Why hello hello! As always, sorry for the long wait in between chapters. Over this week and the next 2 weeks I have 2 essays, 1 lab report and 2 fieldwork reports all due in, and all worth massive amounts of my mark (I'm talking 50%+) so I have been SUPER BUSY. Plus, after all of that I have a week of full-time fieldwork and then a short break before my final exams. Hell...

Somehow though, through a combination of typing in bed, on a train, in a boring lecture, on a bus and in a mall, I managed to finish this chapter yesterday, so here it is ^_^ It is a little rough (forgive me for any typos as usual) but I do like it, and I hope you will too ;)

To all of the guest reviews that I can't reply to, just a general thank you! Really, thank you all for your patience and kind words and support. They mean a lot. Also, thank you for over 200 follows! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the number had tripped over 200. So many hugs for all of you, and please continue to look forward to chapters. We still have quite a way to go, and I hope you'll enjoy taking the journey with me :)

Here, for your reading pleasure (hopefully) is Chapter 12: A Ball for Criminals~ Or, as I almost re-titled it after finishing: Dirty Dancing.

Enjoy!

Erza had left the guildhall mid-afternoon, and the carriage ride took the remainder of the day. She never expected to arrive on time, but then again, that suited her plans more; if she arrived earlier there would likely be less people present, a higher chance of being singled out to talk to before more people turned up, and therefore a higher chance of accidentally screwing something up. No, arriving at one thirty was much better, as, even from the huge driveway of the Eisenwald Manor, she could hear the classical music and people socializing before she had even stepped out of her carriage.

Running over her identity for the night – an interested buyer, perhaps a lowly guild worker if anyone else asked further – she slipped on the black metal mask Mirajane had handed her just before she hitched up her skirts and climbed down from the carriage, tying the thin back ribbon underneath her swirling bun. Okay. Heels clacking loudly on the stone steps that led to the humongous front door of the mansion, she made her way towards the two suited men who were stationed at the entrance.

The man on the right eyed her up and down a few times before a small smile crossed his features.

"All alone tonight, love?"

She tried to ignore the second message he hinted through his words and turned her face away. "Yes." Slipping her hand into her cloak, she pulled out the white invitation and passed it to him; the man spared barely a second glancing at it before he moved to give it back, his fingers gliding over the back of her hand as he did so.

"Enjoy yourself."

She doubted she would, but that was beside the point. Snatching her hand back, she re-pocketed the invite and stepped into the mansion, emerging into a grand ballroom beyond the foyer. She had accompanied the master to large parties held by the Council multiple times, and of course there had been Bisca and Alzack's wedding, and the party for Mirajane's twenty-first birthday, but that didn't stop her from pausing to admire just how ostentatious the Eisenwald Manor was. The ballroom itself was easily the size of the Fairy Tail guild, the central floor occupied by dancers moving in sync to the classical music being played by the small ensemble situated on a small stage to the back of the room. To either side of the dancers, long tables stretched, cluttered with food, flowers and candles. Erza felt her mouth begin to water as she spied a tall cake piled with strawberries nearby, but resisted the urge to run over and start stuffing herself. No, cake could come after she at least found Erigor, and the people who were his right hand men.

Not failing to notice the ridiculously large, crystal chandeliers that hung over the dance floor as she stepped down into the room, Erza cast her eyes over the guests. Mirajane had been correct in assuming that the party was masquerade, as she was happy to see that the men and women all sporting intricate masks alongside their fancy attire. She wouldn't look out of plac-

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Resisting the urge to jump, she turned to find a finely dressed young man with a platter standing behind her, the boy reaching out to offer her what looked like the tastiest cracker she had ever laid eyes on.

"Uh…" Don't eat yet. Find Erigor. "No thank you." She waved him off, but a second later realised he was working for the owner and reached out to tap his shoulder before he moved on. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find Er- Mr. Erigor, by chance? I just arrived and I believe he's expecting me, but I can't seem to find him."

The boy paused and eyed her up and down a few times as he seemed to form an answer. "I think he's greeting guests near those stairs." A gesture across to the other side of the ballroom. "I'm not sure though."

"No, thank you. That's a great help."

Watching the boy leave to serve a man just behind her, she hesitated for a moment, eyeing the other side of the room. Would it be in her best interest to go seek Erigor out? She did think it would be helpful to identify the people working closest to him, but it would be even better if she could find a list of his clients and sellers. That kind of thing would probably be in a separate room of the mansion though, some place Erigor would go to to speak privately with potential buyers. Stealing it shouldn't be that hard, but she didn't know if Erigor had guards posted outside of the ballroom, or if she could get anywhere close to his personal office without being seen or having some very good excuse. Perhaps she could pretend to be a buyer and see if she would be taken aside? But what if he catches you out? He probably has ways of checking the legitimacy of potential clients and if you go in there alone with him and his men, you'll be heavily outnumbered.

A few more minutes of thinking and she decided that she should at least monitor where Erigor and his men were. Even if they were taking people aside, the man was hosting the party, and would have to be out in the ballroom to speak with his guests. If she watched him closely, she could probably find a moment to slip out of sight and do some snooping.

The place the waiter had pointed out was directly across the ballroom from her. She considered walking around past the tables, but with a quick glance she saw that many of the people off to the sides were closely conversing, wine glasses abundant and people being pulled in from left, right and centre to join the crowd. She would never be one to brag or make a show of it, but she had become aware of just how she was dressed, and the eyes of the men hovering on her from where she stood. Choosing to walk past the crowded tables seemed a little risky, yet those on the dance floor would be more distracted, already having partners – if she merged in with them and flittered to the other side, she could hide amongst them and spy Erigor out.

Reaching across to the nearest table and plucking a small strawberry tart from a silver platter, she stuffed the dessert into her mouth whole and moved into the dancing crowd.

He pulled the reins he had wrapped around his left wrist taut to bring the black mare beneath him to a halt, unintentionally sliding a good length forward across the horse's back due to the lack of saddle. Readjusting his pack, he leapt down swiftly, cursing silently when his strained legs hit the ground. He hadn't ridden in a while due to the nature of his previous trips; the farmer who owned the land they were staying near kept a close eye on his stocks, save for late at night when he had drunk himself to sleep. Jellal guessed it was one of the benefits of this night job – he didn't have to walk or hire a carriage so long as he returned the mare to its stall before sunrise.

Jellal wasn't one for boisterous parties – the lifestyle he lived with his guild had stirred him away from such activities – so the sound of the party he could hear even from outside the mansion walls pulled a sour expression onto his face. Leading the mare to a nearby tree, he tethered the reins tightly and, giving the horse a thankful rub up the nose, moved his way to the towering walls of the Eisenwald Manor, trying not to picture the number of people inside save should he decide to go home before he even properly arrived.

The sight of the brickwork brought back memories of another mansion he had broken into in Shirotsume, though he pushed these thoughts down into the deep recess of his mind. No need to be thinking about her tonight if he could help it.

Still, he couldn't refrain from thinking back to their first meeting as he pulled his hook and chain from his pack and prepped it for the climb ahead. Adjusting his leather gloves after he had successfully hitched the cord onto one of the above window sills, he tested his weight and scaled the side of the mansion, knife gripped in between his teeth; after clambering up onto the precariously small ledge, he slipped the blade between the two panes of the window and flicked up the latch on the other side, slipping inside to find a small sitting room.

He crossed to the door and immediately flicked the lock, tossing his pack into a nearby armchair as he began to strip off his dark riding clothes. He didn't want to question how Ultear and Meredy had gotten his measurements correct, but the white button-up dress shirt and black suit they had provided fit him pretty darn well, despite the uncomfortable feeling he always got when wearing such formal clothing. Trying to make himself even a little more at ease, he worked slowly fitting on his leather kit and strapping in his weapons, sighing happily at the heavy feeling of the knives pressed against his sides. That done, he flipped on his suit jacket and buttoned up the front to hide the weaponry underneath, and, after adjusting the collar and front of his shirt to sit right, tied Ultear and Meredy's ridiculous mask to his face. Well, if anything, it did hide his tattoo rather nicely.

The exact amount of rooms the event extended to was unknown, but he guessed that the party-goers would likely be clustered around the central room of the mansion, and that he should head there first. After stuffing his travel clothes back into his bag, he walked back to the window and threw the pack to the ground below. It would be pointless to keep it in the room and have to spend ages locating it again.

He sighed heavily through his nose before he unlocked the door and stepped out into the long corridor beyond, trying to fall into a natural gait as he walked down it towards the noise of the party. The passage opened up to a curving balcony overlooking a massive ballroom, the outright grandiose look of the room pausing him for a moment as he tried to take everything in. Certainly, it was far fancier than anything Jellal had ever seen in his life.

His eyes caught the long tables of food below, and he felt his stomach tighten despite itself.

Food later.

Yes. First came Zeref, though now that he was here he couldn't help but come to the familiar conclusion that Ultear's so-called reliable source had been dead wrong about the man being at this gathering. From all he knew about Zeref, this was definitely not his sort of calling. Still, that didn't necessarily rule out that he wasn't working behind the scenes somehow.

"Why, good evening."

He was so caught up that he hadn't noticed the small number of guests flittering up on the balcony beside him, and turned to find a woman with deep green hair and a tight fitting red dress leaning on the banister beside him. She swirled the wine glass cupped in her left hand as she spoke, red lips a seductive smile beneath her gold feathered mask.

"A buyer, or do you know the host?"

Crap. He hadn't planned out his story yet.

"Hmmm." He made a point of leaning against the banister beside her to try and look more comfortable and buy himself some time. "Let's just say I've taken an interest in what our host has been doing lately and I've come to see if it's worth my time."

The woman fluttered her eyelashes at him and paused to sip from her glass, setting it down on the railing and cupping the bottom as she stared out over the dance floor. "And what would a man such as yourself be doing with Mr. Erigor?"

So this 'Erigor' was the ring leader here? "I could ask you the same question."

Another smile. "I make it a point to have my fair share of input into such fruitful business."

"Me too, though I'm still unsure about this one. You wouldn't happen to know anything about the men working with Erigor, would you?" Or, you know, specifically if Zeref is involved?

The woman gave him a look from the corner of her eye. "Taken an interest, huh?" Crap, had he seemed too desperate for knowledge? If she thought so, the woman didn't let on. "Well, Mr. Erigor seems to have stepped out for the time being; however," she pointed a gloved hand to a small group of men below them, "that there is his closest group of advisors. The man in white with the black ponytail is Kageyama, one of Mr. Erigor's primary sellers, and then him," she moved her finger towards a towering man with a funny, almost Egyptian-like head piece, "he's Rayule, the man who is in charge of transportation and delivery of the products."

"And him?" Jellal pointed to a rather large green-haired man who was also surrounded by a number of people.

"Karacka. He's one of the main producers of Lullaby, though I hear he's unstable. They say a man should never use his own products, but I don't think Karacka follows such advice."

Jellal turned his head slightly to spy the woman closer as she ran a finger around the rim of her glass. "Anyone else… of… importance?"

"You seem to be looking for somebody, or am I mistaken?" She had such a poker face. He couldn't pick up what she could possibly be thinking at all.

Well, if he was in this far he might as well come out a little more about it. "To be honest, I became interested because a friend of mine told me some of Zeref's men were involved."

He didn't miss the frown that momentarily clouded her features. "Zeref's men? Why, no, I haven't heard of any of the occult following being involved here whatsoever."

Damn it. If the people at this party didn't even know Zeref was alive, let alone that men under him were involved, that definitely meant Zeref himself wasn't. Stupid Ultear and her stupid source! He knew from the start that this whole endeavour had been misguided.

"Well, you've definitely piqued my interest. Perhaps I shall go seek out Erigor and see what I think."

The woman turned as he stepped back and leaned up against the railing, the slit up the side of her dress hiking up and revealing far more thigh than he thought necessary. "Then I wish you well. You are definitely nice company though. Be sure to seek me out later if you'd like a dance." She raised her glass and gave him a wink.

No, I think not. "Certainly. Thank you, Miss…?"

"Reina."

"Miss Reina." He gave a somewhat awkward dip of his chin and turned to walk away, façade falling as soon as she was out of sight. Mentally groaning now that he knew he had come for nothing, he made his way towards the lower level. Nothing stopping him from eating a lot before he left, right?

He was almost at the grand staircase that led to the dance floor below when he spotted a group of men in a corridor to his left. Stopping, he watched as a man with spiked grey hair and a flowing fringe in a white suit made his way down towards what looked like a group of bodyguards, another man at his side. Pausing at one of the doors, he opened it and seemingly invited the man in before entering himself and shutting them inside.

That must be our host, and I'd bet that was an interested client. Not that it really mattered to him anymore.

Moving on, he walked down the grand staircase and approached the tables on either side, eyeing the food that was clustered on top. No denying, it looked amazing, and as he picked out small plates that he would definitely be trying, he came to the conclusion that perhaps his night wasn't a total waste after all. Due to the nature of his guild and Ultear's awful cooking, he hadn't eaten, let alone seen, anything this delicious-looking in a long, long time.

Arg, where are the plates?

All the way at the other end of the table. Of course. Trying not to bump any of the other guests dining as he passed them, his eyes flickered over the dancers to his left as he made his way up the table.

A flash of scarlet.

He froze, instantly rooted to the floor as his brain washed over that fact one more time.

No… There's no way!

But there was. Turning his attention fully to the dance floor, he saw her properly, swaying amongst the other dancers as she moved between them, seemingly trying to get to his side of the room. She was not dressed in a way he was used to seeing, what with her flowing black gown, mask and tied up hair, but he had no doubt in his mind that it was her. There was just that… that dangerous gracefulness to her moves.

What should he do though? The last time they had parted had not been… well, not been as smooth as he would have liked. He doubted she wanted to even see him again, let alone speak to him, yet he felt the need to confront her, at least to apologize for what had happened that night – to let them part ways on better terms.

But what if she didn't want that?

He was also curious though. Why was she here? He guessed it was perhaps a guild job, but it all seemed too good to be true… too coincidental…

Too planned.

He internally sighed and brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. Of course. Ultear and Meredy had been way too insistent, way too organised. He should have realised sooner that they were up to something. He never would have guessed that this was what they had planned though.

Locating Erza again, he watched her once more. Had his guildmates gotten someone from her guild to assist them? To convince Erza to come along? To convince her to put on that dress and look so damn stunning and… holy hell, he was not going to go there.

No, it was more than he deserved. Just seeing her in the dress was good enough. He had no good reason to approach her, so he wouldn't. He… he wouldn't.

He wouldn't.

But he wanted to. It startled him when he realised just how much as well.

He wanted to reach out…

Reach out and…

Erza stepped from side to side, her arms held out away from her body so that she could at least look like she was attempting to dance. She had made her way to the other side of the dance floor by weaving through the other guests and was now near the giant staircase that lead to the upper floors, though Erigor didn't seem to be present like the waiter had said. There were a number of men with large crowds around them, though they didn't look like the 'Erigor' Mirajane had described to her earlier.

Giving a small twirl to the side to avoid a couple doing some flamboyant routine beside her, she once again pondered if this job was worth her time. The observational approach didn't seem to be working for her, so perhaps it was time to resort to her favoured breaking and entering approach.

The gaudy couple flew back towards her and she hastily sidestepped once more to avoid them, accidentally standing on the hem of her skirt as she went. Arm flung out, she began to trip sideways, though was caught when somebody appeared at her side, a hand grabbing her own as another slinked to her waist. Pulled up and around into their arms, she found herself looking at a pair of suited shoulders, the man who had caught her stepping out to the left and pulling her along into a slow waltz before she could detach herself.

Her eyes flew up to his face, and she immediately pulled herself from his arms and stepped back as she felt the colour drain from her cheeks, because there was no way… there was no fucking way.

Siegrain's gaze followed her as he seemed to try and read her expression.

"Hi," he muttered, almost embarrassedly so.

Hi? No. No no no no no no no. It was too much. He couldn't be here. Why was he here!?

Shaking her head, she found herself backing away from him and turning to leave, though his hand flew out to grab her own, stopping her.

"Erza, please."

She snatched her arm back angrily. "Why are you here?"

"Please," he repeated, holding out his arms to invite her back and giving her a pointed look. Glancing around, she noted that a couple of the other dancing guests had paused and were throwing confused eyes their way.

Groaning a little, she stepped back towards him and placed her hand in his, her other meeting his shoulder as his own found her waist once more. As he gave her a small, thankful nod, he started up their slow waltz once more.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. It wasn't my intention."

"You shouldn't be here," was all she muttered in return, though truth be told she had no right to say where he could and couldn't be.

He sighed and paused for a moment as he seemed to contemplate whether or not to say something. "Look. I… I feel bad about where we, uhhh, left off last time."

She blushed at the memory despite herself as he continued. "I don't think either of us were really in the right mind at the time and I'm sorry if I did something too forward. Do you think we can just put it behind us?"

It irked her that he was sort of taking responsibility for what happened even though it was entirely her fault for starting it, but she didn't want to go into it if need be.

"Yes. I'm sorry too," she replied, glancing up to see him smile. Such a thing brought back memories of that very mouth on hers, and, once again highly aware of his hands on her, she blurted out the first thing on her mind. "Why are you here?"

There was an odd expression that crossed the visible side of his face (seriously, where had he found that mask?) and she felt herself reacting to it. He- he couldn't be following her, or something, right?

"Do you know a woman with white hair?"

"What?" she muttered, caught off guard, though her mind instantly flew to Mirajane. "Yes, I do. Why?"

He nodded as if coming to some sort of conclusion and she gave him an odd look, though he didn't expand on anything. Why would he be interested in Mirajane?

The thought brought on a few more as they swayed slightly in place and she recalled how excited and pushy Mirajane had been earlier. Making her look pretty, demanding she attend, not caring so much about the people involved in the job, more the party itself.

Gods no…

There was no way Mirajane had set them up. How did she even know about Siegrain? It wasn't like she had marched into the guild and told everyone that she had met him at Nirvana, and her friends seemed to have forgotten that she had been with someone due to the chaos that had occurred afterwards. No, Mirajane had to have had help. She wanted to ask Siegrain if he knew, but the very idea that they might have both been forced to come to the Eisenwald Manor specifically to meet each other once again made her flush and stutter in embarrassment.

"I-I'm here to investigate the Lullaby drug," she spluttered, trying to draw the focus away from what their friends had been planning and more to an excuse she could ride out to avoid their conversation turning awkward – well, more awkward than it already was.

"Ah, I guessed as much," he replied, thankfully assisting her in moving the subject along. "Are you after the drug itself or someone working to distribute it?"

"The Council wants to arrest as many people involved as possible, so I'm here to just observe and take names. I want to find a master list of clients, though they seem to be guarded, so I was just trying to find Erigor and perhaps the people working for him. He doesn't seem to be around though."

He startled her slightly by spinning them quickly in a half circle so that she was facing towards the staircase that had been previously behind her. "I saw Erigor go into a room up there that had a few men stationed out the front. It's probably his office and you'd find any documents in there."

Bodyguards? Yes, that would make stealing official documents difficult. Siegrain seemed to have some idea about what was going on though.

"Do you know any of the men working under Erigor?"

She thought he had ignored the question for a moment, for he looked away from her and seemed to pick up the pace of their dancing, though, glancing around, she noted a number of couples nearby sending them odd looks. Were they not moving correctly together? Or did they just look suspicious for some reason? Either way, she cast aside her annoyance at her dance partner and moved herself closer to Siegrain, pressing herself more readily into his arms.

A small smile crossed his face and he stepped away from her body, twirling her around and pulling her backward against his chest so that they were both facing the same way as they continued to dance. Arm now wrapped around her waist, he lent in and put his mouth to her ear.

"The man in front of you next to the tall brunette is Kageyama," he whispered, and she tried to ignore the feel of his breath tickling her neck as they swayed. "He's Erigor's right-hand man – second in command."

To a trill in the music from the band he spun her out again, and, hitching a hand under her knee lifted her to that she was seeing over his shoulder, her weight balanced on his hip.

"The tanned man with the odd head-piece – Rayule, main transporter." She followed his description and spotted the man standing with a small crowd around him.

"Anyone else?" she whispered against him.

"Karacka. He makes the drug. Six o'clock."

Six o'clock? Barely registering his intentions in time, she bit back a cry as he grabbed her upper back and dipped her backwards, holding her steady as she spied a larger man with green hair from her upside-down position. A few seconds pause and he whipped her back up into his arms once more, leading her through a few more steps before the ensemble faded out with the final notes of their song. Realising she was still pressed against him, she pulled herself from his grip and took a hasty step back, blushing before she turned to applaud the musicians with the rest of the dancers to hide just how flustered she was. She had allowed herself to become too comfortable around him once more. Why did she do that?

"Uh, those are… well, the only people under Erigor that I really know," he stated, not managing to meet her gaze either. "There are definitely more, and then all of the clients here tonight."

Yes. She couldn't help but flicker her eyes between the people all around her. Dealers. Shippers. Promoters. Buyers. They would all be involved in some way or another. Everyone at the party – all secretly related to this underground crime.

She had truly attended a ball for criminals.

But what to do now that she was right in the middle of it?

Siegrain moved ever so slightly beside her and she was immediately aware of his presence once more. Though she would never admit to it aloud, she did momentarily feel at ease knowing there was at least one other person in the mansion who was on her side.

"What are you goin-" Siegrain began, though he was interrupted by a loud chime that sounded out over the open room. Turning with the other guests, the two looked up towards the balcony above, where Erigor stood, his two bodyguards at his sides.

The suited man spread his arms wide, greeting everyone below with a large, yet slightly gloating smile. "My dearest friends, I welcome you tonight to my home. I hope you are enjoying yourself."

There was a murmur of approval from the crowd, and Erigor waited momentarily before continuing.

"I am sorry for being absent for a lot of tonight, though I will be taking some time to come speak to all of you…"

She zoned out soon after, because something far more intriguing crossed her mind. Leaning into Siegrain, she whispered "just how many men did you say were guarding that room?"

"Two. Those two," Siegrain replied, motioning to the two men up on the balcony behind Erigor.

She felt a smile creep onto her face. The men weren't guarding the room – they were guarding Erigor. Which meant (or at least she hoped it did) that if Erigor was spending the next little while out amongst the guests, that the room Siegrain had seen him enter would be empty.

Picking up her skirts, she began to make her way through the gathered crowd and up the staircase, Siegrain hot on her heels.

"What are you doing!?"

"If he's out here, that means there's no one in the office right now. I'm getting the master list I need and I'm going home."

He made a grab for her hand, and, though he missed when she moved it at the last second, he succeeded in halting her.

"You can't just go in there. What if they find you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm armed, and you know I can take care of myself."

He didn't seem to have a reply to that, but continued to follow her as she moved on once more. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

A nice thank you at this point would have been applicable, but she didn't want to look like she was relying on him. She was still a little annoyed that he had somehow known all about Erigor's inner circle whilst she barely even knew Erigor himself. Just how did he do it?

The guests were still enthralled with Erigor's speech by the time they reached the start of the hallway on the second floor, and, quickly scouting around, she didn't see anyone following their movements as they slipped down the corridor. Moving swiftly but silently, they made it to at least four doors at the end.

"Which one?" she asked Siegrain, though he gave a small shake of his head.

"I'm not sure. It could be any of them."

"Okay then. You take the right and I'll check one of these other ones." She gestured to the doors on her left. "If you're going to come in though make sure you knock or something."

He nodded, and, slipping the door next to him open without so much as a creak, vanished inside. Doing the same, she moved from the hallway and into the room beyond the first door to her left.

It seemed to be a master bedroom of sorts, a humongous bed dominating the room whilst several chests of drawers likely filled with clothes lined the walls, a floor to ceiling mirror beside them. However, there was also a large desk near the window, flooded with the moonlight that was pouring into the room. Heels thankfully quiet on the plush carpet, she made her way towards the writing table and began to shuffle through the papers on top, though nothing caught her immediate attention. Eventually giving up there, she moved down to the drawers, checking the files and books inside carefully.

Nothing. Perhaps she had picked the wrong room?

Standing properly, for she had been kneeling to check the bottom cabinets, she spotted some books on the night-stand next to the bed, and moved to inspect them too.

Clunk.

She froze with her hand hovering over the bedside table, eyes flying to the door, though it didn't move.

Clunk.

"S-Siegrain?" she whispered, hands automatically moving to grab some form of weapon on her body. Scrambling at her skirts, she couldn't seem to find the slit in the side, and instead lifted the bottom of her corset and yanked down the chain that Gajeel had given her, which was tied around the inside of the bodice's hem. Trying to distract herself from her uneasiness, she mentally joked that she would make better use of it than Gajeel had.

The shaking of the door handle had her instantly alert, and she moved faster than lighting to the corner closest to the entrance, pressing herself up against the wall so that when the door opened she'd be behind it and hidden from view. Wrapping one end of the chain around her wrist as her opposite hand held the opened cuff, she breathed slowly through her nose as the door was opened.

Barely audible footsteps on carpet as a person made their way into the room.

Okay Erza. Okay now.

She moved her foot out to the side and silently shut the door after the person had walked through, spying their form just enough thanks to the minimal moonlight outside. One small step after another, she slunk up on them from behind.

Make this quiet. The last thing you need is people coming to see what's going on.

She was just about to move in herself when the person suddenly turned, and she was forced to leap forward early.

They brought up their hand in a quick safe-guard, though that proved to be their own undoing, as she slapped the cuff of Gajeel's chain down onto their wrist, feinting down to the right to circle behind them. Dipping the chain around their leg fast as lighting as she moved, she rose and aimed the other cuff at their left wrist, though was shocked when the person stomped on the cable beneath them, jerking her off-balance to the side. Before she could register the move, the other link was yanked from her grasp, and she let out a cry as it was slapped down onto her left wrist. Ignoring the fact that she was now linked to her opponent, she aimed a punch at their face, though they caught her wrist, chuckling.

Chuckling?

"Will you stop attacking me already?"

Hearing his voice through the barely-lit room forced a groan of annoyance from her lips, and she scrambled to get to her feet properly.

"What the hell? I told you to knock!"

"I did, and then when I came in you weren't here. I assumed you were in one of the other rooms, not that you were waiting to attack me. And with a chain none the less." Pausing, he grabbed up the links attached to his arm and tried to get a closer look at them, moving back towards the window with her in tow (no thanks to the other shackle on her wrist) so that he could use the moonlight.

"This is nice chain. Did you have it crafted?"

"Yes, in a way. The blacksmith at my guild is very talented and asked me to test it for him."

"Ah. These things are hard to use unless you know how. Probably best that you stick to knives or you'll get yourself into bad situations like you did here if you don't have practice." Reaching down, he began to unclip the shackle from his wrist.

"You sound like you speak from experience."

A small smile crossed his features. "Well, a member of my party uses a similar type of thing, so you could say I'm… I'm used to i…t…" He faded out as he gave his wrist a good shake. "Bloody hell this thing is tough." He shoved his wrist out towards her. "Here. Get it off please."

Rolling her eyes at his incompetence after his previous speech, she reached for the cuff on her own wrist instead and jerked what looked like the release, though the thing stayed fastened. Trying harder, she then moved her fingers around the edge when extra pressure proved futile. Gajeel had said there was a secret release, hadn't he?

She tried to remember back to earlier that day when he had been showing her how it worked, though for some reason she was coming up blank. What had it been? Slap it on… secret release… fumbling…

Her turning away to look at the quill Gajeel had been making for Levy…

No…

Trying not to look too desperate despite the fact that she was now breathing a lot heavier, she began to try and pull the cuff off of her wrist without undoing it, though her hand was much too big. Siegrain watched with a somewhat confused expression before his eyes went wider, his mouth falling open slightly.

"Erza?"

She bit her lip and kept at the cuff, squeezing every inch possible. It would come off. It would. It had to. Otherwise it was stuck on her wrist, and then her wrist was attached to a chain, and that chain was attached to another cuff, and that cuff was attached to Siegrain. And that… that was not allowed. She wouldn't allow it!

Siegrain watched her huffing for a few more seconds. "God above, please, don't tell me…"

She couldn't bear to meet his gaze, and forced her face to the side to avoid seeing the disbelief clouding his expression.

This could not be happening.

Not here.

Not now.

Not with him.

But it was.

"I… I don't know how to get it off."

To be continued in Chapter 13: The Chain that Binds us

Ahhh, Erza you daft idiot XD Well, I hope you guys liked what you read, and if you did (or even if you didn't) leave me a review/constructive criticism. Next chapter will include two things you guys seem to like/want most of all: fighting and some *ahem* certain characters getting touchy-feely :) Look forward to it!

Not too many concepts in this chapter:

-Erigor and his men are as described. Like... Rayule, Karacka and Kageyama are all major Eisenwald characters from the arc. Karacka was the guy who went a bit nuts and stabbed Kageyama though the back (literally) so I made him the unstable drug maker who is using his own product.

-The seductive woman who gave Jellal all of his information (so that he could look cool in front of Erza - that dork XD) was Reina from Hiro Mashima's previous work, Rave Master. I just needed a random woman, and for those who have read Rave, I feel Reina just fits the seductive chick to a T, so I included her as a bit of a bonus ;) In Rave, Reina also talks to Seighart (Jellal's counterpart from Rave) a lot and teases him, so she seemed appropriate. Don't worry if you haven't read Rave... again, I just needed a random character - it could have been anyone.

-In a conversation with AliceStoneheart, one of the people who reviews this fic (thank you hun!) she mentioned that she found a fanart of Jellal that reminded her of this fic - it was Jellal all dressed in black riding this black mare and looking badass. As such, I made Jellal ride a black horse to the party. I hope you liked it Alice ^_^

Omg, I need to be somewhere, so I will bid you all farewell. As I said above, I am super busy for the next 4-ish weeks, so, though I hate to say it, please don't expect an update too soon :( However, I have already written scenes from the next chapter, so maybe something might come :) Not too sure, but look forward to it anyway!

Thank you all, and I'll see you in due time~

-EvilTyrannicGoddess