Barry had formed a plan by utilizing his instincts and desires. His instinct was to find closure given his new memories, and his instinct was to go to Stella and flee Fiore.
The more he thought about running from them, the more repulsive the idea became to him. His mind truly was being affected by Acnologia, and he had come to terms with that. If his mind would be affected then so be it, he wouldn't let it change his end goal.
He recalled Montes Secreta being located far in the eastern region of Ishgar. The country furthest to the East was the country of Perigrande. The largest country on Ishgar. So he would head there second after stopping in Stella first. Seeing as how Stella was closer and not too far out of the way.
Now the only issues lied in actually getting there. Trains were easily out of the question, as were any form of public transportation. So he needed a compass to make sure he wasn't accidentally going to leap into the middle of the ocean.
To do that, he would need to go to the nearest town.
Where the nearest town was, he had no idea whatsoever. Sacred mountain Zonia was northern Fiore, that was obvious, but all the important places like Tenrou, Magnolia, Hargeon and Fairy Tail were all way down south! He had no clue where he was going at this point.
To sum it up plainly, Barry was more lost than a missing puppy.
'I also have no idea if I can turn into a dragon…now that experience would be worth putting up with a lot of this bullshit!'
He decided the only way to get anywhere was to simply jump randomly and see where that got him until he noticed something else in the cave. A single, metal, square chest. Curious, he pried it open and found some rather interesting items inside of it.
'Acnologia had belongings? I guess it makes sense, he was a few centuries old after all.'
He reached in and pulled out a few items. The first was a very ancient-looking compass, except the markings on it, were hard for him to decipher. He assumed that the red arrow was always pointing North though, so that helped.
The next interesting item was a one really old book. How it was still intact he had no idea, but once again, he couldn't read any of it so he left it in the chest.
The last was…a key. A black key with golden markings over it. The key felt warm in his hands, and his mind identified it as something important and related to Zeref somehow.
He left that in the chest as well. All he was interested in was the compass. He judged where west was based on where the compass pointed North since he had no clue what any of the symbols written onto it meant.
'Time to head to Perigrande.'
Gajeel ran out of the office at top speed. He was on a mission now, a mission to warn all the other dragon slayers. This was the worst thing that could have ever happened to him, he was finally beginning to enjoy life after the war, and Levy was expecting soon.
The last thing he needed was for that insane blue-haired monster to come back to life somehow!
It was only a matter of time before he began setting out on his mission to kill all the dragon slayers again.
Who knew if they would win a second time, especially since he didn't even die after the first fight where he saw Salamander knock his soul out of existence.
"Laxus!" Gajeel roared before jumping down to the lower floor where Laxus and the Thunder tribe were all sitting. Natsu was gone, as was Wendy, they had both left on a century quest not too long ago. A small white-haired girl he didn't recognize was standing by the guild doors too.
"Gajeel? The hell do you want?" Laxus asked.
"Did you see anything during the fight with Acnologia I didn't? Any hint that Natsu might have fucked up!?" Gajeel roared. Laxus uncrossed his arms and his gaze became more concerned.
"Uh, no, pretty sure Natsu got him good," Laxus answered. Gajeel ran a hand through his hair and let out a low growl of anger.
"Are you certain of this Laxus? You didn't see anything during the fight that looked off to you?" Jura asked as both he and Hyberion walked downstairs with Makarov, Lisanna and Levy tailing behind them.
"Why are you asking me all this? What happened?" Laxus asked. The whole guild was listening too.
"Acnologia? He's dead though!" A random member spoke out.
"Yeah, I thought Natsu killed him."
"His body vanished on the boat and everything! We were all there, we all saw it!"
Gajeel looked up to Laxus with a gaze so serious the lightning mage almost froze.
"Salamander somehow fucked it all up Laxus. The commotion in Hargeon, it was all because of him. Acnologia is still alive and he's on the move."
Laxus paled, his eyes went wide and a bead of sweat fell from his forehead. There weren't many things that he was afraid of.
The Black Dragon of the apocalypse coming back to life was one of those rare things he was afraid of.
"Where's Natsu and Wendy now?" Laxus asked his grandfather.
"In Giltena. They're too far away to warn now." Makarov answered. Laxus's fist tightened, they would need every dragon slayer they could get to face Acnologia. Gajeel and himself wouldn't be enough, far from it. He heard Acnologia killed God Serena with a stroke of his hand, and the last time they fought, he was pretty sure Acnologia wanted them alive to regulate his magic. If he didn't this time, then it could end up being a bloodbath.
Hopefully, the Fairy Sphere would work again.
The girl standing near Laxus, the one who Gajeel didn't recognize, stared at the floor. Her eyes slowly turned light gray, and white magic seemed to seep off of her body.
"The one who holds the most magic in this world is alive once again? The god Dragons can wait, Acnologia must be dyed the colour white before he stains the world Black again. Yes, but first, the guild who defeated him and Zeref in the first place must be dealt with immediately." She muttered to herself quietly.
Somewhere in that girl's mind was another soul crying out for her to stop. The inner turmoil caused her eyes to revert to normal and for her to suddenly fall to the ground holding her head in her hands.
"Hey! What's wrong with you now?" Laxus asked, startled by her weird reaction
"P-please! You all have to run! I didn't think she'd take over so fast!" She yelled.
"Take over? Girlie what the hell are you on about!?" Gajeel exclaimed. White magic began to pour out from her body.
"M-my name is Touka, I-I've been possessed by someone called the White mage. I was l-looking for someone named Wendy Marvell so s-she could (Agh!) undo it! You all have to run! She's-" Touka screamed before falling limp. Her arms hung at her sides lazily, and her head was facing the floor. Gajeel got in front of Levy, and everyone else got ready.
"The white mage? Hyberion! Could it be?" Jura asked.
"If it is then we're in for one hell of a fight. This woman might just rival Zeref himself in wickedness." Hyberion said before raising his hand. Two of his fingers bent downwards, and a wave of pressure engulfed Touka's body, preventing her from moving. Her hands moved up to her throat instinctively as she found it incredibly hard to breathe. The white magic around her only grew brighter and began to flow off of her body in waves. Hyberion gripped his arm.
"I'm losing control, Jura! Form an Iron Rock prison around her!" Hyberion exclaimed.
"Right!" Jura yelled back. He put his two palms together, and a yellow aura overtook his body. Glowing yellow rocks shot out from the floor and formed a Rocky sphere around Touka that he reinforced with ten iron pillars that bent themselves around the sphere.
"Juvia thinks this might be a bit extreme," Juvia said warily.
"Hardly at all rain woman. If she truly is possessed by the White Wizard herself, then all of Fiore is at risk. She is the leader of the rebellious cult. We've been looking into her under the radar, but now we have an opportunity to stop her sooner than expected." Hyberion said. Suddenly he felt something pull away from him, he began seeing double and a horrendous headache appeared out of thin air that sapped away all his strength. Soon a strange wave of energy spread throughout the entire guildhall.
"Ah! What's going on!?"
"My magic's vanishing!"
"I-I feel kinda dizzy."
"Honey it's not even eight yet, wake me up by then."
"The fuck!? My power is…v-vanishing...oh Mavis."
"I-I can't stay awake. My energy has been sapped."
"N-No! Hyberion! S-stay…with...me."
The rock prison broke apart as if it was made up of glass. She stood there with a smile on her face as she felt magic surge through her body. She felt the connections of every member of Fairy Tail blossom within her mind.
"At last, Fairy Tail and two of the gods of Ishgar have been dyed, White. Now it's time to paint away the greatest blackness in Earthland, Acnologia." She said with a wide smile on her face.
Near the entrance of the guild, someone was spying on the guild. They quickly left the entrance before they could be sensed by Touka and hid in a nearby alleyway. They pulled out a white orb, and it glowed blue before turning on. A massive man with bushy eyebrows and a huge scar on his forehead appeared on the crystal.
"Eh!? Aren't you that one guy I sent to Fiore!? This had better be fucking good!" He screamed out while chowing down on a huge drumstick.
"Forgive me master Reizen, but I just came across some news you may like to-"
"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!"
"An Ishgar guild called Fairy Tail and the Fioran council believe Acnologia is alive sir! He was recently seen in Hargeon!"
Reizen's drumstick dropped out of his mouth. It hung agape in shock and he didn't say a single word for a few seconds. After those seconds passed, he threw his head back and started laughing maniacally.
"EXCELLENT WORK! I'll be sure to give you a raise for THAT tidbit of information! To devour Acnologia is every dragon eater's dream, and now it will become a reality! We'll have to send the whole guild after him, once we're finished with the god Dragons that is...oh, actually wait, where are you now?"
"Southern Fiore in a town called Magnolia sir."
"I'll send a battalion down, maybe we don't have to beat him there at all, we just need to find a way to drive him to Guiltena! Good work, you're dismissed!"
The ball stopped glowing and the picture cut out. The man quickly walked off, and mentally chastised himself for never mentioning the White Mage to master Reizen at all.
In a land filled with flowing lava, charred stone and massive volcanoes there laid a giant, red dragon atop the highest volcano. He was covered in lava, and smoke flared from his nostrils. He flexed his leathery wings and rose his massive head that had a crystal-like spike spaced atop it.
"I can sense it, the birth of something powerful. Something that can rival me, it seems familiar to me." The dragon spoke out. Its massive Jaw broke out into a huge grin, and a gleam of excitement came from his eyes.
"Finally, a chance to test my strength against someone other than the god Dragons of Guiltena!" The dragon roared in excitement, fire rose from the Earth and shot into the sky. Everything around the dragon began to melt even more so then it was already, the sky grew red under the immense heat he was exuding. Fire bellowed out from his body, and he grinned wickedly before letting out an excited roar and beating his mighty wings.
"I will not stand by and hide any longer! The time for me to test my power has come. I, Ignia, will reign as the Supreme being over Earthland!" Ignia roared before flying off into the sky.
Elsewhere, in a land that never saw the sun, and the moon was the only source of light that gleamed over it (somehow). Stood a massive mountain made up of Black stone, this was Black Moon Mountain. Within this mountain was a massive hot spring, that had eastern redbuds surrounding it, fluttering their petals onto the spring and the eastern style palace surrounding it.
"Oh? It seems one of the god dragons is finally on the move again. What is this I sense as well? A large power somewhere far to the southeast? If I can sense it from here it must be truly immense, it seems familiar too, interesting." A woman with long, white hair spoke to herself. She flipped her legs over again as he laid her back on the side of the hot spring. Dragon-style statues were pouring water into the pool from their mouths around her. She looked up to the moon in the dark sky and smiled.
"The era of Zeref and Acnologia has supposedly ended, what will this new era usher in? Will humanity finally find peace? Or will this era usher in the coming of a new conflict? A new Ragnarok? A new dragon king festival? Only time will tell I suppose, and I can hardly wait." She said with a smile before rising out from the water.
"Perhaps this world shall become ugly and distorted once the dragon god who left wreaks havoc, yes, so long as the moonlight still shines, that is perfectly fine with me." She said while drinking from a nearly flat dish of water.
A tall, lean man with long, flowing, blue hair and had two large horns stood on a large, stone lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. He narrowed his eyes in concern as his gaze stretched across the horizon.
"Lord Water god? Is something troubling you?" A woman wearing glasses and a black suit asked as she walked up from behind him.
"Yes Camille, one of the dragon gods is on the move once again."
"Oh? Is it Ignia going to destroy another country?"
"Possibly, but there's more to it than that. My sensory abilities aren't the best right now as you know, but I don't need to be at full capacity to feel that."
"Feel what lord water god?"
"A power far to the southeast. A power so immense I can sense it even from here, a power that rivals even the god Dragons like myself."
"T-that powerful? Do you think the Guiltina council sensed it?"
"I severely doubt it. Only those with either immense magical capabilities and enhanced senses like myself could from this far off. Even so, they wouldn't intervene since it's not in Guiltina, and I doubt they'd be able to do much against this foe, even with their immense weaponry."
"The only one who you ever sensed before was the other god Dragons and…"
"Acnologia. However, the dragon king is long dead. We god Dragons have better senses than most since we spent so much time hiding away from Acnologia in the past...if Ignia is going over to challenge this person."
"It could bring about a catastrophe!" Camille finished for him. The Water God dragon nodded his head.
"Indeed, the White Wizard will most likely go after it as well. If she manages to seal Ignia's power somehow as well, then the whole world might be doomed."
Camille went silent after that. Her eyes widened, as she saw the water gods' handshake slightly.
'He's not afraid of what might happen to him, but what might happen to the town. How did he become so caring?' Camilla thought.
Barry ran through the snowy terrain, he left a massive cloud of snow behind himself as he ran. He checked the compass with his remaining hand now and again and changed course when he needed to, he didn't want to push himself too far as he might go flying off in a different direction. His blue hair was now covered in snow, giving it an icier look than before.
As he ran, he was completely unaware of the fact that someone new was tracking his movements. A few miles ahead of him, near the border of Fiore to Seven, stood a massive band of mages.
"According to my archive magic, whoever this is should be only a few miles west from our location, and they're closing in on us fast." A young man with dirty blonde hair explained while tapping away at a floating, yellow screen.
"Christina is tracking their movements! We shall have Sabertooth intercept them before this person crosses the border of Fiore! Crime Sorcière is en route as well!" A short, fat man with long orange hair exclaimed while making an awkward pose behind the ship's wheel of a massive, blue floating aircraft.
"Remind me again Hibiki, why we're doing this?" A taller, dark-skinned young man asked.
"Someone of this level of power hasn't been seen since the war with Alvarez, and no one knows who it is! They've set Hargeon into lockdown and we need to make sure they're not a threat to us or the other countries!" Hibiki shouted. Down below the Christina, stood a massive gathering of mages. A spiky, bleach blonde-haired young man accompanied by a long, dark-haired man stood in front of the group.
"You ready Rogue?" The blonde-haired man asked.
"Always Sting. Let's just hope we can resolve this peacefully, has Fairy Tail answered the call yet?" Rogue asked. Sting pressed his finger onto a device on his ear.
"Still nothing, I don't know what happened there. We don't need them for everything Rogue, besides, Crime Sorcière and two of the gods of Ishgar are coming too."
"Let's just hope that's enough manpower to deal with this. The last thing I want is a repeat of the Alvarez Northern assault where we were all tied to crosses."
"Have some faith Sting, we're both way stronger then we were during the war!"
"Hmph, I suppose your right...get ready! I think I see the target!" Rogue shouted while placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. Sting looked ahead to see a huge cloud of snow rising from the horizon.
Barry was looking at his compass when he accidentally ran through a tree and sent it flying forward.
'Whoops, hope that doesn't hit anything.'
A large man with long, green hair wearing a black bandana saw the tree in the sky. He put two hands forward and stretched his palms so they were facing the tree soaring through the sky.
"120 millimetre Black Lightning CANNON!" He roared. Black lightning sparked around his hands before a single straight bolt of Black lightning shot out and struck the tree almost instantly. The tree exploded into a thousand pieces, and all that remained was splinters and sticks that fell to the ground around them.
Barry had seen the explosion and the lightning. So he skidded to a halt as quickly as he could and saw the massive group of mages as well as the airship floating high above all of them. He gulped nervously before looking forward, he saw Sting and Rogue standing ahead of the group.
Barry's pulse began to race faster.
He felt a bead of sweat fall from his forehead as anger began to pool in his system.
He gritted his sharp teeth together so hard that a chip off one of his teeth broke off.
He pocketed his compass and clenched his fist so quickly it caused a shockwave of air that blew away the snow around his body.
'Dragon slayers.' Is all that went through his mind.