything here." 

Felicity waited a moment before she went running off. Looking around the room, she pulled her hands up to her face, connecting the tips of her fingers to create a pair of goggles to look through. She looked around the room, imagining she was looking through Zailo's fingers. 

Then she realized why he ran, and quickly began her search for him.

It was the final battle of the Grand Magic Games that left everyone so alarmed. The fight between Adelia of the Deadly sins and Mist of Sabertooth ended after only 93 seconds, and with Mist deeply wounded. 

It wasn't against the rules to play rough, it was just rude.

It was painful to watch, especially if your face fell onto the sight of Team Sabertooth, the looks on their faces when they realized that things weren't okay anymore and Mist wasn't going to be able to walk away from this fight so easily. When the fight was declared over, without hesitation, Yui was in the area running towards her partner and friend.

She looked down at the once spirited Mist, and pulled her into her lap as they waited for the medic to arrive and drag her off into the infirmary. 

It dampened the mood, but every other team took it as a sign. That this team isn't messing around. 

The entire event was alarming, and as the first day came to a close, there was a newer and more heavy atmosphere. 

"And that brings an end to our first day!" 

The announcer tried to keep the happy and exciting atmosphere, but everyone had been pulled away from the mood altogether. 

"We'd like to announce that the young competitor from Sabertooth Mist Cheney is alright and recovering! She will no longer be participating in the games, but she is fine!" 

"Now, for today's placing!" 

"The first-day results have Team Howl Caedo in first place with 20 points.

Second is Team Deadly Sins, 18 points.

Third Team Fairy Tail, 11 points.

Then Team Blue Pegasus, 10 points.

Team Redmoon Shield, 6 points.

Team Sabertooth, 4 points.

Team Mermaid Heel, 3 points.

Team Lamia Scale, 2 points."

"I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm surprised with how the first day played out. For big league guilds like Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, and Lamia Scale to be placed in the bottom three, even if it's just the first day, is quite shocking. Seeing that those teams have won, or come close to winning, in past years."

"Yes, it's quite strange for the two unknown guilds to be taking the lead. However, I'm glad for the change, in a way. It's exciting to see new faces taking the lead in the games this year." 

"Well, that brings an end to our first day! Have a good night everyone, and best of luck to the teams for tomorrow!" 

"That was surprising," Layla said, crossing her arms as she and Elwin sifted through the crowded halls of the arena. Everyone was leaving, and they were taking the opportunity to speak with Sabertooth. 

"No kidding, didn't think things could turn that violent that quick." Elwin shivered. "That sexy plant lady wasn't messing around." 

"Don't refer to the enemy as sexy," Layla muttered under her breath as the approached the door of the infirmary, "gosh, do you ever think with your brain and not your co--" 

The door opened, and Yui popped her head out. She looked over at Layla and Elwin, a sad expression on her face. She immediately wrapped her arms around Elwin, hugging him tightly as she stayed silent. 

Elwin awkwardly patted the young girl on the head, not really sure what to do since he hadn't interacted much with Yui outside of the surprise visits he gave her brother, Kris. Still, he felt like it was necessary to comfort her. "Hey, don't worry, kiddo," he said as Yui pulled her head to look up at him, "Mist will be just fine." 

Her eyes got all teary, and it was literally the cutest thing Elwin had ever seen, so he scooped her up and began sobbing himself. "You deserve so much more than this! You precious creature from heaven!" 

"Elwin--put her down!" Layla scolded, snapping her fingers as if Elwin was a dog, which he could be if he wanted to (literally). 

He looked at her with a pair of wet, sloppy, red eyes, and so did Yui. It was a dreadful sight, and it was difficult to resist the compiled sadness of the two. Layla sighed, rolling her eyes and walking past Elwin to enter the infirmary. She peaked her head in, and saw a small group of Sabertooth members surrounding Mist in the bed. She was awake and chatting with a smile despite the gauze covering most of her face. 

The room consisted of the master, Sting Eucliffe, Mist's parents, Kris, and an assorted selection of young members of the guild. They all looked at Layla with a pair of tired eyes, wondering what she was doing there. Mist did her best to look up at Layla, but her neck was far too wrapped up to do that. "Who is that, is that the delivery guy?" 

"Uh, sorry," Layla waved lightly, "it's Layla." She stepped into Mist's view, joining her by the bed to look at her lightly bruised face. She didn't look all that bad, but she didn't look great and healthy either. "I'm sorry about this, I'm sure you were looking forward to being in the games." 

"Oh, it's alright." Mist smiled, nodding her head best she could with a smile. "I'm fine, I'm more worried about Yui though. Where did Yui go? She stepped out when she heard voices." 

Elwin through the door, Yui hanging from his neck as her arms were tightly wrapped around him, refusing to let go. "Layla...." he whined, "I can't get her off--"

"What the--not with my sister you creep!" Kris barked, marching towards Elwin to briskly force Yui off of him. 

As the game of tug of war persisted behind Layla, she continued to ask Mist questions about her fight.

"When the fight began, what exactly happened?" Layla began, "Did anything feel off?" 

"Actually, yes," Mist made a tight expression, thinking back to when the fight began. "The moment I stepped in, I could smell something odd. She didn't smell normal, but she also had this really thick aura around her. Like you could take a knife and cut the air sorta thick."

Layla furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean aura?" 

"I can read people pretty well," Mist explained. "Everyone has a certain aura and scent, I'm sure you can partially notice that sort of thing being a dragon slayer. Like you, you smell like caramel and buttercup, but your aura is very different. It's like a thunderstorm over a field of sunflowers." 

Layla blushed, "Eh--that's very specific." 

"Yeah, but it's accurate," Elwin laughed from behind her, still struggling to get Yui off of him. 

"Shut up Elwin," Layla hissed, "so what's her aura like?" 

"A rose." She answered plainly.

Layla was confused, "Just a rose." 

"A rose says a lot, you know?" She pulled her arms up to her hands could rest on her stomach. "But a rose was perfect for her. The colors, the shape, and the sharp thorns. Not many people have that kind of aura, you know? Most are a lot more...round. But her's was sharp." Mist looked up at Layla, a look of concern on her face, "Does that make sense?" 

"It does," Layla laughed, "strangely." She dropped her hand onto the side of the bed, "Thank you Mist, me and Elwin will figure out what's going on with this team, and who exactly they are." 

Mist smiled, shutting her eyes and she said with a laugh, "Alright, I believe in you!" 

Layla blushed, looking up to Sting and Rogue with a quick bow, "Thank you for your time, and good luck in the games. Elwin, drop the girl and let's go." 

"I can't--" Suddenly, Yui whispered something, quite malicious and frightening in fact. The quiet and soft-spoken (or barely spoken some might say) asked Elwin to do something quite frightening. Then, Yui released him, allowing herself to be in her brother's arms. "Never mind, we good." 

When Layla and Elwin left the room, she quickly and quietly asked, "What'd Yui ask you?" 

"Oh, you know," Elwin shrugged, "typical revenge requests. Something about...pig's blood...and a lot of...a lot of weird stuff." 

Layla tried not to dwindle on the topic, continuing down the hall with Elwin to go and stalk the team that had hospitalized their Sabertooth friend. 

Back in the infirmary, Sabertooth all stood around Mist in an awkward silence. Sting sighed, and lifted his hands, "Okay guys, I've gotta say it. Who's our backup--" 

"How can you ask such a thing when my precious angel is injured!?!" Rogue growled, blood in his eyes.

Minerva pulled her husband back, swiftly pushing him down into a seat by the shoulder as she took his place in the discussion. "Rogue, he's right. If we don't have a new member taking Mist's place, the entire team could be disqualified from the games. I'm not putting Mist back into the games, not with her legs torn up like they are now, so who's it gonna be." 

She looked around the room, her sharp eyes watching all the other members not already on the team shy away. "What? No one wants to take her place?" 

"Well..." one of the members said, a younger boy by the name of Salmon, "I mean...with the games going how they are--"

"Unbelievable," Minerva scoffed, "the team not doing well is no excuse to back out, so who's it gonna be, huh?" 

Kris slowly lifted his arm, Sting made a confused expression. "Kris...you're already on the--"

"Yeah, I know that dad," Kris snarled, offended that his dad had assumed he was so dumb, "look, I have a suggestion, alright? If you...don't think anything of it...that is." 

The sun was setting when Felicity had finally found Zailo. She'd chased him down several blocks, barely keeping up with him and losing sight of him as they passed each corner. She found him, finally, hunched over under a bridge, his hands over his ears and his face buried against his knees. He wasn't crying or anything, but he still looked like a mess. 

It was damp under the bridge, but it covered no more than a thin stream that barely reached Zailo's feet. However, it was cool there, calming even. It was a good place to stop and just think.

Felicity was panting when she approached him, having been running for the past few minutes at a speed much faster than her normal pace. She looked down at Zailo, and said exactly what he was thinking.

"They're scary, aren't they." She said, stopping to take a deep breath. She lunged over, dropping her hands to her knees as she shut her eyes. Felicity was ashamed by how exhausted she was, but she tried to ignore it so she could focus on Zailo and his problem. 

"What?" She looked up, finding Zailo had pulled his head away just to look at her. 

Felicity stood up straight, walking towards Zailo and sitting beside him. She curled her knees up to her own chest, her arm bumping into Zailo as she moved. "When they first turn into ghosts, I could imagine it. All of them, terrified and crying out. When someone dies, the rest of us just see them as corpses, but you see the afterimages, right? You see the terror they feel right when they realize they're dead." 

Zailo sucked in his lip, his eyes getting watery as he looked at Felicity. She hit the nail on the head, she really did. 

He dropped his head to his knees, crying softly as he covered his face with his hands in shame. "It's horrible, they're so scared and when...and when they know you can see them...they start screaming at you for help...but you can't help them...I hate it." He squeezed his legs in even more, "I hate this." 

Felicity looked away, feeling that she was intruding on his moment of sadness by even being there. She didn't know what to do, she never knew what to do with Zailo. So, she asked.

"How do you deal with it?" 

"Meredith," he pulled his head up, "I'd always get like this...and she'd help. Tell me a story or something, I don't know." 

Felicity pulled her head away, knowing very well that Meredith was no longer with them. She looked around, listening to the creek run beside them. She looked up to see what was on the streets above the bridge, finding a small stand that grabbed her attention.

"I'll be back in a second." 

Zailo listened as Felicity stood up, hopping over the creek and making her way up to the street. It was mostly silent for a while until he heard her come back and sit back down, this time in front of him, right on the edge of the creek. 

He heard her clear her voice, then the sound of a ukulele chord. 

"Why are...there so many...songs about rainbows." 

Zailo pulled his head up looking up in confusion, "What are you doing--"

"And what's on the other side?" She continued singing, a scolding expression on her face telling him not interrupt. "Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide." 

He smiled, wiping his eyes as he shook his head. "This is ridiculous." 

"So we've been told and some choose to believe it," she smiled, trying not to laugh, "I know they're wrong wait and see." 

Zailo pulled his legs out a bit, stretching out as he listened. "Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and--" Zailo snatched the ukulele from Felicity's hands and dropping it beside the creek. Unintentionally, he pushed her into the creek, toppling over her with laughter as the back of her head soaked in the cold water. 

"Hey!" she said, even though she was laughing too, "come on, I was only trying to make you feel better--" 

"Trust me," he pushed the hair out of her face, "you did." 

He lingered over her, looking down at her. She smiled for a moment longer, the water pushing against her gracefully, until he kept staring down at her. Her smile faded, and she looked up at the growing serious expression on his face. 

"Felicity," he said strongly, "you know how important you are to me, right?" 

She didn't know what to say because she hadn't ever thought about it. How important was she to Zailo? Was she all he had now? The closest thing he had to a family? Granted, Felicity didn't have anyone else, but she had never minded it. Alone didn't mean lonely for her, but now things were changing. Zailo was changing things for her. 

There was a pain in the pit of her stomach, and Felicity was suddenly incredibly nervous. "We should find Basil," she spat out, pushing against Zailo to pull her body up. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees and picking up the ukulele she bought just to sing to Zailo and beginning to walk out into the sunshine. Zailo remained under the bridge a moment longer, a small piece of him hoping that maybe Felicity would stop walking, or he'd be bright enough to ask her to. Instead, he just walked briskly towards her, hoping to keep up with her fast pace.

Lamia Scale was in dead last, and most people blamed Garrett, except Toni. Toni hunched over on the ground in a fit of despair as he groveled in his own misery. 

"Oh come on, Toni," Cheli Vastia said sternly, shaking her head (and hips) lightly in disappointment. "This isn't your fault, it's Garrett's." 

Macyn gave Cheli a sharp expression, claiming that was no help to the situation. 

"Let's face it, I would've been last if the two other members hadn't fallen," Toni muttered into the hardwood floor. 

"Granted, we'd be in third had Garrett won his match," Cheli said, turning to Garrett as he sat innocently with the rest of the team. "I wouldn't be so annoyed if the match wasn't so close. If you hadn't slipped up in the end, I swear, you could have won."

The match truly was an exciting one. It began with Ellia freezing the entire arena's floor to make it into an ice rink, immediately putting Garrett at a disadvantage. However, with the help of Toni and his pict magic, Garrett had managed to get a pair of skates and match Ellia's ability. 

The fight lingered on, almost becoming a battle of wits as the two very different magic styles clashed quite uniquely. Ellia's ice and snow magic, Garrett's illusion magic.

"Your strong suit is psychology," Cheli continued, waving her finger at Garrett sternly, "you're surprising, which is why I don't get why you didn't use that to your advantage." 

He stared at Cheli, a blank expression on his face. She dropped her hands on her hips, scowling down at Garrett with a pouted lip. Suddenly, he started to laugh. "Sorry, I think I blanked in the battle. My bad." 

Cheli groaned, spinning around to shoot her arms up in frustration. "You're kidding me! You blanked? What's that supposed to mean?" Jerking her head towards him, she again waved her finger around scoldingly, "you're so difficult sometimes, Garrett? You know that?" 

"I know," Garrett said laughing. 

Cheli was on the verge of ringing Garrett's neck, only being held back by Macyn who had, unfortunately, landed the role as the voice of reason on her team. 

It was then when the team heard a knock on the door, and turned to find, of all people, Ellia Tearm, arched against the frame of the door. 

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, glancing at the restrained Cheli and remorseful Toni on the ground, "but I'd like to speak with Garrett if you didn't mind." 

Everyone remained still, continuing to stare blankly at the Blue Pegasus member that was intruding their inn. She grunted, "Outside, alone, preferably this year." 

Garrett looked at his team, then quickly stood up and walked out. He dropped his hands into his pockets, walking naturally and casually as if nothing was the matter. He was even smiling as he approached Ellia. 

When Ellia shut the door behind him, she promptly pinned Garrett up the wall and hissed at him. 

"How did you know?" 

"Know what?" he asked innocently, continuing to smile, though it was quickly fading. 

"How did you know about my mother's song. That's private, and I'm confident she and I are the only ones who know about it." Ellia scowled, an intent and fierce look on her face. "So tell me, how did you know it?"

What most people didn't know about Garrett and Ellia's battle is that Garrett did, in fact, use psychology in their battle. Finding it difficult to use basic illusions to attack Ellia, he used his more admirable attack that had worked many times before. 

He brought out his opponents strongest feeling and used it against them. Be it a fear, passion, love, or longing, everyone had something. Something that brought them to an end.

Garrett had learned the ability many years before and had found it profoundly useful.

So when he used it on Ellia, he was surprised to find her reaction was like none he'd ever seen. When faced with her greatest fear, she attacked it. 

"I didn't let you win, by the way," Garrett said plainly, "my final attack couldn't have worked." 

Ellia's expression remained fierce, but she then sighed. Looking up at the sky, the back at Garrett, she dropped her hands into the pockets of her jacket and said, "Would you like to go for a walk with me?" 

Basil had a very long evening, which would be immediately followed by a very long night.

He'd return to his inn late at night, following a series of annoying and troublesome calls and discussions with the local authorities convincing them that Florence was not to be arrested or convicted or anything like that, as she was acting as a "Debutee Agent" in his division, a term that loosely meant she had about as much authority as an intern working in a large corporate business, but Basil was able to stretch the title enough to excuse her own vile stretch of the term "self-defense". 

Night had fallen by the time everything had finished, and while Basil was running around cleaning up messes, Florence had sat in her own mess for several hours. Still covered in the blood of her victims, and still clutching the box she'd been given by Alec. 

Sure she'd been given a "victim blanket" and even a towel to wipe up off some of the blood, but Florence seemed unresponsive when offered practically anything. She'd just allow herself to be shuffled into room after room and be asked questions that Basil would incidentally have to answer for her. 

So when the night finally came to an end, Basil turned to her and asked, "Where are you staying tonight?"

She didn't respond, this didn't surprise Basil.

"I'm not leaving you alone," he said sternly, "not like this, anyway." 

Her fingers wrapped tightly around the edge of the blanket, and she finally spoke for what seemed like the first time since they left the warehouse. "Okay." 

They caught a cab and drove to the inn, sitting in silence as the cab driver kept checking in the back seat on Florence. She was covered in blood, for the most part, s naturally he would be alarmed.

"Don't worry," Basil said, "it's not her's." 

Maybe that wasn't the best answer, but lucky for them the cab driver didn't care much about that.

"Just don't get any blood on my seats," was all he said, and that was that.

When they arrived in the room, Basil gave a quick and easy tour, pointing to the bathroom, bed, and window (which is all Basil could really afford). 

"You can take a shower, and then...if you want, we can talk. Or, you can just go to bed, no pressure...no pressure." 

"They killed my father." 

Basil looked at Florence, watching the tears again well up in her eyes. 

"He was the only thing I had, and now he's gone." 

Her hand fell over her eyes, and she leaned forward, beginning to sob again. She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I just heard he had been here, and I thought I could finally find him...I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up." 

"Florence..." Basil's eyes widened, watching Florence walk past him, quickly shutting herself into the bathroom before he could say anything. 

He stood there, watching the door and listening to the soft sound of the shower as Florence turned it on. He pulled his head away, stepping towards the bed and sitting down. He pulled off his coat, dropping it onto the floor as he scratched his head, wondering how he'd become involved with such a woman, and wondering what he was going to do next.

"So illusion magic, that's quite a skill," Ellia said, turning to Garrett with wide eyes. 

He chuckled lightly, his hands dug tightly into his pockets as he kept looking up at Ellia and then down at his feet. Garrett felt awkward, frightened, and confused. Whenever he used Reach, most people wanted nothing to do with him. They found it violating, repulsive, and a splurge of other very mean words that Garrett tried not to think too hard about.

They were walking down the busy street, bumping shoulders with everyone they passed as people flooded out of the arena and into the streets to the many events and vending that the Crocus businesses had prepared. 

"However, what you did with me, wasn't just illusion magic, am I correct?" Ellia kept her eyes on Garrett's, taking notice to the small green e on the pupil of his left eye. She didn't ask about it, feeling it might be rude, but apart of her felt like it had something to do with it. 

"Well," Garrett scratched his head, "it's called reach." 

"Reach?" 

"Yeah," he gulped, it was hard to explain, "when I touch people, I can read their feelings." 

Her eyes widened, Garrett felt startled as she quickly grabbed onto his arm. "What am I feeling?"

Garrett croaked, "Uh--it doesn't work like that." 

Noticing he was frightened by her sudden intrusion, she pulled away, apologizing as she quickly crossed her arms in embarrassment. 

Garrett, who didn't mean to hurt the girl's pride, pulled his hands from his pockets. He lightly tugged on her arm, stopping the two in their tracks as her arms unraveled before him. Garrett pulled up her hand as he said, "If I touch someone like this," his hands wrapped tightly around her's, "I can feel what they feel." 

"Oh," Ellia said, "so what am I feeling?" 

"Exciting," he laughed, dropping her hand, and retreating back into his pockets as the two walked once again. 

"That's interesting," Ellia continued, nodding her head lightly to the side, "however, that doesn't explain how you did what you did in the arena."

"Yeah, that was a bit more," Garrett's face suddenly grew red. "Uh, so...don't be mad." 

"I'm not," she said quickly. She then recalled the moment not twenty minutes earlier where she pinned him against a wall and demanded an explanation for his strange ability. "Uh, not anymore, that is." 

"Well," he lifted his hand up, not touching, only pointing at Ellia's forehead. "If I touch you right on the forehead, I can look inside for a certain feeling, one that's more powerful than anything. Then I can replicate it with my illusions."

Her eyes widened, "What?" 

"I don't know what I replicate, really," he admitted, looking away as he dropped his hand, "I swear, I don't actually know what the tangible thing is, I just know the feeling. It's strong, angry, sad, remorseful, powerful, so I pull it out and use it against them..."

He pursed his lips, almost wanting to squeeze his eyes shut for the slap he felt he might get from Ellia. Instead, he only heard a laugh. 

"I've heard of psychological warfare before," she laughed, "but that's quite a tactic. Amazing." 

"Well, you're the one who was amazing," Garrett laughed awkwardly, suddenly feeling stupid for saying anything so complimentary.

"Yes, I am," Ellia agreed with a cheeky grin, "but might I ask why you think so too?" 

"Uh," he began, a very good place to start, "like I said, it wouldn't have worked, whatever it is you saw, it wasn't enough to stop you. You broke free from it." He smiled faintly, "that's kinda amazing, you know?" 

Ellia smiled, and softly she said, "Thank you." 

"If you don't mind," he said timidly, "what'd you see?" 

"Oh," she had already spoiled it a bit earlier, talking about her mother. She hadn't figured that even the creator of the illusion wouldn't know what he was creating. "Well, I...I saw my mother."

"Your mother?" 

"Yes, and she was singing a certain song to me." That was all Ellia said about that, as exposing such a thing to someone who was still a stranger seemed foolish. She looked up at Garrett, and in a motion to change the subject said, "Your nose isn't hurt too bad, is it?" 

Garrett touched his bandaged nose, laughing, "No, it's alright." 

"Good." She turned away and looked ahead at the crowd beginning to walk again.

In the Blue Shoe, business was being to die down. Everyone who had come to watch the games had already paid their bill and left, leaving Marigold to wipe down the now plentiful empty tables with Jeremy.

Sue Ellen sat behind the counter, counting up all the cash to put away in the safe. "Your hand doing alright?" She asked as Marigold walked past her carrying a bin full plates and cups. 

"Oh?" Marigold had almost forgotten she hurt her hand, of course, she hadn't nearly forgotten the incident. She hadn't stopped thinking about it. "I'm fine, it's all better." 

"Heh, did you get the number of the doctor? I'd love to have someone fixing up my kids injuries so they can't use them as excuses not to work." She cleared her throat, eyeing her sons as they each began working faster and harder under her supervision. 

"Yeah, yeah, I should've," Marigold laughed, stepping into the back room to put the dishes in the sink. 

As Marigold continued to work, Sue Ellen popped her head through the window and asked, "So is that guy your ex-boyfriend?" 

"No!" Marigold shouted, not even realizing why she shouted and instantly regretting. "He is..." she didn't really have a good excuse, so she'd just dodge the truth by telling a loose version of the truth, "he and I have...a history of sorts. I don't want to really...go into it, but to be frank, it'd be for the best if I didn't see him again." 

"Right," Sue Ellen replied, "put the plates down and come out here, I wanna tell you something." 

Marigold lifted her head up from the dirty dishwater, "Uh, okay." 

She quickly left the kitchen, entering the dining area and sitting at the counter obediently, a feeling of fear striking her as she wondered if her light fib would get her fired for some reason. 

Instead, she watched as Sue Ellen leaned forward and poured Marigold a beer. "You drink? I drink, if you don't want it, I'll take it." 

"Oh," Marigold watched as Sue Ellen poured a second drink. "Well, I mean."

"No seriously, no pressure, I'll drink both if you don't want it." She picked up the second glass, taking a long drink before setting it back down. She watched as Marigold still didn't pick up the glass. "Not a drinker?" 

"Uh...well..." Marigold wasn't sure getting drunk was a smart plan, she didn't know what might happen with Edo Marigold in her head. "Not in particular." 

"I knew it," she shook her head. "You wanna know why I hired you?" 

Marigold pursed her lips, "Because I was covered in dirt when I walked in?" 

"That was an important factor, yes." Sue Ellen admitted, laughing lightly. "It's just, you reminded me so much of myself when I first started working here." 

Marigold's eyes widened, "Wait...you worked here before you owned the place?"

"Of course," Sue Ellen leaned back, taking the beer with her. "I was probably only a year or so younger then you were when I ran away from home. I lived in this really small little village, and I was the local hooligan, of course." She winked, proud of her long history of sarcasm and angst. "I had a fling with this older man, he was actually our minister to make matters worse." 

"Oh." 

"Oh is right, Doe, oh is right. He was married too, and I was an idiot. So I thought he'd leave his wife for me, especially after I got pregnant." She pursed her lips, shaking her head lightly as she looked back at Marigold. "That didn't happen." 

Marigold's face fell, finally understanding why Sue Ellen was so nice to her. "Sue Ellen...." 

"I was forced to leave town, and when I came to Crocus, I saw a help wanted sign in the window of this building, back when it was called 'Silas's Place', gosh, that was such a stupid name. The owner was only a few years older than myself and decided to hire me because he knew I needed the work." She laughed, "I was a horrible waitress. Hands down, the worst. But Silas didn't fire me, especially when he needed to financially." 

Sue Ellen propped her arm up against the counter, leaning into it with a smile on her face, as if the memory alone could make all the frustration fade away. "We married just seven months later, and gave my Johnathan a dad. Then, became the dad of the next two." She laughed. "When Jeremey was about five, Silas lost his brother, and that hurt him. After that, things got tense, and a few years later, he left. It wasn't until last year when I got a letter, informing me that he'd died." 

Marigold wasn't sure what to say, so she just listened. 

"There was so much I wish I'd said to him, now I can't and I just have to live with that." She looked Marigold in the eyes, "So I know what's happening with you." 

Her face fell, and Marigold watched in shock as Sue Ellen said it. "You're pregnant, aren't you." 

"Uhhh."

"I should've known the moment you walked in. You're pregnant, and that's your baby daddy, isn't he?" She stood up straight, pulling her head back as she shook it. "It's all so obvious, you poor thing. You must be a wreck. That explains everything. That Dragneel boy, I can't believe this. You had a one night stand, and now you're pregnant and don't know how to tell him. Don't tell me your family kicked you out?"

Marigold's eyes were so wide, it was surprising they didn't fall out. "Uh, we're not on speaking terms." That wasn't a lie. 

"And he doesn't know a thing?" Sue Ellen turned to Marigold, an urgent and serious expression on her face. "Does he?" 

Then, with guilt weighing heavy on her chest, she did the most horrible thing she could ever imagine. She set her hand on her abdomen, beginning to say, "I just don't know how to tell him." 

Quickly, Sue Ellen came to the seat beside Marigold and wrapped her arms around her, "It's okay, sweety. I'm here for you. You can do this, it's okay." 

Marigold let out a soft sob as Sue Ellen comforted her, honestly wanting to cry after pulling something so horrible. Impersonating a pregnant woman wasn't the direction she thought her "Doe" cover would go, but if it stopped Sue Ellen from asking questions, that was good enough. 

In her defense, she had been pregnant before, and strangely, her story did comfort her and make her respect and relate to Sue Ellen even more. Marigold did know what it was like, the isolation, the loneliness, the idea of having that hope snatched. She connected to the role she played because it wasn't all a lie.

In fact, she wished it was true.

She wished she was carrying Liddan's child inside her. She wished that she was just some lost, confused girl looking for a home in the reckless world. Instead, she was just a lost girl who no longer had a home in the reckless world. 

Felicity and Zalio returned to their room after a tragically long day (which was concluded by a delightful fast food dinner) for a night of well deserved sleep. However, when they arrived the quickly discovered that Elwin and Layla weren't there. It wasn't that late, however, the two were more than ready for a full night of sleep.

Zailo fell onto his designated bed, watching Felicity walk across the room and drop her things onto her own bed. 

"I'm stuffed," she said, tumbling onto the mattress with her arms sprawled out. "When's Layla coming back? I haven't seen her all day." It felt like she hadn't seen her in a week, as the day had carried on for so long.

She pulled her jacket off, and shuffled out of her shoes to prepare for bed. Felicity would have fallen asleep right there, had Zailo not spoken.

"Can I get in bed with you?"

Then she was wide awake.

"What? No, you can't get in bed with--when Layla does come back, you'll be forcing her to sleep with Elwin--"

"Just to lay there for a bit," he sat up in bed, pushing himself up with a pittiful expression on his face. "I won't fall asleep, I swear." 

A part of Felicity knew that he was lying when he said he wouldn't fall asleep, but she let him into the bed anyway and laid there wide awake while sharing a bed with Zailo. 

It felt so strange, his warm body occasionally bumping into her under the sheets, which caused her to over analyze the crap out of it for the sake of her own suffering. 

He turned away from her, sleeping on his side as Felicity laid on her back looking up at the ceiling, thinking about that moment by the creek. Felicity wasn't stupid, it was obvious that the question pressed on her mind.

Does Zailo like me? Oh my gosh, does he like me? Why would he like me? Does he have a sister complex because I'm basically just replacing his sister--heck, he's confused me for her once. My goodness, what if he confesses or something? Then things would be awkward because I can't DATE him! Wait, could I? If I did, my whole marrying rich plan would go down the gutter. Still, maybe I could be happy marrying him. Wait--his hair is black, and mine is white. If we have kids, will their hair be gray? Oh...we'd have grandma kids...I don't know if I could do that to them! Wait, is that how hair works when you have kids? I mean, I don't hate Zailo, I do like him. Maybe not that way, or do I....? No, that would be stupid, he's my mentally unstable roommate that I'm taking care of because of a promise I made with a ghost--gosh, that sounds so weird the more I think about it. I mean, it's not just because of his sister. I do actually care about him, and when he reached out to me on the train...gosh...that's such a beautiful story to tell our kids...our grandma kids...with gray hair and reading glasses...the more I think of it the cuter it gets. Crap, where's Layla. I need to talk this out with someone! 

Felicity shot up, realizing that she could no longer lay next Zailo without having a panic attack. She pulled the sheets off her body quickly, donning her jacket and shoes and rushing out the door. 

Not knowing where to go, she wandered the halls aimlessly, hoping to run into someone she had the nerve to talk to. When she came up onto the third floor, she spotted Lucy, who happened to be walking back with takeout with Mirajane and Juvia. 

"Uh, Miss Lucy," she sped towards her, grabbing the women's attention as the chatted about an assortment of things.

"Oh, it's that new girl...what's her name?" Juvia said softly to Mirajane.

"Felicity, she's rooming with Zailo and has gone on a mission with Liddan's team once but isn't officially apart of it. She's 17 years old and formerly worked as a waitress in Oshibana Town at a restaurant called 'Black Ace' where she met Zailo when she was working--"

"Gosh Mira," Lucy hissed, "how do you know so much?" 

Despite this, Lucy quickly flashed a smile at Felicity, hoping she would overhear the incriminating details Mira carried about her. "Hi, Felicity, what's wrong?" 

"Oh, uh, you haven't seen Layla have you?" Felicity said urgently, "I just really need to talk with her." 

"Oh sorry hon," Mirajane said softly, "she and Elwin are working with the master on something. I doubt either of them will be back until really late tonight."

"Is something wrong?" Lucy asked. "Did something happen between you and Layla?" 

"Oh no! No, we're fine. I mean, I just needed someone to talk me through something. It's nothing, thanks for the help--" Felicity was about to step away, but Mirajane suddenly pulled her hand and set it on her shoulder.

With a craving in her eyes, she said, "I smell drama." 

Lucy quickly pulled Mira's arm back, but was, however, on the same page as her friend. "Really Felicity, if it isn't too...strange...we don't mind helping you out. We're good listeners." 

"Is it about a boy?" Juvia asked, her eyes widening as she spoke. "OhI miss talking to Sylvie about boys! The gossip, the advice, the midnight stalking..."

"Midnight what?" Lucy felt inclined to ask, before shaking it off to bring her attention back to Felicity. "Really, why don't you come up to my room. We can chat, have something to eat, it'll be fun." 

Despite the significant age difference between Felicity and the women surrounding her, she agreed. She really needed to talk things out with someone. 

When they arrived in the room, Natsu was once again enlisting the aid of Sylvie and Laurie with their toddlers. While Natsu and Laurie were excited for the food to finally arrive, they were promptly kicked out of the room as to prepare for girl time. 

The five women, young and...less young, all sat around in a circle eating takeout right out of the cointaner and talking about boys.

"So, there's this boy I've been pursuing a while," Felicity started, struggling to pull a strand of noodles out of the box with chopsticks. "I mean, we don't really have any traction for a real relationship yet, but he's still my ideal type of man." 

"Mm, never let traction stop you, make your own traction with your relationships." Juvia insisted. 

"True, sometimes you just have to take what you want," Sylvie suggested, "eventually if it's right, they'll come around." 

"However...I've had a really strong relationship with another guy...who isn't really my type at all." Felicity rolled her head back, "I mean, I care about him but I just can't tell if it's actually romantic or not--"

"EH!" Lucy pulled the chopsticks from her mouth, trying not to choke as she quickly spat out a response, "No! NO! I completely understand that feeling!" 

"Is that how it was with you and Natsu?" Mira asked, "I mean, he was your first and only boyfriend, right? I didn't know there was ever another man." 

"No, there wasn't, really." Lucy shook her head. "I mean, when I was younger, even when I had joined Fairy Tail, I had envisioned my perfect man. He was like a prince...charming, romantic, sincere, handsome, hunky...oh...I had it all played out in my head. He'd sweep me off my feet and we'd marry and there would be fireworks and my mother would come down from heaven as an angel or some nonsense like that...I was young, it went a bit far." She shook her head, setting down her meal. "My point is, Natsu wasn't who I expected to marry, but I can't imagine being with anyone but him." 

Felicity pursed her lips, thinking about the bizarre future she could carry being with someone like Zailo. "But I have met my dream guy, should I just let that go?" 

"I say no," Mirajane said, "why not go to him and confront him? Just tell him, see what's there. If he says no, then who cares. There isn't anything there, so you can move on from it, knowing that there wasn't something there that you're missing." 

Felicity sat there thinking for a moment, just chewing her noodles. "I have to go and do something."

She passed her noodles to Sylvie, stood up, and fled the room.

They watched her leave, remaining in their seats with their noodles. "Charming," Juvia laughed, "I can't help but laugh looking at young lovers. It's al life or death with them, but when you've been with someone for so long the most beautiful moments become the simple ones."

"That's true," Sylvie said with a smile, however, only received strange looks from the rest of the women around her. "What?" 

"It's just...weird..." Mirajane admitted for the rest of the group.

"I mean, you're younger than my own daughter, and you're pregnant and married already...I don't mean to be rude but it's just strange."

"What?" Sylvie quickly turned to Juvia. "Mom, do you think it's strange?" 

Juvia avoided eye contact, keeping the container and chopsticks close to her mouth as she quick slurped up the noodles. 

Liddan had gone straight to bed after his encounter with "Doe", finding the entire interaction strangely disorienting. When he fell asleep, he happened to fall into the usual dream he couldn't ever decipher. 

He'd find himself laying on the ground, looking up at the blue sky as if nothing was wrong. For the first time, he felt comfortable in his skin, relaxed, and like everything was not only okay but good. 

Then her face would pop into his view, and she'd smile down at him and say, "What are you doing?" 

"Contemplating...everything..." he'd say slowly, lifting his arm up and slowly extending it as he spoke. 

"Weird hobby," she said, laying down beside him and sharing the view. "It's a really nice day though." She reached for his hand, their fingers intertwining in a simple and beauitful way. She rolled over closer to him, her head pressing against his shoulder. "This is really nice." 

"What is?" He asked.

Liddan looked down at her face, it was indisputably her's. "Being together." 

Then he woke up.

He lifted his head, pulling his hands over his face as he tried to get the face out of his head. 

It was the face of the waitress, and he hadn't realized it until that moment. 

He sat up, kicking his legs out and off the bed. He looked out the window, noticing the fading light peaking through the closed curtains. He stood up, opening the curtains to expose the city. The sun had finally set, and looked down at the streets, a piece of him wondering if she was out there, and what she was doing, and why he cared. It was stupid to care, it was ridiculous to care. 

Then there was a knock at the door.

It seemed frantic and continued without missing a beat until Liddan finally opened the door. As the light of the hall flooded into the room, Liddan squinted down at (of all people) Felicity.

He rubbed his face, shielding himself from the harsh and piercing lights. "Felicity? What are you doing here?" 

"Well, that's a funny story," she laughed forcefully, then quickly shut her mouth as she looked down at Liddan's exposed chest. She could do her laundry on those washboard abs. "Did I wake you?" 

"It's fine," he stepped back, a sign that he was inviting her inside. Slowly and cautiously, Felicity entered the room. Liddan flicked the light on, forcing himself to adjust to the light. "I'm kinda glad you're here." 

"Oh, really?" Felicity turned to Liddan, her eyes wide with anxiety and fear of what it was Liddan wanted. 

"Yeah," he walked past her, approaching the minibar of the room and pulling out a bottle of wine. "I'd love to have someone to drink with, you mind joining me?" 

Felicity hesitated to answer, but Liddan clearly intended to drink. His teeth wrapped around the cork of the wine, pulling it off as his single hand gripped the bottle tightly. He spat out the cork, letting it fall to the ground carelessly. He poured himself a glass, then gladly took a drink. "You in?" 

Granted, getting drunk might have made talking to Liddan about such things easier, but after three bottles of wine, the two were on the ground laughing about the stupidest things.

Felicity, on a dare, had tried on Liddan's prosthetic arm, which she now wore loosely around her neck as a third arm.

"I swear, I swear," she slurred out, laughing hysterically as Liddan continued to control the arm to make it move. "This should be a trick, like, like I wear it under my shirt, and you make it pop out like PFFM!!!" She extended her fingers, making weird noises as she tried to demonstrate her plan. 

"That sounds absolutely perfect, but I can't stop thinking about how I'd have my hand under your shirt." He laughed like a child.

"HA! You're right! Get your hand out from under my shirt you pervert!" She laughed as she pulled the arm off of herself, dropping it onto the ground beside her. "Oh my gosh, I don't think I've ever gotten this drunk." 

"Nah, nah," Liddan shook his head, "this is the usual amount of drunkness for me." 

"Well, I mean...I guess I've never gotten drunk...at all." 

Liddan's jaw dropped, "What?"

Felicity nodded, pulling her hands over her face. "I know...it's sad. I just never tried alcohol!" 

"That's so awful," Liddan shook his head, showing authentic sadness for Felicity's circumstance. "That's a crime, I'm so glad to be here for your first time getting drunk." 

"Don't know who would have been better to get drunk with," Felicity said, raising her glass up to Liddan. The clinked the glasses together, happily taking another sip.

As Liddan pulled his drink from his mouth, he glanced back at Felicity and suddenly recalled how frantic she had been when she arrived. "Hey, hey, Felicity." 

"Wha..." she spat some of her drink back into the glass, struggling to keep it down.

"You had something to tell me right?" 

"Wha...?"

"Yeah, yeah, when you came here? You were like 'I gotta tell you somethin' and I was like 'but alcohol first'." 

"Oh, right." Felicity's already red face grew a shade darker. "Well...uh...."

"Come on, what's up," he laughed, leaning forward, "you can tell me, right?" 

"I was gonna...I was gonna tell you I was attracted to you." 

Liddan spat up some of his drink, his eyes widening as he looked across at the ashamed Felicity burying her face in her knees. "Attracted--you're attracted to me?" 

"Oh my gosh! It's not that hard!" She pointed to his chest, "you're, like, really nice, and attractive and muscular, and strong, and like...like your voice is all grainy but in this cool sexy way." 

Liddan repeated himself. "You're attracted to me?" 

Felicity lifted her head, looking across at Liddan. They sat there for a silent moment, recalling how very drunk they were. In the next moment, they were kissing.

Liddan had dove towards Felicity, grabbing onto her and kissing her on the lips with the greatest amount of passion a drunk could provide. Felicity found herself doing the same.

They rose from the ground, shuffling towards the bed with lips locked. Felicity fell onto the bed, Liddan crawling on top of her and continuing to kiss her.

Felicity's fingers dug into his hair, trying to wrap her own head around what she was doing and how this had come to be. 

Suddenly, Liddan broke away.

"I'm sorry Felicity, I can't." 

She looked up at Liddan, "Wha--what's wrong?" 

He looked at his arm, then back at Felicity. "I can't be on top with one arm, it's kinda hard to...do anything without completely falling onto you." 

"Oh." She looked at his arm and the spot where his other arm should be. "Uh, we can switch." 

They flip over, Felicity taking the top and sitting on his torso, continuing to kiss Liddan.

Suddenly, his hands were on her body, staying in the more appropriate areas as both were quite unsure of whether or not things would go that far. 

In fact, neither of them had thought this through. Were they just kissing? Was this a confession? Were they both going to lose their virginity? Is this how either of them wanted to lose their virginity?! 

Suddenly, the door opened, and the rest of Liddan's roommates came barging in. "Hello!" Malcon announced, accompanied by Lugi and Melody.

Liddan threw Felicity off of himself. Letting her fall onto the floor. He pulled himself up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to make it seem like he'd just been sitting there. Not making out with anyone.

"Hey....guys..." Liddan said, slowly pulling a pillow off the end of the bed and setting it on his lap. 

"Liddan, I've had such a good time, who'd have known Crocus was so fun!" Melody said with excitement, wearing a pair of cat ears on her head and carrying several souvenirs. "How was your day, did you watch the games?" 

"Uh...." Liddan shrugged his shoulders, "I just kept myself busy...didn't do much." 

Felicity popped her head up from behind the bed. "Oh, there's my key! Now I can go." 

She stood up, brushing herself off as she walked around the bed, scooping up her belongings as she went. "So, thanks for the talk Liddan," she looked at the other people who had joined them in the room. Nodding her head lightly as she approached the door, Felicity mumbled quietly, "Nice to see you guys...uh...later." 

Opening the door, she rushed out, regretting all the actions of the night.

Melody, however, didn't think much of Felicity's presence, quickly going to Liddan's bed and sitting beside him. "I found these cookies and I thought you'd like some, so I bought them for you." She set the package on his nightstand, then turned to him with a sad expression. "I really wish you'd stayed with us, it would have been more fun if you joined."

"Lugi!" Lugi agreed, flying into Liddan's lap. "Lugi lugi luuuugi!" 

"She says she got into a fight with a street vendor," Malcon translated, flying towards the nightstand and opening the package of cookies that Liddan had just been given to begin eating. "It was really cool. She kicked his butt!"

"Really?" Liddan pat Lugi's head, laughing softly as the exceed purred, "that's really cool, Lugi, sad I missed it." 

"Can you go out with us tomorrow?" Melody asked, "I was hoping we could spend some time together? Will you sit and watch the games with us?" 

"Eh...I dunno," Liddan shook his head, "you know I'm not a big fan of the games..."

"Well..." Melody bit her lip, "maybe we could spend the day out. I'm sure it won't be so bad if we miss one day. Could we go visit the waterpark? I've always wanted to go to one, what about you?" 

"Waterpark?" Liddan thought about it, considering the option of going to the park. "Sure, I don't see why not." 

Layla and Elwin had been camping out on top of a bagel shop for the past two hours, watching closely to see if Team Deadly Sins was up to anything. Elwin kept a pair of binoculars to his eyes, watching with boredom through a small window. "Come on...when are they gonna leave the room so we can plant the lacrima?" 

"Be patient," Layla insisted, wrapped gauze around the staff of her new ji so she could have a greater grip on it. She listened as Elwin hummed a song to himself, trying to keep himself entertained as he stared down the room of the Deadly Sins in a crappy old hotel. 

"Seventy-six bottles of beer on the wall...seventy-six bottles of beer--"

"Stop that." 

"Come on....I gotta keep myself focussed somehow!" Elwin retorted, receiving no suggestions from Layla, who had already spent the previous hour on watch. "How'd you do it?" 

"I told myself a story in my head."

Elwin nodded his head to the side, finding the idea rather interesting. He grew silent, and Layla glanced over at him, wondering if he had begun to tell a story in his head. She looked down at the street, holding her ji tightly as she watched the people walk below her. 

She always liked being on the roof, sitting down and watching the people pass by, imagining the stories of their life. That woman was a beautician but really wanted to be an artist. Her boyfriend is secretly a nightclub singer. 

That man is an undercover agent, undercover as an undercover sex worker. He's so deep in character that he can't remember what he's undercover as. 

That kid is secretly an android being run by several adults in a room underground for a toy corporation trying to literally get into the mind of a child. 

That woman....that woman was Liz.

Layla quickly turned to Elwin, who remained silent and with his eyes on the target. She glanced back down at Liz, noticing that she was walking alone and not joined by her guild. 

Realizing that she likely wouldn't get a chance to speak with her like this anytime soon, she fled the roof in silence to approach her.

Liz came to a park bench, sitting down and letting her face fall into her hands. She shook her head, exhausted and ready for a moment alone, even if alone meant being surrounded by strangers on a busy street. 

Naturally, Layla was breaking that moment.

"Liz." 

She lifted her head, turning to Layla who stood straight in front of her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she spoke. "What do you want Layla?" 

"I want to know the truth," she explained quickly, "not for me, for your family. You can't just get up and leave like you did."

Her eyes widened, "I can't? Well, then it must be a miracle! Because that's exactly what I did, and it's working so far." 

"Liz," Layla repeated, "three years ago you left on an s-class mission. When you left, there were no signs of anything be wrong. You even promised Elwin a souvenir. Suddenly, a month later you send Laxus a letter telling him that you're leaving Fairy Tail with no explanation. I think you owe us that much." 

"I don't owe you anything," Liz said firmly, "and even if I did want to give an explanation, why would I give it to you?" 

"Because I'm friends with Elwin and Xavier, and I care about them," she lifted the ji lightly, "and I also have a stick that shoots fire and lightning out the ends."

Liz scowled, her fingers gripping the edge of the bench tightly. "Go ahead, you won't get anything from me."

Layla sighed, and she stepped forward. Rather than pulling out her weapon, she sat down beside Liz, looking out into the crowd of passersby just as Liz was. "I don't know why you left, and I know I'm not the one who deserves the answer, but I'm worried."

"Why would you be worried about me? We weren't even friends before I left." 

"Of course I'm not worried about you," Layla scoffed, "I mean, not any more than the other people in the guild." She coughed lightly, trying to correct herself. "I'm worried about Xavier, and Elwin. They were worried, really worried. Xavier used to make this face, whenever he saw someone who remotely looked like you pass us when we traveled together. Elwin, he left on this big long string of missions, but when I looked back into the jobs he took I realized they were all surrounding the area you were last seen at." 

Layla looked at Liz's face, finding it maintain its stoic nature. However, when she looked at her hands, seeing her knuckles grow white as she further clenched the wood of the bench, she realized that her words were impacting Liz, one way or another. 

"Liz," she spoke softly all of the sudden, "are you in danger?" 

"Layla!" 

Layla's eyes widened, and for a moment her attention was drawn away from Liz. She looked down at her waist, where she wore the portable lacrima at her waist. Elwin's voice ran through the device, and she quickly pulled the lacrima off her belt. She looked at Liz, who kept her face hidden from Layla as she heard Elwin's voice.

"Yeah Elwin?" she replied, watching Liz stand up off the bench. 

"Hey, where'd you go? I just saw the team leave, we're ready to plant the lacrima the go back to the hotel, but I need you to watch as I go in so nothing freaky happens." 

"Okay, yeah, sorry," Layla watched as Liz looked down at her, then began to walk away. "Something came up, I wanted to check up on it." 

There, Layla waited a moment longer before watching Liz melt into the crowd, not to be seen again.

On the second day of the games, everyone woke up in the same place they'd gone to bed. Not on some roof at the start of the next event. 

They woke up in their beds, or wherever it was they fell asleep, feeling refreshed and hopeful for the new day.

Except for Liddan and Felicity, they each felt like human garbage.

At the hotel Fairy Tail stayed out, the Team was wakened up bright and early by Esmeralda, who was pulling them out of bed for a morning jog and then breakfast.

"Alright team," Esmeralda announced over a plate of eggs. "Nashi and Jude have already done their work, so today they won't be doing any events. So Xavier, Gideon, and myself, will be taking on the events." 

Gideon, with a piece of toast in his mouth, gave Esmeralda reassuring thumbs up. "You two are getting a well-deserved break, eh?" He nudged Nashi's shoulder, smiling sweetly at her. 

"Deserved is pushing it..." Jude said sourly, rubbing his temples. 

"Stop being so hard on yourself, Jude." Esmeralda reminded him, "we're all very proud of you, and we're sure you'll do great when next given the chance." She turned back to the team, "However, we need to be on guard. Especially regarding the Team Deadly Sins. That battle was brutal, and I don't want any of you to be caught off gaurd if you end up in the battle against one of them."

"What about you?" Nashi asked, "I mean, if you end up fighting--"

"Don't worry," Esmeralda nodded, pulling the bandanna around her neck over her eyes, "I have my bandanna, things will be fine." 

Jude furrowed her eyebrows, "How does that make things better...?" 

The rest of the guild had gathered loosely around the dining area of the hotel, giving the team space as they planned for the day. However, one girl, in particular, was quite anxious to speak with one of the team members.

Molly sat beside Erza, who kept reminding her to eat her eggs. 

"Molly," she said for the third time, "it isn't polite to stare off at other people when in conversation." 

"I'm sorry," she said, jerking her head towards her plate and digging her fork into a sausage.

Gillian had joined the table with her mother, and Rowen was there too (of course). "You're wanting to talk to Jude, huh?" 

"I feel like I haven't spoken to him in months..." Molly sighed, which was ironic because Jude actually hadn't spoken to Molly in months thanks to his special training. "What if he's too cool for me now--"

Despite themselves, everyone started laughing.

"That won't happen, trust me," Cana said hysterically. "Oh sweety, that boy is a Dragneel, as muscular and...fireproof as all those kids are, they're all complete dorks. Weird, bizarre, and a lot less cool than they think." 

"Oh look, here comes one now," Gillian said, watching Liddan pass by with a thick pair of shades and holding a heavy cup of coffee. "Observe, as the mighty yet pathetic Dragneel wears sunglasses inside in an attempt to appear cool and punk." 

Liddan, overhearing the comment, turned to Gillian, and simply growled as he passed by, only confirming the animalistic characterization she had given him. 

"What's with him?" Rowen groaned, "Never seen him that peeved." 

"You're right," Erza said, turning her head to watch Liddan approach the buffet. "I wonder if he's alright."

When Liddan arrived at the buffet, he quickly snatched a plate off the provided stack and piled food onto it. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, waffles, anything edible. 

"Oh hey!" 

Liddan winced at the obnoxiously loud sound of a normal volume voice. He turned to the provider, which happened to be Zailo. He had two plates, and one smile between them. "How's it going?" 

The sight of Zailo instantly made him think about Felicity, and thinking about Felicity only made Liddan more flustered. 

"Uh, I'm okay," he answered quickly, "a bit hungover."

"Really? So's Felicity, she apparently went out and had a drink after I fell asleep, and now she feels so bad she doesn't even want to leave the room." Zailo shook his head, the curve of a smile at the corner of his lip. "It's funny, both of you hungover." 

"Funny, yeah, ha ha ha." Liddan croaked, turning away to try and escape the conversation, but Zailo continued talking.

"Yeah, so I'm getting her breakfast and some tea and whatever...but I'm not really sure how to make tea, or what she likes. I think she likes pancakes, but apparently, she has a vendetta against most breakfast foods after working in that diner for so long, so maybe I'll just get her pasta or something." 

"That's nice of you," Liddan said quickly, "I'm sure she'll like that." 

"You think so," Zailo looked up at Liddan intently, "it's just, I think I freaked her out with something I did yesterday, and I wanna apologize, but I'm not sure how." 

"What'd you do?" Liddan asked halfheartedly, scooping another spoonful of eggs onto his plate.

"Well, I kinda almost kissed her--" 

Liddan's arm flinched, and half of his food began to spill off his plate and back into the buffet.

"Whoa, you okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah, stupid fake arm..." Liddan said with a clenched fist.

"But you were holding them with your real hand--"

"Listen Zailo, I'm sure everything will be alright, just....keep on...truckin'." With that, Liddan fled from the diningroom and back to his own room.

Basil awoke that same morning, except on the floor of his hotel room. Don't be alarmed, he chose to sleep there, giving Florence the bed for the night. However, when he woke up, he noticed that it was a lot more sunny than he had remembered the room to be as if the curtains had been opened.

When he lifted his head from the single pillow separating him from the rough carpeted floor, he saw that the curtains weren't opened, they were taken down. 

He looked up and found Florence wrapped in the curtains, a spool of thread between her teeth as she sewed up the waist of her dress, a dress made from the curtains.

It was a soft purple, and she wore it quite well, but why'd she have to use the curtains.

Basil felt inclined to remind Florence that he'd have to pay extra for the destruction of the curtains, but then he saw the box and recalled how fragile Florence was at the moment. So he'd let her get away with this. 

"How'd you sleep?" she asked in a surprisingly cheerful voice, as cheerful as Florence could sound.

He furrowed his eyebrows, scratching his messy head of hair as Florence slipped into her heels and approached the mirror to apply her signature red lipstick. 

"Where...." he looked around the room to find many things that clearly belonged to Florence but he didn't remember her carrying them in the previous night, "where did you get all this stuff?" 

"I had it with me," she said bluntly, lifting up her clutch and waving it around, "it's bigger on the inside." 

Basil nodded faintly, watching Florence flick a strand of hair out of her eyes as she slipped her sunglasses on. As she started grabbing her things, he realized she just might be leaving entirely. He jumped up, crying out, "Wait!" 

Florence seemed alarmed, freezing as she knelt down to pick up the scraps of the curtains. "What?" She picked up the strip of curtain she had cut out her skirt for. "I'm just cleaning up." 

Basil sighed, dropping his hands on his hips as he tried to come up with a reason for Florence to stay. He couldn't help but feel as though she were seconds away from jumping out the window, nver to be seen again, and Basil didn't want to hold her in his conscience. 

"Sorry," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow, "I just don't think you should leave without talking through...everything." 

"What's there to talk about?" Florence asked plainly, "I mean, I told you what happened, didn't I? Alec gave me a box with my father's hand inside it, so I killed him." 

Basil watched Florence's face as she dropped the scraps of the curtain in the bin, seeming unbothered by the entire event. "Well, if you don't want to talk...why don't we do something?" 

"Do something?" Florence turned to Basil, "Dear God, don't tell me you're asking me out--"

"Of course not," Basil said firmly, "I just don't think you should leave until my team arrives. They'll be here by tomorrow, but I can't have you leaving so quickly. I mean, where were you going to go anyway?" 

Florence puckered her lip, then pulled off her glasses. As the shades fell off her face, hanging loosely in her hand, she turned to Basil with full exposure of her eyes. There were thick with despair. "I don't know, but I'd rather not think about it right now."

Basil sighed, crossing his arm and looking up at the ceiling in disbelief that he was about to say what he was about to say. "Would you..." he began, struggling to look Florence in the eyes as he spoke, "would you like to go to the waterpark...with me?" 

When Liddan crept down the hall with a half-full plate of breakfast, he was quickly intervened by Erza.

He was surprised as she stepped in front of him, stretching her arm out casually to stop him from passing her. Looking at the woman that had struck both fear and respect within him, Liddan obeyed her silent demand for him to stop.

"What's wrong?" She asked plainly, a sharp tone to her question.

"What do you mean what's wrong? Nothing's wrong--"

"Liddan, you know I've always seen you as a son, and I am practically your second mother. So I can tell when something is wrong." 

"Erza...you treat everyone like you're their mom. Heck, even my dad, you're more like a grandma at this point." 

"I will choose to take that as a compliment," Erza said strictly, crossing her arms and tapping her foot against the carpeted floor. "Nonetheless, you're not acting like yourself. In fact, I can't say you've been acting like yourself for a while now. Is something wrong?" 

"Like I said," Liddan repeated himself, "nothing's wrong." 

"Liddan, don't be so--"

"Erza, I know what this is," Liddan sighed, swiftly facing Erza with full force. "When you say that I've always been like a son to you...it's because you..." He watched her face, shutting his mouth before he said something that he'd regret. What he wanted to say was that Liddan had been put in place of her son, something that he had realized quite some time ago. "I've gotta go, I'm taking Mel to the water park."

"So you're going to miss another day of the games?" 

"I don't want to watch the games," Liddan reminded Erza in a slowly unhinging voice. His hand fell over his mouth, realizing it wouldn't be smart to talk to her in such a way.

It was early in the morning when Marigold had begun working at the Blue Shoe, filling napkin dispensers and ketchup bottles as Sue Ellen turned on the grill. She had a sleepless night, filled with guilt over her lie to Sue Ellen and feeling even more guilty as Sue Ellen consistently did any heavy lifting or hard work for Marigold.

"No, Doe," she would say with the snap of her fingers and shake of her head, "I'm taking care of this, go do some sit-down work. You don't need to be carrying these boxes." 

"Wha--oh, no, no it's okay--" 

"No, go, go you beautiful pregnant woman."

"Doe's pregnant?" Johnathan announced in a clear voice, as he had just entered the restaurant from the upstairs apartment. Behind him were the other boys, all with bed head and reluctantly starting the day. 

"Uh...." Sue Ellen's mouth hung open, turning to Doe as if to silently ask for forgiveness and permission to tell her sons. 

Marigold was okay with it, honestly, given the fact that it wasn't really true, therefore no shame. Until Eric said, "Called it, I knew that was a belly bump, you owe me seven, Jeremy." 

"Crap..." the child muttered under his breath as he pulled cash from his back pocket.

"Hey! Don't say crap Jeremy, and don't gamble--and where are you getting that money?" Sue Ellen stuttered out, one at a time in an awkward and cluttered way only a mother could accomplish. "Alright boys, let mama talk." She pursed her lips, glancing at Doe, and dropping her hand on her shoulder affectionately. "Yes, Miss Doe is pregnant, and...and the father is someone who might come into the restaurant. So...if you see mom and her talking to a young man, I want you to mind your own beeswax, and keep working." 

"Wait? Who's the baby daddy?" Eric asked, pushing past Jeremy to get closer to Sue Ellen and Marigold. "Is it someone famous?" 

"Uh..." Marigold's mouth hung open, feeling uncertain about the entire thing. "Well, it's very complicated and...a very unsure situation." 

"Oh...so there are options?" Jeremy nodded, as if knowingly.

Sue Ellen turned to Marigold, concern clear in her expression. "Doe, you didn't tell me you weren't sure who the father was. Oh my gosh, you aren't sure?" 

"Well." Marigold pursed her lips, dropping her hands on her hips as she looked around at her sudden audience. "It...it is a complicated thing. A thing...that is confusing...and complicated...and really...really running away from me the more I talk really." 

"You should sue the dad, I bet you'd get a crap ton of money," Jeremy suggested, scooting onto the counter and dangling his legs over the side. 

"Jeremy, don't say 'crap'," Sue Ellen repeated, "and the rest of you need to be sure to help Miss Doe, okay? She's only in her first trimester but is gonna have back pains, nausea, weird nipple stuff--"

"GOSH! MOM! GROSS!" The boys all spewed out, finally losing interest in the conversation, and quickly getting to work in order to avoid any further discussion. 

Following that conversation, Marigold had not only been falsely exposed as a pregnant woman but also been given a really good excuse to get out of things.

Her work was suddenly easier, and whenever the boys pestered her about anything (mostly her fake pregnancy), she would just clench her chest and say, "Gosh, my nipples feel so...tender and swollen." 

Instantly, they'd be gone. 

This allowed Marigold to be left alone for awhile, but also gave her strange satisfaction. When customers would overhear the comments of the boys (or the ones she made herself), instantly, they'd shower Marigold with love and affection.

"Oh! You're pregnant! That's amazing!" 

"Kids are the best thing that ever happened to me. I know you usually hear the opposite, but it's true, I love my kids." 

"I don't even know you, but I can already tell, you're gonna be an amazing mom." 

"You know, I just kinda knew it. Not that you're showing or anything, but you just had that glow." 

"Oh, sweety! Congratulations! Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" 

The longer the day went on, the more Marigold wished it was true. She liked being pregnant, or at least the treatment. She missed that when she actually was pregnant. Instead, all she got were judgemental stares from the neighbors, strangers, her mom...

But now, things were different. 

She was treated lovingly by strangers, given blind affection for something that wasn't even true but Marigold loved it. 

It was the pregnant lady love she was never given. She'd never been so happy to have so many random strangers touch her abdomen. 

When breakfast's semi-rush came to an end, and Marigold had a chance to actually breathe, she went behind the counter and poured herself a glass of milk. She recalled during her own pregnancy, she was quite obsessed with milk, and figured maybe drinking it might get her into the mood. 

Looking out the window casually, she stared at the people passing by and wondered how long they had until the next rush came in, as she knew she wouldn't get to relax like this until the afternoon. 

You're going a bit far with the pregnancy thing, don't you think? Edo Marigold said, in a strangely bitter tone. 

"Hold up, sugar plum," Marigold mumbled quietly into her cup, "what's got you so upset?" 

Sorry, I just hate milk. Do you really have to drink it?

"Wait, can you taste the milk even when I'm in control?" Marigold said in awe. "And...if this is your body but my mind has the power, does that mean that how we enjoy flavor comes from our mind and not our tastebuds...wait...this is so weird and everything is different..."

"Hey Doe," Marigold flung her head up at the sound of her alias, a smile flashing onto her face as she fell eye to eye with Sue Ellen. "You mind running these to the post office down on Whippoorwill Road before the lunch rush?" In her hands were three closed envelopes, she passed them to Doe before she could even agree to do it. "Last time I had Jeremy do it, but for some reason...they never seemed to get there...so I'd rather have you do it."

"Yeah, totally," she thumbed through the envelopes, not bothering to pry and ask what they were for. However, she did take notice of the fact that the letters were all addressed to people personally, so they weren't bills. "I'll be quick, promise." 

"Thanks, kiddo," she gave Marigold a light salute and watched as Marigold put away her glass and pulled off her apron to prepare to head out. "Keep a watchful eye out, who knows what's going on in the games today, looks like the event is in the arena this time, but just in case anyone is...you know...flung into the horizon, look for incoming competitors...falling from the sky." 

"I know," Marigold agreed in a tender tone, "I mean, these games are just dangerous to watch altogether." 

She left the restaurant and began walking down the buzzing street with the letters in her hands. It was a bright and sunny day, but wasn't so humid, making it a delightful and easy walk. It felt relaxing, and Marigold was in a surprisingly good mood as well, so she kept her head up and smiled to those she passed, her mind (for a moment) straying from the stress of what was to come. 

Going down Whipporwill Road, she came to the post office and opened up the mailbox outside the building and dropped all three letters inside. 

Watching them slide into wherever the heck the post office kept letters, she pulled her hand away from the mailbox allowing it to snap closed, then turned back to the street. She looked at the clock at the corner of the street, seeing it was only around 10:10, thus there was plenty of time before the rush. She thought about grabbing a bite to eat before she returned to The Blue Shoe, as she'd only eaten diner food for the past two days, and would like something a little more conventional and perhaps even healthy. 

Despite this, all that was being served around her by vendors were decibels such as ice cream and fried...things...on sticks. 

She approached a vendor, leering over their menu in contemplation as she listened to the sounds of the town around her.

Suddenly, she heard his voice.

Marigold's head swung up, looking around with what was almost a smile on her face. It was Liddan, maybe. Her eyes searched through the crowd, and in her mind, she began fantasizing about all the ways she could bump into him. Maybe she'd brush past him, acting as if she didn't notice him. Or she'd meet eyes with him across the street. Or maybe she should just ignore him entirely, given any interaction with him was docile and meaningless. However, it was nice to just think about. 

So when she looked across the street and didn't see Liddan. It hurt.

She, instead, saw Isaiah. 

Instantly, she ducked down, fleeing from sight and hiding behind the vendor without any verbal explanation. The man who had thought he'd be serving Marigold looked down at her with utter confusion, giving her a face that said it all. "What are you doing?" 

Marigold looked up half-way innocently, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she whispered in a hissy voice, "Uh...he's my ex...and I might have his..." after providing an exaggerated gesture to her stomach, the vendor nodded his head in complete understanding.

He looked up around the contents of his stand, seeing the straw hats he was selling as well as the sunglasses. In a moment of kindness, he dropped the hat onto Marigold's head and dropped the glasses into her lap. "Go get 'im, kid." 

Marigold mouthed, "Thank you," as she left the stand, contemplating how wonderful a city Crocus was to be pregnant in. She left her hiding spot in the shopping stand, slowly approaching Isaiah from a distance, trying to listen to him speak as he walked down the street.

"Yeah, I just don't get why you're in the games, that's all," he spoke in a rather annoyed tone, speaking into a small lacrima as he walked down the sidewalk. Marigold kept behind him, pulling a map off a stand to really sink into the tourist vibe. 

She unfolded it, looking down into it as she glanced periodically up at Isaiah, listening to him speak best she could. 

"Look, I don't care, but right now, you're working for me. So I suggest you act like it. I know you have your own agenda, but I expect you to prioritize my work. I want you to find her, soon. I don't have much time, okay?" 

Marigold figured that the "her" in that sentence was in fact, well, her. Or maybe Lilly, but there wasn't a chance that Isaiah could find Lilly without getting to Ellabentra, and there was no way of getting to Ellabentra without the help of Marigold. However, Marigold had no idea who he was talking to, perhaps the group that kidnapped her, which was likely. Figures they'd be screwed after losing her. 

"I don't have much time until the anima closes, so you have until the week ends to get me Marigold back." Yep, definitely meant her before. 

When he dropped the lacrima into his pocket and began to turn around, Marigold flung herself against the wall, burying her face into the map desperately as she pretended to be a dumb, lost tourist. 

After a moment, he turned away and began walking again, dropping each of his hands into his pockets as he walked down the road. In spite of the danger, Marigold pulled her map down to watch him continue down the way, his back to her now.

She could hear Edo Marigold's voice calling in her head, a sharp, No, this is too dangerous! Go back! I can't be caught by him again, lingering inside her mind continuously. 

"This may be our chance to find out how to get you back home," Marigold said softly, appeasing her edo self, "listen, he mentioned that he only has anima open for another week, which means it might actually be really close...maybe...we could get you back home much earlier than expected." 

Edo Marigold, surprisingly, remained silent. 

So Marigold followed Isaiah, coming (unexpectedly) to the waterpark. 

"Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games!" 

"Wow! Only the second day? Really? It feels like it's been so long...like...months since the games started." 

"Nope, only a day!"

"Well, whatever!"

"Today we'd like to welcome our guest announcer to the mic, everyone favorite Boscan muscian!" 

Suddenly, in the crowd, Esmeralda was running towards the edge of Fairy Tail's balcony. Had Jude and Gideon not stopped her, she would have likely accidentally tumbled right off the end. "Yodanna!! Yodanna! Oh my gosh!" Esmeralda began shouting repeatedly, fanning herself as she struggled to breathe. 

"Calm down Ezzie--" Gideon stuttered out as he held onto her arm, Jude just barely keeping onto the ground as Esmeralda pulled her other arm forward. 

They managed to pull her back, and she flung her arms away from the boys defensively saying repeatedly, "It's okay, I'm calm. I'm calm! It's okay!" 

"Here she is! Bosco's greatest musician! Broka Nali!" 

Despite all the cheering provided from Broka's fans, the only thing that could really be heard was a sharp and monstrous "NOOOO" that came from, none other than, Esmeralda.

Quickly, Gideon covered her mouth, pulling her back away from the edge of the balcony as the screens showed the young and attractive singer Broka Nali waving to the crowd as she sat down next to the other announcers. 

She sat down in the seat, pushing her long hair behind her ear as she spoke in a delicate voice into the microphone.

"ᵀʰᵃⁿᵏˢ ᶠᵒʳ ʰᵃᵛᶦⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ, ʰᵒʷ'ˢ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵒⁿᵉ ᵈᵒᶦⁿᵍ ᵗᵒⁿᶦᵍʰᵗ?" 

"Uh, can you say that again?" 

"ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒ ʰᵃᵖᵖʸ ᵗᵒ ᵇᵉ ʰᵉʳᵉ ᵗᵒᵈᵃʸ, ᵗʰᵃⁿᵏˢ!"

"Well, okay then!"

"Miss Nali! Would you like the start the day's events?" 

"ᴸᵉᵗ ᵗᵒᵈᵃʸ'ˢ ᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗˢ ᵇᵉᵍᶦⁿ!"

Unsure of the woman said anything, there was a small hesitation before any cheering began. There was a sudden eruption in the center of the arena, a bright light shining all around and kicking off the games.  

"And today's event is..."

The light faded, and in its place arrived a giant cube of various colors. It didn't take long to realize what exactly was happening. 

"Rubix Maze!" 

"Holy..." Xavier said, running his fingers through his hair as he watched the cube/puzzle/maze rearrange itself."

"That's....that's a bit much," Esmeralda said, a nervous expression on her face. 

Nashi brought her hands together, knowing that there wasn't a chance for her to have to compete in that day's events. "Yeah," she said with a nod, stepping backward in sync with Jude. "Good luck with that." 

"Here are the rules! This rubix puzzle will move according to this three-year-old boy's changes to his cube." 

The lacrimas displayed a small boy sitting in a chair on one of the balconies. He was holding a scrambled cube in his hands, yet to fiddle with the puzzle. He was cute, kicking his legs that didn't quite reach the floor up and down as he waved into the lacrima that was filming him. 

"The cube is a maze, each side having its own center of gravity so being on the bottom one won't make you fall off. However, you can't crawl on the top of the walls, you have to go through it! There's a force field, so don't even try it! The goal is to reach the center white square before the puzzle is solved!" 

"And! If you stay on a side after it's been solved, you're disqualified. So move quickly, and pay attention!"

"If you make it into the center white square, don't get too comfortable! Because you have to stay in it until the puzzle is solved!"

"Seems easy enough," Gideon said with uncertainty. He turned to Xavier and Esmeralda. "Right? It's good...right?" 

"Now, for the day's competitors! The participants of today's events will be randomized, unlike yesterdays. So hold onto your hats! This one's a wild card!" 

The lacrima's showed a scrambled screen as if it were a lotto machine. Suddenly, it slowed, and the participants were decided.

"From Howl Caedo! Frost...why don't any of these kids have last names?" 

"From the Deadly Sins! Reo--why don't they have last names? Should I make one up?"

"Oo sounds fun! Why not....Reo Dorito...?" 

"Oh, I like that one, what do you think, Miss Nali?" 

"ᴵ ᵇᵉˡᶦᵉᵛᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ᴿᵉᵒ ᴰᵉˢᶜᶦᵒᵖᵃᵈᵒʳᵃ ᴸᵃᵛᵃᵈᵒʳ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ᵇᵉᶠᶦᵗᵗᶦⁿᵍ!" 

"Oh...okay...what'd she say?" 

"My dear, is your mic on?" 

"From Fairy Tail, Gideon Fullbuster!" 

"Finally, a last name..."

"ᴹᵐᵐ, ᴵ ʷᵃⁿⁿᵃ ᶜᵘᵗ ᵒᶠᶠ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ᵐᵃⁿ ᵖᵒⁿʸ ᵗᵃᶦˡ."

"Uh, pardon, Miss Nali?"

"From Blue Pegasus, Regina Lates!" 

"From Redmoon Shield, Cali Celestial!" 

"Hard to believe the no name guild made it so high on the first day! They're only a point behind Fairy Tail, who have one several years before!" 

"Yeah, like...who are these people? Weren't they a dark guild for awhile? Wait, where are my notes?" 

"From Sabertooth, Nathan Drake!" 

"Oh! Found it, yeah, Redmoon Sheild was bad for a bit--"

"ᴳᵒᵒᵈⁿᵉˢˢ, ʷᵒᵐᵃⁿ, ʲᵘˢᵗ ʳᵉᵃᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᶦʳˢᵗ ᵛᵒˡᵘᵐᵉ. ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵃˡˡ ᶦⁿ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ."

"From Mermaid Heel, Simie Felicity Rose!"

"Dang, this girl's got names to spare. Honey, you wanna give some to the other kids! They could really use em'!" 

"And finally, from Lamia Scale, Ronan James Smith!" 

"Oo, snap me off a piece of that..."

"Why isn't this young man wearing a shirt? I mean, is there not a dress code--"

"If you guys are gonna have swimsuit competitions for girls! Then we're gonna have em' for the boys too! It's called equality!" 

"ᴬˡʳᶦᵍʰᵗ, ⁿᵒʷ ˡᵉᵗ'ˢ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵗʰᶦˢ ᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗ ˢᵗᵃʳᵗᵉᵈ!" 

Gideon turned to the others, taking in a sharp breath as he saluted the team. "Welp, see you on the other side." 

As he passed Nashi, she quickly put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. Kissing him on the cheek, she quickly said, "Don't die or anything, 'kay?" 

Gideon blushed lightly, wondering why he was so flattered by just a kiss. He scratched the cheek he just kissed, "Sure thing. Probably, yeah..."

After he had left their balcony, the team all came to watch each of the participants come towards the center of the arena below the cube. Jude stepped beside, watching Nashi as she wore a smile looking down at Gideon.

"What's it like?" he asked, drawing her attention suddenly.

She turned her head, her hair sweeping over her shoulder as she did so. Nashi seemed confused, so Jude repeated, extending his question just a bit. "What's it like to, well, you know...be with someone?" 

"Oh," Nashi's face grew red, and she looked away as she laughed nervously. Turning back to Jude, she scrunched down to be closer to his level. "Weird question to ask your sister, don't you think?" 

"Not really," Jude shrugged, "I mean, I was just wondering what it's like to  date someone for so long--well, you're getting married soon, too."

"Yeah," Nashi leaned back, gripping onto the edge of the railing to keep herself up as she took in a deep breath. "It's a bit scary at times, but when you're honest, straightforward, and considerate, a relationship can go right." 

"Are you still scared?" 

Nashi looked down into the arena, watching Gideon look up at the cube. He turned his head, looking directly at her and smiling. He waved his arm lightly before turning away, and that was all. However, that small gesture made Nashi weak to the knees. 

"Not anymore. "

"Let the second day's event begin!!" 

Liddan had been sitting and watching Melody swim around in the pool with the exceeds for about 25 minutes until he got rather hungry. He was watching in a creepy way, to be frank, he just didn't like swimming that much. Not anymore, that is.

Having an arm made mostly out of metal didn't do him much good swimming, and would usually just drag him down to the bottom of the pool. However, taking the arm off would entice a new problem, swimming with one arm. His mother had suggested he approach a prosthetist, who could easily make him an arm better for swimming. However, Liddan didn't like the idea of having multiple arms for different occasions. He pulled his arm into his lap, looking at the scraps and scratches that he'd accumulated over the year he'd been using it.

It was clear he could use a new one, but the very thought of getting a new one wasn't ideal for him. He didn't want to throw away the tool that worked so fluidly with his sword, and he didn't know anyone with the same magic ability as the girl who had made the arm for him. Surely, someone else could bind him to the arm and sword as she had, but it seemed like too much trouble, and Liddan wasn't eager for any big changes. 

He stood up, watching Melody flap about gleefully in the water, her tail fully exposed as she relaxed in the water. Cupping his mouth with his hand, he called out to her, "Hey guys! Want anything? I'm getting some food!" 

"LUGI!" Lugi cried out, flapping around in the water gleefully with her paws raised gladly.

"She said she wants a big salmon on a stick, deep-fried in chocolate!" Malcon shouted to Liddan, translating for Lugi as he usually did.

Liddan couldn't help but cringe at the thought of the meal, but he couldn't deny a request from the cat. "How 'bout you Mel?" 

She didn't seem to even notice Liddan, and instead, kept on swimming. She'd blow water out of her mouth, do tricks, use her magic as she liked. She seemed to have even gained a small audience from the younger kids around her, who she would offer rides through the pool if they liked. 

Liddan smiled, happy to see Melody enjoying herself in the water, as well as the cats. He shook his head and went off to go get Lugi's disgusting sounding meal. 

He dropped his hands into the pocket of his hoodie, looking down at his dry swim trunks in sadness as he felt stupid for even wearing them. They had little flames that went up each leg, and he honestly hated how "in theme" his own attire was to his magic ability. He groaned to himself, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to just walk on without feeling like a complete idiot.

Approaching the snack bar, he looked up at the menu in complete shock at the fact that Lugi's meal was an actual item and not some weird special item. Smoked salmon deep-fried in chocolate. How does one even deep-fry something in chocolate? 

As the question rang through his mind, he read the menu in search of something to order himself. When he caught sight of something familiar, he suddenly felt really excited. It was a Strawbana Frozocicle. It was a dreadful name, but it was also dreadfully delicious.

He and Gideon would often pull one out of the freezer when they were young and share it on the front porch, sitting and talking about what they did that day, and what they'd do the next day or when they were old and strong and cool (or hot in Liddan's case). 

Immediately, for the sake of his own hunger and nostalgia, he pulled out his wallet and bought it (along with Lugi's chocolate soaked salmon). The vendor passed him the two items, the chocolate covered fish stabbed with a stick, while the Popsicle was still packaged. Then he remembered that the Strawbana Frozosicle was made to be shared, having two popsicles stuck together to be broken apart (one strawberry, the other banana).

He suddenly felt a little sad and dumb, because he just bought something for himself that was meant to be shared. Maybe Malcon or Mel would want it, who really knew. Despite this, Liddan began walking back to his seat by the pool, where he set the salmon on a napkin and prepared to open up his own package. 

Squinting his eyes, he saw the all the other people in his group had made their way to the far end of the pool, and he'd likely have to shout at them to let them know he'd even returned. He was about to do just that until something caught his eye.

Her.

She was lurking around, her caution only making her look more suspicious. She crept across the pool and was coming towards him. Well, not directly towards Liddan, but she was about to pass him.

He wasn't sure what to do right away. Just ignore her? Pull his hood over his head and home she didn't notice him? That wasn't too bad an idea, but he'd feel like an idiot for doing it. Why should he even avoid her? Because he broke her arm the day before? That's a dumb reason to avoid someone, especially when you went through all the trouble to fix it. Heck, her arm was probably better than before. She ought to be coming over there to thank him.

Then she passed Liddan, not even noticing him because he spent too much time thinking about it rather than doing anything.

He jerked his head around, peering over his shoulder to see her back as she walked away. She was wearing a straw hat and glasses, which didn't really conceal her appearance too much because she was still wearing her uniform from the restaurant, which instantly gave it away for Liddan. He didn't really realize it right away, but he had suddenly stood up and begun to follow her.

I mean, it would be fun, or interesting at the very least. Compared to what he was already doing. Might as well just stalk the girl for a bit and see where it took him. 

Liddan quickly realized that what he was doing really was stalking, so he decided to try and approach her and notify her of his presence. Because as long as the person you're following knows you're there, it isn't stalking, right?

He reached out, dropping his hand on her shoulder and in a clear voice saying, "Hey." 

Instantly, she jerked her entire body around with her fist raised, ready to defend herself. She even squeaked a big, like she was trying (and failing ) at delivering some sort of battle cry. Liddan didn't flinch at the sudden movement, instead just smirked, watching her bewildered face covered slightly with a pair of off-balance sunglasses. 

After taking a quick breath, she fell forward, letting out a soft "Phew" as she pulled her glasses off. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else." 

"Really now?" Liddan said, dropping his hands into his pockets as he waited for Marigold to pull her head back up. "Shouldn't you be working?" 

"I have a good hour before the lunch rush starts," Marigold said, once again glancing at the clock dangling above the snack bar's faux straw and bamboo roof. "Really, what are you doing here? All alone, that is." 

"I'm not alone," he said sternly, furrowing his eyebrows in offense to the comment. "I came with my friends." 

"Really? Where?" Marigold began to look around in the pool, stretching her body by standing on her toes to look over Liddan's shoulders and get a better look. Liddan thought she was making fun of him, insisting that she didn't believe he actually had friends. However, Marigold was honestly just hoping to catch a glance at her own former friends. 

"They're real," he insisted, quickly bringing out his hand just to push Marigold back on her heels to stop her search. "More importantly, what are you doing here dressed like that?" 

"What do you mean dressed like--" she looked down at her own attire, realizing she was wearing a long, heavy skirt and quarter sleeves blouse. It was not something one would wear to the pool, and it didn't make a good cover up either. "Uh, I'm swimming on my break." 

"Are you now?" 

"Yeah," she wasn't really holding anything in her arms that could pass as a swimsuit. In fact, Marigold wasn't even carrying a bag that she could pretend carried one in. "I'm...wearing it under my clothes." 

"Really, that's nice, can I see?" 

"What, no you can't see. Of course, you can't see." 

"It's a swimsuit, isn't it? What's so secret about that? Is it kinky or something--"

"Of course it isn't kinky, wha--what are you getting at here? Huh? You trying to get me to flash you or something?" 

"No, I just want to know why you're really here," he smirked, one hand in his pocket as the other dangled his still packaged popsicle in his hand. 

Marigold furrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms and still just barely holding onto her straw hat between two fingers tightly pressed together in a desperate attempt not to lose the gift she'd been given by the vendor from before. She hated how much she loved that smile. 

"Your curiosity won't get you anywhere," she said quickly, briskly turning away and beginning to walk, not caring that Liddan continued to follow her. "I'm sensing a pattern here, you're only interested in what you don't know about, is that right?" 

"I don't know a lot of things," Liddan said smoothly, only to find himself annoyed by the snickers Marigold concealed between a tight-lipped smile, "you know what I mean. Look, if you're in trouble, I might be able to help." 

Marigold sighed, biting her lip as she clutched tightly onto the flimsy rim on her hat, she tried not to look across at Liddan, fearing that taking him up on his offer would only drag her back into her old world. 

She was about to say no, send him away and walk away briskly, then she caught sight of him. 

Isaiah was walking alongside the pool, his eyes scanning the area intensely. Marigold panicked, and suddenly found herself forced to take Liddan up on his offer. Her fist wrapped tightly around the fabric of his hoodie, flinging him towards herself as she squished against the wall, using Liddan as coverage.

Looking up at his bright pink hair, she realized that needed to be hidden too. Her hands drove upwards, grabbing the sides of the hood and swinging it over his head, incidentally pushing his entire head down and towards her. 

There, an inch from one another's nose, Marigold hissed out, "Okay, help me now, I need you to hide me." She slipped her hat onto her head. "Pull your hands up to cover my face." 

Immediately, Liddan smacked his hand flat onto Marigold's face. She swiped his hand away and harshly hissed, "Not that way!" 

"Well, honestly, this looks kinda aggressive as is, so I was just going with it." Liddan retorted, making Marigold very well realize that she was forcing him to pin her against a wall, and they were just talking. She could only think that they were likely drawing more attention to themselves by having Liddan look as if she's ganging up on her, so she realized, that there was only one thing to do.

She grabbed Liddan's collar and pulled him forward, kissing him on the lips. 

If she were to think of it more, she could have thought of a better plan, as there was surely more than one thing to do in such a situation. Of course, if Marigold was truly honest with herself, she wasn't interested in any of those other things. So she just started kissing Liddan, because that always seemed to work. 

The kiss lasted a long while, Marigold keeping one eye open to watch Isaiah pass them. Liddan was doing a good job keeping up with the cover, wrapping his arms around Marigold and keeping an eye open to exchange looks with Marigold and make sure he moved so her face was never exposed. However, there was a moment, after Isaiah had passed, where they looked at each other, their lips still touching, his hands still on her waist, her's around his neck, where they just kissed. 

It was a strange kiss, as their eyes were wide open and they were looking straight at each other, which wasn't an ideal way to kiss. However, it was tender, and there was a certain feeling hidden inside it that was exchanged as they locked eyes. 

It felt, in a very weird way, comfortable. 

Marigold pulled away an appropriate moment after Isaiah was gone, but they kept their hands on one another for a bit longer. "Sorry," she said quickly. 

"It's fine," he shrugged, dropping his hands from his waist. Jokingly, he chuckled as he stepped away from Marigold. "Funny, you're the second person I've randomly kissed in the last 24 hours." 

"WHAT--" Marigold pursed her lips, suddenly seeking an excuse for her sudden fit of shouting. Quickly, she threw her arm up, extending it in a random direction as she continued with, "--is that over there!?" 

Liddan foolishly turned towards the direction Marigold had pointed, giving Marigold the perfect opportunity to sneak away. She slid away, rushing towards the direction she had seen Isaiah go off into, dipping into a more leisurely pace after making a fair distance from Liddan.

However, he wasn't going to be ignored.

He followed after her, jogging lightly to meet up with her and joining her as she left the main area of the waterpark and into a more darker hall that led to the aquarium. "Hey, don't go wandering off so easily."

"Well, don't go following me so easily..." Marigold slowly shut her mouth, realizing that what she had just said didn't make much sense. Shaking her head she continued, "I think I should go alone, you're probably only going to get me found out." 

"And if you're found out," he took a quick breath, expanding his chest, "I'll protect you." 

"Please leave," Marigold said quickly, but after spotting Isaiah down the hall next to a tank, she quickly grabbed onto Liddan and pulled him behind a column with her, thus, dragging him further into the situation. 

"You're actions contradict your words," Liddan said in a less than excited tone, as he tripped and lightly banged his shoulder into the cement when being tugged behind the column.

"Fair enough, just keep quiet," Marigold whispered, squeezing her eyes shut in both embarrassment and a bit of fear. She shook her hands as if to shake off the nerves, not paying any attention to Liddan, who had propped himself up beside her with an annoyed expression.

"Have you never done this before?" He asked in a soft voice.

"I said to keep quiet!" 

He stepped in front of her, pulling his hood over his head and peering out down the hall. "Who we following?" 

Marigold pursed her lips, wondering how Liddan would react if he realized they were following an identical copy of himself...except with white hair. 

"White hair?" He asked, having spotted the hair from a distance before. "Who is he? One of your captors?" 

He looked at Marigold, an almost smug look on his face. By his expression, he had all the answers he needed. "I'm definitely sticking around then." 

With two fingers up, and the rest tucked away, he gestured towards Marigold to start moving, and they began to follow Isaiah.

From then on, there was a lot more silence, the two of them tailing Isaiah from at least twenty feet back, watching him make his way through the aquarium as they snuck around, taking casual and unidentifiable steps towards him. He didn't seem to notice, which kept Marigold calm. Also having Liddan beside her, it just seemed safer with him around.

It felt as though they might have reached their destination when they watched Isaiah sneak into a staff only room. He slipped into the room, disappearing behind the door suddenly. Liddan waited a moment before pursuing, holding his hand up with hesitation before gesturing for the two of them to go. They rushed across the room from their hiding spot, gliding towards the door where Liddan would slowly open it.

He cracked it open first, peaking in through the opening and watching the shadow of Isaiah ride down the walls until it disappeared entirely. Slowly, Liddan opened the door and entered the room.

It appeared to be a long hall that wrapped around a large tank. Windows lined all on one side, but the wall opposite was just a blank wall, the shadows of sea creatures lining it. They stepped into the hall, walking down slowly as the shadows passed over them.

They kept silent, knowing that their voices surely would echo had they dared to speak. Keeping close, they ventured to an open door with a bright light spilling out of it.

Suddenly, Marigold reached for Liddan's hand, nervous of what they mind find behind the door. He didn't seem to notice right away, as there was a somewhat natural feel to the touch that he didn't find it apparent that they were holding hands until he saw it for himself. Seeing her small pale fingers gliding over his palm. Suddenly, he himself was holding onto her hand, figured that she needed to be held in some way. She seemed frightened. 

They didn't enter the room, but instead, each took a place beside the doors opening and peaking in to watch Isaiah make his way around the room. It was one of those showrooms, the ones with a big pool and rows of seats around it where animals would perform tricks in the pool and have a grand time. However, it had clearly been abandoned years before. 

Isaiah approached the pool, peering into it with dark eyes and a cold expression. He pulled a small device from his pocket and pressed a button, suddenly, the pool was illuminated with bright lights. 

Liddan turned to Marigold, mouthing, "What is that?" 

She looked at Liddan, then back at the pool.

I know that, I know those lights. Marigold listened to the voice. Quietly thinking, "What is it?" 

Anima.

When the events began, Gideon didn't even realize it right away. In a flash, he and the other participants were all flashed into the cube, each spread out an equal distance on the bottom side with the cube. He looked up, and saw the ground. 

He tried not to panic.

3...2...1...GO!" 

Suddenly, he could move again and was allowed to freely travel through the maze. He looked around at the red walls, realizing he was on a red square, and that he had no idea what that meant for them.

Out of nowhere, he felt the square begin to move and turn, the source of gravity weird shaping. He, and likely a few other people, started to scream.

It was all very disorienting, and honestly a hot mess of an event. Gideon kept wondering whether or not the people who made these events secretly wanted to make all the participating mages miserable. This was likely, but Gideon had to move past that and just try to get to the top square. Of course, he didn't know how he was supposed to do that, as it was a maze, and he couldn't see anything. 

Feeling the force of the cube move again, he looked up an saw a sideways view of the screen, seeing the three-year-old was acting fast, and would likely solve the puzzle in just a few minutes. Gideon and the others didn't have long.

"GAH!" He heard suddenly, watching the screen as he saw Regina Lates fall onto her back in a blue section. 

"Ooo, looks like Regina Lates just got a bit fried trying to get up on the wall." 

Pursing his lips, Gideon, not knowing where he was going, ran through the maze in the desperate hopes of escaping, and also not getting fried. 

He made each turn randomly, unsure of where he was going but hopeful nonetheless. Suddenly, he arrived at the end of his square, finding an opening that led to another color. It was white, which meant it would have led to the top where he wanted to go. 

"Ooo...Reo of Deadly Sins has just accidentally teleported out of the arena...he is apparently somewhere in Crocus...outside of a pretzel stand."

"Our sources say he is currently ordering a pretzel, and perhaps forgotten about the competition entirely. He is...incidentally, disqualified from the match."

Gideon listened in confusion, but also finding himself relieved that perhaps one of the greatest threats to him had already been eliminated. He moved on ahead, blindly moving through the maze.

As Gideon approached the square, the entire cube began to shift again, and the white square was prominently replaced with a blue one. 

"Come on!" He found himself shouting. Gideon growled, running his fingers through his hair, "How'm I supposed to get anywhere if everything keeps moving?!" 

"There are a couple of tricks," a voice said suddenly. Gideon turned around suddenly, finding a girl in a white dress stand directly behind him. Beside her was a giant hole in the wall, which Gideon could swear wasn't there moments ago. "Like that right there," she shrugged her shoulder towards the hole, gesturing to it casually as if the gaping absence in the wall wasn't such a big deal, "the walls aren't too strong, so that could eliminate the maze portion of the event." 

Gideon took a step away from the woman, quickly forming a long blade of ice in his hand as a weapon against the mysterious woman. Even this didn't seem to bother her. 

Her hair, which had fallen in her face during her efforts against the wall, was a deep purple. Gideon didn't recognize the girl all too well, but he had assumed she was apart of the guild Mermaid Heel, or somewhere in that likeness. 

"Would you please put that away, I'd rather not have any fights here. I know you're quite strong and it wouldn't be too productive for either of us to fight so early in the game." 

Gideon, with a moment of hesitation, lowered his weapon and gave the woman a weary look. "Sorry for being so forward," he began saying, "but who are you exactly?" 

"Oh of course you don't remember me," she sighed, shaking her head, "Goodness, I was in your guild for several months, we had spoken several times." 

"What?!" Gideon's face morphed into one of shock, "Wait--you were in Fairy Tail? When?!" 

"Well, about a year ago," the woman crossed her arms, recalling her time in the guild. "I believe I quite before all the arrests began, but all the tension isn't why I quite, believe me." 

"Oh," was all Gideon could say right away. So, he brought his hands together and nodded his head, "Well, I'm sorry that Fairy Tail wasn't a good fit for you...I hope we can work together in the future and you're happy where ever you are--"

"What's with the formulated apology?" she smiled, walking past Gideon and grabbing onto his arm, tugging into the next square that arrived, only for the previous area to move away as the cube was twisted again. "I don't care, Fairy Tail was nice but it just wasn't for me. I've been in several guilds, but none of them felt at home." 

Gideon stumbled into the square, watching as the woman began to walk around the small area of the new square, not wandering off behind any walls. "Hey, I didn't catch your name." 

"It's Simie," she announced, brushing her hand against the wall to analyze its texture and estimated it's depth. "Would you like to make a temporary union?" 

"Well, doesn't that seem a bit naive?" Gideon responded with a fair amount of rational thinking.

She turned her head and gave Gideon what he could only assume was half of a smile. "For me or you?" She laughed softly to herself, turning away and facing the wall again. "Consider it a wedding gift, plus, I think you'll do a better job getting through these walls than me."

"How do you know about my enga--"

"I still keep tabs on Fairy Tail," Simie answered before the question had been asked, "people watching is one of my favorite hobbies, really. But when I leave a place, I get annoyed because then I don't know what's going on in someone's life. It really bothers me, so I decided to find ways to figure out what's happening by doing some appropriate digging and light stalking." 

There wasn't a reaction right away from Gideon, but as he began to mutter, "What the h--", Simie drew her arm up threw a small ball (or most likely a bomb) at Gideon. It was exactly at Gideon, to be fair, it was right beside his hair, he could feel the air being pushed around by it brush against his ear. The moment it was out of his sight, he turned his head around to find that the bomb had fallen into the face of the man that had a gun pointed at Gideon's head. 

He fell back, and the bomb burst open, a star slick liquid bursting out of it and leaving the man on the ground with what looked like stars all over his face. As Gideon turned back to Simie, finding her arm still extended, and a scowl on her face. "Nathan Drake," she said, pulling her arm down, "Sabertooth, he stole the fries I ordered once. I'm sure it was an accident, but I still wanted to get back at him." She wiped her hand as if cleaning it from any guilt and withheld feelings towards the man she'd just attacked. Gideon turned to watch Nathan to pull his face up, wiping the liquid from his face to expose the dazed expression. "He won't remember anything for the next three minutes. So, if you'd kindly hurry up with this wall, we could be on our way." 

Turning back to Simie, Gideon--likely out of blind faith--decided to knock down the wall. Quickly, using his ice make, Gideon created an ice cannon and announced to Simie, "Stand back," as he prepared to fire what would be a heck of a lot of destruction.

The blast was loud, but more importantly, effective. There was a clear opening made through the walls, and Gideon turned to Simie and looked her up and down, waiting for her to do something malicious or osme serious act of betrayal.

"What? Aren't you gonna go?" 

"You go first," he said sharply.

Surprisingly, she smiled and said, "Okay."

With little trust between them, they began moving forward. 

Marigold stared into the lights, a certain electricity emitting from it in a sudden chaos. It was frightening, and unpredictable, and Marigold didn't know what to do.

That's anima! Edolas Marigold began to cry out inside her mind. That's anima! I can go home now!

Suddenly, there was a certain pain in Marigold's stomach. And a small little thought in her mind that changed everything.

"I don't want to go." 

What? she said, what do you mean you don't want to go? This is my body! You can't take it from me! I have a life in Edolas! I want to go back to it! I want my body back! I want to go home! YOU CAN'T TAKE THIS FROM ME!  GO IN! GO IN NOW! WE'RE HERE! JUST GO!

JUST GO!

Before Liddan could process it, Marigold leaped into the pool, swimming towards the light in the center. It was frightening, and the water stirred as the foreign body entered it. 

"WAIT!" Liddan cried out, reaching out as if it were still soon enough to grab onto Marigold and pull her out of the water. Realizing it wasn't, he quickly stripped off his shoes and hoodie and tumbled in himself.

As he fell into the water, he found himself overcome with a certain coldness. The pool was much deeper than he had expected, as it was likely used for shows with large sea creatures, so it simply had to be. He hadn't expected the water to be so cold, or so bright below it. When he opened his eyes, it was difficult to see anything for a moment, as the light blinded him. However, as Marigold's body flickered in and out of his view, as she swam to the bottom of the pool where the light came from. 

She kicked towards the light, losing a shoe as she did so, desperately pulling her arms back and forth to bring herself closer to it. Without fully understanding it, Liddan began reaching towards her.

Liddan truly was a dreadful swimmer, flopping around underwater best he could with the fake arm which only served as mostly dead weight under the water. Still, he kicked off the floor of the pool to gain traction and reach Marigold before she found grasp onto the center of the light.

He grasped onto her ankle, yanking her backward and away from the light. Discovering that Liddan had followed her down into the pool, Marigold turned towards him and found him pulling her towards him, a stern expression on his face. He wasn't happy to have had to jump into the water, despite the fact that he was the one wearing swim trunks. 

Of course, for a moment, that changed. Liddan's expression faded, and he loosened his grip on Marigold and just looked at her. He realized she was crying, and out of lack of understanding and a bit of fear of what a woman is capable of doing when crying (provided from his mother and sisters),  Liddan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her out of the water.

The ascended to the surface, coming to meet the cold air above them, and suddenly missing the familiar temperature of the water they had just been in. But oxygen was a worthy trade for comfort, so they remained above the water, still holding onto one another. 

They were both panting, maybe because from the lack of air, or the anxiety of what they'd just gone through below the water. The two had collided in an awkward way, making it look much less like a loving embrace and more like a man carrying a squawking animal, not that Marigold was squawking or anything, Liddan just seemed to hold her in a way that suggested she was in some way wild. 

With his arms wrapped around tightly below Marigold's, she had been lifted up above his head, forcing herself to push against his shoulders to keep herself to steady. Incidentally, his face was in her chest, but Liddan seemed much more focused on the fact that Marigold was pushing him back into the water by pushing against his shoulders.

Liddan wasn't tall enough to reach the bottom of the pool, so he bobbed up and down at the surface as he continued to hold onto Marigold, awkwardly coming up and down every few moments until Marigold stopped pushing on his shoulders and just let him hold her in his arms, allowing him to kick to the side of the pool as they finally stopped bobbing up and down. 

They each clutched onto the side of the pool, their hands attaching themselves to the concrete rim of the pool as the rest of them floated naturally in the water. After catching her breath, Marigold instantly threw herself off the edge and back into the pool, only to be instantly grabbed by Liddan, who promptly pulled her back to the side and forced her against the wall of the pool.

Reluctantly grabbing on, she faced Liddan who sternly shook his finger at her and said, "Stay." 

She didn't appreciate the tone but realized there wasn't much of a chance getting away with Liddan so close, and explaining seemed futile as well. There was a lot to explain, and Liddan would have a lot of questions Marigold wasn't excited to answer. 

He turned back to Marigold, replacing his hands to allow himself the most comfortable position possible as he faced her. "So," he began, his voice exhausted from the sudden swim he had just taken, "what was that exactly?" 

Marigold didn't want to answer, and for awhile, she didn't. She just looked at her cold and clammy hands, listening to the voice inside her head begging her to break away and go into the water once again. To go into anima and bring her home. Marigold tried to listen to her, but she just didn't want to for a moment. 

She kept quiet, shutting her eyes and gripping tightly onto the edge. Suddenly, Marigold pushed herself back into the water. Liddan panicked for a moment, his arm impulsively reaching out to grab her and pull her back. However, this time he realized that Marigold wasn't swimming away, as her hands were still firmly attached to the side of the pool. She was just waiting under the water. Enjoying the silence that came with it.

Underwater, the world was different in some kind of beautiful way. 

The noise from everywhere else was muffled and distorted, becoming meaningless, unnecessary, and avoidable. Unfortunately, that didn't count for the voice inside her head.

She listened as the other Marigold screamed, cried, begged for Marigold to break away from the wall and bring her back to her home. 

This isn't your body.

This isn't your body.

This isn't your body.

This isn't your body.

This isn't your body.

This isn't your body.

At some point, Marigold couldn't tell whose voice was speaking. The other Marigold's, or her own. 

When she ran out of air, she returned to the surface, finding Liddan there, same as before, waiting patiently for her return. 

Promptly pulling herself back to the wall, Marigold said, "I have to go into the light."

"What?"

"I can't explain why," Marigold turned to Liddan, "I can't, but I really have to go into that light."

There was a moment of silence, and a look of uncertainty stagnant on Liddan's face. He didn't seem to have an answer, or a reason to stop Marigold, he just had an unsettling feeling inside of him, telling him that he shouldn't let her go.

Of course, he didn't have to, as when he turned his head, he soon realized that the light was in fact fading. "Doe," he said, grabbing onto her shoulder, "Doe, the light." 

Jerking her head towards the center of the pool, she too realized the light was not only fading but now flickering. "NO!" She pushed off the wall and began swimming towards the center, desperately pushing through the water to come towards the center.

Once again, her head dipped under the water, and she looked into the center that previously beamed a blinding light. It was dim, and flickering, but Marigold could finally see where the light had been coming from. 

It was a small device, a bit larger than a pocket watch but smaller than a dessert plate. There, Marigold could see it's light fading, and quickly. She reached out, hoping that by touching it before the light faded, she could be taken away and it would all be over.

But just as Marigold touched it, the lights went out, and there was nothing left.

"This is fun isn't it?"

"Why do you need to be on my shoulders for this?!"

It was exactly what it sounds like. Gideon was running through the rubix maze with his new ally Simie perched on his shoulders, directing him on which way to punch giant holes through. 

"It's easiest this, way, I think," Simie said as she pointed to a yellow wall, "there, through that wall." She braced herself as Gideon proceeded to break down the wall with a blast of an ice canon. It was exhilarating, but mostly just very loud. "I can see a lot of things from up here, and also have an easier time finding any potential enemies--Redmoon! Eight o'clock!" Gideon jerks his body towards what would be his eight o'clock, finding Cali, the Redmoon participant, coming straight towards them. Simie quickly throws her bomb at the girl, watching it smack against her head with a remarkably sparkly explosion. "Run through the yellow! Now!" Simie instructed, and Gideon did just that.

They ran forward, or at least Gideon did with Simie gripping tight onto the fabric of Gideon's shirt. When they entered the yellow square, they felt a sudden jolt, and Gideon braced himself, holding onto Simie's legs that hung over her shoulder to keep her steady as well. In a moment, they realized they were upside down, the ground of the arena above their heads. 

"Great, we're at the bottom," Gideon groaned.

"No, this is good," Simie said, looking around. "If I'm correct, to the left of you is a white square. He's almost got the cross ready, then he'll move the last white corner to the top and we can move on into the center of the white side." 

Gideon looked to his left, then up at Simie. "How do you know that?"

"Why do you think we stayed on the red side so long?" Simie asked, "I was keeping track of the kid's moves, he has a strategy, you just have to pay attention." 

"Well that sounds great," Gideon said with a shrug, incidentally making Simie have to shift herself on his shoulders. "Which wall do I--"

"HYAH!" they heard suddenly, turning their heads to find a surprise attack coming from the side. It was, naturally, Regina from Blue Pegasus.

The attack, however, despite having much enthusiasm and effort to it, did very little good, as Simie almost instantly threw her off with what appeared to be a long sythe conjured out of thin air.

She flung Regina upward, sending her into the forcefield above them, shocking her drastically before she fell back onto the ground of the cube. It was not a good day for Regina, she wasn't moving, it was unfortunate. 

After watching Regina twitch on the floor for a few moments, Simie reached out her arm, pointing to the left and said, "That wall right there." 

After Gideon had destroyed the wall, leaving a queer-shaped hole in several walls of the maze, Simie dismounted Gideon, still holding the large sythe in her small pale hands.

He looked across at her, examining the sythe for a short moment before asking, "Did you run out of those bombs?" 

"Oh no, I only had one left," she explained, stepping past Gideon and looking down the hole. "I was saving it." 

"For what?" Gideon asked, suddenly feeling a certain discomfort.

"For you." 

Without hesitation, Simie threw the bomb at Gideon, who was quickly struck in the face and fell back, his head hitting the ground firmly. Simie watched over him, watching the strained expression form on Gideon's face as his eyes remained firmly shut, spots of moon drip bedecking his cheek and forehead. "Sorry for this Gideon, I can't help but feel bad, but you truly were a tremendous help." 

Standing up, she began to run into the white square, it suddenly jerking as the square was moved, likely to the top.

After a few short moments, Gideon lifted his head, rubbing the sore back that had banged against the hard floor below him. In a moment, he reached forward, pulling his hand up towards his face and wiping the thin layer of ice he had formed over his face just when Simie attacked.

"Well, that wasn't very surprising at all," he said with a sigh, watching the thin mask of his face shatter moments after he pulled it from his skin. He stood up, looking around quickly, thinking of what Simie had said about examining the strategy of the boy and the cube. He pulled his head up, peaking up to where he could see the bottom corner of the lacrima screen showing the cube as it moved. It all seemed so random and almost chaotic. He had no idea what the boy was doing. 

He didn't quite understand it, but he tried his best to. 

With another twist, Gideon looked to the open hole to find a yellow square arrive next to him. With blind hope, he moved towards it, knowing that it would at least take him off the bottom and let him see the screen again. He jumped onto the square, just before it escaped his grasp, suddenly moving to the side of the cube and getting a sideways view of the entire world. He turned his head to the side, looking at the screen that was now before him, trying to pin where he was. He realized that he, perhaps, was in the top corner, meaning the white was just around the edge of that cube. 

Pinpointing which direction was up, he formed his ice cannon and shot straight through, this time, only discovering sky as he made the hole.

Peering through the opening, he took a deep breath as he ran into it, only hoping that something dreadful wouldn't happen as he appraoched the next side. Perhaps he'd get shocked, but that wasn't all too bad, right?

When Gideon came through the end of the square, reaching the connection to the two sides of the cube, he was met with a prominent shock to his entire system. Gideon was wrong, it had been very dreadful and he deeply regret his decision during that moment.

"Looks like Fairy Tail's Gideon is trying to make his way to the other side of the cube...is that legal?" 

"It seems so, as long as he stays on the cube and doesn't throw up from the sudden shift of gravity, he should be in the clear."

"But it'll be immensely painful, right?"

"Oh most definitely." 

Immensely painful didn't seem to cover the amount of pain Gideon had put himself through. Perhaps Xavier's shock "therapy" might have been more useful than he thought. But Gideon couldn't stand to be electrocuted.

Yes, being shocked was bad enough on its own, but to him it was different. It reminded him of things, dreadful things.

He shut his eyes, unable to replace the memories flashing in his mind. The pain, the torture, the agony, it was all too much. 

As the electricity jolted through his system, he reached forward, his hand falling flatly against the wall that opened into the top of the cube. All he had to do was get through that wall, and he would be in the clear. 

So with all his might and all his energy, he froze the wall in a thick layer of ice, the his own fist in a type of iced glove. With a shaking arm, Gideon pulled his arm back and slammed it into the wall, with luck, it crumbled before his eyes and allowed him entry into the top cube. 

There, Gideon could see the pristine white walls of the top surface of the cube, and he finally crawled into, relieving himself of the electricity that was pulsing through his body. 

When he arrived, he wasn't quick to revive himself from the shock and stayed on the ground for a moment with panicked breaths and a quaking body.

He clutched his chest, shutting his eyes as he listened to the shouts and cheers that sounded so small compared to the sound of his own beating heart. 

"Looks like Gideon made it into the top side of the cube!"

"But he isn't looking so good!"

"ᴴᵉ ˡᵒᵒᵏˢ ᵃˢ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ ʰᵉ'ˢ ˢᵘᶠᶠᵉʳᶦⁿᵍ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵃ ᵈᵉᵉᵖ ʳᵒᵘᵗᵉᵈ ᵗʳᵃᵘᵐᵃ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ʰᵉ ʰᵃˢⁿ'ᵗ ᶠᵘˡˡʸ ᵃᵈᵈʳᵉˢˢᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦˢ ⁿᵒʷ ᶜᵒᵐᶦⁿᵍ ᵘᵖ ᵃᵍᵃᶦⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶦⁿᵗᵉʳᵛᵉⁿᶦⁿᵍ ʷᶦᵗʰ ʰᶦˢ ˡᶦᶠᵉ."

"I'm sorry, but I just have no idea what this girl is saying, seriously, I'm right next to her and I can't hear her!"

Opening his eyes, Gideon pushed himself up, avoiding the painful sensation pulsing through his body. It was dreadful, really, that after almost two years he was still like this.

Nonetheless, Gideon managed to stand up, wipe the sweat from his brow, then move forward through the maze.

He was in the corner, but it wasn't too difficult to find the center square on the top side of the cube. Gideon didn't destroy any walls, but he did manage to arrive in the center ring very quickly.

Naturally, he found Simie there, but she wasn't alone.

"Well, well, well," said a strangely familiar voice, standing in the center of the star pattern in the square, "didn't expect you to make it here?" 

"Neither did I," said Simie, who looked just a bit worn from her battle. "This does not bode well for me." 

He looked at the man, instantly recognizing him as the man from Howl Caedo. He had white hair, baggy gray pants with a tee and jacket hanging loosely over his body. He looked, to some extent, that he had just woken up from bed, had it not been for his alert and fierce pair of eyes. Certainly, he was a formidable opponent. He simply had to be to wear so much confidence.

They each looked at Gideon as though they were waiting for him to say something. He was panting, still, and had actually arrived to the point of bending his body forward, hanging his head down as he held himself up with his hands pressed against his knees. 

He even dared to hold his hand up, as if to say, "Wait a sec." 

"You don't seem to be doing well," Simie said softly, "did you really push through a wall of electricity?" 

"Don't..." Gideon panted, struggling to finally speak, "don't...don...oh my gosh...I think I might have lost my sense of smell..." 

The boy from Howl Caedo, Frost, as Gideon recalled, laughed at the comment. In all fairness, it was a comical sight, if not pathetic. He clapped his hands together. "This is perfect," he began to bellow, "I was hoping I'd get to face off with you, you know? Wanted to see who was the stronger." 

Gideon lifted his face to Frost. "What?" 

"I was hoping I'd get lucky with a one on one, but instead I got this." He rolled his head back, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Frost shuffled to the left a bit, dropping his hands onto his hips as he continued to speak, "I mean, if you'd really like, we can make this a bit more interesting, wanna make a bet?" 

"What?" Gideon said once again, forcing himself to stand up straight and look the man in the eye. "Look man, I don't really know what you're talking about, but if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," Gideon shuttered as he felt a sudden shock ride through his body once again, perhaps some sort of aftershock, "in five or so minutes...should my heart be beating to the rhythm of House of the Rising Sun," he pressed his hand to his chest, "cuz it sorta speeds up...then stops for a bit--"

"Enough," with a strangely almighty voice, Frost spoke over Gideon, successfully silencing him and drawing the two's attention back towards him. He seemed annoyed that they had so quickly gotten distracted, making it seem as though he wasn't keen on sharing the limelight. "Now I wanna a good fight with you. If I don't get it, then these stupid games won't even be worth it." He said flatly, as if the flair he had been speaking with before seemed futile with Gideon's fleeting attention to him. It wasn't exactly that had a short attention span, he just seemed a bit disassociated thanks to the great shock he'd gotten moments before. "Now I don't want this purple haired--," he cut himself to take a moment to look at Simie. Scanning her up and down, he resolved to use the world, "ratchet." 

Simie inhaled sharply, deeply offended by the word that Gideon was still trying to decipher the meaning of. He jabbed his finger at Frost, finding it necessary to at least defend the honor of the woman who had very well deceived him but moments before. "Hey, watch your language," his voice slowed as he came about the word "your", as he was curious whether Frost had said anything demeaning enough to call for Gideon to scold him. No one would have said anything, had Gideon been surer of himself, but as he slowly looked to both Simie and Frost for approval, he found them only giving him looks of disapproval. 

Quickly, he pulled his hand back from Frost, jerking his head back towards Simie, who seemed rather uncertain about the situation. Glancing towards Gideon, Simie looked him up and down, a clear look of frustration painting on her face as her look concluded with a sigh. While still looking at Gideon, but not exactly speaking to him, Simie said, "There goes my win for Mermaid Heel, now Myla will never approve of me." 

She stretched her arm out to the side watching Gideon assertively. A glow formed in her hand, and suddenly, a long, sharp, curved sythe appeared in her hand. "Here goes nothing," she said with a soft breath, before lunging towards Gideon.

Moving at a fast pace, she lunged towards him, raising her sythe up into the air as if she were ready to strike Gideon. Not wasting a moment of his time, Gideon quickly stretched his arm, beginning an ice make spell, only to find Simie jerk her body to the side, her sythe hook onto Gideon's hand and tugging it at her own will. With a swift motion, she pushed his hand towards the wall, just as the spell had begun. 

In only a moment, ice crept up the wall, covering every opening of the square right up to the electric field above them. 

Pulling away from Gideon, Simie took three long and fast strides backward, away from Gideon and towards Frost. Jerking her head towards him, she clutched the handle of her sythe, looking towards her two opponents fiercely as she said, "I'm afraid I won't be going anywhere, gentlemen. And I don't think anyone will be getting in here either." Whipping her arm forward, the long curve of her blade swung in front of her, a light gleaming off the edge as sun seeped through the growing ice above her. "So why don't we get things started." 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Is it over....is it finally over? 

Oh my gosh! Why did this chapter take so long?! I didn't even include the final battle scene just to make sure I could get it out in time! Well, anyway, so sorry for the wait! That sucked, and I feel really bad for putting it off for so long!

On the bright side, I GOT ALL A'S MY FIRST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE! SO YAY!

Made onto the President's List too! I was really happy! But I'm a bit worried about next semester too! Not sure if I can manage to do as well!! But who knows, I start next Tuesday, and I haven't moved back in yet, but we'll see how things go then. 

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and some of it's many interesting and fun moments! I mean, I just can't wait to see how you react to Felicity and Liddan making out...like oh my gosh. I wrote that months ago and this whole time I've been like "I can't wait until I publish...I just want to see everyone react to that moment!" and whenever someone brought up Liddan, I had to resist the urge to bring up the kiss because it does become a somewhat monumental moment for his character.

Okay, so yeah, that's it. I'm sorry for the really long wait for this chapter, and I hoped you all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! See you next time!

-Katie the Terrible at Updating Consistently