Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe. Drakan belongs to Surreal Software.

Chapter 24: Den of Demons

xxx

"I found it! If my calculations are correct Tartaros should be right above us.", Levy said in triumph.

"Everyone get ready, let's go get our family back!", Makarov called out a battle cry, "Let's teach them what happens to those who dare to mess with Fairy Tail!"

The guild members all cheered and began their preparations for battle.

"You should go apologize to Elfman, Cana-san.", Wendy urged the card mage, "You were really hard on him. Maybe you can tell him the good news."

Cana made a show of finishing her drink but in the end she did as the Sky Dragon Slayer suggested. Although she still felt something was off about Elfman, she knew she might have pushed a bit too hard. She made her way downstairs thinking about what she would say.

Elfman looked at the lacrima he was holding in his hand. The item that was a physical representation of just how weak he was. He, a take over mage, had allowed himself to be taken over by Seylah's Macro Curse. The irony was not at all lost on him. He could see Lisanna struggling to breathe as he was forced to choke her. He remembered begging for her life while Seylah had suggested a trade. Lisanna for his soul. All he had to do was destroy everyone he loved and Lisanna would be safe. He wished he could say he had put up a fight, but he hadn't. He had allowed himself to be enslaved with no fuss. When it exploded the lacrima would emit concentrated ether 500 times stronger than the Jupiter Cannon Phantom Lord had tried to use on them. His one comfort was that it would be over quickly and they would not feel any pain.

He placed the lacrima down and activated it. He sat and waited for the ending of his life marking the time by the sound of its beeping. He was so focused he didn't hear Cana approach behind him.

"Elfman? I just wanted to say I was out of line.", the card mage started and stopped as she noticed the tension in his shoulders and heard beeping.

Her eyes widened as she saw the lacrima. "Elfman, what are you doing?"

Cana started walking towards the lacrima, trying to figure out a way to deactivate it.

"Stay back, Cana! I have to do this.", he quickly got up and tried to keep her away from the lacrima.

Elfman knocked her down and tried to keep her pinned. Cana struggled against him but he was too strong. She silently apologized as she drove her knee up to his genitals as hard as she could manage in that position. He loosened his hold on her hands and she was able to scurry away out of his reach.

"Elfman this isn't like you, why are you doing this?"

Cana kept talking while she reached inside her purse for her cards. The lacrima was beeping more rapidly and she did not know how much time they had left. She called upon the Card Dimension magic she had learned from Erza's friend Sho and trapped Elfman in one of her cards. The beeping of the lacrima began to speed up and Cana ran up the stairs as fast as she could. She threw the cards ahead of her and trapped everyone present in one. She hoped she had enough cards for everyone.

"Salvage" All the cards came back to her hand, each one holding a different confused looking member of Fairy Tail. They all spoke at once trying to understand what was happening to them.

"Enough! There's a bomb in the building. Happy, Lily, Carla, take these cards and get everyone out of here. Fly us up to Tartaros! Let's take the fight to them!"

The last thing she did was trap herself in a card. She hoped that this would be enough to save them all. The Exceeds each grabbed a group of cards and bolted out of the building at Max Speed trying to put some distance between themselves and the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. They headed straight up towards the floating island directly above. Levy had been correct in her estimate. A large explosion could be heard behind them but they never faltered and they never looked back.

As they flew closer they began to feel a force pulling them towards the cube. They tried to fight it but it was too strong and soon they found themselves careening at full speed towards the bottom of the cube. They braced themselves for the crash that would follow. The three Exceeds quickly recovered and found themselves standing upside down with a large number of enemies approaching their position.

"Cana?", Happy urged nervously looking at the enemies getting ever closer.

"Alright everybody, out of your cards!", Cana released all the mages. She was happy to see that everyone seemed to have made it. She saw Porlyusica and everyone who had been in the infirmary as well as Justin, Sting, Rogue, Lyon and the Godslayers. Porlyusica found an area to shelter the injured while everyone else engaged the enemy. They would need to find a way to break through the gravity field to rescue the others.

xxx

Natsu and Lisanna followed Erza's scent to a locked door. Never one for subtlety when a direct approach would work he pulverized the door and ran inside. They found their friend naked and bound with magic sealing cuffs. She was being guarded by a gargantuan creature that Natsu could best describe as frog like. There were wounds across her lower abdomen. Natsu used the blade he'd found to release his friend and she immediately requipped and made short work of her guard.

"Are you ok?", Natsu started with concern, he wasn't sure what had been done to Erza but he was well aware that being tortured wasn't fun and she looked worse for wear than what was normal for her wounds.

"I'll be fine, Is everyone else here?", Erza asked.

Natsu shook his head. "Happy and I came here chasing after you and Mira, Lisanna was already here and we think Elfman is around here somewhere. Do you know where Mira is?"

Erza shook her head. "I haven't seen her since the chairman's house."

"Someone's coming.", Natsu informed them.

"It's probably Kyoka, she's the demon that was questioning me.", Erza said.

They positioned themselves where they couldn't immediately be seen and waited for the demon to approach the room. A strange looking woman approached the broken door and Natsu and Lisanna grabbed her quickly and helped Erza restrain her. It was another one of those demons. This one looked like some kind of bird woman with sharp talons for hands and feet.

She looked at Natsu and Lisanna in surprise. "How did you escape your cell?"

Natsu gestured to the sword that was hanging from his makeshift pants.

"Where are Mira and Elfman?", Erza asked her torturer.

"I don't know of any Elfman but Mira is in the laboratory, two levels up.", Kyoka informed them.

Lisanna immediately took off to find her sister. Natsu stayed behind. He knew Erza was a strong mage but he was still worried about her after what she had just been through. He was happy that they had been able to get to her before her situation had gotten worse. It was what he had wished had happened for him.

"I appreciate your concern, Natsu", she gave him a small smile, " but I can handle this on my own. You should go help Lisanna."

He looked at her carefully. He really didn't think she should be left alone with her torturer but one look at her expression let him know that she would not listen to any arguments. He gave her a quick hug and started to walk away.

Erza was touched by the gesture. One of the biggest changes they had all noticed in Natsu's personality since his return was that the once physically affectionate mage now rarely initiated any type of touch.

"Natsu?", Erza stopped him before he left, "Did you think about what we talked about?"

"Yeah, you were right. I heard him out and we went through with it right after you left. Nab helped."

"Nab? Well, that's a surprise.", she smiled at him warmly, "And Natsu?"

He looked at her waiting to hear whatever she had to say.

"Thank you."

He nodded and made his way out of the room. The last thing he saw was Erza giving Kyoka a smile so predatory and feral that it sent shivers down his spine. He almost felt sorry for the woman.

Natsu caught up to Lisanna and they both made their way towards a flight of stairs they hoped would get them closer to the laboratory.

"The prisoners, get them!", a voice rang out behind them.

"You go find Mira, I've got this.", Natsu said as he cracked his knuckles, his eyes getting that gleam they got when he was looking forward to a fight. Lisanna ran ahead while Natsu ran towards them fists already lit up excited as always at the prospect of a fight.

xxx

'Damnit! How many of these guys are there?' Gray thought as it seemed that no matter how many bad guys he took down there were several more immediately taking their place. He was getting desperate. Now that he was here there was nothing he wanted more than to track down Natsu and thaw him out. He didn't want to be wasting his magic power on these low level thugs when his mate could be in danger in this den of demons.

Everywhere he looked all his friends seemed to be having the same problem. A group of them had taken it upon themselves to mount a defense around the injured. Porlyusica looked scarier than anyone had ever seen her before as she tried to take care of her patients in less than ideal conditions.

"Haven't you found a way to break through yet?", Makarov growled at his children.

They kept fighting as best they could, waiting for a lucky break. They began to feel the cube shake around them and they looked around trying to find the source. The shaking became stronger and a red metallic blur burst from the bottom of the cube leaving a large hole behind it as it continued chasing something. It was Erza. She was wearing her Piercing Armor and holding a large jousting lance. She had managed to pierce through the cube while fighting one of the demons. Everyone cheered to see that she was alright. They hoped the same could be said for Natsu, Mira and Lisanna.

"Erza, you're ok! Great job breaking through the cube! That was just what we needed.", Macao praised the requip mage.

Gray rushed over to her. "Have you seen Natsu? Is he ok?"

"He's fine Gray. I just talked with him a few minutes ago.", Erza told him, "I hear congratulations are in order, he told me you performed the Soul Bind."

"Happy said he was frozen like the giants..."

"Not anymore, I guess. Lisanna is also fine. We still need to find Mira and Elfman."

Gray felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't realized how anxious he had been about the thawing until he didn't have to do it anymore. He hoped the baby was ok. Porlyusica or Wendy could always check him later.

"Elfman is with us.", Cana said, "Right?"

Elfman nodded. He didn't understand how she could have forgiven him already but he was thankful. He hoped others would feel the same way once they found out what he did.

"Good, then we should go find Mira.", Erza said heading back towards the hole she had created when she was grabbed from behind by Kyoka. Lucy looked back at her with concern.

"Go on without me, I'll catch up with you later.", she readied herself to continue her battle, "We need to find a way to stop Face , the wards have been broken."

The Fairy Tail Mages jumped into the hole determined to save their friends and put a stop to Tartaros' evil scheme.

"Don't forget I need to get blood from the one with the Devil Particles to create an antidote.", Porlyusica yelled after them. She settled back to wait, keeping an eye on her charges and those that stayed to defend them.

xxx

To Natsu's disappointment the soldiers were not putting up much of a fight. He was readying another attack when everything around him turned black. His attackers were suspended in midair. What kind of magic was this? He looked around trying to sense who had cast it. Why was he still able to move when everything else around him was frozen?

"I didn't think I would ever see you again and yet here you are.", an amused voice startled him. It came from somewhere behind him, the voice vaguely familiar. Natsu quickly turned and came face to face with the Black Wizard, Zeref. "You're almost as hard to kill as I am."

For the moment he didn't feel any menace coming from the mage. "I've been told I'm too stubborn to die, or is it stupid?", Natsu scratched his head.

Zeref looked at him intently. "There's something different about you this time. What is it?"

"I don't know what you mean.", Natsu shrugged, "Are you behind all this?"

"Hardly.", Zeref scoffed, "Tartaros is my bookshelf, the city where my books live but I have nothing to do with the events that are happening now. I actually haven't set foot here in years."

Zeref continued to look at him.

"Why do you do that?", Natsu asked.The way Zeref looked at him annoyed him.

"Do what exactly?", Zeref asked him with amusement. Very few people talked to him like this and Zeref found himself enjoying the interaction.

"Look at me like you know me.", Natsu didn't remember Zeref outside of the one time he had seen him on Tenrou Island during the S-Class Trials but he had felt something then and he felt something now. A faint connection that he didn't understand. He wanted answers and that meant fighting the almost painful desire to punch the guy's face in.

"The last time we met you knew my name. You cried and talked of how I had grown, even said you missed me. How is that possible when I don't remember you? Just who is it that you think I am to you?"

Natsu watched Zeref, using all his senses to get as much information from the Dark Wizard as he could. He could have sworn he saw something in Zeref's eyes but the dark mage was quick to hide it. Had it been pain?

"I don't know what you mean.", Zeref repeated Natsu's earlier words, "I was outnumbered and I was trying to buy myself some time to activate my magic."

"I don't believe you, You could have taken all three of us out without any problem."

"Not really my concern.", Zeref looked at him more closely, "What's happened to your soul? It's different than before."

"How would you know what my soul is like?"

Zeref remained silent. Fine, two could play this game. Natsu wasn't going to answer any questions until Zeref did the same.

"What do you want, Zeref?", Natsu asked growing tired of the way the conversation seemed to be going nowhere. "You're clearly not here to fight."

"I suppose you could say I came to check out a book. I certainly was not expecting to find anyone here."

Natsu looked at the dark mage warily. "And just which book would that be?"

"Did you know that this guild is made up of demons I created? Every single one of them a demon. I didn't organize them myself of course but I know who did. Tell me, have you ever heard of E.N.D?", Zeref looked at Natsu's face with interest. It looked like he had touched a nerve.

"That's the bastard my father tried to kill! Where is he? I'm going to take him down."

Zeref flinched at hearing Natsu calling Igneel his father and he quickly looked up to see if Natsu had noticed but he saw no change in his behavior.

"No, the one he couldn't kill.", Zeref corrected.

Natsu drew his sword and waved it at Zeref. "Tell me where he is."

"Why would I tell you? He's the strongest demon I ever created and he has yet to fulfill his purpose. It is his book I came here to get."

Natsu attempted to attack the dark wizard with the powerful blade but the blade disintegrated where it came into contact with Zeref leaving Natsu holding nothing more than the hilt. He looked at the weapon with surprise and dropped it.

"Natsu Dragneel, soon you will be faced with a choice. Kill or let live. I have no doubt that you have it in you to kill E.N.D but you might find that the price of doing so is more than you can bear." At these words Zeref pressed his hand to Natsu's cheek in a gesture of affection Natsu had not been expecting.

"I hope we meet again." With those words Zeref disappeared leaving behind a shocked Fire Dragon Slayer. For a moment, Zeref's touch had made his heart ache. What the fuck was that about?

The strange blackness disappeared and the soldiers once again came at him.

"Fire Dragon Roar"

He took them out quickly, no longer interested in the fight.

xxx

Tiamat woke up and stretched. Not being able to return to her hotel room she had spent the night laying in a field. She had stayed up looking at the stars and remembering how beautiful the world had been when there had been dragons as far as the eye could see. She had fallen asleep dreaming of the day when they would return.

Today was the day she would get her revenge. She hummed a song softly to herself. It was an old dragon lullaby. She looked forward to singing it to her own child soon. She looked down at her wound and found that she was mostly healed. She got herself ready for the day and teleported to a cafe she had come to enjoy.

She sat herself down at an outdoor table and ordered some food. While she waited she people watched, looking at all the humans going about their business blissfully unaware of the changes that would soon come. She still didn't understand what Igneel saw in these beings that he would have picked them over her. Her food finally arrived and she ate it all. She would need a lot of energy.

She had spent a lot of time coming up with plans. The first step would be to find her wayward mate. Thanks to Laxus she now had access to a spell that would easily pinpoint his location for her, even if he happened to find himself in a different dimension. The best part was there was no way to counteract it. It would literally require an act from a god to do so. She smiled to herself, there was no way for them to keep him from her now.

"Discern Location: Natsu Dragneel"

She was almost purring as she cast the spell. A dragon hunting her prey. She waited patiently for the results to show up in front of her.

Tartaros Cube, Above Fairy Tail Guild, Magnolia, Fiore, Earthland

She smiled.

"Teleport"

xxx

And so it begins. I am super excited for what's coming next and I really hope that you enjoy it as well. Just as a note I will not be retelling all of Tartaros as it is boring for me and I would guess for you as well, we will be going mostly off canon although a few key events will still need to happen. Thank you once again to SilverWhiteDragon, EclipsingParadise and ClumsyKat for your continued support and encouragement. I enjoy our talks, I hope you get as much out of them as I do.