[A/N] Yo! This is the fanfic I was tellin' you about near the end of The Cards Are Wrong! Last night, I wrote for hours, planning out every chapter (Looks guiltily at writer's-blocked Gruvia fanfic). I'm pretty proud of this one so far. It's been a couple years since the events of The Cards Are Wrong, same universe and all, but that fanfic doesn't really need to be read before this one.

The chapter titles are from the fanmade lyric song to Iris, the end theme of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, the most heartbreaking game I've ever played. But yeah, it's gorgeous and you should look it up! The YouTube user who sings it is Adrisaurus, and she's got a gorgeous voice~ It's the song Mira sings in the prologue here, too!

Prologue 1: When I Think of the Memories We Shared

Mirajane's lovely voice floated through the air, a sad, beautiful guild's mood was influenced by the music; most of the arguments had died down since she began.

"When I think of the memories~"

Makarov sat on the balcony of the S-Class floor, watching his children grimly. Glancing at the black pennant flag in his hand, he pondered its meaning. A dark blue design, almost indistinguishable from the black field, glared up at him, a tribal design of a coiled whip, ringed by fire. Makarov had never forgotten the symbol. The insignia of Kuroy Thakos.

"We shared long ago~"

Makarov was uneasy. This was the second pennant Mystogan had brought him in a month. Had Kuroy returned?

"There's a part deep within me─"

Makarov shook himself. Impossible. It had to be. He was powerless.

"That wants you to know."

He looked down at his Fairy Tail family. Laxus and Cana sat together, watching Mira's lovely performance. Gajeel and Juvia sat at a large table with Shadowgear and Team Natsu. The whole guild was enraptured by Mira's beautiful voice.

"Though I left without warning─"

They had no inkling of Makarov's troubles. He hoped it stayed that way. Almost all of them were too young to even know what Kuroy had done last time.

"Without a goodbye~"

Makarov tucked the pennant into his pocket. There were always cults around Fiore, trying to be reincarnations of the formidable enemies of the past. It could be nothing, he conceded.

"I have faith that soon someday─"

He hoped it was nothing. If Kuroy was back, then the spell cast by the Ten Wizard Saints all those years ago might have been broken, which meant that Kuroy had allied with an immensely powerful mage...

"You'll be by my side~"

Makarov tried to put Kuroy out of his thoughts. He'd been preparing for Kuroy's return for a long time. If the dark wizard did make a reappearance, Makarov was ready. Defenses had been in place for thirty-five years now, and Makarov reinforced them every chance he got. After all, Kuroy had been banished, not killed, a fact that several of the Wizard Saints protested, but to no avail.

"I promise you, I'll answer your plea~"

He watched his children enjoy themselves with the gorgeous music. Mirajane's voice could lift anyone's gloom. He found himself smiling, despite his troubles. He surveyed his guild with mounting pride.

"I swear, it's true, just trust in me~"

Erza. Laxus. Natsu. Gajeel. Mystogan. Gildarts. With a guild like his, Makarov realized he could crush Kuroy. He would need to speak with the king, of course, and alert him of the danger. Era, too. In the meantime, he would organize his guild.

"My love, for you, will always live on!"

Makarov crossed his arms. If Kuroy was returning, he'd have a formidable in Makarov and Fairy Tail. The guildmaster would make sure of it.

"Like a song, a simple melody~"

Kuroy might be powerful, but could he be a match for the S-Class mages of Fairy Tail, working together? Last time, the Wizard Saints had barely survived…But the Saints were unused to teamwork. Fairy Tail was a guild of powerful, close-knit teams.

"Though we're apart, you'll always be in my heart!"

Makarov turned and stepped off the balcony.

"I'll dream of the day, you travel my way~"

If Kuroy wanted to try again, let him! Makarov's family would crush him!

"And we make a brand new start!"

Makarov paced the second floor, planning. Where would he start?

"Never forget my oath, come what may~"

Kuroy would likely strike first at Crocus again. The king and his family must be protected.

"The sun will shine someday~"

Era would need to contact the other guilds, tell them to build up their defenses and ready themselves for war. But would they believe him? Would they want to believe him? (Did he believe himself?)

"With new horizons to to pursue─"

He would put Mystogan on Kuroy's trail. He wanted to know everything he could about the reappearance of these pennants. He would have to prove to Era that Kuroy was actually back. If he wasn't, though, all the better for Makarov.

"New horizons here with you!"

The guild applauded the pretty barmaid thunderously. She blushed, curtsied, and returned to the bar, declining an encore and giving the stage to Lucy's spirit, Lyra. Makarov smiled fondly, watching Cana order another a drink from Mirajane.

Kuroy would never crush this guild. Not while Makarov was still alive. And, if the wizards of Fairy Tail had anything to say about it, Kuroy would die trying.

Prologue 2: Long Ago

Nearly thirty-five years ago exactly, Kuroy had appeared out of nowhere, and in a single day had slaughtered nearly the entire royal family; the eight year-old prince had only survived because of Makarov's intervention. The Fairy Tail guildmaster had narrowly escaped with the child.

As Makarov fled back to Fairy Tail with the prince, Kuroy took swift control of the Rune Knights, beginning a march to take over the guilds one by one. His control over the kingdom's forces was absolute, an attest to his powerful Lost Magic, Human Subordination.

Leaving the king under the protection of his guild, Makarov returned to Crocus to confront the powerful mage, the other nine Wizard Saints at his back. The battle was long and hard-won. Kuroy's power was much more than Human Subordination; his powers of destruction could have rivaled Gildarts'. In the fray, half of Crocus was razed to rubble.

Kuroy was eventually overwhelmed by the Saints and their immense power, and spells were placed upon him, imprisoning him until they would execute him. The Wizard Saints set out to stop the Rune Knights. However, they weren't fast enough to stop the destruction of the Chimaera Gold guild, but they averted further disaster. Chimaera Gold had never recovered, its tiny number of living mages disbanding a year later.

When the Saints returned to Crocus with the new king, they readied Kuroy's execution, but the king forbade it. The child's reasoning was that if they killed him, they would sink to his level. Even Makarov found this noble ideal ridiculous; Kuroy Thakos had slaughtered the royal family and Chimaera Gold, and he would get off?

The king suggested instead that they cast a spell, one that would prevent Kuroy from using his magic ever again. Few of the Saints were appeased by this, but they obeyed and exiled Kuroy from Fiore, in the far reaches of the continent.

Chimaera Gold had been forgotten by most, but Makarov had kept their memory alive within himself, swearing that he would never let their fate become Fairy Tail's. Chimaera Gold had been a powerful, formidable guild, their guildmaster, Karana Guran, one of the strongest, most selfless women Makarov had ever known, and he had respected her a great deal. But with Kuroy alive and free, he couldn't help but feel that Karana had died in vain as the first casualty at Chimaera, giving her life to protect the guild from the dark wizard's forces. Less than a dozen wizards had survived the massacre that followed Karana's death.

Kuroy hadn't been heard from in thirty-five years, but he had been no spring chicken when he first rose to power. If he was still alive and amassing power, he had powerful allies indeed.

Mystogan had been finding more and more of Kuroy's pennants, but no sign of Kuroy himself. Era informed Makarov that it must be a false alarm, some errant dark guild trying to make a name for itself using the infamy of Kuroy Thakos. They refused to alarm the rest of the kingdom. Still, Makarov had spoken with the king, who agreed to increase his own security, remembering all too well the slaughter of his parents, siblings, and cousins. Without even Makarov knowing, the king also sent his pregnant wife and eldest son into hiding, to protect the royal line.

The security increased at Era, and Makarov told his children to prepare to defend Fairy Tail.

They thought they were ready.

Nothing could have prepared the king, Era, or Makarov for what was to come.

[A/N]: Kuroy Thakos and Karana Guran are OC, as is a character you'll meet next chapter, and Chimaera Gold I made up for the story.

I like Chimaera Gold. I think I'm gonna have to do a fanfic about them.

You know.

Pre-annihilation.