Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing well this winter! I apologize for the long wait! Due to things happening during my time on campus, I have regrettably not had much time to put towards writing my stories for you all! However, it has been on my mind constantly and I am extremely happy to at least put out another chapter for you all!

Now on with the story! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL OR ANY REAL WORLD REFERENCES IN THIS STORY!

Key for story(More will be added IF needed):

BOLD - anger, attacks, surprise

Italic - thoughts, dreams, stressing a word, sass, other end(s) of a phone call, singing and song titles, and The Prophecy

We Are Fairy Tail

Lucy had been worried the whole time upon finding her way to her lacrima. It took awhile, but eventually she and Happy found their way through the maze. But even more so about a certain pink-haired dragon slayer. She didn't know what to expect when Hibiki said he was the only one not to report in his position. She was half hoping he just got lost, but she knew that'd be impossible. Even though her magic abilities were mostly sealed, she had no problem sensing the lacrima. And she couldn't forget the incredible sense of smell the dragon slayers possessed.

She stood before the lacrima with Leo and Happy, waiting with worry in her mind for the slayers safety. She could feel the empathy radiating from the two around her, and by the looks on their faces, they were as worried as she was.

"Do you think he's alright?" Lucy wondered aloud. Loke put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.

"I'm sure he's fine, Lucy." he assured her, though he questioned the boy's safety as well. He and Natsu might not have gotten along in the past, but with the crisis at hand, anything could happen. And that worried him. "Natsu is strong, I'm sure he can handle Zero if he comes across him." When Loke realised what he just said, he mentally cursed himself. Lucy began to rub her arms as the worry within her grew with every passing second. "I didn't mean he'll run into Zero," he said, beginning to correct himself, "I meant-" Suddenly,they began hearing commentary over the telepathy.

"Jellal! Did you make it to Natsu!?" Hibiki asked frantically. "The others are in position and the edge of Magnolia is just a few miles away from your current position!"

They listened in closely and sighed in relief to know he got to Natsu. But his voice sounded off. They heard Hibiki sighed with relief. "That's gre-"

"He's gone."

She didn't understand. Lucy turned out the rest of the conversation. Those words kept racing through her head. He's gone. He's gone. He's gone. She felt her body shaking as tears welled in her eyes. How could he be gone? Is he really… dead? She couldn't focus as Leo was shaking her to stay with him. She broke free from his grasp and bolted. His voice fell into the distance as she ran down the halls.

She attempted to use her magic, trying to tap in and sense their magic presence. She luckily found Jellal's so she knew where they were, but Natsu's wasn't there. It had disappeared. She began to feel pain in her legs from running through the corridors, but the pain she was feeling in her heart was utterly unbearable. She'd wiped her face, as her red, puffy eyes narrowed in determination. She was nearing the room where they had been when she felt a magic pulse. The presence was warm, comforting, and… familiar.

Natsu? She thought. Her heart skipped a beat at that thought as the powerful presence washed over her like the tide. After making one final turn and nearing the room which the presence came from, she saw a bright yellow light coming from a figure. As she approached, she felt the whole of Nirvana shake violently and a mighty roar filled the air. She came into the room to see the gigantic plume of fire swirling upward, seemingly taking the form of a fiery dragon. She also noticed Jellal on the ground, equally in awe of the sight. Zero was there as well looking rather frustrated, but more fearful than anything else.

As for Natsu, she could barely see the side of his face, but he looked ready to rumble and bash some heads. He charged in a flash at Zero, headbutting him directly in the gut. At that moment, he seemed rather heroic to the blonde. Watching him take on Zero like this was truly awe inspiring. He was moving swiftly through the air as if he'd done this a million times. With another deafening roar, he landed a hit that sent the Zero flying into the wall right beside her. The man growled, but then noticed her presence, grinning evilly.

Easily taking the hint to run, she turned and began running back down the hallway, only to be stopped by Zero's large hand around her neck. The immense pain she felt as his grip tightened overcame her as she struggled to free herself. Zero brought her forth back into the room, holding her like a shield.

Natsu growled and stopped moving, causing Zero to laugh. "You see this?" he laughed. "You're so-called friends you fight for are useless, merely a weakness!"

"You're wrong!" Natsu shot back. "They're the reason I can fight!"

"My dear boy, you are naive!" Zero said, shaking his head. "These so-called friends are just puppets. Merely pieces that are exchangeable if one breaks. Since my pieces are broken, I shall simply replace the old with the new. And you, my boy, will join me!"

"I'll never join you!" he growled. "I'll stop you, even if it costs me my life!"

"This world you fight for is corrupt and in chains! Nirvana will free all of their shackles! The world you should be fighting for is the one I aim to bring!

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Lucy cried. She screamed in pain as his grip tightened.

"Let her go!" Natsu roared, stepping forward.

"Take one more step, and I'll snap her neck like a twig!" Zero grinned, causing the dragon slayer to freeze in his tracks.

Jellal growled in anger. "You coward!"

"Tsk tsk. And you could've sat at my right hand too." Zero sighed. "Oh well! Within minutes, Nirvana will be upon Magnolia and activate it's magic! Then, the world is ne-"

Suddenly, pink fluff spilled around Zero's figure causing him to look utterly confused. He dropped Lucy as he swatted at the figure creating the fluff. None other than Aries was sent flying into the wall as Zero growled in anger, glaring at the blonde. "You damn pest!" However, Lucy now held a smirk of her own.

"What are you smirking for?" he growled.

"Didn't anyone tell you to never touch a dragon's treasure?"

It only took half a second after that sentence for Lucy to see Zero's face shift from confusion to fear, turning around to see the fire around Natsu growing at an alarming rate. His iris' had always been ruby red while using his magic, but they now looked as though the entirety of his eyes were glowing red. His lips were curled in anger, displaying his larger canines for all to see.

In a flash he had Zero by the throat and the carnage began. His movements were untraceable as he threw Zero about like a ragdoll, screeching in rage. Finally, he tossed the man at the lacrima, embedding him in it.

"YOU BASTARD!" he roared as he shot like a missile, at the lacrima, and it seemed as though they should tell the others. They rapidly allerted the other groups within seconds of Natsu landing his final attack, shattering the lacrima as they shot through the floor of the room. Lucy ran to the large gaping hole that Natsu had created, seeing many floors within Nirvana's core. Zero was at the bottom and unconscious while Natsu stood breathing heavily over him. He looked up at her, giving a thumbs up as the fire dissipated and revealed his jacket and shirt had burnt away.

Within moments, she and Jellal rushed down to the bottom of the hole after getting the signal that all six had been destroyed, and they had made it outside. Though, Leo appeared as soon as the previously moving Nirvana began shaking.

"What's going on!?" Lucy yelped as a large stone fell and almost hit her.

"The whole thing is falling apart!" Leo remarked. "Each of you, take my hand!" he said, holding one out to them, as the other touched Zero. They did as they were told and in a flash, they were in the midst of their friends. They watched as the whole of Nirvana collapsed and dismantled. They could hear sirens as they noticed the city was a little under a mile away, with the sun just coming up to bring light upon the now safe city.

"That timing couldn't have been any better." Remarked Hibiki. They made sure everyone was accounted for, including the five remaining members of the Oracion Seis. Hibiki told them that they'd take care of them until the Magic Council came to pick them up. They then noticed two presences approaching and were astounded to see Leon dragging Racer by his vest.

"Did you all miss me?" He smiled.

A very happy Shelly ran up and embraced him, bawling her eyes out. Gray looked on with unbelief, though Lucy smiled when she saw him and Leon shake hands and get caught in a brotherly hug.

Well, until Gray smacked him on the head.

"The hell man!?" he growled. "We thought you were dead!"

"What's the big idea hitting me like that?"

"I just said, we thought you were dead!"

She sighed as the brothers began to argue, while Natsu began laughing. She frowned. "Natsu! It's not that funny."

"I know, but I'm not laughing because they're arguing." he said, confusing her. "It's because they're acting like brothers." he said. "Family is family after all, even with the ups and downs."

"You know what, pinky?" Gajeel smirked. "You could've said that cheesy line in some old ass movie or somethin'!"

"You wanna go, metal head?"

"Anytime, fire breath!"

Lucy sighed with a smile as they continued to quarrel like an old married couple. Though, it didn't last long due to them quickly dispersing upon noticing the oncoming sirens. Though, they didn't exactly get far, and by they, meaning Gajeel, Laxus, Wendy, Erza, Jellal, Gray, and Natsu. Lucy and the others watched as the group was surrounded by police officers who seemed in awe of them.

"Freeze!" yelled one of the officers, who obviously looked new. Igneel seemed to be within the group. Lucy was surprised when a man in a beige trench coat, presumably the commissioner, stepped out of a large SUV and held his hands to his men. Lucy saw where he was looking, and noticed that Hibiki hadn't taken the restrained Oracion Seis members with him. Thankfully, they had used seal stone cuffs on them to restrain all of their magic. The seven looked really out of place while their magic was in effect. The blonde was about to jump out and defend them, until the commissioner began to speak.

"Before we go ahead and start this little… chat, I want to introduce myself. My name is Commissioner Griffin Valor." he said, now glancing at the restrained Oracion Seis members. He pointed at them, directing his eyes at Natsu and the others. "I assumed you're the ones who stopped… whatever that was?"

Natsu nodded slowly. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Well first off, I'd like to thank you on behalf of the city of Magnolia for stopping whatever crisis that was about to happen." he said, earning surprised faces from the seven. "However, I cannot permit you all to run around the city dressed like that and waving whatever powers you have whenever you like."

"So, I assume that means you're going to arrest us?" Laxus said, narrowing his eyes at the man, earning a nod from him.

"As much as it pains me to agree with that statement, I'm afraid it's the truth." Griffin sighed. "Please come quietly with us so we can-" in a moment, everyone but Natsu was gone, leaving the pink-haired boy to fend for himself.

"Ummm…" he said, looking rather confused.

Griffin raised an eyebrow at him. "I think they just left you to the wolves, Salamander."

"It seems they have." Natsu sighed. "Looks like it's my turn to exit stage left." he said before turning to run.

"Wait!" Griffon said. "You need to come with us, now!"

"Sorry, chief. I gotta bolt."

Suddenly, one of the officer's shot at him, though Natsu simply blocked it with a flaming and scaly hand. All the officers looked on in awe.

"Just who are you?" Griffin muttered.

Natsu smirked. "Us?" he said, confused as the media started approaching with cameras and microphones. He thought for a second before hearing that voice whisper in the back of his mind. Giving the commissioner a smile, he answered, "We are Fairy Tail!" before disappearing in a flash.

Fairy Tail? Lucy thought. Where'd he get that from? Meanwhile, the officers packed up their things, probably hurrying to find any trace of Natsu and the others. She took this time to make her escape and blend in with the crowd.

Later that morning.….

It was about 10:30 am and Lucy found herself once more with her friends at the Strauss' bar, having a grand old time with their new friends from Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus. Thankfully, they could talk about their little mission in peace since Mira got her parents to close the bar formally for them to enjoy for themselves. Lucy had to apologize to her parents for making them leave in such a hurry considering parents were worried sick about them, though they congratulated them on their accomplishment. They eventually cleared up who Wendy's parents were, resulting in a heartwarming reunion between Igneel and Wendy. The blonde felt bad for Igneel to have to be so close to his daughter, yet be unable to tell her that fact. Only problem was how torn she was between living with her father, or with Ryan and Claire.

Igneel just spoke softly. "Don't worry, Wendy," he said, holding his daughter close. "We'll figure that out later." The one thing that didn't change was how she still saw Natsu as an older brother, although he was also her cousin. It was confusing, but she eventually got used to it.

Speaking of said pink-haired boy, he was up on stage with Gray, Gajeel, and Erza, singing away without a care in the world. He was strumming along to a tune by Luke Combs called Beer Never Broke My Heart. She felt a tap on her shoulder, turning to see Leo or Loke as he was now in human form again.

"Hey, Loke." she said surprised. "What's up?"

"I just needed to talk to you about something real quick." he said. But before he could speak, Mira cut everyone off directing them to the TV. On the news channel, was a broadcasting about last night's events.

"Good morning, Magnolia. This is Marie Serge with insight about the brief earthquakes last night. It seems as though they were not as we thought, what with police finding a large pile of rubble near the edge of the surrounding forest. What else did they find? None other than the mystery creature or man known as Salamander, standing before the rubble with six others similar to him."

A picture was shown of all seven who remained behind while the police questioned them. "Some speculated that they were indeed the cause earlier this morning, but new findings say that they were in fact our saviors due to they're apprehension of these six," she said, showing mugshots of the Oracion Seis members. "They were found handcuffed in a strange stone, leading us to believe they have powers of their own. Some are calling them vigilantes, while others call them heroes. They even have a name, quoted from the police from Salamander before he left the scene saying, 'We are Fairy Tail'".

Lucy suddenly felt the air in the room change. Mainly due to the fact that Gray, Erza, Jellal, Gajeel, and Laxus all had their eyes pointing daggers at the pink-haired dragon slayer.

Sweat slid down his face as he put his hands up. "N-now wait a minute guys," he said, attempting to defend himself. "Let's not get too upset!" It was too late, however, as all five lept at him and started trying to rip him apart. Meanwhile this had all the adults sighing and the rest of their friends laughing.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Dragneel?" Gajeel yelled. "Fairy Tail? Are you fucking stupid?"

"It just popped into my head!" Natsu replied as he finally got free of their grasp.

"Really?" Growled Laxus as he cracked his knuckles. "That's such bullshit."

"But I'm serious!" Natsu exclaimed. "I heard a woman's voice whisper 'Fairy Tail'"!

Suddenly, Jellal was in front of him, gripping the collar of Natsu's shirt. "What woman?" He asked with desperation, shocking the rest in the room.

"Jeez! Calm down, Jellal!" Natsu spat, forcing Jellal to realize how he was acting. "S-Sorry…" he replied as he let go of the dragon slayer's collar. There was silence for a moment before Jellal spoke again. "I apologize for that little outburst, but when you said you heard a woman's voice I… I was wondering if you heard the same one."

Natsu's eyes widened. "You heard her too?" The boy nodded.

"Yeah. It told me I needed to find you, saying I knew what I needed to do." Jellal explained. "And I went looking for you, suddenly knowing to give you the Flames of Rebuke."

Strange looks were shared around the room as they processed the idea of someone helping Jellal and Natsu.

Natsu furrowed his brows. "Who do you think it was?"

Jellal shook his head in response. "I don't know, but they helped us defeat the Oracion Seis." He said. "That makes them an ally in my book."

For a moment, the entire room went silent. Each and every person pondering how they individually felt about this voice. True enough she had aided them, but some had their doubts.

"Regardless of what we might think," Erza said, "we should be wary. We don't even know who she is, let alone what her goal is." This earned nods from around the bar.

"Indeed, you do not." a gruff, and familiar voice said. Confusion flooded the teenagers' minds at his comment, while the adult mages held a face of concern.

"What's that supposed to mean, old man?" Laxus questioned. "Do you know this…person?"

Makarov's brows furrowed. "If you are accusing me of holding some very important information from you, you would be right..." he said.

"So," Natsu said. "What-"

The elderly man held his hand up to stop the boy. "However, no matter how much I wish to tell you," he continued, "I am afraid the time is not right, nor are you ready to know. All will be revealed in time." He received a mixture of facial expressions from around the room, but they seemed to get the point. "For now, I want you children to train whenever you get the chance. The Oracion Seis may be defeated, but for now I think it best to turn our attention to the other challenges that we face. Zeref is surely moving forward with his plans and we cannot afford to let him achieve his goals." He closed his eyes with a sigh.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Natsu broke it. "He messed with our lives, and sure as hell ruined others." he said, clenching his fist. "There's no way we're going to let him keep this up. No matter what it takes, we'll stop him!" He looked around at his friends to see them all nod.

"Natsu's right." Gray said with a grin, cracking his knuckles. "It's time we turn the tables on that bastard." Looking around, Lucy noticed that everyone seemed to slowly share that grin.

Makarov chuckled. "I should have expected no less than this from you kids." He turned to exit the building. "Now, you kids behave. I have some business to attend to, so don't burn the city down."

"Why do I feel like that was directed at me." Natsu sighed. Lucy giggled at the dragon slayer. For the rest of the foreseeable future, they'd be working hard to stop Zeref from achieving his goals. Turning to see her friends having fun once more, she took Natsu's hand. "Hey, for now, lets just enjoy our time off." she said. "We can worry about magic and Zeref later, okay?" With a smile and a nod, they joined the rest of their friends for some hard earned fun.

A couple hours later…

Makarov walked into his home, and made his way to his office. He sighed and shut the door behind him, making sure it was locked. "Those kids, I swear…" he sighed. He walked over to a bookshelf behind his desk, reached inside his desk and pressed his hand to the bottom of a drawer. Suddenly, the middle of the bookcase shifted into the wall and revealed a portal. He walked through and appeared to arrive in a large building.

Walking down a long halfway, men and women could be seen in garnish uniforms, bearing an ankh symbol in the center of the body. These uniforms symbolized they were a part of the Magic Council's military: Rune Knights. There were also a few human-like creatures with features similar to that of amphibians roaming around in groups of two or three. Donning dark, wide collar jackets, with white robes beneath them and small, dark These were the council's employees. A few addressed him with a curt "good afternoon," though he didn't say a word. Given the circumstances of his arrival, he needed to get to the head of the council quickly. He came to a large set of doors, guarded by around a dozen soldiers.

Upon arriving at the door, two of the men took hold of the doors and opened them for him to enter. Inside was a long table surrounded by the wizards of the magic council. Makarov took a seat in one of the empty chairs, though he hardly took up much room. The man at the end of the table, with a long, grey bead and an eyepatch covering his left eye spoke up.

"I'm quite glad you could make it, Makarov." he said, his tone quite the opposite.

"I could say the same, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Makarov replied with a sigh.

The man stood and began walking around the table. "As we were just discussing, a threat has once again appeared before us that we can no longer look away from." he said. "Zeref."

The room had already been filled with uneasiness. Just at the mention of the name created fear in the hearts of many, including those in the room. "Indeed." Makarov spoke. "He's planning something big, yet I'm not sure what it could be. One of my students whom Zeref gave artificial magic, alerted me to the fact that the Zeref is seeking to obtain some sort of 'ultimate magic'."

Gran Doma frowned. "Are you certain?" he asked, his voice raised slightly. "If that is true, what does he intend to do with it?" Makarov filled him in on the details that Natsu described. All the while, the faces within the room held faces of dread.

"This cannot be allowed to happen!" Another one of the council members cried.

"He must be stopped!"

"There is no question about that," Makarov nodded. "But as for how far he's gotten, and how we can stop him from attaining this power, I yet not know."

"We must alert the king!" exclaimed one of the women at the table. "Send all available forces to stop this monster!"

"That would be a good idea, if I didn't know you planned on that." Said a man's voice from the doorway. All eyes shot in the man's direction. His face looked rather pleased with himself as guards lay dead at his feet.

"Zeref!" Makarov jumped to his feet. "How did you-"

"It's quite simple actually," Zeref answered. "I killed them, that's kind of how things work."

"But how?" Gran Doma questioned.

"You see, while you've been chatting away, too nervous to do anything," Zeref said, kicking the corpses to the side, "I've finally attained magic of my own. And I'm rather eager to try it out with you all." A sudden burst of dark energy swept the room, throwing all who came into contact with it into the walls. The room was now in disarray, and all were unconscious. Looking around and sighing, Zeref turned to leave.

"What a shame." he said disappointed. "Oh well, maybe I can have some fun with Natsu later on." a malicious smile came across his lips and his obsidian eyes glowed red as he thought about it.

"Only time will tell, my dear Natsu.' he chuckled. "Only time will tell."

Well, there you have it! That is the last chapter of what I am considering part one of this story! I will not be dropping it here, as there is more to tell, but I wanted to try and deal with my other stories. I have decided to completely get rewrite "To Protect What's Precious", which isn't quite final as of yet. If any of you all care for me to keep writing as it is, let me know in some way shape or form(be it a comment or message).

As for my SAO story, "Rise of the Black Swordsman", I am also debating redoing the entire plotline I had set for the story. If there is anything you all have to say about that, let me know. The next story to see an update will be my other Fairy Tail story "Bleeding Out", and then my SAO story "Rise" after that, so be on the lookout for when that happens.

Also as I leave down below every chapter, comments are appreciated no matter what they are so don't be shy! Even if it's to just say hi or that you don't like something, idc. DROP ONE BELOW if you feel like it :P

That's all for now! Peace out! :D

WritingHobbyist2020

Song(s) in this chapter:

- None this chapter :P

New character's and their ages in this chapter:

- Gran Doma: ?(Looking it up currently)

AS ALWAYS, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A REVIEW OR A QUESTION IN EITHER THE REVIEW SECTION OR IN A PM, AND THANKS FOR READING! :D