Normal POV
"Maka dunk!" Kid shouted as his Death Cannon shot the enemies behind Maka, who in turn swung Soul at the witch above him. "We need to regroup. Tsubaki, Smoke Bomb!" Black*Star shouted as a cloud of smoke surrounded them. In that moment the roof above them collapsed. Before they could be crushed a giant mask-shaped barrier appeared above them, giving them time to escape. "Father!" Kid shouted as he ran towards Lord Death, followed by Maka and Black*Star. Once they were clear of danger Lord Death dropped the barrier, allowing the rubble to fall. "Glad to see you're alright, now let's get going!" He exclaimed, heading in the direction of his other students.

Gray's POV
Gray watched from his spot on the ground as another enemy was killed. He remembered what Lucy told them, but he didn't think this was what it meant to be a student at the DWMA. Deliora's attack on his childhood village was nothing compared to the massacre that was unfolding around him. Now that he thought about it, even Tartarus was better than this, because while they all lost something, no one died. His dad didn't count, he had been a literal dead man walking for years, and the demons weren't actual living beings.

Back to his current situation, Gray was sitting against the remains of what used to be a wall, doing the best he could to protect Juvia, who was lying unconscious in his lap. His left arm was broken in ways he didn't know were possible, so he had to resort to one-handed maker magic and weak ice devil roars. On top of that he was almost out of magic power, and he couldn't move his lower body. Everyone except for Natsu, Gajeel, Erza, Laxus, Sting and Rogue were still standing, barely able to fight as it was. Erza could barely hold two swords, and the dragon slayers were on their last roars. Killik, Kim and Ox, as well as Crona, Marie and Sid, had all been forced out of the fight by a massive explosion, and the other students were unconscious, or dead. Spirit and Stein were still fighting, but by the looks of it they weren't far behind the others.

Lucy was doing worse than any of them, but refused to back down. Her left shoulder was dislocated, her forearm was broken and her wrist was twisted, but somehow she could still move it. Several of her ribs were broken, and her entire body was covered in gashes and marks Gray couldn't even begin to name what they were from. Her left eye was sealed shut, a stream of blood flowing over it. If he didn't know any better he'd say Lucy had a concussion, not that that was stopping her. Gray didn't have to be a healer to know she should have been dead, because he had watched how she had gotten each and every wound on her body. They all did. When the leader of the group arrived she had released a poison into the air that paralyzed everyone, and then forced them watch as she, along with the other witches, tortured Lucy in ways that would haunt everyone's nightmares for months to come. At some point the poison wore off, releasing them from their frozen-like states.

A scream of pain brought Gray out of his train of thoughts. He watched as Lucy slit the throat of a witch, throwing the body aside. Like all the other corpses, it disappeared and left behind a single purple orb. Another explosion suddenly erupted in the room, and when the dust cleared Lucy was the only one left standing. Her red eyes bore into his for a split second, the pure anger shining in them enough to frighten Mard Geer himself. But behind that he saw pain and worry. Soon after that Maka, Black*Star and Kid arrived, followed by Lord Death. One look at Lucy had her father and brother fuming with rage, ready to kill the first thing that crossed their path. But all of that was for not when the another series of explosions rang throughout what used to be the Death Room. They were so strong that Gray's permafrost barriers cracked under the pressure. He was more than relieved that they held out long enough to protect his friends and fellow students, because otherwise they would have been dead. It had taken the last of his magic power, but it was more than worth it. Standing in the middle of the room was none other than Jackal, cackling madly. Something was different about the demon, but whatever it was Gray couldn't place it.

"You..." Lucy growled out, her already deadly looking eyes narrowing, pupils turning into slits. "Look what we have here! It's the little fairy! How's the key?" Jackal asked, grinning. "Broken. And I'm not a fairy, I'm a reaper." Lucy said darkly. "Right, right, I forgot! It doesn't matter though, you'll be dead shortly. It'll be fun to beat you." Jackal laughed. "If I recall, I beat your ass before, and I'll do it again. Regardless of the little 'upgrade' Asura gave you. Demon Jackal, your soul is mine!" Lucy shouted, charging at him. Lucy feigned a punch, and when Jackal dodged she kicked him, her leg turning into a blade midair. Jackal caught it, attempting to make it explode, but nothing happened. Jackal frowned, then attempted to grab Lucy's face. His hand however went straight through it, the body turning into shadows. 'What the hell is this?!" He exclaimed. The ground beneath him disappeared, causing him to fall in. Before he fell he used his curse on Black*Star and Maka, effectively knocking the two out. Tsubaki transformed back into human form, while Lord Death caught Soul.

Lucy reappeared behind Kid, who had crouched down, pointing his pistols at the hole. Lucy remained standing, pointing her arm-cannons in the same direction. Her hair had turned black, and three white lines circled halfway across her head. Her body was surrounded by black flames, and her eyes shone with the intent to kill. Lord Death took a fighting stance a few feet in front of them. "Death Chain Resonance!" They shouted in unison. Black streaks of electricity sparked between the three, and a giant orb surrounded them. "Let's go, Soul Resonance!" Kid and his weapons shouted. The twin pistols changed into cannons attached to his arms, similar to Lucy's. "Resonance stable. Noise level at 3%." Liz said. "Black needle soul wavelength fully charged." Patty followed. "Preparing to fire. Feedback in 4...3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"Firing now!" Patty cheered. "Death Cannon!" Kid shouted. As the attack flew through the air Jackal jumped out of the hole, right into the line of fire. When the dust cleared Jackal was burned heavily, but he was still standing. Lord Death attacked with his scythe, landing a few blows every now and then. Kid shot with his normal pistols, and Lucy had disappeared.

"Gray, can you here me?" Lucy asked. "Where are you?" I asked, looking around for her. "Look down." Doing as she said I found a that there was a bow in my left hand, bandages seeming to come out of it and wrapping around my arm. "When did you pull that off?" I asked. "That's not important right now. What matters is that you should be able to move your arm, at least temporarily. Can you still use magic?" "Nope, I'm out." Lucy audible groaned. "Alright, there goes that idea. You've done a unison raid with Juvia before, so in theory this will work. I need you to resonate with Kid and Dad. After that I'll take care of the rest. Aim me at Jackal." After a bit of struggling I managed to aim Lucy at Jackal, who was being held in place by shadows and ice. Pulling back Lucy's drawstring an arrow made of ice and a black substance I'd never seen before appeared. "Soul Resonance, Ice Reaper's Zeroth Destruction Bow!" We shouted in unison, though the words flew out of my mouth without me thinking. As the arrow flew it grew in size, the head was the size of my hand when it hit it's target. Jackal screamed in agony, trying to pull the arrow out to no avail, until the ice encased all but his head.

Lucy transformed back into a human, only this time two of the white lines were completely connected, the other one making it's way around as well. She was unconscious, and breathing heavily. A black aura came of her body, healing all of her allies, but leaving the witches and Jackal untouched. Jackal cackled from his spot in the ice. "If I can't beat you, than I'll just take you with me to hell!" He shouted. His body began to glow, and the ground shook beneath us. "Crap! He's going to explode!" Natsu shouted, attempting to get up. The mist may have healed our physical wounds, but our energy was completely drained. Lord Death walked up to me and bent down to my level. "You were a good friend of Lucy's, right?" Not trusting my voice I nodded. "And your a mage from Fairy Tail?" Another nod. "Well good! I'm going to make a portal, so I need you to picture your guild, got it?" I grinned. "One more thing. The chances of me surviving this are at an all time low, so I need you to do me a favor. When Lucy wakes up, I want you to give her this." He said as he took his mask off and handed it to me. "When that third line connects, she'll be the new Grim Reaper of the realm she's in, so she has to be in Earthland. Kid's already activated the lines of Sanzu once before, so he's the new Reaper of this world. Which means that if Lucy is still here when the final line connects, one of them will die. Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't be there when she was growing up, but I'll still be watching from afar." Lord Death kissed Lucy's forehead, and for a split second I saw his golden eyes, filled with pride for his children, but also sorrow. Tears fell on Lucy's face as he smiled at her for the last time. After that, all I saw was black.


Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I caught the seemingly contagious disease known as writer's block. I also couldn't find the time to sit down and write. Anyways, thanks for reading, and see you next time!