A/N: Didn't plan to leave a note for this, but this chapter was supposed to be up like 2 days ago. I've been having trouble connecting to the website and my internet was down almost all day today. Apologies, another chapter should be up tomorrow to make up for it.

The Next Morning - ERA

"Alright, Mr. Drakeneel, you are free to go."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Natsu responded sarcastically.

"Right…" The guard deadpanned.

Natsu was currently pondering the request Ultear had given to him. 'Is that really possible? I didn't even know that spell had anything to do with dragons, how could she have found out? I always knew she had contacts, but this is almost unbelievable…'

Ultear's Backstory

Twenty years ago, on the Northern continent known as Glaiterra, a girl was born to a young woman named Ur. The woman's husband had died shortly after Ur had gotten pregnant, but now she had a new light in her life. The woman had beautiful dark hair that ran down to her shoulders and always wore a brilliant smile. From her immense happiness of having her daughter, she wept tears of joy and decided to name the child after her tears. Ultear, the tears of Ur.

The little girl, Ultear, and her mother grew up rather poor, but the two were very happy together. Ultear was a happy child, and always had a smile on her face. The two of them spent time playing in the snow, singing songs in front of their fireplace, and listening to Ur tell stories of the adventures she'd had as well as stories about Ultear's father. It was a simple existence, but they loved it.

Unfortunately, underneath all that joy and laughter, was an immense amount of worry. Ultear was a sickly child and was constantly ill, and eventually, Ur realized the reason for this was the monumental amount of magical power contained within the child. Worried that leaving the problem to sort itself out would kill the light of her life, Ur went to the Bureau of Magic Development who claimed they had the ability to cure her daughter. For a while, they would go once a month to run tests, and each time, Ur got more and more worried. At the age of 7, two years after the tests started, they claimed to have found a permanent solution.

Ultear stayed behind in that place for her treatment, but unbeknownst to her, they never intended to treat the child in the first place. She was experimented on for her immense magic power reserves and went through extensive pain as she was used as a toy for their curiosity.

A few days after dropping her daughter off, Ur returned only to receive news that her daughter had died. She was rightfully devastated, bawling, and screaming that they were lying to her, but they insisted that it was true. It took nearly two hours, but they finally convinced Ur to go home, where she spent weeks mourning her lost daughter.

Unbeknownst to her, she had been right. Her daughter had never died, and was currently miserable and missing her mother. She stayed in that place for months, and after a while, Ultear began having trouble keeping track of time. Sick of the endless torment, she broke out of her prison, determined to reunite herself with her mother. Unfortunately, when she found her mother, she was smiling and enjoying a day in the snow with two young boys. Ultear was certain that her mother had abandoned her for better children, so she returned to the prison she escaped from and submitted herself to their whim, set to gain enough power to seek vengeance on her mother. Eventually, she had enough, and destroyed the place, killing many of the people that had experimented on her in the process, and she left, ready to get revenge on the woman who ruined her life.

Shortly after, she met up with a man named Hades. He saw the trouble in the girl's life, the pain and the anger she felt, and decided to take her under his wing. Hades began to teach Ultear a special form of Lost Magic known as Arc of Time, and she eventually became quite adept. She had stayed under Hades ever since, but within the past few years, Ultear met two more people that began to change her. One of whom was a young man with strange hair, and the other was an even younger girl she met who had no home to call her own.

Backstory End

"Ah, Salamander! I heard that you were offered a potential trial for the Ten Wizard Saints!" The man interrupting Natsu's thoughts was Jura Neekis, currently, the Tenth Wizard Saint and the one most recently appointed.

"Indeed. You are Jura? Correct?" Natsu replied, shaking the man's hand. He was tall, nearly dwarfing Natsu, and extremely muscular. He had on somewhat of a formal robe and was completely bald, with short black eyebrows and the face of a pronounced warrior.

"Ah, so you've heard of me! Well, I look forward to your trials, Salamander! Be sure to prepare, they are by no means easy! Though I'm sure any child of Makarov will do brilliantly."

"Thank you, Jura. It is truly an honor to receive praise from someone such as yourself." Jura smiled and nodded his head before the two separated and Natsu returned to his thoughts. Natsu realized that he would once again have to take a journey on Hell's only son to get back before Erza and Mira had a heart attack, so he headed off for the train station. 'It'd be nice to try to get there early and surprise them.' Natsu thought to himself.

He had been released rather early, around 6:30 am, and the guild didn't really open up until 8. If he took the train now, he would arrive around a half-hour after the guild opened for the day, so he boarded and braced himself for the journey to come. Just shy of two long hours later, he awakened and dragged himself out of the car, pausing for a moment to relish in the great freedom the ground had gifted him with.

After recovering, he hopped up and headed back towards Fairy Tail, excited about his new job. 'I'll probably have to bring the two of them along so they aren't upset,' Natsu thought as he approached the guild. 'That's ok, I'll need backup anyway. Besides, it'll be nice to spend time with the two of them.'

Natsu opened the guild doors and removed his cloak, only to find himself staggering from a bullet tackle from a flying feline.

"NATSHUUUU!" Happy cried, burying his face in the dragon slayer's chest. "I thought you were gonna be away forever!"

"Oh come on, Happy!" Natsu patted the feline's head reassuringly. "You know they couldn't do that!"

"Natsu!" This time it was Mira, who, while not tackling the fire mage, definitely had a powerful running hug.

"Jane! Good to see you again! What'd I tell you? It was just a demonstration of the council's power, they didn't even bother to put me in magic canceling cuffs."

"That doesn't mean I was any less worried about you," Mira said from inside his shoulder. She released him after a moment and gave him a smile. "Well, come on. Let's have some breakfast!"

Natsu nodded and followed after the barmaid. The guild was still relatively empty, the only notable mages present were the other two Strauss siblings, Makarov, and Nab, who all greeted his safe return. Natsu sat down at the bar and briefly chatted with Happy while Mira went to prepare breakfast. Shortly after, she came out with three platters of food and gestured for Natsu to follow her, and the two walked over and sat down at a table. The first two platters were for the two mages, and the third was just a pile of fish for Happy.

"Thanks, Jane! One thing I definitely missed was your cooking."

Mira blushed slightly and smiled. "So, Natsu, how was prison?"

"It was hardly prison," Natsu defended, and Mira giggled. "It wasn't too interesting, however, I do have news for both you and Erza when she gets in. She didn't go on a job, did she?"
"Oh, what do you need with ginger-head…" Mira grumped, frowning slightly.

"Don't be like that, Jane," Natsu sighed. "I missed the two of you, a lot. I got a job I was hoping you two could help me with and we can spend some time together."

"What job…" Mira asked, frowning. Initially, Mira had been rather giddy that he had missed her so much, but at the mention of a job, she was not pleased. She knew he hadn't gotten it at the guildhall, so that meant one thing.

"It's not what you think, Jane," Natsu said, and gestured for her to lean closer. "The White Crown is dead...I left him behind…Besides, you really think I'd take anyone with me on those? I'd never put you two in danger like that."

"Really?" Mira asked hopefully after the two had leaned back. Natsu smiled and nodded. "So, wait, if it isn't that, what kind of job?"
"A special request. If you don't mind, I'd like to wait for Erza to get here as well so I can tell the both of you together, but we'd have to leave today if that's alright with you."

"Today?" Mira whined. "I can't go today! Can we please go tomorrow?"

Natsu immediately felt guilty. 'Dammit! She's using puppy-dog eyes...My only weakness…' Happy started giggling at the two, while Natsu sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's very time-sensitive, Jane. Aw, come on! Don't give me the eyes! I can't do anything about it!"

Mira giggled at him and smiled slightly. "You're too easy, Natsu! But if you go on a mission with Erza, you owe me a mission too!"

"I'd love to," Natsu smiled. "Do you want to pick it, or should Happy?"
"No, Natsu," Mira said, wagging her finger in front of him. "Just you. Me and you, Happy's not coming."
"WAAH! MIRA'S A MEANIE!" Happy cried from his fish.

"I'll give you fish for a week," Mira told him.

"Aye, sir! Have fun on your mission!"

Natsu chuckled and shook his head. "I should've known you'd have a plan. Alright, anything you'd like. Just keep an eye out and we'll go. Sound good?"

"Yay!" Mira squealed. "So what's your special mission request?"

"Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I already have my trophy all picked out."

"Aww, Natsu! You're no fun at all!" The group continued their breakfast chatting about various things. When they were finished, Mira took their dishes and left to go do some guild business, while Natsu and Happy went over to chat with Lisanna, who was excited to have some time with her pseudo big brother again. Soon after, Erza returned to the guild.

"Ah, Erza! You're back!" Natsu called, excusing himself from his conversation with Lisanna.

"Natsu!" Erza smiled and walked over to the dragon slayer, giving him one of her famous forehead breaking breastplate hugs. "Good to see you're back safely."
"Good to see you still haven't learned to hug properly," Natsu joked, and Erza returned it with a smile after releasing him.

"Anyway, I actually have a bit of important news to share with you."
"Oh? And what is that?" Erza asked. 'Ha! Take that, demon wench!' she thought to herself.

As if reading her mind, Natsu smirked. "Don't get too excited, I asked Mira as well, but she's busy today."

"Wh-what I-I wasn't-" Erza stuttered.

"Of course you weren't," Natsu rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm leading her to a table. "Now come on."
The two sat down, and Natsu began to tell her about the job request.

"So, while I was at the council I received a job request from an old friend." Once again, Natsu gestured for Erza to lean closer so he could whisper. "Not what you're thinking, I killed off The White Crown...He's not a part of me anymore."

Erza smiled at his final success of trying to break off a piece of his past but was a bit confused at what the job was. If he didn't get it from the council, and it wasn't a bounty hunt, what did they want with him? "So, if it's not that, what did they want you to do?"
"It's not they, it was a personal request. Anyway, I was approached-"

"AHHHH! MASTER!" Mira screamed from upstairs.

"What is it child, why are you shouting?" Makarov asked with a concerned look on his face as Mira came running towards the railing of the second floor.

"It's one of the S-Class requests! It's missing!"

"IT'S WHAT!" Makarov shouted in shock. "DID SOMEONE TAKE IT?"

"I know what happened to it," Laxus added gruffly. "That ice prick took it last night after everyone left."
"Laxus! Why didn't you try to stop him?!" Mira demanded.

"Relax, barmaid," Laxus sneered, earning a low growl from Natsu which he either ignored or didn't notice at all. "I didn't know at the time. I just saw him walking down the stairs. Never dreamed the idiot would actually take an S-Class quest."

Makarov sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. 'That grandson of mine…' He shook off his displeasure to focus on the matter at hand. "Which one was it, Mira?"

"The Curse of the Demon Island!"

Before Makarov even had a chance to reply, Natsu shot up and roared, "WHAT?! DID YOU SAY DEMON ISLAND?"

Mira was rather surprised, and Makarov looked even more so, before she replied. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"That's Galuna Island! OH FUCK, THIS IS BAD!" This caught them even more off-guard. Natsu wasn't the swearing type by any means. Occasionally he'd get a little rough on the tongue when he was taunting his enemies, but something of this level was rare.

"Calm down, Natsu. What's wrong?" Erza asked, placing a hand on the dragon slayer's shoulder.

"Erza! We're leaving, now! Master! I'll go get them! I really don't have any time to explain! All I know is they are both in A LOT of danger!" With that, Natsu picked Erza up bridal style before she could even react and sprinted out of the guild.

"Wait, brat! What do you mean by that!" Makarov shouted after them. "I hope they'll be ok…"

"Don't worry Master, it's Natsu! If anyone can help them, it's him," Mira assured the old man.

'I sure hope so,' the master thought to himself.

Natsu was currently sprinting towards the train station with a struggling and blushing Fairy Queen in his arms, ignorant to the fact that not only was he receiving a lot of strange looks from the people in Magnolia, and to the fact that he didn't remember to bring his cloak in his rush. Happy was flying a distance behind them trying to catch up, but luckily for Natsu, the cat noticed the lack of Natsu's familiar garb and had brought the cloak with him.

"Natsu! Put me down! What are you doing?" Erza sputtered out, madly blushing and squirming around.

"I'm sorry, Erza! I'll make it up to you later, we really don't have a lot of time right now!"

"What does that mean? Natsu!"

The two arrived at the train station shortly after, Natsu donned his cloak after putting Erza down, thanking Happy profusely, and sprinted off to buy tickets.

Happy, meanwhile, was on the ground laughing at the extremely embarrassed Titania, who was currently trying to return her face back to a normal color, rather than what it had been previously. After a moment, she recovered enough to attempt to strangle the cat, but Natsu returned in time to save his partner, dragging the two on the nearest train to Hargeon just before it pulled out of the station. For Erza, that meant she had no way to get answers until they arrived, as he was immediately motion-sick. Fortunately for Erza, however, not that she would ever admit it out loud, Natsu was unconscious, meaning she could lay him in her lap and relax for a bit as they rode the train. Soon after Natsu was out, Erza took a shot in the dark to see if he had mentioned anything regarding why they were in such an extreme rush to Happy.

"Do you have any idea what that was all about?"

"Which part? The part where he carried you? It's because he liiiiiikes you," Happy taunted, giggling at the returning blush of the Fairy Queen.

"No, not that you idiot! Why he was in such a rush! I understand wanting to help Gray, but why did he seem so worried about Galuna Island? And what about that job he mentioned?"
"I have no idea," Happy answered, recovering from his chuckle fit. "He wanted both you and Mira to go with him, but he was waiting for you to get back before spilling. Mira couldn't go so she made him promise to go on a mission with just the two of them when you two got back."
"She. Did. What?" Erza seethed. 'Scheming demon wench!' she thought.

"Yep! She said, 'Oh, Natsu! My dearest love! Let us go far from here and spend the day together!'" Happy dramatically recalled, telling the knight of all the 'kissy-kissy' activities the two had planned.

Erza, no doubt due to her rather interesting preference in literature, was immediately lost in her imagination. Seeing the terribly lewd acts the two of them would be up to, alone in the forest, the two of them slowly- 'NO! I shall not allow such-such-such INDECENT actions to befall my Nat-I mean Natsu!' Eventually, Happy couldn't take it anymore, collapsing on the floor in a fit of laughter. Somehow, that didn't give the joke away to Erza, who was still swimming around in her wild imagination.

They rode in relative silence after that, as the train approached Hargeon. It wasn't too long of a ride before the group arrived, and Erza dragged Natsu out after awakening the sleeping dragon.

"Now, would you like to tell me what this is all about?" Erza asked, as Natsu finally regained some sense of his being.

"I will, just let's get on the boat first. They said they'd have one waiting for me with a crew that had an anti-motion sickness lacrima in it, so we can talk there."
"Fine, Natsu. Just hurry."

Natsu smiled and raced off, followed closely by Erza and Happy. Waiting for them was a mid-sized ship with a small crew. Natsu quickly boarded and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Salamander and these are my associates Erza and Happy. We're on a job from Ultear who said this ship would be waiting for us."

"Of course! Head below deck and we'll set sail!"

"Thanks," Natsu replied, leading the two downstairs.

"So, will you finally tell me what this is all about?" Erza pressed.

"Of course. It started yesterday while I was enjoying my night in one of the council's prison cells…"

Flashback - The Previous Day

"Ultear," Natsu said smiling. "It really has been a while. You didn't happen to miss me, did you?"

"I do wonder about that," Ultear smirked slightly. "It has been a while hasn't it?"

"Now, Ulty, as much as I love seeing you, did you need something or did you just come to see me?"

"Right to business today? Come now, Natsu, you could humor me at least a little bit for old times' sake…"

"Oh, and I would, however, I'm a bit locked up at the moment…"

"Well that should give you more free time, don't you think?"

"Come on, Ulty...I know you want something, just spit it out," Natsu sighed.

"Oh, you're no fun at all, Natsu! Fine...I actually have a job for you," Ultear pouted slightly.

"Oh? And what sort of job do you think would fit me? If you're asking what I think you're going to, my answer is no. The White Crown is dead, his last job was in Hargeon…"

"While that is interesting to hear, I actually need something else from you. And I think you'll agree quite hastily when I explain…"

"Well? What is it?"

Ultear smiled slightly, giving the dragon slayer a devious smirk.

"Well? Spit it out, you know very well I hate that look…" Natsu replied, glaring slightly at the council member.

"Oh, my! Gotten feisty have you? Very well then. I need you to break a seal for me."
"What? You're going to have to be way more specific than that, Ulty."

"On the island of Galuna, there is currently a group attempting to melt the ice from a demon named Deliora."

Natsu's eyes grew wide. "You don't mean...Zeref's Deliora? One of the ultimate demons of destruction?"

"Your intellect never ceases to amaze me, Natsu, the very same. A long time ago a very special wizard cast a very powerful spell called Iced Shell to seal the demon within unmeltable ice."

"Forget it, I'm not unsealing one of Zeref's demons. Are you out of your mind? I knew you were twisted, but you're not evil! Besides, I thought you said another group was already doing that. When I get out of here, I'm gonna stop them from unsealing it, not speed the process up!"

"Oh dear, perhaps I should explain myself better. You see, Iced Shell was originally a spell created by the Ice Dragon Queen Glacia over a thousand years ago. It was used as a countermeasure against other forms of dragon royalty."
"And how did you stumble upon that information? Even I didn't know that, and you know very well where my magic comes from…"

Ultear giggled and smiled. "Now why would I reveal my sources to you? Anyway, that's not quite everything. You see, Iced Shell imprisons their target in a nearly unbreakable block of solid ice. It is quite ingenious, wouldn't you say?"

"If it's unbreakable, how am I supposed to help anyway? Not that I plan to…"

"There are only two ways to break the spell Iced shell. One is using Moon Drip, which slowly but surely melts away the ice. However, this is a rather unfortunate process, as it drains the life force of the person who cast the spell. You see, when humans use the spell, we are simply not strong enough as a species, therefore we exchange our very bodies as a vessel for the ice."

"So the wizard who cast the spell is the seal on Deliora?" Natsu asked, shocked.

"Indeed!"

"So how does this involve me?"

"I did say there was a second way to break the seal, didn't I?"

"And am I to guess that's where I come in?"

"Exactly. The only other way to break Iced Shell is with the magic of a fire dragon king, and it just so happens, you have the stronger branch of fire dragon king magic. Should you be so inclined to cast a special unsealing spell I can give to you, you could free both the caster and the creature. Isn't that fascinating?"

"I find it hard to believe that everything you've told me is true, and if it is, I find it harder to believe that you didn't even attempt to trick me."
"Oh, now why would I want to trick such a special friend of mine?"

"Are you trying to charm your way into this, Ulty? I'm afraid that's rather unlikely…"

"Is that any way to respond to a friend offering you a job?" Ultear pouted.

"Well, I have two questions. What would you be paying me for this, and why should I do it?"

"Well, why you should do it is rather simple. The wizard who cast Iced Shell is an almost legendary ice wizard from the North by the name of Ur. She just so happens to be the teacher of your guildmate, Gray."

"You think I'd free that creature...just because Gray's master is the seal? I think he'd be angry at me if I took you up on that offer, Ulty. You'll have to use a bit more persuasion."
"She also happens to be my mother."

"Ultear…you're not still planning on-"

"No...I thought about...what you told me," Ultear admitted. "I just...I just want to see her again...for my own sake and to ask her myself."

Natsu smiled at her. "Then you may consider the job taken."
Ultear teared up slightly and smiled back. "If it weren't for these damn prison bars I'd give you a hug right now."

Natsu chuckled and waved her off. "The darkness is not meant for any of us, Ultear. I just hope when this is all over, you can consider joining me in the light. Should you find yourself in need of a hand, you know where to find me."

Flashback End

"So...you're telling me that right now on Galuna Island, there is a group attempting to UNSEAL one of the STRONGEST DEMONS FROM THE BOOK OF ZEREF?" Erza shouted, eyes wide.

"Yes! That is exactly why I was in such a rush!" Natsu replied, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. "Now relax, we should be there in time. They just left recently, and we have no way of knowing when exactly the moon drip will fully unseal Deliora."

"And Iced Shell is Gray's master Ur? Why didn't he mention that?!"

"I'm sure he had his reasons, Erza," Natsu told her, trying to soothe the irate knight. "If she sacrificed herself to seal the demon away, it probably hit him pretty hard. We both know all about what it feels like for someone to sacrifice their life for you in front of your very eyes…"

"Natsu…"

"One day, Erza...The chains that shackle you will be broken, and if not by your hands, it will be by mine."

"Natsu…"

The two rode together, sitting in companionable silence, Erza resting her head comfortably on Natsu's shoulder. By this point it was starting to become late evening, and considering they had taken a train all the way to Hargeon, fought their way to the docks, waited for a while until the crew was ready to leave, and now the two were sailing to an island, the time passed quite quickly. Erza had started to doze off slightly when she suddenly broke the silence with a quiet whisper.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"What is it, Erza?"

"Who's Ultear?" Natsu just chuckled and told her it was a story for another time, before Erza settled into a quiet sleep, comforted by the fire mage's warmth.