The Fairy Tail guild members sat/stood in their usual spot, but had something troubling them all.
"He hasn't woken up yet?" Natsu asked, just getting back from a job with Lucy and Happy.
"Still the same." Erza told Natsu, "He seems lifeless, but when you touch him you feel exhausted. It's like he's in a recovery phase."
"Although people don't do that in a recovery phase." Gajeel said.
"He keeps mumbling something about an Angel of some sort..." Gray said, "It's the only amount of life he's had in weeks."
"Oh!" Erza exclaimed, "We can ask the first master about this!"
The guild members were successful in contacting Mavis, and when she arrived, she examined Auron herself after hearing what he was saying.
"The Angel is near." Auron said, "Nobody can stop the Darkness that's coming."
"Angel?" Mavis asked, "How long has he been about this?"
"Maybe two to three days?" Gray said.
"I know what he's talking about," Mavis told them, "It's been mentioned once In the book of Zeref, but that's all anyone's ever heard about it. They say Zeref used this Angel to destroy nearly a quarter of the world."
"Well what is he referring to when he says Angel?" Gajeel asked.
"He's referring to the Angelus tenebrarum." Mavis said.
"Angelus tenebrarum..." Levy said, "The Angel of Darkness?!"
"Doesn't sound too powerful." Natsu chuckled.
"Have you not been listening to a word that's been said?" Lucy asked Natsu.
"I got lost at the first time Angel was said." Natsu said.
"There's a request here for Auron," Mirajane said, walking into the room, "Is he awake yet? These requests keep coming in even though I've told them that he's out of commission."
"Nope." Erza said, "He's still under. No response other than mumbling."
Natsu walked out of the room and up to the request board. All of the requests left asked for either Auron, or Laxus. Most of the other jobs were low payment and wanted help babysitting and regular everyday errands to mere delivery. But money was still being earned, so nobody cared about the job.
"The highest paying job we can do right now is delivering a strange stone to a temple..." Natsu told Happy.
"Actually," Mirajane told Natsu, after overhearing him, "There's a job I've been holding that's perfect for you. I'll go get it."
Mirajane walked behind the counter and came back over towards Natsu with a job flyer. The job specifically asked for a powerful fire wizard for exterminating a community area taken over by monsters. Natsu's eyes started glowing when he saw the reward money given for completing the job.
"That's three times the amount of what Lucy pays for her rent!" Happy exclaimed.
"Why it specifically asks for a powerful fire wizard," Mirajane told Natsu, "I have no idea, but I would recommend take Wendy and Gray with you, for some backup or just for them to help."
"Hey, Wendy, Gray!" Natsu called out.
Wendy and Gray walked up to Natsu when they heard him calling them.
"What is it?" Wendy asked.
"Wanna go on a job?" Natsu asked Wendy and Gray, holding up the flyer.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go on a job with you again." Gray said after seeing the reward money.
"And just what does that mean?" Natsu asked Gray.
"I dunno," Gray said, locked in a intense stare with Natsu, "What do you think it means?"
They both started growling at each other until Erza noticed and walked up behind Gray. Natsu went to punch Gray, but Gray ended up ducking and Natsu hit Erza.
"Do I need to knock in both of your skulls?" Erza asked, ticked off.
"No ma'am!" Gray and Natsu said at the same time.
"Then get going on that mission!" Erza told them, and they scurried off with Wendy.
"Will they ever learn to stop fighting?" Mal asked, "Or is it just an inevitable event that's bound to happen no matter what?"
"I'd say that second option." Lucy said.
Everyone went back to what they were doing, letting Mavis study a little on what caused Auron to get this way. Gajeel however, was on the stage with his guitar, waiting to play a song.
"If this doesn't wake him up," Gajeel said on stage, "Then I don't know what will."
"Get off the stage before we kill you!" One of the guild members shouted.
"No offense Gajeel," Laxus said, "But your guitar work and singing could use a little improvement."
"A little?" Pantherlily asked, "I think it could use more than that."
"A real man doesn't sound that terrible!" Elfman told Gajeel, "And if Auron's a real man himself, then he'll be up and at it in no time!"
"You said that exact thing when we first found out he had something wrong with him." Mal said.
The main doors to the guild opened and someone looking all cloak and dagger with a dark guild symbol right where everyone could see it walked in and past Erza.
"Hey!" Erza said, requipping, "What do you want?"
"What I want? Ther person said, "I want eternal Darkness to blanket this land and take away all of it's hope."
"The doesn't explain why you're here!" Erza yelled.
The person cracked a grin and placed what looked like a woman's hand on the ground.
"Destroy!" The person yelled, causing a bright explosion that could be seen from the Sabertooth guild and beyond.
The person got up and walked over towards the room that Auron was in.
"Protect Auron!" Erza yelled at Gajeel and Pantherlily.
"I can't move!" Gajeel said after trying to move.
"I will not have anyone interfering in our plan." The person said, "We will take the Angel."
"We?" Laxus asked, and stood up, "I only see one of you, and I'm taking you down!"
Laxus charged towards the cloaked person and someone came out of invisibly, and punched Laxus into a pillar that was still stable.
"Invisibility magic?!" Levy exclaimed, "There's only one user in Foire right now!"
"That is where you're wrong, Facts girl." The guy said, "I am known as Golem, and I am also trained in expert level hand to hand combat. I am the best Invisibility magic user there is."
The cloaked person walked into the room Auron was in and walked out with him on shoulder. The cloaked person and Golem disappeared into the air just before Natsu, Gray and Wendy came back.
"What happened here?" Natsu asked Erza.
"They took Auron." Erza told Natsu.
"Who's they?" Gray asked.
"Devil heart." Erza said, "We need to make chase."
"Where are they going?" Wendy asked.
"They're going to the castle of the Angelus tenebrarum on the peak of the highest mountain closest to here." Mavis said, "They're going to wake the Angel of Darkness."
"It would seem that we're being followed." The cloaked woman said, "It's amazing how they found us that quickly. Golem, go to the base of the mountain and stop them. The rest of you will be in various places for if one of them holds off Golem while the others go on ahead."
"Yes ma'am!" The people with the cloaked woman said.
"Please," The woman said, "Call me Lavender."
Lavender turned back towards Auron, who was held up by chains with ancient writing on them.
"Now then, I will start the ceremony." She told herself, "Expergiscimini, angelum et primas sub hac caligine. Accipe potestatem vitae infirmum a potentiori eripiunt furantur. Perdes omnes, qui sermonem tuum, ne sequatur Dominum Zeref."
At the base of the mountain, Golem saw seven members of Fairy Tail arrive. He jumped down from his place in the trees and onto the ground.
"This is as far as you go, official pricks." Golem told them.
"Everyone!" Erza said, requipping, "Go ahead, I'll handle this guy."
"No You don't." Golem said and turned invisible, but was hit by Erza before he could stop them.
"You're dealing with me!" Erza said, "Not them! Let's fight!"
"Gladly." Golem said, them turned invisible again.
At the entrance to the mountain castle, stood another Devil Heart member. She stood on an ice block that stuck out of the ground and shot ice bullets out her hand at Natsu.
"So you were able to get past Golem, eh?" She asked, "This is as far as you will go, Gray Fullbuster."
"Why me?" Gray asked the girl.
"I wish to see who's ice is better, mine or yours." She told Gray, "If you accept my request, then I will allow your friends to further kill themselves."
"Natsu!" Gray said, "Take everyone else ahead! Go before she changes her mind!"
Natsu and the others went on ahead and the girl put a ice wall up to block Gray from leaving.
"This wall contains a special spell that only voids itself when the caster is defeated." The girl explained, "It's to make sure you don't break our little agreement."
"Ice make," Gray said, "Jackhammer!"
Gray formed a Jackhammer that destroyed the block.
"Already?" She asked Gray, "Okay then, Ice make, Glacier armor!"
Natsu and the others got through the door, but they were met by a lightning magic user.
"I am Thunder," Thunder introduced himself, "I am the Lightning devil slayer."
"Why do we care!" Gajeel shouted.
"Because I want you to know who defeats all of you, in one hit." Thunder said.
Clouds then appeared inside the castle and a lightning bolt hit Thunder. Another bolt hit the ground I between Natsu and Thunder, which turned into Laxus.
"So you use Lighting too, huh?" Laxus asked with a straight face, "I would like to test the strength of your lightning."
Natsu and the others took this as a chance to go on ahead as Laxus and Thunder started to fight. They got to one of the rooms they were looking in and heard something behind them.
"Solid Script!" A female's voice rung out, "Poison!"
Levy turned around and countered the poison with fire.
"Another Solid Script user?" The girl said, "Lavender did say that Fairy Tail was not to trifled with, but she never mentioned a Solid script user."
"Go on to the next room and keep searching!" Levy shouted as Natsu and the rest of the people went on.
In the next room, Natsu and the others were searching for a map of the castle when Nastu noticed something in the reflection of the mirror.
"Open the gate of the lava bearer!" A celestial wizard said, "Volcan!"
Lucy turned around in surprise and saw the spirit Volcan in front of her.
"Open the gate of the machine!" Lucy said as the celestial wizard went from confident to scared, "Clockwork!"
"How the hell did you get the key for Clockwork?" The celestial wizard, now visible as a man asked.
"Natsu!" Lucy said, "go on ahead!"
Natsu and the other rushed out of the room and into another one. Gajeel sniffed the air and used his breath attack at a corner of the room.
"I'm impressed." The person that was in the corner told Gajeel, "I wish to duel you."
"Salamander! Wendy!" Gajeel said, "I've got this, got to the main room where Auron's being held!"
Natsu and Wendy went to the main room and saw Auron chained up with some sort of beam shining down on him. Lavender walked from behind the throne in the room and saw Natsu aspnd Wendy.
"It's a little too late to save your friend." She told them.
"Fire dragon," Natsu said, aiming at Lavender, "Roar!"
The attack was deflected by someone who dropped down to the floor, and it was extinguished in the air.
"Ah, Adam," Lavender said, "I was wondering where you were."