Point-in-Time: December X784


In a watered down forested area, Juvia and Lisanna were locked in a heated confrontation with Meredy of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. The pinkette materialized an arc of glowing swords around her body before poising them to strike at the two Fairy Tail mages.

"She can use Requip Magic like Erza?!" Lisanna couldn't believe it. But instead of identifying her Magic, she simply commanded her blades.

"Go."

And just like that, the glowing blades seemed to multiply as they flew straight at Lisanna and Juvia. Lisanna managed to jump out of the way, but Juvia more confidently stood in the midst of them.

"Nice try, but your swords will have no effect on me! My body is made entirely of…!" The bluenette screamed in pain as she was suddenly struck. 'I don't understand… How was she able to injure me?!'

"When my blades strike, they stimulate the epi-pain receptors. One might say they're 'blades of sensation'."

"Just who are you?! Why is Grimoire Heart attacking us? How did you even find us!" Lisanna demanded to know.

"I was not sent here to answer questions, just eliminate the enemy." Meredy replied stoically with a hardened glare. "That is the mission I was given."


"Aw, jeez… If it's not one thing, it's another." Gajeel growled as he and Lily entered the clearing where Makarov was still sprawled out. After they stomped that chicken-dog duo, the Iron Dragon Slayer had followed a hunch and went looking for the Master when his nose picked up the distinct scent of blood. Getting a gander at the Old Man now, his nose hadn't been lying…

"Who could have done this?" Panther Lily as they raced toward their fallen Master. Gajeel scowled as he knelt down and – thankfully – felt a pulse and saw the somewhat ragged rising and falling of the Old Man's chest.

"I dunno… But whoever did this is gonna pay. Bad enough they had to disrupt the Trials, but now they went and made it personal."

"Should we move him back to camp?" Lily asked, but the Iron Dragon Slayer shook his head.

"Yer forgettin' that Squirt and her cat are really uptight about this kind of crap. Who knows if they're even at camp? If we move him around for nothin' and make him worse, they're gonna lose it. No, we need to bring them here."

"But do you think you can find them in time? What if he gets worse?" Lily persisted.

Gajeel stood up from his crouched position and sighed.

"He's stable enough. If the twerp is with that partner of hers still, he might be able to get us back real quick." At Lily's suspicious glance, Gajeel rolled his eyes. "I know, I know, he's suspicious. But we could really use him right now to get around and clean up this mess… Ugh."

There was a brief silence before Panther Lily looked up at Gajeel again.

"I'll stay here and look after him. We don't want someone from Grimoire Heart finding him and finishing the job." He received a nod from his partner, but Gajeel soon looked down when he felt something tugging at his ankle.

"Gajeel… You must warn the others to leave the island at once!" Makarov declared in a raspy sounding voice that still carried an iron will behind it. Both Dragon Slayer and Exceed stared at the man in disbelief.

"Like hell…" Gajeel growled, but Lily quickly cut him off in a concerned voice.

"Master, who did this to you?! Does Grimoire Heart truly have someone that strong in their ranks?"

Makarov sighed tiredly at the scathing reminder of just 'who' had done this to him. Precht's betrayal was a truly unforeseen tragedy.

"That doesn't matter, Panther Lily… All you must know is that he possesses immense Magical Power. Not one of you kids will be a match for him yet… not even Gildarts."

"Master…" Lily trailed off uncertainly, but his partner growled in frustration.

"Pull yourself together, Gramps! Do ya really think we'll just let these guys walk all over us? Salamander's still up and about, 'n so is that Team Mira combo… Laxus and Gildarts, too, and don't go forgettin' there's me! The next S-Class mage. Heh." Gajeel casually remarked with a smirk, to which Makarov looked up at him with a shaky stern glare.

"Gajeel…"

Oh, but the Iron Dragon Slayer was havin' none of that.

"Don't ya see? This is exactly what happened with Phantom! Ya know, the Guild I used to belong to. Aria got the drop on ya, but your S-Classers beat the Element Four and your own grandson beat Jose. Looks grim now, but we'll make a comeback. Don't you forget that!" With a cocky smirk on his lips, the Iron Dragon Slayer bolted off before he could hear more of Makarov's 'quitter talk'. Really, it was shameful when everybody's grandfather figure was the first one ready to throw in the towel.

The aged Guild Master watched Gajeel go with a frustrated grunt. Natsu would probably be telling him much the same thing right now, and Makarov couldn't help feeling a tad outmaneuvered in that logic battle. The old Precht that he fondly remembered would surely be chiding him for not setting a better example, if he were here.

"I'm sure everything will be okay." Panther Lily assured the elderly Dreyar as they stood and laid there in silent companionship. All Makarov could do was offer a pained, closed-eyes grin.

"Heh… I'll leave it to you kids 'til these old bones get healed up a little. Can't let you have all the fun." Panther Lily smiled as the Master's enthusiasm slowly returned. That was more like it. The Exceed had faith that they would win the day.


The sun had set, and storm clouds had arrived at Tenrou Island. There was only one dispirited soul on the beach at the designated time for regrouping and checking progress. Not even Ultear was anywhere in sight.

"The sky's tears wash away my own desires…" Rusty Rose lamented as the rain poured down on him. "Its eyes turn gloomy with a looming darkness."

It unsettled him that he was the only one of the Kin to return on schedule. Were the Fairies the others encountered truly so fearsome? He half-expected Zancrow to be here early, whining about the 'crappy' rain before bellowing at Kain to shut up about his bottomless stomach. But no one, not even the 'mighty' Azuma, had made it here but him. He'd been waiting there at least ten minutes, but no one showed.

Well… until the last person he'd expected to see up and about stalked over to him with a fierce scowl.

"Are you all truly so pathetic that I had to come out here and finish the job myself? Four of you have fallen while only the women remain out there fighting. You are an embarrassment."

"B-Bluenote…" Rusty whispered in shock, gaping at the Ace with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Have we truly fallen to such a deplorable state? Azuma, Zancrow, Kain, Caprico… All of them have withered away like dead leaves? I find that hard to believe, given that there isn't a skilled warrior in the bunch. My war drum beats a soft and steady rhythm."

Bluenote snorted contemptuously.

"Then you have not battled nearly enough." The Ace declared without room for debate. He began to walk in the direction of the Fairy Tail base camp. "Come. The rabble has failed to strike down their stronghold, where many of their wounded have gathered. We shall descend on them and slaughter the horde before the rest can regroup."

Bluenote said not a word more as he continued on his way. Rusty stared after him with a shiver travelling down his spine. This was bad – for Master Hades to allow Bluenote to enter the fray, the state of affairs must have been quite unacceptable indeed. It would mean that he himself would not be able to enjoy 'feasting' on as much prey as he could stomach. Not with the Ace of Grimoire Heart fighting alongside him.

Still… Rusty could do nothing but follow after him. To disobey his orders would be like a wolf defying the dominant Alpha. In… blunter terms. Bluenote would 'discipline' him, which could be an execution if he was cross enough. Rusty had good reason to feel a shaking in his hands…


Ultear clutched her side as she struggled to race through the forest in a desperate attempt to locate Zeref again. She'd put on a strong front for Kain, but the truth was that she couldn't continue on facing Salamander. Physically or emotionally. So like a coward, she ran. It wasn't that hard to stab that brute in the back when she planned on cutting ties with Grimoire Heart from the start. Their interests aligned about as far as acquiring Zeref… from there, their goals diverged. Ultear literally had no problems cutting her ties with this wretched timeline. What had it ever done for her? So why…?

"Why did he get me so rattled…?" Ultear spat in contempt. Her anger wasn't even directed at the Dragon Slayer that had put her in this state… She was livid at herself, and it wasn't for the reasons that they should have been! Why was she angry with how she handled 'revealing the truth' to Natsu Dragneel? She was supposed to be the heartless, cruel leader of the Seven Kin. Not the 'Ultear Milkovich' façade that had gotten close to the Dragneels.

That was her mask, not her real face. And yet… at some point, the two seemingly became reversed. This cold shell that she bore to the world as a member of Grimoire Heart didn't feel authentic anymore. Something had… changed.

"It doesn't make sense!" The Arc of Time mage howled in frustration before collapsing to her knees on the soggy ground as the rain poured down on her. She panted heavily as she looked at her reflection in a small puddle close to her. Her hair wasn't completely neat anymore, her eyes were far from calm, and were those…?

… No. That was just the rain. She was not rattled to that extent.

"You're tellin' me…" Oh. Oh, this was perfect. Just what she needed right now… More issues. "You look just like someone I knew a long time ago. I wonder if you have any relation?"

At the dry, smug tone of the man a few feet behind her, Ultear didn't even crane her head to face him as she stood back up with barely contained rage. This was the last thing she needed, but at the moment she just didn't care. If she couldn't be allowed to locate Zeref, then she would simply have to vent… And, oh my, a very convenient person just happened to volunteer himself for that thankless role.

"… I am the daughter of Ur." The Arc of Time mage revealed without any hesitance. Gray raised his brow, looking at her back.

"What's Ur's daughter doing in Grimoire Heart? She thought you were dead."

Ultear sneered at Gray's 'defense' of her mother. Was that all?

"Hmph. She's dead to me… and so are you."

Gray tensed as she suddenly whipped around and sent a barrage of Arc of Time balls his way. He wouldn't just stand there and take the hits, but damn this was a mess… He'd get a straight answer out of her soon enough.

"ICE MAKE: WALL!" Gray called out and generated a wall directly in front of him to block the projectile orbs. Fortunately for him, he leaped back immediately after erecting that structure, because the orbs disintegrated the wall as if it wasn't even there and just kept coming.

When they did strike 'Gray', it was Ultear who was shocked because similar to the wall, her opponent disintegrated into nothingness. A Clone. Ultear looked warily around for the Ice Make mage but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Too afraid to come out and face me yourself?!" Ultear yelled out tauntingly, yet her only answer was a chuckle that echoed throughout their general area.

"That's rich, comin' from you. 'Cause it looked like you were runnin' from someone to me when I stumbled on you." To Ultear's ire, she couldn't pinpoint him even as he kept talking. A superior warrior to him in every way, and she couldn't find him. "What happened to you? I can't imagine Ur's daughter turning out like this. She loved you and wanted nothing more than to have you in her arms one last time, but you never came back!"

"Never came back…?" Ultear gnashed her teeth in aggravation, looking around with a heated glare. "You and that other boy replaced me! I came back, but by that time it was already too late! That Witch abandoned me!"

From his concealed location, Gray frowned and his brow furrowed. That didn't sound like what Ur had told him at all. Arguing with Ultear now would be pointless, because something gave her that impression. If she'd seen him and Lyon with Ur… all the more reason to not put his foot in his mouth right now.

A pink glow on his wrist suddenly caught his eye, and Gray narrowed his eyes at it. What now…?


Back with Juvia and Lisanna, Meredy had just got done explaining her Maguilty Sense to the two of them. At this point, there was a link between Meredy, Juvia, and Gray, wherever he was – all of them had a pink glow around their right wrists.

"With the Spell I've cast… me, you, and your beloved Gray are all one. All of our senses have merged. And if one of us were to die in this battle… Gray will die as well."

"You can't be serious!" Juvia stood up from the water and faced Meredy. "We all lose this way! No one lives."

"Precisely. That's how far I'm willing to go!" Meredy replied with conviction. "This is it! Death is all that's left for us! Make peace."

'What's this pressure on my back…?' Juvia wondered. 'Is this what my beloved Gray is feeling right now?'

"I can feel Gray Fullbuster's connection!" Meredy spread out her arms. "There's no need to fight you anymore! In fact, I'm going to end this right now."

Juvia gasped as the pinkette materialized two swords and maneuvered them to chop off her own head. Lisanna attempted dash forward, but a stern glare from Meredy stopped her in her tracks.

"To do that, I will die!" Meredy yelled, and this time Juvia rushed forward to stop her.

"No, stop!"

"There's nothing you can do to stop me!" Meredy declared with finality. However, Juvia was rather quick to think of a method of stopping the Dark Mage.

"My love, forgive me!" Juvia wailed as she coated her arm in water and stabbed her left hip harshly. Meredy reeled back from the pain, and the two swords shattered out of existence. The three of them took a moment to collect themselves – Gray didn't know what was going on, but Meredy realized all too well what Juvia just did.

"You hurt yourself… for him?!" Meredy panted. "You're smart, I'll give you that, but causing me pain won't help! If you want to stop me, then you'll have to kill me! However, doing so will only aid my vengeance. Give up! You can't keep hurting yourself forever! Eventually your body will fail! But that doesn't matter to you, does it? You'll fight 'til your last breath. Don't you get it?! Nothing you do will change our fate! All roads converge on death for us! It's the only option!"

"No, that's not true!" Juvia argued. "If you leave Gray alone, we'll live! I used to be a lot like you… But joining Fairy Tail has taught me… that even my enemies deserve to live!"

Meredy stood back up and screamed.

"It's utter nonsense! I'll kill Gray Fullbuster and put Ultear's heart at ease!" She shrieked, materializing another sword in the air above her head and poising it at Juvia. The Water mage got back up as well and limped toward Meredy.

"Not if I can help it! If I have to knock us both out to stop you, then so be it!"

'I have to kill him… for her…!' Meredy wailed internally, and without realizing it, she shared a memory with the Water mage…

Young Meredy was sobbing amidst the ruins of her destroyed village. Eventually, Ultear wandered up to her stoically. However, something changed in her eyes as she continued to look at the young pinkette; and soon, she knelt down and comfortingly petted the top of her head.

"You don't need to cry anymore… No one's going to hurt you!" The Arc of Time mage soothed the little girl and calmed her down somewhat.

"What gives? Who's the little brat?" Zancrow suddenly jumped down near them as Kain walked up behind Ultear as well.

"She's a survivor." Ultear calmly explained.

"Dinner's waiting! Just kill her and be done with it." The rotund man cruelly replied.

This sent Meredy into another bout of crying, but Ultear smiled gently at her.

"… I'm going to take her with us."

Well, Zancrow didn't seem to like that plan of action.

"You've gotta be out of your friggin' mind! Master Hades said to find Zeref's key and wipe out everyone in the city! That means her too!"

But Ultear shook her head.

"She reminds me of myself when I was a little girl…" As Zancrow and Kain shared a look of distrust, Ultear swept the pinkette up into her arms and held her close. "I'll take full responsibility. Besides, I have a feeling she has a great gift to share with us…"

"Suuure…" Zancrow deadpanned. Kain offered a small smile.

"So… dinner?"

And another memory…

Meredy, looking as she did in the present, walked up to Ultear on the deck of their airship.

"Ur, why do you look so sad all the time?" The pinkette queried. Ultear shook her head mirthfully.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Ur's my deceased mother. The name 'Urtear' died with her."

"She's dead?" Meredy probed. Ultear was at a loss at what to say for now.

"I'll… tell you about it someday."

Sensing a range of sad emotions welling up in Ultear, Meredy embraced her arm.

"You're my mother… now and forever…"

Ultear smiled lightly.

"I'm far too young to have such a mature, talented daughter!"

It was as Meredy repeated her desperate thought and attempted to bring the sword down on herself that Juvia sliced it in half and hugged the pinkette tightly. But more than that…

'I don't understand… Why? Why is she crying…?' Meredy couldn't help thinking to herself. The Water mage's actions confused her greatly.

"You can feel love, I can see it!" Juvia whispered to Meredy as she pulled back and clutched the pinkette's shoulders. "You love someone, and they mean the world to you!"

Meredy just gaped at her in shock.

'How did she know…? Did I somehow share my memories with her through the link?'

"Please live…" Juvia begged. Meredy kept wondering how this could be possible. "Live for her! Please! Like I live for the person I love! You don't have a choice! If you have love… You have to live!"

As Juvia earnestly pleaded with her and shed more tears, Meredy could feel herself crying as she experienced Juvia's sadness through the link.

'Live… for Ultear…? These tears of love and life… They're unstoppable!' With this thought, both girls collapsed to their knees in the water, and to Lisanna's relief, the pink glow around their wrists was gone – which meant that Gray, wherever he was, was safe as well. Meredy fell back into the water and quivered. "I can't do it… please forgive me…"

"My beloved Gray… stay safe until I can find you…" Juvia wished with all her heart as she did the same in falling back into the water.


Back with Gray, he was rubbing at his eyes as he inexplicably felt tears running down his face.

"Tears… just what the hell is going on…?" Gray whispered as he tried to puzzle out what had been going on. That had been a weird experience.

"Hmph. Seems like Meldy's handiwork." Ultear mused as she loomed over Gray, who reeled back at her sudden appearance.

'Damn it… she found me!' Gray roared internally. So much for playing things cautiously. He managed to block a spinning kick she dished out, but she followed up by lobbing an Arc of Time ball that turned into many as they continuously smashed into him.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray announced his counterattack while he was airborne. And as the many shimmering beams of light rushed toward the Dark Mage, she conjured a Magic Circle in front of her.

"I'll simply cast your ice into the future! Sublimation!" And just like that, the ice harmlessly dispersed into mist. Gray attempted a few more attacks to see if that ability of Ultear's had a limit or anything, but each time his attacks were nullified. It was ridiculous!

"Damn… So my Ice attacks are useless, huh…?" He nimbly avoided another Arc of Time ball that spun around and shot out hundreds of duplicates. Ultear sneered at his predicament.

"Well, what did you expect?! I mastered Arc of Time to kill a Maker Magic Wizard! My mother. My whole life I've wanted nothing more than to do away with her…"

Gray trembled in fury at Ultear's callous remark.

"You're sick! You'd kill your own mother?!" He snarled and glared at her to gauge how serious she was about this. But she glared back just as heatedly.

"I've never stopped hating her…" The Dark Mage conjured hundreds of balls to strike at Gray from all directions, but he brought up an Ice Wall to shield him completely. However… "Nice try! Now… Flash Forward!"

Ultear evaporated Gray's Wall like she did his attacks and intensified the speed of her orbs to strike at the Ice Make mage. He howled in agony as he went flying back but was equally quick to bounce back to his feet.

"But why?! I know Ur cared for you!" Gray sent a spiky Ice Floor her way, but just like the rest of his attacks, it failed as well.

"Did she?!"

"She used to cry, because she couldn't tell you how she felt!" Gray roared as he rushed to attack her physically, and Ultear repelled even that attack. Though it did not look easy for her, in her banged up state. As Gray stood back up in the crater of the wall he'd impacted with, Ultear sneered again.

"Resorting to brute force now that your Ice is useless…?"

"… No. I'll beat you with Ice. I'm gonna take you down with Ur's Magic." Gray declared with certainty as he coated his right arm in hefty hunk of spiked ice. He then slashed his side to draw blood and absorb it into the makeshift blade. "I've got a lot riding on my shoulders here, but what I learned from your mother… it gives me all the strength I need!"

He encased his left arm in ice as well, and it similarly filled up with blood. Then, he sprung toward his foe.

"I told you, it won't work…!" She roared, but she couldn't sublimate that ice like all the attacks before. Gray's twin blades struck true again and again until finally he knocked her back with a fierce blow.

"It's over! You can't control the time of living things!"

'No… That's not ice…! He's frozen his own blood!' Ultear thought to herself in amazement.

"Ice Make… Seven Slice Dance!" Gray declared the name of this attack after slashing at her one more time, which resulted in heavy damage to Ultear and the ground beneath them.

Ultear could feel it… she was nearing her limit. Getting her ass handed to her by Natsu… her Arc of Time rendered useless by her replacement… It made Ultear's blood boil. She would not lose here! The Dark Mage painfully got back on her feet and got in a stance that Gray recognized immediately. Was she…?

"Ice Make: Rosen Krone!" Ultear roared and unleashed her attack – giant ice sculptures of roses that struck Gray, but as she unleashed a second wave of them, he bounced off a giant rose and tackled her at a high rate of speed, sending them both skidding down a hill toward a cliff.

"How the hell did you become such an evil person?!" Gray insisted on knowing. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Like you care! You could never understand what I've been through!" As they reached the cliff, they didn't stop their momentum, and they fell straight off into the ocean below. "That Witch abandoned me! My own mother!"

"You said that before, but what do you mean?!" Gray shouted right back at her. He didn't receive an answer, though, as they crashed full throttle into the water.

Ultear could still recall those memories even as they sank into the water. Clear as crystal. Ur had brought her to the Bureau of Magical Development, a strange, unpleasant, and lonely place where they conducted many painful tests on her. Every. single. day. But those 'tests' soon turned into 'hourly intervals', as that bastard Brain saw great potential in her as the daughter of Ur, who was purportedly close in strength to those of the Wizard Saints. One night she managed to shatter the window in her room on pure accident, but she used that as an opportunity to escape that hellish prison.

Naturally all Ultear could think about was returning home. Her mother was the only thing on her mind as she ran through the desert, then the mountains, and finally the snow to return home. Her tenacity got her to where she wanted to go despite the state her body was in because of the constant tests, and her heart would've exploded out of her chest at finally catching sight of her mother… but that same heart was shattered into a million pieces at seeing Ur training Gray and Lyon. She looked so… happy. And it made Ultear very angry at the seeming betrayal.

Ultear returned to the Bureau to willingly undergo those tests again. This time she wanted to get stronger. Strong enough so that she could kill her mother. In the end, her power became so great that it brought down that hellhole and earned her a place in Grimoire Heart, after Brain abandoned the Bureau as he no longer had use for it. Master Hades soon introduced her to Arc of Time, explaining that in its current state it wouldn't allow her to become a time-traveller… But in the Grand Magic World, she would be able to.

This is what gave Ultear the strength to attack even while underwater; Gray similarly started up an Ice Make attack and unleashed it on her, and the two attacks stayed about even… until Ultear heard the distant voice of her mother.

"Please help me!"

As a result, Gray's attack overpowered hers, and the Ice Make mage struck her as she continued to hear her mother's voice.

"I need help! Please, I'm begging you!"

Ultear kicked Gray back in return.

'There it is again…'

"My daughter's suffering because she was born with too much Magic Power! There's so much of it condensed into her tiny body that her fevers won't go away!"

"Don't worry… I know of a facility that specializes in such cases."

Ultear was overwhelmed as her mother's memories flooded into her mind's eye, and she started floating aimlessly as she allowed the images to play in her head. Everything she saw was from Ur's perspective. Ultear quickly deduced that her mother, who had transformed into Ice Shell to stop Deliora, had melted into the sea when Lyon's efforts on Galuna Island 'freed' the Demon. Ur was all around her, and she couldn't really complain about it…

"My baby! What did you monsters do to her?! She's dead! How did this happen?!"

"There's nothing more for me to say…" Brain told her solemnly.

"I was told that your agency specializes in cases like hers… The only reason I brought her here is because I thought you could cure her… And she's dead?!"

"We offer our sincere condolences…" A man with a veil over his face waved his arm apologetically. "We tried everything we could, but her power was simply too strong."

"It proved even too much for us to handle." A woman with a veil over her face added solemnly. Brain turned to trek deeper into the facility.

"It would be best for you not to see her remains…"

"That's all you have to say?!" Ur sobbed. "No, wait! Please give my daughter back to me! No! She can't be gone! She can't!"

Ultear had gained control of her floating as the memory came to an end, but what didn't change was that she was still overwhelmed by the emotions that the memories brought her.

'It's different… Her memory is so different from mine…' Ultear thought to herself, saddened. She was snapped out of her thoughts as Gray charged up one more attack.

"ICE MAKE: GUNGNIR!" He screamed mentally, and the huge ice sculpture shaped like a spear surged forward to encase Ultear and sped her to the surface, eliciting a scream of pain from Ultear. As the spear protruded from the ocean's surface, Ultear had shifted so that it looked as if the spear had impaled her entire body, only her head and appendages sticking out of the ice. Her face slacked in amazement of Gray's power.

Gray bobbed to the surface as well, and looked at her seriously.

"Ur told us about you, but the memories were way too painful for her. " For Ultear's sake, he recalled Ur's words, revealing that Ur believed that when Ultear was born, her tiny body was packed with limitless possibilities.

And that ultimately delivered the final blow to Ultear, emotionally. Gungnir shattered, and Ultear limply fell into the water once more, the fight taken out of her.

'All I wanted was to bring about the Grand Magic World… so that I could go back to a time before I hated my mother. All I wanted… was to see my mother again, and to tell her I loved her one last time…'

A short while later, Gray and Ultear swam back to shore together and dried off. The Arc of Time mage offered a bittersweet smile at her former foe.

"My fight's over. I couldn't go searching for Zeref again even if I wanted to. Both you and Natsu made sure of that." She sighed morosely at the thought of the pink-head. She'd deeply wounded him and his wife because of her selfish pursuit of a false dream. And the knucklehead had tried befriending her without realizing that fact…

"Che. That Pyro, eh?" Gray snorted in amusement as he rolled his eyes. "You can come out, you guys!"

Ultear tensed as Natsu hopped down from a higher part of the cliff-face. Sho and Happy were still at the top, looking down nervously. Natsu's face was grim, but it didn't have that intense fury that it had before.

"Feelin' better now?" The rose-haired mage asked her dead seriously as he maintained eye contact. Ultear blinked in confusion as she felt the slightest amount of fear.

"I don't understand… Wh-What are you doing here, and why…?" She trailed off as she couldn't find the right words to explain it, but she essentially wanted to know where all that anger had gone. It wasn't natural…

"The Pyro showed up at some point during our fight, probably when I got distracted by that pink thing on my wrist." Gray smirked at Ultear's dumbfounded expression. "He didn't butt in, 'cause he knew I'd kick his ass for it."

Natsu grunted while struggling not to pout.

"Says you, Ice Princess." At Ultear's inquisitive gaze, he sighed and turned serious again. "Look. We're gonna need to clean the air when this is all finished; but the gist of it is I'm still mad at what you did to Erza, Simon, and all those innocents. I'm mad, but it's not like I can refuse you a second chance. After all, you're not totally at fault for the Tower of Heaven…"

Ultear was flabbergasted at his reasoning.

"B-But my Possession Magic…"

"… didn't make him a mindless puppet." Natsu deadpanned. He shook his head firmly. "Jellal was still his own man; a guy messed up in the head, but still a man capable of making his own decisions. You gotta atone for making him that way, not to mention all the other crap you pulled while working with Grimoire Heart, but you weren't the main orchestrator behind the Tower of Heaven like you said you were. That's what made me angry – you taking the credit for that unforgivable place and lying with a straight face that you didn't feel any remorse over it."

"Natsu…" Ultear trailed off with a look of disbelief still clear in her eyes. How could this man have such a big heart? Anyone else in his shoes would have just killed her and been done with it, but… Not him.

Gray tilted his head as he stared at the two of them strangely.

"It's so weird you two know each other while it takes a friggin' invasion for me to get an introduction."

Natsu just waved him off snidely.

"Your fault for not joining us on the 'Ultear jobs'." He smirked as a tick mark appeared on Gray's head.

"Oh, you are not blaming that on me! Erza wouldn't even let me come 'cause they asked for 'you' specifically! She just went along to keep a keen eye or whatever." The Ice Make mage grumbled. He then eyed Ultear curiously. "… What was up with that constant flirting, anyway? I only heard about it, but apparently you really riled Erza up…"

Despite the conversation taking a surreal turn – no, really, how the hell were they buddy-buddy already? – Ultear still mustered a smirk herself.

"I'm afraid that's between me and the Dragneels. I will say it started as a game, but it quickly became something more…" Ultear gave Natsu a faux-predatory glare and licked her lips seductively, which got the desired reaction of Natsu blushing like a tomato and standing rigidly.

'Erza's gonna kill me!' Natsu wailed internally. He wildly shook his head, knowing he failed miserably at keeping his composure. Ultear was way too good at this game…

"ANYWAY!" He abruptly decided to steer the conversation back on track. Ultear's pout made him shiver one more time before he really 'moved on' both externally and internally. "What are you gonna do now?"

He asked Ultear with a serious gaze. She sobered up and considered his question.

"You two still have a fight on your hands with Hades. I'm certainly in no shape to be fighting anyone of his caliber, let alone any of the Kin that might still be out there."

"Well, we beat the tub of lard you lobbed our way…" Natsu muttered sourly, to which she sweatdropped as Happy waved the card he was still trapped in from their point at the top of the cliff.

"And Mira and I beat that Azuma guy." Gray muttered as he crossed his arms. "That makes three of the Seven Kin beaten for sure, 'cause Mira hauled that guy off to the Council warships 'conveniently' there…"

Natsu blinked as Gray brought that up even as his rival glared suspiciously at Ultear.

"Council war…?" His mouth became a thin line as he, too, glared suspiciously at Ultear, who didn't look the least bit innocent or apologetic. "Ultear…"

"Hey, I was doing you lot a favor. If for whatever reason Zeref escaped my grasp or Grimoire Heart actually got their hands on him, the Council could have used Etherion to blow them sky high before it was too late."

"And took all of us with the island as well as you…" Gray felt obligated to point out. Natsu simply muttered under his breath.

"We are going to have a long talk after this is over…" Shaking his head, he grunted. "Why don't you head there, too, and try 'n get 'em off our backs? … What?"

He received incredulous stares from both Gray and Ultear. Gray's was more exaggerated and mocking.

"Either you're not our Flamebrain or you're trying too hard. That weirdly sounded like a decent idea." Gray muttered. Ultear pinched the bridge of her nose at his antics… They really didn't have time for this.

"Reckless reputations aside, I think it's decent, too, but I've been missing in action for a week. Lahar might question my presence."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the mention of ol' Four-Eyes.

"The guy that took Oracion Seis away? Ugh."

Gray ignored the Pyro this time and turned his gaze to Ultear.

"A partial truth can't hurt. Just tell 'im you've been personally looking into Grimoire Heart."

Ultear shook her head.

"It's why they're here in the first place. Grimoire Heart knowing where Tenrou was located when they didn't was highly suspicious; they thought the two Guilds were possibly connected. Moreover, I haven't been following 'protocol' at all for an intelligence mission of this caliber. Lahar will have a field day with that."

"Then bring fatty along with ya! They'll love that!" Natsu waved for Happy to bring down Kain's card, and he and Sho timidly floated down thanks to the Exceed.

"You might be able to help them repair their ships, too. Azuma roughed 'em up pretty bad." Gray supplied. Seeing that they were pretty adamant about giving her a way to be 'useful', she sighed and grudgingly accepted the card holding Kain.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do…" Struggling to get up, she was surprised when Natsu offered her a hand up. … Knucklehead. She wouldn't be able to tease him or Erza very much for a while after this. "One more thing… There's a pink-haired girl named Meredy among the Seven Kin… If possible, could you keep her safe? I have adopted her in all but name, and she shouldn't have to be manhandled like the others… Just tell her that I sent you, and she probably won't attack… Well. At least not Natsu."

At Ultear's 'correction' at the end there, Gray could only sweatdrop.

"Great… she wants to kill me for your sake." He grumbled before acquiescing. "Sure. You can count on us."

As they were about to set out and take their separate ways, there was a deafening sound that rent the air and heralded some unknown disaster.

"… What was that?" Natsu asked warily as he eyed Ultear, who was gnashing her teeth and looking in the general direction the sound came from.

"That… was Hades done playing around." Ultear huffed out. "He's sent in Bluenote Stinger to 'finish the job', so now you have a battle on two fronts. Good luck."

Gray, Natsu, Sho, and Happy shared looks of confusion as the name 'Bluenote' didn't ring any bells. But if Ultear said he was bad news, then they'd better go help out the others…


"Is there no one among you that can fly?!" Bluenote bellowed as he unleashed his Gravity Magic to pin everyone at the Fairy Tail base camp to the ground. Freed and Bickslow, Mest and Wendy, Levy and Lucy, Simon and Wally, and even Gajeel who had just arrived to ask for Wendy's help with Makarov… None of them could stand up in this oppressive atmosphere. This man's power was just too great – although it was interesting to note that Mest appeared the most unsettled out of everyone present, as if he knew just who they were facing.

Rusty Rose simply shook his head as he watched the tragic scene from a distance. This is exactly what he feared. He wouldn't be able to enjoy dining on Fairies while his 'superior' gorged on them. The man had no concept of elegance or poetry…

And then he appeared. A terrifying man that – dare he imagine it? – rivaled the Ace of Grimoire Heart. The man flew in from out of nowhere and smashed his fist into Bluenote's face, sending him crashing into a tree harshly. This roguish-looking man had ginger hair and wore a tattered cloak, along with bandages wrapped all over his body underneath. He called out to his comrades.

"Deal with Specs!" Gildarts nudged his head toward the still dumbfounded Rusty Rose while intercepting Bluenote's incoming fist with one of his own. The former Trialgoers were galvanized into action at their Ace's timely appearance. Most of them went to attack Rusty, but Gajeel, Wendy, and Mest disappeared with his Teleportation to go and check on Makarov. That still left Freed, Bickslow, Levy, Lucy, Simon, and Wally to battle the only remaining member of the Kin left standing.

The silver-haired man quickly recovered, however, and sent forth his Sacred Guardian Beast, Belfast the Hurricane to battle on his behalf. But Bickslow made short work of the beast with his Human Possession Magic, and it shattered into a million pieces.

"A futile effort! Numbers matter not in the face of my Arc of Embodiment, which is a bottomless well of power!" He conjured a shield to block Wally's shot, and Pegasus wings appeared on his feet so as to avoid Freed's follow-up blast.

"Let's try this! Get 'em, Taurus!" Lucy called out as she summoned the Zodiac Spirit.

"MOOOOOO!" The Bull Spirit gave out a war cry as it clashed with Rusty's shield. Bickslow smirked as the two combatants stood there with either one unmoving.

"That's it! Hold him there, Taurus! Get 'im, babies!" He sent out his wooden dolls to go around Rusty's shield and strike at him from behind and the sides. With the Dark Mage airborne, Freed wrote runes onto himself to initiate Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow, which gave him a dark suit of armor and helmet that amplified his abilities. He surged forward and slashed with his sword, sending Rusty flying in Simon's direction. Simon used his Dark Moment just as the silver-haired mage was in close proximity, and then used Dark Burst to heavily damage him and send him sprawling on the ground in agony.

Thinking he would be down for the count from that, Wally held his gun to Rusty's head when he raised it to glare at his foes. Power welled up within the Dark Mage as he called forth his best chance to slay these Fairies.

"Tower of…!"

"Nice try!" Wally adjusted his aim so that his shot hit Rusty square in the back before the resulting explosion sent him and the other Fairy Tail mages skidding back from the blast. When the dust settled, Rusty was moaning and very much unconscious. The sharpshooter tipped his hat and grinned cockily. "Dandy!"

They all shared victorious smiles before witnessing the tail end of Gildarts' fight with Bluenote. The Ace of Grimoire Heart was trying to conjure some Black Hole attack that would supposedly swallow up everything, but Gildarts' Crash Magic made the whole thing shatter before the Crash mage delivered a swift uppercut and sent him far away with Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean.

On that triumphant note… Fairy Tail had thwarted Grimoire Heart's assault on the base camp. There couldn't be many of Grimoire Heart's forces left – they had them on the ropes now. Time to bring it home.


Author's Note: Haaah~… Rusty and Bluenote's battle was a tad more lackluster than I meant it to be, but reflecting on it… Gildarts did prove to be stronger than Bluenote. And in this scenario, Rusty was against overwhelming odds since Azuma had already been taken down (and for those wondering about Gajeel going with Wendy and Mest, well… someone had to show 'em where Makarov was, and they trusted in the others to handle Bluenote and Rusty since Gildarts showed up). I was a bit put out that I didn't involve Lisanna more, too, but in fairness… that fight was really about Juvia getting through to Meredy.

… I think you all know where I put the most effort into. Ha~. ^_^ So. Next time everyone regroups, and the battle-ready go to fight Master Hades. Depending on how that fight pans out with all the changes in this timeline thus far, we might get the epilogue for the Tenrou Arc. We're clooose… Acnologia is coming. :D

Hope you enjoyed this a bit.