"What do you think?" asked Lucy, hands on her hips. She looked around herself, satisfied, and Natsu did the same. He wrinkled his nose unhappily, however. "Think it'll work for now?"

"No," said Natsu grouchily. "I liked the old place better."

"Yes, well, that place was turned to ash," Lucy pointed out with a small roll of her eyes, "by someone standing near me, and I realized I don't really want to stay at the guildhall every night for the next six months, so…" It got loud when there were parties and celebrations. Normally, Lucy appreciated the fun, but sometimes, she just wanted to sleep. Plus, as good as Mirajane's cooking was...she wanted to make her own food, food she knew Natsu was incredibly fond of.

Natsu waved it off as if it wasn't a big deal that he'd burned her last apartment to ash, but Lucy could feel the guilt swarming off of him. He still regretted what he'd done, just as she'd regret the fact that she'd hidden something so big from him for the rest of her life. "I guess it'll do," he muttered, making a face. "You're missing a bunch of furniture though, aren't you?"

Lucy hummed, flashing a warm smile at him. "Yes, but that's okay. I'm going to see if anyone at the guildhall has spare furniture they'd be willing to sell for cheap. And we're going to go and check with stores around town. It'll be fun."

Natsu groaned at the idea, but she didn't miss the thrill of delight that ran down her spine. He was more than happy to help her out with such things, even if they normally bored him. Lucy couldn't help the bubble of warmth and happiness that sprang to life. Natsu had helped her find this place, and was now going to help her furnish it - all while intending to move in alongside her. It gave her some hope that no matter what happened at the end of the year, they'd make it through.

"Are we doing it now?" questioned Natsu, eyeing the nearby window. The sun was just starting its descent, and it'd be dark before long. A curfew had been put in place thanks to the dangerous mythics that had begun to roam the woods outside of Magnolia. They'd have to be quick if they left now.

But Lucy shook her head. "We're staying in tonight," she said firmly. "I'm going to use my traveling gear for sleeping until we can find-"

A knock on the door silenced her and she looked over her shoulder in surprise. "Who'd be out when it's almost curfew?" she muttered, not doubting it was a Fairy Tail member. They'd been struggling with the curfew for months now. Happy bounded for the door like a dog, yowling, and Natsu cracked a hint of a grin. The feline was delighted with recent events and had most certainly been showing it.

"I got it." Natsu darted over to answer the door, looking more than happy to do so. Lucy watched him, amused, and rocked back on her heels. Natsu pried the door open and faltered at who he found on the other side.

"Hello, Natsu," Jellal said grimly, his face lined with exhaustion, grief, and even hints of fear. Lucy's amusement vanished as he and Erza ducked inside. "Lucy. It's a pleasure to see you again, though I can't say the circumstances are good ones."

Lucy almost wished Natsu hadn't opened the door. "I'd offer you something to eat and drink, but I literally moved in an hour ago," she said, trying to keep her voice light-hearted though she could tell the conversation they were going to have was anything but.

Erza offered a small smile, amused. "I don't think we have time for drinks and food, even if you did have something to offer us," she said, not unkindly. "There's been a rather important development regarding Acnologia."

Lucy exchanged a wary look with Natsu, whose expression turned black between one blink and the next. He truly hated very few people. Even Zeref, who had turned him into a demon, wasn't someone he truly hated. But Acnologia, alongside the councilman he was apparently feuding with, were two she could name right off the top of her head that he hated with a passion. "What do you mean 'a development?'"

"Come, let's sit," Jellal said, stepping into the room without hesitation. Lucy waved for them to sit wherever they wanted, and before long, the group was settled comfortably in a circle on the hardwood floor. Happy seemed to sense something was off and hopped right into Jellal's lap, purring comfortingly. Jellal offered him a grateful smile and ran his fingers along the feline's spine, seeming to relax with each stroke. "Thank you, Happy."

Happy purred loudly and then shot Lucy and Natsu a smug look, as if they ought to have thought of such a thing sooner. Lucy rolled her eyes, and Natsu ignored Happy entirely. He leaned forward, his leg pressed into Lucy's, and demanded, "Is my book safe?"

"Yes," Jellal said confidently, reaching into his cloak. He touched what rested inside, but didn't remove it. "I have it here. I hate to inform you of this, but it may no longer be safe with me, Natsu. Acnologia's aware that I have it. You should know, however, that he expressed no interest in it."

Erza slid her gaze to Natsu for a long moment. "Is it true?" she suddenly asked. "That you are the Demon King of the stories that came from the Demonic Wars? Zeref's favored weapon?"

Natsu bristled for a moment and Lucy elbowed him pointedly. Stop. He settled reluctantly and muttered, "Start talking." He refused to answer Erza's question aloud, but Erza seemed to think that refusal was enough to tell her what she wanted to know.

"Rude," grumbled Lucy.

Erza chuckled, though her gaze was dark with worry. At least she didn't seem to hold such an important discovery against Natsu. "He made an appearance yesterday. He arrived with no warning and demanded to know where Anna was buried."

"I informed him," continued Jellal, "that I had burned what remained of Anna's body when she died and had taken but a few things that wouldn't burn. He took a locket when he left - after killing the goblin. It was...sudden. Unexpected. A show of power, I presume." Grief sliced through his voice then, and Lucy gave him a sympathetic look. He'd been incredibly fond of the little thing, though no one had ever understood it.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said softly. Jellal merely smiled faintly before focusing on Natsu when he spoke.

"What did he want with a locket?" Natsu narrowed his eyes, gaze searching the empty air in thought.

"I'm not sure," admitted Erza. She looked troubled. "Jellal and I thought perhaps it might be something similar to what you did. A spell to summon Anna's spirit, to speak with her. But he'd have done that by now, so I don't believe that's the case."

"There are other spells involving the items that belonged to the dead," Natsu muttered to himself. He furrowed his brow. "Necromancy spells, but Acnologia doesn't seem like the type to perform one of those. He wants to rewrite history, not bring back the dead."

"No, he certainly doesn't seem the type to perform necromancy." agreed Jellal, looking grim about the matter. "I should have attempted to keep it from him."

"No, you made the right choice. He threatened lives if you didn't," disagreed Erza, her eyes blazing.

Natsu rocked forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "So the question is what the hell he's-"

It slammed into his head, almost exactly like when he sank back to see what Lucy saw.

-grassy knoll, sharp teeth bared in a proud, mocking grin. Blood stained the grass before him as he reached down and wound his fingers in soft silver hair, dragging back a woman's face. There was a dazed, anguished look on the woman's face. Yet, it remained set in a stubborn, fierce way as she spat something. Laughter filled the air and then her face was shoved face-first into the earth. She began to sob hysterically as she crawled on her hands and knees to a still, unmoving figure, two golden keys clinking at her hip. And then, there was someone new. A foot pressed down sharply on his throat, and he choked, wheezing for air as a face bent near his own. His face was white with pain and horror, but he nodded curtly, sealing a deal-

The world pieced itself back together, and both Lucy and Natsu found themselves struggling to gulp down air. Erza had risen to her knees, and Jellal was as pale as Lucy was. Natsu was aware of the ash in his mouth, the smoke that curled from his skin, as if he'd been about to combust. Lucy stared at that smoke with some uncertainty, even with everything else that was happening. "What?" demanded Erza, hovering over her Keeper when he snapped his gaze to Lucy's in horror. "What's wrong?"

Lucy was on her feet in an instant, her heart racing in her chest. Jellal had clearly seen what she and Natsu had if the heaviness of his breathing was anything to go by. She had her suspicions that Erza hadn't simply because she wasn't the Keeper of Visions or connected to the keys that were apparently in danger. "Natsu-"

She didn't even need to finish her plea. He was darting off to find something for them to scry with. Loke's key burned at her hip, so she snagged it and summoned the celestial spirit with ease. Loke appeared with a snarl on his face, furious. "Loke, I need you to help me get what supplies I have here put together. Please."

Loke nodded curtly, hurrying away to do just that so Lucy could turn her attention on Jellal. "We have to go now."

Jellal nodded curtly. "I don't understand," he said as he rose to his feet. "This is too early. These things were not meant to happen just yet. I have seen this before, and it's not right. Acnologia's working around the Fates, and that simply isn't possible."

"Well, he's doing it," barked Natsu, furious as he came storming back into the room, a bowl of water cradled carefully between his hands. It was boiling, he was so angry. He uttered a soft spell over it, attempting to scry someone at the guildhall. Loke darted in and out of the room, bringing things that Lucy swiftly packed for her and Natsu.

"Stop!" cried Erza, and they all paused to look at her. She glared at them all. "What's going on?"

"It's Yukino," said Lucy softly, going back to work on packing her things with care. "And Sting, and Rogue. They've been attacked by Acnologia. Natsu and I must have been shown the same as you because of the keys, Jellal. He must be after me, or the keys that Yukino has." Her lips trembled. This was her fault. All her fault-

Natsu stopped mid-spell again to glare at Lucy. "Stop," he rumbled, and she winced. "Luce. Seriously."

"Sorry," she muttered, and then winced again when he glowered warningly. "Right. Scry someone, would you?"

Natsu puffed smoke at her in retaliation, and then began a third try at scrying. He grunted triumphantly when a voice called, "Natsu? The hell do you want?"

"Gray," Jellal murmured aloud, swiftly moving over to take over when Natsu bared his teeth at the bowl, already aggravated as it was. Jellal shooed him away, and Natsu reluctantly went to help Loke and Lucy. Frustrated, Erza merely stood there and simply watched, not sure of what she should be doing. "A situation has developed, and Erza and I will be accompanying Lucy and Natsu to Crocus. Immediately."

"What situation?" demanded Gray.

"The Keeper and Guardians of the Eclipse Gate were attacked by Acnologia," called Lucy loudly enough to be heard. She sat back, shooting Loke a grateful look. He met her gaze intently, silently warning her to be careful, and then vanished in a bright flash of light. Lucy bit her lip, knowing what he'd intended her to take heed of: this was her first time truly defending the keys as their Keeper, and she'd need to do her best.

Gray swore loudly. "That explains the emergency meeting Makarov called."

"What emergency meeting?" Natsu snapped. "We didn't get called."

"First of all, no offense to Lucy, but there is no 'we.' You're the one on the council. Secondly, yes, you did, because you were expected to already be at the guildhall. Both of you. Where are you?"

"I got a new place," grumbled Lucy under her breath, joining Jellal at the bowl and glaring at Gray. "Sorry for wanting to move out."

"Moving on," said Jellal firmly, "Lucy and Natsu will accompany Erza and I to investigate the situation. You'll inform Makarov?"

"You guys really shouldn't go without more backup."

Kindly, but firmly, Jellal said, "That will take too long. This is a situation in which we are Keepers and Guardians first, Gray, and members and allies of Fairy Tail second. Makarov should know what is happening - Erza scryed with him earlier. Sabertooth was not made aware of what's happening, so please contact someone."

"Fine. Be careful. Acnologia's up and working, which means bad things are going to happen, right? I'll meet you there as soon as the meeting's over."

"Right," agreed Lucy softly. "See you there, Gray." She turned away from the scrying bowl, turning her attention onto everything else. "Right, do we have everything?" she asked, glancing at Natsu. He inclined his head. "We need a plan for when we get there. Acnologia will probably still be around."

"Stick together," Erza said, eyes gleaming. She knew how to plan, and she planned well at that. "We do not go our separate ways until we have confirmed that Acnologia is no longer in the area. Especially you, Lucy. You are to stay with Natsu. We will not have a healer, so we'll need to tend to what injuries we can. Jellal and I will do a sweep of the area; Natsu, you'll defend the cottage and those present."

They all agreed. Lucy shot Natsu a nervous look and he surprised her with a reassuring grin as he let Happy hop onto his shoulder. Her chest swelled with warmth as she felt those talons that usually raked painfully over her soul settle in protectively, as if they could form a wall between her and the rest of the world they lived in.

"I don't know if I should be doing this inside, but oh, well. Ready?" she asked the three with her. Everyone nodded. "Right. Here we go…" Lucy settled herself into the familiar motions of making a Portal, narrowing her eyes as she carefully crafted it. She tried to be better than she normally was, aiming for a Portal that would open mere feet away from Yukino's cottage. The closer, the better, and the more able they'd be to help. They'd just need to be careful about Acnologia.

Erza went first, ducking through with a pair of short swords in her hands. Jellal followed her closely, his cloth-hidden face determined. Natsu paused to wait for her and Lucy found herself throwing him a quick smile as she stepped through with him. It was much easier than it had once been. She kept up, and Natsu didn't have to ensure she wasn't left behind. When they reached the other side, they stepped out and the Portal neatly closed behind them.

A gasp escaped her when she nearly tripped over the stones her feet skidded and slid on, and Natsu narrowly prevented her from knocking her head on one as he caught her elbow. He nearly fell in the process, tripping over rocks himself. Erza and Jellal were already walking around the perimeter of the debris, their expressions grim.

Happy uttered a whimper, and Lucy nearly whimpered with him at the state of the cottage - or what lingered. "Acnologia must have wrecked the cottage," she said, for that was what had happened. The cottage looked as if it had been ripped apart from the inside out and barely even a wall remained. Whatever had resided within had turned to ash similar to that which Natsu created, but blackened and lethal rather than hot and gray. An image of the same debris, covered in moss and a thousand years' worth of weathering, flashed through her mind.

There was nothing to find inside. A blessing and a curse, for Lucy had feared there might be a body hidden within. So, instead, she and Natsu headed for the nearest hill to try and puzzle out where they'd seen Yukino and her Guardians.

Natsu found the grassy knoll first, and took off at a run. Lucy rushed after him, ignoring Erza's warning cry behind them. There wasn't time to be cautious. The injuries she'd seen on Sting and Rogue...they'd be dead if they weren't found.

"Natsu!" she gasped, suddenly spotting something. She pointed when he stumbled to a halt and looked at her, and then bolted in the direction after her when she started for it.

Just as they'd seen, grass was stained red with blood. But rather than three figures, there were only two, and out of those two there was only one that was moving.

"Help," rasped Sting pathetically when he saw them, his voice weak enough that it was clear he was struggling. Massive wounds had been carved into his body down to the bone, and a particularly brutal one curled from shoulder to hip. He wiped impatiently at the blood trickling into his mouth from a cut that had carved over the bridge of his nose. He stared down at Rogue. Suffering from a bad leg thanks to the Nuckelavee months before, Rogue had been no match for Acnologia, and was unconscious, bleeding heavily from wounds along his chest. "Please. I can't stop the bleeding."

Lucy didn't hesitate to thrust her hands forward to help try and staunch the blood. "Natsu, my pack-"

"Not good enough. Move." Natsu crouched over the shadow dragon, expression grim as he studied the injuries. "I can cauterize them. Won't take care of everything, but it'll be enough until we can get him to Chelia or Wendy."

Lucy eyed him warily. She trusted her partner with a lot of things, but this…

"Better than nothing," agreed Sting in a hoarse, shaking voice.

"Where's Yukino?" Lucy demanded as Natsu went to work, ordering them to pin Rogue down when he began to groan quietly, moving weakly in an attempt to get away. She trapped his legs beneath her weight, expectantly gazing at Sting, and Happy curled himself around Natsu's neck, focused.

Sting's lips trembled. "He took her." His voice cracked. "He came out of nowhere. One moment, we were having dinner, the next, the cottage had been ripped apart around us and she was being dragged out. We tried to stop it, but he just...there's something else about him. He can't be a dragon like us."

"He's not. He's a human who turned himself into a dragon, and he's old at that," muttered Natsu through gritted teeth. "Dragons only strengthen with age. They never grow weaker."

"Igneel-"

"Couldn't have won against him. Ever. He could hold him off for a while, but Igneel would have never been able to win." It was a hard truth, and Lucy knew Natsu hated to admit it, but it was what it was. "Where'd he take Yukino, Sting?"

"I don't know. She's alive though. I can tell. The magic would have told us otherwise."

"He'll come looking soon enough," murmured Lucy, feeling guilty. Natsu shot her a glare as he worked, his fingers carefully lit with a searing flame. "But he's not in the area at least, so we can at least step back and plan what to do next. Does your guild know yet, Sting?"

"No. Not that I know of."

Natsu paused. "Makarov will let them know. Gray's going to tell him...you know, that meeting had to have been called before we heard from Jellal, Luce. Wonder what it's about."

Gray's fingers tapped rapidly on the table, one right after the other, as Mirajane and Laxus swept from the meeting room, right behind Gildarts and Makarov. He could see Juvia hovering beside the door, eyes wide as she waited for him to explain what was happening. He didn't get up to greet her as he normally would have, instead glowering at the table. He'd told Makarov what Lucy had said, and Makarov had agreed to let Freed send him and a few others out to help. He'd already decided on Juvia and Wendy, as well as Mira, who'd agreed to go without hesitation, but who else…?

And then there was the matter of what Makarov had called them for.

He'd looked amused, concerned, and furious all at the same time as he said, "The Council has decided that it has the power to disband guilds, and has declared that all mythic-based guilds in Fiore are to do so despite the fact that the Council itself is split on the matter."

It was, in other words, an official declaration of war. The Council was officially attempting to take away the power the guilds had, something the guilds would most certainly not allow, while simultaneously trying to gain control over the mythic population in the country. Not that it would work. No human could defeat a mythic without great skill. Nor could a human best the magic that protected Guardians and Keepers, who they'd claimed to not be needed.

It was infuriating, and Gray had a damn good guess about which member of the council had suggested the idea. A member of the council who would twist words and true stories about situations around the country to fit his desires.

For the councilman's sake, Gray hoped he never came across Natsu again; Natsu was sure to truly kill the man now.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that, and Gray shoved himself to his feet, determined. Acnologia had attacked the Keeper and Guardians of the Eclipse Gate, and something needed to be done. Now, though he knew they'd not be able to get out of Magnolia until the next morning at least.

There was a lot to be done when your guild was preparing for two separate wars, and Gray couldn't help but feel that the councilman had done this simply in the hopes that it would give Acnologia a chance to kill them all.

THINGS ARE HAPPENING! Oof, I'm so excited. Like I said several times, have fun~ ;)

The responses regarding the goblin were as amazing as I expected.

Thanks to reviewers (Guest #1, Talia D'vile, nerdalertwarning, stranger1999, Uchida Akira, TigerArrowgirl, Sele de la Luna, valerioux, guest #2, rao hyuga 18, SistershoOk, madaraswife, BetaDreamer, Lodemai04, Bookwork129, Meow Orbit, Kaisha00, Lissuin, zizi08, Guest #3, Samm14, itsxoi, and PersephoneQOTU!) as well as those who favorited and followed!