Hi guys and gals.
This is my take on what happens shortly after chapter 416 of the manga.
So, go read chapter 416 before you read this.
A common goal
Description: [Manga chapter 416 spoilers] The fairy tale of Fairy Tail was over? Not if Erza, Lucy and Gray had anything to do with it.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all associated characters belong to (Etherious) Hiro Mashima.
At the ruins of The First Fairy Tail building
Master Makarov and a large portion of his Fairy Tail children were gathered in front of the remains of the first Fairy Tail building.
"First of all, I would like to welcome back Mest Gryder. Who until recently was on a mission to infiltrate the Magic Council. Welcome back!" said Master Makarov.
"Oh yeah? Prove it!" shouted Gray.
Mest turned shoulder towards the other members through which his guild mark was visible.
A collective gasp was heard.
"Do not blame him. He wiped his own memories in order to make himself more convincing to the Council. If you wish to blame someone blame me. I ordered him to do it." said Master Makarov in defense of Mest.
"I apologize." said Mest, joined the others and turned towards Master Makarov, knowing he had more to say.
Makarov sighed and took a moment to look over his children.
"Some of you are not here. After we are done please find those that are missing and tell them what I am about to tell you all." began Makarov.
The First Master, Mavis Vermilion, appeared next to him and have him a small nod, encouraging him to continue.
"Fairy Tail is disbanding." Master Makarov said simply.
Silence.
After a few seconds of disbelief a collective "What!?" was heard.
Questions of "What?", "Why?" and the like were asked.
All of a sudden a shout of "Quiet!" was heard. Everyone turned to the source of the voice.
Wendy Marvell stood among the group of mages looking at the ground.
Wendy looked up at the Master with tears ready to burst out of her eyes and said "Let the Master finish".
Mest walked over to her, placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. She managed a smile back.
"Thank you, Wendy." said the Master and continued.
"My children, I'm afraid that our quest to answer the question if fairies have tails, if they even exist has come to an end." said Master Makarov.
Gray twitched at that word and Juvia, who was next to him, placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"You are now free to act independently or to form your own guilds if you so wish. The fairy tale of Fairy Tail is over. Thank you all." said Master Makarov and walked off with tears running down his face.
"Goodbye my fairies." said Mavis Vermilion with sadness in her voice and disappeared.
At that many of the now former Fairy Tail members released breaths they did not realize they were holding. Many of them wanted to protest, to go and drag their master back, but deep down they knew this was no longer possible.
Mest and Carla were comforting a crying Wendy, who had just lost her second Master and family.
Macao was hugging Romeo.
The Strauss siblings were on the ground promising each other that they would never separate.
The Thunder God Tribe were doing the same.
Lily was being hugged by Levy, who in turn was hugged by Gajeel.
Jet and Droy were hugging each other.
Erza looked at Gray, said "Lucy is not here. We have to tell her." and the two started walking to Lucy's apartment.
At Lucy's Apartment
When they got there Erza opened the door and the two walked in.
When they got to Lucy's room they could hear crying from the inside.
"Lucy, are you OK? It's Gray and I. Can we come in?" ask Erza from their side of the door.
A hiccup and a "Yes." were heard.
The two walked in and saw Lucy on the floor in the fetal position with her eyes swollen from crying.
Erza ran to Lucy, keeled down and hugged her.
Erza started rubbing her back and whispering words into her ear to calm her down.
Gray just stood there, knowing that this was something only Erza could take care of.
After a while Lucy stopped crying.
Gray suddenly spotted a crumbled up piece of paper next to Lucy and picked it up.
Lucy noticed this, release herself from Erza's hug, cried out "Give it back!" and tackled Gray to the floor.
Erza separated the two but not before Lucy managed to get the piece of paper back and hug it to herself.
Erza sat Lucy down on her bed and asked "What's wrong Lucy? Why were you crying when we came in?"
"They left." Lucy said and tears started falling down her face again.
Erza hugged Lucy again and asked "Who left?"
Lucy gave Erza the crumbled piece of paper.
Erza fixed as best she could and started reading the horrible handwriting, which she immediately recognized as Natsu's.
A tear rolled down her cheek which she wiped away with her hand.
She then gave the paper to Gray, who after reading it, mumbled "Damn you, Flame Brain."
The paper was a letter addressed to Lucy which read:
HAPPY AND I WILL GO ON A JOURNEY WHILE TRAINING.
AND WE'LL BE BACK IN ABOUT AN YEAR OR SO.
SO TAKE CARE OF EVERYBODY ALRIGHT!
SEE YA, LUCY!
NATSU & HAPPY
Erza sighed.
"Lucy look at me, there is something you need to know." said Erza with a serious expression.
After Erza said what Makarov said word for word and Gray confirmed all of it tears started flowing down Lucy's cheeks once more and she hugged both of her friends this time. The three fell on Lucy's bed and cried together.
At Kardia Cathedral
"Hopefully we're not too late." said Gray as he, Lucy and Erza entered the Zentopia property.
"The faster we do this the better. They should still be withing Magnolia." said Erza as they ascended the stairs leading to the top floor.
"How did this place survive?" asked Lucy, looking at the remarkably undamaged building.
"A powerful protection spell by the Archbishop of Zentopia." answered Erza.
Gray pushed open a large door.
"Yes!" exclaimed Lucy.
In the middle of the room was a table and on it was a communication Lacrima.
"Erza are you sure you know how to work this thing?" asked Lucy, unsure that their plan would work.
"Yes, Master Makarov showed me and Mira how to use it a few months ago just in case we needed it to inform the town of incoming danger." answered Erza.
"It's quite easy. You just press a button and speak." clarified Erza.
There were three conveniently placed chairs in front of the table for them to sit on.
After making themselves as configurable as possible Erza looked at her two friends on either side of her.
They both gave her encouraging nods.
Erza inhaled a deep breath, held it in and exhaled.
She pressed a single small button at the base of the Lacrima and a small red light lit up next to it.
A few seconds passed. Nothing happened.
All of a sudden crackling noise was heard all across Magnolia, signifying that the speakers that were part of the communication system were up and running.
People everywhere turned their heads towards various buildings, where the speakers were located, or what was left of them any way. At the First Fairy Tail building the members looked towards the ruins of their building.
For a few seconds nothing happened.
All of a sudden Erza's voice boomed through out Magnolia.
"Attention all Fairy Tail members!
This is Erza Scarlet.
Listen very carefully.
I shall say this only once.
...
Even though we are no longer officially a guild, and have disbanded, I have something to ask of you.
A sort of one last mission if you will.
...
None of this is your fault.
You did your very best under extraordinary circumstances.
For this I am proud of each and every one of you.
You have proven yourselves, time and time again, to be both capable individually and as a group.
Therefore I feel I can entrust this mission to you. I myself will also be participating.
…
This is an S-Class quest... a one-hundred years long S-Class quest. It is freely available to all of you who wish to take it.
You do not have to take it if you do not want to.
It is up to each and everyone one you to make that choice for themselves.
There is no reward however. At least not a monetary one.
…
Find E.N.D.
All of this.
All of you pain and suffering was because of Zeref and the thing in that book.
Find E.N.D. and kill it.
…
I know you can do this.
You are Fairies after all. You were born to slay Demons.
In the words of Master Makarov.
Thank you all!"
Erza pressed the button again and the red light diminished and vanished.
The three of them just stood there, staring at the Lacrima, letting the words Erza just spoke to sink in.
They left Kardia Cathedral.
At the ruins of The First Fairy Tail building
When they returned to their former guild building the three were awe struck.
Everyone was gathered around what looked like a drawing board with Masters Makarov and Vermilion giving explanations on a plan.
Levy and Freed were off to the side, writing what looked like to be construction spells that were picking up debris and merging it with the guild's ruins.
Wendy and Porlyusica were running around attending to various members who were listening to Master Makarov's orders.
"Hey you three, don't just stand there, join in." said Mirajane as she walked over to them.
"What's going on here?" asked Erza in shock.
"Well, your speech boosted everyone's moral and gave us a focus on a common enemy. Right now we ware rebuilding and making a plan." answered Mirajane.
"We decided to stay together and reform the guild into an Earth Land-wide organization dedicated to finding and killing Zeref and his demons. This building will be our headquarters." said Levy and hugged Lucy, who hugged her back.
"Much work to do, get to it." said Gajeel as he passed by, caring a support beam.
"Yes. And Juvia will help her beloved Gray with his fight against E.N.D." said Juvia, grabbed Gray's arm and glared at Lucy.
Lucy sweat dropped and backed away from the two.
"I hope Natsu and Happy come back soon so they can join us in our war against E.N.D." said Lucy worried about her missing friends and looked at her hand with her pink guild mark.
Erza and Gray mumbled their agreement.
With Natsu and Happy
Natsu grabbed his chest in pain and wobbled slightly on his feel.
"Natsu, are you OK?" asked Happy with concern for his friend.
"Just some pain. Don't know why. It passed. I'm fine." answered Natsu and the two continued walking, all the while Natsu having a horrible feeling. Natsu looked at his shoulder where his guild mark used to be, wondering why it vanished like that.
Fin!
And there you have it.
I decided to make this a the-guild-stays-together fic.
R & R!
See you guys and gals later.