Kyto's Special Writing Place:If you guys think that Kouen seemed really strong in the last chapter and that's she's too powerful, well, that's because shes around 28 years of age and well, there you have it.

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

~Chapter 10~

The call was cut off with the short guild master having his eyes wide opened with fear and concern. To start things off, when he tried to call the council with his lacrima, it was cut off right away, next thing that happened was he received a call from Erza who looked wrecked. This, of course, increased his worries even more and before he could calm them down, they went to the next level when the call was cut off. Again.

He ran out of the guild basement towards his office. Never had he seen Erza this badly damaged before. He won't say she never had been, but she had never shown it. She had pride in herself that if people see her in such a weak state, she would be ashamed and her image of a fierce warrior would be destroyed, so the fact that she actually called meant that things were incredibly terrible and that he made a stupid decision by sending 4 young mages to that mission, even if 2 of them are S-class leveled.

This of course, brought questions to his head. Were they safe? did any of them... die? What the hell happened? Was the ritual stopped?

Once he arrived in his office, he spotted Cana sitting on his seat in front of the map. She had her eyes closed yet he can tell she had been tired. Pinpointing someone's location for such a long time would tire just about anyone, and the fact that she was able to hold on this long was surprising. It made him proud to know that his children were growing into something.

''My child.'' He said. ''You can rest now. From what I know, the worst is over. However, the situation is still unknown.'' Cana pulled her eyelids up and sunk back into the seat. Makarov heard a sigh of relief before continuing his talk. ''I'll go get them from their current location. It seems that they're having... troubles.''

He peeked over his desk to see that the brunette was long asleep. A warm smile drew on his face. ''You did well.'' He then got out of his office and went down the stairs towards the guild entrance. It was close to midnight, meaning the guild was basically empty.

As he exited the guild, the freezing cold of the night embraced his tiny figure. He hurried over to the nearest car-rental shop, and rented one. Although it was midnight, car-renting shops are usually open 24/7 due to some emergency missions occurring.

He strapped the green SE-Plug around his right wrist and grabbed the steering wheel, driving at max speed towards his destination, knowing that his vast magical power running low will not be a problem any time soon.

That night, in the mountainous town of ShiroAku, the skies were painted with a deep crimson. None of the witnesses knew if it was due to the ritual that had recently been performed, or if it was the kind skies showing such a rare sight.

''I'm Sorry...'' Lucy apologized, slowly pulling away from the dragon slayer. His face was barely recognized. No, not from wounds and injures, but from the expression he was bearing. The usual goofy and idiotic dragon slayer was now baring a serious face with saddened eyes.

''No need to apologize, Lucy.'' He said, offering a warm smile. The blonde felt warm on the inside, glad that someone was there for her. Even though she knew that the rest of the guild would be whenever she was in trouble, and the recent events were there as proof, she was feeling warm by the fact that he was there along side of her. ''We should go find the others.''

With a nod, both mages walked back to where Natsu had come from. Considering the distance wasn't far away, they arrived in merely a few minutes, however, what the blonde saw brought fear and guilt into her mind.

There, in front of a tree, lay Gray with a badly bruised back and blood on his messy raven hair. His forearms were bleeding and dirt was all over his body. The bandages that were wrapped around his waist were also blood soaked.

Beside him lay 3 unfamiliar figures to the blonde. She immediately rushed towards her raven haired companion, turning him over so that his body would be facing up. She shook him a few times. Not receiving an answer, she took a peek at her companion, who was currently checking on the other 3 people that lay still on the ground.

''N-Natsu!'' Lucy yelled with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She looked back and forth between Natsu and the now pale-faced Gray. ''He isn't moving!''

''...'' The dragon slayer moved over towards her. Feeling massive weight in his lower stomach, as if he had just swallowed lead. He knelt before his rival and pressed his ear against his badly scratched chest.

Throb... Throb... Throb...

Faint heartbeats could be heard by the dragon slayer. Even with his dragon senses, he had barely managed to hear them. However, knowing that his companion was still alive lifted the weight off of his stomach, he let out a sigh of relief and took a peek at the blonde who was now sitting in front of him with tears in her eyes.

''He's dead isn't he? It's all my fault!'' She cried, her tears falling from her eyes like a waterfall. Natsu just grabbed her shoulder with 1 hand, making her open her eyes and look at him.

''He's not dead.'' He assured her. ''He's just unconscious, however, from what I can see here is that he needs to get taken care of immediately or else his injures will worsen and...'' He cut himself off, not wanting to continue that sentence, knowing that the blonde would end up panicking and possibly crying even more because of it, also, he would never admit it, but he would end up on the verge of tears himself.

Lucy felt hope on the inside. She felt hopefully that he didn't die because of her, not that she wanted him to. Despite just recently meeting them, she grew to like both of them as family, along with Levy, Erza, Mirajane, Lisanna, Cana, Elfman and all the other guild members she had come across.

''What about them...?'' She suddenly asked, turning her head and gazing at the 3 figures that lay motionless.

''I didn't have time to know.'' He stated and got up, looking over to them. He first knelt in front of the man with long green hair. He shook him slowly, waiting for a response.

The man moved his eyelids and slowly lifted them up. He moved his eyes as they landed on the fire mage. Without asking questions, he tried getting up, but massive pain took over when he had applied pressure to his arm. He sighed and sat up without using his hands. He looked around, spotting his 2 companions.

''Check on them.'' He ordered in a stern voice. The pinkette nodded and got up. Natsu never liked being bossed around, but the current situation didn't leave him space for a fight. He walked over to the 2 other figures. He knelt in front of the lady who was wearing the green fairy outfit. She had a knife in her back, he had a mental debate in his head whether to remove it or not.

''Should I pull it out?'' He asked the guy with the green hair.

He nodded his head. ''Do it slowly.''

The pinkette nodded and slowly started pulling the knife out of the lady's back. Blood slowly started pooling around the knife. Once it was fully out, he threw it away and turned her over. He lay his head on her chest and heard a few beats that sounded louder than Gray's. ''Her heart is beating.''

''Shake her.''

The pinkette did and the woman slowly opened her eyes. She was about to sit up but the pain in her back had another plan in mind. She fell back down and turned her head to the side, completely ignoring the dragon slayer.

''Check on him next.'' Freed ordered, nodding his head towards the man with the weird hair cut. (I don't know if it's weird, but I actually love it. I want his hair cut so badly Q_Q)

The pinkette stood up and walked over to him. Thanks to his thick layers of clothing, it appeared as if the knives hadn't stabbed him deeply, however, they still stabbed him, creating minor bleeding. He shook the man who opened his eyes immediately. He sat up and pulled the 3 knives from his chest, wincing every time he pulled one out.

''Freed, Evergreen,'' He said while looking down. ''We failed Laxus didn't we?''

Evergreen looked to the side, staying silent.

Freed however closed his eyes and muttered. ''At least you guys aren't dead.''

''Speaking of Laxus... where is he?'' He asked, moving his gaze towards the blonde who was kneeling next to the unconscious Gray. ''Are you the Celestial Mage we were looking for?''

The blonde nodded.

''At least you're safe.'' He said. ''Okay, we better go find Laxus now and head out.'' he got up, dusting his pants then walking over to his visor and placing it back on his head. ''Evergreen, can you move?''

The brunette tried sitting up again, but the pain from her back attacked her again. She lay back down. The guy sighed and walked over to her, picking her up in his arms bridal style, making sure her back is straight so she wouldn't feel any discomfort.

''Psht, I don't need your help!'' She said, looking the other way to hide her tiny blush. ''I'm the fairy queen! I can do this on my own!''

''Of course you can.'' He agreed sarcastically, then turned around so he was facing the 3 young mages. ''You guys better follow us. It isn't safe here, there could still be demons around.''

Natsu got up and nodded, he walked over to where Lucy was and helped her pick Gray up. Both of them supported him by lacing his arms around one of their shoulders. ''Don't apply too much pressure on his forearms, they're bad enough already.'' The green haired man warned as he attempted to stand up. Once he did, he walked over to where the man with the visor stood, his hand over his wound. Then they started walking towards the place where they left their leader.

The young mages nodded and held onto Gray's torso, lifting him up lightly to ease the pressure on his forearms.

''Let's go Lucy.'' Natsu said. The blonde muffled an agreement.

The old guild master arrived towards his destination within 20 minutes. He felt some what drained of his magical power, however he still had plenty left if someone was to attack. He stopped the car in front of the huge hemisphere that was created on the ground. He unstrapped the SE-Plug and got out of the car, rushing towards the center where his blonde grandson was laying.

From his current view, he could see Laxus' figure, and he could tell it was badly damaged. There were bruises all over his body and blood dripping from his mouth. He was pale and there were blood stains on his now shredded clothes. 1 question came to his mind.

How. The. Hell.

Makarov knew his grandson. He knew him VERY well. He knew that there was abstrusely noway the S-class mage could suffer this greatly without having to battle something that wields powers beyond humanoid abilities.

He knelt beside him, knowing full well that his injures were fatal, he refused to touch him, fearing that the simplest touch, as if his grandson was made out of glass, would shatter him.

He looked around into the dark area surrounding him, what he saw widened his eyes.

Mirajane was laying on her back not too far away from him without a scratch on her body. Her breathing was steady, and she seemed to be sleeping, rather than unconscious. It made the master wonder why she was so spotless and why his grandson was this messed up.

Is it possible that he protected her? The thought crossed the old man's head, however, he shook it off. Knowing his grandson, there is noway he would do something like that, especially to someone who he had only met once. He stood up and made his way towards the silver haired mage. He didn't have to kneel this time, considering his height. He shook her body with his hands, attempting to wake her up. Once she did, her eyes shot open and she sat up right away.

''Mira.'' The master muttered, grabbing the female's attention. ''What happened?''

The silver haired mage spun her head around, scanning the area around her. ''More like where are we?''

''We're in ShiroAku. You guys were suppose to stop a ritual.''

''We were?''

The master sighed. ''Do you remember anything that happened?''

Mirajane shook her head, her mind wondering if she was suppose to even remember anything, then, everything that had happened popped into her head. The guild master stood up and strode over to his grandson.

She was torn in between telling him or keeping it to herself. Telling him would end up benefiting them and he is an elder, so he would know what to do, but not telling him would keep what happened a secret, and the fact that she almost killed 2 of her companions because she was too weak to take-over that stupid demon.

She knew her magic was dangerous. VERY dangerous. After all, it is a dark magic. She had been warned by quite a few people about it, including the guild master, but did she ever listen? no. She never did. That was her personality. She never cared. She always lived in the now with her evil self, and usually, after everything she does, she would always regret it, but she would continue on doing what she does as if nothing had ever happened. She always regrets her decisions, like the one that had currently occurred.

She over-estimated her power, thinking she was strong, thinking she was strong enough to obtain the power of one of the princes of hell. How could she face everyone now? Even Erza? Her Rival. She had seen her when she was weak. She wasn't planning on such thing. She never did.

Never in her life had Mirajane liked it when people had seen her weak side. She was known of her 'Badass' personality. Nobody expects a demon to be weak. They're all suppose to fear it, avoid it, not feel pity for.

However, knowing that not telling the guild master is a bad thing, she stood up and made her way towards him. Coughing to grab his attention, she turned her head so she wouldn't gaze into his eyes and muttered under her breath. ''I-I sort of remember...''

The master's eyes widened at her attitude and gave her a questioning look. She, however, did not receive it since she wasn't looking at him, but she continued anyway.

Hesitantly, she started speaking, pausing every now and then, fearing the older mage's reaction. ''I... We arrived a little late to the ritual... The gate was opened... Demons escaped... Erza and I fought with a few legions while Natsu and Gray went after Lucy... I... I...'' She couldn't bring herself to saying it. It took too much of her pride out of it. She bit her lip hard, stopping tears that were threatening to fall out and continued. ''I.. I failed in taking over one of the demons... And ended up hurting Erza...'' She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the reaction of her guild master.

What would it be? Disgust? Fear? Hatred? She didn't know, and even if he didn't mind, what would her siblings say? Lisanna and Elfman would hate her, think shes an evil monster. She would lose both of them.

''Where is she now?'' The master asked calmly. Mirajane was unable to see his face due to her closed eyes, his expression was a mystery.

''...S-somewhere around here... I was about to finish her off... but Laxus stopped me... th-then we fought... and... and... I ended up doing this to him...'' She finished her sentence with her hands clutching as hard as possible, giving her pale skin a paler colour. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to badly, but the Mirajane doesn't say sorry.

The old mage sighed. ''Mirajane, we'll continue this conversation some other time. Right now. I want you to go and find Erza. Make sure she's safe.'' The silver haired mage was hesitant at first but quickly ran off, looking for her rival.

The old man sat there thinking of everything that she had just said.

First off, they were late to the ritual? LATE? does that mean... no, it can't be... maybe Gray and Natsu stopped it in time.

And second of all, she failed to take over a demon? when he heard her say that, he felt the pain in her voice, which brought up another question. If she had already taken-over it, then she would have it in her take-over stash. She would be able to transform into it whenever, even though losing control is a VERY high possibility. He would need to talk to her about that.

Mirajane could have never been more glad to have left a place before in her life. She was feeling as if her soul was dying by the minute, having that chat with him.

It's true. Her magic was unstable. Despite how powerful take-over magic can be, the greater the power, the greater the risks, and she may have... been corrupted by its power. She felt ashamed. How could she let power corrupt her so badly? Had she listened to Erza, none of this would have happened. She just had to think greatly of herself, which was another thing she does a lot.

She thinks shes superior to everyone else, treating them like servants as if shes the queen around the place. Erza was the only person who had ever opposed her. That's where their rivalry started. Although they fought a lot, she knew that both were doing it for fun and she would have never intended on hurting her the way she remembers.

She stopped running when she saw familiar scarlet hair, a slight smile covered her face before it turned into a wide frown as her eyes widened.

The state the scarlet knight was in was beyond terrible. It was nothing like she remembered. She was way worse than what she remembers from the demon's vision.

She knew her companion well and she knew that she would rather die than let people see her in such state. She ran towards her, checking her injures for any dangerous ones. Lucky for her, she found none. Other than several bruises, and possibly a broke bone or two, her life was not in danger of death. Yet.

''Erza! Erza!'' She yelled, shaking the scarlet knight. She felt sad. Guilty. Regretful even. She couldn't handle all these negative emotions.

She cried.

Mirajane, the Demon Cried.

It was shameful. At least for her it was.

Suddenly, she remembered, she quickly transformed into her Satan Soul, granting the extra strength and mobility, which she used to carry the scarlet knight and transfer her to the guild master.

Whether she wanted to face him or not, she didn't want to be responsible for further injuries she would cause her friend.

Mirajane appeared out of thin air in front of the guild master in a flash. She was surprised to see that the Raijinshuu were sitting there along with Natsu, Lucy and an unconscious Gray laying next to Laxus.

She had seen them before. Once. That was one day at the guild. She hadn't talked with them, but she knew who they were.

''I found her.'' She said, laying the scarlet knight next to the 2 boys. She released her take-over and was confronted by Makarov.

''Mira...'' He started, Mirajane physically flinched, despite him using a very calm tone, she felt scared. Not because of what he might do to her physically. No. She knew he wouldn't dare hurt her. But what he would do to her reputation. If he were to say something such as 'you are expelled from the guild' she would never be able to face her siblings, or anyone. However, what he said truly surprised her. ''I'm glad your okay.''

Okay, What?

''The fact that you are no longer in demon form is proof that you had managed to re-take control somehow... however, I'm forbidding you from using that take-over. Never in your life will you be allowed to use it, considering the risk is something this high.''

She felt more tears build up in her eyes. ''No master! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve your concern! I'm a demon! I almost killed 2 of my Nakama!''

''Mira!'' He stated. ''Stop saying that! Everyone makes mistakes, Whether it was now, or later, what matters is that you LEARN from your mistakes. Understand?''

The silver haired girl nodded her head and hugged herself. Suddenly, the weather felt cold to her.

The old man turned around and took a look at his other companions.

''Carry them into the car. We'll drive to Porlyusica. She's the only one who can help us in this situation.'' The kids nodded and carried Laxus, Evergreen, Gray and Erza into the car, then got in slowly after. The car may have been big, but it felt cramped to have 9 people within it. The old man took the SE-Plug and drove away towards his pink haired friend.

''Last... Time... I... BLURP''

The car ride was fast, considering that Porlyusica's hous-er tree was closer than the guild, they got there in just under 20 minutes. Of course, during the ride, Natsu was having motion sickness and had his head sticking out of the window.

As the car had come to a halt, and Natsu had withdrawn his head from window, his hair looked surprisingly funny, causing Lucy to slightly giggle. Due to the air force caused by the speeding car driving across the area, his hair was basically pushed to the side, making him look weird.

''What?'' He asked, giving her a confused look. The blonde merely shook her head and got out of the car, along with everyone else while Makarov was busy knocking on the door.

Knock Knock.

Nobody came.

Knock Knock.

Shuffling could be heard, however, the door still didn't open.

Knock Knoc-

The door flung open revealing an old pink haired woman who was wearing a blood red cape around her figure, as well as having a broom in her hand.

''WHO THE HELL DISTURBS ME AT THIS HOUR!'' She grumpily yelled at no one. She looked around, she was about to close to the door when she heard a cough that grabbed her attention. She looked down and spotted her old friend. ''What do you want?''

''Uhm... I... I have people for you to heal?'' He said with a goofy grin on his face. However, Porlyusica emotionlessly muttered 'no' before shutting the door closed.

''Oh come on Porlyusica! You can't be serious! I have people on the verge of death here!'' His voice was pleading.

''That's your problem. I don't help humans.''

''Come on! Please! For old times sake!''

A sigh could be heard from within the tree and she came out. ''You are so LUCKY I was not a sleep, else I would have broken that broom on your head.''

Makarov smiled sheepishly.

''Well, bring them in.'' She ordered. The Rainjinshuu carried the 4 injured mages and put them in her room. ''Now get out. Scram!''

''Bu-''

''I DON'T LIKE HUMANS! SCRAM!''

And not a single word was uttered that day. Natsu and Lucy first refused to leave, but after realizing it was pointless, they headed to their respective homes and decided to sleep. They've been up since the day before's morning. They would need their energy back, or whatever was left of it.

1 WEEK LATER~

The clouds covered the morning skies, painting them with different shades of grey rather the beautiful spotless sea blue they are meant to be. It was today that the funeral for Layla Heartfilia and Jude Heartfilia was being held. Being close to both of them, Makarov had insisted on creating a ceremony, not only for Lucy, not only for him, but for the guild members who had grown to know them.

''Layla Heartfilia... I met her several years ago. She had come to the guild with Jude and Kyo. The moment she had walked in, it was as if a new dawn had set across the guild. Her smile had always livened up the mood, and she always had a positive attitude towards even the toughest problems. She was a kind Celestial Mage who's spirits treasured with their lives.

''Jude Heartfilia... He was one of the guild members that I had felt incredibly close with. His usual cheerful and goofy attitude was something that had always brightened up your day, and his helpful attitude was also an inspiration to everyone. He was one of the greatest Water Mages to have ever joined Fairy Tail.

''May your souls rest in peace.''

Makarov wiped a tear out of his eyes as he finished his statement. He moved forward, placing a white flower on their new graves and walked back to where he was standing. One by one, the guests were placing their flowers on the grave, then returning to their original standing area.

Most people who knew Jude and Layla were crying and sobbing at their loss. One person however, wasn't.

Lucy just stood there. She felt nothing. She felt hollow. She was sad, yes, depressed even, but for some reason her tears didn't come out. She had cried every night since her mother's death, she knew that she had more tears that were dying to come out.

So why?

Why weren't any tears coming out? She was just standing there like a lost child. She had no idea what to do anymore. Several people had told her, including Erza, Gray, Natsu, Levy, Lisanna and Makarov that Fairy Tail will be her new family, though she still felt as if she had no reason for being anymore. Why would she? She lost her only 2 known relatives.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She slowly and lazily switched her gaze from the floor to the person.

It was Gray.

He gave her a weak yet warm smile. ''Don't worry... I've been there.'' He muttered under his breath. She looked at him confused. Gray was one of the people she hadn't talked to much about himself, or rather, he was one of the only people who didn't just blurt it out. Knowing this gave her somewhat of a curious expression, one that made her wonder what he probably meant by that.

Could it be that he was saying his parents were both dead as well? Or did he mean that he had suffered a great loss as well? Or possibly that he had experienced some kind of experience that made him unable to release tears?

They had been looking at each other for such a long time that they hadn't realized that everyone had already left the cemetery. Lucy had been lost in her thoughts about working out who Gray Fullbuster is, and Gray was lost in his own little world, remembering his past experiences that still haunt him at night.