I am SO sorry this took so long! Thank you for being patient and thank you so much for all the favourites and follows! I promise I'll try and update a bit quicker next time.

Side note: I recently had a review saying I should replicate seen weapons for this fanfic because otherwise it's a 'UBW clone'. Every single weapon used by Asuna or Kirito in this fanfic are all named after official swords and/or bosses from SAO (e.g. the Gleam Eye sword from chapter 3 resembles the sword that boss used in the anime). I wanted to make as many references as possible so none of the names were pulled out of thin air. Neither were the attacks that couple with said weapons or some of their abilities (e.g. Quadruple Pain is a rapier-specific move from SAO & some special attacks like Howling Octave use fire abilities so in this fic they'd be assigned to a specific blade that's infused with fire magic, etc.). Hope that clears everything up.

After telling my whole story, Erza had in return told me where she's been all this time. The Tower of Heaven sounded more like hell. It's horrible knowing I was safe and sound all those years while she was going through that. None of the other children she named rang any bells in my memory, not that I expected them to. I couldn't get enough of the countless stories of her Fairy Tail adventures both in and out of Team Natsu. She made it sound as though those experiences more than made up for the horrors she had suffered. If only there were more hours in the day, I could've listened to them all. Her stories of monsters and beaten bad guys, illustrated of course by Natsu and Happy's over-exaggerations, lifted the sorrow I'd created, bringing happiness back to the circle of friends and making it impossible for Yui to contain her excitement. Thankfully, she's refrained from referring to Erza as her 'aunt', clearly sensing the minor hesitation in their introduction. Powers of empathy can be unnerving, but useful in an already sensitive situation.

We ended up spending the whole day at the guildhall. We were even introduced to a few other members: another team that calls themselves Team Shadowgear and a huge man with white hair and a scar running down one side of his face named Elfman who turned out to be Mira's younger brother. Yui dubbed him 'Giantman' because according to her, he's too big to be an elf. One mortifying statement after another with that child.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what have you got planned for your day off?" Lucy asked me.

"Well, I wanted to sort a few things out in town but I have no idea where anything is so..."

"That's great! Me too! I can take you on a tour of Magnolia and we can both get our stuff done together!"

"Uh, sure, that's if you don't mind."

"Of course not. So what do you need to do?"

"Well, I wanted to check the prices for apartments. I don't have enough money for anything yet but I want to get an idea of what to aim for. And I want to open a bank account, it would make me feel better storing away some of the money somewhere other than just my purse. If that gets stolen, I'm done for. Plus, it'll make things feel more permanent and stable for me."

"Makes sense to me. Anything else?"

"We need some new clothes."

"Perfect! I love shopping! Not to brag or anything but I know my way around a fashion store."

"Great, so that's our whole day set."

For a girl who likes to look her best before leaving the house, Lucy is surprisingly speedy at getting ready. We're out the door within the hour and strolling along the main streets. She takes us into all her favourite clothing stores. The girl's got taste, that's for sure. It doesn't take us long to get a small, inexpensive wardrobe together. A few pastel dresses, a sweater and a pair of everyday shoes for Yui, two sweaters, a patterned skirt and a white jacket for me along with a set of matching pyjamas for both of us; bunny print, of course.

Inner fashionistas satisfied, we move onto the market stalls. Some I recall from the evening we arrived in Magnolia, especially the one with the stack of shimmering lacrima crystals. Magical items are everywhere; magic stones, hologram letter kits and light pens in a multitude of colours. I treat myself and Yui to a pair of pink, 2x gale-force reading glasses. As we pass by the last few stalls, I notice an estate agent with notices in the window and stop to look. A "for rent" poster catches my eye for a single-floored apartment with two small bedrooms, one bathroom that includes both a shower and a bath, and a joint kitchen, dining room and sitting room, all fully furnished with the basics.

"This place looks nice," I scan across the advert but coming to the bottom of the description, my face drops, "Uh, maybe not for that price."

"120,000 a month for that? No way!" Lucy exclaims, "That's the size of mine and I only pay 70,000."

I sigh, "Looks like I've got a lot of saving to do."

"That's ok, you can stay with me for as long as you need to. I think we should get you a proper bed though. You can't keep sleeping on that old foldable camp bed and we won't all fit in my bed, especially if Natsu sneaks in."

"I still think that's weird."

"It's just annoying."

Definitely weird.

"As nice as a new bed sounds, I think I'll put that on hold for now. You could probably do without something as big as that taking up floor space and saving that money means we get out of your way quicker."

Lucy rolls her eyes, "You're not in my way but you have a point, and with the way we're picking up jobs, being able to afford your own place doesn't seem that far off."

"Yeah, I never knew we'd get another one so soon," I say, "Knight's Blood didn't get much in the way of requests because we weren't official."

Before leaving the guild hall yesterday, Gray had grabbed another hopefully high-paying job from the request board for us. Find and subdue a band of thieves with 10,000j reward for each one caught. We ran it past our pint-sized 'manager' and she whole-heartedly agreed we needed to stop them. The job starts tomorrow and I'm raring to go!

"Being the top guild in Fiore definitely has its perks," Lucy smiles.

XXXXXXXXXX

The train rocks from side to side, swaying us all in our seats in a steady rhythm. Natsu is happily laying his head on Lucy's lap. Wendy had cast the Troia spell the moment we got on the train but he decided his position was too comfy to move from, so now he's watching the sky through the window in the ceiling. I'm still the only one seeing this.

"I'm excited that the whole team is doing this job together," Wendy beams.

"Yes, it should be fun," Erza agrees, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

I skim through the job request again. I've decided to keep every poster we take. Not because I'm some kind of hoarder but the evening Knight's Blood was attacked, Yui had been working on a scrapbook. After losing her memories and knowing I lost mine too, she wanted to make sure that if it were to happen again, we could tell each other stories from it. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the chaos so I'm going to give her the materials for another one.

The job is taking us almost to the other side of Fiore. The self-titled thief 'guild' have struck twice already, once at a bank and again in a popular restaurant. It doesn't say anything about magic, just regular weapons. It shouldn't, but that knowledge puts me at ease.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh, I feel terrible. I'm never doing that again," Natsu groans and falls face down on the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask, "I thought you cast that spell that stops him getting sick."

"It only lasts for a limited amount of time," Wendy explains, "I don't like to cast it more than once because I'm worried he'll build a resistance to it.

"I see. Well, I hope he realises we have to make that same journey again unless he wants to walk all the way back."

"Come on, Natsu," Lucy sighs, hauling him off the floor and ducking under his arm to support his weight. She must be stronger than she looks.

"If he gets too heavy, just drop him and he can catch up with us," Gray says nonchalantly, "He knows where we're staying."

"You're so mean to each other," I say.

"He starts it!" Gray points an accusing finger at the half-conscious dragon slayer.

"You're just as bad as he is, Gray!" Lucy exclaims.

Looks like I opened a can of worms. I speed up my pace to move away from the now bickering duo and reach Erza. We exchange small smiles.

"I'm excited to see some of your skills on this mission," she says.

"Same to you. After everything you told me about your requips yesterday, I'm pretty psyched to see them for myself."

"I don't mean to disappoint you but I feel this job won't require much in the way of requipping. According to the job request, we aren't dealing with any magic. Though, if there's a lot of them we may be able to justify giving a little bit of a show."

"Sounds good to me."

By leaving the accommodation arrangements up to Erza, we managed to get a nice room at a decent hotel. Previous missions she'd carried out in the area meant she was well-acquainted with some of the locals, including the owner of this particular hotel. Lucy, who had carried Natsu the short walking distance from the station, drops the still-whinging pinkette on the floor. We're welcomed by a cheerful desk clerk with short brown hair and think-rimmed circular glasses. We dig through our bags to hand over a small safety deposit, probably necessary considering the living embodiment of destruction, ahem, I mean Natsu is with us.

"Excellent," she says, counting our money and placing it in an envelope marked with our room numbers. She holds out two sets of keys, "Up the stairs, corridor to the left."

"Thank you," Wendy takes both sets and hands one to Gray.

"Oh, by the way," the clerk says as we go to walk away, "I would avoid going out after dark. Be very careful if you do. There was a terrible incident that happened a few nights ago plus there's thieves running around town."

"What kind of incident?" Lucy asks.

"The merchant guild on the outskirts of town was completely destroyed. Rumour has it they were attacked by a dark guild."

A dark guild? Could it be them?

"Excuse me, do you happen to know the name of the dark guild?"

"Sorry, no, all I know is that they used magic and they left no witnesses. It's a similar story to what happened to that wizard guild a few miles away from Oak Town not too long ago."

I feel my insides seize up. It has to be them. I look back at Lucy who by the expression on her face seems to be sharing my concerns. I refrain from saying anything more and follow the others up to the rooms. We booked two; one for the girls and one for the boys.

"I guess you do get to see one of my requips," Erza smiles.

My eyes widen as she uses her magic to change into her pyjamas of all things.

"I never even thought of doing that!" I exclaim, "That's a great idea!"

I'm too tired to bother adding my own pyjamas to my requip inventory tonight so I take the manual approach. The weather is still warm crack open the window. Being on the second floor, I can see over all the houses with a perfect view of the starry sky. I lean my elbows on the window sill and prop my head up, staring out into the night. I wonder if Kirito is looking at the same stars I am. I know if it turns out that Laughing Coffin were the ones behind this most recent attack, there's a chance I can find a clue. Even if it's the slightest hint, I'm willing to hunt it down.

Erza appears beside me, "I know what you're thinking. The attack on the merchant guild rings a lot of bells."

"It's got to be them," I reply.

"They certainly fit the description but we won't know for sure unless we do some more digging. It'll have to wait for now though. We have a job to do."

"Right."

"Come on, get some sleep. You'll need your strength for tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXX

With the morning comes research. We visited the bank, the restaurant, hunted down as many people as we could that were present at the time of the robberies and investigated what they knew about the thieves. How many were there? Did they say much? Were they the voices of men or women? What were they wearing? Did anyone get a look at their faces? By the afternoon, we've drained the information pool dry. No one knows where the thieves base of operations might be but several people had mentioned some abandoned buildings so that's where we decide to head.

"What happens if we don't find anything?" I ask, worried about the lack of information we have, "All we know is that there were more thieves during the second robbery. All of them appeared to be men and all of them were wearing masks, hoods and dark clothing and carried guns with them. None of them said much and they all went in different directions after fleeing with their reward. It's really not a lot to go by."

Erza opens her mouth to answer but is interrupted by Natsu shouting.

"Hey, what do you guys think you're doing?" he yells.

We all turn our heads. Standing in the middle of the street are four men: two holding wooden bats and the other two attempting to unscrew a door hinge. Upon hearing Natsu's voice, they immediately cease their activity and stare at us like deer caught in the headlights.

"He said, what do you think you're doing?" Gray repeated, stepping forward.

"Run for it!" one of the men shouts, fleeing down the street. The other three are quick to take off after him

"This is going to be too easy," Gray smirks, "What's the betting they're part of the group we're looking for and they're running straight back to their hideout?"

"Only one way to find out," Erza says, "Let's hurry, we don't want to lose them."

"It's obvious those thieves are the amateurs of the group," I say, running beside Lucy and Natsu, "I find it hard to believe they were the ones who managed to hold up a bank and a crowded restaurant. They looked terrified when we showed up. Plus, who the hell tries to break into a house in the middle of the day?!"

It's not long before we come to a rocky gorge. Peering over the edge, we catch a glimpse of the four men fleeing across the valley below into a cave. How cliché. We waste no time making our way down the steep rocks to the bottom and quietly make our way to the mouth of the cave. Inside we can hear a group of voices and the shadows of several figures flickering in the light of a fire. Erza places her finger to her lips and presses her back against the wall as she silently makes her way into the cave. When we're within a few metres of our targets we can see that the cave has a dead end behind them, mostly likely due to a collapse of some sort. Perfect. They're trapped. Confident that we have them right where we want them, we all step out of the shadows.

"Hello, gentleman," Erza says with a smirk, "I hope you don't mind us dropping in uninvited but we've come to bring justice to you scoundrels."

"You said you weren't followed!" one man shouts, turning to the four men we'd pursued to get here.

"W-we thought we lost them, we s-swear," one of them stammers.

"You'll have plenty of time to bicker amongst yourselves when you reach your prison cell," Erza snaps, "Now, you have two choices, surrender now and hand yourselves over willingly or we take you by force."

"I really hope they choose the second option," Natsu grins, punching his palm, "I've got a fire in my belly and it's dying to come out."

The men are silent, staring at us, clearly weighing their options. They have no hope of escape, not with six of us. Eight if you include the... ex... ex-something... Happy and Carla. I'll remember it eventually.

"Allow me to make it easier for you," Erza says. Thirteen swords appear above our heads, each one pointed at a different member of the thief guild. Floating swords? I take a mental note to ask her about that later. Our requip styles may be varied but I can definitely pick up a skill or two from her.

Suddenly, one of the men disappears before our very eyes.

"Where'd he go?" I look around me.

"Guys, watch out. They have a wizard with them!" Gray shouts.

The man reappears behind Lucy, grabbing her by the arms.

"Damn it, he can teleport," I say to myself. This certainly makes this more difficult.

"Don't move or the girl gets it!" the man threatens, pulling a dagger from under his coat and hooking his arm round Lucy's shoulders, holding the blade close to her neck.

For a minute we're all at a stalemate, awaiting each other's next move. Is this guy dumb? He's a teleporter. Why threaten Lucy when he can just hightail it out of here in a split second? Then I spot it. The big pile of stolen jewellery and money. I guess he doesn't want to leave behind his hard work or give it up to us. A decision he'll most likely regret once we're done here.

"Requip: Ebon Dagger," I mutter under my breath, holding my hands behind my back. A small straight dagger appears and I clutch it tightly. I only have one shot at this and if I miss, I could end up hurting Lucy. I move my arm to my side and in a single fast movement fling my arm forward and let the dagger fly, "Rapid Bite!"

As I hoped the blade stays true to the direction I threw it in, not angling away in the slightest but taking the route right into the man's elbow causing him to drop the knife and stumble backwards, releasing Lucy.

"H-how?" the man grimaces, trying to work the dagger out of his joint and hissing in pain as the sharp edge cuts his fingers.

"Awesome!" Gray cries, "I barely even saw that, it was so fast. It was like a lightning flash!"

Lucy jogs to my side, "Thanks, Asuna, I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," I smile.

With the man distracted by the blade wedged in his joint, Natsu charges him. He's clearly furious that the teleporter dared to touch Lucy with bad intentions and his eyes are filled with a fiery rage.

"Fire dragon iron fist!" Natsu's flaming knuckles crash into the man's jaw, sending him careering backwards. He hits the cave wall and slumps onto the ground, face down.

Looking terrified at the ease in which their trump card was taken down by just two members of the team facing them, the rest of the men hold their hands up in surrender and allow themselves to be bound for prison.

"Is he still alive?" I ask, nodding towards the teleporter as I tighten the ropes holding one of the thieves, "He got hit pretty hard."

Gray looks closely at the unmoving man, "Yeah, he's fine. Just out cold."

"Tie him up before he regains consciousness," Erza orders, throwing some rope to him

As we finish binding all thirteen men, we hear the clopping of hoofed feet and the clatter of wooden wheels against hard ground and voices mumbling to each other. Everyone freezes and my hand goes to my rapier. Three men appear in the mouth of the cave with a horse and cart in tow that's carrying what I can only assume is a box of stolen goods. There's silence between us. The three men stare in disbelief for one long moment before sprinting off in the direction of an alleyway in the gorge, leaving their cart behind. I sigh loudly, "I'll go get them."

It's not long before I catch up. Apparently a fifty metre jog is far enough for them to think they'd lost us. There's nothing better than bad guys with no sense. It's been so long since I dealt with idiots like this that I'd forgotten how fun it can be. I clear my throat to announce my presence and all three turn to look at me. Let the fun commence! I take a running start and leap over their heads, landing gracefully behind them. I need to drive them back the way they came. I step forward, drawing my rapier.

"I can handle this," one man steps forward with a smirk on his face, "I dunno who you think you are but you shouldn't try to mess with us, little girl. You don't wanna get hurt, do you?"

I pull back my arm and charge my sword. I won't need any special attacks for this. One straight pinpoint thrust is all that's needed to send the man to the floor. He scrambles to stand up again but another hit throws him back a few more feet. This time he doesn't try to get back on his feet.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," my voice is level and calm, "But I'll be making sure you face punishment for your crimes and that means I won't hesitate to knock you out in order to drag you back."

He looks worried. Excellent. That's the look I was going for. Just another little push to scare him. One more hit with my sword and he lands at the feet of his partners.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots!" he cries, "Get her!"

The other men shakily draw small daggers. I extend my arm, pointing my blade directly at them.

"You sure you wanna do that?" I ask.

In an instant, they drop their weapons and run back down the path followed closely by the third man. I sheath my blade and smile triumphantly as I stroll back to the cave. When I re-join the group, I find the three men tied up tightly.

"I don't know what you did to them but they came running back here crying like babies," Lucy chuckled.

"Nice work," Erza says, chucking one of the bandits into the cart.

"Y'know what this means, don't you?" Natsu leans in to whisper in Gray's ear but still talking loud enough to be heard. That boy has no volume control.

"No, what?"

"It means Asuna is just as terrifying as Erza is!"

"Come on, guys, I'm not scary. It was just a little threat to steer them in the right direction."

"Straight into the grasp of your even scarier sister."

They both look terrified. I know Erza has a commanding presence and from what I've been told, is extremely good at keeping people in check, but is she really that bad?

XXXXXXXXXX

After collecting our reward money, a 160,000j pay-out, we journey to the opposite side of town a little way from the outskirts to visit where the Golden Apple guildhall once stood.

The place is in ruin, looking like it had suffered hundreds of year of neglect. No one could imagine that just a few days ago it was a pristine guildhall housing travelling merchants from across Fiore.

"This is terrible," Lucy says, looking all around her.

I wander over the fallen bricks and smashed glass, careful with my footing. It looks just like the Knight's Blood guild did after Laughing Coffin's visit. It has to have been them. The poor people here never stood a chance.

I freeze up as images start to flash through my mind. Memories I'm desperately trying to lock away start to surface as I unwillingly recall the aftermath of my own experience. Our guild banner on the floor, torn and dirtied. The cries of anger and hurt. Lisbeth's hand. I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to clear my head.

"Asuna, is everything ok?" I feel Wendy's hand on my arm.

"Yeah, I just... ah," something shiny reflects the sunlight into my eyes making me squint.

I move out of the objects glare and walk towards the source. Shifting a few broken bricks reveals a smooth, translucent gold lacrima about the size of a dinner plate. I pick up the dome-shaped crystal.

"What's that?" Wendy appears by my side.

I inspect it carefully, "I think it's a surveillance lacrima."

"Do you think it has any footage of the attack?"

"If it does, it's no use to us. Look," I hold the lacrima out to her, "It's cracked."

Across the middle of the crystal is a thin line, about four inches long, with several other small splits sprouting from it.

"You should take it with you anyway," she says, "We might be able to find someone who can repair it for us."

I nod in agreement and slip the lacrima into my shoulder bag before we make our way back to the rest of the group.

"Did you find anything?" Erza asks.

"I got nothing," Gray shakes his head.

"Me either," Lucy sighs.

"I found a safe that hadn't been broken into," Erza says.

"How does that help us?" Natsu frowned.

"It means that the people that attacked this place, weren't too bothered about stealing anything

"That settles it then," I say, "It has to have been Laughing Coffin. Everything points to them; the destruction, the needless murders and the lack of thievery. When they attacked us they left behind everyone's wallets and purses, didn't touch the money from the bar and Heathcliff's safe didn't have a scratch on it and that thing contained thousands of jewels."

"I wonder," Erza says thoughtfully, "If they weren't here to steal, what exactly did they set out to achieve by doing this? No one in the guild used magic as far as we know, so they didn't do it for the thrill of a fight."

"What they set out to do is kill," I say, "Doesn't matter who, where or how. It's just indulgence of fantasies."

"What kind of sick people fantasise about this kind of thing?" Lucy shivers.

"They're not people," I reply, scanning across the wreckage once more, "They're monsters."

XXXXXXXXXX

The train ride back is deathly silent. After seeing the miserable state of the Golden Apple guild, the weight of the situation, mine and that of the poor people who suffered a terrible fate at the hands of Laughing Coffin must be looming over their heads. Everyone has the same look on their face. Everyone except Erza. Her expression is more complex and doesn't seem to associate completely with what everyone else is feeling. I switch seats to sit opposite her.

"Is something wrong? Other than the obvious," I ask.

"It's nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

She twiddles her thumbs for a moment, clearly trying to find the right words, "I mean no offence by this but I'm still having a little trouble adjusting to this."

"When you say 'this', you mean us, right?" I watched her for a moment, her struggle for a response is visible on her face, "It's ok. As I said before, it's a lot to take in. We don't have to instantly become close and act like sisters just because we are."

"You're right," she smiles slightly, "Perhaps I'm over-thinking this."

"How about we just start off as friends? We can become close the way friends do; nice and steady."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

I smile. To be honest, after all this time, being best friends would probably be as close as we'll ever get to being like sisters. We don't remember each other but we're tied by blood. I don't intend to disregard our connection, but I'll work with what I have.

Leaning back on my seat, I take the broken surveillance lacrima out of my bag and hold it to the light. The crack isn't too deep, maybe it can be fixed. Then again, even if it works, what can it show me? A second-hand massacre viewing? That's not something I want to see.

"Maybe we should hand it over to the authorities and see what they can do with it," Lucy says.

"I did consider that but the only issue is they're not likely to share any information they get from it," I reply, "Whether we're the ones who gave it to them or not, it becomes none of our business as soon as it leaves our possession."

"I could try and weld it together with my fire!" Natsu suggests.

"We want it fixed, not destroyed, Natsu!" Lucy exclaims.

"I'll be careful'" he says innocently.

"You don't know the meaning of that word," Lucy frowns.

"Is there some sort of enchantment for fixing crystals?" Gray ponders aloud, "There must be something. Maybe not for all types but, when it comes to something as important as surveillance lacrima, there has to be a method of fixing them. I'm sure plenty of criminals have broken more than a few over the years and yet they still get caught from recovered footage.

"Couldn't you make a deal with the authorities?" Wendy asks, "You'll hand it over as long as you get to see the footage too?"

"The magic council dislike Fairy Tall enough already. If we ask to see the footage, they'll know we intend to go after Laughing Coffin and inevitably leave a trail of destruction in our wake," Erza sighs.

"Let's ask around the guild. Someone must know something," I say.

XXXXXXXXXX

Upon returning to the guildhall and collecting Yui, we spent the next few hours discussing different methods of fixing the lacrima with the other members of Fairy Tail. Levy hunted through her books to no avail, Gajeel offered a welding service, the Thunder Legion whom I met whilst they paid a brief visit to collect another job request weren't all that helpful either, though Yui seemed to take a liking to Bickslow. I'm not so sure about him but I think his creepy floating 'babies' are affecting my opinion.

"I'm about ready to give up," I say despondently.

"Yeah, my head hurts," Lucy groans, slumping on the table.

"Mine too," Wendy agrees.

"Yeah, me too," Natsu nods.

"You've done nothing but sit and eat!" Lucy exclaims, "How could your head possibly hurt from all this?"

"What's wrong, you guys?" Mira appears beside us, "Some of the others said you've been in here for hours trying to figure out how to fix something. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can fix this," I hold out the crystal towards her.

She takes it and holds it to the light, "Oh, it's a surveillance lacrima. The crack in it isn't that deep, what do you need it for?"

"I'm hoping it might contain a clue to where Laughing Coffin might be hiding. It could end up being useless but I won't know unless it's fixed," I sigh, "We've exhausted all our options."

"Not yet, you haven't," she replies, handing back the lacrima, "Wait here."

I watch her disappear out the front doors. Less than twenty minutes later, she returns holding something above her head.

"TADAH!" she cries, placing a flat disc that resembles a metal dinner plate on the table. It has a few buttons positioned around the rim.

"What is it?" I ask, intrigued by this new strange object.

"It's a lacrima viewing platform," she explains, "I normally use it for watching recorded home video footage but it should be compatible for anything with that function."

"That's amazing! Thank you so much!" I place the flat side of the lacrima down on the platform.

Mira leans over and presses what I assume is the 'on' button. A small projected screen pops up and she clicks another button. We quietly wait, staring at the screen with anticipation. I cross my fingers. Please, let this work.

"It's working!" Wendy cries.

Everyone huddles round. The picture is in black and white and slightly fuzzy but not completely obscured. My heart drops as I watch. Panicked people running around, frightened faces screaming as they're chased across the lobby. A ball of fire. A flash of lightning. And...

"Wait... is that...," No it can't be. I wind it back and pause it, scrutinising the face of the man on the screen.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Erza asks.

"Yeah."

"Well, spit it out, don't leave us hanging!" Natsu exclaims.

"I could be wrong but that looks like...," I lean in closer. If I say it, I can't take it back. My voice is almost a whisper, "Heathcliff."

"Heathcliff? Who the heck is Heathcliff?" Natsu's brow furrows in confusion.

"He's our old master. He founded the Knight's Blood guild."

"That's one badass-looking master you've got there," Gray says, "But what's he doing there?"

"Well, he looks like he's fighting," Natsu says.

"Thank you, genius," Gray scowls.

"Shut up, Gray, I was being helpful."

"No you weren't, you were running your mouth without thinking, like you always do."

"Are you two going to keep quiet or am I going to have to settle this debate for you?" Erza growls through gritted teeth. Ok, so she is a bit scary.

"No, ma'am!" they both obediently take seats on either side of me.

I play the footage again and watch the man closely. My stomach flips as I watch him drive his sword through a fleeing man.

"If that's your guild master, why is he killing people?!" Lucy exclaims.

"I... I don't know," I shake my head in disbelief, "This doesn't make any sense, why would he be fighting for Laughing Coffin? They destroyed everything he worked so hard to create but he's helping them bring the same fate to others."

"Are you completely positive it's him?" Erza asks.

"His sword and shield combo is unmistakable. No one else would have it unless they stole it and I would find it hard to believe someone who happened to look identical to him took it. It's Heathcliff. I don't want to believe it, but it's him.