A/N Hey! Just a super quick note before we get to the story :P I have loosely based the Prekteze language off of spanish, since it is the only other language I speak, but I've switched around the spelling in some words like "Abula" instead of "Abuela". However, the pronunciation is unique. As I've explained, the Prekteze alphabet does not have the soft "s" sound. So anything that makes that sound should be switched with a "z". BUT they do have a "sh" sound, although that sound is reserved almost exclusively for names such as Tarzish and Dashti.  Okay, that was it :P

Wendy's POV

More fear and anger than I had realized I could even feel washed through me as I looked at the man who had caused so much pain to Phaedra standing in front of me. I didn't understand why, but my body wouldn't move and as I watched the monster reach his hand towards me I wondered if this was the end. But then a blinding light had whizzed past me and a figure in a dark purple cloak materialized in between the King's hand and I.

A familiar scent flooded my nose but I had to close my eyes tightly in order to block the almost blinding light that the barrier my rescuer had created gave off as it reflected multiple magical attacks. When the light stopped shining through my eyelids I opened my eyes to look at the cloak-shrouded person in front of me. Her hands were once again covered in fingerless gloves and her black hair was pulled back in her customary braided bun at the back of her head.

"Phaedra-san!" I cried out as a bubble of relief and happiness rose up in me. Only to be popped by fear as I realized that Phaedra-san was the only thing separating my uncooperating body from her past slave master.

"Ya haz regrezada a cazza!" the King said in a strange language. Phaedra-san's shoulders tensed and her hands, which were pointing towards the semi-circle of light barrier that had encased us, began to tremble slightly.

"This is NOT my home," Phaedra-san snarled in a voice so filled with hate that I felt myself shrink a little bit back. I quickly straightened when the strange rope bit into my ankles though. A little more carefully, I shifted slightly so I could peek around Phaedra's protective stance and saw the King's mouth curve into a cruel smile.

"I have mizzed you, Luzera. And it zeemz you have learned zome new zkillz while you were away," he said, reaching out his hand that had a large green ring on his pointer finger. I watched him swipe his fingertips down the light screen right in front of Phaedra-san's body and she let out a vicious snarl that caused me to flinch back. My feet and arms were still completely numb and useless, and I dug inside to feel the warmth of my magic so I could try and help Phaedra-san in some way... But just like when I had first woken up, I couldn't find even a whisper of my magic.

"We have much to zpeak about, Luzera. Time to lower this shield," the King said, balling his fingers into a fist and my eyes widened as his green ring began to glow. Phaedra-san's light barrier stayed in place though and the King blinked in obvious shock. A low, humorless chuckle rolled out of Phaedra-san and she stepped a little closer to her light barrier.

"Confuzed, your Majezty?" she growled angrily, seeming to purposefully slip back into using z's almost mockingly. "I am NOT yours."

The King's eyes narrowed and a flash of anger danced in his dark green eyes. With a flick of his finger though, the eleven women in the room stood and began moving towards the protective circle Phaedra-san had us in. I saw Phaedra-san stiffen as the women flanked the king, glaring angrily at her and completely ignoring me and my friends.

"Should we zee how long you can keep thiz shield up?" he asked, his voice lowering and gaining a hard edge to it that caused shivers to go down my back. Phaedra-san turned away from the King and looked straight into my eyes. Fear, sadness, and a terrible look of resignation made her beautiful face look pinched and old. I felt tears come to my eyes as she turned away from me and glared at Gray-san, Laxus-san, and Mest-san.

"How could you bring her here!? What were you thinking!" she snapped at the three men. Before I could defend them though, Shararu wiggled forward on her little knees.

"You are in danger, Phaedra! We wanted to try and rescue you," she said with a look of terrible remorse on her face. "Run away, Phaedra! We can take care of ourselves," she said fiercely, although I could see the fear in her eyes as she said it.

Phaedra-san's expression softened as she looked at Shararu and then glanced back towards me. The depth of sadness in her eyes caused my throat to close off and I found it impossible to speak as Phaedra-san turned away from me to face the evil King.

Suddenly, Phaedra-san reached into her cloak and with a small "shing" pulled out a wickedly sharp curved blade. I cried out in shock when the blade, instead of moving towards the light barrier and the king beyond, turned and pierced Phaedra-san billowing purple shirt. I could smell a very small trickle of blood coming from the blade hovering against her stomach and tears began to gather in my eyes.

"What are you doing!" Gray yelled, pushing forward and flopping onto his chest in his attempt at moving towards Phaedra. Her eyes never wavered from the King and as I looked past her tense body, I was surprised to see that both the King's arms had been flung up in a nonverbal command for the women to not move. Everything was still for a moment before Phaedra-san tightened her grip on the blade to her stomach and pushed it a fraction of an inch further, causing the smell of blood to increase a little.

"I will do it," she growled with a deadly seriousness in her voice that caused the tears welling in my eyes to finally escape and begin streaming down my cheeks. "Let them go."

The King regarded her with a slight wariness before he lowered his arms back to his sides. With a tilt of his head he focused on the blade that was pressed against Phaedra-san's side and I nearly threw up when I saw a sick delight make his eyes light up and his mouth quirked into a half smile.

"And if I do?" he asked. His tone sounded bored, but I could smell the anticipation oozing off of him in waves.

"Then I will stay behind," Phaedra-san said after a pause.

"NO! Phaedra, we can fight!" Gray-san said, wriggling back onto his knees. I saw his neck muscles bulge as he obvious tried to make his bound arms move, but they hung as limply as my own.

"Don't throw away your life for us," Laxus-san growled angrily, also shifting slightly as he tried to move closer to Phaedra-san. She glared behind her and my tears fell even faster as I saw the frustration and anger boiling inside her.

"You have no idea what they are capable of," Phaedra-san snapped. Moving her gaze to include all of us. "Get her home. Forget this place and forget me."

"How zweet. You've made zome new friendz, Luzera," the King said mockingly and she whipped her head around to glare at him.

"They're just idiots who can't follow orders," she snapped at the King. "But they don't belong here. So let them go home or else you will have a very large blood stain to clean."

The King looked almost hungrily at the blade pressed against Phaedra-san's side before he nodded in silent agreement. One of the women walked forward and Phaedra-san snarled ferally, sounding more like a werecat than a human. She gripped the blade even tighter against her as she stepped back and covered me even more, blocking my view past her long cloak.

"NO ONE with magic is allowed to touch them. Get the guards. Have them take them to the docks unharmed," Phaedra-san demanded in a growling voice. Not knowing what to do, I leaned forward and pressed my face against her legs. I could feel her flinch from the unexpected contact but she didn't turn around.

"Phaedra, there's got to be another way. Let us help you!" Laxus growled at the same time as Gray started cursing at the King.

"I told you to keep them safe!" Phaedra's angry voice broke, sounding closer to a sob than a yell, and I leaned back to see her glaring with a look of defeat at Laxus. "Please. Please go home."

"Phaedra-san, I don't want to leave you," I said in a hiccuping voice.

Her sad blue eyes flicked to me before she glanced towards the back of the room. The smell of dirt and the citrusy scent that seemed to cling to everyone from Prekt wafted from behind me. The protective light barrier around us slowly began to elongate until it hit the walls of the throne room. I watched as the barrier instantly shifted into a full wall, penning the king and his princesses on one side of the throne room while giving the soldiers access to Phaedra-san and us. Rough hands looped under my useless arms and I felt myself being pulled away from Phaedra-san.

"No! No, don't do this! Don't let him take you!" I yelled desperately, wiggling for all I was worth and not even caring as the sharp rope cut into my wrists and ankles. Phaedra-san watched the guards take us away and I saw a single tear slide down her left cheek.

"I'm sorry, Wendy. Please don't come after me," Phaedra-san whispered in a voice that only a dragon slayer could hear.

I heard my friends all struggling ineffectively against the guards hold as we were dragged away from Phaedra-san. The guard that had me was almost to the door and a terrible fear gripped me as I realized this may be the last time I saw my friend. I thought of her patiently teaching me about plants as we traveled through the Phoenix mountains, and how she hadn't laughed when I had explained my feelings for Mest. Her supportive smile and how she had always made me feel like I was important. That I wasn't just a little girl that could use support magic. And her protectiveness that reminded me of my mother, Grandeeney...

"PHAEDRA-NEE-SAN!" I yelled, feeling tears stream down my cheeks as the doors to the room began to close. "I love you! Phaedra-nee-san!" I screamed as loudly as I could before the door closed and her sad eyes were lost from my view.

Phaedra's POV

As the doors slammed shut, cutting off my view of Wendy's tear-stained face and her voice calling me "onee-san", I wanted to run after her. But I knew that as soon as I let down my light barrier I was going to have the full force of the guardian Princesses facing me. I had to trust that King Hizeah would be so blinded by his desire to put me back under his control that he would give my friends a chance to escape.

Please do as I say this time. I can't lose you too, I thought desperately. The knife I had bought to end King Hizeah's life was still pricking my side painfully. I could feel blood dripping from my stomach and down my leg and I could feel my hold on the huge light barrier beginning to slip.

"Now Luzera, lower your shield," King Hizeah's malicious voice said from behind me and I grit my teeth angrily. I breathed in a long, deep breath before turning around to face him. I could see the triumphant and sick excitement shining in his deep green eyes and I knew this would be my only chance.

"As... you wish," I spat out, lowering myself into a bow.

Steeling myself, I ripped the knife from my side and pounced. The large light barrier cutting me off from my old tormentor vanished and I immediately sent two large barriers to push the princesses back, knocking them off their feet. Using my lightspeed I leaped for the king, aiming my blood-tipped sword for his heart.

The tip of the knife touched precisely over the King's heart and I cried out in anguish as I watched the blade crumble into rusty dust. I reached for my second knife, slashing for his stomach, but no sooner had I begun my swing did the knife disintegrate again.

Before I could call up another light barrier, I felt several swift jabs across my back and arms. I dropped to the ground, growling up at Mixa. For the first time, her seductive grin was gone, replaced with a look of pure fury. She pulled back her hand and I closed my eyes, feeling completely relieved that my life was about come to an end.

A rush of air washed over my neck and I opened my eyes to see that Mixa's hand had stopped within millimeters of the main vein in my throat. Her eyes had taken on a neon glow, changing their normally brown depths into a shimmering purple color and I groaned as I realized that King Hizeah had stopped her before she could kill me.

"Oh, Mixa. What am I going to do with you?" King Hizeah asked in a low, rumbling voice. Mixa's eyes turned back to her normal brown color and she whimpered as she moved away from me and turned to face the king.

"My King..." she whimpered as he moved closer to her. All of the other princesses were watching with a look of delight as I lay motionless on the ground.

"How could you not have known that our dear Altizza Luzera was here? Did you forget what she zmellz like?" King Hizeah asked with a dangerous edge to his voice as he stepped closer towards her trembling figure. She began to fall to her knees, but then suddenly stopped and stood up straight again, and I could tell that the King was forcing her to meet his eyes that were filled with quiet fury.

"N-no! She... she doezn't have a zmell! She doez not zmell of magic!" Mixa's voice was nearly hysterical now and I wondered if she had ever been on the receiving end of the King's fury before. She groaned as he stepped even closer to her and slipped one hand down her flowing skirt while the other cupped the side of her neck. I looked away, not wanting to see what would happen next.

"You like being near me, don't you, Mixa?" King Hizeah purred and I gagged at Mixa's answering whimper. "But you have disappointed me. You won't be joining me for a month," King Hizeah said, suddenly throwing her down to the ground.

Mixa yelped in pain and I clenched my teeth together forcefully. Quiet footsteps moved towards me and I glared with pure hate up at the monster standing over me. He slowly kneeled down and stroked my cheek. I lunged, trying to bite the offensive finger, but he pulled back before I got a chance.

"Oh, Luzera. I've mizzed your fire," King Hizeah said as he licked his lips.

I spat up at him and growled when the spit dissolved before getting even halfway to his face. Turning my gaze over to Felina, I wasn't surprised to see her glaring angrily at me. Felina was another mage that I wouldn't normally have dared trying to attack the King if she were present. She was a Necrotic Mage. Her decaying powers could almost instantly decay anything she targeted. She had both offensive and defensive powers and she was also one of the surviving princesses of our last rulers.

"Now, how are you rezizting my magic, Luzera?" King Hizeah asked as he reached towards my chest. I twisted my chest, trying to move away from his fingers and the awful memories that they were stirring in me. Suddenly, a flash of white shot towards me and waves of pain so intense I began to scream rushed up and down my body. I arched my back desperately, trying to resist the horrific pain I was feeling. After a few moments it stopped and I fell back to the ground, panting hard as my body parts spasmed from the pain.

"Now, now, Zeira. We must be gentle," King Hizeah said with a disgustingly false disappointment.

My eyes went past King Hizeah as I looked at the only princess who wasn't wearing a two-piece outfit. Her midnight blue hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she reached up to adjust her white glasses before curtsying to the King in her pure white, sleeveless dress. Zeira's magic was called "Zanta Ezcrito" which was a form of script magic. She had just used "dolor" on me, which caused excruciating pain to whoever was hit with it.

"My apologiez, your Majezty," she responded in a quiet and calm voice.

Cut off from my magic and now physically exhausted, I didn't try to move again as the King reached for my shirt and created a small slice at the neckline. He grinned widely when he saw the first of the scars he had given me, but then his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned down in a frown as he continued cutting and he saw the magic sealing stone fused to my skin.

"What have you done?" he snapped. He reached out and tried to pry the thin stone up from my chest. I bit my tongue to keep myself from crying out in pain and when he couldn't get it to move, he let out an angry growl. I laughed breathily, trying to ignore the pain that his struggle had caused me as I glared up at him.

"You'll kill me if you try to cut it off," I said with a wicked delight at the anger in his face. King Hizeah glared down at me, but then his lips curled into a small smile. I felt fear ripple through my body as he leaned down and slowly began to move his finger all along the line of scar tissue around the plate of metal burned into me.

"Who zaid anything about cutting it? You think thiz will protect you... but I will show EVERYONE that you belong to me. Alwayz and forever." I tried to be brave but I couldn't keep my breathing from quickening as my heart began to race with fear.

"Why me? You've got all of your princesses who love you. You should just kill me and find yourself a better pet," I growled, purposefully speaking in the correct Ishgarian accent. I clung to the soft "s" sound, using it as a strange sort of distinction that I had changed since I was last here.

"Yez, that'z true," the King said with a nod. He continued to move his finger along the plate of sealing stone, sending sharp burst of pain through my chest at every caress. "They love me, and fear me, but they allowed me to conquer them and become my petz. But you, Luzera..."

My breathing quickened even further, approaching hysteria, as King Hizeah leaned down looking me deeply in my eyes. As I swallowed, yelling at my brain to spit or do something to make him move away, I saw a flash of what could only be described as insanity in his green eyes.

"You hate me more than anything elze in the world. There iz no one who haz deeper feelingz for me or haz a bigger zpace for me in their mind than you do, Luzera. I don't need you to love me. I want you to hate me. Hate me with all the pashion your small body can muzter." Bile rose up in my throat and I couldn't ever remember feeling as scared as I did now. I felt Hizeah's fingers skim over my breasts and I shuddered in revulsion, but he pulled away and smiled down at me.

"Zend out an announzement. Let everyone know that the Altizza Luzera haz come home and will be aczepted back as an Altizza tonight in the main zquare," King Hizeah announced, standing up and turning to look at the other princesses.

I closed my eyes and stubbornly tried to keep my tears from falling as I slowly began to accept that these next few hours may be the last chances I had to be alone in my head for the rest of my life.

Wendy... Shararu... Gray... Laxus... Mest... please. Please stay away.