Note: This chapter actually went through a good deal of revision, to find something I thought worked; I'll probably do a retrospective at the end of the story, and discuss what could've been there. I've got the remaining chapters already good to go, so this story will be completed before the next chapter of the manga comes out.

I See Fire

There was no more moon, all that remained was fire. It cast an ominous red glow over the land, and the wind howled harshly, as if Elentir was crying out in pain. The night sky was completely shrouded in smoke, and in the center of all of it, was a dragon, and a demon.

"You…" Selene couldn't finish, as she was suddenly grabbed by the throat by END, who beat his wings, and was in the air in an instant, carrying Selene behind him.

END flew across the mountains, slamming Selene's head into the side, dragging her across them. Selene clawed at END's body, but that did little to slow the demon. Eventually she managed to claw at his arm enough that his group loosened slightly, allowing her to finally wiggle out.

Selene quickly released her dragon's roar on the Etherious… which did absolutely nothing. When the smoke cleared, END didn't even have his rock coating, and he didn't have a scratch on him. And, as demons were wont to do, he repaid her in kind, releasing a massive cloud of fire. Selene didn't know why she bothered to generate her shield, but she did so anyway; this didn't even shatter, it just faded away like mist, and consumed the Moon Dragon. Selene cried out in pain, which apparently annoyed END as he grabbed her by the throat again, before driving her into the ground. He then flapped up, before letting himself fall back onto her.

Selene managed to turn her head back as she used not so much a "breath attack" as much as a "gasp attack". While it didn't do any damage, it briefly blinded END, who had to step back, and again, Selene was able to get free. She then tired her luck with her moon claws again, but much like the roar, it didn't so much as scratch END. In response, he beat his wings into the air, as a long black spike came out of his wrist, before igniting. With that, he then swung it at Selene, creating an arc of fire that she only just managed to avoid.

END then let out a roar, as the fire on his back exploded outward, manifesting into two large dragon heads. The heads jetted towards Selene, who released her dragon's' roar, and while one of them was hit, it quickly reformed. Before Selene even could even realizing what was happening, she was slammed into the ground. As she pulled herself out of the ground, it was now dreadfully clear to the dragon, that this was a fight she was not going to win.

"Damn you!" She said, as she then turned to the only viable course of action: fleeing. She couldn't defeat END, she realized that now, at least not on her own. Summoning a magic portal to Earthland, Selene quickly dove into it; she'd hide and recover there, and then she'd find Ignia, and maybe she could persuade Viernes to join as well. Together, their combined might should be more than enough to take down END.

As it turned out, it didn't matter, though. Selene felt something grabbing her tail, and jerk her back. She looked back to see END had gotten his claw on her and was pulling her back through the portal.

"Get your claws off me you filthy creature!" Selene snapped, as she spat a blast of energy at him, but the demon didn't so much as flinch at it. With one good tug, he pulled Selene back through the portal, and slammed her back into the ground. Selene tried to get back up, before she found herself decked in the back by END's tail. She only had to look up briefly as END backhanded her, sending her tumbling back, and into a cliff face, causing a landslide that proceeded to bury her. The Moon Dragon cried out in pain, as he felt him crush one of the tails on her back that allowed her to fly

Dazed and exhausted, Selene somehow managed to claw her way out of the earth, where she collapsed to the ground in an attempt to catch her breath. With one of her "wings" broken, Selene could tell she couldn't fly anymore. And, to compound matters, despite having fought just as long as she had (in fact END had been fighting even longer) the demon didn't look the least beat tired.

"No wonder Acnologia feared you," she noted grimly. As he loomed over her, Selene looked up to see END leaning down towards her, as he opened his mouth.

"Die." With that, Selene felt him pick her up, and start to ascend into the air.

"Let go of me!" Selene said, as she struggled, but END had a better hold on her this time, including with his back legs, which had developed opposable toes, as he ascended further. Now Selene had flown high in the past, but she could see that this was getting a little too high, even for her tastes.

(I)

"Truly he is Zeref's masterpiece." That got a couple of the Fairy Tail mages to tear their gaze away from the battle, and look towards Irene, who just shrugged.

"I can appreciate a masterful work of magic," she said. Lucy more or less ignored her as she watched the fight progress. There could be no doubt who was going to win, but she didn't really care about that anymore, as she watched END climb higher and higher into the sky, until eventually he disappeared in the billowing clouds of smoke. Lucy looked at the ground, and then at her hands. What was she supposed to do? Was she really just supposed to sit and wait until she got turned back to normal, all the while Natsu slowly got worse and worse? As she looked around, trying to think of anything to do, she noticed something about one of the Whiteout priestess; something somewhat familiar.

"Hey you!" Lucy called, getting the woman's attention, "Where'd you get that scarf?"

"Oh this?" the priestess asked, plucking at the scarf around her neck, "I found it when we were raiding the Temple of the Moon. I thought it looked nice." Lucy was about to say something else, but couldn't finish, as there was a terrible scream. Looking up, she saw the form of Selene plummeting through the air, having been dropped by END. She crashed into the ground, not that from where they were to be honest, severely beaten, kicking up a cloud of dust, Lucy and to shield her eyes from. When she looked up, she saw Selene horribly beaten, and clearly defeated. The dragon tried to stand up, only to collapse back to the ground.

"Lady Selene," Hakune said despairingly, while many of Selene's other handmaidens sobbed for their fallen mistress. END quickly swooped down from the clouds, before he joined Selene on the ground, and when Selene tried to get up again, END put his claw on her throat, pinning her down.

"No," Selene said weakly, as she looked up at him, "I'm… begging you…" END's answer was to pull back his fist, which became cloaked in fire.

"I will leave Elentir, I'll see to it that your comrades are restored to their original forms," Selene begged, "I will never harm you or any of ...". She couldn't finish, as END brought his fist down, slamming it into Selene's face. He then brought it back, and then down; then back, and then down. Again, and again, the demon did that, beating Selene deeper and deeper into the ground. All the while, the people could only watch in horror at the demon's brutality.

"How the mighty have fallen," the Priestess said grimly. Irene nodded in agreement, before she turned to the Goddesses.

"Before's the hour is up, all that will remain of your mistress will be a black smear on the landscape," she said, "If you want the slightest chance of saving her, then this it." The Goddesses exchanged looks at that, not sure what to do, until eventually Mimi spoke.

"Tell them, Youko," she relented with a sigh.

"Mimi!" Hakune protested.

"The enchantress is right," Mimi said, "Our Lady won't survive this fight unless someone does something." Hakune bit her lip, but didn't say anything more, as Youko looked down and away.

"I will ask one final time, can it be reversed?" Irene asked, "If you refuse, then we'll leave you here to watch your mistress be obliterated by END, while I search for a cure myself." Youko opened then closed her mouth, as she looked in and sucked in her breath.

"I can't turn them back here," she finally admitted, "The technique requires time to prepare and enact."

"Why can't you do it here?" Gray demanded.

"Because if I do it wrong, you should be able to guess what might happen," Youko said sarcastically.

"We can perform the ceremony at the Whiteout Temple," the Great Priestess said.

"Well that doesn't help us now!" Carla growled.

"I don't know what else to tell you!" Youko blurted out, "Transmuting people into yokai is different from summoning them. I need proper tools to do so."

"Then we best think of another way to get through to Natsu," Erza said.

"Or not," Gray said, causing everyone to look at him, "Our job is to seal or slay the Five Dragon Gods, and isn't Natsu doing exactly that right now?"

"You bastard!" Mimi snapped.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling the least bit sorry for the crazy dragon bitch who had my friends turned into yokai and is destroying Elentir," Gray said, "Let alone her lackeys. You were the ones who set Natsu off like this, this is 100% your fault."

"While I'd otherwise be all for that, but if it were that simple," Irene said, "I highly doubt END will stop with Selene. He'll continue his rampage across Elentir, feeding off the Suspiria until eventually his power grows to great for even END to control and then…" She trailed off, not liking the full implications of what she was saying.

"And then what?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Until eventually, he burns himself out into nothing," Irene finally said, "His entire being, body and soul, will be reduced to ashes in the wind." Those words sat heavy, much like the smoke in the air, as Lucy looked down at the ground, before clenching her fists.

"So, what are our options?" Erza asked.

"We could try talking to him again," Happy suggested, "Maybe if we explain…"

"I highly doubt you'll be able to 'explain' anything to that thing," the Great Priestess said.

"Natsu's not a thing!" Happy said angrily.

"Forgive me, yokai," the Priestess sneered, stressing the last word, "But what you call what what we're seeing over there?"

"Well, fighting him certainly isn't an option," Gray said, "Even in his base Etherious form, my Devil Slayer Magic didn't do a thing."

"I could always try and enchant him through Wendy," Irene pondered.

"Could you do that?" Wendy inquired.

"Theoretically, yes," Irene said, "In practice, though..."

"Youko!" Hakune said, "There must be a yokai somewhere in your arsenal that can defeat that monster!"

"If it managed to defeat Lady Selene, then even the mightiest yokai would be made short work of," Youko answered grimly.

"Lucy," Erza said, as she turned to the blonde, "Do you have any…" She stopped talking all of a sudden; as it turned out, it was something of a non-issue, considering how Lucy was already gone.

"Hey! She took the scarf I found!"

Note: I'd say Selene's beat right now, not that it seems to be stopping END. Though Lucy seems to have some kind of plan. This chapter was satisfying to right, but sadly, it's no substitute for the team really beating up Selene, who is certainly setting herself up as one of the most despicable characters in all the franchise.

In all honest, there's only so many ways you can make a curb-stomp-battle like the one between END's final form and Selene interesting. So that's why this chapter's shorter than the others; I ran out of ways to keep the fight going.

One thing I'm wondering about, is how is Natsu going to get his scarf back in the manga? We didn't see any of Selene's lackeys wearing it, so they must have it somewhere. Perhaps Erza has it?

Be sure to leave a comment. Please?

Also, I call on my fellow writers to explore the Natsu and yokai Lucy concept as well.