Sorry for not posting in a while! Adultting is hard and leaves little room for much else besides work and sleep. However I give you guys this long chapter as an apology enjoy!


Gray couldn't stay still. Ever since they got the call from Sabertooth an hour ago he'd been pacing outside Makarov's office waiting for the damn council to give him an answer. Honestly, Gray was expecting the worst. Most everyone was convinced E.N.D had betrayed them, of course the people who were close to him didn't want to believe that, but that wouldn't matter...

At this point E.N.D's only hope was the fact that Lucy had been taken with him. No way the council would want the Etherious to have a Star Child. If they allowed Fairy Tail to save her, chances were they could get E.N.D back too. Gray could only hope. He really didn't want to kill his friend.

"Gray-sama? Perhaps we should wait below with the others? Master will let us know when a decision is made."

Gray turned to see the Undine beauty who'd been patiently waiting with him. Juvia had been standing to the side watching him pace, and she couldn't take his worried expression anymore. Gray sighed and walked over to stand in front of her. As soon as he was in reach, Juvia wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into him. He wrapped her up in a tight hug, he half expected her to complain about being squeezed too hard, but Juvia never complained about him. Sure, he once saw her as creepy and stalker-ish, but over time he grew to rely on her constant nearness and loyalty, Honestly, if she weren't here now, he'd be freaking out so much more. Both jumped when the door to Makarov's office slammed open. Any hope Gray had before vanished when he saw the guild masters face. He was beyond pissed, he looked murderous!

"Gramps?" Gray asked hesitantly.

He merely shook his head and went to stand on the banister overlooking the bottom floor. Gray and Juvia scrambled to follow him. As soon as he settled on the banister, everyone shut up to look to him.

"Listen up brats! The council has made a decision. They believe E.N.D has betrayed us, that he only sought our trust to get his hands on a Star Child. They have ordered that Gray use his abilities to put him down for good."

There was a collective gasp from everyone. Gray felt completely shell shocked. He couldn't do it! 50 years ago, yeah sure, but now...Now he and E.N.D had gotten to know one another...Had become sort of...Friends. Juvia hugged his arm to her chest hoping to comfort him in some way; It did nothing to help.

"As far as the Star Child is concerned, we are to rescue her and give her over to the council. They want Yukino as well but, that is Sabertooth's battle to fight, for now our focus is Lucy."

To this, there were several shouts of outrage, mostly from the people who'd met Lucy and those who are friends with Yukino. The others simply knew that the council wished to weaponize them. Gray could feel the rage starting to over shadow the dread. What was the council thinking?!

"Master! We cant let them do this! E.N.D has changed, he's not a threat anymore, and Lucy shouldn't be forced into anything-"

"Erza I completely agree with you. I never said I agreed with the councils ruling."

With that simple statement Makarov shut up all conversations and the grin he wore completely contradicted his age. Instead of a wise, old giant, Makarov was once again a rebellious teen looking forward to breaking some major rules.

"We're storming the Tartaros guild, getting our nakama back, both of them, and as soon as she's safe from the Etherious we are making sure the council don't get their hands on Lucy next!"

Cheers erupted around the hall and Gray felt all the weight on his shoulders lift. Makarov turned back to him and Juvia and smiled.

"We'll find a way to prove E.N.D's innocence Gray. I wont let you bare that burden."

"...Thank you Gramps..."

X

Sting had to keep biting the inside of his cheek. It was the only way he could keep eye contact with Minerva with out flinching!

"But M'lady!"

"But nothing! You're hurt Sting, and even if you weren't its a fools mission anyway! E.N.D should not have been able to be controlled, there for he simply betrayed us, get over it!"

"I am not hurt that bad! Its a concussion and a few large bruises, I'll live! And I'm telling you Natsu would never do that! He's changed and maybe that means he can be controlled now! He and Lucy need our help!"

Everyone else in the Sabertooth guild looked on with fear and confliction. Sting was their master but only the fool-hearty would defy Minerva. There was also the fact that many in the guild agreed with Minerva about the possibility of betrayal. Honestly the only ones who sided with Sting were Rouge, Yukino, and of course their familiars.

Minerva looked ready to strangle Sting, but he did something that surprised everyone. He backed down.

"Fine, whatever you say M'lady..."

Minerva blinked at him, not sure what just happened. Turning on his heel, Sting left for his office, but not before sharing a look with Rouge and Yukino. If Minerva didn't want to help that was fine. Se was right in keeping the guild out of it anyway, it wasn't their problem. That of course didn't apply to those who actually wanted to help.

X

Lucy hurt all over. She could still feel remnants of Kyoka's curse coursing through her. With what little energy she could muster she lifted her head and looked around. Immediately her eyes landed on Natsu. He was across the room surrounded by demons. He'd transformed into his Etherious form and was shooting flames everywhere. She tried to get up, she tried to go to him but her body wouldn't move.

"You're not going anywhere. Not unless I tell you to."

Lucy looked up to see a beautiful demon with dark hair and eyes with horns protruding from her head walking beside Kyoka.

"Now behave and follow us."

As soon as the sentence was uttered, Lucy felt her body move to get up and start following the demoness's.

"No wait! Stop!"

Lucy heard a deadly sounding snarl behind her, which she assumed was Natsu, but as soon as she heard it the room was flooded with more demons.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out trying to force her body to turn back, but it wouldn't.

"Its no use. E.N.D may be able to resist, but there is no way you can."

Lucy tried to fight it, but nothing she did worked. She was lead through the building for quite a ways before they made it to a large room with a glass roof. Through it she could clearly see the stars shinning almost violently. When her body came to an immediate stop she refocused on the room around her. Her eyes immediately went wide at what she saw.

In the center of the room was a giant crystal, inside the crystal was a young man (or young looking man, Lucy couldn't tell which). He had dark hair and pale skin. Though the man inside looked as if he were in a peaceful sleep, the crystal itself pulsed violently with malevolent energy. Lucy was still knew to magick but even she could tell whoever it was inside was powerful and dangerous.

"Histoire Intuneric. The tomb which seals away our Spriggan Master. Your ancestor Anna may have designed it and your mother the one to use it but you shall be the one to unseal it."

Lucy looked to the new voice and saw a demon with long dark hair in a pony tail and holding a book that looked an awful lot like the fairy tale book she'd been reading.

"What are you talking about?!"

The man grinned. No, more like the corners of his mouth lifted in a mock of a grin.

"Star Children hold great power, but their greatest power is the ability to heal stars. Anna wanted to heal E.N.D, Layla wanted to imprison Lord Zeref until he could be healed. We dealt with both."

Lucy felt her heart plummet at the mention of her mother. For years she was convinced her mother died of a weak heart, but if they had something to do with it...

"What...What do you mean: 'Dealt with'?"

"What Mard Geer means, is that we chased Anna out of this realm, and when that wouldn't work on Layla, we gave her bane particle poisoning. Sadly it did not kill her as quickly as Mard Geer would have preferred, but even with the human realm slowing the effects of the bane particles she did eventually meet her end."

Anger began to build up inside Lucy, and with it, her magick power. Over head the stars blazed brighter then before, and her keys shone brilliantly at her hip.

"Seilah control her!" Mard Geer snapped.

The demoness controlling Lucy glared at her and Lucy felt the last of her free will slip.

"Such a lowly creature, so easily swayed by emotions." Mard Geer sneared distainfully.

"Now enough wasting time. Look to the stars, find the spell that will release Zeref and we will complete our purpose at last!"

Lucy's eyes went wide. They wanted her to release Zeref!?

X

Natsu had lost all ability to reason. Lucy had been taken away by Seilah and Kyoka to who knows where and every time he managed a little bit of leeway more demons would show up to get in his way! Every instinct in him was screaming for him to get Lucy back and calling him a dumb ass for losing her in the first place! As Natsu burned through another wave of demons the wall to the entrance exploded. Natsu and the other demons turned to see what had caused it.

"You're in a hell of a lot of trouble Ash for Brains. The council wants your head. Lucky for you Gramps told them to shove it."

A grin slowly started to form on Natsu's face. Gray stepped in from the rubble and behind him over a dozen others from the guild.

"'Bout damn time Ice prick!" Natsu laughed as the demons redirected their attack on the intruders.

Gray blasted the front runners away with his special Devil Slayer Ice giving the group behind him enough time to storm in.

"How many people we got?" Natsu asked his brain automatically going into war mode.

"Twenty in our group. Laxus, Erza, Gajeel, and Cana all have same sized groups and are attacking from different points. Ya know its a good thing Cana makes everyone keep those tracking cards or we'd've never found you. Its a real pain that Tartaros is always on the move."

As Gray explained everything, Natsu could faintly hear fighting going on in other parts of the guild and smirked. This had to be the first major attack on Tartaros since he was the Master.

"Where's Lucy?" Gray asked.

Natsu growled.

"Seilah and Kyoka took off with her. These damn small fry keep getting in my way!"

"Lets fix that then."

Gray used his ice to create a battering ram in front of Natsu. with the ice blocking them, Natsu was able to barrel through the demons attempting to block his way.

"Go get her Flame Brain!" he heard Gray yell from behind him.

With his path clear and Gray ensuring no one followed him, Natsu let his nose lead him through the halls to the thrown room.

X

Lucy starred in shock, still not able to fully comprehend what the demon wanted her to do.

"Y-you cant be serious..." She muttered.

"I'm completely serious. You as the last Heartfilia Star Child, are the only one who can free Lord Zeref. Do so! Look to the stars and find the spell that will do this!"

As he said that, Lucy felt herself fall to her knees and her head jerk up to look at the night sky. She didn't want to, but Lucy found herself searching the heavens. Even as an amateur she found it quite simple to read the spells hidden there. It wasn't like reading a book, more like seeing the different ways the light of the stars overlapped and instantly just knowing the spell that was hidden there. Lucy saw spells for fighting, spells for defense, and the spell Jellal used to zoom around, but no spell for releasing a Spriggan from a crystal coffin.

"What is taking so long? Mard Geer does not like to be kept waiting!" Mard Geer shouted at her.

"I cant find it." Lucy shot back a little too smugly.

"Kyoka, lower her resistence to pain."

"Yes Mard Geer-sama."

Lucy was once again hit with Kyoka's curse right before out of no where vines shot out at her wrapping around her body like a constrictor. They squeezed her so tight the thorns dug into her skin. It would have been painful to her regardless, but Kyoka's curse made it a million times worse! Lucy screamed out.

"It's there, it has to be there! Find it and release Lord Zeref!"

Suddenly from the hall Lucy was brought down, the roar of a wild beast could be heard. It was so loud and feral sounding it shook the walls and made Lucy's hair stand on end. She shuddered then cried out again from the thorns digging in more. The roaring got louder and louder until it felt as if Lucy's ears would bleed. Suddenly the sound cut off and was replaced by the hissing of the vines binding her being burned off.

"Ah Master, when will you learn to stop getting in our way?" Mard Geer said apathetically.

Lucy was still in pain and being forced to look up but she felt the warmth and roughness of Natsu's hands on her shoulders.

"When you stop being a pest then maybe."

The warmth from Natsu's hands spread through Lucy's body like a warm bath on a cold winter night, Lucy felt the pain in her body ease and slowly she began to relax and with a relieved sigh she was finally able to move.

"How did you do that?!" Seilah practically shrieked.

"Dunno, but I did it!" Natsu replied with a cocky grin.

The grin quickly faded as Mard Geer shot more vines at them. Natsu scooped Lucy up and dodged the incoming attacks.

"Kyoka, Seilah go deal with the other intruders, I will handle our former master and his pet." Mard Geer sneared.

Natsu growled as the two left the room, and he set Lucy down.

"She's not a pet! She's my mate, and you're gonna pay for ever laying a hand on her!"

Mard Geer grinned maliciously.

"You're a fool for growing so attached to such a lowly creature. She will release Lord Zeref and we shall complete our birthright at last!"

"Like hell that'll happen! C'mon Luce, let kick his ass!"