Day 5

"Tempester will be with you at all times," Zeref said. Next to him, was the bulky man named Tempester. He was one of the Demon Gates and Zeref's advisors.

Sylvia couldn't believe that Zeref was having him be her body guard. Was she really that high of a priority?

Well, she supposed, she did now know his weaknesses.

She had eaten breakfast with Zeref once more before coming back up to the room to find another, smaller bed made. It was lower to the ground and definitely not as extravagant as the king's bed, but it was fine with her.

What wasn't fine with her was the fact that she'd still be rooming with the king. He wanted her close, and that meant no personal space of her own- except to do her business in the washroom.

"And this is my maid, Jen," he waved over to the blonde woman next to him. "You may speak to her when you require something."

Sylvia could only nod. That was his way of saying, you can only speak to me, the Gates, and the damn maid.

Mavis, she wished she were kidnapped for the sole purpose of spilling his weaknesses. She'd spill her guts to them.

"Now then," he sighed, "I have work. Don't leave the castle." He began to leave the room as everyone bowed their heads.

Sylvia's eyes felt droopy, and honestly she could sleep for another day. However, the maid, Jen, had woken Sylvia up that morning. Sylvia guessed she would be sleep deprived for the rest of her days.

"I must go back to work too," Jen mentioned, "ring your bell if you need anything, Sylvia."

Sylvia nodded and Jen left.

"You seem quiet," Tempester noticed. "And tired, are you okay?"

Sylvia brought her hand up to her eyes and rubbed her eyelids, "remember how I said I have nightmares? Last night was really... bad."

Tempester hummed in understanding, "I think I can help. I can give you a tour of the castle, since you'll be here a while. We can visit the kitchen as well?"

Sylvia rose an eyebrow, "what's going to help me in the kitchen?"

He shrugged, "you'll see. I forget it's not so common in the lower classes."

The kitchen was on the same floor as the dining hall, which makes sense, and it was huge. Bigger than the bar kitchen, of course. Tons of pots and pans and wooden spoons, the clanging and yelling that happened in there was ridiculously loud.

But, Sylvia supposed, they had a lot of people to feed. There was a lot of staff in the castle, and of course they had to continually bring in new supplies and ingredients.

"Tempester," a female voice called.

A girl with green hair and eyes came up to them, wiping her hands on her dirty white apron. Her hair was up in a bun, with messy jade hairs sticking out.

Sylvia stared at her shoes, remembering what Zeref said about speaking to others.

"Hisui," Tempester said.

"Is this Miss Sylvia?" Hisui asked, switching her attention to Sylvia.

Tempester nodded, "yes, unfortunately the king has asked her not to converse with anyone in the castle."

"Oh," Hisui said before looking up at Tempester once more, "my apologies to the king. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes," he answered. "Do you happen to have any spare coffee for Sylvia? She's quite exhausted."

"Of course!" Hisui chimed. "I'll be right back."

Sylvia continued to look at her shoes. Not two minutes later, a cup with what looked to be hot chocolate was presented to her.

It certainly didn't smell like chocolate, however. Not that she had chocolate often. In fact, she remembered the last time she ate it was on her and Rin's 13th birthday. Storm had scrounged up enough money to buy them a cake with shredded chocolate on top. It was all they could afford. But honestly, that was the best dessert she'd ever have.

Mavis. This wasn't chocolate. Storm wasn't giving it to her. Rin wasn't here to enjoy it with her. Knowing that her life would probably never be normal again had her mind in knots coming up with anything to connect to a memory.

She swallowed it down.

Tempester held the cup in front of her. She took it into her hands and bared a sip. It tasted almost bitter. Not that it was bad, per se, but different. It was hot, but it didn't burn her mouth.

This was supposed to help her stay awake?

"Just sip on it while we walk," he said, "it should kick in soon. Thanks, Hisui."

She nodded, "anytime, Tempester!" She turned and got back to work.

Sylvia sipped on it while they left he kitchen, "you seem to be... liked around here?"

He scratched the back of his head, "I guess you could... call it that. The others want to be dictators, which is fine, but that's not..." he chuckled, "me."

They heard a slow clapping from in front of them. Slowly, they turned away from each other to look at the figure.

Tempester rose an eyebrow, "Kyouka?"

That was the woman who went with Jackal to kidnap Sylvia and Rin.

Kyouka. Sylvia definitely heard that name. She didn't know what she looked like, but she'd heard stories. Kyouka was Zeref's #1 advisor, head of the Gates... a true powerhouse.

Why was she sent on such a lowly mission for the twins? Especially since Zeref didn't know about Sylvia's powers at the time?

In fact, now that she thought about it, why send the gates at all?

"Tempester the merciful," Kyouka said. It was almost a kick towards him. "Still playing nice."

It was like she was trying to trigger him, but he didn't budge. Not that Sylvia saw, "back so soon? That was fast, Kyouka."

"Well," she answered, "I wasn't there for personal pleasure."

Where did she go? Sylvia asked herself. All nine gates were present when she first arrived to the castle, so where could Kyouka possibly have gone in the two days since then?

Not that it mattered in the end, but Sylvia was curious.

Kyouka continued speaking, "and this is Sylvia Fullbuster?"

"You tell me," Tempester said, "you brought her here."

Kyouka lips turned into a sly smile, and Sylvia wanted to shrink away. Kyouka treaded closer, "I'm willing to bet that Eileen isn't fond of Zeref keeping her all to himself."

"So you knew that Gray was their father?" Tempester asked.

Kyouka rolled her eyes before placing delicate fingers under Sylvia's chin, "I've been here for a few hours. Word got around, no doubt from Eileen."

Sylvia's fingers start to tremble. She gripped the coffee cup harder as Kyouka studied her, rubbing her thumb over Sylvia's lips.

Tempester sighed, almost sounding bored, "she's not one of your specimens, Kyouka."

"Ah," Kyouka muttered, "I apologize. She's much too valuable to become one of my test subjects." She back away, bowing her head.

Wait. Was she really studying her?!

"Miss Sylvia," she continued, "please call on me if you ever need something."

A dark circle appeared underneath Kyouka's feet, and she disappeared into it.

Sylvia had to take a step back. A few steps back. Tempester placed a hand on her back before she stumbled and fell, "magic, Sylvia. It's common around here."

She nodded, "r-right. It's just... I didn't think... magic existed..."

Tempester furrowed his eyebrows at her as he gently pushed her forward to continue walking, "you should know firsthand that it exists. Your ability to take away pain is considered magic."

She let out a hard breath, "I never thought of it as magic... I guess... I don't know. Maybe I did know magic existed, subconsciously."

She remembered that Nova, one of Storm's friends, could literally shoot lightning out of her fingers. She definitely knew that magic was real, so why did she just lie to Tempester?

"Um," Sylvia shoved her thoughts aside, "speaking of magic, do you have any?"

He nodded, "I do," then a chuckle, "but it's not a magic I should use indoors."

"Oh," She giggled.

"So, this," he changed the subject, "is the menagerie."

He opened a glass door, and then they were outside, in an enclosed area. The sun beat over the castle walls and onto Sylvia's face. It felt nice, after being inside for so long.

She breathed, "woah."

There were animals. All in large cages. The colorful birds were beautiful, she saw an albino tiger sleeping. In a smaller cage, was what looked like a dog with a scrunched up face. She melted at the rolls that took place all over the dog's body.

"I forget what it's called," Tempester added, noticing her glow at the medium sized dog. "But he's nice. You can pet him, if you'd like."

She walked up to him, and he came closer to the bars. She smiled and squatted down as he stretched his paw out for her to take. Her arms snuck through the bars, and she was petting his head.

She could tell the dog was smiling as he closed his eyes to enjoy it.

"I don't think they get enough attention here. Someone comes and feeds, another cleans up after them," he explained.

"That's sad," Sylvia said. "I'm sorry, I have to get going." She muttered to the dog, "maybe another time, okay?"

The dog stuck his tongue out, happy.

She went back with Tempester, who then showed her the library and a look out. Then the servants quarters and a couple different offices of sorts.

However, there was one part of the castle they hadn't gotten to.

"The east tower," she mentioned, "what's over there?"

"Sylvia," he whispered, "promise me you won't go over there. Zeref hasn't forbid you from going there, but there's..."

She rested a hand on his shoulder, "I won't. Thanks for telling me."

He smiled.

And, it was then, that Sylvia felt she had made a friend. One friend in the castle filled with people.

. . .

It was nighttime once more on the ship of Fairy Tail. Over dinner, the crew had been discussing ways to get into the castle, how to find Zeref's weaknesses, hiding their auras, etc.

And of course, finding Rosemary.

"She would've gone to the last place she thought of," Reiki swallowed quietly, "before she died."

"You knew her the best, Reiki," Nova said. "What do you think?"

Reiki closed his eyes for a moment. Rosemary.

"Her ability was that she could look to the future. It was always changing based on choices. She hated that. She hated change in her every day life..." Reiki felt like he was rambling. "She liked consistency."

"So you're saying she would've gone to a weapon that was... what? Constant? A place constant in her life?" Storm asked.

Reiki hummed, "we moved a lot as kids. Always on the run from something. We didn't have a childhood home, all our toys and entertainment changed every time we moved..."

"Well, that must narrow it down a lot," Nashi said. "But what if it's a person, not a place? Because from what I'm getting, nothing else was constant except your family."

Nashi was right. Rosemary did mention that she only felt safe around their mother and him. That did narrow it down.

"Reiki," Storm added, "check your sword. The one your mother gave you."

Reiki glanced down at the handle of his sword. He began to unsheathe it and set it on the wooden table in front of them.

It was dirty with blood and grime. After stabbing the Dollmaker and it being thrown haphazardly on the ground, it hadn't gotten a proper cleaning.

But that's all it was. A well crafted, dirty sword.

Reiki shook his head, "that means she's with my mother."

"Oh hell," Gale remembered something extremely important. "I'm such an idiot."

"We knew that," Nova said sarcastically, "but go on."

"You were the last one to see her alive," Nashi whispered.

"She made me promise..." his breath hitched, "I promised her that I'd find her, your, mother." He glanced at Reiki. "I thought... maybe she meant after this whole ordeal was over but..."

"My mother could help us," Reiki stated. "But... she disappeared for a reason. If she was ready to come back... she would."

Storm grunted. Gale no doubt knew that he thought about his father. That's always bugged him, but that's not the focus right now.

"Why is it important that I have Rosemary as my weapon?" Nashi asked, "is it like how you are with Storm and his powers?"

Reiki shook his head, "no. It's completely different."

"Can you explain?"

Reiki sighed, as if he was bored. "When Storm wields me, I am used to channel his power. I can concentrate his ability on one or multiple opponents. For the heir's weapon, however, it is their last line of defense. Your weapon holds magic itself and can expel it at your dispense."

"Did King Natsu have one?" Gale asked, quietly. "I don't remember learning about that..."

Reiki shrugged, "no one knows. He was king for so little time that no one is even sure he had a weapon."

"Wait," Nova cut in, "I know where we can learn more. About all of us."

Storm rose an eyebrow at her, "where?"

Nova swallowed, "we have to go back to Hargeon."

"Uh, yeah," Nashi looked at around at everyone and saw they all had the same look as her, "no."

"I know guys," Nova said, "but hear me out. Lord Gildarts could tell us more about all of us. Our abilities and our parents."

"What makes you say that?" Gale asked skeptically. "Wasn't it his house that we were all imprisoned in? Isn't your mother still there?"

"He was the guardians trainer," Nova explained. "He trained them on how to use their powers. I know mine, but when it comes to Storm and Gale..."

"They've got no idea," Nashi said. "And that's a lie, Nova. Remember in the forest when you accidentally summoned the bow? What was all that about?"

"Okay, so we could all use some improving," Nova backtracked, "but I'm not lying about Gildarts. He let us escape."

"Say that you're right," Storm added, "what if Silver or your mother is there? Then what will we do?"

"Okay, let's take things one at a time," Gale said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "are we looking for Rosemary or learning more about our abilities?"

They talked. And talked. And talked. That was all the group did, inviting some of Nova's crew for their input on things. They decided Rosemary was the top priority, as if she was with Erza, then Erza too could teach them more about what they could do against Zeref.

Then there was the issue of Sylvia.

Edda explained to them that, from her unnamed source, a general idea of what Sylvia was doing and where she was at.

"It makes sense," Storm's mouth twitched. "She helped Rin for a long while dealing with our dad's disappearance. She can alter your emotions towards painful memories."

Edda hummed, "my source is afraid of how powerful Zeref will become if he removed any emotional weakness."

"Well yeah," Nova added, "if he refrains from doing certain things because of emotional reasons, then using Sylvia will remove that barrier from him."

"He'll be even more ruthless than he is now," Nashi chimed, "is what you guys are trying to say."

Nova and Storm nodded.

"And he's using Rin as leverage," Gale said. "This doesn't bode well for us."

Reiki shook his head. "No. He's probably keeping both Rin and Sylvia guarded so no one could rescue them."

Everyone wanted to slam their heads on the wooden table. Zeref was getting stronger, and while everyone they needed was gathered in one spot, they still needed ways to actually get into the castle without harming those they care about. Levy, Gajeel, Sylvia, Rin, and Ezequiel were all part of that list. Not to mention Nova's crew and Nashi's friends at the library.

They all knew that there was going to be injuries, but they weren't ready to accept that quite yet.

They needed more time before they jumped into anything, so looking for Rosemary was what was going to fill the empty space in the meantime.

Everyone decided that they would continue talking at dinner time every night, and the day will be spent searching for Erza and Rosemary. No one was sure how long this would go on.

Reiki was at the rail of the ship once again. Truth was, he wanted to find Rosemary more than anything else. This was even though he couldn't ever speak to her again.

It was quieter this time. Most of the crew was sleeping, and the ones who were awake were cleaning up dinner and getting ready for the next day. No one was up on deck, which left Reiki alone with his thoughts. That was dangerous.

He felt a chilling breeze on his face. It smelled like salt. Time seemed to pause for a moment.

He closed his eyes, as he knew what was happening. There, appeared a figure next to him.

"Eileen."