Hello my lovely Fairy Freaks, and welcome to "Hollow: Lucy Part 3". I do hope that you all enjoyed "Hollow: Lucy Part 2", and that you will enjoy this as well. Now, as stated at the end of the last chapter, this picks up where that left off.
WARNING: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T FINISHED READING THE MANGA YET.
Disclaimer: I still don't own "Fairy Tail" or any of its characters.
Hollow: Lucy Part 3
Flashback
After seeing her future-self die, Lucy, along with Wendy and the Exceeds flee from where Future Rogue and Natsu are fighting as requested by Lucy's Celestial Zodiac spirit, Leo, aka: Loke, the Lion. Lucy and her group, once out of the castle, come across the princess, Princess Hisui E. Fiore, near the Eclipse Gate; the Princess is preparing to commence her "Eclipse 2" plan, and having the capital city evacuated. Lucy speaks with the princess about what she had been told by Future Rogue and states that she wouldn't close the gate, but wonders why the Eclipse Gate is being opened early to which the princess states "that the gate needs to charge, and they wish to be ready". As the gate opened Lucy was overcome with an ominous feeling of dread and approached it, rebutting her previous statement saying, much to Wendy's shock, that she must close the gate. But before she can get close enough to close the gate, Princess Hisui states that that the Eclipse Gate is the only weapon the country has against the Dragons but Lucy states that there is no such thing as the "Eclipse Cannon," and that the entire device can only be a gate that accesses different points in time. As Lucy reveals that the Gate connects their spot in time to that of Fiore over 400 years ago, tremors are felt by everyone as a Dragon comes out of the Gate and roars, sending those nearby flying. The Dragon goes on to cause more destruction, causing those far away to wonder what is happening. As another Dragon comes out, Lucy asks how the Gate can be closed and is pointed to a pedestal near the Gate. As she tries to get to the lever, Lucy is pushed back by the exuding Dragons power. Just as another Dragon emerges, Lucy manages to grab the handle, stating that she can use her Celestial Spirit powers to close the door. Wendy asks Lucy how she knew all this, to which Lucy states she had Crux analyze the Gate and was told it combined Celestial Spirit Magic with writings from the 'Book of Zeref' to work. Lucy says that, due to the lunar eclipse, the Magic has been corrupted and resulted in its current state. While Lucy is unable to seal the Gate, Hisui begins crying over her mistake and the doom it will cause to the country. While Lucy continues trying, below the castle, Natsu pulls himself out of the shadows and both he and Lucy declare that they will protect the future. Despite her attempts, Lucy is unable to close the Eclipse Gate by herself. However, Yukino suddenly arrives alongside Mirajane and tells Lucy to take out her Golden Keys. As she does the same, Lucy follows suit and the two girls combine their magic power to summon all 12 zodiac spirits at once. Together, the spirits take flight and proceed to close the Eclipse Gate, despite more Dragons trying to get through. Working together, the 12 spirits successfully close the gate, much to everyone's relief. However, this relief is short-lived as Future Rogue arrives and proclaims that the number of Dragons present is enough for him, declaring to all that the era of Dragons is about to begin. Future Rogue orders the Dragons to eliminate all the Mages in Crocus, commanding them by means of his Dragon Supremacy Magic which force the Dragons to obey him, including Zirconis, the dragon whose soul Wendy had communicated with using Milky Way.
In Crocus, the Fairy Tail Mages are attacked by Atlas Flame as the other guilds attempt to take down other Dragons by using their superior numbers. Despite their attempts, the Mages are able to inflict little damage, making them doubt their chances of victory. Flying above the city, the Future Rogue joyfully tells the Dragons to show their wrath just as he spots Natsu Dragneel as he arrives at the scene. As Natsu and Future Rogue fight, Future Rogue reveals that in the future, the ruling part didn't come from the gate; Acnologia alone rules the entire world with no opposition. Explaining that his Dragon Supremacy Magic didn't work on it and that only a Dragon could kill it, he reveals such is why he wanted the Eclipse Gate opened so he could overthrow Acnologia and become King of the Dragons. Natsu notes there to be seven Dragons in the vicinity and while Rogue claims them to be enough for him, Natsu attacks the one they're riding upon and shouts to all the Mages below. Stating that Dragon Slayer Magic can kill Dragons, Natsu exclaims that since they have seven Dragon Slayers to fight seven Dragons, they will be able to win. Future Rogue questions whether Natsu knows what he's talking about, as they only have 6 Dragon Slayers, though the Salamander claims he does.
On the ground, Doranbolt returns from afar, heavily exhausted after having brought Cobra from prison to assist in the battle after having been forced to ask for his assistance. Continuing their battle, Future Rogue states that the Mages' efforts are pointless, as humans are unable to defeat Dragons, but Natsu retorts that if he must stop being human to protect his comrades, then he will gladly do so. Future Rogue then calls for Motherglare to attack; it does so by producing eggs and sending them plummeting into the streets below. Upon hitting the ground, the eggs hatch into small Draconian entities. Upon seeing this, Laxus orders the Fairy Tail members to focus on the hatchlings while he and the Raijinshuu will deal with the fiery Dragon. Meanwhile, Sting tells Rogue to go help another Dragon Slayer-less guild while he and Sabertooth fight the Dragon in front of them, citing that Natsu's words gave him the courage to protect his friends. Rogue then hurries off, stating that Sabertooth's era of dispassion has ended. Atop Motherglare, Natsu states that there is nothing they can't accomplish if they work together, but Future Rogue remains confident in his victory. Back near the Gate, Zirconis taunts those in front of him, causing Wendy to ask him if he remembers her. Subsequently, Carla reminds her that they spoke with Zirconis' soul, and that this is the real Zirconis: the one from four hundred years ago. Carla then states that because of her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic, Wendy is the only one who can defeat the Jade Dragon, just as Zirconis releases a large breath attack. However, rather than killing the soldiers caught in the blast, the attack simply strips the soldiers of their clothes, much to the embarrassment of everyone affected. Seeing the confused looks of those present, Zirconis explains that although he likes the taste of people, he detests the taste of their clothing, hence the need to remove them. However, Zirconis decides that even with clothes removed, he doesn't like the taste of men, and prefers women. As such, the Jade Dragon aims a small blast of his magic at Lucy, which strips her of her clothes as well. Wendy, angered and offended, states that she will be the one to defeat Zirconis. At that statement, Zirconis then challenges the Dragon Slayer if she can do so before he eats Lucy. Wendy then casts Arms and Vernier on Mirajane, before declaring that she will. Roaring at the girls confidence (which knocks everyone within range back), he then takes to the sky and taunts them. Just as he's about to eat Lucy, Mirajane transforms into her Satan Soul: Sitri, and charges into his jaw as a distraction, while Wendy attacks from above with her Sky Dragon's Roar. Enraged, the Dragon tosses Lucy aside as he prepares to confront his two opponents. Happy goes flying after Lucy in order to save her, but the naked girl ends up knocking Natsu off the Dragon he was fighting Rogue on, in the middle of their battle.
Somehow falling into a bell, the duo end up rolling downhill, before stopping at a river bank. Natsu is quite shocked by Lucy's situation, and after Lucy whacks Natsu for groping her, they are joined by Happy. As the Exceed inquiries about his battle, Natsu reluctantly admits that Future Rogue is much stronger than him. Lucy complains about the Dragons, mentioning Atlas Flame, Zirconis and the rock Dragon, which seems to give Natsu an epiphany in order to defeat them. Natsu and Happy fly off to put his plan in motion, leaving Lucy behind who spent too long changing into the new clothes that Virgo brought her. Pouting for being left behind, and at Natsu's 'ridiculous' plan, she then smiles at the Salamander's optimism. After being teased by Virgo, she then notices her future self's journal which has been tossed into the garbage. Meanwhile, Laxus and the Raijinshuu keep up their attempts to defeat Atlas Flame, however, their attacks have no effect due to Atlas Flame's "flames from hell". When they exclaim that this Dragon is a bad match-up for Laxus, Natsu suddenly appears, being thrown down at Atlas Flame by Happy. After introducing himself, Natsu states that he will eat the Dragon, much to the surprise of Laxus and his bodyguards. They are then told to go to the castle and help Wendy and despite Laxus' initial doubts, they head out, leaving Atlas Flame in Natsu's hands. Annoyed, Atlas Flame attempts to make Natsu let him go, however, Natsu just keeps eating his flames. Suddenly, Atlas Flame is reminded of Igneel and asks Natsu about his relation to his dear friend, the Fire Dragon King. With a smile on his face, Natsu replies that Igneel is his dad.
As the battles rage across Crocus, things seem to be going badly for the Mages, with not only Gray being killed, but Bacchus and Droy receiving fatal wounds, and Macao being pinned down by Motherglare's hatchlings. Elsewhere amongst the rubble, Ultear grieves over her sins, and is ashamed of herself despite Gray granting her a second chance in life. She then recalls when she was learning her Magic, the Arc of Time, and how she came upon a spell that reverses time, known as Last Ages. Back then, Hades advised her to never use the spell, since the cost of reversing the time of everyone in the world would be her life. In the present, in order to make up for all the evil she had committed in the past, she chooses to use the forbidden spell, hoping to at least reverse time to before the Eclipse Gate was opened. Ultear casts the spell, causing her entire body to get horribly burnt in the process. After the spell's completion, with the last of her strength, she turns to look at a clock to find that she had only turned back time by one minute. As she falls, she wonders if that is really all her life is worth and laments at how she was unable to save a single life. In the new 'present', back at the ruins of Bar Sun, just as Gray saved Juvia from an attack from a hatchling, they, plus Meredy and Lyon, view a glimpse of the future in which Gray dies. At first confused, they are surprised as the events they just saw occur again right in front of them, though they managed to counter the attack this time. As people all over the world saw a minute into the future and puzzled over what happened before going on with their daily lives, the Mages in the life and death battles in Crocus were able to use that knowledge for a counterattack. Some, like Jet, Droy, Macao, Wakaba and Romeo, moved from their current location in order to avoid casualties, while others, like Bacchus and all the Dragon Slayers, used that knowledge to fight back. As the battle continues, everyone questions the premonition they received, with Lily even questioning Carla if she was behind it, to which she denies. Arcadios and Yukino try to make Hisui leave, but the princess stubbornly refuses, stating that it was her responsibility to see through this mess to its end.
Just then, Lucy comes running in with a possible solution. According to her future self's notebook, theoretically, if they were to destroy the gates, then future Rogue will be unable to travel to the past and effect the present, thus both he and the Dragons will be forced to return to their proper times. Despite this plan being their best chance of resolving this fiasco, Arcadios states that it is easier said than done. Regardless, the two Celestial Spirit Mages choose to attack it with everything they have. When their efforts don't even leave a scratch on the Gate, Arcadios goes on to explain that it is made of an extremely strong, Magic-resistant alloy known as Maginium, and will thus be extremely difficult to destroy. Meanwhile in the skies above them, the battle of Natsu and Atlas Flame against future Rogue and Motherglare continues to rage. Natsu demands future Rogue to go back to his time, and when he is refused, Salamander asks what is to become of the present Rogue. The future version states that in time, the present version will become one with himself, infuriating Natsu who claims that the future Rogue is planning on stealing the present one's future. The White Shadow Dragon Slayer states that as long as Acnologia exists, there is no future, before hitting Natsu with a painful blow that almost knocks him off of Motherglare. As future Rogue chuckles above him, Natsu mentions Frosch (the Exceed companion to Rogue), to which the Shadow Dragon Slayer claims the cat will die around a year from the present. Natsu and future Rogue continue to argue about hope and possible choices for the future as they battle, until the Fire Dragon Slayer ends the battle with a push from Atlas Flame. This last powerful attack sends both future Rogue and Motherglare colliding into the Eclipse Gate, which was still undamaged despite the best efforts of the Mages assaulting it, destroying it and knocking them out. With the Gate finally broken, those present witness the Dragons and future Rogue's bodies glow, as they start to return to their own time. Atlas Flame seems to accept this, but Zirconis becomes enraged at the thought of having lost to the humans. Heedless of the warnings, Hisui approaches the angry Dragon, apologizing and taking responsibility for his predicament. After learning her name, which means jade, and the comparison of the color with his own scales, Zirconis ponders of how the title "Jade Dragon" has a nice ring to it. Noticing he has become transparent, Zirconis then curses, realizing he had been tricked before disappearing altogether. Everyone watches as the Dragons disappear, including the hatchlings. As Atlas Flame does so, he promises to never forget Natsu, while the Dragon Slayer in question thanks the Dragon out loud for all his help, before Atlas vanishes. As the threats disappears, almost all of the Mages rejoice, having won the battle. The exception being Mavis and the Dragon Slayers, having realized that none of them actually managed to beat their Dragon opponent. The Twin Dragons lament about this, knowing that none of the Dragons were close to Acnologia in strength, they choose to celebrate instead, having successfully protected their comrades. Back at the palace as future Rogue disappears, Natsu states that the present version will not end up like the future version. However, as future Rogue vanishes, he states that the 'shadows' will consume him, and that the day Frosch died, he became one with the 'shadows'. Despite Natsu's optimistic claim that the Exceed in question will not die, future Rogue gives a final ominous warning for his past self: protect Frosch one year from now, or Frosch will be killed. Elsewhere, future Lucy's body disappears, and as she awakens, she finds herself in a vast plain. She is then called from behind, and as she turns, Lucy sees all of her friends from Fairy Tail. Natsu then grabs her arm, telling her that they're going to continue their adventure, with future Lucy tearfully and happily complying. In the present, as future Lucy's notebook disappears, current Lucy begins to weep as well, and impulsively embraces Natsu from behind while thanking him when he questions if something is wrong. Natsu, though normally dense when it comes to anything that isn't food, fighting, and sleeping, understands and accepts Lucy's embrace.
Several days later, the Mages who assisted in the battle against the Dragons are invited to a celebration in the Royal Palace. Lucy, Mirajane, Lisanna and Yukino arrive and are greeted by their friends and notice that all the Mages from other guilds who entered the Grand Magic Games are present as well. During the festivities, Hisui recognizes Lucy as the daughter of her friend Jude Heartfilia's daughter and apologizes for the way she treated her, for which Lucy forgives her while. Looking around, Hisui notices Natsu is missing. Elsewhere, Chelia and Wendy are seen by Mavis while eating. While numerous women hang off Laxus, he and the Raijinshuu also notice Natsu's absence. On the floor, Erza approaches Kagura and asks if they could be friends but Kagura states Erza is more of an elder sister to her and is pulled in for a hug. Seeing Millianna's depressed face, Erza gives her Happy, whom she pulled out of her bust, and subsequently Carla and Panther Lily when Happy alone is not enough. Meanwhile, Sting and Lector greet Gajeel and ask for Natsu, to which Gajeel replies that Natsu isn't here. Gajeel asks Rogue about his future counterpart, to which Rogue replies that he won't become him. As Sting's attitude angers Gajeel, other Sabertooth members note that Sting has lightened up as of late. As they drink, Sting notices Yukino and is surprised to see her. Sting tells her that he plans on rebuilding Sabertooth as a guild that values their comrades and asks Yukino to rejoin Sabertooth. However, a drunk Kagura tells him Yukino will be joining Mermaid Heel, starting a fight between the two. Before long, Fairy Tail and the other guilds present declare their interest in Yukino and demand that she join their guild, inciting an inter-guild brawl which overjoys Yukino to tears. The quarrel is then put to a halt once Arcadios tells the Mages that the King is coming to greet them. Hearing this, everyone keeps silent but is shocked as the one to greet them is not the king, but Natsu, having stolen the King's crown, who declares that he is the new King. As everyone is surprised by this turn, Natsu's friends simply look on in amusement.
After the celebration at the palace the mages of Fairy Tail return home to Magnolia. Upon their return to Magnolia Town, the Fairy Tail Guild Mages are greeted by the citizens, who gather in the streets for a celebration of their victory. The Mages are astounded to see this, surprised that everyone was there. Juvia notices Gray's sad face and asks what is wrong, though he brushes off the issue. As they shout out to her, Lucy notices her landlady and the boat driver, the latter of whom tells her she needs to pay rent; which causes Lucy to sweat drop. Erza is fawned over by many admirers of her feats, who argue over what her best performance was. Meanwhile, Natsu opens his bag to show everyone the victory trophy Fairy Tail won. Suddenly, the mayor of the town calls the mages over to his location. The mages are shocked as they are presented with their guild building completely restored. When told that the entire town pitched in to help, a joyful Makarov professes his love for the town.
A few weeks after the "Grand Magic Games", and the events that followed, Lucy and Yukino Agria arrive at the Hill of the Stars alongside Natsu Dragneel and Happy to thank and reward their Celestial Spirits for their help in closing the Eclipse Gate during the Grand Magic Games and the subsequent Dragon invasion. The two Celestial Spirit Mages decide to grant a wish to each of their Zodiac Spirits one by one. Each Spirit has his or her wish granted in some way or another, Virgo's receiving a flick to the forehead much to the spirits delight, until only Aquarius is left at last. Being in a foul mood, she requests Lucy to make her laugh, which she fails at initially. After being sent off a cliff and hanging by a branch, Aquarius laughs and helps bring her to safety, remembering their times together as Lucy was growing up and they then sit together under the stars. The next day, Natsu, Lucy and Happy arrive to the guild hall just to find it completely empty. Mirajane explains that everyone is out on jobs, dealing with the recent natural disasters and then gives Lucy a job she had saved for the Celestial Spirit Mage. After arriving to the requested location, however, Lucy's group gets attacked by a sea slug. Natsu eventually defeats it, but during the battle, Lucy finds out that her golden keys are not working as the Spirits would not respond to her summons. While Yukino arrives to the Fairy Tail guild with a similar problem, Lucy successfully summons Crux just to find out that something terrible is happening in the Celestial Spirit World. That is when Virgo, and eventually, the rest of Lucy's Spirits appear, attacking Lucy and others. Natsu attempts to fight them, but in the end, Happy carries both him and Lucy away, wondering what caused all of this. Meanwhile, the rebelling Spirits return to the Celestial Spirit World, with Leo stating that to achieve a complete freedom, there is still something to be done. Lucy, Natsu and Happy return to Fairy Tail where they tell the others of what happened. Lucy once more summons Crux, who this time is aided by Horologium to cross the dimensions without harm. Crux explains that the Spirit King has suddenly gone missing and the Gold Key Spirits have trashed the Celestial World during his absence. He's not sure what caused their change, but mentions something called the Liberum. Yukino produces a tome which Levy deciphers that Liberum is a ritual needed to achieve their "perfect freedom" but they need a mystical globe to do it. Reasoning that the weather anomalies are linked to the Celestial World, Fairy Tail split into teams to go gather more information. Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Levy and Yukino are sent to the Magic Library but before the group can head out, Natsu suddenly goes missing, having hitched a ride with Horologium to the Celestial Spirit world in the hopes of fighting Leo and beating him to his senses.
While Natsu is in the Celestial Spirit world, his assigned team go to the Magic Library to investigate only to be attacked by Virgo. Lucy, Happy and Yukino try to hold her off to allow Levy to continue searching. She manages to find a donation list which leads her to the mystical globe. But Virgo steals it away from her and escapes just as Natsu falls into the building from the Celestial World. Despite this, Levy reveals a critical warning packaged with the globe. If the Gold Spirits do indeed complete the ritual, they'll only live for twelve days. The price for their "perfect freedom". Not long after learning this, Natsu's group head for southern Magnolia to find the location of the Astral Spirytus, an area needed for the ritual. Along the way they run into Princess Hisui and Arcadios who were on their way to Fairy Tail to inform them about the spirits with Hisui even mentioning that it was because of using the Eclipse Door that caused the Gold Spirits change, though the group state they don't blame her. Hisui then presents the group with a batch of new celestial keys she made which she states will be able to close the spirits' gates. However the group is suddenly attacked by the Eclipse forms of Pisces who now resemble a humanoid fishman (the son) and a shark (the mother). The duo steal the keys from them prompting Natsu to attack. He takes on the son while the others deal with the mother. However the duo display new powers such as the resistance to water when they were originally weak to it, the son being able to cancel out Natsu's fire power and the mother having the abilities to eat most attacks thrown her way, swim through the air and surfaces, making her own water, harden her skin and change her size. After some fighting, Pisces ultimately end up getting away with the case. However Arcadios had foreseen this and switched it with a fake, meaning the group still have the keys. What's more Hisui reveals she knows the location of the Astral Spiriytus. With this, the group head out in hopes of stopping the ritual.
At the Astral Spirytus, the 12 Zodiacs begin the ritual just as Natsu's group close in on their location. Using the new keys, the group manage to find the ritual ground and Natsu interrupts the ceremony. Lucy tries to warn the spirits what they're getting into but Leo reveals they already know but don't care. When the keys that Pisces stole are revealed to be a fake, the spirits start to attack the group as they largely outnumber then. That is until the rest of the Fairy Tail teams arrive, revealing that Warren used his telepathy to guide them there. At a disadvantage now, the spirits run to their gates challenging Fairy Tail to come fight them. The teams are all given a closing gate key before splitting up and following after them, each finding themselves in a different dimension. They eventually defeat the rebelling Zodiac Spirits and put a stop to "Liberum" restoring order to the Celestial Spirit world. The Celestial Spirit King thanks them for all that they did to save his world, and the Zodiac Spirits give Lucy and Yukino new keys and restore their previous contracts. Lucy had been devastated when she couldn't call upon her Zodiac spirits to aid her, but after everything was sorted with new keys given, and contracts remade, Lucy felt a lot better knowing that she had her "family" back.
After restoring order to the Celestial Spirit world, Lucy and the others return to the guild, where the Fairy Tail girls happily take to the newly built-in bathhouse, with Cana even claiming that having such a bathhouse will keep her from working. The girls make note of their recent bombardment of Job requests since the Grand Magic Games and comment on the matter, while also playfully teasing each other about their relationships with their guild mates, especially Lucy. As they continue their conversations, they discover that one of the girls bathing with them is actually Flare Corona of Raven Tail; her appearance startles the Fairy Tail girls, though Lucy stops her guild mates from attacking her. Flare reveals that she has nowhere to go with Raven Tail's disbandment but still has no intention of joining Fairy Tail, confusing them.
Later, Lucy walks home to find Erza, Wendy, and Carla inside with candy to offer from their mission. They contemplate Natsu and Gray's location and eventually head to the site of their mission, finding the boys arguing with Happy watching them helplessly. Erza attempts to stop their fight but is unrecognized and receives a punch to her face from both of them; angered, she punishes them and brings them back to the guild with rest of the team. At the guild, Makarov is handed a new mission from Mirajane for Natsu and Gray; reading through it, he becomes increasingly frantic and tells the two mages to not fail, as it is a personal request from the fourth-rank Wizard Saint, Warrod Sequen. Accompanied by their teammates, Natsu and Gray promptly head out to discuss their mission with their client. They encounter Warrod Sequen in a rusty-looking house where he elaborates on the details of his Job request. Warrod explains that while on a mission to afforest the deserts on the continent, he stumbles upon the Sun Village, only to find the village and its inhabitants frozen alive in a mysterious ice; because he cannot save them himself, he wants Natsu and Gray to accomplish the task for him. The Fairy Tail mages accept his request and are escorted to the village itself through the use of Warrod's magic.
Upon arriving at the village, Natsu and the others notice that the village is truly encased in ice, including the weapon-wielding giants within the premises; upon seeing them, Gray is reminded of his past, causing him to feel uncomfortable; when inquired by Lucy he explains that the situation reminds him of the Galuna Island incident years ago. Suddenly, a trio of men appear from a cliff and identify themselves as treasure hunters of Sylph Labyrinth and that they are searching for the village's eternal flame. They provoke the Fairy Tail Mages' interests with a bottle of "Moon Drip" before running off. Erza promptly sends everyone to chase after the men while she investigates the village further, where she encounters Minerva who is now a member of the dark guild, Succubus Eye. Lucy and the others eventually stop the treasure hunters with the help of Flare Corona, who grew up in the village and returned after Raven Tail's disbandment, and Gray, who was able to unfreeze the eternal flame. Gray approaches the Flame and decides to try manipulating the ice around the flame; his method succeeds and the ice starts to disappear, although it ultimately causes the Flame to disappear. Wendy confirms that Flame is still present albeit weakly. Natsu uses his Magic on the Flame, causing it to glow brightly. From the fire emerges the Dragon Atlas Flame who greets Natsu as the son of Igneel. It is soon revealed that the Dragon's presence is due to Wendy's use of Milky Way, therefore it being a temporary resurrection. Atlas uses the short time that he has to explain the circumstances to the Mages. The Dragon reveals that an Ice Devil Slayer is the one responsible for freezing him and the village, mistaking Atlas himself to be a Demon, when instead Atlas is truly the guardian of the Sun Village and its Eternal Flame; additionally, it also warns Natsu that Igneel had previously failed to defeat the most evil Magic from the Books of Zeref, E.N.D.. With his final message to Natsu, Atlas disappears and the rest of the Sun Village thaws out. The thawing of the village allows Erza and Minerva to conclude their fight and for Natsu to ponder the Dragon's final words.
With the village saved, the Fairy Tail Mages discuss the situation of Sun Village's freezing with the giants, afterwards contemplating the reasons behind it. During their discussion, Lucy notices that Flare has disappeared; she finds the young woman in hiding and attempts to bring her to the giants, though Flare is sullen about having abandoned the village before. The giants find her and comfort Flare, telling her that she will always be welcome with them. Flare is touched by their words and cries happily about being home, and the others in the village proceed to celebrate about being rid of their troubles. The Fairy Tail Mages eventually leave the village and report back to Warrod Sequen on the completion of their mission. As a reward, the group is given the location of a secret hot spring which they take a trip to, enjoying the luxurious atmosphere altogether with Warrod later joining them. Warrod expresses happily on their friendship and reveals that he is one of the founders of Fairy Tail, confirming his former affiliation by singing the "Song of the Fairies" originally made by Mavis Vermilion. Hearing the song, the group thinks about the joys of their guild and friends. Once the song is over, Natsu recalls Warrod's age asks for any knowledge of E.N.D. or the devils, explaining further with the information that he learned earlier from Atlas Flame. Warrod states that he knows little of the subject. However, at the mention of Tartaros, he reveals that the only information known about them is that they are a Dark Guild seemingly made up of devil worshipers; Warrod also adds that the Dark Guild potentially has the 'Books of Zeref' in their possession as well. Hearing this, Natsu flies into a fit of rage and proclaims that he will defeat them himself.
After returning to the guild from their mission to Sun Village, Lucy and the others research E.N.D while Erza informs the Master about Minerva having joined a dark guild and suggests informing the Magic Council. Lucy and the others, with the help of Levy, learn that E.N.D. is Zeref's most powerful demon, as Panther Lily wonders what Zeref's Demons are, Carla explains that they are his creations and can be summoned via his books. Natsu, knowing Tartaros likely has the book with E.N.D. in it, suggests attacking them, something Gajeel agrees with. Though Lucy berates the idea, Natsu claims that since Igneel attempted to destroy E.N.D., he might find a clue, with Wendy and Gajeel suggesting connections with their own Dragons. Suddenly, Jet and Droy return to the guild in a panic, announcing that something terrible has happened. He informs everyone that the Magic Council has been attacked, and completely destroyed with not a single member of the Council surviving.
Meanwhile at the 8-Island Restaurant, Freed, Bickslow and Yajima read the newspaper and learn about the attack on the Magic Council and the arising death toll. As the Fairy Tail mages work alongside Evergreen, they wonder where Laxus is, having gone out on an errand. Suddenly, a hooded figure appears in the door and, in an instant, destroys the establishment. Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen are all easily knocked aside by the intruder and he attempts to kill Yajima, however Laxus intervenes and takes over the fight. Shedding his disguise, the man reveals himself as Tempester, one of the Nine Demon Gates. However, despite his attempts, Laxus is ultimately able to overpower and defeat him. Forced into a corner, Tempester sacrifices one of his lives and unleashes Magical Barrier Particles, particles which create Magic Deficiency Illness and can spread quickly. As Yajima, Evergreen and Bickslow collapse from this powerful poison, Laxus begins inhaling the particles, able to do so due to his Dragon Slayer lungs. Though Freed tells him to stop, Laxus is determined not to let anyone die as he tells Freed to get everyone home. In the guild, the affected Mages are treated by Porlyusica, who reiterates their highly serious condition. Freed tells Makarov that Laxus is responsible for saving the town, but Makarov recalls that the particles still spread and resulted in both a quarantine and over one hundred deaths. Not knowing this, Freed asks if the town is alright, to which Makarov answers in the affirmative, relieving him. As the other mages in the guild are saddened by these recent events, Natsu is furious and angrily declares that now is the time to go to war.
Natsu throws a violent tantrum, wishing to wage war against the Dark Guild, but without any clear direction of where to start. Both Makarov and Erza concur, with them realizing that they don't have enough information to take the war to the Dark Guild. The guild members conclude that their only course of action is that they need to stake out the hidden former Magic Council members who are currently being targeted; Loke appears and reveals he knows where some of the retired Council members are currently staying by means of seduction. With the location of four ex-Council members, Fairy Tail starts splitting into groups and heading to their locations in order to protect them, as well as find out more information on both Tartaros and the other retired members. After Porlyusica requests that, if possible, they get a sample of Tempester's blood, and Elfman and Mirajane Strauss say goodbye to Evergreen and Laxus respectively; Makarov gives a rousing speech before the teams split up to guard the ex-Council members.
Natsu, Lucy, Wendy Happy and Carla are sent to guard Michello, who is less than enthusiastic about having the Fairy Tail members guard him, regardless of the situation. His granddaughter, Michelia talks him into calming down and he ponders reasons as to why Tartaros would be targeting them, however just as he thinks of a possible reason, Natsu smells something and pushes everyone down, just before an explosion destroys Michello's home. Fortunately, Natsu's manages to consume most of the explosion before it could cause any casualties. Just then, Jackal appears above them, curious as to why no one is dead. In light of the irksome wreckage to his house, Michello is advised to run from the Tartaros member by Lucy, from whom he is protected by the woman and Wendy. Before Natsu can take Jackal, the Demon creates a town-wide explosion that causes the populace to panic; the two now do battle, but Jackal finds that his heat-based attacks do nothing against the Fire Dragon Slayer, who eats each explosion, prompting Jackal to attempt to tell Natsu something, however he is interrupted. Meanwhile, Michello realizes that Tartaros may be after "Face" and attempts to flee so as to learn the locations of the other councilors, however Natsu stops the man and asks him to reveal everything he knows about what Tartaros may be after, which he refuses to do. Jackal then returns and reveals to Natsu that he has a "curse": whatever touches his body is doomed to explode; as marking appear on Natsu's body and detonate, putting him out of commission, Jackal threatens the safety of Michelia so as to force Michello to reveal all his secrets. As Michello attempts to escape, Wendy and Lucy attempt to stop the pursuing Jackal but find their attempts futile as the Demon reveals that he and the members of Tartaros do not use Magic, but rather Curses, which stand above Magic. Defeating the two of them swiftly, Jackal leaves to chase Michello while Wendy and Lucy recover soon after, with the latter going after him as the former stays to take care of Natsu. Michello attempts to get someone to hide him but fails as nobody does so, just as Jackal appears. A pursuing Lucy is caught in Jackal's Landmine Curse, one which will explode should she move. Noticing the crowd, Jackal takes this to his advantage as he encases Michello and a woman in two bomb orbs which are set to explode and asks Lucy which one should survive. Michello argues adamantly for her to save him while the lady claims to be pregnant, making the choice hard for Lucy. However, before having to choose, Lucy is freed from the obligation as Natsu arrives and elbows Jackal, freeing the captives. Knocking out Michello, Natsu eats the Curse laid upon his body prior to it exploding, shocking Jackal. Natsu quickly delivers a beat down upon Jackal and though this brings the touch curse upon him, Natsu is able to eat it, preventing it from knocking him out. Jackal sees this and begins to feel fear and enters a more powerful form. As he states that humans cannot compare to Demons and should die, Natsu replies that they are humans who fight for their friends and will fight anyone for their sake. Activating his Lightning Fire Dragon Mode, Natsu attacks Jackal with his Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer, knocking Jackal away and causing him to revert to normal before collapsing himself. Before they can weasel information from Jackal, the Demon turns his body into a bomb and attempts to blow up the town, apologizing to Kyôka before he can do so. However, Happy takes Jackal's body and carries him into the sky before he can detonate to save everyone; Jackal's body creates an enormous, town-sized explosion that engulfs Happy. Everyone looks on in anticipation until the smoke clears and Happy is revealed to be relatively unharmed, relieving everyone.
Back at the Fairy Tail Guild, Makarov starts receives various pieces of news regarding the fates of the councilors that he sent his Mages to protect, all of which reveal a negative prognosis. Meanwhile at the house of ex-Council member Yuri, Elfman and Lisanna find the occupant already unmarked and deceased. Before they can report back to the guild, Yuri opens his eyes and destroys the Lacrima before collapsing once more. The perpetrator then reveals herself: it is Seilah, one of the Nine Demon Gates. She then uses her Curse: Macro, on Elfman, which forces him to choke Lisanna, much to his dismay. Concurrently, Lucy manages to establish communication with the guild and informs Makarov that Michello is shaken but unharmed. Michello, at Makarov's behest, begins to explain exactly what Tartaros is after: Face; a weapon that nullifies Magic across the entire continent. Realizing that Tartaros will be unaffected because they use Curses, not Magic, Natsu demands the location of the weapon so that they can destroy it, however Michello reveals that three Councilors are the Organic Link Key and the only one who knows their locations is the former chairman. Now understanding that Tartaros is assassinating ex-councilors to unseal Face, Laki reveals that they've found the chairman's hidden address and have sent Erza and Mirajane to protect him. Natsu suddenly has a revelation and flies away from his group with Happy, determined to find the ex-chairman under the pretense of suspicion regarding him leaking information about the Council to Tartaros. Theorizing that Erza and Mirajane are in trouble due to who they were sent to meet, Natsu pushes Happy to rush.
Lucy, Wendy and Carla apologize for Natsu running away before Happy wanders in and tells everyone of Mirajane, Erza and Natsu's capture, as well as of Crawford's traitorous nature. As he reveals that Tartaros' headquarters is a floating island and Levy begins pinpointing its trajectory, a Macro-possessed Elfman stumbles into the guild, preparing to execute Seilah's plan. Elfman tells everyone that Lisanna has been captured and that Yuri is dead; the former statement earns him a reprimanding at the hands of Cana, due to him just leaving his sister, though Gray jumps to his defense. Walking down to the basement, Elfman recalls the mission given to him by Seilah and her Macro: destroy Fairy Tail and he shall be given Lisanna. With the explosive Lacrima gifted unto him in hand, Elfman states that for his sister's return, he will obliterate Fairy Tail. As the Lacrima in Elfman's possession prepares for detonation as the man cries, stating that he loves Lisanna, Tartaros has successfully unsealed Face. Cana stumbles upon Elfman and the Lacrima, causing the man to pounce on her and tells her and Fairy Tail to perish; Cana realizes that he's being controlled. As everyone upstairs prepares to attack Tartaros, as Levy has found out that they're directly above them, the Lacrima goes off, completely eradicating the guild building, leaving Seilah in a state of triumph.
With the explosion shaking the citizens of Magnolia, Kyôka congratulates Seilah on her act and remarks that their need to bring Cube to Magnolia was pointless. Before they can activate Face, Franmalth detects a large number of magical entities approaching Cube, warranting Kyôka's attention. A soldier then comes in and tells the three Demon Gates that three shadows are coming towards them, but Franmalth says that he detects many more. To end their confusion, Seilah displays Undercube and sees Fairy Tail's Exceed flying right towards them carrying cards; Cana had saved the entire guild from the explosion at the last second by trapping them in her Magic Cards and had them flown to Cube by the Exceeds. With the Demon Gates now in a panic, a gravitational field is activated and the Exceeds are sucked into Undercube as the recently deployed enemy approaches them; Cana releases everyone from her cards and they begin their counterattack. At the same time, she tells, a now free, Elfman that he needs to stand up and help them so they can get Mirajane and Lisanna back. The healthy members of Fairy Tail struggle against the Tartaros minions as they need to protect their wounded; their progress is hindered by the overwhelming numbers of their enemy. As they try to figure out how to get to the castle, Erza pierces through Undercube, having driven Kyôka straight through the floating island. This provides Fairy Tail the breach they needed to get inside the Dark Guild's fortress. Led by Elfman, enters that breach and begins their attack on Tartaros while Kyôka insists on continuing her fight with Erza, though not before the latter tells Lucy that Face has been unsealed and that she needs to deactivate it.
Wendy, Lucy, Happy and Carla enter the control room, as Franmalth goes over the large error in their calculations but hides when he sees them come in. They soon discover that Face has been activated manually, courtesy of Ezel, and has forty-one minutes until detonation; panic then continues to ensue when Keyes enters the room. Now faced with Keyes, Lucy spots the timer and notices that one minute has already passed, concluding that they need to distract him and just move on. As the Exceeds note the possible danger of the situation, Franmalth comes out of hiding and tells them that it's already dangerous, which prompts Lucy to summon Taurus and Aries, who both proceed to attack the two Nine Demon Gates, which allows Lucy, Wendy and the Exceeds to get away. Their triumph, however, is short-lived as Keyes quickly materializes in front of them; Gray appears and punches Keyes, which turns his body into numerous particles, and allows Lucy and Wendy to fly past. As he reforms, Keyes makes note that Gray is something of Silver's. As she continues down the corridor, Lucy spots a window but is blocked by the appearance of Aries' wool, which confuses her. As she and Happy are revealed to have been captured by Franmalth, Lucy tells Wendy to continue on to Face without her; Franmalth makes a grab for Wendy, but he is stopped by the appearance of Natsu. As he wonders where Wendy is going, Lucy tells him that Face has been activated and that she's going to deactivate it manually, however Franmalth regains their attention by performing Revolution, taking on the appearance of Taurus, whose soul he absorbed alongside Aries' own. After a brief bickering session with Natsu, Franmalth refuses to return Taurus and Aries as they are valuable parts of his collection; Natsu goes to attack Franmalth, but he adopts the faces of Aries and Taurus, the latter of who's face Natsu hits anyway. Now fed up with Natsu and his antics, Franmalth performs Revolution once more and draws out the power of his strongest soul, whose appearance shocks Natsu, Lucy and Happy; meanwhile, only thirty-four minutes remain until Face activates.
As Wendy and Carla rush towards Face, Franmalth reveals his strongest soul to be Hades, which he explains he obtained by following Zeref seven years ago and happening across his body. However, Natsu tells Franmalth that he defeated Hades and punches the Demon Gate away; Franmalth asks if Natsu did it by himself and retaliates, telling him that aside from the appearance, the magic power of the one who gazed into the abyss is real. Pressuring Natsu, Franmalth eventually grabs hold of the Dragon Slayer and tries to absorb his soul, however before he can, Natsu kicks his arm away and enters Lightning Fire Dragon Mode. Attacking Franmalth with his Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar, Franmalth revels in the power of the magic he's looking at and absorbs the soul of the spell, thereby giving him access to Natsu's Dragon Mode. Franmalth then recognizes Natsu as the one who defeated Jackal, but tells him not to take the Nine Demon Gates lightly, as one of them alone is enough to topple a country. Franmalth tells Natsu that he doesn't believe that magic can defeat their curses as well as that Face will activate in ten minutes, meaning that the era of Mages will end. Realizing that losing their magic in the middle of their crucial battles would be horrendous, Lucy prays that Wendy stops Face.
Natsu and the others fighting Franmalth soon feel Face's activation tremors, and Kyôka takes note of Face's impending activation. Franmalth begins expressing mass amounts of joy at Face's "activation", however Natsu notes that his magic hasn't disappeared, which causes Franmalth to realize that their plan failed. Descending into a panic, Franmalth quickly enters a blind rage and attacks Natsu, screeching for him to hand over his soul countless times before attacking them with Hades' magic, creating a large explosion. Franmalth latches onto the bodies of the three extremely injured Fairy Tail mages and begins to absorb their souls; Natsu, Lucy and Happy struggle against Franmalth's absorption and Lucy calls for Taurus and Aries to close their gates, which prompts Franmalth to eject them out of fear. She then tricks him by calling out the same for Natsu, which allows Natsu to break free and defeat Franmalth with a boulder. Franmalth's absorbed souls then float free; the soul of Hades materializes itself and tells them that Tartaros isn't after just Face and passes along a message for them to deliver to Makarov: release the light. After Hades disappears, the group wonders what the deceased Guild Master was referring to before Happy flies off to find Makarov. As the other two leave to find Mirajane, Franmalth gleefully states how Demons are virtually immortal as long as their lab is intact, which allows them to be endlessly reborn, before he too disappears.
Lucy and Natsu are searching for their allies, they are contacted by Warren, who states that Mirajane is safe and sound with them. Lucy and Happy reveal via the communication that Wendy destroyed Face and that Hades wants Makarov to "release the light", which makes him think of Lumen Histoire. Suddenly, Warren screams as his telepathic communications are hijacked by Mard Geer, who both introduces himself to everyone and degrades them before casting Alegria, which shifts Cube into a monster called Plutogrim and releases a mysterious fluid that traps and freezes all of Fairy Tail and much of Tartaros' own. Calling humanity foolish, Mard pauses in shock as he realizes that there is but one human survivor and states that she is unlucky for having been left at the Underworld's footsteps all alone.
Lucy wonders what has happened, upon looking outside a window she witnesses Plutogrim causing massive damage to Magnolia. Closing up her ears to block the racket, the Celestial Spirit Mage then receives a telepathic message from Mard Geer, who was broadcasting to everyone the annihilation of Fairy Tail, as well as putting a bounty on Lucy. As the soldiers cheer at the thought of ascending to the position of Nine Demon Gates, Lucy is swept away, as the corridor she is in is suddenly filled with water. Coming across some of the minions, the lone Mage easily defeats them using Fleuve d'étoiles. When another trio appears casting long ranged attacks, Lucy quickly summons Sagittarius and defeats them. Lamy then appears; Sagittarius' strikes fail and she recalls him, opting for Virgo and Loke to protect her from the arriving Torafuzar, however Jackal arrives as well, thereby escalating the conflict. Fighting for her friends, Lucy attempts to fight Jackal on her own but is defeated and tortured by his explosions. Determined to save her trapped friends, Lucy summons Aquarius despite her already having two gold Spirits active and collapses, prompting Aquarius to chastise her master. Aquarius catches Lucy and begins to fight, however Torafuzar makes use of the water to his advantage and attacks Aquarius, which opens up Loke and Virgo to explosions from Jackal. Collapsing from fatigue, Lucy is stood over by the Demons; Torafuzar walks away, not wishing to torture her, but Jackal kills Lamy before turning his attention towards Lucy.
Just then, Aquarius rises again and sweeps Jackal away with water before telling Lucy that none of her Spirits can take on Tartaros, though she tells Lucy that by destroying one golden key, she can summon the Celestial Spirit King. Lucy refuses adamantly at first, but at the behest of Aquarius, she sorrowfully sacrifices her key, which causes a tearful Aquarius to return to the Spirit World forever; the Celestial Spirit King then rains down and destroys Plutogrim, much to Jackal's surprise, and confronts Mard Geer, the Underworld King, whom he recognizes as an old foe. As Mard Geer expresses his surprise that there was someone capable of summoning the Celestial Spirit King, the Spirit in question observes that the Underworld King is still holding onto E.N.D.'s book. The Celestial Spirit King then vows upon Lucy's determination and his contract to defeat her enemies; the Underworld King welcomes the battle, their clashing Magic and Curse destroying the land. Elsewhere, Jackal again angrily demands to know what Lucy has done, though she continues to weep over Aquarius' key. Annoyed, the Etherious casts an explosion at her but, much to both their surprise, it is deflected by a water shield. Shocked, Lucy looks around hoping to find Aquarius before noticing her magic power rise and her wounds heal due to the Celestial Spirit King giving her Aquarius' power. Lucy stands and thanks both the Spirit King and Aquarius from the bottom of her heart. Frustrated, Jackal starts barraging Lucy with a series of explosions, which she easily defends using her newly acquired Water Magic. Again resolving to cry later so that she can save her friends now, Lucy casts Urano Metria at Jackal, defeating him, before she herself promptly collapses.
Jackal's defeat does not go unnoticed, as the other members of the Nine Demon Gates feel the disappearance of his power. Back at the battle between the two kings, Mard Geer notices that the Celestial Spirit King has slowed down with Lucy's collapse. After the Spirit silently asks for all her remaining magic, he casts Galaxia Blade, which the Demon believes to be a full-frontal assault. The King smiles and Mard Geer quickly realizes that Alegria has been dispelled, freeing all those trapped and allowing interrupted battles to continue; the Underworld King is also petrified by the spell, and as the Celestial Spirit King returns to the Spirit World, Mard Geer expresses his malice for humanity. Meanwhile, Tempester, Torafuzar, Silver and Keyes all converge upon Lucy's location in an attempt to kill her, however Gajeel, Natsu, Juvia and Gray appear and intercept them. As the two groups face off, Gray takes note of Silver's presence and the Devil Slayer grabs Gray and teleports away from the battle. Before the others can react to this, Tempester attacks with his wind, but finds this ineffective against Gajeel, who is confronted by Torafuzar. As the groups fight one another, Keyes notes that things are not over yet. Juvia defeats Keyes, which ends his control via Necromancy of Crawford and Silver, but falls unconscious due to his Magical Barrier Particles. Natsu and Gajeel prepare to take down Torafuzar and Tempester. The two sides face off, with the Demons entering their Etherious Forms while Natsu and Gajeel activate their dual element abilities. Rushing in to fight, the two Fairy Tail Mages initially put pressure on their opponents, who are unable to retaliate, however as the fight grows more intense, Natsu and Gajeel continue to dominate until the two inadvertently punch one another in the face. Seeing this, Lucy expresses her disappointment while the two argue about their fight. Suddenly, Torafuzar activates his Curse, Tenchi Kaimei, which envelops the vicinity in black water. Unable to use his fire and having swallowed some of the water, which Torafuzar reveals to be poisonous, Natsu is rendered unconscious alongside the women. Gajeel eventually manages to defeat Torafuzar, and the black water recedes. Weakened from having to use up his strength, Gajeel is nearly preyed upon by Tempester, however Gray arrives at the last second and, recognizing Tempester as being the one to poison Laxus and the others, swiftly freezes him with his new Ice Devil Slayer Magic, vowing to destroy Tartaros after doing so.
A roar shakes the area; Natsu and Gajeel hear the roar and recognize it with grim looks on their face. Mard Geer himself hears and recognizes the roar of Acnologia, who has arrived to wreak havoc. Elsewhere, in his volcanic den, Igneel ponders if it is time for him to take action. Wasting no time, Acnologia rains destruction upon the area, and as he does so, the Dragon Slayers have strange, heart-pounding reactions to his presence. Mard Geer watches Acnologia rampage and theorizes that he may be after E.N.D.; Acnologia rises high into the sky and prepares to fire his Dragon's Roar, but as this occurs, Natsu hears Igneel's voice telepathically and he reveals that he's been inside Natsu all along, emerging from Natsu's body to do battle with Acnologia and protect everyone. As the two Dragons battle and everyone watches in awe, Natsu's group is flabbergasted that Igneel was inside Natsu the entire time. The sensation in the Dragon Slayers dissipates, much to their confusion. Gajeel asks Natsu if he knew about Igneel being inside him, which Natsu denies, though he then leaps to Igneel and grabs onto him, demanding answers. Igneel, however, is too preoccupied with keeping Acnologia at bay to answer. Remembering that Natsu is in a guild, he makes a job request: steal E.N.D.'s book from Mard Geer and in exchange, he will tell Natsu everything about his disappearance. Natsu complies and dives down to do battle with Mard Geer. After Igneel emerged from Natsu's body, a still very weakened Laxus arrives and takes on Tempester. Laxus manages to once again defeat Tempester, and successfully obtained some of the demon's blood that Porlyusica can use to create an antidote to the Magical Barrier Particles that have infected him and his team.
Lucy manages to regroup with Elfman, Lisanna, Jet, Droy, and Warren and tell them that Gray is scouring Tartaros' building in search of more foes while Gajeel, Levy and Juvia are delivering Tempester's blood to Porlyusica for the Raijinshuu. Just then, Wendy, Carla and Doranbolt arrive and inform everyone about the 3,000 Face bombs. As everyone thinks of ways to destroy Face; Warren's Telepathy is thrown out as an option due to its limited range. However, Makarov contacts everyone with news that they have one more trump card as he walks out with Lumen Histoire, and orders everyone to venture to Fairy Tail's basement, including Doranbolt, who Makarov wishes to have him wipe everyone's memory of the Lumen Histoire after everything is done, including his own. Elfman however wishes to stay behind, as he feels responsible for the guild's destruction even though Makarov doesn't hold him accountable. Meanwhile Igneel leads Acnologia away into the sky, not wanting to involve Fairy Tail any further in their battle.
Face bombs across the continent slowly begin to detonate, removing Magic from various areas. At this point, Igneel descends from the sky with a wounded Acnologia and tells humans not to give up hope. Elsewhere, Blue Pegasus attempts to destroy a Face bomb to no avail with their Christina airship. Before they can do much more, a telepathic voice tells them to steer out of the way; Grandeeney bursts through multiple Face bombs in an instant, leaving Blue Pegasus questioning what she was. Concurrently, Metalicana, and the thought-to-be-dead Weisslogia and Skiadrum, also destroy many Face bombs one after the other as Igneel announces that the Dragons are here to save them, much to everyone's joy. Revealing that all the Face bombs have been destroyed, Igneel states that E.N.D. can no longer be revived. Natsu then demands to know why Igneel and the other Dragons were hiding inside the Slayers, which he reveals is due to them not wanting to turn into Dragons like Acnologia. Before he can reveal the second reason, Acnologia rises to fight again; Igneel tells Natsu to grab the book as the two Dragons fly into the sky. Igneel tells Acnologia to leave the humans alone and that E.N.D.'s threat is no more, but Acnologia merely states that he only wants everything to be destroyed and attacks Igneel. Igneel is overwhelmed by Acnologia and tells Natsu of the second reason the Dragons hid inside their children: to wait until the time was right to defeat the Black Dragon. Igneel then tries to stop Natsu from joining the battle but fails and instead rises to confront Acnologia one more time; he tears off Acnologia's left arm, however in one strike, half of Igneel's body is destroyed by Acnologia. As he falls from the sky, Igneel thanks a tearful, on looking Natsu for giving him the best days of his life and the strength to love others as he is shot by Acnologia's Dragon's Roar, leaving Natsu distraught.
With the battle over and Acnologia having retreated due to his injury, Makarov laments Lumen Histoire's lack of use with Mavis while the Dragon Slayers reunite with their foster parents. While together, they learn several truths: Sting and Rogue had their memories manipulated by their foster parents regarding their deaths, as well as that the Dragons have not died, but are rather already dead; a result they attribute to Acnologia stealing their souls with his Dragon Slayer Magic. They explain that they were left half-dead because of it, and that they hid inside their children's' bodies to prevent them from "Dragonifying", to wait until the time was right to kill Acnologia, and to prolong their severely shortened lives, and add that they cannot return once they've left. As Natsu sobs over Igneel's fallen body, the Dragons' life force fades completely and they begin to disappear, but not before saying goodbye to their foster children and promising to adhere to the Magna Carta established between their two races four hundred years ago, which states that they must watch over and protect humanity. Igneel, before dying, offers words of encouragement to Natsu, who screams that he will get stronger and avenge Igneel, before saying that he is proud of Natsu and his new will to live. Lucy tearfully watched on with the rest of the guild as the Dragon Slayers said goodbye to the dragon parents, this time for good, and empathized with their pain as she has endured the same suffering in her life; first with losing her mother, and then learning that she had lost her father, and most recently sacrificing Aquarius' key in order to save her "family".
One week later, everyone is dealing with the aftermath of the war on Tartaros; Makarov and the others stand before their guild's wreckage, where he announces that the current era has ended. Elsewhere Laxus awakens and deems himself to be unable to protect what he loves the most; Wendy has her hair regrown courtesy of Cancer whilst Panther Lily and Carla discuss the current mental states of their Slayer companions. Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy dig through their house looking for money, where they ultimately agree that their biggest worry is not money, but the letter Natsu holds in his hand. Lucy is finally able to lament the loss of her oldest and dearest friend, and spirit, Aquarius. Doranbolt stood in shock after learning that he is a mage of Fairy Tail who modified his own memories in order to infiltrate the Magic Council, Makarov announces that he will disband Fairy Tail, and then mysteriously disappears. Lucy meanwhile finds Natsu's letter in her apartment, learning that he plans on taking a one-year journey to become stronger, which saddens her. With everyone now going their own separate ways, the news of the disbandment of the guild, and still reeling from the loss of Aquarius Lucy, feeling so alone and abandoned by her "family", falls into a pit of depression.
Lucy remained in her depressed state for several days after the disbandment of the guild and her "family" scattering to the winds to find their own paths to move on in the wake of the events of the Tartaros Incident. With the help of her faithful Celestial spirits Lucy pulls herself out of her depression and decides to move on with her life as well. Lucy accepted an offer to be a model for "Sorcerer's Weekly Magazine", which she is happy with doing for a time, but her true passion is to be a writer. She eventually convinces the Senior Reporter of the magazine, the hyperactive and overly enthusiastic, Jason, to take her on as an assistant. Lucy works diligently writing articles for the publication, while simultaneously tracking the whereabouts of her "family", though 4 members remain elusive; Master, Natsu, Happy, and Gildarts, who has always been elusive.
Lucy was given the monumental task of reporting on the upcoming "Grand Magic Games", which is a big deal as for as her career as a writer goes, but makes her feel very melancholy because Fairy Tail is not there to compete, and neither or Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, or Sabertooth. Despite Fairy Tail being gone, Lucy still proudly sports her pink guild mark on the back of her right; which is something her boss, Jason, has asked her about numerous times, and Lucy's answer each time is that it is a reminder of her "family".
On the last day of the Grand Magic Games, she covers the match between the finalists: Team Dullahan Head and Team Scarmiglione. Despite Jason predicting Dullahan Head will win, Lucy sees through Scarmiglione's attempt to conceal their abilities during the previous matches. Sure enough, Scarmiglione comes out victorious, to Lucy's disgust as she figures all they really care about is money. Just as the tournament is about to come to a close, a cloaked figure suddenly enters the stadium. Lucy senses a strong magical presence, and immense amount of heat, radiating from the hooded figure down in the arena as it challenges the winners to a match. The figure suddenly releases a blast of hot air that resonates through the stadium, which easily beats the guild and at the same time melts the clothes of the spectators. As the mysterious person's hood falls off, Lucy is shocked to see the person has Salmon-pink hair. Soon after Happy manages to find Lucy, who is covering herself because her clothes had mostly melted away, in the stands and states that Natsu wanted to see the strength of the current number one guild in Fiore, while commenting that Natsu went overboard, again. Several other competitors try to ambush him, proving futile as he quickly defeats them. He then notices Lucy and greets her to which she smiles and greets him back. Lucy subsequently thinks to herself that Fairy Tail may not be gone after all, and is genuinely happy for the first time in nearly a year.
After Natsu's "accidental" destruction of Domus Flau, he is arrested, but his transgressions are forgiven by the King, Toma E. Fiore. As Natsu and Happy leave the palace they are met by Lucy, and when he curiously asks about the rest of the Fairy Tail members is answered as Lucy reveals that the guild has been dissolved, much to the duo's shock. Natsu tries to take his anger out on Makarov, as well as the rest of the former members, wondering whether they were fine with such decision. He is taken aback when Lucy notes that Natsu was also gone for an entire year, not caring about the guild at all. However, knowing that both Natsu and Happy had a lot on their mind, Lucy apologizes and brings them to her apartment. Natsu takes care of his appearance and then ends up telling Lucy stories about his travels until it's late, with Natsu lying down on a couch. Both he and Happy continue thinking about the guild's fate, however, it's not long before they decide to sneak into Lucy's room to draw on her face as she sleeps. That is when they witness all the information about the former guild members that Lucy has gathered. In the morning, Lucy wakes up just to find her place surrounded by the royal soldiers, because Natsu went and put up a message on the royal castle using his flames, signaling the revival of Fairy Tail. As they flee Lucy asks Natsu where they are going, to which he simply grins at her and says that they are going to get the guild back together. Lucy is reluctant at first, but she accepts and together they run out of town while being chased by the Royal Army.
Natsu and Lucy arrive at Tuly Village, where Natsu immediately recognizes the clock tower he destroyed during his earlier job. He ponders destroying it again, only to be slapped by Lucy in order to detract him from it. Natsu is visibly stirred from the lack of challengers, especially that his beloved guild was dissolved, leaving him without anyone to fight. He decides to duel with Lucy, which seems to be confident about her newly acquired abilities, only for Natsu to launch his pinpointed breath towards a group of thieves a certain distance away, precisely landing his attack and allowing the victim to reclaim his carriage. Later, Natsu and Lucy rest in Kotoko Inn, in order to plan their next stop in Margaret Town, which is the home town of Lamia Scale, which also is the new guild of their former guild mate, Wendy Marvell.
As Lucy, Natsu, and Happy arrive in Margaret Town, Lamia Scale's Thanksgiving Day is taking place. Observing the celebrations, they spot Wendy alongside Chelia Blendy, known as "Sky Sisters", performing a song, much to the joy of the celebrating people of Margaret Town. Natsu is set on taking Wendy back from Lamia Scale, only to be met by Carla, now using a human form, thanks to the Transformation Magic. Natsu, Lucy and Happy go to meet with Wendy and Carla, alongside other members of Lamia Scale. Natsu openly declares that he wants Wendy back in order to have her bolster the ranks of the rebuilding guild, only to be refused by her. During the talks, it is noted that Jura Neekis left Lamia Scale in order to become a member of reformed Magic Council, and that Makarov Dreyar received a similar invitation, but did not show up, leaving his whereabouts unknown since the disbanding of Fairy Tail. Natsu and Lucy head to rest in the Viper Inn, both pondering about Wendy's decision.
Soon after, Lamia Scale Guild is bombarded, and Margaret Town is attacked by monsters summoned by Orochi's Fin. Natsu, Lucy and Happy arrive at the scene and rendezvous with Lyon, who explains the situation. It is revealed that this is only a small fraction of the attacking force, as the entire force is composed of at least 100,000 attackers. Ooba Babasaama deduces that Orochi's Fin has a Monster Tamer in their ranks, so Natsu decides to attack their forces from the air using Happy, alongside Wendy and Carla. Suddenly, Chelia hijacks Happy from Natsu and decides to take care of the problem alongside her Sky Slayer counterpart. Lucy, Lyon and Natsu are poised to defend the town and its inhabitants. Natsu, mad at Chelia for hijacking Happy rushes at the invading monster army and decimates them as he moves towards the Sky Sisters' location. Lucy, at the same time summons Loke and utilizes her newfound Star Dress, entering Leo Form in order to defeat the monsters invading the town. Wendy and Chelia approach the location of the Orochi Fin's Monster Tamer, but are ultimately pinned down by the former Dark Mage of Grimoire Heart, now an affiliate of Orochi's Fin: Bluenote Stinger. As Bluenote prepares to finish off Chelia, Natsu arrives and grabs her, oblivious of the situation, yet seemingly unaffected by Bluenote's Gravity Magic. Natsu obliterated Bluenote with an extremely powerful Fire Dragon's Roar; which surprises the Orochi's Fin members, and Wendy and Carla, who are baffled by the amount of power Natsu gathered through the year. After that, Natsu lectures Chelia that stealing is bad, but is reminded by Happy that Orochi's Fin are still on the scene, but the guild surrenders unconditionally in fear of Natsu.
Afterwards, Lamia Scale rejoices over their victory and thank Fairy Tail Mages for the help, while elsewhere, Wendy and Chelia talk about the battle and how Chelia wanted to protect everyone, only for Natsu to take all the glory. Chelia also tells Wendy that her place is in Fairy Tail, noting that both Wendy and Natsu love their guild and comrades, and that's why he wants to bring it back, and she reassures Wendy that they are and will be friends, even if they are under a different guild's banner. Wendy and Carla leave Lamia Scale in order to depart with Natsu, Happy and Lucy in their search for other members, with their next destination being Amefurashi Village.
As the three mages and two Exceeds reach Amefurashi Village, Natsu picks up on Juvia's scent and tracks her down. When they find Juvia they discover that her health is severely crippled because of her extended exposure to rain, and is brought inside her house to recuperate. Juvia reveals that she lived in the village with Gray for six months, until his body was slowly overtaken by black marks. Gray left her shortly afterwards, driving her into depression. Natsu promises Juvia to bring Gray back and rebuild Fairy Tail, so they can be a family once again, but later is visibly angered, prompting Happy to question his mood. Natsu reveals that he wants to go to Sabertooth, so trusting that Juvia is in good hands with Wendy and Carla Natsu, Lucy and Happy departed for the Sabertooth Guild. Wendy attempts to heal Juvia, but to little effect. Carla wonders whether Natsu, Lucy and Happy have reached Sabertooth yet. Meanwhile, the trio arrives at the location. Natsu tells Lucy that from that point forward, he must stop trusting Gray, unless his suspicions turn out to be false, but promises her to bring him back to the guild regardless. After a brief reunion with Sabertooth, Natsu ventures to find Rogue, who was with Minerva and Frosch at the time, heading out to fulfill a request. Natsu quickly takes Rogue to talk in private and urges him to give a look at his request, which is the destruction of Avatar. Natsu immediately gets suspicious and urges Rogue to stay in the town with Frosch, and tells him that he will take the request instead. Rogue is baffled and unhappy because of it, and Natsu quickly rushes with Lucy to Avatar, recalling what Future Rogue told him about Frosch's killer; the killer of the lovable pink frog costume wearing Exceed being Gray.
Natsu's team arrives at Mikage Forest and discuss the request that Natsu has taken from Rogue. Lucy explains that Avatar is a cult worshiping Zeref that is reported to be on the rise since the downfall of Balam Alliance and the Dark Guilds. Natsu, hearing this is ready to attack them, and explains that they might encounter Gray as an enemy, as Future Rogue said his ominous warning one year later. He also notes that the black marks Juvia mentioned were similar to what Natsu had seen on Gray's body during their fight with Mard Geer. Natsu prepares to storm the building through the front door, only to be stopped by Lucy, who notes that they don't know the enemy's strength and proposes to sneak in by the help of Virgo. Lucy also uses her Star Dress in order to borrow some of Virgo's powers and burrow into the basement of Avatar's church. Lucy then proposes to keep out of sight, while searching for Gray's location. Natsu, however immediately disregards the stealthy approach and yells for Gray, immediately alerting the cultists. Abel, Goumon and D-6 confront Natsu's group, but are defeated without much effort by Natsu. Shortly after, Gray shows up, telling the cultists that Natsu isn't an enemy of their caliber and that he will deal with the Fire DragonSlayer himself. Natsu and Gray begin to exchange blows, and Gray asks what Natsu and his team are doing inside Avatar's base, to which Natsu replies that they have come to take him back in order to rebuild the guild. Gray, however has no intention of going back, stating that Fairy Tail is no more and neither feels any attachment to it now, which angers Lucy, who slaps Gray out of anger. Suddenly, Mary casts a spell restraining Lucy, distracting Natsu, which allows the defeated Avatar members to capture them. Natsu yells at Gray, telling him that he's possessed, but Gray simply responds that he's perfectly sane and joined Avatar by his own free will, showing his new mark to his former comrades.
Lucy and Natsu are imprisoned in the dungeons of Avatar's Mikage Forest base. Natsu, Lucy and Happy ponder Gray's downfall into darkness, until they are visited by Goumon, their interrogator. Natsu demands Goumon to reveal Gray's whereabouts, but Goumon reveals that Gray and the rest of Avatar left the area in order to participate in Operation Purify, and that he's going to extract knowledge from Lucy about the reason of their invasion by torture. As Goumon attempts to execute Lucy, he is frozen by Gray, who contacts a person through the Miniature Communication Lacrima about the infiltration plan being ruined, and gives it to Natsu. The person behind the call is revealed to be Erza. Natsu expresses surprise to Erza about an infiltration mission that Gray was undertaking. Erza reveals that she was looking into Avatar, as a group related to Zeref a half year ago, per request from Crime Sorciere and Jellal. Gray also reveals that he learned to control his black marks at will with Porlyusica's help. Gray reveals that him taking part in the operation was to learn about the book of E.N.D., and he expressed regret about not telling Juvia, because he was stopped by Erza not to cause any unnecessary harm or attention. Gray also reveals that Avatar consists of many branches operating independent, nor interacting with each other, which explains his prolonged work in the cult, trying to gain as much info on Operation Purification as he could, and learned that this event gathers every branch of Avatar in order to kill innocent people and summon Zeref.
The reformed Team Natsu arrives in Malba City and starts to defend against the oncoming Avatar cultist army. Mages of the former Fairy Tail manage to hold off the waves of invading cultists, and prompt the top members of Avatar to take the matter into their own hands. Lucy is attacked by Mary, who once more infects her with Virus, but is saved in time by Wendy and her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic, allowing Lucy to launch her own counterattack. Elsewhere on the battlefield Natsu engages the leader of Avatar, Arlock, and lands a powerful damaging blow. Arlock, however laughs in the face of defeat and summons Ikusa-Tsunagi, one of the Eighteen War Gods ofYakuma, as well as reveals the true purpose of Operation Purify: a mass sacrifice that mainly consists of Avatar cultists, whose belief is strong enough to summon Zeref into the battlefield and lead those who remain. Natsu hearing this, angrily remarks this course of action as unforgivable, before engaging the enormous war god. Ikusa-Tsunagi unleashes his attack upon the scattered forces of Avatar and Fairy Tail Mages, who dodge it. The sheer power of the Yakuma War God's sword manages to split the ground open, but Natsu manages to climb up on it and make his way upon the head of the creature. As he counters Arlock's statement of true purpose of living, Natsu lands a powerful attack upon Ikusa-Tsunagi, which manages to shatter him into pieces, prompting Erza to acknowledge Natsu's increase in power.
Upon seeing the War God destroyed, the defeated Avatar members just look on in disbelief at Natsu's strength. The rest of the army flees in terror as D-6 tries to rally them, however before Abel and he can do anything, they're quickly beaten by Gajeel and Panther Lily who arrive with the Magic Council Army to arrest all of Avatar. Gajeel and Levy reunite with the other members who reveal they have come after raiding the Avatar hideout and finding Gray's message along with a nude, tied up Goumon. With victory achieved, Gray apologizes to everyone for his earlier behavior, which he is forgiven for, and the group cheers at their success. At that moment, Sting and Rogue arrive with Lector and Frosch, initially intending offer aid but find that they aren't needed. Frosch then wanders off by itself and goes to talk with its fellow Exceeds, though Natsu quickly notices it and worries about it being near Gray, given that in Future Rogue's time, Gray is meant to kill the small Exceed. His fears, though, are put to rest when Gray simply hugs the Exceed, much to the chagrin of Rogue and the amusement of the others.
After the Avatar incident, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla return to Magnolia, having agreed to meet the others after they take care of personal matters. However as they near the site of the old guild, Lucy becomes nervous, remembering when Makarov announced to dissolve the guild after the battle with Tartaros despite much protest before disappearing. Lucy is afraid the other members might not wish to return after that even though she sent a letter to as many as she could find. However, she is proven wrong as one by one, all the prominent former members arrive looking to revive Fairy Tail, which causes Lucy to shed tears of happiness. Then, seeing all his old comrades return, Natsu digs into the rubble of their old building and pulls out the guild's flag, stating the Fairy Tail Guild has returned.
Five days after the formal restoration of the Fairy Tail Guild, the members begin construction of their new building in the crater where their old building once stood. Leaderless, several ideas to locate the Sixth Master are proposed; however, Levy states that they require an immediate Guild Master to complete the legal procedures for the Guild's revival. Meanwhile, a typical brawl erupts between the guild members, only to be easily broken up by Erza. Levy instantly notes down Erza as the Seventh Guild Master, much to the latter's surprise, and the approval of a member nobody seems to remember: Mest Gryder. Revealing that their former Master is in a dire situation, he leads Erza to the concealed Lumen Histoire, forbidding anybody else from following. The rest of Team Natsu promptly trails them, blowing their cover only upon witnessing their Guild's greatest secret. Overlooking their disobedience, Mest then shares his memories about his undercover mission in the Magic Council. His main objective was to gain intelligence about the Western Continent, home of the Alvarez Empire, which attempted to invade Ishgar in X781 to obtain Lumen Histoire, but were dissuaded by the threat of Etherion and Face. However, the aftermath of Fairy Tail's war against Tartaros left Ishgar with no defense against another invasion, prompting Makarov to disband Fairy Tail to protect the members, then departed to the Alvarez Empire in order to negotiate with their authorities and stall them as long as possible. In order to extract Makarov from Alvarez without impeding the Guild's revival, Erza decides that only the ones present in the chamber will participate in the mission. Mest also describes the reformed Magic Council to be under pressure from the potential war threat from the West, just like their predecessors. The supposedly secret dialogue is overheard by Gajeel thanks to his sharp aural senses. He begins to plan the reformation of the B Team from the Grand Magic Games, apparently knowing where to find Laxus.
Erza's extraction team sets sail for Alakitasia, deciding to resupply at Caracole Island and also get information from Mest's spy who is present there. As the rescue party approaches Caracole, only to notice the Alvarez Navy in control of the island. When Natsu and Wendy inform the others that their enemy's purpose is to roust out the spy, the team members disguise themselves as members of Cait Shelter to pass through the port authorities' inspection. However, they soon get into a skirmish with some of the soldiers who are about to kill a child. While Wendy and the Exceeds escort the child to its father and Mest heads off to find their informant, the remaining four defeat their opponents, then discuss their future course over a serving of Star Mango Gelato.
Suddenly, the stall they are patronizing is destroyed by a person who introduces himself as Marin Hollow, a member of the Brandish Squad. Erza and Lucy find themselves unable to use their magic and, after being informed that all forms of Magic that involve dimensional manipulation are nullified by Marin's Spatial Magic, are forcibly teleported to his personal dimension. The Alvarez Mage then brings forth an utterly beaten Mest and engages Gray and Natsu in combat, easily outmaneuvering the two thanks to his expert combination of martial skills and teleportation. But his little game soon ends with the arrival of his superior, the Shield of Spriggan: Brandish Mu, a woman whose humongous reserves of Magic Power absolutely terrify Gray. Brandish completely ignores Natsu and Gray and, disappointed to see the Star Mango Gelato store wrecked, declares that she will return, believing the spy to be insignificant as Ishgar is too cowardly to act against Alakitasia. She commands Marin to free the women he has captured, intimidating the man into obedience by raising the entire island onto a pillar of rock. Despite this favorable turn of events, Natsu stalls her departure by complaining about Mest's injuries, so Brandish seemingly disintegrates Marin as a form of compensation. She reveals that she is aware of their true identities and reassures them that Makarov is alive. She then returns to her fleet after shrinking the island to a mere pebble as warning to stay away from her Empire. A fishing fleet soon arrives to rescue the stranded population of the former Caracole Island. After getting his wounds treated, Mest teleports everybody to an underwater temple in order to meet the spy, Sorano, who discloses information about Makarov's whereabouts as the sailing temple Olympia sets course for Alakitasia.
After arriving in Alakitasia, Team Natsu heads for the capital city of the Alvarez Empire, Vistarion, where Master Makarov is meeting with the Emperor, who is actually Zeref, much to Makarov's surprise. Zeref revealed that he is indeed the Emperor of Alvarez, having created the country and kingdom a long time ago so he may have the forces he needs to fight Acnologia and capture the Lumen Histoire or as the two know it, the Fairy Heart. Zeref also reveals that he will start the real Dragon Festival: A war between the humans, Acnologia and himself to see who survives. As Makarov and Zeref fight, Zeref overpowers Makarov, but before he can deliver the final blow, Mest suddenly warps in, grabs Makarov and teleports away back to the forest where Team Natsu awaits. As Mest recovers, he informs the group he saw Zeref, much to Natsu's anger.[13] Makarov then laments the pointlessness of trying to negotiate with the Emperor, but Team Natsu assure him they understand his actions and inform him of Fairy Tail reforming, with Natsu telling him they've come to take him home. However, they're suddenly found by Ajeel whose power over sand allowed him to track the group. As Mest is low on Magic Power, he can only make one more teleport, and is saving it for reaching the shore to jump to Sorano's vehicle, Makarov orders everyone to run. They do so, with Erza driving a Magical Vehicle and Gray and Lucy trying to slow Ajeel down with their new powers. It seems to work until Ajeel creates a sinkhole under the vehicle, intending to bury them in sand, all the while gloating of his superior power. However, much to Ajeel and Makarov's shock, the group manages to bust out of the sinkhole before Natsu punches Ajeel in the face. Despite the hit, Ajeel recovers and unleashes a major sand attack on the group. Makarov manages to save Team Natsu proclaiming he won't let Ajeel hurt them. But the Spriggan Guard responds by sending a gigantic sand tidal wave at them that'll disintegrate everything. Just as it's about to hit, lighting suddenly vaporizes the wave. The group see that it's Blue Pegasus's airship with Laxus standing on it along with the rest of Gajeel's group aboard it. Seeing this, Mest teleports their group into it. When Ajeel tries to attack, Laxus sends a major lighting attack down to stop him, allowing the group to get away. Though August manages to save Ajeel thanks to a barrier he threw up at the last moment. Zeref, sensing this, states that things are just in the beginning phase. As everyone reconciles on the ship, Makarov smiles and cries, stating Fairy Tail is the best family one could wish for.
The parties all return safely back to Magnolia and the guild hall celebrates the return of Makarov. Erza quickly gives up her position as guild master to Makarov, now making him the eighth master. After a bit of partying, Makarov gets everyone's attention and apologizes to them for his actions in disbanding the guild. He also warns them that Alvarez will soon be coming for them, although Natsu assures him that the guild will be willing to fight, which everyone agrees with. Makarov then proceeds to tell them about the Lumen Histoire, but Mavis steps in and offers to do it herself, beginning to detail her past with Zeref and what lead to the current situation.
Mavis recalls her first meeting with Zeref in the forests west of Magnolia, who taught her and her companions Magic in order to battle Blue Skull and liberate the city. Her usage of Law granted them victory and saved Yuri Dreyar's life, but at the cost of Mavis' ability to age. In year X686, Fairy Tail was founded, and shortly after the Second Trade War broke out between the feudal lords, where Mavis proved her genius on the battlefield, earning her the title of Fairy Tactician. Mavis met Zeref once again in year X696 and thanked him for his tutelage. Zeref reveals his identity to Mavis, which surprises her, and reveals to him that she used Law, much to Zeref's shock. He tells her that her life-or-death choice brought Ankhseram's Curse upon her, and the only reason it did not activate yet was because she did not value the lives of others due to her participation in the Trade War, but once she becomes aware of the preciousness, the curse will activate. Mavis then runs away to the guild in tears, recalling Zeref's words.
Mavis then attends the moment of Makarov's birth in the guild and becomes his godmother. As Mavis grabs Rita's hand, she unwillingly kills her, realizing that Zeref's words came to pass and horrified, she flees the guild, forcing herself on self-imposed exile, having outburst of Death Predation taking many lives on the way. One year later, she is yet again encountered by Zeref, with Mavis visibly broken and wishing to die of starvation, yet to no avail. Zeref then explains what he has been up to all the time: creating Etherious to kill him, as well as his involvement with Alvarez Empire, of which's construction and rule treats akin to a game. As he explains his reasons, Mavis notices that even his thoughts contradict each other while he is suddenly having one of his breakdowns, including his lifetime wish for Natsu to end his life, then him switching to a want to kill his brother instead. Mavis then vows to help Zeref to find a way to end their curses, proclaiming mutual love. However as Mavis and Zeref kiss, the power of his own curse overwhelmed Mavis', ending her immortal life and pushing Zeref even further into darkness. Having found something to live for again through love after previously discarding the value of life, it was the ultimate contradiction of the curse, causing Mavis to die even though she was supposed to be impervious to death.
Zeref, grieving over the loss of the person that was willing to help him overcome his curse, encounters his other student and friend of Mavis, Precht Gaebolg: the man who later will become known as Hades. Precht recognizes the Black Wizard and that he is carrying the First Master on his arms. After a brief conversation, Zeref unceremoniously drops Mavis on the ground, saying that he came to return her back to the guild. Zeref reveals his identity to Precht before walking away, comparing himself to a polar opposite of what Mavis was, a Spriggan to Mavis' Fairy, before departing to Alakitasia in order to continue running his growing Alvarez Empire, remarking that he shouldn't, or rather couldn't ever fall in love. Precht then senses a residual Magic source still dwelling inside Mavis' seemingly lifeless body and attempts to revive her, but to no avail. He later realizes that the magic was in actuality the still active Curse of Ankhseram, which left Mavis' body in a state between life and death. He then created a ruse about Mavis' death and made a fake grave on Tenrou Island, as well as became officially the Second Guild Master of Fairy Tail. Thirty years later, Precht's efforts ultimately gave birth to a limitless font of Magic, known as the Eternity Magic: Fairy Heart. Mavis also reveals that Zeref is most likely after Fairy Heart to make it a power source for his own forces in order to take down Acnologia. Natsu then reveals that he developed a secret, powerful technique sealed under the bandages on his right arm, powerful enough to take down even the immortal Zeref.
Lucy reminisces about Fairy Heart, the reason why Alvarez wants to invade Ishgar, as well as her duty to protect it, since it's the body of their First Master, the person responsible for the foundation of Fairy Tail, the guild she met all the mages she befriended so far. Natsu and Happy manage to break into her place, and Lucy notes that the townspeople were already evacuated. Natsu also recalls the words Igneel left him: to speak about the future, which shall become a thing that will ignite his will to live. Back in Fairy Tail, Warren has established his radar facility that is supposed to detect enemy forces advancing around Magnolia. Mavis proposes that the forces should split in two directions: a diversion force stationed in the north, while the main force waits in the south. However, Alvarez fleet consisting of 50 ships assaulted the Guild's position from the air, using cloaking devices that inhibited Warren's radar, revealing themselves once they came in close proximity. Ajeel, the Shield that commanded the operation proclaimed that Fairy Tail will be reduced to nothing more, but dust. Mavis quickly has the bell rung to alert the others. Ajeel commences his attack only for the ships cannon fire to be blocked by a shield Freed puts up, though struggles to do so with Bickslow lending his own Magic Power to help. As Ajeel keeps up the assault, Mavis sends out the Dragon Slayers and their Exceeds to take care as many ships as they can. Meanwhile, Mavis has Alzack and Bisca ready a Jupiter Cannon in the hopes of taking down the main ship. Since the cannon takes 15 minutes to charge, they know they can't afford to miss. Bisca fires as soon as the charge is completed but Ajeel just deflects the shot though in scattering it, the shot does take out a few more ships. For the moment it seems the onslaught is contained and Freed being able to keep the shield up on his own. Freed and Warren soon find that the barrier has been penetrated by Wall who has his forces march into the city. Mavis warns the other members of this who rush to intercept them. Lucy starts to head out, but hears someone in her bathroom. Investigating, she finds Brandish bathing in her tub who states that Lucy left an impression on her. Brandish's presence is soon detected by Warren before he sees that three hundred air ships are heading from the North with three more Spriggan Knights on the.
Brandish orders Lucy into the tub, threatening to shrink her, the town and her friends if she doesn't comply. What's more she brought Marin, still in small size, with her. After she shrinks the neighboring house as a warning, Lucy complies though readies herself for a fight as she strips naked. Lucy gets in the tub and Brandish confesses she's not very cute, going on to humiliate her by making her wear cat ears. Brandish states she feels she knows Lucy from somewhere, but as her country doesn't get eastern magazines or know of the Grand Magic Games, she can't recall where. As Brandish forces her to wash her back, Lucy sees her unaware and vulnerable, which she then prepares to use Aquarius's broken key shard to stab her. However, Brandish suddenly realizes where she knows Lucy as she remembers her last name and she is the daughter of Layla Heartfilia. She instantly shrinks Lucy's house, forcing her to run outside. Lucy tries to ask how she knows her mother but Brandish refuses to talk about it. Cana suddenly arrives and forces Brandish away from her. Lucy reveals she managed to grab the capsule that was containing Marin and knocks him out by stepping on him. With Marin unconscious and his magic dispelled, Lucy regains her magic and puts on the Aries Form Star Dress to combat Brandish. Lucy and Cana look around for Brandish, who developed a sneezing fit as a result of the kicked-up pollen in the vicinity. Cana swiftly takes her out from behind, with both the female Mages agreeing to take her back to the guild.
As the sun rises, everyone reminisces on the previous day's battles and plan out their next steps with the other guilds joining the fray. Mavis unwillingly didn't want other guilds to join the fray, to which Laxus and Makarov both disagree with her standing, later asking Warren to report the current state of affairs. Meanwhile in the underground prison, Brandish is locked away in a cell, forced to wear Magic Sealing Stones cuffs and shackles. Macao and Wakaba stand guard whilst making lewd comments, rewarding them with a hit to head by Lucy who again asks of Brandish of her relationship with her mother. Brandish refuses to talk, demanding Lucy to kill her, instructing her to make it fast. Lucy abjectly refuses to cooperate with Brandish's request; as all she just wants to know is what the relationship between her mother and Brandish is. Brandish repeats herself, stating that Lucy should hurry as this may be her only chance to do it. Cana intervenes at this point telling Lucy to quit trying, all the while a normal-sized Marin plans to infiltrate their guild from the outside.
Warren then gives the shocking news that the guilds of Bosco, Fiore's neighbor, have been wiped out by the Alvarez Imperial forces. However he also mentions good news of Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus going to intercept the enemies to the north while Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale are traveling to repel the southern forces occupying Hargeon Town. Mavis then mobilizes the Strauss siblings, Gajeel, Levy, and Lily to assist the northern forces whilst Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, and Laxus are to provide assistance to the south. Natsu however is nowhere to be seen leaving everyone in the guild scrambling to find him, nevertheless Erza insists on taking the truant Dragon Slayer's spot, stating that he'll be fine. Mavis orders Lucy and Cana to keep watch over Brandish while saying the rest of the remaining forces are to stand by for Zeref's incoming forces, coming in from the west. Romeo questions who will defend the east, with Mavis revealing that the remaining Gods of Ishgar, along with Jura will take care of the eastern forces. Suddenly the Magic Radar picks up on Natsu's current position, who's flying at an incredible speed, heading toward Zeref's position. Everyone in the guild is up-in-arms with his latest selfish stunt. Erza tells everybody to have more faith in their comrade, with Gray now in her face, vehemently opposing this statement. Lucy breaks up the two's argument with Mavis concluding for everybody to put their faith in Natsu and continue on with their plans.
As Natsu faces Zeref, Dimaria and Wall take Hargeon, in the north, Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus are engaged with the enemies, repelling their initial forces, and in the east, God Serena, along with August and Jacob Lessio, encounters with his former comrades, the Four Gods of Ishgar and Jura.
Meanwhile in her solitary confinement in Magnolia, Brandish is approached by Marin, who successfully infiltrated the guild. As Brandish orders him to remove her cuffs, Marin grabs her neck, beginning to forcibly strangle her, as he has decided that she "fails" in his eyes, pointing to all of the mistreatment and humiliation he received from her thus far. Brandish then awakens to see Lucy, Cana, and Porlyusica, who reveal to her that they saved her from Marin after she lost consciousness. Brandish assumes Lucy wants knowledge on her and Layla's past, demanding that in exchange, they release the chains binding her, not the Sealing Stone, however. Lucy obliges; Brandish explains her that her mother, Grammi, was one of Layla's trusted servants, and the one she passed down Aquarius' key to when she could not continue to be a Mage. Lucy mentions that Aquarius's key was gifted to her by her mother, but Brandish asks Lucy how such a thing could be possible if her mother had the key: the answer is that Layla killed Grammi. A shocked Lucy vehemently disagrees, but Brandish takes advantage of Lucy's naivety and leaps from her bed, where she begins to tearfully asphyxiate her. During the struggle, a vase is knocked over, and from the water rises Aquarius, who saves Lucy from Brandish's grasp. Shocked to see her old friend, Lucy bursts into to tears while the two embrace after over a year. Aquarius explains her key has been reborn somewhere on this world, and with the help of the Celestial Spirit King she was able to travel to this world as he temporarily opened her gate. She then greets Brandish, admonishing and ordering her around after the two haven't met in so long. Aquarius then explains that Brandish's hatred to Layla is misguided, as she brings both her and Lucy to Star Memory, a realm where one can see the memory archives of the past spirits and Mages. She shows the two girls Anna Heartfilia, a cerebral Celestial Spirit Mage, conversing with Zeref about their plan to send warriors to the future to defeat Acnologia, by using the Eclipse Gate. Anna opened it 400 years prior, with the plan being passed down all the way to Layla, who opened it on July 7, X777 but did not have all 12 keys required to open it, as Grammi, who had the remaining one, was away in Alakitasia with Brandish. Layla used her own remaining life force to cover the last key which she fell ill from Magic Deficiency Disease, worrying the returned Grammi as she promised her master that she will return Aquarius' key so she could pass it down to Lucy. After the two friends converse, Grammi leaves, not long after being approached and stabbed from behind by Zoldeo, who is angry at Grammi for being the reason of the dying Layla. She accepts her fate but requests Zoldeo not to harm Brandish as her dying wish, which causes Brandish in the present to break in a fit of tears as Lucy comforts her, wanting to be her friend as well.
Suddenly, the mood is turned into melancholy, as a tearful Happy brings in a despondent Natsu—pleading for help— utterly shocking everyone present. Stunned from seeing Natsu motionless, Cana and Porlyusica rush to the room, confused as to why Happy rushed his friend so suddenly past them. Lucy checks his heartbeat, which she confirms she cannot hear it, which garners Porlyusica to quickly attend to the Dragon Slayer, as she reveals an Anti-Ethernano Tumor has arose in his body, developing inside of him from a mass exertion of his magic power and that without surgery, he can perish from the mass contaminating his body. Her reveal worries everyone, as she continues on to say no one on the continent of Ishgar is capable of healing the virus. Brandish then comments that her magic is capable of shrinking the tumor to a minuscule level that it would be harmless, requesting for the Fairy Tail Mages to remove her cuffs in order to begin the operation. Later, after the operation was performed, Brandish returns to her cell and is confronted and thanked by Lucy and Happy for saving Natsu, only for the Spriggan 12 to mention she wants to be left alone. Aquarius, after bringing Lucy to the balcony, tells her about her key is somewhere in this world, however, she lets the latter know she won't be able to spare clues on its location. Lucy complies, promising the Celestial Spirit she will recover it in on her own; the Water Bearer happily departing after hearing her vow.
Elsewhere, the Four Gods of Ishgar and Jura are utterly defeated by God Serena, Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel have retreated due to being overwhelmed by Dimaria and Wall, and Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus have also retreated temporarily. God Serena, who was a former God of Ishgar before defecting to Alvarez, defeated his former comrades revealed that he is in possession of 8 Dragon Lacrima, and that he can wield the power of each of them together. After his revelation God Serena is utterly destroyed by Acnologia who had suddenly appeared; before departing Acnologia vows to destroy the other Dragon Slayers, wanting to whisk away any remnants of the Dragons in his presence.
As the sun rises, the battle to liberate Hargeon continues as the Lamia Scale-Mermaid Heel alliance rekindles battle with Dimaria and Wall's forces; the two Shields of Spriggan eager to do battle once again. Chelia begins to take out some foot soldiers, not long after her clothes begin to tear away from the swipe of Dimaria's blade. The Valkyrie identifies her as the alliance's healer and moves swiftly to kill her but it struck away by Wendy, coming to the aid of Chelia. Gray and Juvia begin to back up a surprised Lyon, while Erza join forces with Kagura, who admits that their guild's problems is the reason for their allies aiding them against Alvarez. Just as Wall scopes out Fairy Tail's arrival, Laxus appears from behind and hammers him; Wall then absorbs his attack. The Machias prepares to retaliate, but it swiftly struck again by Laxus, who proclaims he'll take out the perpetrator who attacked his comrades: the Raijinshuu.
As Happy watches over a sickbed Natsu and a sleeping Lucy, he promises he'll find a way to avert a future that Natsu perishes along with Zeref. In the guild hall, Warren updates Mavis and Makarov on the state of the war, announcing that two of the 12 are downed but the eastern and western Alvarez forces are completely unaided by their forces, leaving them on a direct path to Fairy Tail. Even as the guild members rejoice that there are eight remaining of the Spriggan 12, Makarov ceases their happiness by mentioning there is no backup plan to take on the eastern and western forces, causing Mavis to ponder what she must do to take down Zeref. Lucy and Happy continue to watch over the sleeping Natsu, noting that he'll awake soon as the guild members rejoice that another Spriggan 12 has fallen. Makarov incurs on Mavis, who is worried about the movement in the east, not long after Jacob arrives to their guild, surprising the members as their locations appearing on the Magic Radar was only a ruse. He mentions he went ahead of August because of their holiday and wanting to pay respects to the elderly mage, using his magic to transport all of the living to an alternate dimension, with only Mavis' ethereal body remaining. Jacob notices her, shooting and beginning to torment her with his magic, identifying her as Fairy Heart, demanding where the weapon is being held. Lucy, saved from his magic by Horologium, surprise attacks the assassin from behind, but the latter flings a knife in her direction and she is defended by a rejuvenated Natsu. Their battle begins as Natsu charges to engage Jacob, the two going back-and-forth with continuous retaliating blows. Jacob suddenly vanishes in thin air, reappearing to attack Natsu from behind, then again to torment Mavis as he goes on to explain the nature of his magic: Stealth, which is able to camouflage and mask anything he chooses to disappear. Lucy quickly summons Loke to illuminate the room, exposing Jacob but the assassin continues to overwhelm the trio with a physical, as well as invisible weaponry assault. He soon pins down Natsu and erases Lucy's clothes in order to subdue him, but the Fairy Tail mages use the opportunity to their advantage, knocking back the Spriggan 12 after he undoes the magic, all which garners Mavis' attention. As the Shield of Spriggan begins to go in a fit of rage, Mavis comes to an epiphany on how to finally defeat the immortal Zeref. Natsu and Lucy continue their struggle with the assassin, exchanging blows while the duo takes the brunt of damage from the well-trained Spriggan 12. Jacob begins to get weary of the task, forcing their hand as he proclaims he will start killing off their captured comrades one by one, but is quickly stuck in a rut after Lucy informs him that Brandish is among the captured. Jacob quickly releases her and Marin, with everybody then confused as to why there are two Marin's present, the latter actually being Gemini, who uses the Spatial Magic user's Rules of the Area to negate Jacob's Transport which returns all of the captured mages. Makarov soon punches Jacob through the guild, flinging Natsu in his direction to finish the deed with his enhanced fist attack, ending the threat of the Shield of Spriggan.
After their bout, Brandish returns to her cell where she is greeted by an exuberant Natsu, thanking her for saving his life. She shuns him, speaking only of the impeding reality that her comrade, August, is on his way to the guild, stating that the war is all but over. Outside, the members begin repairing the side of the guild in which Makarov destroyed, weary of the feat of the elderly Spriggan 12 who is coming in their direction. Underneath the guild, Mavis and Cana are visiting the location of Fairy Heart; Mavis explaining to the latter that she has concocted a plan to defeat Zeref, but needs Cana to destroy her current apparition using Fairy Glitter in order to free her real body currently inhabiting the Lacrima. Cana digresses but Mavis urges her she must as this is the only possible route.
With August approaching Fairy Tail Natsu foolhardily decides he is going to confront August, the strongest among the Spriggan 12 who is currently on his way to the guild hall. However Brandish, now released from her solitary confinement, gives off the ominous proclamation that although August is the strongest man among them, the strongest woman is of the very same magnitude: Irene Belserion. Brandish then proposes that she will negotiate with August in order to ease his inevitable arrival. Mest casts doubts on her true intentions, but Lucy digresses his notion, stating she'll believe in her words. Soon after Brandish, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy head out to confront August. While they travel Natsu ponders of August's strength, which causes Brandish to say he would be obliterated the minute they battle. Natsu then exposes Mest who was stalking the trio; the latter saying it's risky to trust the Spriggan 12, whose restraints have been removed. After conversation about their travel method, Brandish uses her magic to increase the size of Happy, able to now support everyone's weight. While back in the guild hall's basement, Cana falls to her knees in an attempt to destroy the First Master's body, failing to kill her friend. Mavis says she carries a likeness to her friend Zera, telling her to continue her task in order to fulfill in her plan.
As Natsu's group continues to travel upon an enlarged Happy, they suddenly feel a massive amount of magical aura, turning out to be coming from the Magic King himself, August. Opposed by his comrade, August wonders what is the meaning of Brandish appearing in front of him, which she tells him she's here to negotiate a ceasefire with him. She asks of God Serena's fate, which the Magic King says he resides with him, going on to conclude that because she does not look tortured it can only mean that she's betraying the Emperor's very word. Brandish continues to explain her decision to August, explaining that their monarch is only out for blood, wanting a one-sided massacre. August tries to rebut her thought, but after Brandish's denial August eventually agrees to converse with the Fairy Tail Mages due to her request. However, suddenly, Brandish pulls out her dagger, enlarges it and stabs August with the blade, shocking everyone present. Natsu then turns to yell at Mest, who is the one who manipulated Brandish into stabbing her comrade. August, who is massively enraged, declares that their action in the negotiation only shows of their true colors. August, in his dark form, quickly puts Brandish to sleep, before casting an incalculable pillar of light, vastly damaging Natsu and the others. From the guild hall, some of the Fairy Tail Mages can see the vast funnel of light from afar, while in the basement, Cana successfully breaks Mavis' true body out from the Lacrima; the First Master mentioning her body is suffering from muscular atrophy.
Elsewhere, Irene and Acnologia fight in a wasteland, the two exchanging blast after blast, causing Irene compliments the latter, who is aware that she learned of her enchanting from the Emperor himself. She takes a sly shot at her Majesty, saying that he is simply somewhere enjoying the war as a game, before decidedly wanting to end it. The ground begins to light up, with Acnologia wondering what Magic this is; Irene telling him this is something never seen before, being a Magic of a new era. All around Fiore, the ground lights up as all the participants of the war look in wonderment, as Irene enacts her Magic unbeknownst to the world: Universe One. From all around Fiore, the beaming light began to dissipate, awakening Mavis from the confusion, as she quickly comes out to the lobby to see Zeref sitting in a chair, stunning her. Elsewhere, Natsu and Lucy arise from the confusion, looking around in wonderment while Gray, along with an injured Erza, comes to see that everyone's positions might have been changed. By the shore lines, most of the members of the Fairy Tail Guild come to look around to what has happened, until Alzack locates the arriving enemy ship; Makarov preparing the group for battle. At the same time, Brandish shrinks August's wound, who figures the Magic was of Irene's, who purposely reorganized the map of Fiore to get the Emperor closer to Fairy Heart, while banishing Acnologia to another location, which in turn changed the landscapes and territories of the country to benefit Alvarez.
After the shift caused by Universe One Natsu and Lucy reunite with Gray, Juvia, and Erza, discuss what has happened. They suddenly hear a voice telling them to hurry back to the guild hall as their mother, Mavis, is in danger. As all the Fairy Tail members continue to look dumbfounded at the voice they hear, Gajeel's voice is heard in the broadcast which confirms to them it's an ally, initiating the race to the Guild.
In the Fairy Tail guild hall, Mavis and Zeref continue their stare-down, with Zeref rehashing their long-awaited reunion while Mavis internally discusses her plan to annihilate her former lover. Invel freezes her body, as he doesn't want her to activate Fairy Heart, but is scolded by Zeref who eventually is relinquished by the Winter General into inducing his Ice Slave upon her, which prevents her to think and move properly. One by one, the fellow Spriggan 12 are introduced to Mavis; Irene appearing before the two in exuberance with the army's morale gathering in one place. Zeref asks her to begin making an isolation enchantment, one that would be able to remove Fairy Heart from Mavis; this scares Mavis as Irene agrees. Zeref then declares that he will not allow another tomorrow for Fairy Tail, posted with his guards as they await the resistance. Far off in the horizon, Erza ponders whether or not the next dawn will be their last but is encouraged by Natsu who says there is no doubt they'll take back their guild from Alvarez.
As five-sevenths of Team Natsu glare at the countless amount of enemy soldiers surrounding their guild, Erza believes they should concoct a plan but Natsu overrules this, as he mentions their comrades are on their way. With that, Gray challenges Natsu to see who can defeat Zeref first; Natsu taking up his offer as the Fairy Tail Mages charge at the Alvarez military, unleashing their attacks upon them as more and more Ishgar warriors arrive to the battle. Suddenly, eight dragons arise from the ground as the Historia of God Serena appears to impede their progress, utilizing three types of his Dragon Slayer Magic, which shocks the heroes of the strongest Mage on Ishgar's power. In the midst of his barrage, a large crash comes down, splitting his Magic and land, as all wonder who has arrived, that person turning out to be Gildarts, who is hungry for the return of his guild.
In the guild hall, Mavis struggles in pain as Irene begins the process of removing Fairy Heart from her immortal body. Zeref sees her in pain, wishing for her not to suffer but Irene denounces his caution, saying that if he continues with that attitude he will never be able to overcome Acnologia; this causing Zeref to agree with her statement as departs the room. Neinhart appears to inform that the enchantress that he has located Erza, which Irene orders him to kill her if he cannot with his Historias. The battles in the war zone continues, with Natsu and others encountering more soldiers; Natsu attacking them with a roar, but him, along with the others behind him, minus Gray, are frozen solid by an arriving Invel. Gray moves to attack him but is quickly throttled by the Winter General, who casts doubt that his ice can defeat his own winter. As Gray and Invel fight Natsu suddenly breaks out the ice prison himself as well as Lucy and Juvia, but not long after a super-sized Brandish comes and grabs Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, telling them to be quiet as she takes them away.
Walking to some ruins, Brandish drops Natsu and Lucy, who wonder what she's planning. She informs them that she doesn't want to hurt them, but states she will annihilate all of her friends and that this war is over for them as the 12 along with the army are too much for them to handle. This leaves Natsu to question if she thinks he will let her freely accomplish that all while a scorn Dimaria overlooks this conversation. Neinhart then appears and advises Brandish to step aside so he can destroy their enemies while on his quest to locate Erza has been initiated. Brandish says to fall back, which prompts Neinhart to attack her from thought of betrayal, as well as their enemies with his new attained enhanced body from Irene. Natsu denies his presence by blowing him back. With Neinhart knocked down, Natsu turns to Brandish to tell her if they are not comrades he will fight her, but the Dragon Slayer quickly collapses due to Brandish to enlarging his tumor that she previously shrunk down. Lucy violently questions her methods which Brandish retorts that he simply an enemy, beginning her soliloquy on needing to confirm and settle her inner differences, prompting Lucy to engage her swiftly in battle. The Spriggan 12 kicks her away, which Lucy then utilizes Scorpio and three of her Star Dresses to combat Brandish with, but each are countered by the latter reducing and magnifying her powers against her, overwhelming the Fairy Tail Mage. Suddenly, Dimaria appears to question Brandish's leniency over Lucy, theorizes that she could easily kill both of their foes but instead puts up a farce in front of her while holding back. She quickly cuts up Brandish for her actions, using her Age Seal once again to stomp on Lucy as she will torment the latter for corrupting her comrade's beliefs.
As Irene is in the later stages of removing Fairy Heart, Zeref comes in the room asking her for some last waning moments with his former lover. As Irene she disagrees, the real Zeref hurries in the room to tell her that's an illusion created by Mavis, with Irene noticing the Mavis on the table is an illusion as well, leading Zeref to order her to pursue the real body immediately. On the cliff side, an escaping Mavis is taken to safety by Mest, while Gajeel appears to assist Jet and Droy who are beaten by the enemy troops. Levy sees his arrival, attacking him as she reminds him that he promised to take her back to the guild, something Zera oversees who is beginning to disappear due to Mavis' conscious being back to normal. The two reunite in her mind; Mavis thanking her best friend for everything she has done. Dimaria has locked up both Natsu and Lucy, preparing to deal their punishment while outside, Porlyusica finds a wounded Brandish, telling her the tumor she diagnosed originally was mistaken, being something much worse than she previously thought.
Arising from her sleep, Lucy awakens to see Natsu tied up as well as herself under some Magic Sealing Stones, which Dimaria appears to say that she was the one incarcerated the two of them. After playfully removing her bra, she then says she will torment her for ruining Brandish, beginning with gorging out her eyes. Lucy adamantly states that she doesn't care, leading Dimaria to begin and for Lucy to go completely blank, waking up to see the time goddess injured in the corner, murmuring that she couldn't believe what the power of E.N.D truly is. Brandish and the others arrive to her location; Porlyusica informing Lucy that the tumor she originally diagnosed wasn't made of Anti-Ethernano, but more of a demonic power laying in him, this stunning Lucy. Outside, a demonic Natsu runs around looking for Zeref, locating him at the guild hall but Gray, who is after Natsu himself, encounters his friend in a cold glare. Brandish reduces her wound but still has trepidation in her mind, but is encouraged by Lucy who says it is what makes someone human; with that the Celestial Spirit Mage departs with Happy in order to find Natsu.
As Gray and Natsu, now in his E.N.D. form, fight, and Lucy and Happy search the area for Natsu, The Mages on the battlefield begin to struggle mightily with them, while Makarov looks on this in grief while Irene explains that this enchantment increases the abilities of those targeted by it whilst their thought process becomes primitive as a side effect. As Erza continues to push through, Makarov declares this is the end of him, beginning to prepare Fairy Law but Mavis tries to stop him as the more numbers it is used on, the shorter the caster lifespan will drain. Makarov tells her this is what a father must do to protect his children; casting the powerful magic to clear out the soldiers as the various guild members begin to weep in sorrow; his body completely immobile as he passes on to the next life. With the 8th guild master's body now in the next life, Mavis reminisces on being the one who named him, breaking down in complete despair before being comforted by Laxus, who asks her to continue to guide them with her wisdom in order to win the war. Erza bows down in respect of her fallen father figure, thereafter beginning to track her fellow comrades in Natsu and Gray, who are in complete deadlock in their battle to succumb one another. Back and forth it goes on, leading Natsu to take charge to deliver a decisive blow of Gray; who prepares his own attack on Natsu, but both mages are halted by a tearful Erza, who are belittled by the swordswoman for their foolish act of fighting one another. Stepping in between the warriors clashing, a tearful Erza bemoans their act, causing both Natsu and Gray to reflect on the past; recounting the times they've seen their comrade cry; something they both never wanted to see again, causing them both to stop. Erza pulls both of them closer, embracing them not long after thinking in her mind of the words of their deceased master, passing on their will to be a family to two them. Lucy, Juvia and Wendy then arrive, the trio worrying about the two; whom both collapse due to exhaustion from their battle. Soon after a huge explosion occurs, breaking parts of the battlefield, revealing to have come from Irene, who greets Erza after a long time. As Wendy internally monologues she resembles Erza, Irene introduces to the group that she and Erza are one of the same.
Erza then orders Lucy, Happy, and Juvia to take Natsu and Gray and retreat, which they do without complaint. They return to the underground chamber where Porlyusica and Brandish are. Porlyusica and Brandish finish attending to the wounds of Natsu, Gray and Juvia; Lucy worrying about the Dragon Slayer's new condition. Dimaria mentions he is nothing but a demon, saying that its things you never know about one another, comrades included. Lucy denies this stating she knows more than the Valkyrie would, but after explaining her reasoning on the comment Brandish and Evergreen made, everyone notices Natsu's body letting off a cold steam, worrying for what is currently going on with him. Porlyusica orders Lucy to strip and use her own body heat, plus some blankets, to keep Natsu's body temperature from dropping any more than it already has. While elsewhere, Irene informs Erza that she is her birth mother, and that she abandoned her in Rosemary Village. Irene, after witnessing Erza's strength and resolve, and remembering her past shockingly stabs herself, saying even though she murdered countless people she could not succumb to killing her own daughter because in truth she always loved her.
Natsu, miraculously recovers, and wakes up in the room with Lucy and the others. Not long after, Universe One begins to dispel, with the country of Fiore returning to its normal state. Natsu and Lucy, at her apartment, then prepare for the final march towards their guild and Zeref. With Magnolia returned to its regular status, the climax of the war breaks out all around the city; Mavis commands everyone to use their familiarity to their advantage. Natsu and Lucy regroup with Brandish and a shrunken Dimaria; the latter walks away intending to stay out of either sides' way, while Porlyusica and Evergreen ask what became of Gray. Suddenly they feel the ground shake, as it is caused by August who calls his fellow 12 to destroy all for His Majesty, but is then encountered by Gildarts who engages him in battle. Natsu then quickly begins to depart, believing to know where Gray went, while meanwhile, the ice Mage appears at the doorstep of the guild, telling the man who is in his seat to depart at once, that person turning out to be Zeref.
While Gildarts and August are fighting in the streets of Magnolia, Gray is preparing to use Lost Iced Shell on Zeref, but is interrupted by Natsu. Natsu then tears up to say that they are friends and he must live. Zeref points out that fate has determined what happens, with Natsu rebuking that theory, defiantly stating he'll burn away any type of destiny like that. While elsewhere, at Fairy Hills, Wendy has finished healing Erza and they begin to walk away from Irene's body but suddenly feel a huge magical power, that figure dropping in front of them, turning out to be Acnologia who states he is bored of this current world; this happening triggering August to solemnly state that their time is up.
As Natsu and Zeref begin their second clash, trading barbs as Zeref pushes him back and notices he cannot beat him without Igneel's power. They all feel Acnologia's presence so it incites Zeref to say Natsu will die here. On August's front, he mentions Acnologia has arrived and that without Fairy Heart, it will be all for naught. Gildarts says he gives up too quickly, but August says it is because Acnologia will paint their future black and that his Majesty is doing everything for the sake of humanity. As Natsu and Zeref continue to trade blows, Mavis telepathically contacts Lucy and Gray to tell them to rendezvous with her quickly due to Natsu's fate in the balance, which causes both of them to curiously wonder why. Zeref, with his curse of contradictions acting up, becomes giddy while partaking in his battle with his younger brother, only for Larcade to appear shortly, casting R.I.P. on Natsu to aid his father's wish of killing him. Zeref then fills himself with anger, then blasts Larcade for getting in his way. Zeref continues to shun Larcade, which Larcade wonders why his father would, leading Zeref to reveal he's another demon from his books that was created when in the process of reviving Natsu and that was deemed the strongest one of his attempts and donned the last name of "Dragneel". Larcade continues to cry that his "father" rejects him, which angers Zeref to the point of killing Larcade, something that Natsu punches his brother for and doesn't agree with his actions.
Lucy and Gray then meet Mavis, who has retrieved Natsu's book and that she plans to enact her final plan, telling them to let Natsu battle Zeref alone. Natsu in confrontation with Zeref tries to get through to him with emotion by acknowledging him as his brother, but Zeref rejects it as they begin their final face-off. Gray and Lucy decide to open Natsu's book while in the guild hall Zeref clutches Natsu's within his magic, while telling him of his fable Neo Eclipse plan; which in combination with the Ravines of Time and Fairy Heart he will reset time to when he wasn't immortal to live his life completely over.
Lucy opens Natsu's book only to have numerous characters fly out that Lucy concludes on it being Natsu's history. Meanwhile, in the guild hall Natsu is still in Zeref's clutches by the time Mavis arrives, saying that she will defeat Zeref, only for the latter to smirk that the final key to Neo Eclipse has finally arrived. Natsu, entering Dragon Force, burns away Zeref's Magic and tells his First Master that he will be the one to finish him off. While the guild members reconvene from the strong magical pressure that was released from the guild hall, Lucy and Gray arise to delve into more of Natsu's book, which Lucy suggests that they should rewrite the contents.
Lucy and Gray notice that many letters of Natsu's tome are breaking, which they conclude Natsu has been injured. Lucy then begins to replace the old letters, leading to Natsu to arise from the earlier strike to impede Zeref's plan once more. However, due to the tampering of his book, Lucy's body is affected by the contents, which causes both Happy and Gray to panic. The contents of Natsu's book begins to overtake Lucy's body, with her screaming in agony from the heat. Although she tries to manage it, Gray quickly uses his ice to cool her down as they he declares for both of them to save Natsu. Meanwhile Natsu barks at Zeref, who notices Natsu has been healed by whoever is tampering with his book, although he concurs that person will fall into darkness like those who tried to rewrite it in the past.
Natsu and Zeref's back and forth ends with both of them unleashing a powerful attack at one another, in attempts to finish each other off. Natsu overcomes Zeref's might which, at the same time, Mavis arises to finish off Zeref with her plan while Natsu bids goodbye to his brother after their final confrontation. With Zeref defeated, Mavis comes closer to her former lover, with both noting how much life has been a struggle for the two, something Mavis wants to fix. Zeref realized she never truly loved him, it's why the curse took her life instead of his. Mavis points to that thought being false, with her admitting she didn't reflect as much on her love for him. She begins to get affected by the curse of Ankhseram, violently hitting Zeref while mentioning she loves him. She decides to take both of their lives, kissing Zeref which activates the curse, in turn killing both her and Zeref. Elsewhere, Makarov rises from his slumber from Fairy Law being cast, leading to the guild rejoicing as the First Master has passed on.
Lucy finishes decoding Natsu's tome, falling down from the powerful demonic magic infusing in her skin. Gray uses his Devil Slayer Magic to exorcise the power, curing Lucy who then thanks him. Soon after, Natsu reunites with them and after rejoicing they four begin to head to the guild. While talking of what they plan to do next, the trio notices that Natsu has vanished which causes Lucy to break in depression even after she rewrote the book to unbind his life to Zeref's while in the sky, Wendy notices a crack is beginning to form. The crack in the sky is caused from Acnologia absorbing the Ravines of Time, becoming a controller of Time Magic. Everyone is fearful for their lives, while Acnologia declares humanity is all over, casting Eternal Flare which decimates parts of the world. With his newfound power, he warps all seven Dragon Slayers into the dimension of the Ravines of Time, facing Natsu as he prepares to slay the remaining remnants of Dragons to become the perfect Dragon in existence. (It is later learned the Acnologia's physical and spiritual-self have split, and his physical self is on a crash course towards Magnolia.)
Everyone wonders what has happened to the Dragon Slayers, but Master Makarov ensures everyone by telling them to have faith in their friends. With everyone calming from their worry about the Dragon Slayers, they all become fearful of the black dragon's awesome destructiveness, and what it could do to the world Lucy comes up with a plan that might work, but in order for it to be carried out she needs to go to the guild's library, and the others need to lead Acnologia out of Magnolia and towards Hargeon.
Lucy, along with Happy, Levy, Freed, and Makarov head for the guild while everyone else splits up to make preparations for Lucy's plan. Her plan is to lure Acnologia to Hargeon and onto a ship, hoping that he is as susceptible to motion sickness as the other Dragon Slayers, and then cast Fairy Sphere to trap him. As the group search the guild's library for the book that will tell them how to perform Fairy Sphere Acnologia unleashes a devastating breath attack that destroys half of the guild shaking up those inside. Because of the shockwave from the attack Lucy ends up buried beneath a pile of books, but then emerges with the book she needs to carry out the plan of trapping Acnologia. Happy then picks Lucy up and flies as fast he can towards Hargeon while Lucy reads the book.
After Acnologia unleashed his breath attack that destroyed half of the Fairy Tail guild hall, the others were successful in garnering the black dragon's attention and leading him to Hargeon where another group was procuring a ship large enough for the dragon to land on. Upon reaching the port, Acnologia instinctively nukes all the ships in an effort to prevent his weakness.
When Lucy and Happy arrive they are devastated to see that all of the ships have been destroyed, but Gray and Lyon step up, and combining their Ice-make Magic create a ship. Acnologia is then lured upon the ship, and Lucy guides everyone into forming Fairy Sphere, by combining their powers. They are successful in trapping Acnologia, but he continues to rampage even with Fairy Sphere encasing him, leading to Meredy saving the day by linking all of the Mages on the continent's power to help reinforce the Defense Magic. Acnologia's body begins to disintegrate, leading to Ishgar's victory and their future secured.
While Lucy and the others are fending off Acnologia in his dragon form, Acnologia has trapped the Dragon Slayers within the Ravines of Time. Through the thoughts of their loved ones, the Dragon Slayers break free of the crystalline pillars that Acnologia had trapped them, with the Dragon King challenging the last of the dragon slayers. The seven Dragon Slayers begin to fight against Acnologia within the Ravines of Time only to get beaten down. Wendy then enchants the six other Dragon Slayers' Magic upon Natsu. Natsu, with the combined power of the other six Dragon Slayers, defeats the spiritual form of Acnologia which in turn disintegrates his physical form, leading to Ishgar's victory and their future secured.
In the year X793, Lucy won an award for her new book while all the guilds in the country of Fiore move on with their lives. Hisui pardoned Crime Sorciere of their crimes, allowing them to live on to the future. Lucy thanked Natsu for everything he's done for her over the many years and countless battles. Yes, life has truly begun to return to normalcy, but Lucy is still consumed by a darkness lurking within her; a dark nothingness that began to form 16 years ago on July 15 X777 when her mother passed away after suddenly contracting Magic Deficiency Disease. In the intervening time between the end of the war and winning an award for her book Lucy met her ancestor, Anna Heartfilia, and learned the truth behind her mother's death; she had sacrificed her own life in lieu of Aquarius' key in order to open the Eclipse Gate on July 7 X777 in order to bring Anna and 5 Dragon Slayer children through from 400 years in the past- three of those children were Natsu, Lucy's best friend, Wendy, Lucy's surrogate little sister, and Gajeel, Lucy's gruff surrogate older brother. The reason that Lucy's mother, Layla Heartfilia, opened the gate when she did is because she did not want the responsibility that had been passed down the Heartfilia line to fall to Lucy; not because Layla didn't think that Lucy would be capable, but because she wanted Lucy to life a normal life without such a heavy burden to bare. Lucy also learned that it was Anna who knitted the scarf that Natsu holds so dear, and taught the Dragon Slayers how to read and such, but Natsu refused to pay attention and was always picking fights with Gajeel; Wendy of course was the best student.
Lucy sadly watched as Natsu announced to the guild that he and Lisanna were mates, which is draconian for being a married couple, as she had been deluded by herself and others into believing that she and Natsu would end up together. But Lucy laughed her ass off when Gajeel confessed to Levy that she was is mate, something the little blue-haired bookworm had known for quite some time now. Lucy also watched as other members of the guild started pairing off: Laxus and Mirajane, Elfman and Evergreen, Cana and Bacchus (much to Gildarts displeasure), and even Happy and Carla (he finally found something to give her that wasn't a fish that she would accept). But Lucy didn't let the lack of a love life of her own get her down; she instead focused on training to better her magic, and searching every chance she could for Aquarius' reborn key.
It was because of her focus on training that led Lucy to stumble upon Crime Sorciere's encampment in the forest just outside of Magnolia on the morning of Magnolia's famed Hanami Festival. Upon learning that they were there for the festival, and none of them had had a proper bath in months, Lucy invited the girls of Crime Sorciere back to her place to bathe and told the guys to head to the guild to use the baths there. Lucy had also noticed just how attractive a certain maroon haired member of Crime Sorciere, Cobra, was; especially with no shirt on.
Later as the festival was getting underway Lucy received word from Aquarius with a hint about where to find her reborn key: "back where it all began for us", and for her to get herself a boyfriend. It was then that Lucy resolved to stop waiting for love to find her, and seek it out on her own. So, she approached Cobra and asked if he would like to spend the festival alone with her, which he agreed to as he was about to ask Lucy the same thing. It was during this time that Cobra admitted that Lucy is his mate, and asked if he could court her first before they mated which Lucy was most happy about; and for the first time in years Lucy didn't feel quite so hollow.
The next day Lucy was guiding Crime Sorciere to her family's estate because she had offered it to them as their guild's headquarters since they were going to become a legally recognized guild. Lucy had also deduced that Aquarius' key would be found near the fountain in her mother's garden, which is where Lucy had first met the mermaid Zodiac Celestial spirit. Upon reaching the esteemed estate of the Heartfilia's, Lucy went in search of Aquarius key; excited to finally be reunited with her oldest and dearest friend and spirit whom she considers as a second mother.
Lucy found the key and reunited with the water-bearer spirit only to be interrupted by Brandish suddenly appearing. After things had settled down after Brandish's arrival Lucy introduced her boyfriend, Cobra, to Aquarius and Brandish, and Cobra let slip that Aquarius was hiding a secret that pertains to Lucy and Brandish. Aquarius explained to the two of them that there was more to the relationship between their mothers that she didn't tell them the last time she had been in the human world; Layla Heartfilia and Grammi Mu were lovers, and that Jude Heartfilia is the father to both of them as he was also lovers with Grammi.
The two, previously estranged, sisters cried and Cobra did his best to comfort them. Lucy invited Brandish to stay, at least for the night anyways, and eventually talked Brandish into staying permanently and joining Crime Sorciere. Brandish agreed to stay permanently so as to get to know her sister better, and to joining Crime Sorciere. That night Brandish received her guild mark in the same location as her Alvarez mark- her right thigh. After that Lucy, Cobra, and Brandish retired to Lucy's childhood bedroom where they all took a bath together, and then went to bed. And that is how Lucy now found herself naked in bed with her ruggedly handsome naked maroon-haired boyfriend/mate next to her and her beautiful and busty naked green-haired sister on his other side, and staring at his handsome face thinking about her life and how it had gotten to the point is was at right now.
END FLASHBACK
It was then that Lucy realized for the first time in over 16 years she didn't feel the hollowness that had been there for so long. For the first time, back where her life and the hollow feeling began, Lucy was truly happy. And why wouldn't she be happy; she has a wonderful, handsome, attentive boyfriend/mate, and a beautiful sister whom she didn't know she even had, but had always wanted. Lucy's life was finally getting good.
Well, there you have it my precious little Fairy Freaks. It took me three chapters, but I FINALLY got through Lucy's feeling of being Hollow, and how she isn't any longer. I want to thank you all for hanging in there while I finished this; I know it couldn't have been easy, because I can tell you that writing this was fucking hard as hell.
Next up is "Serpent". It won't take me nearly as long as this has. But I will tell you all this; it may get a little "wet", so be prepared. ;) Until next time. Please, favorite and follow if you haven't already, and PLEASE leave reviews; it's the only way I know if I'm doing a good job or not.