I bet you're wondering where a few certain men were.

Well, they certainly aren't being entertained in an orgy, that's for sure.

On the main floor of the hospital, Lahar and Dorinbolt waited with Sting and Rogue, also keeping cold eyes on Cobra and Midnight. Yukino had been allowed to be with Lucy around twelve, and because of their high positions as Council guards, Lahar and Dorinbolt were granted to stay until the morning. Nothing could go wrong.

It was quiet and boring. The exceeds had fallen asleep, and Midnight too. Cobra has beginning to doze off, but suddenly, his eyes shot open.

"What was that?" He looked at the ceiling.

"What was what?" Sting asked, readjusting his seating.

Just seconds after he asked, the walls, the ceiling, and the entire building shook, and then like a chain reaction, multiple fire alarms went off, the sprinkling system showering the floors and anyone who wandered.

"What the hell?!" Midnight screamed, jumping awake.

"What's going on?!"

Many tired folks, they also had been sleeping, had the same reaction as Midnight and the men. Screams were heard, well, the dragon slayers could hear them.

"What's going on Sting?!" Lector cries out, latching onto his person's arm.

"I don't know, 'lil buddy!"

The building suddenly trembled again, much more violently this time. The stairwells are suddenly filing out with patients, some needing help and some just not caring about their injuries. It made it almost impossible for the Council guards and guys to go up the stairs,

"Dorinbolt, get Miss Argia and Miss Heartfilia!" Lahar commanded.

The teleportation guard wasted no time and vanished.

"Let's get out of here!" Rogue shouted over the panic.

The fire illuminated the streets and other buildings rather brightly. The flames weren't just ordinary flames. They seemed to be magic. I mean, they were golden flames. It seems weird to say, but they were gold. And infernal. Lahar and the others were far enough away (due to safety precautions), but it felt like they were being scorched.

"Where are they?!" Sting stressed. He practically spoke for everyone.

"Lushie...!" Happy stared at the ignited building with tear-brimmed eyes.

"I've got her!" Dorinbolt appeared, all burned and singed from the fire, holding a very...pregnant Lucy? She was unconscious and seemed to illuminate with slight magic prowess. But she was uninjured, without a scratch or any burns, unlike Dorinbolt. She did have a few smudges of soot and ash on her chin and forehead, though.

"Lucy?!"

Dorinbolt winced, collapsing to his knee, trying to gently place the pregnant woman on the ground without jolting her too much. He wheezed like an old chain-smoker, hacking out little bits of inhaled smoke.

"What...what happened to her?! Why is...why she is fat?!" Midnight blinked toward Lucy's largely swollen bump.

"You fucking idiot!" Cobra growled with annoyance.

Ignoring the ex-felons, Sting immediately bombards the burnt guard. "Where's Yukino? She was with Lucy, why didn't you get her, too?!"

Dorinbolt shook his head, handing Lucy over to Lahar, who laid her on her back.

"I didn't see her...not through the smoke."

"No! You're gonna get your ass back in there and find her dammit!" Sting yelled, feeling himself come to tears, he refused Yukino was lost to the fire.

"I. Can't. The entire floor was abolished! If anyone survived, it'd be a miracle!" Dorinbolt leaned back, planting himself on the ground to sit.

Each man fell silent. Sting curled his hands into tight, trembling fists. Veins bulging from his skin as he did so. Yukino...

"Guys!"

Great. He was hearing her voice.

"Sting! Rogue!"

He was officially hallucinating.

"Sting!"

Wait, he wasn't hallucinating! He was actually hearing her!

"Yukino...?" Sting had just turned and a body smacked against him, arms slinging around his torso.

"Sting! I'm glad you guys are okay!" The woman was scuffed but barely hurt. She had a large, pink burn on her right forearm, but Yukino seemed to not notice. "Oh my god! You found her! Lucy! I thought she was crushed by the ceiling!" Yukino weeps gleefully, knowing her friend was still alive.

The white-haired woman threw herself to her knees, next to her friend. She grabbed Lucy from Dorinbolt, hugging her in an awkward position, scanning her eyes over Lucy's body carefully, she sighs in relief. There weren't burns at all. It was truly a relief she was alive. Her clothes were singed, but other than that, she was healthy and okay.

"Yukino, are you okay?" Rogue speaks up as he holds Frosch, attempting to calm his cries.

"I'm okay, but Lucy may not be," Yukino said, glancing down at her friend in extreme alarm.

"What do you mean? Was she attacked again?" Lahar questions immediately.

Yukino nods briefly. "I didn't really get to see their faces because they had these masks...and they're the reason why Lucy looks this way. They used some type of spell. I think it was some age manipulation spell. It also triggered the fire." The Celestial Mage gulped warily, holding Lucy to her body.

"Age manipulation? I thought that was banned magic?" Dorinbolt breathed out, chilled by the information as he looks at Lahar who shares an identical expression.

"Miss Argia, once this is settled, you need to answer some questions about these attackers."

The night fades with the hospital being put out by firefighters and Council guards swarming the place for investigation.

The night only began when nearly half of Crocus being awoken by the incident that so happened to be caused by the three individuals who fleed the scene before anyone could even blink twice.

.

.

"That was fucking great! What a great fucking plan that was!" Taft ripped his mask off, nearly breaking the clay cover.

Coughing out, Grimm tore his burnt robe off, letting the discarded fabric fall to the forest floor. The man leans against a tree to catch his worn lungs some fresh air.

"All that matters is that we did what mother asked of us!" Ivory took her mask off, glaring at Taft.

"What that hag asked of us!? Stop shitting us! We nearly died!" Taft aggressively shouted, smashing the clay mask on the ground. It shattered, little pieces flew every which way.

"I did not realize the spell would affect the magic of the child, it was a miscalculation." Ivory stood up straight. "The child wasn't supposed to have magic until its birth, but I suppose it works in our favor."

"Our favor? Is it really our favor? Or is it in your and Evanora's favor?"

Ivory doesn't answer, but instead, she tends to her burns. If it wasn't obvious enough, she received them during the spell she cast. Which, speaking of, was destroyed in the inferno of magic flames.

"Our mission is complete. We needn't stay here anymore." Ivory barely winced as she wrapped her hands rather horribly with ripped pieces of her robe.

"Seriously? What was the oh-so-powerful magic of your vision anyway? And why risk our lives for some insight?" Taft went again.

Ivory huffed with irritation. "If you really must know, the child is of dragon and stars."

"Huh?" Taft raised an eyebrow.

"What Lady Ivory means is the child has the magic of Dragons and the magic of the Celestials." Grimm briefly repeated.

"That's all?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay so, we almost died because of an unborn kid having these magics?"

"It's not just magic, Halfling, " Ivory turned toward the man sharply. "The magic of Dragons and Celestials are ancient magic that begins with time. For many millennia, these two magics have been far superior to any other magic. Dragons were quite powerful in their day. And Celestial magic isn't something to be trifled with either. The child is very special. It's even more coveted because it's another descendant of Anna Heartfilia."

"Back to that lady again?"

An irk mark appeared on Ivory's head as she sighed, resisting the urge to crush the man's windpipe with her hand.

"Anna Heartfilia was the greatest Celestial Mage in her day. Her magic runs through Lucy Heartfilia and now her unborn child. They both will be needed for the ritual." Ivory explained, rubbing her temples.

"I still don't get it." Taft picked his nose with his pinky, flicking the booger onto the grass and dirt. "So we get the kid and kill it?"

"Eventually, yes. Unfortunately, the spell couldn't be completed due to the magical outburst, " Ivory slide her hand to her chin, cupping it with her fingers. "I doubt the girl is any more than three to four months away from birthing."

"Let me get this straight, " Taft clapped her hands together, sucking in a sharp breath, "It has to be born before it can die?"

"Yes." Ivory nods, eyebrows knitted together. She looks at the man as if he is stupid or has grown a second head.

"Grimm are you hearing this?!" Taft thrusts a pointed finger at the woman in distaste.

The older man sighs deeply. "Yes, I am, unfortunately, you seem to be deaf."

Taft ignored Grimm, "She's expectn' us to kill a baby?! Oi. I may be an evil shit, but I can't stoop that low."

"Then your head will roll. It is for the greater good that this happens." Ivory declared with a stone glare.

"I very seriously doubt it."

"Ugh, whatever. We must report back to Mother." Ivory rolled her eyes, walking more into the forest.

"I know I'm insane, but right now, " Taft began barely sparing a glance at Grimm, "I feel like she's insane."

Both men disappear into the shadows of the trees, not a trace left of them. Well, other than the mask that Taft broke, but it was too broken to be known as a mask.