*three years prior, before the Scythes' executions*
{SYLVIE'S POV}
It's weird. For the first time in my life, I'm having trouble staying positive.

I should be thrilled. Aunt Lucy is finally back! I've heard so many amazing stories about her, and I can finally put a face to the name. Now is a time for celebration, not moping around.

I can't help but think about Luka though. Aunt Lucy's son. I really liked Luka. I only knew him for a day, but I could tell that he was one of the good ones.

Now he's dead, and it's my fault.

I saw the destroyed remains of our house. Those assassins came for me, yet he sacrificed himself to protect me and my family. I can't celebrate that.

It's been a few days since everything that went down at the base of Ankhseram's Scythes.

Aunt Lucy is in a coma. The shock of learning that her son died, combined with years of imprisonment weakening her body and mind, was too much stress for her to handle. She's in the guild infirmary now.

Aunt Wendy has been treating her nonstop and Uncle Natsu hasn't left her side.

The rest of the guild is anxiously waiting in the common area for news. A celestial spirit came out of one of Aunt Lucy's keys, introducing himself as Loke. He said they were imprisoned and couldn't help her, but now he's able to come here using his own magic power. He's waiting with the guild for information to tell the other spirits that she has contracts with.

As for the Scythes, I heard they've all been sentenced to capitol punishment. Even Cremator. Cremator pretended to be evil, but I saw right through him. He was different from the rest of the assassins.

Honestly, I don't wish death upon any of them. I know they're bad guys who hurt a lot of people. But hatred is a cycle and death only leads to more death.

I step outside to take a breather. One of the frog ladies who delivers mail for the magic council is reaching up to knock on the door.

I blink at her. She blinks at me. A brawl has begun in the guild hall and a table comes flying straight at us. I slam the door shut before it hits its mark.

"I can take a message?" I offer sheepishly.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea, yes." The frog lady nods quickly. She opens up the scroll and clears her throat. "Effective immediately, no one from the Fairy Tail guild is allowed within a hundred meters of the New Magic Council prison."

I sigh. "Who did what, when, and why?"

"That's precisely what I'm here to prevent, Sylvie-sama. Fairy Tail is notorious for going against the magic council to save those they care about. This is a warning that you lot are not allowed to interfere with the executions scheduled tomorrow."

"Woah, woah, wait a sec... why would we try to stop the executions of the Scythes? We're the ones that helped you catch them, remember?"

"Fairy Tail is loyal to a fault when it comes to fellow  guild members. A good example of your tendency to interfere with the court of law is when Natsu-sama cross-dressed to save Erza-sama—"

"When Uncle Natsu did WHAT?!"

"—and while Cremator isn't technically part of your guild, Lucy-sama is. He's her son, so—"

I suddenly grab the frog lady by her scrawny green arms. She croaks in alarm. My world flips inside out and now everything makes so much sense.

Everything Cremator said and did screamed 'I want you to believe I'm evil,' but I knew better.

When I first met Cremator, he didn't have to help me escape. I would've died that day. Even when he kidnapped me in my sleep, I was never in danger. It was just a ruse to save Aunt Lucy. He kept me safe and subjugated the leader of the Scythes.

Now I know why I could just feel that Cremator wasn't bad all along.

Cremator is Luka.

Luka isn't dead!

Luka is going to die tomorrow.

Not if I can help it!

I like Luka. He's saved my life twice. Now, I have a chance to return the favor. It's not just because he's Aunt Lucy's son either; I genuinely want to help him.

"Tell me everything you know." I demand.

The frog lady must be nervous because her green skin is slimy with frog sweat. I feel bad and loosen my grip slightly, but there's no way I'm letting her go until I get the answers I need.

"Only that Luka Cauthfell is being executed for the crimes of magic power misuse, multiple counts of first degree murder-for-hire, dark guild membership, et cetera!" Her croak is now an octave higher.

My brain spins wildly. What can I do? I have to find a way to prove Luka's innocence somehow... two problems: he isn't innocent, and everybody knows it. Luka Cauthfell is definitely guilty.

Cauthfell...?

That's it! Aunt Lucy's fake name might just provide the loophole I need in the system.

If Luka Cauthfell is written on the verdict as guilty, all I need to do is prove that my Luka isn't Luka Cauthfell! I won't let him die. Not again, not when there's something I can do to stop it. I'll definitely be the one to protect Luka this time!

"I understand." I nod gratefully.

The frog lady croaks in relief. "Good. So you'll—"

"I'll break into the jail tomorrow and make a scene! I'll prove Luka's innocent so they have to let him go!"

"NO! No, that's the exact opposite of—"

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Thank you so much for giving me time to prepare. If you hadn't come here today, I wouldn't be able to do anything."

"I'm talking to myself at this point."

I turn and barrel back into the guild hall. I punch a chair and freeze it so it doesn't break the doors and hit the kind frog lady in the face. Firstly, I go into the guild library and find every book on law we have.

I read through the law of the land and memorize it, to make sure that my reasoning is sound. I've only got one day before the scheduled execution. My defense must be bulletproof. My nose is only pulled from the books by an interesting development.

"Sylv, Aunt Lucy is awake!" Ezekiel yells into the library nook excitedly.

I jump to my feet. I really need Aunt Lucy's help if I'm gonna free Luka. Maybe she has a document that proves he isn't Luka Cauthfell?

I need something that has his real name on it, something irrefutable... like a birth certificate!

I push through the crowd and climb onto her infirmary bed. Aunt Wendy and Uncle Natsu both try to stop me, verbally warning about Aunt Lucy's poor condition, as if I can't see how pale she is.

I pay them no heed. I bet Aunt Lucy'll improve a lot faster if she has her child back alive.

I grab her shoulders frantically. "Aunt Lucy, where was Luka born?!"

"I beg your pardon?" She looks at me like I've grown a second head. "Why?"

"Too soon." Loke growls protectively.

He looks ready to throw me off of his owner. Luckily, Aunt Lucy seems more surprised than heartbroken by my abrupt mention of her supposedly dead son. I don't think she's had time to process it yet.

I purse my lips, not wanting to say anything about my plan until I can ensure that Luka will survive. No use getting a sick person's hopes up.

"Where did you give birth?" I enunciate. "Which city has the record of his birth in their archives?"

"Hargeon." She tilts her head. "But why—"

I'm already gone. I have to make it to Hargeon and then to the location of the New Magic Council. It's fairly secluded so I have to hurry.

The archive office is open today. If it wasn't, I would just break in. The manager leads me to a stack of boxes, each full of files. There's so many.

"These are all of the birth records from twenty years ago. Good luck, Miss. You're gonna need it."

Fortunately, the files are neatly ordered by month and day. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me because I don't know Luka's birthday. Crud!

I start with January, moving day by day. Finally, I find the birth record of one Luka Dragneel.

I send a pulse of magic through the royal seal. This warm, fiery-tempered magic power signature... it's definitely my Luka's inferno magic.

So his real name is Luka Dragneel? It suits him. He has Uncle Natsu's instinct to protect.

"Nice to officially meet you." I whisper, rubbing my fingertip along the itty-bitty footprints on the corner of the birth certificate.

Then I feel weird and stop immediately. There's no way the archive manager will allow me to take an official document without advanced notice. So I slip the paper underneath my shirt and smuggle it out.

Perfect. Now all that's left is to find the prison, save Luka, and drag him back to Fairy Tail by the ear.

The longer I have to process the fact that he's still alive, more of my relief is replaced with anger. How dare Luka lie to my face and tell me he died?! How dare he try to die anyway, leaving me alone?!

Idiot! Stupid numbskull! Jerkwad!

All I can do is make my way to the magic council execution grounds quickly and pray I'm not too late.
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Omg, it's finally over! 😮‍💨

This is honestly one of the darker storylines I've undertaken, but I've really enjoyed it. Let me know what you all think!

That being said, I think Luka and Sylvie deserve a long rest. Thanks for reading!