Chapter 6- Absolute Darkness Gildarts vs. the Fire Lightning Dragon Slayer

~So I just caught up on the anime, only to find out that there is a character with the words "Absolute Zero" written on his armor. So, to avoid confusion, I'm changing the magic that Zeref uses, and it will be called "Absolute Darkness". Anyways, thanks for reading, and please leave a review as well as follow and favorite the story!

~Sabretooth Guild Hall

Gajeel paced back and forth around Levy while she skimmed through various books in the Sabretooth library. Feeling irritated from being cooped up for too long, Gajeel slammed his hands on a table.

In an annoyed voice, Gajeel complained, "Hey Levy, are you done yet? I'm bored out of my mind in here. I would do anything for some scrap metal." Levy put down her book and sighed.

"Gajeel I could get more done if you weren't making so much noise."

Gajeel grunted, "You've been reading those books for nearly seven hours now, and you're still not even close to figuring out this dark magic of Zeref."

Levy took off her glasses and put down her book, "If being here bothers you so much, why don't you go to the infirmary with Laxus. I wouldn't mind having an update on Rouge and Sting's condition."

The Iron Dragon Slayer shook his head, "No way. I'm not leaving your side while Zeref is somewhere out there. I don't care where we are. I don't consider any place safe unless I'm there to look over you."

Levy's face burned red as she started to play with her hair, "Gajeel… you want to stay near me?"

Gajeel stumbled and knocked over several books, "Hey don't get the wrong idea or anything! It's just um, well you know!"

Levy started to chuckle, "its fine. Just having you here with me is nice."

Gajeel turned away from Levy, and she figures that was all she was going to get out of him for the time being. The bluenette grabbed her glasses only to have them knocked out of her hand by Gajeel.

"Gajeel what was that for!"

Ignoring her completely, Gajeel began to speak in a low, serious voice, "Something is wrong. I'm picking up a weird scent. My nose isn't as good as Salamander's, but I know something is off. I'm getting you out of here."

Gajeel picked up Levy and tucked her under his arm. Sprinting down the halls of the guild, several explosions began to sound off in the distance. Hearing the footsteps of someone in front of him, Gajeel came to a complete stop.

Slowly stumbling around a corner, was Laxus. His right arm was severely wounded and was dripping blood. Gajeel placed Levy back on the floor, "What the hell happened to you?"

Laxus held his hand out, telling Gajeel to keep his distance, "It's Sting and Rouge. Something is wrong with them. They're letting out an immense amount of dark magical power. It's as if they're not people anymore. They killed all the medics who were in the room with them. I'm trying to clear the area so I can handle the situation."

Levy held onto Gajeel's arm, and he could feel her shivering. In a stern voice, Gajeel replied, "There's no way you're taking those two on alone."

Laxus turned away from the pair, "Gajeel, get her out of here. The old man would be pissed if I let anyone get hurt."

Levy prepared to object Laxus, but Gajeel swung her over his shoulder and began to sprint in the opposite direction of Laxus.

~Outside the Sabretooth guild hall

Gajeel let go of Levy and she slid off his shoulder and feel onto the hard ground. Sitting up on her knees, the bluenette patted the dust off of her orange blouse. Levy began to pout and looked up towards Gajeel who was looking towards the direction of the guild.

In an annoyed voice, Levy complained, "You know I could've ran alongside you instead of you tossing me over your shoulder like a bag of flour."

After grunting at the bluenette complaints, he replied, "You're safe aren't ya? So why are you complaining?

After sighing and taking in the scenery, she replied, "Well why did we stop in a ditch?"

Gajeel sat down across from Levy and crossed his arms, "It's better than being out in the open isn't it? Anyways, it's hard to imagine that things are going smoothly with Salamanders group. If someone in that group were to fall of the grid, we'd have a serious issue on our hands."

Levy gasped, "Wait. They're supposed to be meeting with Gildarts. If Zeref were to get to Gildarts first… I don't even want to think about the consequences."

Gajeel closed his eyes and let his thoughts wonder, "You're right. But, first thing is first. We get you to safety, and then I'll make my way to Salamander's group. I don't think we have anything to worry about with letting Laxus handle Sting and Rouge."

Levy's cheeks turned red as she twirled her hair around her fingers, "Are you worried that something will happen to me if I stay with you? I thought you told me not to leave your side while we were back on Tenrou Island?"
Gajeel grunted and looked away "So what if I did tell ya that?"

"What did you mean by it?"

The iron dragon slayer opened his eyes and met the gaze of the bluenette, "What do you think I meant by it?"

Levy steered away from Gajeel's intense stare, "Well… I felt like you said it because… you kind of care about me or something…"

Gajeel scooted his body closer to Levy. He sat up on one knee and leaned his face closer to hers. Her face started to burn red with their new proximity. Levy leaned back and her back rested against the earth behind her. Gajeel placed his arm on the earth behind Levy and gazed into her eyes.

"Look, I don't know what you think about me or anything of the sort Levy. But, I'll never forgive myself for what I did to you before I joined Fairy Tail. I don't think I'll ever be able to truly make amends. So, I made it my duty to keep you safe from other monsters out there. If that means that I have to keep by my side then so be it."

Levy placed her hand on Gajeel's arm, and spoke in a soft, weak voice, "Gajeel… I don't want to leave your side…" Levy looked away from the Dragon Slayer, and a silence fell upon the pair.

Gajeel stood up, and cleared his throat, "Ahem… So, I guess we should make our way towards Summerset."

~Forest outside of Summerset

Lucy, Erza, and Gray made their way through the decayed forest. Fallen tree branches lay in all directions as leaves continued to fall from the trees.

As her armor clashed with the trees, Erza commanded her comrades, "We have to catch up with Natsu. I don't like this feeling I'm getting from this forest. Something about it gives off an ominous vibe."

Gray ducked under a fallen branch, and responded, "If that flame head would slow down and think for a second we wouldn't be in this situation."

Lucy squeezed her way through the fallen branches. She couldn't focus on being mad at Natsu for leaving them behind. All she could focus on was the feeling that she had that he was in danger. Her skin began to crawl as the thought of Natsu being hurt crossed her mind. She forcefully shook her head to clear her mind, and thought to herself that they need to hurry so she could be back at her best friends' side.

~Outskirts of Summerset

Natsu crashed into ground and smoke and debris filled the air. Gildarts slowly paced his way towards the Dragon Slayer. Natsu slowly forced his way back to a standing position. He tried to focus his eyes on his opponent, but his vision was too blurry to clearly make out Gildarts.

Leaning over with his hands on his knees, Natsu panted to himself, "Man… I'm no match for him. He's on a whole new level than the Gildarts I fought on Tenrou. I have to fight with the intent to kill just to be able to survive."

Gildarts stopped pacing roughly five yards away from Natsu. His body emitted a dark aura that decayed the ground around him. His eyes glowed red as a smirk crossed his face. The fallen wizard lifted up an arm, and held out an open arm towards the Dragon Slayer. In a twisted, ominous voice, Gildarts spoke to Natsu, "You had your chance to stop me seven years ago Natsu Dragneel. You failed, and now this era will face Absolute Darkness. The final hour is nearly among us."

Natsu stood up straight, and wiped blood from his mouth. Natsu snarled back, "What do you mean the final hour?"

The fallen Gildarts' hand started to glow white, "The final demon of my infamous book, is about to awake. E.N.D will mark the inevitable end of this time. This is it for you Natsu Dragneel. Crush Magic, Spirit Breaker."

A gust of wind pulsated from Gildarts' hand, and flashed its way towards Natsu. The pulse crashed into the Dragon Slayer and the ground broke to several pieces as smoke filled the air. Above the smoke cloud, was Happy who was carrying Natsu.

Natsu's hands combusted into flames, "Happy now!"

Happy flew in a circle, and launched Natsu towards Gildarts.

"There's too much at stake for me to lose! When I get my hands on you Zeref I'm going to rip you to shreds. No one uses my friends as puppets! Flame-Lightning mode!"

Natsu's full body became engulfed in flames, and sparks of lightning circled his body.

Gildarts cocked his fist back as it started to glow white, "Crush Magic".

Natsu crashed down into Gildarts, and smoke and debris exploded into the air as Happy was sent flying away. The smoke slowly cleared, and a crater became visible with Gildarts lying on his back at the bottom. Natsu floated in the air above him with his body still cloaked in his Flame-Lightning mode.

The air around Natsu began to swirl as he sucked in the air around him, "Roar of the Flame-Lightning Dragon!"

A funnel made its way from Natsu's mouth into Gildarts. The crater expanded as the Dragon Roar sent the outskirts of the city a blaze. The screams of pain from Gildarts echoed through the vacated city.

Natsu landed on the ground outside of the crater, and fell to his knees. As the fire sizzled down, Happy landed next to his partner, "Natsu are you alright."

Struggling to speak between pants, Natsu responded, "Yeah… I'm just about out of magic though."

Lucy reached the end of the forest to see Natsu on his hands and knees. Her heart pounded in her chest as she sprinted towards her partner, "Natsu!"

The Dragon Slayer turned his head, and say Lucy running towards him. Relief overcame his body as the one person he wanted to see approached him.

Erza jumped out from the forest, and shouted out "Lucy! Natsu! Get down!"

Lucy stopped running, and turned her attention to the sky. Gildarts floated above the group with both of his arms extended. The fallen wizard began to laugh hysterically, "Salamander, did you think that would be enough to defeat the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail? At least you're all gathered in one play so I can end this swiftly." The black aura around Gildarts hanged to white and red. His hands started to pulsate white. "Crush Magic, Continental Break!"

The ground began to glow white as beams of light broke through the ground. Gray slid in front of Erza and slammed his hands to the ground, "Ice Make Floor!"

Natsu grabbed Happy and launched him into the air. He then turned to Lucy and jumped towards her. Embracing her in his arms, he cloaked the two of them in his Fire-Lightning mode. The ground glowed fully white to a point to where it was blinding to the eye.

Lucy called out into Natsu's ear as she embraced him back, "Natsu! I'm scared!"

The ground began to break apart, and the air became stagnant. The calm before the storm had approached. The strongest spell of the strongest Fairy Tail wizard had Natsu and Lucy in its clutches.

Natsu tightened his grip on his best friend, "Don't be scared Lucy, I lo.."

The ground exploded upwards as a pillar of light broke through the ground, and extended to the sky.

~That's it for this chapter! I promise I will get back to more sluff soon haha. I just have to advance the story a little bit more! Please leave a review, follow, and favorite the story! Like always, thanks for reading and I will update probably by the middle of next week, and again next weekened!