Summary: The Eclipse Gate could not be closed, and every last one of the 10,000 dragons managed to come through. The dragon slayers use a powerful, forbidden spell which sacrifices their lives in order to defeat the horde. After death, the dragon slayers wake up in the soul society, but were they the only ones to make it to the afterlife?

Prologue – Fall of Dragons

It's over. That thought could not escape Natsu's mind, even as he slammed into his tenth dragon, crushing its skull. It's hopeless. Even with the help of the six other dragon slayers and the fire dragon, Atlas Flame, Natsu knew that 10,000 dragons was just too many.

And at this rate, they were all going to die. Not just his friends, but everyone living in Crocus – no – Fiore, would suffer.

The fact that the dragons were being controlled by future-Rogue just made the whole situation worse. Dragons were intelligent, and would not kill for no reason, but Rogue wasn't giving them a choice in the matter. That sick bastard who had absorbed Future Sting's powers, claimed that this was the only way to defeat Acnologia. But future-Rogue wasn't the type to care about whether or not Acnologia killed everyone, he just wanted to become the Dragon King himself.

"You are wrong, Natsu," a melancholic voice echoed inside his head. "There is a way you could defeat them, everyone.".

"Who is that?" Natsu shouted, turning his head back and forth to look for the source. Nearby, Sting and Rogue paused their fights with the dragons and turned to one another.

"You heard it too?" Sting asked his friend, who nodded his confirmation.

"Guys?" Wendy's shrill voice could be heard.

"Why can I hear you guys' voices?" Laxus shouted.

"That is because of me. I thought you at least would've remembered me, Natsu," the voice interrupted. "It is I, Zeref."

"Zeref?" Gajeel joined.

"Indeed, and I know how you can defeat the dragons. Sadly, you will relinquish your lives as the cost of this technique. What do you say?"

For several minutes, it seemed as if time was at a standstill. Natsu knew that this was not a choice made easily, but looking around at the chaos, he knew that there was no alternative.

"I'd do anything, if it means that the rest of my friends can live." He slammed his fist into a nearby wall as a pledge of acceptance.

Surprisingly, it was Wendy who agreed next. "I feel the same way."

Sting looked over at Rogue, and then to his fallen comrades. "I can't see any better option..."

"Go for it." Rogue agreed.

Laxus sighed, "It's not like I have any choice now."

"If Salamander's doing this then so am I!" Gajeel resolved.

"I don't really have anything to live for anyway..." Cobra muttered.

"Very Well," Zeref continued, "I shall now transfer you the knowledge of this ancient spell."

With that, all seven dragon slayers felt a mind numbing pain which caused them to lose sight for many seconds. Once it had regressed, they knew exactly what to do.

They spoke in unison, raising their arms to the sky, "Bright light shining from the sun, fuse with the darkness of the night, create an opening to rid us of that which does not belong. Banish anomalies!" they bellowed.

When the incantation was done, the entire sky was filled with a blinding light which quickly turned completely and utterly dark. Nothing could be seen or heard in the void. Slowly the darkness was gone, and a single tear rolled down Natsu's cheek as he crumbled into dust.

"Goodbye, everyone," he whispered before he was completely gone, along with his fellow dragon slayers.

The eerie silence weighed down on the capital city much more than the dragons had done before the darkness. It was a parallel to the utter confusion felt by the fighting mages before they realised what exactly had just transpired.

End of prologue