A/N: I procrastinate writing endings so much because I hate ending stories. I am the kind of person who would write a never-never ending story if it were possible... And that is one of the reasons that, on a spur-of-the-moment inspiration, I will be writing a companion piece, Waiting Between Worlds. I also have other planned works for the Fairy Tail fandom, so, if you enjoyed this one, keep watch or visit my profile for a list of upcoming stories. (:

Ch. Notes: The only thing I have to say is this: The following is the English translation of the spell Gray recited at the end of the last chapter.
Courage of Heart
Strength of Will
Depth of Fear
Depth of Power
NO MORE!

Time Unbounded
Magic Unborn
Frozen in Time
Never to Awaken
Dark Ice!

Lang. Notes: The only thing I haven't used in a previous chapter is this big, long word: Arigatougozaimasu which means thank you so much!

Mood Music: For the whole chapter, The Truth by Audiomachine. (:

Special Thanks: Oh my goodness... If you are still reading this story, THANK YOU! I love you all for your reviews and faves and alerts; you guys are so freaking awesome! Seriously, my stories would die if no one ever reviewed. If you have ever reviewed, even just once, thank you all for your inspiration! :D

For reviewing last chapter: sereneskydragonslayer, ElodieKumari94, AsDarknessSpreads, and Rewinsan. For adding to faves/alerts: .925, AsDarknessSpreads, FairyTailWolf6, ztech, and Kira-writer.

Disclaimer: I have been so desperate for more that I have now read part of the manga. I have been so desperate for anime that I have buried myself in Shingeki no Kyojin and Suisie no Gargantia... In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own Fairy Tail because I didn't get the rights for my birthday like I'd hoped.


Epilogue – Strength of a Thousand Men
February 7th, X785 – 2:54 PM

Darkness. So thick, it blocked every sense. So dark, it was blinding. So silent, it was deafening. So dense it was all to be felt yet couldn't be felt at all. Sight, sound, sensation… The darkness prevented anything and everything.

It was maddening – made it impossible to tell where he was, what was going on, if he was even still alive. Was this what death felt like? Somehow he had pictured it differently.

It took only an instant, however – a debilitating flash of pain in his head – to let him know Earthland wasn't finished with him yet. Surely if he were dead he wouldn't be able to feel pain, after all. He couldn't help but groan, though if anyone heard or if it was just in his head, he didn't know. The darkness was still clogging his senses, but at least he now had the definite fact that he was still alive. Had it worked then? Was the war over? …Or was the war over because it had failed instead? Suddenly the maddening darkness seemed much more inviting than reality.

He didn't know how long he drifted in that absolute darkness, staring and seeing nothing, listening but not hearing a sound. How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? …Days? He didn't know, didn't have any sense of time passing at all. Every now and again, however, something would happen to remind him that he wasn't dead yet. A brief flash of pain somewhere in his body, a voice muffled by the darkness, even – though very rarely – a flash of light penetrated the vast expanse of black.

Yet, for some reason he couldn't understand, he couldn't reach that world. And he had tried, too. He had to know what had happened, wanted to know if everyone was alright. And, most of all, he was tired of the black abyss in which he appeared to be stuck. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed, he couldn't get out.

He didn't know how much time had passed; was it better to just give in? It would certainly be easier to give in to the black around him, to stay there forever. It was, he had to admit, rather peaceful. He didn't have to think or feel or see; he just was.

But then there was them. Those voices he could hear every now and again. One telling him to just please wake up; another telling him the guild wasn't the same without him there; yet another telling him to wake up or else! He couldn't ignore those voices. But it would certainly be easier – it was certainly a temptation to ignore them, to stay there forever.

But that would be giving up, a little voice in his own head whispered. Since when have you given up just because something was beyond difficult?

He never had, it was true. But this… He couldn't reach them; he just couldn't. It wasn't possible.

…Or was it? Even as the thought had crossed his mind, that light had appeared again, but it didn't disappear almost instantly like every time before. In fact, it was actually growing brighter, growing larger, overcoming more and more of the darkness until it began to consume him as well. He hadn't realized he felt so numb until that moment when the warmth the light brought seeped into his being.

And then it faded again. It wasn't as bright, but he could feel the light still present, even from behind his closed eyelids. He could hear muffled voices, feel a breeze against his face. One temple ached, pounding in time with his heart. Underneath him, he could feel, was a bed. Was he in the infirmary of the guild? At home? The hospital? It didn't matter, he decided.

He tried to open his eyes only to find them glued shut. He almost could have laughed to himself at the thought that entered his mind: Only Natsu would ever think to try a prank like that – and he had when they were younger. He tried turning his head only to groan as the movement caused his temple ache more fiercely than before.

The sound, he suddenly realized, must have been audible because the muffled voices he had been hearing instantly stopped their hushed conversation. Light footfalls on a wooden floor, a hand on his, a quiet voice – one he instantly recognized – asking a hesitant question.

"Gray?"

There was no mistaking the worry that coated the female's tone. So much worry in her voice made him wonder just what had happened; it must have been bad… In that instant, every possibility rushed through his mind. Someone died… They lost their magic… He had failed, but, for some reason, Zeref had allowed them to live… No matter the outcome, it couldn't have been good…

But he had to know.

Slowly, painfully, he opened his eyes. Instantly blinded by the bright light, he snapped them shut again with a groan. He tried again after a moment, this time successfully blinking his eyes until they adjusted to the light. Even with his vision blurred, he had no trouble identifying the two mages with him. Sitting at his side, hand over his, scarlet hair framing her face just like always – Erza. Standing on his other side, pink hair the clear, unmistakable indicator – Natsu.

"Welcome back," Natsu grinned. "It's about time you finally woke up. Such a baka – leaving everyone worried about you!"

"N-Natsu," Gray croaked – was that really his voice? It definitely didn't sound like it… "E-Erza… What…?"

"All in good time," Erza responded. "Just rest for now."

"But –…"

Erza gave him the death glare. "You are in no shape to be arguing with me, Gray." The glare softened as she turned to Natsu. "You should go tell everyone he's awake."

Natsu nodded but stopped as he turned to leave. "One thing I will say for you Gray," he murmured. "You really did it: You destroyed destruction itself, fought with the strength of a thousand men, doing what no one else was capable of." He continued to the door way of the infirmary before hesitating. "I'm glad you're okay," he added as he stepped through to the corridor, "but you'd better never do something so stupid ever again."

"Not like I had a choice," Gray huffed after him.

"Gray," Erza brought the Ice Mage's attention back to herself. "I have to agree with him – I'm sure the whole guild does." Her voiced dropped to a whisper, her gaze cast downward. "But… Arigatougozaimasu! We all owe our lives to you…"

"Erza… What happened? Did it actually work then?"

"Hai, it worked," she replied, a smile playing at her lips. She raised her gaze from where her hand still rested on his to meet his glassy, half-lidded eyes. "We'll tell you all about it, Gray, later. You should rest for now."

Gray couldn't argue; even though he'd just woken up, he could feel himself drifting towards sleep already. He nodded, allowing his eyes to fall shut again, sleep pulling him into its soft embrace.


Erza continued to stare, unthinking, at the slumbering form before her for some time after Gray had fallen sleep. So much had happened so quickly that the Requip Mage had scarcely had time to process it all. But now… Now everyone was safe, Gray included. As her gaze lingered on the minor cuts along his face, she allowed her mind to wander back…

She was blinded by the sudden surge of blue-white light that suddenly seemed to engulf the ruined city. Then, as quickly as the light had come, it vanished leaving darkness so thick Erza wondered if she would ever see again. But slowly – oh so slowly! – her eyes adjusted.

The Titania's heart sunk to her stomach at the sight that lay before her eyes.

"You see?" Zeref cackled. "That spell is too strong for anyone to control! The only thing you have succeeded in doing is – well, nothing at all! Because, as you can see, I am the one left standing." The Black Mage turned to face the guild once again, a demonic smile lighting up his face like a Christmas tree. "Now what will you do Mages of Fiore?"

"No!" Erza breathed. He couldn't have failed. It was just wasn't possible! She looked to the dark clouds above as if they held the answer. It wasn't supposed to end this way…

But then – the only word to describe the moment was 'miracle' – the sun broke through the wall of black clouds above her, a single ray shining down on the place Zeref stood and Gray now lay. It took only a moment for the sun's rays to break the clouds and illuminate what remained of Magnolia.

Slightly stunned by the turn of events, no one could do anything except stare up at the sky as the sun continued to rise above them. However, one single word drew everyone's attentions immediately back.

"No…" Zeref murmured. "No, this isn't possible!"

As Erza pushed herself up into a seated position, she watched the once fearless Black Mage begin to panic. And she smiled.

"Gray failed did he?" she called out triumphantly, pulling herself shakily to her feet. "Then what are you waiting for, Zeref?"

"Yeah," Natsu mocked, catching on to what had happened as he, too, stood shakily to his feet. "Why don't you just finish us off now, huh?"

"What's the matter?" Lucy taunted, pushing herself up into a seated position. "Can't use your magic now? I wonder why that is…"

"I warned you," Makarov declared. "Mess with us and you'll see what a true Fairy Tail mage is made of! That's what you get for not listening I guess. Serves you right."

"Because when you mess with one of us," Elfman bellowed.

"It only makes us that much stronger!" Juvia continued.

"But," Levy added, "when you mess with all of us…"

"Gihi!" Gajeel finished, "You don't want to see what we can do!"

Erza's thoughts snapped back to the present when she heard the door open. She smiled up at the older woman who entered. "He's asleep," she murmured.

Porlyusica smiled back. "I assumed as much." She shook her head with a sigh. "Took everything that I had to keep everyone from charging straight in here when Natsu brought the news. Everyone wants to strangle him and hug him at the same time, I think."

"Isn't that about the same thing?" Erza chuckled quietly. "They want to hug him so hard it could be considered strangling?"

"Perhaps," Porlyusica sighed again. "He seemed alright when he was awake then?"

"Yeah," Erza replied. "Tired, a little out of sorts, but nothing time won't heal."

"I'm glad. The outcome could have been much, much worse."

"How so? Other than the obvious, I mean…"

"The spell could have killed when he cast it, of course –" Erza nodded – "But it could have killed him after the fact as well. In all honesty, Erza, I'm not sure how he isn't dead. I'm sure you sensed it – how there wasn't a shred of magic left in his being. That alone should have killed him. The other option would be that he would, simply, never wake up, as I told you before."

"She must have been protecting him…"

"Oh?"

"Loriel's spirit I mean. After all, it was her magic that was stored within him…" Erza shrugged. "That's the only solution I can come up with…"

"I suppose that makes about as much sense as everything else that has happened lately."

Erza smiled. "It doesn't really matter, does it? At least, it doesn't to me. The only important thing now is that everything can go back to normal."

Porlyusica scoffed. "Normal? Is there such a thing around this guild?"

"Maybe not," the Requip Mage conceded, "but I much prefer Kana's over-excessive drinking, Elfman's declarations of what is manly, Gajeel's loud eating, and Natsu and Gray's all-guild brawls."

"Ah, yes. That normal."

Erza shook her head. "I never thought I would find myself looking forward to it."


Six Months Later

The heat of summer had descended and settled, and Gray hated it. "Oi, Erza," he complained. "Do we really have to do this today?"

"Yes," came the firm reply. "As soon as we get done, you can spend the rest of the day in the pool at the guild. But this has to be done today!"

"I swear you picked the hottest day of the summer to drag me along on errand job…"

"You were just telling me yesterday how you were low on Jewel, so stop complaining. Besides, we don't even have to leave Magnolia. We'll be done in no time." She paused for a moment. "Ah! See? It's right up ahead."

Just as promised, the job took less than an hour so, an hour later, Gray could be found in the pool outside Fairy Tail Guild.

"Much better," he muttered to himself, beginning to enjoy himself.

"Oi! Popsicle!"

"Leave me alone, Flame Brain."

"What? You afraid of a little water war, Ice Pants?"

Gray was suddenly very much alert. He grinned. "Bring it on, Lizard Boy!"

As Erza and Lucy watched from the poolside, cold drinks in hand, Erza could hardly remember the horrors and fears of six months prior. No one – apart from Gray – had been critically injured, and, even then, the worst of his injures had been superficial. She could still remember him lying in the destroyed street, multiple lacerations streaked over his exposed skin. Porlyusica had guessed they had mostly been caused by the very magic he had summoned, but, in the end, they hadn't been as bad as they first appeared.

It all seemed like a distant nightmare now, yet she knew none of them would ever be the same after all of that. They never did come out unchanged after any of the trials they had been thrown into, after all – they were always so much stronger.

But this time, it wasn't just the guild. To Erza, it seemed as if the whole town had changed somehow – maybe even the whole of Fiore. For in those six months, the town had been rebuilt, but no one could deny that relationships between guilds had been built as well. It was strange – but it was a good strange, she had decided.

Everything had changed, it was true; but everything had truly changed for the better.

A wave of water from the pool so rudely – and suddenly – interrupted the mage's musings. It took a startled Erza a moment to figure out what had happened and, by that time, Lucy was already fuming and holding Natsu's head under the water. Gray and most of the other members who had joined the war were staring at Erza in fear of what was to come.

But all Erza could do was laugh.

Lucy paused in drowning Natsu, and everyone could only stare at her in shock. In a split second, Erza had requipped into her Water Goddess armor. "Alright, who was responsible for that?" While her voice hinted irritation, no one was fooled. The look in her eyes told them everything.

Under the bright July sunshine, the distant nightmare faded and vanished.