Two Days Later, Phaedra's POV

My head throbbed. That was my first thought as I slowly began to regain consciousness. I didn't dare open my eyes since I could tell that any form of light right now was just going to cause the terrible pain in my head to flare up. I had only felt a pain like this once before and that was a memory I had shoved so far into the recesses of my mind I thought I had finally buried it for good. As my brain sluggishly began to process the signals the rest of my body was sending it, I felt my lips tug down in a frown.

My shoulders, wrists, and ankles were all sending dull pain signals even as I lay motionless, and every single muscle in my body seemed to be faintly pulsing with a persistent ache. Moving past my immediate pain though, I explored the other signals my brain was translating. Something felt off. I was in an unfamiliar bed with a slightly stiff mattress and a thin blanket was covering me completely... Forgetting the pain in my head, my eyes popped open and I sprang into a seated position, tossing the blanket on top of me away and clutching at the soft sweater that I had never felt before in my hands.

Pain sliced through my brain and chest so fiercely that I momentarily couldn't breathe. I clutched one hand to my head, discovering that I had a bandage wrapped around my forehead, and the other pressed down hard on the thin plate of magic sealing stone that, no matter how many years went by, constantly felt like it was still searing itself deeper into my skin.

"Phaedra-san!" a high-pitched voice cried out in shock and relief. I blinked slowly as the pain in my head and chest dulled to the point where I could function. Cautiously I turned around to see Wendy's big brown eyes looking at me with a mixture of concern, fear, and a huge amount of relief.

"You about scared Wendy to death, you know," a slightly snooty voice sounded to my right. I turned to see Shararu standing on the mattress next to my side and folding her arms in a picture of annoyance. Her shoulders were slouched though and I thought I could see a look of relief hiding in her eyes.

"What's going on?" a sleepy male voice asked. Once again, I turned to see what had caused the noise. My eyes widened and then narrowed as Gray lifted his head up from the bed beside me as he looked around in obvious confusion.

"Phaedra-san woke up!" Wendy said with a happy laugh as she reached out and gently took one of my hands into both of hers. I was surprised to see that a splint had been attached to the wrist of the hand she was holding and slowly memories of what had happened with the kidnappers in the cave began to come back to me.

I winced when Gray's loud voice yelling the news that I had woken up caused my headache to flare, but I quickly pushed that aside and looked down at myself. I was wearing a beige, thin sweater with strange, scarf-like pieces of fabric hanging down the front, and I could feel a small hood laying in between my shoulder blades. My leather pants were also gone, replaced by gray jeans that fit just a little bit loose.

Attempting to swallow past a lump of emotion in my throat I reached out my hand to check if I was wearing socks and my body instantly froze. The sweater I was wearing had sleeves long enough to cover half of the back of my hand, but two dark lines were peeking out from underneath the beige fabric. My brain was going haywire at the same time as a strange numb sensation descended over my body as I stared at the offensive scar. Slowly, almost painfully, I turned my hand around and stared at the elegantly swirled, almost calligraphic letter H that stared back at me, as if mocking me.

I didn't know how long I stared at the scar I hadn't allowed myself to look at for years before a thin, delicate hand with a pink guild mark reached out and placed her hand over the scar, seeming to erase it from view. As if coming out from a fog, I blinked away the numbness that had descended over me and slowly raised my head to look at Lucy. Her eyes were filled with worry and I watched as she gingerly sat on the edge of the bed I was sitting on.

"Are you okay, Phaedra?" Lucy whispered and I could hear guilt in her voice.

I blinked silently as I took a moment to be grateful that Lucy had escaped seemingly unscathed from the wretches that had captured us. Then I turned, realizing that small hands were still wrapped around my other hand. I looked at Wendy for a moment, noting how her expression brightened as I met her eyes. Slowly I lifted my eyes to look beyond Wendy and moved my gaze around the room. Gray, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Laxus, and even Mest were all gathered in what appeared to be an infirmary of some kind.

My eyes shifted back to Gray and Laxus as the event in the cave replayed in my mind, reminding me why my head felt like it was two seconds away from imploding. Everyone was looking incredibly serious and as I let my gaze linger on Gray and Laxus I wasn't surprised to see a slight awkwardness in Gray and a silent question in Laxus.

"You saw..." I said, letting my voice trail off since I had no desire to admit to what I had tried to forget for the last five years. Laxus, Gray, Wendy, and to my horror Mest, all nodded their heads. My hands clenched into fists as I turned to look at Lucy, Natsu, and Erza.

"And you...?" I asked, once again not being able to bring myself to finish my question. Erza stepped forward and looked at me with blunt openness.

"Gray and Laxus told us. Who did this to you, Phaedra?" I stared at her without reacting because I inwardly I was trying to deny the fact that the situation I had tried to avoid like the plague had finally come about. And I had no idea what I was supposed to say.

"Phaedra," Lucy said, squeezing my fist gently as she looked at me with sorrow-filled eyes. "We want to help you. Why were those awful people after you? Who... who hurt you?" Her voice was gentle and kind and part of me wondered if it was really worth it to keep my secret hidden now that they had seen the scars.

"It's... a REALLY long story," I heard myself say in a voice devoid of happiness.

As my body screamed at me with messages of pain and abuse, some of it self-inflicted, I felt the numbness once again descend over my brain. I slowly pulled my hands away from Lucy and Wendy's tender touch. Wincing from the burst of pain the movement caused I pushed myself backwards so I could lean my head against the wall. Wendy was quick to tilt the pillow I had been laying on up so I could use it as a cushion for my back and I tried to give her a grateful smile.

"You probably won't believe me," I said tiredly as I looked around at the group of Fairy Tail mages. Erza folded her arms and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Try us," she said firmly, with a hint of amusement that soon vanished as she glanced towards my balled-up fists. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. Honestly, I welcomed the numbness. I tried to let it completely take over me as I let out a long sigh.

"Have any of you heard of a country called Prekt?" I asked slowly, without opening my eyes. When no one answered I chuckled lightly and slowly shook my head back and forth against the wall.

"I didn't think so," I said quietly before opening my eyes and looking at the group of mages and Exceeds in front of me.

"Is that where you are from?" Shararu asked, walking forward on the mattress and sitting down in a very lady-like way next to my knee. I smiled down at her sadly and nodded.

"Prekt is a country that lies across the Graveyard Sea," I said and was unsurprised when several of the older mages looked shocked at this news.

"That can't be right. Nothing is past the Graveyard Sea; it's called that because anyone who tries to sail through it ends up never coming back," Mest said with a heavy frown on his face. I slid my eyes over to his and felt my lips tip up in a wry grin.

"I wish that were true," I whispered, turning away from him and looked at the wall, away from everyone else's confused expressions. "Our history teaches us that hundreds of years ago, when the dragons went wild and were slaughtering everyone in their path, twelve female mages banded together and cast a spell of forgetfulness so powerful that every mention of our country was wiped off of the face of Earthland. They figured that if the dragons forgot that Prekt existed they would have no reason to attack and we would be safe."

I could see the confusion and denial going through Natsu's eyes at this story, but I was impressed when he didn't interrupt me. After making sure no one else was going to say anything I continued setting the stage for my story.

"Prekt honored the twelve mages who delivered the people from destruction and gave them the honorary title of 'Guardian Princess'. They became the protectors of the royal family, and when one of them died a new female mage was selected to become her successor and take up the call to protect Prekt with their magic. This tradition was followed faithfully all the way until the present day." I paused, realizing that this was the part where I was going to have to start telling my story. The cowardly part of me wanted to prolong the stirring up of the awful memories that this retelling would cause, so I shifted my gaze to look at Erza, who met my eyes with a steady gaze.

"Have you ever heard of Enslavement magic?" Erza frowned and shook her head, glancing among her friends who all shook their heads as well. I nodded slightly, also having expected this reaction.

"Is it like Mr.Cursey?" Happy asked with a paw against his chin, looking like he was thinking deeply. Natsu burst out laughing, slapping his knee and pointing at Lucy.

"I remember that! We made Lucy into a Dragon Slayer!" he said while laughing wildly.

"Lucy Fire was so awesome!!!" Happy cried excitedly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Erza appeared behind the two boys and whammed her fists into their heads. They both slammed into the ground where they twitched helplessly, steam escaping their heads where Erza had struck them.

"Please forgive them. You were saying, Phaedra?" Erza prompted, moving away from the two and leaning against the wall where she gave me her full attention.

"Baka, Natsu," Lucy huffed under her breath and I shook my head. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if their interruption had lasted a little longer.

"It's a despicable black magic. If anyone were to practice it in Ishgar they would definitely be part of a dark guild," I said, bitterness and anger causing my voice to deepen and take on an ugly quality. I cleared my throat and tried to focus on the explanation so that they would understand.

"A normal mage who practices enslavement magic can control any person that they touch for a short amount of time. However, those who have mastered the technique have a much more effective way to use it. Using a special magic amplifying relic, usually in the form of a stone or jewel, they can actually place a piece of their magic inside of their target and they can take complete control. Not just of the body, but to a certain extent they can even take over the person's mind and occupy their thoughts, even plant ideas into the person to make them more pliable. And their control lasts for as long as they can concentrate on the person their magic resides in."

"That sounds awful!" Wendy said with a look of horrified indignation. I couldn't help but smile at her reaction and nod in agreement.

"Unfortunately, it's a common form of magic in Prekt, although most people never find a relic to allow them to become too problematic..." I trailed off as I looked around at the group of mages and felt myself frown.

"Are you all sure you want to hear this? It won't change anything," I said as my cowardice pushed through the numbness in my brain trying to help me to restrain the pain I was mentally skating around.

"We need to know what we're up against," Gray said firmly. My eyebrows arched up as I turned to look at him.

"We?" I questioned incredulously in a voice that was loud enough that it caused my head to throb. I briefly closed my eyes but opened them when Gray spoke up again.

"Yes. Whether you like it or not Phaedra, you're one of us. And we protect our own," Gray said firmly, looking me straight in the eyes. I met his gaze and tried to on one hand process and dissect what he had just said, and on the other hand, completely dismiss it as wishful thinking.

"You may regret that after you know the truth." I heard the words come from my mouth, but was almost as shocked to hear them as the other mages in the room. Although the shocking part for me was that by saying that, I had just committed myself to tell them the truth.

"Don't worry about us. Just tell us why these people from your country are hunting you like a dog," Laxus said, his jaw set in a determined line. I sighed heavily and then shrugged, pushing away my cowardly instincts and started from the beginning.

"Since I was a girl I was drawn to light magic." Once again I turned away from everyone's piercing gazes and chose a spot on a wall to stare at as I began to tell my story. "In Prekt, whenever one of the positions for the twelve princesses is open all of the female mages are presented at a special ceremony starting from when they turn 12 years old. A position was open the year I turned twelve and I went to the ceremony. After demonstrating what I could do in front of the king I waited for everyone else to take their turn. Honestly, I didn't think my power was worthy of too much attention, so imagine my surprise when the ceremony ended and the King announced that I would fill the last spot of his honored princesses."

As the words flowed through me, my mind slowly opened the doors I had once slammed closed and mentally padlocked with hundreds of tears and screams.

A/N Sorry to cut the chapter off here. I decided that for the backstory I would do it partially in dialogue format and partially as a Flashback. Please be warned, the next chapter is going to be really intense :S