Marigold was still shakey after Sylvie and Liddan left, she could barely breathe. Someone remembered Marigold, the earthland Marigold. 

What would she do if she knew? Would she try and take her body for good? Could this revelation change her plans? 

During the first break she got after the encounter, she ran up to her room, digging her hands into the drawer of her nightstand to pull out the shard. She clenched it in her fist, keeling over in her bed. This was a nightmare, Marigold just wanted to get home and put all this behind her, but she couldn't do it on her own.

She opened her palm, looking at the shard shimmering in the light. The thought came across her mind many times before, in fact, every time she held it in her hand.

Why not just crush it? Place it on the ground, crush it under her heel and be done with it. Then she'd just have to find a way to get home on her own. 

But she didn't know this world, and she certainly didn't know a thing about magic. She needed earthland's Marigold to get home. 

Which is why every time she brushed the thought aside and pulled her bandage down from her wrist, once again piercing her skin with the shard. 

As she took a breath, Marigold, our Marigold, came back into the body. She blinked a few times, wiping her eyes. "What's wrong?" 

I just need a break. 

"Did something happen?" 

There was silence, which was odd. No. 

Marigold, her body still shaking, could tell this wasn't entirely true, but she thought it would be useless to ask.

She stood up off her bed, leaving her room and marching down the stairs. She found Sue Ellen behind the counter, busy as always, glancing her way. "You heading out? Grabbing lunch?" 

"Uh," she glanced up at the clock on the wall, realizing it was her break, "yeah, sure, want anything."

"Actually, yes," she dug into her pocket, "if I have to eat our crap food one more day, I'm gonna kill someone, probably Eric." 

The costumers all glanced at each other, as they were eating this so-called crap food, and Eric did peep his head out of the kitchen a bit at the sound of his name. 

"Whatcha in the mood for?" 

"Tacos━no━ramen━no! I know, get some crepes! They've got a crepe stand two blocks from here, I want lots of strawberries and lots of chocolate," she laughed, passing Marigold the money, but hesitated as she looked at her face, "You're looking better, how are you feeling?" 

Marigold panicked as she tried to figure a response, unfortunately, edo Marigold refused to discuss whatever had happened meaning Marigold didn't know how exactly to respond. So flatly, she just nodded, "I'm fine now, it's okay."

"That's good, I'm sorry, usually the customers are respectful, well, respectful as loud drunks can be," she laughed, Marigold nodding along. She thought that perhaps an old man had grabbed edo Marigold or something perverted like that. She could understand why that shook her up so badly. "Alright," Sue Ellen pat Marigold's arm, "be back in ten, 'kay? The day's not over yet." 

Marigold gave her a reassuring wave before leaving the restaurant. Whatever had happened to shake Edo Marigold up wasn't really her business, anyway.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Felicity and Liddan laid on the bed, undressed and a bit sweaty. They each stared at the ceiling as Felicity hugged the sheets over her chest. She bit her lip, not in a sexy way, but in a nervous kind of way. "So, I think it's time we talk about this." 

Liddan didn't react right away. He had expected this but mostly dreaded it. "Yeah, okay." 

"Well," Felicity spun herself to her side, kicking her feet off the bed and onto the floor. She grabbed her shirt off the floor, slipping it on over her head, "despite saying this was just going to be a one-time thing, we've done this...a couple of times now." 

"Yup, that is some...good counting Felicity," Liddan made a face, scratching his head in discomfort in his awkward engagement to the conversation at hand. 

"So, I wanna know now, before we head back to Magnolia, is...well, what is this." Her hand waved between the two of them frantically, and Liddan mimicked her as he struggled to find his words.

"This?" His hands passed between the two of them, "Like, the sex? Or you and me?" 

Felicity made a face, Liddan could already tell he'd made a mistake. "You and me, Liddan, what is our relationship now?"

His eyes widened, and for a moment he stopped breathing. 

"Uh..."

"Oh my gosh," Felicity took a deep breath, "You know what, I'll just say what I want, and you tell me how you feel about it." She sighed, shaking her hands a bit to free herself from her nerves, "I like you, I think you're funny, interesting, and I like spending time with you. So, what I want to do when we get back to Magnolia, is go to some nice food place where we can eat burgers and talk like two people on a date because we're on a date━I want us to date━or at least try to date. If it doesn't feel right, then we can say we tried and just try and go back to how we were before. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Because we seem to like each other well enough, and I like sleeping with you, you're very good━but I want something more than just...a roll in the hay, okay? Does that make sense." 

Liddan remained silent, his face showing told Felicity enough. 

"Okay, or not," Felicity sighed, "I mean, I get if you don't want to date anyone..."

"No━it's just," Liddan finally spoke up, "I mean━yeah━it is that. I just don't think...I should be dating anyone right now, that's all. It's not you, really." 

"I get it━I do," Felicity nodded, dropping her head into her hands, "I'm just embarrassed, that's all." 

"Hey, it's okay," Liddan sat up, reaching out towards Felicity, "you don't need to feel embarrassed or anything, because I do like you, and I do like this, I just don't want to step into any kind of commitment because I don't' think I could really fulfill that person's emotional needs." 

"No━I get it, it's fine━" Of course, Felicity wasn't actually fine, she actually wanted to cry, and had begun to shortly after she stopped speaking. She covered her face, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I'm just really embarrassed━"

"Hey, no," he pulled her closer, "don't be, I'm glad you said it, you don't need to feel bad." She kept her hands over her eyes, shaking her head. He slid his hands up her arms, arriving at the back of her neck. He pulled her forward and kissed her on the mouth.

Or at least tried to.

Before he quite made it to the lips, Felicity had pulled her hands from her eyes to Liddan's mouth. Her face twisted, much less sad, and now just confused. "Are you trying to kiss me?" 

Liddan, still with her hands over her mouth, gave a nod, "You were crying..."

"I was crying because you just rejected me━what's wrong with you!" She dropped her hands, crossing them over her chest.

"I thought it would comfort you?" 

"So you were gonna kiss me because I was sad? Out of pity━"

"No! Not out of pity!" he assured her with a strong tone, "Just...I don't know...I'm ready to go again so I figured━"

"Oh my gosh!" Felicity hopped off the bed with haste, quickly grabbing all her clothes to dress herself. "You thought I'd still do that with you? After all that?"

"I mean━I don't see why we shouldn't, we haven't been dating the last couple times, why should the fact that we don't plan to date make a difference━"

"Because I thought━I don't know, I thought that this was going somewhere, and now I know it's not so I don't want to do it anymore." 

"Going somewhere? Why does a relationship have to go somewhere━lots of relationships stay the same and just never change, ever. And that's fine! I'm here for non-changing relationships!" 

"Yeah, well, we already changed our relationship!" Felicity shouted, hopping into her pants one leg at a time, "That's why we're here, remember? Because our relationship went somewhere, sex, and now, it's going somewhere else, nowhere."

"Well━you still like me, don't you?" Liddan stood up as well, still in nothing but his underwear. "I mean, those feelings don't just go away━you were ready to date me a minute ago━"

"Oh my gosh," Felicity flung her head back, in awe of the fact that Liddan was still arguing with her for the sake of keeping her as a potential sex partner. "Okay, so here's a question, do you like me? Is the fact that you don't feel like you're in a good enough place to date someone the only reason you're rejecting me━"

"Of course I like you," Liddan insisted, "I mean, you're funny, you're cute, your butt is just...very nice━and you're a great size too!" 

"And that was it━that was enough for you to sleep with me?" 

"Well whatever it was you liked about me was enough, I mean, come on, when you and I started making out the other night, was our future relationship what you were thinking about?" 

"No━but back to that size thing, what do you mean I'm a 'great size'━" 

"That's not important━what is important is that you and I went into this with the same idea, we just wanted to get naked with the pretty person next to us, that's all!" 

"Oh my gosh━why are you turning this into some sort of argument━GAH!" She stomped around the room for a bit then shook a clenched fist at Liddan, "If I wasn't crying I would just━" She slapped her hands over her face, "GAH! I don't know!" Felicity say back down on the bed, shaking her head. Suddenly, she pulled up, "Okay, I'm gonna circle back to the great size thing━what does that mean!" 

"It means you're small so I can pick you up easily, that's all!" 

"Oh thank goodness," Felicity shook her head with a sigh, "I was so worried it had something to do with my vagina." She lifted her hands, waving them about, "Back to the issue! Why is this such a big deal?" 

"It's not a big deal━"

"Then, fine," Felicity sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "I'll just go then━"

"Wait! Wait wait wait!" Liddan spilled out in a panic. Felicity turned, facing Liddan. Finally, she was starting to get it. 

"Liddan," she sighed, "just tell me what you want." 

He froze, staring intently at her as he brought his hands together. 

"I don't want you to go," he began, weakly, "I just want to continue seeing you as a friend where we have this nice, comfortable sex but we aren't under the pressure of a relationship because when it becomes a relationship, then there can be a break up and I just━I don't know if I can handle someone else leaving━does this make sense? I feel like I sound like a crazy person━am I making sense━"

"Yes," Felicity said, hoping to shut him up, "you...basically...want to continue having sex with me because it makes you feel good, and just plan to, I don't know, completely disregard my feelings━"

"Wait━no, I didn't say that━"

"But that's what you're doing," Felicity stood up, grabbing her jacket off  the floor and sliding it on, "and, for the record, you're wrong Liddan." As she opened the door, she turned around to say one last thing, "You don't need to be in a relationship to break up, because this is a break up." 

With that, Liddan was alone. However, it would not be the worst thing he would during the games.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Basil wasn't very good at cards, to start, and the game was rather intense.

"Take the loss, Mister Mace," Dolores suggested, "you'll be winning in the long run." 

"I don't care about that," he said under his breath, drawing a card. 

"Now that's just stupid," she took a drag from her cigarette, "I've seen your type, you think you're some sort of super human, some hero, that the rules don't apply to you, and you'll be the one in a million who survives the impossible━"

"I assure you, that's not it," Basil made a face, "and I'm sorry if I gave you that impression." 

"Then what kind of man are you," she shrugged, "the kind of man who doesn't care if he lives or dies? Do you have a death wish, Mister Mace?" 

He paused, unsure of how to answer appropriately. "That's not quite it either..." He sat up in his seat, trying to sound formal and sincere. "I'll protect myself if I can, I'll stay along for as long as I'm able, but if I'm given the choice of my life or another's, it's there's." 

"And so you're putting yourself on the line for some demon?" 

Basil looked up.

"I don't mean to sound prejudiced, I'm not, I've worked with plenty in the past, all noble in cause or what have you, but she...well...she looks like she'd having fun and if she's having fun doing the kind of work you do then clearly there's something off with her." 

Basil wanted to give a friendly and sure answer, but all he could say was, "Well, you're not wrong." 

"So who is she? Not your girlfriend, definitely not an associate from work." 

"Well, an associate from work may only be the way to describe it..." 

"So you met her during work, and now she's, what, tagging along?" 

"She's assisting me, like a consultant." 

Dolores's expression soured, "Oh, please tell me you're not trying to━" 

"No━" Basil threw his hand up, "no to whatever you were about to say. I'm not trying to do anything." 

"Then what is it?" Dolores shrugged, "there must be some bias in her favor, what is it?" 

Basil held his cards in his hands, allowing a moment for the question. "I guess...she makes me feel sane."

Dolores sighed, "Well, I can understand that." 

Basil placed a card at the center of the table, "Go fish." 

"We're playing Rummy." 

"That explains a lot." 

After finally figuring out what game they were playing, Basil managed to win, just barely. Dolores, true to her word, pulled out her lacrima and began to type out orders, "I have a man on the east side of town who has eyes on everything that happens there. If you meet him, I'm sure he'll have something to help you with your case. His name is Allen, go to the Sundial and he'll find you."

"Thank you Dolores, really," Basil nodded. 

"Don't mention it," she slid the cards back to her side of the table, organizing them into a neat stack. "And for the record, about that girl," she leaned in and spoke softly, "it might be for your best interest to be a little insane from now on." 

Basil paused, then leaned away from Dolores, "Don't worry about it." 

"Alright," she shrugged, it wasn't really her business anyway, "if you're lucky, you won't see me again." 

He walked away from the table, making his way towards the bar where Florence sat, drinking while chatting to the people around her. 

"Now he may look like a daddy, but━oh," she turned to him, "did you win?" 

"Yeah," he turned to the bartender, "sir, is there a sort of sundial on the east side of town? Like an exhibit or a restaurant." 

"There's a big one in the center of White Flos, it's this big park over there." 

"Thank you, Florence, let's go━"

"Wait, mate, about the bill?" 

He slid a long slip of paper across the counter, Basil nervously taking it to read out the cost of all Florence had ordered. His face folded into a frown, "Six margaritas━it's not even noon━"

"Davey and Gwen just got engaged," she gestured to the couple sitting beside her on the counter, "we had to celebrate." 

Holding his breath, Basil spat out, "I'm not paying for this━you're on your own!" He tossed the slip onto the counter, walking off. However, Florence just sat there, waiting.

She glanced at the bartender, giving him a sure nod saying, "He'll be back." 

Sure enough, before even reaching the exit, Basil had turned around, marched back to the counter, pulled out his wallet and asked, "Can you take a check?" 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Molly had been off with Rowen most of the morning, watching the games and eating whatever snacks the could find. They shared a plate of nachos around lunch when they finally caught eye of Gillian, who came into the court with her mother. 

"Gillian!" Molly began waving her arm up, absent of the fact that she had cheese all over her face, "Gillian! Over here!" 

Gillian, almost reluctantly, approached the two at their table, where they had been camped out for the past thirty minutes. "Where have you been all day, we've missed you," Molly pushed the basket towards Gillian as an offering, but she waved it off.

"No thanks," she shook her head, "I actually just had lunch with my mom and uh...Baccus." 

Rowen made a face. "So you're not calling him dad yet?" 

"It's...on and off again," she sat down, glancing over at her mother as she met up with Erza and Wendy. "Just like my mom and him, I guess." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rowen grabbed some nachos, watching as Gillian sunk into her seat.

"I have a feeling my parents might have..." she looked at Molly, "an encounter." 

This sparked Rowen's attention, and he leaned, whispering in a hissy voice, "You mean...they did it?" 

"Yeah, but they're not married, or dating or anything," she crossed her arms, "but they were just really flirty the whole time...and he kept trying to tell her things without me hearing, but I'm not stupid." 

"Well, maybe they're gonna get together soon━"

"Not necessarily," Molly said suddenly, "Lillian told me that adults can do that kind of stuff without having any special feelings before or after." 

"I thought you had to be married to do it!" 

"Uh uh," Gillian shook her head, pointing to herself, "I am proof of that." 

"Man, I have questions...I should write this down." As Rowen pulled a paper napkin out of his container, he began to write down his questions about the birds and bees to later ask his mom.

Molly, who didn't have a particular curiosity in sex, carried the conversation elsewhere. "I'm glad you're here, Gillian, will you be here to watch the rest of the games with us?" 

"I was just gonna head back, but I will if you want, at least you won't have to be stuck here with Rowen." 

"Really, that's awesome, the matches are almost over for the day, so we shouldn't be here long." 

"Yeah, we're already halfway through the games, apparently this is the last day of regular one on one matches, then the dual matches start." 

"Honestly, I'm a little ready for the matches to be over," Molly smiled weakly, a bit embarrassed to admit it. 

"Really, I thought all this was up your alley. I mean, all the coordinating colors, chanting━dang it, Molly, you love chanting!" 

"I know!" her chest emptied as she sank into her chair further, "I'm just homesick, that's all...and I miss Jude. I just can't wait to go back home, see Lillian, hang out with all of us there. Like how things normally are." 

"Well, the games'll be over soon, and then we can go back to how things were," Molly smiled, causing Gillian to promptly say, "except that thing about us all hanging out━we don't do that. I'm not apart of the friend group━"

"But you are━"

"No! I'm not━"

"But you're hanging out with us right now━"

"Dang it, Molly!"

Molly laughed, rolling forward in her seat. She glanced past Gillian, who continued to try and explain why she was only friends with Molly, not Jude and Rowen, she noticed Wendy rush over to Erza.

Wendy looked as though she were in a panic, and as she spoke to Erza, she noticed her glance over at Molly with a weary expression. She said something to Wendy, who then went back down the corridor. Hesitantly, Erza began to approach Molly, placing her hand on the table as she smiled to the kids. "How are you, Rowen, Gillian?" 

"Fine━I just have some questions," Rowen said, chewing on the end of his pencil. "I mean...do you have to lay down towels before you do it because when mom described it to me, it sounded kinda messy." 

Erza, not at all prepared to have this conversation, glanced down at Gillian to check if Rowen was talking about what she thought he was talking about. Gillian only shook her head and said, "Ignore him, we're fine." 

"Well, that's good to hear," Erza sighed, turning back to Molly, her glance flickered back and forth, "Molly...I've got some news." 

"Really?" Erza nodded.

"It seems Lillian will be returning soon, in fact, she'll be meeting us here in Crocus." 

"That's great! When can I see her?"

"Well," her voice weakened, "we'll have to see when she arrives. But we'll let you know the moment you can see her, okay?"

Molly was young and admittedly naive, but she had a certain knack for recognizing when an adult wasn't being entirely truthful. Strangely enough, this seemed to be the case with Erza.

Of course, Molly wasn't sure why Erza would be lying to her, and if she was, she'd certainly only do it to protect her from something, so she just smiled back and said, "Thank you." 

"Okay, okay," Rowen spoke up again, "what is foreplay and do I need a mask━"

"Alright," Erza pulled back immediately, "Why don't you say those questions for your parents...and we can go watch the games, alright?" 

Molly nodded, grabbing her nachos as she followed Erza into the stadium. However, she couldn't help but glance down the corridor Wendy had run down after speaking to Erza, and she couldn't help but feel there was something she didn't know. 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

On the east side of town, there was a small patch of grass they pretended was a park. The east side was, contrary to most cities, the less plentiful and safe side of town. There was graffiti everywhere, including the location Florence and Basil planned to meet Dolores's contact. 

They were meeting at a large sundial in the center of the park, which had clearly seen better days. It was covered in graffiti, as was the rest of the area, but ironically, it the culprit that defaced the sundial actually wrote out numbers to make it easier to read. 

"Huh," Florence observed the markings as she stood outside the clock, "well, I mean, that's actually an improvement if you ask me, sundials just confuse me." 

"They're very simple, actually, you just have to make sure the point━"

"Gah, Basil, please spare me a scout story?" 

"I wasn't a scout━I just know a lot of━never mind," the two sat down on a bench just outside the circle, "gah, why is this sticky?"

"Just don't think about it, pretend its sap, or...hair gel." 

There was a moment of silence until Basil spoke again, "why would there be hair gel━oh my gosh." 

He aggressively wiped his hands on his pants, Florence further adjusting her skirt so the back of her legs wouldn't have to touch the bench.  "So when will be meet this Alex?" 

"Allen," Basil corrected, "she said he'll find us." 

Florence sighed, leaning forward and peering into a puddle. It was so dark she could see her reflection, like a rippling mirror. She scoffed, "What was that poem, about the angel eyes?" 

"Something about lakes, you said," Florence nodded, then pulled out the sheet of paper she'd tucked in with her breast, "you were keeping that━those are important documents." 

"I keep all my important documents there," she rolled her eyes, "all women do." 

She unfolded the paper, running her fingers up the crease. The paper was old and had been tucked into the folders carelessly. 

They kiss my feet

to show their devotion.

My island floods,

my words set in motion.

Here in this lake, 

all can be fair,

here in my lake,

my world starts to tear.

"Why'd you save that?" 

"It was a poem, written by an angel━I mean, not an actual angel, one of the Angel Eyes from...years ago." 

Basil peered over Florence's shoulder, witnessing the sloppy handwriting on the old poem. "Her name was Adalene, wasn't it." 

"Yeah, I read she had unknowingly taken control of her husband. In order to set him free, she killed herself." 

"Did it work."

"It didn't, actually," Florence folded the poem up again, "he actually wasn't free from her control until after she was cremated." 

"So the spell isn't broken until the eyes are completely destroyed," Basil turned, "that makes things...difficult." 

"Yes, that's for sure." 

"And the poem, why did you keep it?" 

"It was her suicide note."

Basil made a face, "Oh," he nodded, "I don't remember reading that." 

Florence tucked the poem away yet again, "I thought maybe she was trying to say something." 

"Then why didn't she just say it, not put into some cryptic poem." 

"I don't know, I suppose maybe she didn't want just anyone to understand it," she turned to Basil, "I've actually been thinking about that. About these women...finally having control. And it felt...nostalgic." 

"Nostalgic how?" 

"Well, I wasn't always so powerful, I used to just be a small...frail child, just like those women. They were small, they were weak, but with that power, they were in control for once and no one could hurt them...they were untouchable." 

As her eyes fell back on the puddle, "And even if it meant hurting people...of course you wouldn't give back that power so easily."

Basil pursed his lips, "If it's alright...can I ask how━"

"Wait━" she grabbed his arm, "look!" 

She pointed to the puddle, noticing wavings forming inside it frantically. It was unusual, and the two quickly stood up from the bench to back away from it. Before long, a hand emerged, the rest of the body slowing joining it. 

He was slick and wet, two beady white eyes peering through the dark water at the two. There, still wet and reflective was a man, sticking halfway out of the puddle from the waist up. "Afternoon," he nodded formally to each of them, "I'm Allen, sorry I'm late." 

Basil croaked, "How'd you know we were sent by Dolores?!" 

"I saw you at the bar," he nodded, "if there's water, I can see it."

Florence scoffed, "Of  course, you're a water demon, are you one of the sons of Yam?" 

"Only on my mother's side," Allen shrugged, "I'm a full demon, but I was raised by my mother and my stepfather, who's a human━it was actually quite difficult growing up in that kind of household because he really didn't understand what I was going through━"

"Allen━we need to know about Angel Eyes!" 

"Okay, rude," Allen rolled his white eyes, "but how do you know about Yam, you look mostly human," he propped his arms upon the pavement, "I'm only here my projection, really, so I can't get a clear look at you, are you by chance an energumen. I've never met one━I don't mean to be rude, I've just never met one." 

"Allen!" Basil found himself shouting, "do you have any information for us?" 

"Okay, uh, how about using a please or thank you here and there? Is that so hard?" 

Florence rolled her eyes, kneeling down to be closer to Allen's level, "Allen, I'm sorry if he seems abrasive, he's just uptight, you know how humans are." 

"Oh, I do, my stepdad used to just freak out when I left my skin in the sink━"

"Allen, I'm sorry, but you're drifting off-topic, just a bit." 

"Oh, sorry, I guess you're right," he laughed, a bit embarrassed, "I just don't get to talk to anyone, I live in the sewage system, don't get a lot of visitors."

"Wow, that sounds awful," Basil winced, kneeling down beside Florence, as it seemed to help Allen be more at ease. 

"It's not so bad, I've got plenty to eat, and I make good pay spying on the entire city through the water, you'd be surprised the secrets I find all the way down here. And in the most unpleasant places." 

"I could imagine," Florence nodded, "but, Allen, did you find anything to help us find Angel Eyes." 

"So I did some digging, or swimming, as I guess you could say that's the water equivalent of digging, and I did find a group of men talking to a woman, they were having drinks, one of them is staying sober━his wife is pregnant so he's quitting to support her. I only heard up until he finished his drink, but they were talking about how they would take the trucks out of town tonight."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time," Basil said, "do you know the location?" 

"Looked like a hangar, I've seen them right outside of city. They used to keep big ships inside them but they just built a load of new ones so the old ones just go to waste."

"That would be perfect to store the trucks in," Basil turned to Florence, "but how would she get access to one of those, even if they are abandoned?"

"Likely took control of an officer in the Royal Guard, it's hard to say how many people she's taken control of." 

"We best get a move on, we can break in tonight and stop the trucks before they leave with the stolen goods." 

"But we still don't know how to protect ourselves from Angel Eyes." 

"I have an idea," Florence brought her hand forward, "if I create a storm, I may be able to distract her and lose her vision. I can't guarantee it'll protect us, but it's worth a shot." She stood up, looking at the sky, it was clear and blue, only a few clouds scattered here and there. "There isn't enough in the sky to cause a storm naturally, so we'll have to pull some water from elsewhere." 

"Wow," Allen laughed, "you must have a lot of Yam in you." 

Florence smiled, "I guess you could say that," she peered around, "Is there any source of water near the hangars, like a water tower, or a cooler, or any natural sources?" 

"Ah, there's a dam about a mile out from the hangars," Allen explained, "it's a bit out of the way, a good fifteen miles." 

Basil nodded, "I can borrow a vehicle from the Knight's Stationed here, then we can drive out and you can...do whatever it is you're going to do." 

"Destroy the natural order of things," Florence nodded, "got it."

"Wait━" 

"Allen," Florence leaned her head down to lock eyes with the man much lower in the ground, "thank you so much for your help." 

"No problem, energumen!" He did a little salute, his dark liquid arms dripping as he went. 

"Florence is fine," surprisingly, she took his hand and shook it. The dark water dripping from her own hand, she stood up, "maybe we could visit you down in the sewage someday." 

"Ah, really? That'd be swell," he leaned towards Florence, lowering his voice, "ya don't have to bring your friend, he's a bit rude." 

"I can hear you," Basil muttered.

"Audios, Florence," he gave a nod, sinking back into the puddle and disappearing. 

Basil turned to Florence, "You gave him your name?"

"He'd be a nice resource, plus, we have a bit in common, he and I are both related to Yam, in one way or another." 

She began walking out of the park, Basil joining as they began their walk to the where the Rune Knights were stationed. 

"Yam, I've heard of him," Basil said after they were out of the park, "but I thought he was wiped out, by the guild Vile Sacrifice." 

"He was, but he got around, and there are tons of little Yams with Yam-like powers, his seemed to be Sea Sight."

"Oh gosh, was Yam a pun guy?" 

"Unfortunately, yes...it's dreadful, if you pick up a book of his curses, half the introduction is just puns━it's horrible." 

"Sounds horrible," Basil laughed, then his face twisted, "so you descend from Yam? I guess I was wrong━"

"I don't, actually," Florence shrugged, I was born human, my father was human, as was my...you know." 

As they walked, Basil kept his eyes on Florence. She looked down at her feet, walking slowly along the street. 

"I told you when I was a child I was taken from my father and I was place on an island with many other young girls." Florence turned to Basil, "You remember, yes?" 

"Of course," Basil made a face, "you discussed it briefly when...you showed up at my house..."

"Ah, yes, and you revealed your infatuation with Miss Erza Scarlet━you know she's here in town, this could be your chance to meet her, maybe she'll adopt you━"

"Alright," he said quickly, clearly embarrassed, "I think it's a little late for that, but yeah, you...you said something like, how you would never go thirsty again, right?" 

Florence nodded, "But...I didn't tell you how I escaped the island." 

Basil stopped walking, it was the part of the story she had kept silent about. "So...how'd you do it." 

She frowned, "Well," Florence waved her hand a bit, "to recap, I had made a habit of using the underwater springs, so to punish me...I didn't get any food or water." She looked at Basil, as if to check if he was listening, he just nodded to tell her to continue. "However, the other girls, well...they took care of me. Each of them would save some food for me, place it on my bed at night so I could get something to eat. Of course, the kindness didn't go unnoticed, and as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

"So they took me and the other girls, lined us up in a row along the edge of the doc. They tied our hands and feet to the biggest rocks they could find, and then gathered all the other girls on the island to watch as they threw us into the water. I was the last to go in, as they wanted me to watch all those sweet girls that had helped me drown. It was horrid, and as I wept, they flung me into the water.

"I could hold my breath for a very long, but I knew that I could never hold it long enough to save my life. When I opened my eyes, teary and blurred...I could see the girls, their bodies floating up, some still struggling with a flicker of life. Something about the sight of them just made me shake with anger. 

"Of course, my frail body couldn't compete with the chains so I just kept thrashing around, bearing my teeth as I started to...pray for something to swallow up that island, to eat up all those men who had taken me, hurt me, used me.

"Then, I felt something come into my throat. I wasn't all too familiar with the feeling of drowning, but I knew that wasn't it. Whatever it was, it was forcing its way into my mouth, driving into me until I swallowed it all up. 

"And I noticed, as I thrashed around underwater, that it wasn't just me that was moving, the ocean moved with me. A current carrying me up and out of the water, shaking my hands and feet loose and lifting me into the air.

"I looked down at the island, way up on this...wave that rose fifty feet into the air, circling around the island. They were all looking up at me, shaking in fear. And the thing is...I could have just left, rode the wave all the way to the mainland and escape from that forever but...I didn't want that. 

"As I looked down, I could still feel the tears dripping down my face. So...I let the wave drop onto the island, flooding it and...and then I left."

When she finally finished, she sighed, combing her fingers through her hair as she shut her eyes, "I guess I don't need to tell you, but there weren't any survivors and...and..."

"Why tell me this now?" Basil asked softly. 

Florence pursed her lips, "I suppose...I felt the need to let you know just who you're involved with," she opened her eyes, turning to Basil. Her red eyes were piercing but somehow didn't suit her. "Above all else, I want justice and I want revenge, and I will put that before any man or woman and that includes you." 

Putting his hand on her arm, he simply said, "We should get moving, we don't want to miss them." He pushed her forward, continuing their walk. It wasn't the reaction she expected or the reaction she had hoped for, in fact, it left her a bit disappointed.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Felicity was still crying by the time left the hotel. She got a few looks, but frankly, Felicity was hungry. She never got her tacos, plus, she just had a lot of sex and frankly, since losing her virginity, realized sex always made her hungry afterwards. 

It being nearly 2, she wandered down the road for a bit until she found somewhere to eat. There was a diner just in sight, which had cleared out as the games began to close. She pushed open the doors, locking eyes with the waitress clearing off the counter. 

It was Marigold, and though the two had met once before, they couldn't quite recognize each other.

"Hi, welcome," Marigold flashed a smile, then frowned as she saw Felicity's red eyes. She paused, stopping herself from blurting out something typical like "Are you okay?". Instead, she wiped her hands on her apron and asked, "Rough day?" 

"Yeah..." Felicity responded weakly, wiping her nose as she tried not to tear up again.

"Okay," she pulled out a menu and set it down on the counter for Felicity, "why don't I pour you a drink and we get the waffle iron out just for you." 

"That sounds so nice..." Felicity was about to cry again, Marigold responding quickly with a napkin to blow her nose. "Thank you..." 

"No problem━Eric!" She pushed shouted into the window to the kitchen, "I need a plate of waffles!" She turned around, "Want some wine with that?" 

"I know nothing about wine."

She pulled two bottles out from under the counter, "No one does, but we've got red wine and white wine, take your pick." She held the two bottles up, and Felicity blindly chose the red wine.

Marigold shrugged, personally not knowing much about wine herself as she poured Felicity a glass. Felicity looked up at Marigold, watching her pour the wine intently. "Have we met?" 

"Maybe," Marigold shrugged, "you look pretty familiar, I just can't place it." 

"Uh oh," Felicity almost laughed, "you'd be the second to 'recognize' me today, and the last person tried to assault me." 

"Ruh-roh," Marigold laughed, but upon seeing Felicity's face, realized Felicity wasn't joking. "I'm sorry." 

She set the bottle down, turning to see Eric place a plate of waffles in the window. "Want syrup? Whipped cream?" 

"Yes to both." 

As Marigold worked, Felicity watched with a certain curiosity. "You know," she started up, "I was a waitress not too long ago." 

"Really?" Marigold smiled, "I wasn't a waitress too long ago. I only started this week, it's pretty...challenging."

"You have, like, ten tables at a time, and if you make them wait for even a minute they completely screw you over with the tip."

Marigold leaned in, trying not to be heard by any of her coworkers, "And talk about the tip screwing you over, they use it as an excuse to pay you less!"

"I know!" Felicity scoffed, shaking her head in annoyance to the industry she'd left behind. Marigold laughed, passing Felicity's plate to her. "You know," she picked up her utensils, "in all my time waitressing, even when I was young, and bright eyed like you━"

"I'm pretty sure I'm older than you━"

"Even when I was new to it," Felicity said sternly, "I was never this nice to anyone I served. If someone came into my restaurant crying, I would just try and ignore it." 

"Oh, I don't know," Marigold shrugged, "you've got kind eyes, albeit it red, swollen eyes, kind nonetheless." 

Felicity smiled, nodding her head the side, "I have been told I have very beautiful eyes."

"They weren't lying," Marigold nodded, and as Felicity laughed, she asked, "Do you wanna talk about it? Why you were crying? It's pretty empty in here, I can chat for a bit."

"Oh...it was..." she sighed, shutting her eyes as she shook her head, "don't laugh...but it was about a boy." 

"Ah, I see," she nodded, "never be ashamed, boys are the worst, I've had plenty boys make me cry...though typically not for breaking my heart, more like breaking my...spirit." 

"Nothing more dangerous than a woman scorned." 

"Debatable, but yes," she clicked her knuckles against the counter, "what did this monster of a man do to you." 

"It's just..." Felicity peered over her shoulder, checking to see if anyone under the age of 13 was around her. The coast was clear, so she proceeded, "me and a guy I know...we hooked up." 

"I see." 

"But then, after a few rolls in the hay━man, I've used that specific slang multiple times today. I need a new phrase." 

"Uh━how about 'Bam Bam in the ham'?" 

"Ew, what? What is the ham even in this situation?" 

"I don't know, it's just what the kids in my hometown used to say a lot━okay so the guy?"

"Yeah, so we'd done it a few times," Felicity said quickly, "and then, earlier today, I was like, 'Hey, I want this to be a real thing, I don't want this to just be us doing it in closets anymore!'"

"Closets?" 

"But he says he doesn't want a relationship at the moment, but gets all freaked out when I say I don't want to have sex anymore!" 

"What!? WHAT!" 

"I know!" 

"Men are garbage!" 

"I KNOW!" 

"I can't believe he expected to still be able to get in your pants after breaking your heart like that," Marigold scoffed, shaking her head, "man, that's hard. Are you okay?" 

"I feel better now," Felicity sighed, breaking apart her waffles as they drowned in the maple syrup. "I feel better talking about it, so, you know, thanks for that." Marigold gave her a hearty salute, "It's just I didn't think he was that type of man...and a part of me still doesn't think he's the type of guy to only care about sex and stuff." 

Marigold sighed, "Maybe you're not wrong on that feeling. Men are people, and people are complex and sometimes just plain stupid. So this could have been a complex issue he's really trying to get through...or he's just an idiot."

Felicity nodded diligently, "Jury's still out on that one." She lifted her class, taking one last sip of her wine before pushing her empty plate away. "Okay, what do I owe you?" 

"Five hundred for the waffles, the wine, on the house. You needed." 

Felicity smiled, "Thank you..." she scanned Marigold's shirt to look for a name tag, only to see she was absent one, "actually, I never caught your name."

"Oh it's Do━" then she stopped, and realizing that Felicity did not know her, and the two would likely never meet again, there was no harm in for once sharing it. "My name's Marigold." 

"Cute," out of courtesy, she extended her hand to shake Marigold's, "I'm Felicity."

They shook hands, then Felicity paid her bill and off she went. It felt nice, though there was a certain yammering in Marigold's head telling her she made a mistake, but she knew she didn't. Now, before Marigold disappeared from the world again, she could at least say someone remembered her for who she really was. 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

When they reached the base, there was a large wall with a wide metal gate being guarded. Basil promptly turned to Florence to say, "You stay here and out of sight, I'll get the car."

"Right, the whole demon face," she gestured to her face, "I'll stay put then."

"Good," Basil was about to walk off, but it was perhaps the only time Florence had been a huge prick about a request he gave her, so he went back to sincerely say, "Thank you."

She nodded as he walked off, approaching the two men guarding the front gate. They were all dressed up, with their little spears, all formal and formidable.

"Excuse me," he immediately whipped out a badge and waved it around like a flag, "I'm Captain Mace of the Lily Division, I'm sorry, but I need to borrow a car."

One of them scoffed, "Borrow a car? Oh sure, let me just get the rental sheet."

"Really, thank you━"

"I was kidding about the rental sheet! You can't just walk up to a military base and ask for a car━what do you think this is a library!"

The other, a bit more timidly, did lean up, "We do actually have a library on the base...it just opened."

"No one cares, Sal━look, Captain, if you even are a Captain, the cars on this base are special. No magic hook-ups required! Which means they run on gasoline which ain't a cheap resource━"

"You can certainly check out our library, though, we just got a collection of encyclopedias, as well as some fun crime novels, if you're more into fiction."

"Shut up, Sal!" The other turned angrily, "Look, you're not getting a car━so beat it!"

Basil was about to protest further, until he noticed that behind the two men, right out of their line of sight, Florence was leaping up onto the wall, with failure. She locked eyes with Basil, gesturing at him to keep them distracted.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I understand," Basil nodded, "however, I am interested in this library now...so...in my station back home we don't have a library, is this just here?"

"Actually, me and a bunch of knights from around Fiore signed a petition to set up a library system, as education and at times, entertainment, is very important for the health of our knights. So right now, we're in the process of setting up a national library, which means you can check out at any library so long as you've got a badge and then return it to another station's library just the same━oh, except for encyclopedias, those have to stay in, I'm afraid."

Florence, after many fails, finally managed to reach the top of the wall, rolling over to the other side.

"Now, that's a shame, because I did want to look up some information about...clouds, and weather..."

"Clouds and weather," the more irritable knight grunted, "why would you want to know about those."

"Well...I'm interested in a meteorologist, you see," he nodded, "we've been on, I don't know...three dates now? She's...she's really nice but really smart and I don't want her to think I'm just some dumb knight."

From the other side of the wall, Basil could hear a crash, then some shouting, but the two knights guarding seemed too enthralled in the next development to notice.

The originally irritated knight seemed to soften, "Ah, sorry man, I that's tough, I mean, back home everyone always said I'd just become a knight because I'm not good at anything else━I did really poorly in school, you see."

"Yeah, yeah and that's just not true," the other, Sal, insisted, "we are intelligent, emotional, men. Right?"

"Yeah, we are!" Basil agreed with the much more passionate Knights.

"Which is why me and the others think a library would have a great influence on us! Make us more world-weary, you know? We keep magazines and papers freshly updated for us to read, just so we know what's happening in the world, you know?"

There was now smoke coming over the wall, which made Basil nervous.

"You know, I think I'll start reading the paper," the knight nodded, "you know, it's time I start to invest in the world around me. Or invest in some stocks? Those are...those are in the paper right?"

"Yeah, right on, Max," Sal pat his companion on the shoulder. "You'll do great, I'm sure."

"Thank you," he shook his head, smiling, "You know, it's almost our break. Ah, Captain Mace was it?" He approached the switch to unlock the gate, beginning to press buttons. "Why don't the three of us all grab a cup of coffee and sit together in the library, have a nice chat."

"Wow, that...uh, sounds great."

Slowly, the gate began to open, the two knights stepping aside to let it open out into the street, "And you know, we can look into that car you said you needed. You seem like a nice fellow, I'm sure we can work something out with the commander if you make your case to him."

"Uh..." Basil nodded, smiling bitterly as he heard the swerve of a car, "that's so nice of you, thank you...but I've got a bit of a deadline for the ca━"

Suddenly, before the gate had even fully opened, a large truck burst through, skidding onto the street. Its windows rolled down, Basil could see Florence behind the wheel, whistling for him to come in.

"I'm sorry!" Basil shouted at the two knights, "We'll return it!"

He hopped into the trunk as fast as he could, not even fully inside when Florence dropped her foot on the gas. 

"What the━" he pulled himself inside fully, shutting the door behind him. "What was that?! Have you ever even driven before!?" 

"No, actually, this is the first time," she turned to Basil, making a face, "is it that bad?" 

"Ah," Basil paused for thought, "actually, considering that you've never driven before, you're doing quite well, as expected at least." He paused, staring as the road disappeared under the dashboard. "I gave them my name and rank..." Florence inhaled sharply. "I'm gonna get fired..."

They drove onwards until the stone and concrete roads become dirt. Florence, who wasn't used to being the driver, was exhausted. "Are we there yet...?"

"I don't know, Florence, do you see a giant dam in your line of sight? Then no, we're not there yet."

"Save the sass, it's not a good look for you━"

"I probably just lost my job━and why aren't they following us?" 

"I know...that is odd," Florence peered through the rearview mirror. "We weren't that far ahead of them, if they were pursuing us, they would have made it by now." 

"Something is off..." Basil bit onto his finger, a nervous habit, "but we'll wait until after Angel Eyes is dealt with. My job can wait." 

She glanced over at Basil, watching him sit nervously, it was oddly reassuring. 

When they arrived at the dam, they parked close to the water. They had purposely gone to the bottom half where all the water was spilling out below leaving a white haze over the surface. 

"So, you're only taking from what's already gone through the dam?" 

"Yes," Florence took off her shoes, passing them to Basil, "this might get a little intense, so take cover behind the truck if it does. 

She walked to the very edge of the river, and to Basil's shock, stepped out onto the water.

It was no easy feat, even for Florence, so she walked slowly, struggling to keep her balance. 

As she tiptoed to the center of the river, she face the dam, kneeling down into the water. She stretched her arms out, closing her eyes. 

"Yam," she muttered, the rest of the words spilling out unintelligibly as the water rippled around her. 

Her body tossed backward, distorting unnaturally. From the edge of the water, Basil could see her. Her eyes, they were no longer red, but glowing white and empty. 

He looked to the dam, where the water falling and crashing into the river below suddenly stopped, freezing and pooling up in the air. 

Suddenly, a lake formed, hovering over Florence and Basil as she carried it into the sky, twisting it around until it began a transformation, becoming a thick gray cloud hovering over the city, cycling tightly. 

More and more water poured into the storm, it was breathtaking, but Basil couldn't help but turn back to Florence, who was now on her knees in the middle of the river. It seemed as though she was pouring her life into the storm. 

As all the water made its way into the cloud, Florence's arms dropped, and as it began to rain, she began to sink.

"Florence!" There was no sight of her.

He sighed, yanking off his jacket, shoes, socks, and even his pants. Chucking them into the truck, he dove into the water.

Basil was an okay swimmer, nothing to brag about, but as he swam against the current to the center of the river, he felt quite challenged. It was almost unnatural, the force pushing against him, as though something didn't want him to reach Florence.

However, he pushed through, at times getting tossed with whatever the force was sending him flying through the water so he didn't know which way was up. 

He found himself on the ground, his fingers digging into the sand to try and stabilize him, he couldn't breathe, and he felt something pushing him down. He opened his eyes as much as he could, trying to see around him in the water. 

Then, he saw Florence, there at the bottom of the river, walking towards him. She looked down at him pitifully, shaking her head as she yanked up at his arm. She wasn't even holding her breath, which was odd, but what was strangest was her face. Her face was distorted, as though it were shifting as he looked at her. Her eyes, a bright shining white. For the first time, in Basil's eyes, she looked like a demon.

She pulled him up, swimming up to the surface. As the emerged, the first thing he heard was, "Are you stupid? I'm a water demon, you don't think I can survive underwater?" 

Basil coughed, holding onto Florence as she dragged the two of them to the edge of the river. She dropped him by the edge, ringing her skirt out, which proved itself a meaningless task with the rain. Shaking her head, she looked down at Basil, she looked like herself again, which Basil found as a relief. "So...you wear briefs?"

Basil threw his hands over her underwear, "Let me change━okay?!" 

She chuckled, watching Basil scramble to stand up and run to the truck and change. He tossed her the shoes she'd left with him, which she quickly slipped on as she looked up at the storm. They listened as thunder roared, which left Basil a bit concerned. He turned to her, she shrugged.

"Sometimes the storms turn into thunderstorms, which, you know, means lightning...hopefully that doesn't have any poor consequences."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"And that marks this match as a draw between Team Redmoon Shield and Team Deadly sins, awarding each team with five points." 

"Which takes us into the last match of the day, between Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel."

"At the end of yesterday's matches, Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel were tied for third at 23 points. In this morning's match, both Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus placed at the bottom, Mermaid Heel only receiving 1 point and Blue Pegasus with 0 points."

"What a bunch of losers━"

"Seriously, Bradley, can you try and━anyway, now let's see who's up today!"

"Representing Team Blue Pegasus is Sakura Akatsuki, who participated in the games first challenge, placing last." 

"Now this could be Sakura's chance to keep Blue Pegasus ahead after their blunder in the opening match today. 

"A bit of a surprise in this match, thanks to a sudden withdrawal from Mermaid Heel, Myla Knoble will be replaced by Carmen Alesha." 

"Wait, so they're gonna just throw her right in?" Gillian leaned over to Molly, as the two were now watching the games with the rest of Fairy Tail.

"Wait," Molly pressed up against the edge of the balcony, "I know her! We met on a bench with that tree guy!" 

"Tree...guy?" 

"She's super nice, she's like, my future self!"

"What makes you say that?"

Molly turned to Gillian, "Her braid skills are on point." She was completely serious. "But I'm worried for her, I mean, she was only a stand-in and just got called in today, she must be completely unprepared. I hope she's okay."

In the arena, the two girls approached the center. Sakura, the bright-eyed, pink-haired girl smiled as she stuck her hand out to Carmen. "Let's have a good match, okay?" 

"Yeah, same to yo━" Carmen was interrupted as she felt Sakura forcibly pull her in.

"I'm gonna eat you alive, pinky." 

Carmen croaked, "But...you have pink hair too━"

"It's magenta, you whore!" she hissed, "Look, I got screwed over in my first match because I'm better one on one, so you bet your bottom butt I'm gonna wipe the floor with you..."

"My bottom butt━" Carmen was left shaken as Sakura pushed her away, her smile back, toothy and sweet. Carmen was properly frightened, mostly by the sudden personality change in Sakura, but also because she felt by no means prepared for the battle about to take place.

Though Molly was quite focused on the action as it began to unfold, she was startled when Nashi suddenly appeared beside Erza, "Man, that Mermaid Heel chick is getting creamed." 

Molly turned suddenly, pulling her head around Gillian to lock eyes with the taller woman, "Nashi, you're back?" her voice tilted a bit, which made Nashi wonder if Molly was unhappy with her arrival.

"I...am?" she shrugged, then squeezed next to Gillian to lean against the balcony as well, "All our matches are over, they have been, I was just on a run with Jude, gotta keep him up and ready for his next match." 

"So is he back?" 

Molly's face lit up, making Nashi smile a bit that Jude had a friend so excited by the chance to see him, "Yeah, he should be out of the shower by now, down in the lockers on the first floor━"

"Okay! Erza, I'm gonna be gone for a bit!" she slid past Gillian, then Nashi, then Erza, running out of the balcony and into the corridor to meet with Jude. 

Jude, meanwhile, was standing in front of a mirror, wrapped with towels yet still soaked. He rubbed his hand against the mirror, clearing the fog to show his face. It was still tinted red from his run. He still felt small, but couldn't help but remember Molly's response the first time she saw him. 

Looking around to see that no one was around him, he turned to his mirror, flexing his arm muscles. They had definitely gotten bigger, and they bulked up just a bit when he flexed. 

With the towel wrapped around his head, he admittedly looked goofy, so he pulled the towel over his head, sleeping it quickly from side to side to try and dry his hair. 

As he held the towel over his head, he peered at his eyes, wondering how old he was, technically speaking, as he'd been in the  time pocket for three months, meaning he's technically already 12. 

He placed his hands on his hips, puffing his chest out a bit as he tried to speak in a deeper voice, "That's right...I was only twelve years old when I participated in the Grand Magic Games...and I killed it..." he winked, then cringed. "Oh, yeah, Molly? Did you notice my chest hair?" 

Jude took a moment to look at his chest, even going as far as to pressing his body as close to the mirror as possible to get a closer look. There was nothing, but frankly, Jude was blonde so it'd be a bit difficult to notice anyway. Then again, it's better than having pink chest hair. Jude reminded himself to ask Liddan when he first noticed body hair because Jude was getting nothing. 

"Hey Jude━what are you doing?" 

Jude turned to the door, seeing Elwin sticking his head into the locker room. Of course, Elwin was seeing Jude literally climbing up on the sink to press his stomach against the mirror. "Nothing━nothing, I'm not doing anything." 

"Yeah, okay nerd," he laughed, "Molly's out here, was asking if you were done with your shower yet."

"I'll be out in a bit!" Jude usually didn't notice, but right then he realized just how shrill his voice was. Again, he cringed, practically shaking as Elwin closed the door and Jude quickly found his clothes to get dressed.

After styling his hair (like his father taught him) he stepped out of the locker room to find Molly looking out the window to see the fight while Elwin and his friends Kris and Ronan hung around. 

"I just don't see why I can't be friends with both of you..." Elwin muttered as Kris crossed his arms, turning away from both of them.

"I mean...I guess, but I won't say I'm okay with it!" 

Jude ignored the weirdly dramatic trio, making his place beside Molly in the window. "Hey," he spoke in as low a voice as possible. He sorta just sounded like a gremlin with a sore throat. Maybe she wouldn't notice.

"Are you okay? Does your throat hurt?" Dang it, she noticed. "I can get you some cough drops━"

"It's fine, it's fine," Jude cleared his throat, "just a frog in my throat." A stupid prepubescent frog. 

"Then come on," she grabbed his arm, "I wanna get a better view of the fight! Carmen's finally pulling through." 

"Who's Carmen?" They climbed up the stairs, making there way up to the next floor, then the next, then the next.

"She's from Mermaid Heel, I met her not too long ago. She and this tree...man talked with me. They were both very...friendly. I guess I just want her to win and...gosh...there are so many steps...let's take a minute..." Molly dropped her hands onto her knees to keep herself from falling over, her breath heaving. 

Jude looked around, glancing down at all the steps they'd come up. Maybe the running was paying off.

"Okay...okay," Molly pulled her head up, "we're okay now." 

They continued to pull themselves up the stairs, reaching to the floor where they could see out into the stadium through large arches in the walls. It was the highest spot for viewing, right below one of the four statues on the edge of the arena. 

"There, the girl with pink hair!" Molly pointed out to the large lacrima broadcasting a closeup of the fight.

Jude squinted, "They both have pink hair━"

"The other has magenta hair!" Molly insisted, "the girl with the light pink hair, that's Carmen! You know...I never asked what type of magic she used."

Carmen used a type of magic called Elemental Magic, which wasn't exactly what you'd think.

It meant she could embody the powers of nature, which went beyond your typical earth, air, fire, and water. 

If it was there around her, she could become it, if there was dirt, she could embody it's power, the same with air, iron, wood, stone.

So it was a marvelous ability to have during, say, a storm in the middle of the woods. 

However, Carmen was standing in the middle of a dirt-floored arena, surrounded by stone and, well, air. There wasn't a lot she could do but run.

Maybe she could beat the clock, just getting her team the five points for staying in the arena alive. It was possible, but Sakura was just so vicious.

 Sakura, on the other hand, had a very different type of magic. Doll magic. Similar to elemental magic, Sakura could make a doll out of almost anything. However, rather than develop the abilities of that element, she could make a giant attack monster out of it. 

At the moment, Carmen was running from the grip of a giant dirt monster, rolling around the arena growing larger and larger. 

She could barely breathe, but the first moment she got she stuck her hand out, shouting, "Air!" Suddenly, growing down from the tips of her fingers, her body became as light as air, sending her floating and tossing around in the sky above the arena. 

Sakura growled, her dirt doll slumping over in defeat. "Of course━run away━or, float away!" 

As she looked up, she was struck with an idea of looking at the four statues. She smirked, "Dirt Doll━stack up!" 

Suddenly, the dirt doll, digging into the earth below Sakura, began to form a hill below her, raising her into the sky as high as they could carry her. 

After reaching as high as they could possibly take her, Sakura took a leap, blowing kisses at all one of the statues to cast her spell before landing in the messy arms of the dirt doll. 

Within moments, the eyes of the statue began to glow pink, the entire arena beginning to rumble as it took life, the dirt doll falling back into the earth where it came from. 

As the statue came to life, it pulled its staff from the stone pillar, slowly swinging at poor Carmen as she floated in the air.

"Gah!" she flung herself around as the statue tried to knock into her. As it moved, rocks began to crumble falling into the audience. 

They cried out in fear, but the announcers promptly spoke up.

"No need to worry if you're in the audience! You all are protected by a magical barrier so nothing happening in the fight can hurt you!" 

Unfortunately, that didn't entirely apply to those that were in the building holding up the statue, such as Molly and Jude. 

"Jude!! We're gonna die!" She clung to him for dear life as the entire building shook chaotically.

"Oh gosh━this is it!" Jude squeezed his eyes shut, "I just hope Dad was wrong about me going to the bad place for reading those magazines━I was just curious!? Okay?!" 

"What?" 

"I don't know! Nothing! Don't worry about it!" 

Carmen continued to float, flapping around as she tried to keep herself steady. However, the more she hung up in the air, the less air she had in her, meaning she was about to fall.

She turned, looking between her legs to see the statue reaching out for her with its hand, trying to squeeze her up. She screamed, grabbing onto its top finger to swing herself onto the back of its hand just before she ran out of air, dropping onto it then holding on for dear life. 

"Shake her off!" Sakura commanded, the statue slowly following its orders.

"Looks like Carmen might take a fall if she doesn't play her cards right."

"And to be clear, ladies and gentlemen, a fall like that defs gonna kill her."

"It appears that after using one element, she can't just use it again...which is...very inconvenient, like how is this poor girl gonna get down now."

"Come on...come on Carmen," Molly clenched her little fists, "You can do it! You can do it!"

"I can't do this! I can't do this!" Carmen was practically hyperventilating, gripping onto the statue's wrist as tightly as possible. "No, Carmen, you can do this. You are strong, you are good enough, and your braid-game is lit! I just need something, something to fight with!" That's when she could feel on the back of her neck, rain.

"That's odd...it appears we have som unpredicted rain..."

She looked up as a huge cloud took over the sky, rain beginning to pour down on the arena. "Water!" She knew she could absorb the water to have a safe fall, but she hesitated. She wasn't ready to fall just yet.

"Okay, you've got more to work with, if only we could get some━" her head lifted as she heard the sound of thunder. "YES!" 

https://youtu.be/4AqjqOqNrjw

"Shake her off!" Sakura continued to shout from below, "Dang it...the bigger they are...the slower." 

Carmen looked around, she was on the right arm of the statue, who was beginning to try and shake her off, but the other arm, which was holding the staff was with reach, if she jumped, that is. 

As the arm began to tremble, she took a deep breath and leaped off, dropping onto the arm. 

Smack! She almost fell off the statue, its stone now slick from the rain, but she held on tightly, pulling herself up to get herself steady.

Reaching the top, she found herself at the highest point in the arena, barely able to keep her balance. She held on with every limb she had but kept her head up to the clouds above her, until she could lightning beginning to ripple behind the clouds, getting ready to strike.

Within that moment, she stood up as tall as she could, then jumped, her hand stretched out to the sky. 

It would be impossible timing, but with every bit of her being she was calling out to that cloud to release its lightning into her, and it did.

The lightning struck, lighting up the arena as it struck her hand. It's electricity echoed inside her as she began to fall into the arena. She stretched her body out, steadying her fall as she looked down at Sakura. She only had one shot.

Extending her arms, electricity began to charge in her hands before shooting down onto the ground at Sakura. 

The lightning crackled against Sakura and the earth around her, knocking her down and rendering her defeated. 

"Oh my gosh━she took Sakura out with only one hit!" 

"Now, if Carmen can stick this landing━as in not die or break her legs or probably die, she'll win the match! And not die!"

The arena watched in anticipation as Carmen continued to fall and fall, then splat, onto the earth.

Everyone was silent, Molly holding tightly to the stone as she muttered, "Come on, get up...get up..."

Slowly, everyone realized that Carmen didn't exactly splat like the way a body does when it hits the ground from a good 100 feet in the air. Rather the way a drop of rain does when it hits the ground. 

They watched as Carmen slowly resolidified, having embodied water just before hitting the ground. She stood up, wiping the dirt off her legs as the crowd began to cheer in celebration that she did, in fact, not die a painful death. 

"She did it! She didn't die! Also she won Mermaid Heel 10 points but more importantly, she DIDN'T fall to her death!" 

"What a turn for this fight! Which might have been the most exciting and...costly of the entire games. I mean...those statues are hundreds of years old...I don't think they'll ever fully be repaired━"

"But who cares because it was fun to watch!"

Molly was leaping in celebration, "She did it! She did it, Jude!" 

"I know! I know I saw!" he laughed as she threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly in a fit of joy. As she stuck her head out through the archway, Jude couldn't help but ask, "Why did this fight matter so much to you." 

Molly turned, a taken aback by the question. She smiled thinly, turning to Jude, "I don't know...I mean, she sorta...makes me feel like I'm..." she felt embarrassed to say her exact reasons, so instead she said, "Do you think I'll ever be like her? Like one day, when we're older, you and I could be on the same team in the games? Do you think that's possible?" 

Jude's eyes widened, he blushed. "Yeah, of course it's possible, I mean, you're already strong and talented and training with Wendy━I mean, by the time you're older, you'll be way stronger and everyone'll have to watch out when you come into the games." 

Molly laughed, nodding her head, "Yeah, but then again...I don't think I want things to change that much..."

As her smile faded, Jude pulled himself behind her, shrugging as if she was worried for nothing, "It'll be fine, even if things do change, you'll manage them. You've got Lillian, and Erza, and Wendy, and Gillian and━"

"Rowen?"

"No, you don't have Rowen, screw Rowen━" He croaked, as the notion seemed to make Molly look a little sad, "Okay, you have Rowen, like, half have him, but more importantly━you have me." 

Molly laughed, "Yeah, you guys have my back, right, and I have your's." 

"Yeah, you've got━gah!" Molly suddenly grabbed the back of Jude's shirt, tugging it towards her.

"See! I gotcha back!" 

"Ha━very funny, pleaseletgo."

"Never!" Molly found it all rather amusing, thought it was a rather stale joke. 

Before long, the two were moving back to where Fairy Tail was staying. It was crowded, and everyone was filing in chunky lines to get out of the arena. Luckily, Erza was easy to spot thanks to her size and hair. She waved at her but was a bit nervous to find her talking to Wendy, who was less easy to spot for the same reasons. 

Erza gave her a nervous look as she noticed Molly approach her, "Molly, there you are, did you get to see the game."

"Yeah! Me and Jude saw it together!" She smiled, then glanced at Wendy who, oddly enough, seemed distracted. "Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, it's fine━except for your grammar, it would be Jude and I, not Jude and me, it's fine, keep practicing." She smiled, patting Molly's heat lightly, "Now Wendy and I need to do some errands, so why don't you and the rest of the kids head back to the hotel with Nashi." 

"Don't worry, Erza," Nashi gave a salute, already holding tightly onto Gillian and Rowen by their arms. "I'm great with kids." 

Jude, as quickly as he could, spat out, "Don't believe her she's lying━" 

"Come on!" She yanked Jude right off the ground, sticking him under her arm, "Follow me, Molly, we'll get through this crowd in no time, so long as we use some good ol' fashion violence." 

"Uh..." Molly hesitantly followed, glancing back at Erza and Wendy to wave them off, "See you back at the hotel!"

Erza smiled, waiting until she had sunk deep into the crowd before leaving with Wendy.

"Are you sure we couldn't have just brought her with us?" Wendy asked. 

"I'm certain, I don't want to worry her until we know it's serious," they walked briskly down the hall, "it isn't serious, right?" 

"I've seen comas like this before, they can be broken with the right magic, it's like a typical enchantment, just a defense mechanism used for protection, not a curse or something." 

Erza sighed, allowing Wendy to lead her into the infirmary. They passed the empty beds, finding a young blond man, Aloke, slumped down in a chair. He stood up quickly as they approached. "Did you get what you needed?" 

Wendy smiled frailly, pulling from her pockets a small spherical lacrima, "Yes, don't worry, I've got it right━"

Erza, however, quickly grabbed Aloke's collar, "What did you get her into━if she comes out of this with even a scratch I will tear you━"

"Erza!" Wendy laughed nervously, "I admire your passion for helping Lillian, but I promise, she'll be alright!" 

Pulling back the curtain, she revealed Lillian, lying unconscious in the bed. She was breathing steadily, quaint and peaceful. Wendy sat down beside her, holding the lacrima over Lillian's chest. "Enchantments like this are simple. We just need a separate entity suitable for absorbing the magic." 

Taking a deep breath, she squeezed the lacrima, shutting her eyes as she did her work. The lacrima began to glow a dull pink, as did Lillian. The light emulating around Lillian slowly faded away as the lacrima grew brighter. "See, that's all it takes." 

Pulling her hand back, she placed the now full lacrima on the table beside her. "She should be waking up right..." Right on cue, her eyes slowly opened, blinking sporadically as she adjusted to the sudden gage of light. "Right now...Lillian? You're in Crocus, you're safe, and you're alright." 

"Justin?" She brought her hand to her head, squinting as a sharp pain pulsated. "Gosh, what happened." 

"You've been unconscious for a while...a few days, actually." Aloke stepped forward, kneeling down beside the bed, "It was crazy difficult to get you here. Carrying around an unconscious girl made me look pretty suspicious━I had to dress you up like an old lady and push you around in a wheelchair, you're welcome━"

"Lillian," Erza pushed Aloke aside, "what happened, how did you fall into a coma?" 

"Well..." Lillian scratched her head, "I...I guess I got too close." 

"Too close? Too close to what?" 

"The girl." 

Author's Note

Thank you all for reading this incredibly long chapter, which isn't really unusually long for me, as it's around 12k words, but I was pretty sure I'd be done around 8k words and then...I added another 3k word section because I guess I hate all of you.

I feel a little nerdy adding the "Thunder" song by Imagine Dragons, as admittedly I only know that song through Beat Saber on VR (but let's be real, if you've played Beat Saber it's heckin' lit). 

However, the song just happened to play right as I started writing that and I was like "let's just listen to this song on repeat until I finish this section". It helped, and it convinced me that the song was appropriate, and it sorta was...about thunder and lightning and also a girl sorta...proving herself to be stronger than people thought her to be. 

But yeah, I actually came up with that scene a long time ago, it somehow important to me and Molly's character sorta growing up to have more confidence in herself as a mage. Granted, I just love the ideas for the visuals of this fight, as it'd essentially all be happening on those giant statues around the arena. 

But yeah, hope you enjoyed the chapter, I really liked the section with Sal who just kept pitching the Rune Knight's base library, I just thought those two guys seemed like really sweet guys, also Allen, I definitely want to bring Allen back, they seem like they live fulfilling lives. 

Anyway! The next chapter is gonna be all about Lillian and what that nerd has been up to since, like, the beginning of this volume...which means that she hasn't been in the main story for, what, two years? (I mean, at least she got to appear in those side chapters where Laurie complained about his sex life...)

Poor Lillian. 

See you guys later, stay sexy. 

-Katie the Terrible