Makarov noticed the confused look on Naruto's face and waved him over. "There's a reason I didn't send you with that group. The only reason I can't do it myself is because of the injuries I got in my battle with Hades."

"So, what is it you need me for?" Naruto asked.

"He wants us here to protect everyone while they recover," Gildarts said as he approached the duo. "There's no telling if Grimoire Heart has anymore mages prowling the island."

"Exactly," Makarov said. "Just secure the area in any way you two see fit. If something happens, you two are the best mages to have around to handle it," he finished with a grin.

"You can count on us, Master," Gildarts assured.

The tall man began walking away, but Naruto stood still, looking Makarov in the eyes. "Is there anything in particular that you want us to do about Zeref?"

The mage was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Yes, actually. I want you to make an effort to not approach him. There's no reason to do anythong if he doesn;t come to us first."

Naruto nodded and joined Gildarts on a nearby rock. "Can you make more clones and get them to patrol the area?"

"Of course. How many do you think we need. 20? 30?" the blond asked.

"20 should be enough for now," Gildarts replied. He watched as Naruto formed the clones and took a seat while they spread into the forest surrounding them. "exactly how many of those clones can you make? You don't seem fazed at all from the ones you just made."

"Hmm I think I can manage around 150 right now." Gildarts seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded. There was a short silence until Naruto spoke up. "I noticed that you said 'more clones' a second ago. When did you ever see me use clones before? I'm sure we haven't met before today."

Gildarts laughed. "So you caught that, huh? Well, if you must know, I saw your fight earlier. You've got some powerful techniques up your sleeve. Your clones are a pretty convenient thing to have, too."

"You just watched? Why didn't you help out?"

"You didn't need it, obviously. At most, you got a few bruises in that fight. The other guy drew the short stick in fighting you," Gildarts said.

"Yeah, well, that's just how it happened." The blond paused as he thought of how to change the subject. "By the way, what kind of magic do you use?"


When Naruto made his clones, they all received the thoughts and feelings that he felt at the moment he created them. This allowed them to know what he wanted them to do without any words. They divided themselves into two groups. The large group of 20 clones would stay close and patrol the immediate area. The other ten would scout the island for any signs of Zeref.

One of the clones in the smaller group was headed back to where Zancrow had been killed in hopes of finding some clues to where Zeref had gone. Immediately after reaching the sight, he noticed Zancrow's body and walked closer. 'There's some faint footprints in this sand, but they're not visible in the grass.' The clone decided to gamble and follow the general direction of the footprints. He went at a speed much slower than he'd wanted, but the risk of actually encountering an awakened Zeref was too great.

'Still no signs of Zeref,' the blond thought. 'I probably shouldn't go into Sage Mode, since it might force the other clones to dispel, but I've got to try something.' He looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched them knelt beside a tree. He closed his eyes, placing his hand on the tree's trunk. Instead of bringing natural energy into his body, he simply let the energy continue its path around him. He felt the energy move around him like a river, flowing endlessly in the environment. He felt for any disturbances in the waves of natural energy, much like the sailors from the Land of Waves would read wave patterns to know their relative location to an island.

The clone opened his eyes once he was sure of what he felt. 'There's someone not too far away, but this method doesn't allow me sense people's energy, only the effect it has on the flow of nature.' The teen took a deep breath and began running toward the energy.


"I never would've thought we'd lose. Especially to them," Rustyrose said.

"Me either," Kain added.

"To think that Zeref was so close! It angers me to no end! The new era of magic was in our grasp!" Rustyrose said with his teeth clenched.

"Ones such as yourselves created me..."

"Who goes there?" a heavily bandaged Hades asked.

"Wicked minds such as yours summoned Acnologia.."

Hades' jaw dropped as the figure came into view. Kain and Rustyrose fell to their knees. "Zeref...is standing before my eyes? Is this a dream?" He stared a moment longer before barking an order to his subordinates. "The keys! Grab the keys!"

Kain and Rustyrose were still, frozen in fear. "There is no need," Zeref began. "I'm awake." Hades gasped. "I may not be one to talk, but how many lives did you take to obtain those keys? It's a tragedy. Those keys were merely illusions." Hades eyes widened, the confusion evident on his face. "It was only a tale made up by an old sect of wishful believers. I was never asleep in the first place."

"But I saw you! You couldn't even beat my subordinate!" Hades declared.

Zeref looked him in the eye. "To put it simply, I wasn't as capable back then. The number of wars and deaths I've seen in my life are innumerable. One day, I learned to value the lives of others. Ever since that day, the more I value life, the more my cursed body takes people's lives away, so I separated myself from society."

"So you were fighting while also valuing life?" Hades asked frantically.

"Yes, and because of that, I couldn't use my powers to the extent that I'd wished, but as soon as I forget the value of life," Zeref said as his body was surrounded by black energy, "my true power is awakened. Your evil doings are the cause of this. Acnologia will come forth and bring a new era."

"Acnologia? What are you-"

"So I will punish you," Zeref said as he raised his arms slowly.

"Wait! There's ting that I want t-"

"Your first sin was summoning Acnologia. Your second sin," he said as his hands converged, "was making me forget the value of life. Repent!"


Naruto smiled as his guild mates returned from their battle with Hades. "So how'd it go?" he asked.

Erza spoke up. "It went well, but it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Laxus," she said, looking at the blond.

"Laxus?" Makarov said. "You dare defy my orders? How could you step foot on this sacred land while you were expelled?"

"Quiet down, Old Man," Laxus said with a grin. "You could at least pretend you're happy to see me."

Makarov's eyes softened. "Well, I guess you did help out a lot with the battle, so I might be able to pardon your previous actions. Whaddya say?" Laxus' smile grew larger as he shook his grandfather's hand. Everyone cheered and was about to celebrate the mage's return when a terrible feeling blanketed the area.

"What the hell is th-" Naruto was interrupted as memories from one of his clones rushed into his mind. "Oh shit. That's not good." Everyone looked around trying to pinpoint what was causing the strange feeling they all felt. "Everyone, there's somethng headed towards the island. Something called Acnologia."

Makarov and Gildarts' eyes widened in realization.

"What the hell is an Acnologia?" Natsu asked.

"It's the name of the dragon who did this to me," he said gravely, revealing his prosthetic arm and leg.

The mages around them gasped. "A dragon? He'll probably know where Igneel is!"

"No! You will not try to talk to this dragon. There's a reason he's called the Dragon of the Apocalypse." Another rumble shook the air around them all.

"The same goes for you two," Makarov said to Gajeel and Wendy.

"Naruto, how do you even know this?" Erza asked.

"I had a clone tailing Zeref. He confronted Hades on his ship, blamed him for summoning Acnologia, and killed him for it." The girl's jaw tightened.

"There's no reason for Zeref to lie about that anyway," Gildarts said. "Besides, this feeling is the same feeling i had when I fist encountered him."

"So what do we do?" Lucy asked.

"We should combine our powers! Alone, we're nothing, but together, we'll stand a chance, right?" asked a hopeful Elfman.

"This dragon sees humans as insects. It'll squash us with no hesitation," Gildarts said. "Our best chance is to get as far away from this island as possible."

"Actually," Naruto said, "it's a little too late for that." Everyone followed the blond's eyes to the sky, where black, winged creature was approaching from over the clouds. The dragon dove down towards the island at incredible speeds, and just before it touched down, it spread its wings out wide and slowed its descent almost instantly. The mages on the ground below were almost blown away by the force of the winds that the dragon's wings had created.

"Everybody! Run!" Makarov yelled, activating his Titan magic.

"Master! Please, let us fight with you! We have three Dragon slayers. There's no way we can lose!" Erza pleaded.

"You would defy me in my last moments?" Makarov asked. Erza froze, the man's eyes piercing through to her soul. As much as she wanted to help, she had no choice but to obey him. The other members saw her running away and followed suit, albeit, very reluctantly. They all ran until Makarov and Acnologia were alone in their grapple. "Leave this island!"

The dragon was silent as he swept Makarov away. Makarov' s injuries had taken a toll on his Magic reserves, which became evident when he could no longer maintain his Titan magic. He flew back, but Naruto dashed in to catch him. "Naruto, I told you to leave," he said to the teen, who was shrouded in a golden aura.

"No, you told them to leave. I'm not a guild member right now. I'm a passerby doing a good deed." Naruto jumped to where the other members were and laid Makarov down. Turning back to the dragon, the blond spoke. "Leave this island now. We don't want any trouble." The dragon replied with silence. 'Fine then. I guess you'd rather talk with your actions. Kurama, you ready?'

'I've been ready.' Naruto nodded mentally and focused on his transformation. After a short moment, the nine tailed fox took shape around Naruto, who could be seen in the head of the golden fox. He ran at the dragon with quick strides and raised an arm to strike, but instead, he spun and hit the dragon with the full force of his tails. Acnologia managed to absorb the blow with his huge wings. Now, the dragon swiped at Naruto with the outside of his wing.

The attack would have sent naruto a good distance away, but his tails, which he had rooted into the ground, allowed for a quick recovery. The two traded blows for another minute when Acnologia flew straight up into the air. 'What the hell is he doing? Is he gonna leave,' Naruto thought.

'It doesn't seem like it with all that energy he's gathering. I'm betting on a breath attack.'

Naruto's eyes hardened. His fox form opened its mouth wide, where a dark ball of chakra began forming. Naruto condensed the chakra as much as he could and let it disappear into his mouth.

Light was gathering in Acnologia's throat, signalling that he was about to launch his attack as well. Time seemed to slow down. Sounds became dull, and the air, still. Acnologia launched his breath attack, and Naruto simultaneously released the pressure of his Tailed Beast Bomb, launching a beam at Acnologia.

The beams connected halfway between the two. The Fairy Tail mages looked on as light radiated from the beams' convergence. Then, the two contrasting beams began to mix, forming a large, bright orb. The orb grew larger, until t expanded rapidly, engulfing the entire island in light.

Moments later, the light subsided, revealing a crater where the island had been. Acnologia roared triumphantly and flew away.


Naruto sat up groggily and wipe his eyes. 'Damn. What happened?' He stood and looked around for his friends and found them all beginning to stir.

Erza's eyes fluttered then opened. She looked around and saw Naruto. "Did- Did we survive that?"

Naruto looked around and sighed with a grin. "I think we did, somehow."

As time passed, all the other members woke up from their slumber and gathered on the beach.

"The boat we came on is trashed," Gajeel said.

"That Time Ark magic would be really useful right now," Lucy added.

Everyone relaxed on the beach, happy to still be alive, and slightly less happy that they'd have to wait on the beach for who knows how long. Gray sat up and looked out to the horizon, squinting his eyes in an attempt to focus on the faintest silhouette. "Guys, look! There's a ship heading this way!"

The other mages looked out to sea, and sure enough, a ship was approaching the the island. "Finally, we're gonna get to go home!" Natsu said happily.

The inhabitants of the boat anchored it not too far from the shoreline. Everyone on the island, except for Naruto, who walked across the surface of the water, began swimming to the ship with excitement, but none of them were ready for what was waiting for them on the ship.

"Guys, we missed you so much! Jet said to the speechless mages before him, who stood dumbfounded by how much he'd aged. "After all this time, we finally found you!"

"Um, exactly how much time are we talking?" Gildarts asked.

"Well, you guys went missing in X784, so, it's been about 7 years."

After hearing that, there was no pair of eyes that wasn't wide with surprise. "7 year?" they asked simultaneously.


AN: That's it for this one. I hope you all enjoyed!