Note: I've opened a character popularity poll that'll stay open until the next chapter is released. The link will be in the comment of this line and at the end of the chapter (as an explanation of how the poll works). The results will be announced in the next chapter, have fun!

"Well, then," Felicity said, scratching her messy (sex) hair, "what should we do about all," she gestured to the nakedness of both herself and Liddan, "this." 

"Um," Liddan also scratched his messy (sex) hair, "do we really need to do anything?" 

"I mean," her face puckered out, and she grew a bit red, "we sorta just lost our virginity to each--" Liddan inhaled sharply, making a leering expression, "--I mean...like, our closet virginity...because neither of us has ever had sex in a closet before." It wasn't a great save, especially because it actually wasn't the first time Liddan had had sex in a closet, but he didn't want to bring that up knowing it would only embarrass Felicity more.

"Uh, Felicity," he made a face, lowering his voice out of respect, "was this your first time?" 

"No!" She laughed waving her hand as she tried to maintain an idea of confidence, "no, no, it was just, heh, like, I hadn't..." she sighed, rolling her head back to hide her flushed expression, "Okay, yes, but I've done stuff before. I've made out with, like, at least three guys horizontally, and have almost gone all the way once, but...it turns out we were in a bed of poison oak and, well, you get the idea." 

"Mmm, kinky," Liddan laughed as Felicity smacked his arm, "I'm sorry, and, you know, I'm sorry if you had wanted it to be...special." 

"Oh, this was special," Felicity turned her head, "I mean, on the floor, surrounded by cleaning supplies, special indeed." She laughed, sitting up to talk, "Honestly, it really didn't matter to me, so long as the guy's nice and it isn't too painful, which, I know, are pretty low standards for sex, but I try not to raise my expectations too high with the men I meet." 

"Gee, thanks," Liddan made a face, rolling his eyes, "well, my first time wasn't all too special, but it's not like I regret it or anything." 

"You know, I'm kinda surprised," Felicity said with a weary smile, "I honestly thought you were a virgin." Liddan made a stark expression and Felicity quickly corrected herself, "Not because of your skill or anything like that! No! But you...I dunno, I didn't think you were that interested, that's all." 

"If anyone in my family asks, I am," he said rather intently, "but when I started going on the road, just doing job after job, I met a few people here and there that showed interest, and they were pretty and nice so I took them up on their offer."

"So you've around the block, huh," Felicity smirked, wiggling her arms to Liddan's annoyance. 

He pushed his hand against her head, almost covering her entire face in the process, "Nothing like that, I mean, if I'm keeping track I've only been with five different people, but they were all just hookups, I've never been in a relationship with one of them."

"I'm gonna regret asking this," Felicity said bluntly, "but who all were the women?" 

"Well," Liddan made a face, not really wanting to answer himself. He sighed, leaning back against the shelf to begin listing off his ex-lovers, "I lost it to Maria, she was a vet and she helped Malcon after he hurt his leg on a mission. Then, after that, I think it was Zinnia, who worked at a cafe, she kept giving me free drinks, which would have been better if she worked at a bar but it was still nice. Then there was Alice, who was a landscaper, and she tracked me down after I got into a fight in one of her parks and wrecked all the landscape there, that was honestly...very unusual hot angry sex." 

"Sounds like it." 

"Yeah, and then there was Ed...Edwina--" 

"Edwina?" Felicity chuckled, "What, was she a countess or something?" 

"Ah, no, she worked at a bakery, smelled like bread, met her at a bar, I was hungry." 

"I'm sure you were," she leaned in, her eyebrows doing a kind of dance on her forehead, but Liddan didn't seem all too into it. "What? What's wrong?" 

"Nothing," he turned away, pursing his lips, "I dunno, it's all just a bit embarrassing." 

"What, your sex life? I'd say it's impressive?" 

"I'd say it's impulsive," Liddan forced a laugh, leaning back into the shelf (an uncomfortable pose, but he was in an uncomfortable situation altogether so it didn't matter much to him). "I dunno, they were all just hookups, I feel...like they should have meant something more, but most of them, I could care less about, and I'm kind of mad...that I can't get that connection." 

"So..." Felicity bit her lip, "guessing there isn't much a connection here?" 

Liddan paused, lifting his head with a slight smile, "Well, I'm telling you all this, aren't I?" 

There was a silence as Liddan sighed, scratching his head, regretting exposing his sexual history to Felicity. 

There was a prolonged silence, one that was desperately uncomfortable for both Felicity and Liddan respectively. So, in a vain hope to perhaps fill the void or maybe just made Liddan feel a bit better about sharing his own sexual history, she began to spout off certain nonsense. "The first time I was felt up was behind an 8-Island, but they had a drive-thru but we didn't realize it, so this random lady rolled down her window because she thought he was giving me CPR, and started asking if I needed help." 

Liddan didn't say anything, but continued to stare blankly back at Felicity, clearly listening.

"She ended up rushing out of the car, and then attempted to give me CPR because she was trained." 

He put his hand over his mouth, his brows furrowing to the story.

"I honestly think she cracked a rib," Felicity made a face, bringing her hand to her chest, "but I didn't get it checked so I'm not sure." She made a nervous expression, "Those heal on their own right?" 

"Oh my gosh," Liddan snickered, bringing his hand over his eyes as he smiled, "I did not need to know that." 

"Yeah," Felicity smiled, pulling her hand off her chest, "now we're even."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Xavier hadn't been alone with Layla in quite some time. He used to be alone with her all the time, just the two of them on a mission under his dad's orders, but after they'd returned two years prior, they hardly spent any time just the two of them (at least when working). 

After they went back to Fairy Tail, two turned to four, as Elwin insisted on joining them, and Esmeralda seemed to tag along as well, seeming to think she'd already been invited. 

Nonetheless, the four made a fantastic team, and when Elwin insisted they start the theater troupe, Xavier was once again pulled away from his special missions with Layla.

If he was honest about it, he really missed it. The two of them had developed quite a routine. In fact, when Sylvie had to drop out, and his dad revealed he'd be sending Layla and Elwin off on a mission rather than letting them fill in, he considered offering to trade with Elwin. He, however, didn't think he'd take him up on that offer, as he followed Layla around like some kind of lost, wounded animal.

So in this moment, slinking along with Layla in the shadows as they stalked the hotel holding Team Deadly Sins, Xavier felt pretty good. 

"Usually, they're pretty stationary," Layla began, pulling out a thermos filled with presumably tea or coffee (as well as a small snack she'd taken from the hotel's buffet). "We usually just set up camp on a nearby roof and watch for anything susp--"

"Like that?" Xavier, with the binoculars, pointed down to the back entrance of the hotel. Layla jolted up, taking the binoculars passed to her to see for herself. Despite his face being covered, he could easily be identified as the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins. 

"OF COURSE!" Layla tried not to shout, but she was frustrated she had to clean up her snack right after getting settled (she didn't even get to eat yet). "Come on, we need to follow him."

The duo did just that, moving from the rooftop and onto the ground to follow him (keeping a safe distance, of course). 

The leader of the Deadly Sins, only identified as so because he was the only member of the Sins that didn't participate in the games, taking a seat alone in the Deadly Sins' respective balcony, watching half-heartedly. 

They hadn't heard anything about him, his real name, not even his real face. But he dressed in an over the top "dark" fashion, one that made it easy to see him. 

He seemed to realize this himself, slinking around back alleys to travel in the dark. It made him a bit harder to follow, but he seemed to know his way around the city as well, ducking through every back corner short cut there was. 

Finally, he took a turn, Layla and Xavier pursued, but when they arrived they found a dead end.

"There must be some secret entrance," Layla said, then cranked her head up, "or maybe he went up--"

"Let me see," Xavier stepped up against the wall, rubbing his hands together at a fast pace until sparks of electricity lingered off his finger tips. He pressed each hand against the concrete wall before him, the electricity surging across the wall repeatedly. "If there is some kind of secret passage, I should get a reaction from it." 

Sure enough, a seal was broken in the concrete, and a door was revealed. 

"Oh," Layla said with wide eyes, "I'll have to remember that--" her congratulation was interrupted by the shrill and loud noise of lightning colliding with the mechanisms of the door, resulting in one of the loudest door openings no one intended. 

The door opened painfully slow, and when it was finally open, Layla put her hand on her face. "You think he heard that," Xavier said with an uncomfortable laugh. 

They went inside, finding a stone stairwell with no lights. "Keep quiet," Layla said, two minutes too late, "and be careful, we'll be moving in the dark." 

Layla pulled her hood over her head, pulling her braid over her shoulder to prevent it from bunching up in the back. Xavier didn't have anything, just a rather long collar from his shirt he pulled over his mouth. It worked for the dark, but they both would look rather silly in the sunlight. 

They paced themselves down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. They didn't have a light (though Layla could have easily provided some with her fire), so Layla took a few missteps here and there, only to be caught by Xavier. 

"Shh!" She would whisper, regardless of the noise coming from Xavier or not. Xavier had strangely missed this quality too, how Layla would blame small mess-ups on literally anyone but herself. He thought it was funny.

After the stairwell came to an end, they could see a faint light filling the chamber. They found themselves a large tunnel, which they assumed to be the same as the one the circled around the castle. 

They walked in almost total darkness, following the faint light far down the tunnel for what felt like ages. For a place so absent of sound, the noise was deafening. Every creak, every drop, and of course, every step sounded as though it were amplified by the silence. 

Wrath's steps were easy to hear, they echoed through the chambers, big and bold. So when they finally came to a stop, that's when Layla and Xavier knew they were close to his destination.

They walked a few meters more, watching the light illuminate the tunnel as Wrath was finally in view. They hinged themselves against the crevice of the wall, just in the shadows where the walls of the tunnel took a turn. They were out of sight, so long as Wrath wasn't looking for them. 

Peaking over the edge, Layla (the much smaller of the two) served as the eyes, peeking just into the light to see what Wrath was up to. He seemed to be busy at work, digging into a pouch to prepare himself.

It was perhaps the first time Layla had gotten a close look at him. He wore only black, and his entire face was wrapped with a scarf of some kind, revealing only his eyes or mouth (from time to time). With all that garb on his face, it was likely difficult for him to see or even hear all too well, making Layla much more comfortable in her stalking.

He put his hand to the stone, a dark shadow suddenly bubbling around the stone and his hand. He pulled his hand away, the bubble remaining for a moment longer before disappearing, having eaten away everything within it. 

With that, he pulled from his pouch a strange and small device. It was entirely mechanical, with a small blinking light at its center. He placed it in the destroyed wall, setting it there before bringing his hand over the hole again. The stone seemed to reappear, as though Wrath had never touched it. 

"What's he doing?" Layla thought to herself, not recognizing any of the magic or equipment he was using. She theorized it could be a variety of illusion magic, which made it seem like the stone was back in place.

With that in mind, she knelt down, picking up a stone from the ground and marking a small X on the wall. If it was an illusion, then by simply phasing one's hand through it, the illusion would be broken. She could come back later and take the device back to Laxus. 

"Are you going to come out from the shadows already?" 

Layla's heart sank, as did Xavier, who instinctively grabbed onto her arm and moved her behind him. They panicked, Layla assumed it was her who had alerted him with her marking. 

However, then they heard another set of footsteps. Light and brisk, clicking against the stone. It must have belonged to a woman (or a man) in heels. 

Into the light, she arrived. "Sorry," she said with a sigh in her voice (definitely a woman), "I didn't mean to stalk, you just seemed busy, that's all." 

"Lust," he turned his head to the woman, who was now fully emerged in the light. She was a beautiful woman, one neither Xavier or Layla had been introduced to yet. "It's good to see you." 

"Florence is fine," Florence shrugged, "I felt I should come to find you. You always talked about the tunnels, so I've been waiting out for you." 

"Good thinking," he nodded, "are you worried that I'd come to find you if you didn't find me first?" 

Florence smirked, shrugging, "Just a bit." 

"I know why you left," he sighed, "you had outside engagements to deal with, so I'm not resentful. How did it go?"

Florence let out a sigh, with a less than confident voice she explained, "What was delivered to me was his hand in a box." She sighed, her head falling a bit, she pushed her hair back, and a tear as well. "At least I knew that he was looking for me, he died trying." 

Wrath stepped over, placing his hand on Florence's arm. "When we have what we need, we will make him suffer for what he's done to us," he moved his hand up, pulling her face up to meet his own, "I'm glad you've returned to us though." Behind his wrappings, he surely smiled, then stepped away to pull together his pouch. Florence, reminded of why she was there, shuffled in her spot.

"Oh, yes," she laughed a bit, "that was the thing, about returning," she took a step forward, "I don't think I'll be doing that." 

There was a moment of silence. Wrath said absolutely nothing, he just stared at her. 

"I've received offers for my skills elsewhere," Florence began, "I've decided to give it a shot, so I won't be continuing on with your original plans." 

As before, he said nothing. 

"Wrath, darling," Florence smiled in a way uncommon for her. It was sympathetic and sincere, "it's just that I was thinking, we all have our names for various reasons. Adelia, Pride, for her obsession with vanity. Reo, Greed, for his materialism, Eleanor, Sloth, because she won't take responsibility. I, on the other hand, am Lust not for my own sin but the sin of others. Everything about me, my face, my body, my voice, it's all there to entrap them, I'm what they blame for their sin, their lust." 

She frowned, crossing her legs as her head fell against the stone wall, "When you named me, I thought it was stupid. If we're talking of our own sins, then I should be Wrath. After all, I've killed hundreds, perhaps thousands in my life. But then, I had the displeasure of knowing you." 

Pushing herself off the wall, Florence took a step closer to Wrath, standing directly in front of him, so he had no choice but to look at her. "The depth of your sin is not in your death count or the blood on your hands, but the weight it has on your being. Your entire soul is held prisoner by anger." 

Florence lifted a hand, then bravely pressed it against his chest. He didn't move, he didn't even flinch.

"I've realized, Wrath, that you may not be a demon, but you're certainly not human." Her eyes began to glow a dull red light. "What exactly are you, Wrath, and what path have you led us down?" 

He didn't respond right away, but slowly, Wrath took his own hand and wrapped it around Florence's thin wrist. "Lust, darling, I must apologize," he spoke clearly, with such clarity. It was terrifying. "I didn't realize you resented your name so much, but I must disagree, I think it suits you quite well." 

He lifted her wrist, so it was then in front of her face. She remained stoic, unphased by his actions or the terror the situation suggested. However, her breath hitched when he let go, saying, "I can see it right now, the lust that consumes you." Around the black scarf, she could see his smile, "It's disgusting." 

In one great sweep, his hand was at her neck, his body pushing her's against the wall. She was choking, and Florence was terrified.

"I never saw your lust as one for sex, but for people. Your lust after people, ownership of them, control over them. Taking men and holding them under your thumb." His other hand reached up to her face, caressing the tears the trickled from her red eyes. She clawed at his arms, but a kind of energy surged from his body, one she couldn't compete with. "You lust after the control of these men, your captors, your father, but now, there's someone new, I can tell. You obsess over him, you want to tear him apart, find his heart and swallow it. You want to own him, you want him to cry out your name. That is your true sin, and I won't let it be forgotten." 

Finally, he released her, and Florence fell away from him. She could barely breathe, gripping onto the wall to keep herself up. Wrath continued to stand tall and unphased by all that had happened.

"That man you're with," he wiped his hands of Florence's sweat, "what was his name again?" Florence remained silent, keeping her hand over her sore neck. "Go on, I'll find out some other way, maybe I'll ask Sloth." 

Florence croaked, jerking her head towards Wrath with a dreary look. She opened her mouth. "Basil." 

There was a pause, "Like the plant?" 

"Yes, what of it?" 

He smiled, then pulled his scarf over his mouth, "Nothing, just reminds me of something." He adjusted the collar on his coat as he turned back to Florence, his face hidden away. "I think it goes without saying that you will be there with us to complete the ring when the fifth day comes, if not, I'll kill this man you're trying to leave us for."

Florence forced a smirk, "You think I care if he dies?" Wrath turned away, picking up the pouch and slinging it over his shoulder.

"I'll also cut off Sloth's leg," he turned a bit, just so she could see his eyes, "I know I can't kill her, but I can take away some very important pieces from her to make living a bit more difficult." 

This was something Florence couldn't play at, but she couldn't answer. 

"You're mistaken about our sins, too." He said finally, before beginning to walk away. "They aren't our folly, they're the only part of us that's human." 

Hearing his footsteps, Xavier and Layla took this as the time to run, but they were stopped when Wrath suddenly spoke. "Leaving without goodbyes?" They hoped it was directed towards Florence, but as the brightness of the light grew, they could feel his presence right behind them. "Did you enjoy eavesdropping?" 

Xavier tugged on Layla's arm, flinging her away from Wrath as he shot a bolt of lightning from his hand towards Wrath's face. It was enough to stall him, allowing the two to get a running start as Wrath held his hand over his face. 

Florence lingered behind him. "Wrath?" she said softly, watching as he pulled the scarf off his face.

"Run back to your sin," Wrath turned around, his disgusting face in plain view for Florence, "I'm sure he's waiting for you." 

He turned back, listening to the quiet sound of the two escaping. He held up his light, which had been hanging around his neck by a tightly tied cord. "Luckily, I work best in the dark."

As the light snapped off, darkness flooding the entire tunnel.

"OW!" 

"SHH!" 

"Little late for that!" Xavier hissed, snapping his fingers to ignite electricity. It sparked a light for just a moment, but he hoped this would at least cue Layla to do the same with her fire (which was usually a better source of permanent light). In the moment the light flashed in the tunnel, he could see it. Pitch black arms slinking along the floor and reaching for Layla.

"Look out!" He grabbed her, yet again, pulling her away. She was cued in on something and shot fire from her palm at whatever was behind him. The room illuminated, for a bit longer, and they watched as the pitch-black shadows shriveled up in the firelight. 

"Keep that light on, and keep running--" Xavier pointed down the tunnel, noting they had a ways to go before they even reached the stairs. 

Layla did just that, holding a flaming fist up as she ran, it was rather uncomfortable but it was better seeing the dark arms chasing you than being oblivious to it.

They were everywhere, crawling out from the shadows in lashes before disappearing in the light. 

Finally, they arrived at the stairs, a narrow climb but a good sign nonetheless. However, as Layla ran up ahead, Xavier tripped on the first step, falling forward to just barely catch himself on the steps. However, this left him in the dark, and he felt it wrap around his leg, then a kind of pain he'd never experienced before.

It was unbarable, and Xavier couldn't process the very feeling for a second."Ha--HA--NO!" Xavier gripped onto his leg, a surge of electricity burning down his leg to obliterate the shadow eating at his feet. In a flash, it disappeared, but not before it had done some damage. His breath was heavy as he took a brief second to look at the wound. The shadow had completely eaten up the skin on his calf, leaving blood and flesh and a little bone clearly visible. All he could get out was "Oh no" before Layla pulled him up, dragging him up the stairs. 

"It got me!" Xavier hissed out, groaning as he held onto his leg, trying to pull himself up, "Aw--man it got me bad--"

"Save it for your memoir--" Layla tugged on his arm, putting him in front of her as she held the fire up to the growing shadows, "bite through the pain and KEEP RUNNING!" 

It was a miracle when they arrived at the door, Xavier collapsing against it as he attempted to open. "How does it open from the inside?" 

"Do your electricity thing!" Layla shouted, turning down the stairs where the shadows continued to creep on. "Hurry, I don't think the fire is doing much for the shadows anymore." 

As Xavier worked on the door, Layla kept at the shadows. Each hand bracing the thin walls of the staircase, she shot her foot forward, a fire at the tip of her toe, drawing a circle then kicking it off, "Solar WAVE!" the fire swirled down the stairway, burning up the shadows for a good distance. 

"Should've done that a while ago," Xavier said under his breath as the shadows calmed down for a moment, all shriveling up at the edge of the light. 

"You should've had that door open awhile ago!" Layla hissed, jerking her head towards him, he made a face, and she quickly whispered a meek, "Sorry." 

Right then, the energy surged through the wall, and the door began to open. It was just as slow as before, but as the light from the street crept in, the shadows became less and less of a threat. 

They went through the door, quickly stumbling into the alley. 

Xavier took the moment to catch his breath, gripping onto his leg tightly as he grit his teeth. Layla, however, didn't take a moment to breathe. She knelt down, tearing off her sleave to tie it around Xavier's calf. Mostly just to stop the trail of blood. "He might have been following us in the flesh, we need to keep moving," she went under his arm, grabbing hold of him to help him walk, "once we're settled, we'll work on that wound, okay?" 

"Okay." 

"Also," she sighed as the two walked into the street, buzzing with light and life. They were suddenly a bit more secure, so she felt okay saying it, "sorry I was so pushy in there." 

Xavier looked down at the girl under his arm, he would have smiled if part of his bone wasn't exposed, "I wouldn't call it pushy," he said, grunting as he stepped on his weak leg again, "more...diligent, and forthcoming." 

"You probably regret coming with me," Layla sighed, "and you won't be able to compete with a wound this bad." 

"True," Xavier laughed, but it trickled off into a groan (again from pain, his bone was exposed, it was a nasty wound), "I may not be in the games tomorrow, but I don't regret it. We found out a lot about the Deadly Sins, and we know they're planning something." He glanced back at Layla, turning away before their eyes met, "Plus, I always love working with you. Heck, I really miss it sometimes, when it was just the two of us. We had good times." 

Layla smiled, a bit flushed even, "I miss it too." 

They stumbled off into safety, tracking as little blood as possible in agonizing pain. All in all, a good night.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Elwin was on a man-date, and he was really enjoying himself. Most men didn't like him, or women. Most people didn't like him, but this Ronan guy seemed to get along with him quite well. They had a lot to talk about, tits and such. Ronan loved talking about art history and the human form, which Elwin found thrilling.

"It's interested to see how the human body has been found attractive over time, and what things were considered a turn-on in different times and cultures." He would go on and on, and in all honesty, it was blowing Elwin's mind. 

"Man," Elwin pat Ronan on the shoulder, "do you, like, wanna go to an art museum and take pictures of all the nipples we see?" 

Ronan pursed his lips, "I thought you'd never ask." 

As the evening went on, they went into the street where various booths were set up selling everything and anything. "Oh," Elwin would go, walking over to one of the vendors selling clothing, "look, it's one of those shirt things, and it looks like it would fit you..."

"Elwin...I told you, it's...no--" Elwin had already pressed the shirt up against Ronan's naked chest. 

"You see, it goes over the chest and then, boom. You're not half-naked anymore. You're no-naked. They could call you no-naked Ronan, instead of..." 

"Wait, do they call me something?" 

"No!" Elwin folded up the shirt, casually stepping over to the vendor and passing him the cash to purchase it, "I mean, you're not even that bad, there's this old guy at my guild who just occasionally unconsciously takes off his clothes and sits around naked, in front of the children and everything."

"Oh my gosh--has he been arrested yet?" 

Elwin made a face, "Honestly, I don't know why he hasn't yet." Elwin smiled, slowly pushing the shirt against Ronan, "Come on, try it on, for me. Your boy, your sweet boy." 

Ronan sighed, "You are a sweet boy. Too bad you're straight." 

"Yeah, I think that all the time," Elwin nodded as Ronan took the shirt and slipped it over his head, "other straight people are such prudes." 

"Okay," he pulled his tiny rat-tail braid from the collar, "how does it look?" 

Elwin looked Ronan up and down. The t-shirt was a bit tight, which allowed him to show off his rockin' bod, but it was the image on it that really made the entire look a bit awkward.

It was just a collection of images of Yodana from Yodana and the Cats, all blown up over the t-shirt. All over it. Not an inch was not the old woman's face. It was disturbing. 

"You look amazing," Elwin said plainly, "and I should buy one for my friend, she'd love it." 

"Oh, your special friend?" Ronan smirked, adjusting the rim of the shirt to tuck it into his pants. 

"Oh, no, this is just my regular friend," Elwin said, "but hey--no, platonic female friendships are just as valuable as any other friends and it being sexual wouldn't make it better, just more complicated." 

"Well, that's a nice thought," Ronan nodded, watching as Elwin turned to buy another shirt for Ezzie. "You know, that gives me an idea though, we should get matching t-shirts!" 

Elwin froze, slowly turning his body towards Ronan. With a tear in one eye, he said, "Ronan, you're blowing my mind right now." 

Ronan had to take a moment to see if he was okay, but was interrupted as someone brushed his shoulder.

"Oh, sorry," the man said, waving at hand at Ronan to apologize. Ronan waved back but was struck as Elwin and the man made eye contact. "Elwin?" 

"Kris!" His eyes widened, first with excitement, then with a certain anxiety, "Hey--I haven't heard from you in a while." 

"Oh...yeah..." Kris rubbed the back of his neck.

"You stopped returning my pigeons..." 

"Yeah," Kris sighed, "Yui's cat, she kept eating them...so...you know. What could I do?" 

"Cool, cool, cool," Elwin scratched his arm, avoiding eye contact. He glanced at Ronan, who was standing stiffly beside him. "Oh, sorry--this is Ronan! He's from Lamia Scale, maybe you saw him compete earlier today? In the Rubix Cube?" 

"Ah, yeah," Kris nodded, looking him up and down. He gave Ronan a kind of look that he didn't know how to read, he looked back at Elwin. "So...are you two, like..."

"Friends?" Elwin looked at Ronan, who gave him a nod, "Yeah, I guess you could call us that. I mean, we've only known each other for maybe 7 hours, but when the chemistry's there, you just gotta follow it, right?" 

"Right," Kris said flatly, "I guess, you're just..." he took a breath, "you seem happy." 

"Well," Elwin looked away, crossing his arms, "yeah, I'm happy." 

"Good," Kris nodded, "that's good, that's...that's great." He clapped his hands together, "Well, I was just gonna buy a Yodana bobblehead for Misty, since she's, you know..." 

"Cool man," Ronan nodded, "that's the little one who got pulverized by the Deadly Sins, right?" 

"Yup," Kris dropped his hand onto the head of one of the Yodana's, pulling it off to watch it bob from side to side, "Yui--my little sister, she asked me to get it for her. Don't know how she stands the band...she sounds...horrible." 

"Like if a nail on a chalkboard had been chainsmoking for forty years," Elwin said with a nod, "yeah...I've heard a lot of it on car rides with Ezzie, it's...rough." 

"Yeah, I know," Kris smiled, nodding his head as he dug into his wallet, purchasing the bobblehead regardless of its horrible music source. "Granted...'What's in my pants' is pretty catchy." 

"Well," Elwin made a face, "yeah, if you had to pick one song, it'd be that one." 

"And, you know, her recent album is nice just to play in the background." 

"Yeah, yeah," Elwin nodded, "I mean, you can just see how much more naked she is in that album, it's just so raw." 

"Interestingly enough, I read she was actually naked during most of the recording."

"Oh! I read that too!" 

The two men chuckled, Ronan standing awkwardly by, unsure of how to fit into the conversation between the two men with a questionable history. Seeing a dip in the conversation, he decided to step in with his own interested by saying, "Well, I always liked Broska Nali's music--"

"Oh come one!" 

"Her music has no soul!"

Ronan glanced at the two men, who each quickly gathered themselves, "So," Kris said, clearing his throat and attempting to drop it down a bit to reserve his masculinity, "it was good seeing you again."

"Yeah, you too," Elwin sighed, nodding his head, "I've...I've missed you." 

Kris held the bobblehead in his hand, looking down as he softly said, "Yeah, me too." 

He walked off briskly, leaving Elwin with a lonely gaze as he made his way down the street.

Ronan stood there a bit stuck, unsure of how to respond to such a sight. So he just said what he was thinking, "Are you sure you're not gay? Because that was just about the gayest thing I've ever seen."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Meeting in Mira and Laxus's room, Layla and Xavier reiterated what they'd discovered while Wendy went about working on his leg. 

"So you don't know what this ring is," Laxus continued. 

"No," Layla shook her head briskly, "just that it's on the fifth day, and they need the seventh member to complete it." 

"Florence," Xavier interjected, wincing as Wendy touched his leg again, "her name was Florence--her code name Lust." 

"Liddan told me about her," Laxus explained, "those new guys, Zailo and what's her face--"

"Felicity," Layla corrected quickly (and respectively). 

"Yeah--they've met her before as well. In Oshi....Clover Town--wherever she's from--" 

"Oshibana Town," Layla corrected again. Mira snickered, Layla rolling her eyes. "What, we've talked a few times--we share a room..." she slowly quieted down as everyone continued to stare at her. "Never mind." 

"She--ah, Florence, not Felicity--was apparently separated from the group," Xavier added, picking the conversation back where it was, "at least for a time, and she's with some...man right now?" 

"Maybe she got a boyfriend," Layla shrugged, "left to live with him." 

"She could be your way in," Laxus nodded, "but Liddan said she was dangerous, so don't put too much faith in her. However, if she was separated from the group, and he did threaten her in such a way, she might be willing to work with us." 

"The man she's with, his name was Basil," Xavier added again, "but that's all I heard." 

"Well, that certainly helps," Mira nodded, putting her hand on her son's shoulder, "you did really good, honey." 

"Yeah, but you've got a heck of a causality," Laxus sighed, "Wendy, do you think he'll be able to stay in the games?" 

"I wouldn't recommend it," Wendy shook her head, pulling her hands away from his wound, "I've repaired the wound, so nothing's open, but the flesh is still really weak, he shouldn't really be on it in such an active way while it's still healing naturally." 

"Then that's it," Laxus shrugged, "you're out, I'm putting Elwin in--and where is he anyway? It should have been him with you, no one of the team members?" 

"Eh," Layla made a face, "I gave him the night off...so he could go on a man-date." 

Laxus furrowed his brows, then took a moment to himself to think over the team, "That explains it, he was overcompensating for--"

"No--that's not what's happening." 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Basil was tired and it was past midnight when he finally arrived back at the hotel. He stumbled through the door, dark circles under his eyes as he (to his surprise) found Florence sitting patiently on the bed as if she were waiting for him.

Her head turned to the door, with a blank expression she said, "Welcome back." 

Basil paused, squinting at her for a moment. "There are bruises on your neck, where have you been?" 

"I'll tell you, but do you actually expect me to tell you the truth?" 

He didn't, so Basil didn't bother asking any further. He sat down on the bed, pulling off his boots, "So, I went to the library at the castle." 

"And?" 

"Absolutely nothing on a person named Angel Eyes," he shook his head, then undid the buttons of his coat, "she's completely underground, but I did find some things on the ability." 

"Oh, spill the tea," Florence leaned in, feigning enthusiasm. 

"Ha," he lightly pushed her away, "turns out Angel Eyes is actually the name of the ability itself...so, her alias could use some creativity but--eh, if it works it works." 

"Oh yes, her lack of originality, that'll get her." 

"So the ability is genetic, meaning you can't learn it--though some people have attempted taking the DNA of people with the ability to artificially create the ability in someone but it usually isn't as effective--oh! And it's also only viable in women because it requires both X chromosomes to carry the gene--making it incredibly rare--"

"Basil." 

"Yeah?" 

"I don't care about any of this," Florence shook her head, "tell me the basic abilities and weaknesses to look out for." 

"Ah," he nodded, "I just thought it was cool." 

"Yeah, shut up and tell me what I want to hear." 

"Alright," he sighed, placing his hand up to settle Florence down, "the magic is simple. If you look into her eyes and she places a command on you--that is, she willingly demands your obedience, she can't do it accidentally--that person will be under her control permanently until she dies." 

"Well, that news could be better." 

"Yeah, but, you just can't look in her eyes, though it says they will have a sort of...natural attraction, calling you to look at them. Usually, they're a somewhat unnatural, alluring color, like violet or emerald." 

"This isn't helping--"

"No, but these are definable traits in Angel Eyes, we just need to look for bright, bold eyes!" 

"But we aren't supposed to look at her eyes." 

Basil paused, "Okay, so," he brought his hand to his mouth, "I just need to think..." he dug into the files he'd brought back and continued to search as Florence gave a sigh. 

"So no secret weapon, perhaps a set of glasses with special lens, or maybe tears prevent her from using the ability." 

"I hope so because those are two totally useable options," Basil clicked his pen, making note of the possibilities as Florence fell back onto the bed. 

"Basil, you look dreadful, I suggest you sleep." 

"It's fine, I've pulled all-nighters before," he said with a shrug.

"Oh yes, please, Basil, tell me more about your unhealthy choices," she leaned forward, reaching out to tug on the back of his shirt. "Go to bed, you look disgusting."

"You're very kind Florence, but I need to figure this out before morning." 

Florence made a face, "Why is it so important? What's Angel Eyes even doing? She's just selling knock-off goods, and exploiting existing criminals. You shouldn't be losing sleep over that." 

"She's breaking the law, so it's my job to stop her." 

"Oh please, you should learn to be a bit selfish, for your own sake." 

"Please," he scoffed, "I know how to be selfish." 

He continued shuffling through his papers diligently, marking passages and underlining quotes. Florence, laying down on the bed watched him sit at the edge, so enamored in the dull and aggravating research that led nowhere.

"Basil," she said suddenly, he gave a small audible response, she continued after another moment, "is there a reason you don't believe you deserve happiness?" 

He kept working and didn't seem too phased by the question. Soon enough, he replied. "Yeah." 

"So," Florence shifted, moving her foot so it poked him in the back, "what might that be?" 

This time he didn't seem to want to respond, he stopped flipping through his pages, and his body froze for a moment. He took a breath, then he held it. "I killed someone who didn't deserve to die." 

Florence didn't say anything, but she felt she'd just opened a door that she'd been knocking on for a long time.

"Really, I don't think anyone deserves to die," Basil sighed, "well, maybe not that no one deserves to die, but I don't have the right to chose whether they do or not. But this guy, he didn't deserve to die, regardless of what I thought on the matter. But I thought that he'd...I thought he did something that it turns out he didn't do, so I killed him." 

There was a pause, and by the way he talked Florence felt that maybe he wasn't talking to her anymore. He was reiterating the same conversation, the same frustration he'd had with himself for years.

He continued, "After I came home, I found the evidence, that he really hadn't done what I thought he'd done. I'd killed an innocent man--geez he was a father, Florence. He had a kid, just a few years older than I was when my parents...but I wasn't punished. I went on living, having stolen life from a man...and his family, and I wasn't punished." 

There was a long silence, and Florence sat up in the bed, watching the back of Basil. She could feel it in her heart, this man was trying to find a way to kill himself, but without having to break his own skin. 

"Basil," she said for the final time of the night, "let's go to bed." 

"No," he said firmly, once again going back to his pages and files, "just go to sleep, Florence. You must've had a rough night, you could use it." 

Florence would lay there for a moment longer. Then, after a sigh, Florence sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. "Pass me one of those things, I'll read with you." 

He looked at her with hesitation, then passed her the bottom file. "I've already read through it," he said, "I didn't find anything." 

"Well, I haven't read through it," she smirked, "we'll see what I find." 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Esmeralda always went on a jog in the morning, and being in the games didn't change that. She would awaken when it was still dark, run for what ended up a few hours and many miles, slowing her pace here and there to a walk when a bit overwhelmed. She went in a straight line from the hotel, making a few turns after the first mile to them wrap around and return down the same road she started on, now with the sun up and shining over her sweaty self.

The city was thick with brick, but the designers were kind enough to leave its people with various parks or green spots at almost every block. Esmeralda had passed maybe five in her run, and remembered the one closest to her building for its rather distinguished look. The flowers bright and in bloom. She thought about stopping there another time, when she wasn't so sweaty, but as she passed it near the end of her run, she found herself slowing down by the park again, this time for another sight.

There, on a bench under a tree near the edge, visible by the side of the road, she saw a girl that looked an awful lot like Molly sitting alone with the saddest look on her face. Her mother being Molly's current caretaker, she couldn't help but feel like she needed to, at the very least, check up on her.

She entered the park, instantly shaded by the varying trees of the grassy area as she approached the girl that, now closer, was certainly Molly.

"Molly?" she asked, watching her lifted her head to the sound of her name, "What are you doing here alone? Is my mother with you? Or your friends?"

A guilty look overtook Molly's face, and she suddenly looked like she was going to cry. "Ezzie, I'm so sorry to worry you--"

"No--NO!" She quickly took a seat by Molly, trying to calm her, "It's okay! You're not in trouble, I was just worried! You were out here so early all alone--" Somehow, the aggressively apologetic nature Molly took over reminded her of Melody. "Are you okay? You seem sad, did something happen?"

Molly made a face, pulling her legs up onto the seat of the bench to wrap her arms around them, "It's not important."

"I'd say it is if it's bothering you so much," Esmeralda wiped her brow with her hand, which did little to help with the sweat.

"I agree with your mother."

Molly and Esmeralda both fell silent as they heard the voice above them. It sounded like one they'd heard before, but neither could place it immediately. All they could do was slowly, and with great hesitance, look up.

There the two girls found a man, his arms and legs hanging loosely around the branches to support himself, his face drooping down to look back at them. Molly froze, wondering just how long the grown man had been hanging above her, and Esmeralda found herself very quietly screaming in shock.

"I feel that you're undermining an issue that is important to you because you feel it's insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and recognizing that shows much admirability for a child, but you also need to trust that when people reach out to you and express interest in your problems, the best thing you can do is be open, as perhaps your circumstances are more dire than you believe."

The two girls were a bit dumbfounded by the man's advice, for its content and its monotone delivery. However, it was tremendously true, and Esmeralda turned quickly to Molly to say, "Tree-man is right Molly," she pressed her hand against her arm, "your problems are important to the people who love you because they're hurting you, also...though this guy seems alright, I would not recommend conversing with men hanging in trees in future events. Also--" she looked up at the man, "I'm not her mother--wait, I know you!" 

Though she didn't know know the man, she definitely knew who he was. The man was Othello, of Howl Caedo. He was recognizable from his messy white hair (with a few leaves and twigs here and there) and the small collection of triangles tattooed under his red eyes. He had quite a look, and it strangely fit well with the tree.

"I'm ecstatic you recognized me," he said, though his voice didn't show it, "I must apologize, little blonde child, I'm Othello." He reached his arm down trying to shake Molly's hand, but the distance proved too far and the branch proved too weak, resulting in Othello collapsing onto the ground right behind the bench. After breaking the earth with his body, he reached his arm up from behind the bench to Molly, this time finding it a more suitable distance, they shook hands. 

"I'm Molly," she said with a concerned expression, "are you okay? I can help, I know some healing spells!" 

"She's quite good, too," Ezzie nodded, watching the man pull himself up. 

"Oh," Molly grew flushed, a bit flustered, "I wouldn't say that...I'm not as good as someone like..." she turned to Othello, "like your team member, Cinder." 

"Oh, yes," Othello nodded, "you two aren't too far off in age, I suppose." He brushed the tree and dirt off his clothes, sitting down next to Esmeralda. "I suppose that's what this is about, you're feeling inferior to the mages around you?" 

"Not just that," she turned away, "what if I'm not...good enough to be Jude's friend." 

"Who is this Jude?" Othello whispered into Ezzie's ear.

"Her completely platonic friend, the Dragneel's kid." 

"Oh," Othello made a face, "well, they are only twelve, I'd hope they're platonic." 

"Molly," Ezzie interjected, "Jude doesn't admire you for your abilities, he cares about your character?" 

"Wait--he doesn't admire my abilities?" Her face became distorted, as though she were about to cry, and Ezzie realized he messed up.

"No! No!" Ezzie brought her hands up, "I mean--I'm sure he thinks you're just so talented. You're training with Wendy! Who is an amazing healer!" 

"I know," Molly sighed, pulling her legs into her chest, "it's just that he left for a week...and he came back...it looked as though he'd grown three months--I mean, did you see the muscles on him!" 

"Oh yeah," Ezzie nodded, glancing back at Othello before whispered, "it's a time pocket thing, he actually was gone for three months, you can't get muscles that fast--"

"What!" Molly was even less assured, and the entirety of the conversation was making Ezzie question her capabilities with conversing with children. "So I missed 3 months of Jude's life! But I want us to grow up together! He's my best friend!" She dropped her head into her knees, making a quiet groaning noise, "I just want us to grow up together." 

Ezzie pulled Molly in, forgetting for a moment how dreadfully sweaty she was, "Molly, it's okay." 

"Molly," Othello peeled over Ezzie, looking at the small girl, "I just wanted to say that when you're young, there is a lot to be afraid of. You're smaller than anything else, and as you get older you're given more responsibilities but less respect." 

"What?" Molly croaked with teary eyes. 

"But the thing is," as Ezzie unraveled the hug, Othello got a clear few of the weepy girl, "it's okay for things to go wrong, because that's just a part of growing up. You and Jude might drift apart, but that doesn't mean it'll be like that forever. You might feel stunted with your training as a mage, but there will also be times where the teachings will just flow like magic."

"That's because it is magic..."

"Yes, I know, I was just making a simile," he nodded, "I'd be lying if I said it was all going to be okay because I can't see into the future. I do know someone who does, but that's beside the point and could likely cause some problems because time travel is a mess--I'm falling into a tangent, sorry." 

The two girls exchanged a look, "Molly, you have no idea what you are capable of, and as you are young, you should open your eyes to excitement each day for what you might learn. So while the insecurity is terrifying, and you never know what will happen next, take it as a gift. You never know what will happen next, meaning your life from here is full of surprises and thrills you could never foresee yourself." He paused, "Well, my acquaintance Kara could see them, but again, I don't suggest you meet her, she'd likely just confuse you more." 

Ezzie pursed her lips, turning from Othello back to Molly. She watched as the little girl wiped her eye, quietly smiling as she said, "Thank you, Mr. Othello." She hopped off the bench, smacking her face lightly to wake herself up, "I feel a bit silly for crying, but I'm grateful for both of you for listening. I should get back to the hotel, Miss Erza might worry if I'm not there before she wakes up." 

"Oh," Ezzie made a sharp expression, "she's probably already begun to tear that place apart looking for you." 

Molly made a scared look, then in a second bolted down the road to the hotel. Watching her go off, Ezzie turned to the man draping his arm behind her on the bench, to a passerby, they might have looked like a couple, which is why Ezzie scooted away asking, "Okay, who exactly are you?" 

"Othello," he once again stuck his hand out, Ezzie (with her foot) kicked it away.

"We met in the preliminaries," Ezzie leaned forward, "you told me...you told me I looked like my dad, which isn't accurate as everyone tells me I'm a spitting image of my mother--" 

"No but you have his eyes," he pointed to Esmeralda's cold gray eyes, "I mean, not the tattoo, though I'll admit that I got this tattoo because I liked his so much," he pointed to the tattoo under his eye, but Ezzie was a bit distracted. 

"How do you know my father--he's always in and out of the guild half the people in Fairy Tail don't know him!" 

"I met him, that's how I know him," pulled his hand down from his face, "I was quite young though, as were you." 

"Wait--" she pointed to herself, "I was there?" 

"You don't remember? Ah, that explains the strange looks, I assume had you remembered I would have received a warm embrace." 

"Wait-- we were friends?" 

"No, not really," he shook his head, "it was a joke, couldn't you tell?" 

Ezzie made a face, "No...you have not emotion in your voice, at all." 

"That's what Fidi tells me," he nodded, then made a face, "Fidi is my friend from Howl--" 

"I assumed," she nodded, "all in all, I'm sorry I can't remember you, I almost feel a bit rude," she wiped her brow, remembering that before Molly arrived, she had been on a long run, "and sweaty." 

"Well, I'm sorry you feel sweaty,"  he said in his nonchalant, monotone voice.

Ezzie made a face, letting out a quick spit of a laugh. It came out a bit like a snort, which left Ezzie a bit embarrassed. 

"I like your laugh," he said, "it's very nice." 

"Thank you," Ezzie looked away, "for Molly too, you seemed to have said the right thing. It was rather insightful." She turned to him, smiling faintly, "I must admit, I thought you Howl Caedo folks were all a bit...sketchy. And to be fair, you were in a tree when you appeared here." 

"I was only resting."

"Yes, yes," Ezzie nodded, not really wanting to know what he was doing in that tree, "but you seem quite nice, sorry for judging so rashly."

She stood up, shaking herself off before sticking a hand out to Othello, "It was a pleasure meeting you, again I suppose, maybe you can tell me about how we met the first time, later, I suppose."

"I'll be waiting," with his blunt delivery, Ezzie made a face, worrying he might actually sit on that bench waiting for her to return, "not literally." 

"Oh good!" she perked up, beginning to jog off, "well, best of luck in the games, but just you wait, I'm in the games today, and I'll crush your team." She smiled when she said it, then ran off.

Despite what he'd said, Othello did wait there a while, watching until that scarlet red hair was just a memory. He croaked, and then said to himself, "Oh no," he turned away from where Esmeralda had run off, "I might need to ask Felicity about this." 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Elsewhere in the morning, also quite early, the Mermaid Heel mage Simie was off on a run as well. However, she was accompanied by her companion, a wolf named Bulan. They ran on the outskirts of town, where forestry would peak in and wreck the city atmosphere. 

Running up a hill, she was nearly out of breath, but Bulan would push up, looking down at her, barking some sort of encouragement. She would roll her eyes, groaning, "Yeah, yeah," as she continued to hike up the hill, near the end using her hands along with her legs to get up. 

However, when she arrived, her body halfway to the ground, panting like a dog in the summer, she was met with someone she didn't expect or really want to see.

"Oh," he said, "it's you." It was Gideon, sitting by the path on a bench, a journal in his lap and pen in his hand. 

Simie was too exhausted to give an immediate response, rather just dropped to her knees as her wolf licked the sweat off her face. "None of that, Bulan." 

Gideon didn't really want to associate himself anymore with Simie, having been tricked by her once before and lost because of it. However, he likely only even got second place because of Simie helping him defeat Frost. So, with an audible sigh, Gideon stretched an arm out, passing down a thermos to Simie, "Here, it's just water." 

She looked up, hesitantly grabbing the thermos and unscrewing the cap. "Gah....I'm so hot." 

"Oh, here," he leaned forward, placing his hands over the thermos to icemake multiple cubes that dropped right into the drink. "There ya go." 

"Oh," she seemed surprised, "you must be great in the heat." 

"You bet," Gideon nodded, closing his journal and setting it beside him, "no help in winter though, unless you wanna win a snowball fight." 

"I remember," Simie nodded, "I was in Fairy Tail while it was winter," she tapped on the metal of the thermos, "I remember seeing a few ice forts, I thought those were the children's but was that you?" 

"Ha," he grew a bit red, scratching his head, "me and my sister actually." He shifted in his seat, explaining himself, "We have a competition of sorts...she won." 

"That's a shame," Simie nodded, "it looked like fun, nonetheless." 

"It was," Gideon smiled, but then stopped, "can I just say...I'm sorry that I didn't notice you back then. You seem...well, you seem like the type of person I wish would've been on my side, if that makes sense." 

"Well," Simie scrunched her face up, "it makes a bit of sense. But really, it's alright. It's my fault really." 

Gideon made a face, "What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, I guess I keep going to different places, expecting the right people will notice me and connect with me, but when it comes down to it, I think I'm the problem. I don't make the effort to get to know anyone, rather, I expect them to come running to me. I suppose if anyone is responsible for my loneliness, it's me." She pet the head of Bulan, who seemed to almost contradict her statement.

"Well, I wouldn't beat yourself up so much. I mean, you managed to get noticed enough to get on Team Mermaid Heel. Plus, your win pushed your team ahead ten points." Gideon smiled as the wolf turned to meet his gaze. "Plus, how can you be lonely with a doting dog like this." 

Simie smiled in a small way, "Wolf actually, her name's Bulan." 

"Bulan?" he knelt down to be beside the wolf, scratching behind her ears. She moved her head towards him, revealing the crescent moon-shaped gray mark on her forehead. "Ah, I get it, like the moon."

Simie's eyes widened, "You've heard the name?" 

"Ah, yeah," Gideon nodded his head, "friend of mine loaned me a book about the moon and all the interpretations different cultures had of it. Tons of different names for the moon. Luna, Selene, Bulan. I always liked that one, so it stuck in my head."

Simie had owned Bulan since she was a pup, having given her the name after she realized the pup wasn't going to stop following her. Only two people had ever gotten the name, three, now with Gideon.

"Gideon," she said in a low voice, "you're blowing my mind here." 

"Ha," he nodded, "don't be too impressed, regarding moon trivia, that's about as much as I know. I mean, I only got three chapters into that book and...and I think I never returned it to Xavier." 

She smiled as Gideon continued to show affection to Bulan, who was absolutely adoring him. With a wandering eye, she noticed the journal and pen sitting abandoned on the bench. It was early in the morning, the hour of runners and bakers, but usually not journalers. 

"What are you doing here so early?" she looked up at the summer sky, which had only risen an hour earlier.  "Can't imagine this is the best light for writing, either." 

"Most definitely not," Gideon shook his head, "I've done so much squinting--it's ridiculous, I should have brought a lamp." 

"Or you could stay inside," Simie corrected herself, "or in bed." 

"Well," his eyes widened, "I was trying to do that whole sleep thing, but it wasn't happening...so I went to the lobby, but there was just...so much noise, in the city too. All these machines and their noises--anyway--it was all just too much noise so I just started walking, then I started running, and...now I'm here." 

Simie paused, looking up at the clearly physically and emotionally worn man before her. "How long have you been here?" 

"Since maybe four," he looked at his watch, "I should head back before Nashi wakes up, don't want her to worry." He stood up from the bench, collecting his belongings. 

Simie stood up as well, passing the thermos back to Gideon. As he tucked it under his arm, Simie asked one final question, "Is this a regular thing for you? The not sleeping, the noise...the running." 

"Well," Gideon stopped, pausing to think about it, "I guess sleep and I just don't get along, but...writing helps. So I just do that." 

"If...you ever want company," she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't sleep either." 

Gideon looked her up and down, then at her wolf. He liked petting Bulan, and figured Simie might bring her again, so he said, "Yeah, okay, that sounds nice." 

"Okay," she put her hand out, gesturing towards his journal and pen, hesitantly, he pulled it out and carefully opened to a blank page. She wrote down the number to her lacrima phone, shutting the book and passing it back to him. "Don't abuse it," she said stiffly.

"I won't," Gideon smiled, having no idea what he was getting himself into.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"So," Elwin looked around at his new sudden teammates, "how do you like the shirt?" 

Ezzie, who had been gifted a t-shirt with Yodana's face plastered all over it, was nearly in tears. "I will cherish it always, thank you for considering me on your man-date." 

"Yeah, yeah," Elwin nodded, "I know you love her, so I thought you'd like it." 

Gideon, still sleep-deprived, squinted his eyes at the shirt, moving from side to side as he continued to stare at it, "I think her eyes are following me..." 

"Oh, it's fine, Giddy-boy," Nashi smiled, patting his back, "it's likely only a hallucination brought about by lack of sweet and proper nutrition." 

Gideon made a tight expression, now even more nervous than when he just though the t-shirt was creepy. 

The team had gathered at their small pavilion, where they gathered before each competition in preparation to walk out on the arena.  Nashi gathered the team into a tight cricle, little Jude squished between her and Esmeralda, and began to give the typical "Team Speech".

"Okay, with Xavier gone, I think that makes the de facto leader," she pointed to herself. 

"What! A woman?!" Elwin laughed, the two women of the group each turned to him, "I'm sorry, it was an inappropriate joke given the history of this country disrespecting female leaders, and despite our country now being led by a woman and our guild having been founded by one, there is still a harsh stigma many female leaders deal with on a day to day basis." There was a pause of approval, but then Elwin opened his mouth again. "But wouldn't Gideon be the better leader?"

"What?!" Gideon himself responded.

"I don't know, you're just really level headed and it seems like you'd be able to stay calm--"

"Nope, nope, I'm a mess," he shook his head, "but, in all fairness, so are you, babe." 

"Hey!" Nashi snapped.

"I don't know, I just thought Esmeralda would take over," Gideon shrugged, "she and Xavier were sort of the power drive since they're often teamed up together in fights. I thought the power would just go to her." 

"Hey, Ezzie hasn't done anything yet, so she doesn't know what it's like in the arena, and Xavier, may I remind you, lost is one on one battle when I won! So he may be strong, but he ain't no power drive--or whatever you called him." 

"I'm fine with whatever," Ezzie said in a sincere voice, "I don't feel the drive to take power so Nashi, it's all your's." 

"Like I needed your permission--" she snapped back, "also thank you." 

"Hey, guys," Jude, from about a foot below, tapped on Nashi's back, "look, I know you've got a whole power vacuum going on, but this circle is too small and too tight for someone of my height, so let's just turn this into, like, a group hang and then talk." 

Looking down at poor Jude who was much too short for the circle, they all nodded and stepped out, making it a less tight circle (with less touching). 

"Okay, so I'm the new leader," Nashi said plainly, everyone giving unenthusiastic groans in return, "great!" With great energy, she clapped her hands together, only to be interrupted by the announcers. 

"Lady's and gentlemen, welcome to Day Three of the Grand Magic Games." 

"Today our guest announcer is a man that somehow calls himself a politician despite having been proven of multiple crimes! Give a lukewarm, uncomfortable welcome to Carson Bradley!" 

"Lock those legs, ladies! He'll come-a grabbin'!" 

"That's disgusting, there are children watching." 

"Thank you having me, I'm sure you're very humbled by my presence." 

"Not at all! In fact, I still wonder how you've managed to get this gig despite all the horrible things you done and said in public." 

"The beauty of me is that I'm very rich."

"Wow, you, an actual person, just said that, in front of everyone here, okay, this should be terrible."

"Bradley, would you like to introduce the first event?" 

"According to this card I'm holding in my adequate sized hands, the name of this morning's event is Element Ring." 

"I hear his hands are actually tiny," Esmeralda whispered to Nashi, who nodded her head in agreement. 

"That's right, in center of the ring there will be a spire that will be set to automatically change between the four elements."

"Those being water, air, fire, and earth."

"Very good, Bradley."

"When one is activated, it will fill the ring with the chosen element for a minute, then will automatically change to the next."

"The element can be manually changed, but the participant will have to make their way up the spire to change it." 

"Sounds dreadful."

"I can't wait for the fire."

"Okay, team!" Nashi pulled everyone back into the circle, drawing their attention away from the announcers. "So Ezzie has the highest chance of being chosen for this match. Knowing she's more punchy, stabby rather than adaptable like Elwin, you'll need to sit through some of the waves just keeping yourself steady. I think your best bets are fire and air, since you have armor that works well, but with water, keep up the defense, and earth...I dunno, is it an earthquake or are they just throwing earth at you?" The rest shrugged, "Follow your gut then! Got it?" 

"Got it," Ezzie nodded diligently, the rest of the team all looking quizzically at Nashi as they waited to see who'd be called into the games. 

"Wow, Nashi," Elwin nodded, "that was really insightful." 

"Yeah, I mean, I'm impressed," Gideon nodded, "I didn't know you could examine a fight with such detail." 

"Please guys," Nashi glanced down at Jude, "our mom is a celestial spirit mage, you don't think we learned any points from her?" 

"You learned how to point keys dramatically in the air while shouting?" 

"Yes," Jude groaned.

"Also! How to know which person's abilities are best for what situation. Here we can't choose, but we can definitely assess the situation to make it the best for Ezzie!" 

"Wow," Gideon nodded, "your mom's cooler than a thought." 

"No," Jude intersected himself, "our mom's awesome." Nashi and Jude high-fived. "But our dad's kind of a mess."

"And the competitors of this event will be..."

"From Howl Caedo, Liz Strauss."

"Fairy Tail, Esmeralda Scarlet."

"Blue Pegasus, Yuki Vera."

"From Mermaid Heel, Tsukudani! Isn't that a type of food?"

"From the Deadly Sins, Havih!" 

"Redmoon Shield, Ema Thompson."

"From Sabertooth, their stand-in for Mist Cheney, Tevy Lullion."

"And lastly, from Lamia Scale, Cheli Vastia!" 

Ezzie nodded her head, stepping up to the platform. Before she left, she turned her head to Nashi and Gideon whispering, "Tevy Lullion...does that name ring a bell to you?" 

The two look at one another, then back to Ezzie, "No, not really." 

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing," Esmeralda shrugged, walking into the arena to start the event.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"You know, it's not like I'm in a relationship now," Felicity sighed, digging into her pancakes provided via the hotel's room service, "though, I guess it is a sort of relationship, as weird as it may be. But...we've never even done something like been on a date, and you know, I want that kind of thing. I just don't think he does. I feel this is all just a quick lay for him." She sighed, dropping her fork onto the plate, "I don't know, what do you think?"

She looked across at Lugi, who had been nodding along through her entire speech. She uncrossed her arms, and began her response, "Lugi, lugi lugi lu, lugi lugi lugi."

"Yeah," she nodded along, "I have no idea what you're saying, but you know what, you make a great ear, Lugi." She pat the pink exceed on the head before rolling off the bed, pulling the plate away with her. "You might know Liddan better than anyone, so I'd really love to hear what you have to say about all this. I feel like you're his number one girl, in a way."

"Lugi," she scoffed as if to say "Of course."

"I just don't want anyone else to know about it," Felicity said, opening the door to set her tray out, "I feel like people might be quick to judge. I especially don't want Zailo to find out, not until I figure out how I feel."

"Feel about what?"

The door hung open just wide enough for her to see him, Zailo, peeking through a bit with Malcon on his shoulders.

"Feel," Felicity began, working out an excuse as she looked to Lugi for support, "uh, feel about...my new haircut."

"You got your haircut?"

"YOU BASTARD!" Felicity flung her arms up, rushing away from the door in a panic, "I can't--I can't believe you didn't notice--just like you men--you men."

"Wait--" Zailo pushed past the door, Malcon hopping off his shoulders, "did I do something wrong?"

"No," Malcon shook his little proportionally giant head, "she just cray."

"Lugi," Lugi responded with a stern tone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Malcon sighed, "that's an insensitive term too often used against women that simultaneously generalizes and stigmatizes many mental illnesses. I was just trying to be witty--lay off me!"

"Sorry I didn't notice the haircut," Zailo said, crawling onto the bed as Felicity set her tray back on the nightstand, "when d'you get it done, anyway?"

"Last night," she said quickly, "that's where I was, if you noticed I was missing. I was getting my haircut."

"They cut people's hair in the middle of the night?" Zailo wrinkled his nose a bit, "Is that a thing?"

"Yes, it's called Midnight Cuts, they...cut your hair in the middle of the night, it's nice. I just got a trim, cost me so much, you know how it is."

"Yeah, but it looks great!" He looked at Felicity's rather messy head of hair, as she hadn't even brushed it yet. "Very...modern? I dunno the terms."

"It's fine," she sat on her bed, pulling the pillow over her legs, "so, is there a reason you're here?"

"Here? In the room we're sharing?"

"Yup."

"Uh," Zailo scratched his head, "I dunno, Liddan's gone and Malcon asked if we could go shopping so I was wondering if you'd like to come along?"

"Go out," Felicity nodded to Zailo, then Lugi, "yes, I can leave this room, that's something I can do. Let us do that now, I guess."

"I guess?" Zailo made a face, "You're acting...really weird. You didn't make any life-altering choices last night did you?"

"Nope," Felicity stood up, "I just got a haircut."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Sylvie had the habit of purchasing things out of season, as she couldn't help but go all out at the clearance rack. She was never much a trend follower and didn't mind what was in or out of style that year, so she had no problem buying what was affordable but stylish. However, even if the price was low, the quantity was quite high, which perhaps did cancel out her "smart" spending.

One of her shopping sprees had landed her this lovely white poncho, which she'd found at the clearance rack in late spring and purchased gladly. It wasn't too heavy a fabric, but it wasn't exactly made for summer. It had a cute collar though, and even had this cute blue bow around the neck that she just loved so much she couldn't help but wear it out of season.

Of course, the main reason she found herself wearing it was that she sometimes found the urge to talk. As in, Sylvie would pull the collar of the poncho up over her head, then underneath the fabric talk to the weird alien thing growing in her stomach. 

There, that morning, Sylvie sat curled up on her bed with her poncho on (over her head) where she had a quiet conversation with her baby.

"I'm worried, you know," she said softly in a whisper, worried someone might eavesdrop on their conversation, "I feel like he's just sorta working himself up to this, rather than just being happy, but maybe that's fine too. I mean, I'm just really insecure about how he feels about this whole thing, and we both know that, goodness, you know that and you're barely the size of a blueberry--barely the size of a blueberry, what an awkward sentence--"

"Honey," Sylvie instantly yanked the poncho down, her hair made a bit messy from this, then turned to her head to the open bathroom door. Laurie was sticking his head out, "Everything alright?" 

"Yes," she smiled with a green expression, "is my brush by chance in there with you? I seem to have misplaced it." It explained the messy hair, at least. 

"Oh, I'll check," he nodded, dipping back into the bathroom for a spell.

Sylvie didn't waste a moment diving back under her hood, looking down at her stomach, each hidden by the fabric to say, "Don't tell him I said this, okay? I'm your favorite, remember? Mommy is your favorite." 

"It's not in here, honey--what's wrong with your poncho?" 

Sylvie yanked her head out as quickly as possible, then swung her legs off the bed. "Nothing, I was just checking my breasts, that's all. They've just been so sensitive lately, that's all. It's so...bizarre." 

"Oh...are they," Laurie made a voice that Sylvie could only presume was intended to be sexy. "Well, I promise to take full advantage of that later." 

Sylvie smiled and laughed lightly, "I can't say I'm sure of that..." Sylvie looked over at the other half of the room, littered with children's toys and the Dragneel's belongings. "This is our future..." 

"Well, luckily we're only having one kid," Laurie laughed lightly, "three--heck, even two at once would be...a lot." 

Sylvie nodded as she slipped her shoes on, Laurie watching her as she grabbed her bag as well. "I'm heading out to meet with the Dragneels this morning, they want help babysitting I guess," he shrugged, "at least I'll get to watch the games." Sylvie smiled with a nod, but Laurie couldn't help but ask, "Do you wanna come with me? I know we already missed Gideon in his competition, but you never know what you might miss with these games." 

"Oh," Sylvie's mouth curved into the very shape of an "O" as she stood up, "I'm sorry, I already made plans to babysit another Dragneel...is that okay?" 

Laurie made a face, unsure of what to make of this, but he nodded, "Oh, yeah, sure," he nodded ever quicker, "go, go do your thing. You should be doing your own thing before you're too pregnant to do anything, after all." He laughed uncomfortably, then stopped abruptly at the sight of Sylvie's uncomfortable expression, "At least, that's what Lucy told me." 

Sylvie smiled again, nodding as she brushed her hand down her poncho, "I'll see you later, honey," she stepped towards him, kissing him shortly on his lips, "call me if you need something, I'll keep my lacrima out." 

"Stay safe," he said as she walked towards the door, "you never what weird creeps are out there." 

Sylvie made a tight expression, cringing at the thought of the man from yesterday, "Trust me," she said, grabbing onto the doorknob, "I know..."

Going downstairs, Sylvie arrived in the lobby to find Liddan perched up against the wall watching the lacrimas over the bar projecting the game. She smiled as she approached him, calling out to him from a few feet away as to not startle him with her arrival. "How're the games?" 

"As nonsensical as always," Liddan shrugged, "you ever get mad you're not apart of them?" 

"Nah," she smiled, "it just would have stressed me out, remember this Liddan," she shook her finger sternly as she laid out her instructions, "children are the greatest get-out-of-stuff free card." 

He gave a thin shut-lip smile, "I'll keep that in mind." 

"Anyway," she dropped her hand, "I'm glad I get to spend my time as I am, we haven't done anything just the two of us in so long, you know?"

"Sure," he nodded, beginning to walk out the doors of the hotel, "but I don't think brunch was ever one of the things we did together." 

"Well," Sylvie shrugged, "it's always nice to try new things." 

They walked down the road together for a bit, coming up to a lovely brick building down the block.

"I hear this place has a lovely brunch," Sylvie said pointing to a small restaurant with cute tables and umbrellas outside it. "Doesn't look too busy either, what do you think?" 

Liddan seemed a bit directed, considering the fact that Liddan had shrugged and said, "Yeah...it looks nice, I guess." 

Sylvie made a face, "What? Is there somewhere else you'd like to go?" 

The Blue Shoe was always crowded on days of the games. All the people who couldn't afford tickets loved the cheap food, the cheap beer, and the charming staff.

"Jeremy! Get your sock out of that soup!" Sue Ellen shouted through the kitchen window. Her youngest did just that, scurrying off to cause trouble elsewhere. She pulled the bowl off its tray and carried it to a man reading the paper in the corner. "Here's your soup, hon, careful, it's hot." 

Marigold wasn't really Marigold. She was a Marigold, the Marigold the body belonged to, to be exact. She hadn't been in control of her body in a while and wasn't doing so great. She was behind on her orders, and she'd just broken her second mug of the morning.

"Doe," Sue Ellen would come up behind her, patting her on the back, "Hey, you're not doing so hot. What's up?" 

"Nothing, it's just, I'm really tired...and sore," she sighed, wiping her brow. 

"Hey," a customer standing a few feet away at the counter lifted his mug, "I'm all dry here, mind filling me up--"

"Just a minute!" her tone was less than kind, which wasn't ideal.

"Okay," Sue Ellen pat her back, "why don't you go in the kitchen for a bit and clear those dishes. I'll handle the people..."

Marigold made a face, a bit disappointed with herself for messing up so bad, she sighed, drifting into the back of the restaurant just as two more customers drifted in. 

Liddan and Sylvie arrived to the crowded, boozing spot and Sylvie was taking a moment to take it in. It wasn't the ideal brunch spot she imagined, but she was there for Liddan, not the mimosas and french toast.

"Oh good," Liddan pulled off his jacket, "it's not too busy." In comparison to it's usual haul from the days before, it wasn't. People typically tucker out around day three but usually drift back in for day four and five, since those were the days the routine broke. 

Before Liddan claimed a booth, he turned to Sylvie with a pitful look, asking, "This place is alright, right?"

"Yes!" She said without hesitation, "It's charming! Has a lot of..." she looked down, finding an unidentified fluid next to her shoe. She shuffled to the side a bit. "It has a lot of character." 

The two sat down in a booth, each taking a side leaving a meter between them. "Aren't you gonna take off the..." Liddan gestured to the poncho.

"I'm fine," she smiled, "though I'll have to be careful not to get it dirty." 

"Yeah, that'll be a nightmare if you order anything with syrup. Believe me, I've attempted eating pancakes while laying on the couch too many times..." 

"You can cook pancakes?" 

"What, is that surprising? That I can cook for myself?" 

"Yes, it's very surprising."

"What, because I'm a man, I can like to cook?" 

"No, because you're incredibly incompetent." 

"Yeah, that's true," Liddan nodded quickly, "I cook maybe once a month, and usually it's something like a dessert because it's two am and I'm really sad and really hungry and the bakery isn't returning my calls anymore."

"You got blacklisted by the bakery?" Sylvie made a face, "The one on SouthPoint?" 

Liddan wrinkled his nose a bit, "Yeah?"

"They blacklisted me too!" she sighed in relief, "I can't believe it! I mean, you order four bunt cakes crying one time and then you're apparently 'making their staff uncomfortable'." She sighed, rolling her eyes, "I feel so much better knowing it's not just me they blacklisted." 

"Yeah, we should make our own bakery, that'd show 'em." 

"My kitchen is the size of one you'd find in a toddler's playroom while your's is almost constantly filled with bugs since you, well, live in the middle of the woods." 

"Yeah, I found silverfish in a loaf of bread last month," Liddan pursed his lips, "I think maybe there's something wrong with the structure that's letting them get in. Mind asking Laurie to, you know, fix it?"

"You'll have to set up an appointment," Sylvie grinned, "Laurie's starting a business, so he doesn't have time to make house calls for friends like he used to." 

"Oh come on, he built the house!" Liddan shrugged, "I'll leave him terrible reviews on SorcererTome." 

"Fine," Sylvie rolled her eyes, "I'll ask him to check it out when we get back to Magnolia, but you should give him some kind of compensation, at the very least, he's about to become a dad." 

"Right," he gestured towards Sylvie's abdomen, "that whole thing." 

"Yes, this whole thing," she also gestured to her abdomen, which hadn't yet begun to inflate but the poncho wasn't helping much with her figure, "I dunno, I just feel so excited for it. Like I can't wait to start this next part of my life with Laurie--"

"Yeah, great plan," Liddan nodded, a sudden distance growing in his eyes.

"What's that look?" she said suddenly, her own eyes grew intense. 

"What look?" 

"The look you just made, what did it mean?" 

"Well, nothing really, I just think you're rushing into this blindly just like you rushed into your marriage." 

Then there was silence, as Sylvie could not fabricate a response. After a few quiet moments of just staring at each other, Sue Ellen finally arrived to take their order. 

"Hey, welcome to the Blue Shoe, I'm--oh," she looked at Liddan, "it's you." Liddan looked up at her, an almost constipated expression on his face as she looked back to Sylvie. "And you brought a date? Wow, shameless."

"Oh no," Sylvie said sternly, lifting her left hand to show off her ring, "I'm married--happily married." 

"Oh, so you're goin' after a married woman?" Her eyes squinted as she whipped her pad to the side, "Oh, so there aren't perfectly fine women here in this very establishment." 

Liddan's face became even more twisted. "I mean...I've never really been with an older woman, but I'm not against--"

"Not me!" She hissed, rolling her eyes, "Gosh, you whore." Sue Ellen sighed, whipping out her pad of paper and clicking her pen, "Alright, what do you want?" 

They quickly ordered, watching Sue Ellen leave to put it in with the kitchen, Sylvie continued to stare at Liddan. Crossing his arms over the table, he began to explain himself, "Okay, so I don't know what that's about, I've been here, like, once." 

"I don't care about the lady!" Sylve let out a sound, something like a growl, before jabbing a finger at Liddan. "Where do you get off critiquing my marriage and my choices?" 

"Get off? Look, I don't know I just notice you're doing that thing where you get hyper-happy and seem completely oblivious to all the giant red flags coming your way." 

"Rich coming from you, someone how has to find a way to be miserable in any situation."

The argument flourished at full volume, leaving everyone in the restaurant either trying to talk over them or listen in to figure out the details. Sue Ellen, who stood at the counter, was about ready to spit in their coffee, but at least it was clear the two were by no means a couple.

"See!" Liddan said, dropping his hand onto the tabletop, "This is why we don't hang out as friends, we're too different--we just end up getting on each other!" 

"No, we get on each other because we're the exact same! Except when you're depressed, you blame the world, and I blame myself!" 

"Oh that is not true--"

"It's very true, 

"And if we didn't have a terrible fear of intimacy, we'd be sleeping with anyone who offered because we're so lonely and horny." 

With that final comment, Liddan made a face that Sylvie knew all too well.

"No," the tea had been spilled, and Liddan hadn't even poured it, "you didn't!" His face curled up into itself a bit more, "Oh my gosh you have?!" His face tightened more. "And you did recently!" And more. "And it's someone we know!" 

"How are you doing that?!" Liddan hissed, bringing his hands over his face in embarrassment. 

"I told you, we're the same person, which means we do the same stupid things, like criticize people's marriage without knowing any of the personal details!" 

"Wait, you've done that?" 

Sylvie made a face, "Yeah...I'm not allowed at dinners with Alzack and Bisca anymore..." 

"They just seem too happy though!" 

"Right! No one is that happy!" Sylvie groaned, rolling her head back in frustration. "Look, I think we both just have a lot of the same insecurities and anxieties...so basically, I can read your thoughts." 

"So, I should be able to read your thoughts too." 

Sylvie coiled her nose, "No...I think it's more of a lady thing, since we're naturally more empathetic--" 

"You're scared Laurie's gonna run on you--" 

"What?!" Sylvie's mouth hung open, gaping open with offended gawking sounds churning out, "I am not! Laurie loves me!" 

"Yeah, but he runs away from everything. It's kind of his thing. Things get tough, he runs." 

"But he always comes back--" Sylvie bit her lip, shaking her head, "that's not relevant because I'm not even worried about that! He's not gonna do something as stupid as run away from his pregnant wife. What kind of monster do you take him for?" 

"True, he's not evil or vile," Liddan shrugged, "just a coward." 

"Hey," Sylvie snapped her fingers, "look, it's an unplanned pregnancy, anyone would be shaken up. But...I will admit, I've been worried he's not...really happy about it. Like he's just dreading it." 

"Well, I was close," Liddan shrugged, "well, can you blame the guy? Everything's about to be flipped upside down for you two. I mean, don't tell me you're staying in that cramped little apartment." 

"We'll start looking for a new place once we get back home..." Sylvie sighed, "you know what, let's just stop digging into each other's problems. That's not what this brunch is about."

"Fine," Liddan sighed, glancing over as Sue Ellen returned to pour the two coffee.

"None for me," Sylvie said quickly, "I'm pregnant."

"Oh get out," Sue Ellen smiled, pulling her mug back, "well congratulations, believe it or not, a girl here is--" she froze, glancing at Liddan. Seeing as the secret that Doe (Marigold) was pregnant (she wasn't) was still a secret from Liddan, the father (most definitely not), she realized that since Doe (again, Marigold) was the only other girl working at the Blue Shoe, thus, it would be easy for Liddan, the father (thankfully, no), would easily piece together that Doe (still Marigold) was actually pregnant, and he was possibly the father since they had semi-recently fornicated (most definitely a lie). So instead, Sue Ellen just stopped talking, smiled, and turned back to Sylvie to say, "I'll just get you some tea, Earl Grey fine?" 

"Perfect," Sylvie nodded, wondering where that trail Sue Ellen had started down led to. Sue Ellen returned to the kitchen, calling back to their table, "Your order will be ready soon, Doe'll have it out in a minute." 

"So," Sylvie turned back to Liddan, "who'd you sleep with?" 

Liddan spat a bit of his coffee back into his cup, wiping his mouth to say, "I thought we were done with this." 

"I know, I know, but it's bugging me. I always took you as the secret romantic, you'd want to do it with someone you really loved, not just some random chick." 

"She wasn't random," he scratched his head, "well, less random than the others. I mean, I like her well enough, though...I'd hardly call it love." 

"So, there isn't anyone, you know, you imagine yourself falling for, having an actual relationship with." 

"No," Liddan made a face, "I can't say anyone comes to mind." 

"Here we are," the plates dropped onto the table. "French toast with peanut butter, and basically all the meat from our refrigerator with waffles. Okay, will that be all?" 

Sylvie looked up at the woman bringing them their order and was at a loss for words. Liddan, however, looked right up at her, awkwardly slurring out, "Hey, Doe...finally dry off?" 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"This is exactly what I want," Malcon explained to the vendor, holding onto the sleeve of a leather jacket with skulls and roses embroidered on the back, "but do you have it in a child's extra-small?" 

Felicity hung by with Lugi, who still didn't communicate with words other than her name, but was better company during her crisis than Zailo and his awkwardness and Malcon and his invasiveness. Luckily, if Malcon was distracted by his own vanity, he wouldn't bother to try reading anyone's mind.

"Lookin' hot Malcon, you should get some shades with those too," Felicity called from across the street, as she and Lugi had perched themselves there while Zailo and Malcon did their shopping. 

Malcon, now wearing the child's extra-extra small version of the leather jacket (as extra-small was a bit too large), turned himself around and flashed a smirk, "Well, duh." 

"I can't stand that cat," Felicity muttered under her breath.

"Lugi," Lugi shrugged, agreeing to a point. 

"What about you, this vendor seems to have a lot of child versions of things that children shouldn't be wearing...you gonna get anything?" 

"Lugi..."

"Savin' up for the name brands, I get it," Felicity nodded, "just kidding, I have no idea what you just said." 

"Lugi..." she sighed, shaking her head. 

"You're good company, we should solve crimes together," she waved her hand across the air as she said, "Felicity and Lugi...tonight at eight...no, it doesn't roll off the tongue so well. You'll have to change your name. How about Felicity and Rhodes, can you say Rhodes? And, like, just that?" 

"Lugi." 

"Guess not."

Malcon, all slick in leather, slid over to Lugi, flipping his collar up as he went, "Hey baby, wanna go for a fly?" 

"How did you even pay or that?" Felicity asked. 

"Oh, right," he glanced up at Felicity, "Can you spot me?" 

"Okay, I'm gonna strangle you--"

"I'm kidding," Malcon casually pulled out his wallet, "you think I don't get paid for all those jobs Liddan drags me on?" 

"Good point," Zailo said, arriving beside Malcon, "he's a real cool guy, isn't he." 

"Yeah," Felicity nodded, ignoring the daggers Lugi was sending her way, "real cool." 

"Not after you get to know him," Malcon explained, "he's a huge dork. Did you know he's secretly into sewing? He's even in a club." 

"Lugi," Lugi confirmed. 

"Not so much a secret, huh?" Felicity sighed, "Well, I guess we all have our hobbies."

"Hobbies, right!" Zailo's eyes lit up, as though something had just clicked in his brain, "I almost forgot, Malcon can you spot me?" 

"I gotcha, Z," he said, waving his wallet around like some kind of flag. 

"Okay, follow me--" Zailo took a step back, Malcon hopping into the air to take flight, "Felicity, I'll be back in a bit."

"Can't I go--"

"No," he smiled, and Felicity rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll be here," she stepped to the side of the wall, propping herself up as she crossed her arms, Lugi still beside her. "Just be quick, okay?"

"You got it!" He started jogging away, backward at first (since he was still talking to Felicity), though this only resulted in him tripping over a crate of oranges. "I'm fine!" he quickly explained, before turning around and running off into the street.

Felicity had never considered Zailo to be "fine" but if he insisted.

She waited by the wall of a back alley, watching until the moment Zailo seemingly disappeared. Looking down at Lugi, she said with fewer words, "What's this idiot up to?" 

Rather than say her usual catch-phrase, Lugi simply shrugged, as his plan was beyond her. 

"Ah, right, you can't read minds. Do you have any special powers?" 

Lugi pondered the question, particularly wondering just what "special" implied. After a moment of contemplation, she let out an "Ah!" then poofed right into her human form, cat ears and tail still included for a bit of flair. 

"Oh...no..." she shook her head, "so many creepy men's dreams just came true." 

A bit grossed out herself, Lugi simply returned to her cat form, now unexcited about ever returning to her human form. Felicity gave a sigh, pushing herself off the wall to try and catch a last chance glimpse at Zailo to see what he was doing. She saw nothing, despite her diligent yet stationary search, and found herself rather nervous. "I hope he's not getting himself into some kind of trouble."

She had to admit that whenever Zailo did (basically) anything, she would begin to panic assuming that he knew what had happened using his ghost powers or something. In her lack of sleep, she'd rationalized that the ghosts that hung around the broom closets saw her and Liddan and told Zailo about it. It all made sense in her head, anyway.

"Lugi?" Lugi responded to the vague concern.

"What's that, Lugi? You'll go spy on them to see what he's up to in order to console me?" Felicity gave a wide fake smile, receiving a rather annoyed look from Lugi. "That's so nice! You're such a good friend!" 

"Lugi..." she grumbled, rolling her eyes in agreement as she took flight pay Felicity the favor. 

"Bye Lugi! Thaaaaanks!" Felicity puckered her lips, waving off Lugi as the cat gave the four-fingered version of the middle finger. "Ooo, we'll have to work on that relationship." 

While Lugi spying on Zailo consoled her a bit, Felicity still worried about Zailo. She found it to be, in a way, her job. She didn't enjoy it by any means, but it did give her some gratification. She liked worrying about someone for a change, made her feel a bit more human. 

However, in a moment, she would realize she had bigger problems to worry about.

"Well, look who it is?" Felicity winced, pulling her head up as she turned to find two men approaching her.

Her eyes widened, and her body froze. There were Fidi and Othello, two members of Team Howl Caedo. What they were doing out and about was beyond Felicity, but she was smart enough to realize she was in trouble.

With her body turned to the two men, she stood still, as though that would somehow prevent them from seeing her. Realizing that wasn't working, Felicity tried something else. "Ima sorry!" she blurted out, "I-a don't-a speak a guda engleesh!"

"I know it's you, Felicity!" Fidi growled, grabbing her arm and raising it up above her head. She snarled as well, making a cat-like noise as she tried using her free hand to swipe at Fidi. This only resulted in him grabbing the other arm, pinning her against the wall with both her arms raised.

It lifted her shirt a bit, allowing Fidi to see a glimpse of the color on her guild mark. He lifted her shirt enough to see it, revealing a bit of her belly button and a hickey from the night before. "Whoa! Someone's been busy," he made a face, "real busy."

"Hands off!" She gave him a kick and he finally gave, releasing her arms to allow her to pull her shirt back down.

"Oh, that reminds me," he pointed at her chest, "how's the rib--"

"Do you have to bring that up every--guh," she brought her hand over her face, "Why are you even here? I don't want anyone to know I know you guys."

"You don't!" Fidi made a wide-eyed expression, faking shock in the most over-the-top fashion possible, "Did you hear that, Othello! She doesn't want people to know we were friends!"

"I did hear you, you're talking very loudly," Othello responded plainly.

"Ha-cha-cha," he pat him on the shoulder, shutting him up, "well after all our history, Felicity, especially all the saliva the two of us have exchanged, that's pretty rude!"

"Fidi," Felicity spoke sternly, her small fists clenched as she put her foot down, "Why did you come to find me?"

"Come to find you?" He pointed to his chest, cocking an eyebrow up, "Oh, kiddo, if it were me coming to find you, you'd have been dead two minutes ago--no. You see, I'd prefer never to see you, but Othello here caught sight of you--or maybe he sensed you--I don't know how this catechize bull works anyway--and he requested, so kindly, that I help him find you. So, Felicity, I'm not here to see you," he stepped to the side as if he were introducing Othello, "he is."

Othello had been hanging behind, watching the two bicker. Felicity had almost forgotten he was there.

"Well," Felicity crossed her arms, "what is it?"

Othello finally strode forward, his hands hanging stiffly by his sides as he stared Felicity down. He then said the thing she least expected. "I think I've fallen for someone, I'd like your permission to pursue her."

Felicity was a bit shellshocked, as she wasn't even sure Othello was capable of such feelings. She didn't want to laugh, because it would be terribly inconsiderate given the circumstances. She instead squinted her eyes, bit her lip, then groaned, "Oh my gosh..." she sighed, shaking her head as she recollected herself, turning to Fidi who was shamelessly laughing. "This isn't funny."

"I know, I know," Fidi shook his head, "I mean, it kinda is, but I know it's not."

Felicity uncrossed her arms, taking a breath as she prepared to answer. Though she was automatically ready to say yes, she suddenly thought back to Layla. Having just banged her brother, she felt she owed Layla something.

"Yes, but on one condition," she stepped forward, pulling Othello up to face her yet again, looking him in the eyes she spoke, "you have to tell me everything you know about Liz Strauss." 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

There she was, Doe, passing her plate of french toast and offering to refill her tea, getting holes drilled in her head by Liddan. It was all too familiar. 

"You seemed freaked out yesterday," he would say.

"It's fine," she would say, not even looking at him. 

"You two know each other?" Sylvie interjected, she gave Liddan a look he couldn't quite read. 

He returned the face with a rather confused expression, slowly coming to explain, "Well, this is Doe, she's a...waitress, I guess. We've met a few times...in the woods where those demons were. The one in the games Layla's after." 

"Uh-huh." 

"Then we met again, turns out she's working here--well, as you can see." 

"Yeah, I noticed...she does seem to work here." 

"Hence the bringing the food here, and, uh, the apron, and the expected tip." 

"Yup," Marigold interjected, "and I need to get back to working, so if you're done introducing me, I'll be on my way." 

She turned around, walking back to the counter before Sylvie let out a sudden, "Wait!" She even stood up or tried to (as she was in a booth). "Um," she froze, realizing she didn't have a follow-up and everyone was staring at her, "I would love some tea, what kinds do you have?" 

"Uh," Doe turned a bit, "I'll have to check, we just have the decaf black tea on the menu...but I think we might have some mint in the back or something else." 

"Oh, I'll come to the counter, just tell me what you have and I'll decide," she stood up, stepping out from the booth and then towards the counter, waving off to Liddan, "I'll only be a moment, you just sit there, play with your straw wrapper or whatever." 

"Uh? I can just join you up there--" 

"Nope!" She sat down on the far end of the bar between two other patrons, ensuring there was no room, "sorry, you just wait there, I'll only be a moment." 

Doe was confused by the rather weird interaction, but she shrugged her shoulders and went behind the counter to start boiling water. She prepared a cup for Sylvie, who was intently watching her work. 

"So...here for the games?" Marigold asked, attempting to make conversation. 

"Yeah," Sylvie answered quickly, "you've been working her long?" 

"Not really," Marigold shrugged, turning around just enough to see Sylvie. Her gaze was discomforting at most. "I'm...I'm gonna go get the tea." 

"Alright," Sylvie nodded, "I'll be here, just waiting." 

Sylvie smiled tensely, watching as Marigold awkwardly slid into the back of the restaurant. Once she was out of sight, Sylvie almost immediately pulled her poncho over her head, looking down at her belly to fill her unborn child in.

"Okay, woo, baby you might be a bit confused because mama's acting weird. But there's a lot to read into here, and it's all, like before your time. I mean, I know you haven't been born yet, but it's like pre-your-conception, or pre-mommy-and-daddy's-marriage, so I can get how this is all really irrelevant to you but you should be in the loop anyway because Uncle Liddan--at least, he might be called your Uncle Liddan if he doesn't get himself killed in the next six months--"

"Ma'am," Sylvie popped her head right out of the poncho as she heard Marigold's voice, "are you okay? Your head is...inside your poncho. I'm not in with the trends...but I'm pretty sure that isn't a thing." 

"Ha!" Sylvie laughed, "You're funny! Did anyone ever tell you you're funny? I'm sure they do all the time," she continued to laugh, much to the confusion of the waitress.

"No, not really," she answered quietly, pulling a few tea bags wrapped in paper in front of Sylvie, "so, I found some raspberry, green mint, vanilla chai, then the black tea...stop me when you see what you like." 

"Mint," she answered quickly, "it just gives me that warm chill, you know." 

"Yeah, sure," she began to unwrap the bag as the kettle whistled. Sylvie watched as she turned around, pouring the cup and setting the bag inside it. Looking over her shoulder at Liddan, she found him distracted at their booth, playing with his straw wrapper. 

Quickly, Sylvie turned her head back to Marigold and leaned forward. In a soft voice, she said it. 

"Marigold," she began to whisper, "is...that really you?" 

Marigold froze, she couldn't see her face, but by the stiff reaction, she knew it was her. 

"Marigold," Sylvie continued, "it's okay, you don't have to pretend with me, I know it's you. I don't know...why I'm the only one who does, or even if I'm the only one who knows, but the thing is I do, and I'm here to help. I don't know how you got a body, or...or why you're working in a two-star restaurant under the alias 'Doe', but just tell me what you need, and I've got you." Slowly, she reached her hand out, pressing it to Marigold's shoulder. "You're still the best friend I've ever had. You're...you're my twin snowflake."

Swiftly, she turned around, and the look she gave Sylvie was not what she expected. She glared at her, with this sharp stare that Sylvie had never seen on Marigold's face before. In just a few words, she wrecked all the hope Sylvie had built up, "I don't know what you're talking about." 

Dropping a spoon in her cup, she stirred it quickly before setting it in front of Sylvie. "Here's your tea, now if you'd please go back to your booth, you're crowding the bar space." 

"Wait," Marigold turned right around, not giving Sylvie a chance to say anything else, "wait--no you're her! You're even using her lame alias--it's not that original, Mari, I mean, Jane Doe? Doe? How long d'it take to come up with that one?" 

"Okay, lady!" Marigold let out an anxious laugh, whipping her head around to face Sylvie, practically shouting, "I don't know you, please leave me alone!" 

The room got quiet, Liddan finally standing from his spot to look over at the women. Sylvie was in a state of shock, unsure of how to respond to such a harsh reaction. 

Sue Ellen finally stepped in, grabbing onto Marigold's arm, "Doe, everything alright?" 

"No," she spoke almost breathless, "this woman, she keeps harassing me, I don't know, there's clearly something wrong with her, she keeps saying we know each other but I've never met her." Marigold seemed panicked, having lost her composure completely. It was as though she were about to cry. 

"Hey, hey," Sue Ellen consoled her, "it's alright, just go back into the kitchen, I'll handle this." As Marigold quickly rushed into the kitchen, Sue Ellen slowly turned to Sylvie and now Liddan who stood on the other side of the counter. "So, you just made my waitress almost break into tears." She was almost smiling, which made the interaction all the more intense. 

Sylvie wasn't sure what to say to justify what just happened. She couldn't possibly claim that Doe was actually Marigold and no one but she could remember her. It was a ridiculous notion and would leave Liddan in a frenzy. So she just spat out, "I thought...she looked familiar, I didn't mean to freak her out like that, I was just--"

"It's fine," Sue Ellen sighed, putting her hand up to silence Sylvie any further. "Doe's going through a lot anyway, it was probably something else. How about I wrap up your meals and bring you the check, okay?" 

"Wait, you're kicking us out?" Liddan finally interjected. 

"Yup," Sue Ellen jerked her head back in confirmation, walking over to their table with tin foil ready, "because you're trouble and I know it, and she's clearly a mess." She turned one last night, looking over her shoulder at the two with a sharp business grin, "You two have a nice day, okay?" 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

The battle was intense, that's for sure. A mess of wind after flood after fire after earthquake after who knows what. The spire that led to the controls was almost impossible to climb in everything but the fire or water. The wind would blow you off, the earth shake you off, the fire was fine if you didn't get burnt too bad, the water wasn't too challenging so long as you could keep up with the current. 

Ema, of Redmoon shield, knew she could win this whole thing with the right key, but she needed to set it to water to get to it.

In the midst of wind, she called pulled her silver key, "Open, gate of the crane--Sasaki!" 

A light shined, and she appeared, looking as a paper crane folding into place, Sasaki. Ema quickly took flight with Sasaki, hoping the element wouldn't change to fire before she got to the top. 

However, the element wouldn't be her only enemy, as Esmeralda would intervene, cutting into Sasaki's wind as she threw herself into the air. It was just one cut, but it was enough to send her down. 

"Sorry, Sasaki!" Ema cried before leaping off the paper crane and onto the spire, now about a meter from the top, clinging for dear life as the wind whipped around her. Sasaki flashed out of existence with a beam of light, having done her job (for the most part). Now Ema just had to find a way to the top. 

In the stands, Fairy Tail watched anxiously, Natsu sitting beside Lucy who anxiously watched as he rocked their toddlers in their stroller passively. "Hey, so there's another Celestial Wizard in the games? Isn't that cool Luce?" 

"Shut up, I'm trying to watch!" She hissed. 

"Don't tell me you're rooting for her instead of our team..." Gray chuckled behind her.

"No, I just...hope she does well," Lucy shrugged, "you hardly ever see any celestial wizards, especially in the games. So it's fun to watch." She peered over to her triplets, all cooing in their respective seats of the stroller. Lucy leaned over Natsu, whispering to her three little tykes, "One of you better end up a celestial spirit mage or I'm gonna lose it--"

"Luce," Natsu grumbled, pulling Lucy up, "let's not threaten the young ones. We tried that and now Jude cries whenever he sees a lobster." 

"Yeah, we can never order seafood anymore..." Lucy sighed, turning back to the game.

Ema was in a panic, still holding on for dear life. Finally, the wind ended, and fire began, which was surprisingly better for climbing the giant spire. 

Her hands were burning just a bit, though it wasn't fatal, and she was terribly nervous. "This'll all be worth it, Ema, just to show her," she began to tell herself over and over again, climbing the spire little by little.

She thought back to the day before, where she spoke with Ace after his match. Ema hadn't told the story in a while, and had expected to tell it to her next, but Ace just happened to hear it before her. 

Finally, she arrived at the top of the spire, just barely reaching the switch controlling the elements. Reaching up, she pulled the lever, turning off the automatic changes. Then, with her last stretch, she pulled it towards the corner for water.

However, just as her fingers braced the lever yet again, something struck her side, making her lose her standing on the spire and collapse just as the lever fell back.

She was falling, but the arena once aflame suddenly began to flood, and as her legs grew damp and the water took her in, she pulled from her coat the key she'd been waiting to use.

Finally, she could show her.

"Open! Gate of the water bearer! Aquarius!" 

Author's Note

Wow, this might be the soonest I've released two chapters consecutively since Volume III, I believe the soonest was actually the same day, which was impressive until you actually read the chapters and the quality is...lacking.

Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too fastpaced, I'm trying to pack less information into each chapter despite having written myself into so many plots. Really, I'm just trying to push through this volume for what's to come, though I'll try not to sacrifice quality for that. 

So, beyond this chapter being...here...I have this other thing I'm doing for some reason (the reason is Kevin wouldn't stop bugging me about it and he offered to set it up so I'm doing it now for some reason) but I'm a Character Popularity Poll to see who's the most popular characters or something even though y'all will probably all vote for, like, Liddan or Marigold. 

Since there are a heck of a lot of characters in the series, you'll get three votes (only three! Five is right out!) and can choose among the characters listed--it's a poll, it's not that complicated. Though you can't just vote all at once because Kevin couldn't set it to give you multiple votes at once...so you'd have to refresh it. Maybe it is a bit complicated. 

The results will be released in the next chapter, whenever that comes out...so...next September (ha, no, the hiatus is over, it's okay, I'm here now). 

I'll drop the link in the comment of this line here, and I'll also post a thing about it in the facts book (which is really just an updates book at this point). I'll see you in the next chapter, this turned out to be around 19k words...which I see goes against the whole "keeping it short" but I tried! At least this chapter didn't have too much happening in it...I suppose. Oh, we'll see.

As always, thank you for reading, and see you next time. 

-Katie The Terrible