Crimson eyes watched through a mirror showing the events that occurred. A disappointed frown made an appearance on Evanora's face, narrowing her eyes as anger rose within her. How could her own soldiers be losing to a couple of weaklings?

Erza Scarlet was the exception; however, Grimm should not have been struggling against the second one.

She switched the scenes, waving the back of her left hand. The fighting morphed into a stand-off between a group of women and the dragon she spelled. Her frown lifted a bit. Now it was beginning to get interesting. Soon, the Heartfilia descendant would be captured, and she would have the power to summon Mephistopheles. She could feel her palms itch with anticipation.

"Mother?" Ivory stepped beside her throne.

"My daughter," she continued to look at the glass floating in the air. "It seems the dragon found the girl."

"He is unpredictable. The spell on him weakens."

"The spell was to enhance his desire for his mate," Evanora flicked her wrist, dispersing the mirror into dark fog, which also disappeared after a few seconds. "Your visions are what gave us access to his location. And again, I require your assistance."

Ivory's face pinched. "What do I need to do?"

"Retrieve the girl when her comrades are distracted."

The lilac-haired girl bowed and went to teleport, but a hand seized her elbow. She peered at her mother.

"And grab the dragon as well. Best not to waste a fine specimen such as Igneel's prince."

"Of course, Mother." Ivory nodded shortly, disappearing from Evanora's sight.

The solstice was coming soon, and time was running out.

If her daughter were to fail her, she would have to dirty her hands.

the train station...

"Natsu?!" Lisanna yelped out.

Everyone became alert, falling into defensive stances just in case the male attacked them. Though, the dragon slayer had no intention of hurting them.

His eyes were on Erik and me. A boisterous flame roared behind those furious black eyes. His anger flared greatly.

"Let her go!" He growled darkly, never taking his eyes off Erik.

"Not gonna happen, pal."

"What are you doing, Natsu?" Lisanna gulped, ready to fight if need be. "Why are you here?"

"Let go of my mate!" Natsu shouted, ignoring her and made the flames engulfing his fist greater.

"Natsu, calm down!" Mira stepped closer to me and Erik, her arm raised in front of us. "You don't want to do this."

His darkened eyes flickered to her, and he growled louder. "Don't get in my way, Mira. It won't end well for you."

The white-haired model was taken aback by his response, but she didn't back down. Her body glowed; her clothes morphed into her Satan Soul attire. My stomach dropped. It was becoming more and more serious.

"Mira?" I managed out.

"Get Lucy on that train," she commanded. "The baby doesn't need to be born in a battle."

"But Mira-nee!" Lisanna began.

"Just go! I can handle Natsu."

"I'm starting to feel like a damned taxi," Erik grumbled.

"Sorry." I winced when another contraction rippled. "Ah...Ouch!"

"Your contractions seem to be getting closer together," Wendy glanced at me. "It's going to happen soon."

"It's too soon!" I denied, squeezing my eyes shut, tears streaking down my face. "Way too soon! He can't come now! I'm not even ready!"

Natsu growled louder. "Put my mate down, Snake!"

"Back off, Natsu!" Mira stood before us, a dangerous aura emitting from her. "Deal with me instead."

"Fine." Natsu launched himself at Mira, his flaming fists stopped by her demonic claws.

"GO! Now!" Her deepened voice shouted at us.

"O-Okay!" Lisanna was by mine and Erik's side, transforming into her tiger-soul form. "C'mon!"

"NO!" Natsu roared but was shoved back several yards by Mira. She power-jumped to his airborne body.

We turned to run, Wendy and the exceeds behind us. It seemed to grow colder. The coat wrapped around me wasn't much help to block it out. My heart thudded against my chest as the reality of birth crashed down on me. I wasn't ready to give birth!

I was barely ready to be a mother. This baby couldn't come now!

"Hello again." A figure appeared in the snow, disoriented by the blizzard. Lilac hair flowed with the snowflakes, looking like something straight out of a weirdly romantic horror story.

"Not another one!" Erik grumbled, his eye narrowing. "You're one of them."

"You don't want to fight me," the woman came closer. "It won't end well."

"Who are you?!" Lisanna demanded.

"Who cares?" I scoffed. "I'm in labor! I feel like I'm being torn apart! Deal with her and let's go!"

"Oh, coy," the woman cooed, her eyes suddenly glowing a crimson color. "It seems I'll be taking more prisoners than Mother sent me for."

Before either Lisanna or Wendy, or even the exceeds could blink, or before I could blink, the woman disappeared in a flash. Yelps came from Happy and Carla, their small bodies falling the snow-covered ground in an instant.

"Carla! Happy!" Wendy twisted around the purple-haired woman appeared in front of her, swiftly punching her in the midsection so hard that the girl was rendered unconscious.

"No! Wendy!" Lisanna yelled and lunged at the woman, claws out and ready to tear her apart.

"Quaint." The woman said, swiftly kicking up her leg, catching Lisanna in the jaw, sending her back. As the white-haired female was stunned, the woman did a fast-paced kick attack on her. Lisanna fell onto the snow unconscious with a profusely bleeding nose and split lip.

"Lisanna!" I stared as the blood stained the snow. In horror, our eyes met. Cruel crimson stared into my terrified brown ones.

She smiled, as if she hadn't taken my friends down. "I know your power, False Dragon. I am protected from your sound magic," the smile she had turned into a smirk. "And you protect the one I'm to take. You cannot fight me and win. I've seen your every move, what you plan to do next."

"Over my dead body, lady." Erik's arms tightened around.

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, as if seriously considering that promise. A moment passed, but it felt like a thousand years. Finally, a smirk blossomed across her face.

"If that is what you wish, then so be it." She said it calmly, but it was a challenge.

"What--" We barely had time to avoid the blade that suddenly appeared in her hands.

"If you wish for death, I will grant it!" She was terrifyingly quick, her movements almost invisible, but thanks to Erik's sound magic, we managed to evade them. Barely.

"Augh!" The blade nicked Erik's cheek, a tiny streak of blood escaping the cut.

"Why don't you use your magic, False Dragon?" She taunted, disappearing and reappearing behind us.

"Watch out!" I cried out, but Erik already had jumped from her reach.

"Use your magics to fend me off! Are you scared of hurting the Heartfilia girl?" She was behind us again, skillfully swinging the blade at Erik's body. He took damage, his shirt torn, and skin sliced. "Or is because your sound magic hurts any living being within your vicinity?"

Erik yelled out again, the knife plunging into his shoulder.

"No!" I screamed, the tip of the knife poking from the other side of the shoulder, causing blood to spill out like water.

"Love is a fool's game, False Dragon," the woman smirked and then twisted the blade, forcing Erik to cry out louder. Though stabbed and in excruciating pain, he didn't waver. He stayed upright, arms only tightening around me. "It's a shame you were once a feared member of the Oracion Seis. Now look what you've become: weak and soft."

"No, that's not true!" I defended him. "Stop it!"

"Another dragon's mate shouldn't defend a dragon who is not hers."

"I'm no one's mate," I glared at her. "I'm my own person!"

She looked impressed, to say the least, but she wasn't interested in the small talk. The knife was yanked out of Erik's shoulder, allowing a geyser of blood to spill, staining his shirt and my own clothes. Again, she thrust her blade, this time, Erik was ready. Despite his newfound wound, with the arm that was all bloody, within the blink of an eye, I was on his knee and his torso was twisted around toward the woman. His hand seized hers before she would manage to stab him again. She didn't seem all that surprised. But instead, she smiled.

"It's a shame to think potential like has gone to waste," her eyes flickered to the side. "Grimm, Taft. You are late."

My eyes saw past her and Erik. The two men that Erza and Midnight were supposed to be fighting were behind her, sauntering through the shin-tall snow. Horror filled me as I realized my friends were probably killed by them.

"Had a little bit of a run-in, you could say," the green-haired man chuckled darkly. "But nothing I couldn't handle."

"No...Erza...Midnight..." I trembled from the cold and from the thought of my friends being dead.

"Igneel's son is on a rampage, Lady Ivory," The man with different colored eyes spoke, I recognized him as Grimm. "What should we do?"

"Nothing," the woman, Ivory, dismissed. "He'll realize we're gone, he'll come for us, for her."

"You're not taking her!" Erik growled, purple smoke coming from his mouth in jagged wisps.

"You're in no position to fight, boy," Grimm thrust his hand toward us, a small magic circle erupted from his palm. Glowing smoke-like chains grappled us, slinking around us. The strange magic wrapped around Erik's arms; I felt the coolness of the magic.

"No!" Erik struggled against them, his hold on me forcing to be loosened by Grimm's strange magic. HIs muscles flexed as he tried to resist whatever mystical strength the magic chains had. "No!"

"Fret not, False Dragon, the worst is yet to come." Ivory smiled and then gestured toward the green-haired man, who grinned wickedly and summoned a thick-gripped blade. With a swift swing of the handle, the man whacked Erik in the back of the back, ultimately knocking him unconscious.

"Erik!" I cried out, the chains holding off the snowy ground as his body fell back into the snow. "No! Stop it!"

"Sorry, Princess," the green-haired man looked at me unapologetically. "No hard feelings, right?"

I glared at him, wiggling in the chains around me. "You've made the biggest mistake of your life."

The cloaked man before me shrugged. "Meh. I'm not one to regret stuff."

"Trust me, this, you'll regret --- ah!" My stomach tightened with terrible cramps again, my mind went blank. I was immobilized by the contraction and my breath became shallower and more hitched.

"Hm," Ivory hummed, briefly observing my condition. "We must hurry back to the Temple. Mother is waiting."

"Yes, Milady."

"No! Put me down!" Despite in a tremendous amount of pain, I squirmed. It was futile, in a magic trap. "You can't do this!"

They had an unspoken language with one another, the older man, Grimm created more restraints for my unconscious friends. They floated behind us as Ivory took something out of her shirt collar. It looked like a pen, but it emitted weird magic wavelengths.

"Don't strain yourself too much, girl, we wouldn't want you to hemorrhage."

"You're all sick! Erik! Wendy! Lisanna! Wake up, please!" I'm almost unable to look back at my friends. "Wake up! C'mon you have to wake up!"

"Grimm, silence her." Ivory commanded as she lifted the pen-like item into the air, just above her head, the tip of it glowing brightly.

"Yes, Milady." The man snapped his fingers and some of the magic smoke chains traveled up my torso and over my mouth, smoothing into a cloth-like shape. My mouth was forced shut and now I could only make out muffled throaty sounds.

The pen seemed to touch something invisible, a blue line being drawn in the air, as if there was something solid behind it. Like writing on a wall. It was boggling and weird. I squirmed, not wanting to think about what it was, or what it did.

I tried yelling out again, my voice muffled completely by Grimm's magic. If Mira was still around, she would hear and come to save us. It was silent, I heard nothing. Not even the fight against Natsu. I couldn't hear them struggle against each other. Had Mira won and got lost, or had Natsu won, or had both lost to each other, or had they been caught off guard and taken out by these guys?

Ivory slipped the pen into her cleavage and peeled the line apart, creating a mirror of liquid mercury. The dark water shriveled, fading into something medieval. I saw figures with robes, and strange white masks. Torches lines the walls. Fear fueled my adrenaline, and I could do nothing. These shackles on my body were magic and they were strong. My heart thumped painfully in my chest witnessing Ivory walk through the watery portal.

No! I squirmed more. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! My baby should be born safe and loved, not as a sacrifice for some dead god! I felt the tears streak my face and I look up at the winter night sky, closing my eyes.

I'm so sorry, my baby.