AN: Thank you NinjaFang1331, AliceCullen3, and InstinctMW. No need to feel bad, InstinctMW, it isn't like not commenting is a bad thing. Heck, I've never commented on another person's fanfiction (partially because it's never occurred to me to do so).

My personal matters aside, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

"First things first," said Ultear to Minerva in a professional-sounding tone. As she spoke, the ex-Dark Mage stared at the Dragneel family, encased in the wall. "We saw two other guildmates of yours in a state just like that of Millianna and her kids. Who did this to them and how did they do it?"

"I'm not quite sure myself," answered Minerva. "I was fighting one of the Nine Demon Gates, a skeletal Etherious named Keyes, when the walls of Tartaros's base turned into a sticky substance that tried to envelop me. I escaped into my Territory on instinct, then returned and found two of my friends like this. Not long after, Mard Geer announced that everyone in the guild had been captured."

"Hmm," went Meredy. "It sounds like, when the Cube transformed, it trapped everybody within it, placing them in a suspended animation of sorts. Which means the only way to free Fairy Tail…"

"…is to return the Cube to its previous state," finished Ultear with a smirk. "Lucky for us, it sounds like the Curse is embedded in the foundation of the Cube instead of the people affected by it. Further, this place does not appear to be truly alive, but rather an artificial construct animated by Curse Power, similar to a Shade. In other words, my magic should be able to free everyone! Restore!"

Minerva felt a massive amount of Magic Power emanate from Ultear. She was forced to cover her eyes, though, as a bright pink glow spread from the woman across the Cube. Tartaros's base began to shift once again, this time moving in reverse.

After a couple seconds, the light faded, and Minerva was able to see again. Before her, the hallway was completely undamaged, and the Dragneels were free!

"Huh?" went Millianna as she looked around and saw that she and her kids were safe. The mother loosened her grip on her children and stood up. "What just happened to us? The last thing I remember, we— YOU!"

Millianna's eyes widened as she caught sight of Ultear. Her tone instantly changed from confusion to pure hatred, shocking Minerva, Blaze, and Iggy.

"What just happened!?" exclaimed Droy, laying on the ground next to Jet.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Macao, attempting to organize the guild.

"What the…" trailed off Romeo, confused.

"Yeah!" answered Laki as she pulled Kinana to her feet.

"I don't really understand what just happened," began Wakaba, speaking to his comrades. "But we're fine now and still in enemy territory, so we need to continue our attack!"

"Yeah!" replied the Fairies present.

"The Alegria Curse was lifted!?" gasped Mard, a bead of sweat running down his cheek. Destroying Hell's Core, defeating several of the Nine Demon Gates, stopping the first Face, and now this; Fairy Tail was defying his expectations time and time again.

"I told you so," spoke Natsu coldly, reactivating the Dragon Force. Between his increasingly monstrous left side and draconic right side, the guild master truly looked like what one would expect from the legendary E.N.D. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame."

More beads of sweat ran down Mard's face as he called upon his Thorn Curse to defend himself from the oncoming attack. During the time that Alegria was active, E.N.D.'s awakening had progressed enough that the dragon slayer's flames were now being augmented by Curse Power.

"If only I could just kill Master E.N.D. with Memento Mori," thought the Etherious with a mental sigh. Sadly, it was unlikely that Zeref would show himself unless Etherious Natsu Dragneel was there to greet him. "For now, though, I should use my true form."

A purple fire engulfed Mard's body as he entered his Etherious Form. "Human, you shall now feel the true power of the Underworld King!"

"What are you doing here?" spat Millianna, stomping up to Ultear.

Ultear winced, then answered, her voice tinged of guilt. "We came here to help Fairy Tail fight Tartaros. Jellal is busy with another matter, so it's just me and Meredy."

"They're the ones that freed everybody from Tartaros's Curse," added Minerva, attempting to mediate. "They also saved me from two of the Nine Demon Gates."

"Please," started Meredy empathetically. She placed her hand on Millianna's shoulder as she stepped between the Fairy and the one she despised. "I know how you feel about Ultear, but Tartaros is too strong for your guild to defeat on its own. Let us help you."

"…Fine," said Millianna with a sigh. "I don't like it, but my friends and family are more important than her."

"Yeah!" shouted Blaze, glad that her mom's uncharacteristic rage was weakening. "Let's kick those demons' asses, mya!"

"Bold words, but that is beyond what you humans are capable of."

Everyone turned toward the one who spoke.

"Torafuzar!" exclaimed Minerva, the only one who knew the Etherious's name. Her tone shifted, becoming slightly challenging. "Do you honestly think you can defeat the four of us?"

"Six, mya!" interjected Blaze, grabbing Iggy's hand.

"Four!" shot down Millianna, shooting her daughter a look.

"You overestimate yourselves, humans," retorted Torafuzar, before looking at Ultear and Meredy warily. "Although, with two of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, I suppose it's not impossible. No matter; even if my defeat was assured, I would simply fulfill my duty as one of the Nine Demon Gates and kill as many of you as I could before falling in battle."

"There's no need for that," commented a jovial voice, originating from an armored man. "Mard sent me to kill the two new intruders, so let me handle them. I'll even take the cat girl."

"Alright, Silver," agreed Torafuzar. As soon as the Etherious consented, Silver bolted towards the three women. Before they could react, he teleported them and himself away in a flash of light.

"Gah! Too bright!" exclaimed Meredy, blinded by the teleportation spell. As her eyes readjusted, she saw that herself, Ultear, and Millianna had been brought to an open area by Silver.

The Tartaros member in question stood before them, giving a friendly smile that made the women shiver. They could feel the darkness that lied within this man. "Before we fight, I might as well explain why I wanted to fight you girls alone."

"So you targeted us for a reason?" asked Millianna, puzzled. "But I've never met you before, and Tartaros was in an alliance with Grimoire Heart."

"I suppose I wasn't being clear," answered Silver sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I don't have a grudge against you or Grimoire Heart. What I want is vengeance against you two…" —Silver looked at Ultear and Meredy— "…for the death of my son."

"I didn't know an Etherious could have a child," retorted Ultear, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Nor do I recall killing anything since we left Grimoire Heart."

"True, you didn't murder him directly," admitted Silver. "But you two are nonetheless responsible. After all, you escaped from Tenrou Island alive while Gray died."

The girls' eyes widened in shock. How could this man be Gray's father!?

"I am Silver Fullbuster, the sole human in Tartaros, and I will avenge my son's death! Ice Devil's Rage!"

"Crap," cursed Minerva under her breath. With her allies gone, she was in the same terrible situation of facing Torafuzar alone. Worse, the Etherious was more likely to attack Blaze and Iggy now that they were free and might run away. The only positive turn of events was that Minerva had more Magic Power, courtesy of Meredy.

Without warning, Torafuzar leaped at Minerva and threw a slash. She blocked the attack by coating her arms in her Territory. The Etherious pressed his razor-sharp fin down on her defense, attempting to break it.

"Kids, I need you to get to safety while I fight this demon," ordered Minerva as she pushed back against Torafuzar. "Blaze, use your nose to find the rest of the guild."

"But what about you?" asked Iggy as Minerva forced the Etherious to back.

"I'll be fine," said the S-Class Mage, throwing several Territory Explosions at Torafuzar. The demon avoided most of them, sustaining minimal injuries.

"You're lying, mya!" accused Blaze, both angry and concerned. "Let me stay and help you beat this demon. I can help you!"

"No!" rejected Minerva sharply. Torafuzar approached her again, and the two exchanged punches (Minerva's cloaked in her Territory). "You might be talented for your age, but you're still a little girl. If you try to fight a member of Tartaros, you'll just—"

The Etherious scored a lucky hit while Minerva's focus was split, knocking her to the ground. He raised his fist, ready to deliver a killing blow. However, before he could land the attack, a dark stream slammed into him, pushing Torafuzar away from Minerva.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" spoke Rogue as he and Yukino made their way down the hall. "We saw a flash of light and came over to help."

"Déjà vu," thought Minerva. This was just like what happened with Ultear and Meredy, only her guildmates were drawn by Silver's teleportation instead of her own spell. The only thing that could make it more like earlier was if another of the Nine Demon Gates arrived.

"Look out!" exclaimed Yukino, pulling out a key and pointing at a dark aura that was shooting toward them. "Open Gate of the Paired Fish! Pisces! Stop that attack!"

The Celestial Spirits appeared, striking the darkness and breaking it apart. Then, they returned to their summoner's side, awaiting further orders.

"Fools, thou only delayed thine deaths," spoke Keyes, him and another Etherious walking up to Torafuzar's side. "Between Tempester, Torafuzar, and myself, Keyes, you face three of the Nine Demon Gates. You shall soon shed your mortal forms."

"Blaze, Iggy, get to safety," Minerva ordered again. This time, though, she was smiling. "We're about to slay some demons, and I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire. After all, like your dad would say, I'm all fired up!"

The kids nodded, racing away. The demons did nothing as the two left, aware that turning away from their foes would be a fatal mistake.

The battle had already begun, and both sides knew that it wouldn't be easy.

"What the fuck?" uttered Sting, him and Lector gawking at the countless Faces before them. The two had been flying back to the Cube when the magic-destroying bombs started popping up out of the ground.

"How are we going to destroy all of these?" asked Lector numbly, in a state of shock from the nightmare before him.

"I'm not sure," replied Sting. "Honestly, I think we got lucky when we destroyed the original one."

It was true. Given the sheer amount of power contained in the Faces, Sting's Holy Nova should not have been able to destroy one. The Dragon Slayer's best guess was that it was because he bit off a chunk of the Face. The damage must have messed it up somehow, making the Face vulnerable to his spell, which struck at the area he had eaten.

Unfortunately, eating and blasting hundreds (if not thousands) of Faces did not seem like a viable plan. Not with Tartaros actively attempting to set off the bombs, anyway.

"…"

"…"

"…We should go get some help," Sting finally said.

"Yeah," agreed Lector, still a bit stunned. "We're definitely going to need backup."

The two flew off to find themselves some assistance. Fortunately for them, worn out from their clash with Ezel and everything that happened before it, they ran into Doranbolt on the way. The Council member was able to use his Direct Line Magic to greatly speed up their journey.

Omake

"How could this man be Gray's father!?"

That thought passed through the minds of all three ladies. Although none of them had spent too much time around the Ice-Make Mage, they all knew about his past. Gray Fullbuster's entire family had been killed by the Etherious Deliora.

Was Gray actually adopted? Did that mean he was part Etherious? Could an Etherious even have children? That would explain how Silver was alive despite being killed.

These thoughts were quashed the moment the Ice Devil Slayer acknowledged that he was a human with the last name Fullbuster. However, the impossibility of it still ate away at the minds of Millianna, Ultear, and Meredy, even as they began fighting him.

AN: In case it wasn't clear, Sting, Lector, and Doranbolt are getting help from people other than Fairy Tail (whose preoccupied fighting Tartaros). They will not be reappearing for a little while. That is all.