~To my Seventhborn Child, who resides in the city of Magnolia…

I only have a few things to say.

Innocent lives have been taken from this Earth.

Your friends and loved ones are held captive.

And now, His Armies have you cornered by the tip of the spear.

Thankfully, They seemed to be confused on exactly who it is that They're looking for. This means They don't know who you are yet.

My Seventh Knight of the Lunar Order.

After seven hundred years of rest, you will be the first to have The Light be lit.

Inspire those around you just as you've inspired your platoon at the Somme.

Stand your Ground and Never be Afraid.~

…

"Captain, the girl is waking up."

A tall man raised his head slightly to eye the soldier who spoke to him. He then turned his head to face the remnants of a guild hall. The sign bearing the name of Fairy Tail burned among the rubble. The fires rose as high as the night sky.

The man could see the last mage waking from a deep sleep. How she slept through all the destruction, he would never know. Nor would he care. She's awake, and ready to play the game.

He looks back down to the girl sprawled out in front of him. Her arm was broken from her attempt at landing a punch. He countered by bending her elbow upwards, which left her incapacitated. Deep cuts and developing bruises marked her nearly bare body. He must admit, she put up a good fight. However, the cuts and bruises he made with his cane would surely remind her that she never stood a chance against him. He motioned his cane from the girl to the captive members of Fairy Tail and ordered, "Toss her back to her friends. We have a new player in our little game."

The soldier stood tall and got close to the battered woman. By the locks of her disheveled hair, he dragged her body towards the group of mages, who were seething with rage.

Especially a certain Ice-Maker mage.

"You damn son of a bitch! I'll freeze your ass into the next ice age!"

The cane-equipped captain responded, "You are lucky that Juvia isn't who I was looking for, Gray. If she was…well, she would have gotten more than just a few cane licks." He then gripped the head of his cane and pulled it out to reveal a long sharp blade, like a sword unsheathed. He then walked towards the body of the final mage, who was nearly awake from her slumber.

The soldier dragging the body of the semi-conscious woman threw her into Gray's arms, who was able to catch her, but not without stumbling to the ground due to the immense strength of the throw.

While the wizards of Fairy Tail were busy dealing with a fatally injured Juvia, the sleeping mage finally awakes to hear the sound of raging fires and footsteps. She then felt a sharp point poking her cheek, followed by a voice that softly spoke, "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

A loud, booming voice sounded from where Juvia and Gray were, yelling, "Touch a single hair on her head and I'll be chewing through your armor!" That voice belonged to the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel.

The little mage recognized that voice and was at full attention. It took her some time to realize where she was. One second, her guild came under attack by an invading force. A piece of debris from the crumbling guild hall must have struck her hard enough to be knocked out cold. After that was nothing.

Well, nothing except a very strange dream of a woman dressed in shining armor.

Now, before her stands a tall, dark man with a sword poised at her throat. He and she looked each other in the eye for a good few seconds. There was nothing but silence.

"Did you enjoy your nap?" The captain questioned.

All the mage could do was shiver at the feeling of cold iron steel against her neck. With a shaky voice, she asks the captain, "Wh-who are you?"

"Who I am is not important at the moment. You see, I am in the middle of a game right now and I would like to continue. In fact, it seems more like my game is almost at an end since you are the last player."

"What game?"

"A game to see who can manage to land a hit on me." The captain pointed his sword away from the bewildered wizard to where her guild was gathered. "They all participated. Not one of them was able to punch me. It just went through me. Literally."

She cautiously got up to her knees to get a better look at her guild mates. Most of them looked like they were fine, but she saw a few of them in terrible shape.

Erza was sporting a sword wound on her stomach.

Natsu lay unconscious, cradled by a sobbing Lucy.

Gajeel's right shoulder was dislocated, which left his arm limp.

"Now, you may notice that a few of your friends don't look so good. They are examples of what happens when you break my rule."

Trying to calm her nerves, she asks, "And what rule is that?"

"No second chances. "

The man points his sword to where Juvia was.

"That girl, Juvia, was up before you. She was very tense when she came up. I told her she only has one shot to get a hit on me. I left myself bare and unarmed. She swung and her fist went through my face. 'Oh well, that's a miss,' I said. I assure you there was no trickery or deceit. If it was a miss, she would've rejoined her friends unscathed. It was merely her fault that she looks that way. I saw her second punch coming in an instant; and in that instant, I took her arm and bent her elbow upwards. Then with a swing of the blunt end of my cane to her face, I sent her down to the ground. I swung my cane down on her body so much I left her the way I left a few others: broken."

The dark man then sheathed his sword and turned to the kneeling wizard.

"So, please. No second chances."

The little wizard contemplated the meaning behind this weird game of hit-and-miss. She asks the captain, "What are the conditions for this game?"

He answers, "Well, since you're the last player, the condition for missing has changed. If you have a miss, I will gladly restore everything back to the way it was before, even the health of your friends. With that done, I will command my army to leave your city. If, by some miracle, you manage to hit me, you have to face me in a duel for your Light."

…you will be the first to have The Light be lit.

The soothing voice from the mage's dream echoed in her head. When the captain mentioned the "Light," that meant he and his army were somehow connected to her dream. That also meant that to better understand what was happening, she would have to play along.

With a resolute voice, she asks him, "Okay, how do we start this game?"

A small grin formed on his face as he answered, "By answering this question: who are you?"

"Levy. Levy McGarden."

"And so the game begins."

"Death to every foe and traitor!

Forward! Strike the marching tune,

And hurrah, my boys, for freedom!

'Tis the Rising of the Moon.

-The Rising of the Moon, a traditional Irish ballad.