SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 122 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 122: Song of the Fairies

"They're already back to their normal selves." Lucy sighed, as she watched Natsu and Happy laugh along with the revived giants.

"You little people saved us, huh?" one of the giants looked down at Gray, Ulyo, Wendy and Carla.

"I'm glad you made it back to normal." Gray noted.

"Little people..." Wendy muttered.

"And you're a little people among the little people, Wendy." Carla pointed out.

"Ouch." Ulyo mock-winced.

"Exactly what happened to this village?" Erza asked in the midst of celebrations.

"What happened here?" one of the giants echoed.

"They said an Ice Devil Slayer attacked." Lucy stated.

"We faced him with our weapons." one of the guards recounted.

"But everything after that is a blank." a second guard added.

"It seems he thought the Eternal Flame, Atlas Flame, was a demon, so he came to destroy it." Lucy reasoned.

"So the culprit did this out of a misunderstanding?" Erza mused. "That's not a satisfying answer."

"We still don't know what the culprit's real intentions were." Gray corrected. "That Succubus man told me something."

"The gates of Hell?" Erza echoed. "Tartarus!"

"My guess is the Ice Devil Slayer is a member of Tartarus." Gray surmised. "Succubus Eye, a sub-Guild of Tartarus, was watching over the village."

"So, there's another reason for freezing the village?" Wendy mused.

"It seems there's another side of this that we haven't seen." Carla agreed.

"Our job is done now." Natsu declared.

"Come to think of it, where's Flare?" Lucy looked around. "Why are you hiding?" she found the redhead behind a tree.

"Flare, you say?" three of the giants chorused. "Is she over there?"

"Flare, just come on out." Ulyo chided as she and Lucy nudged the redhead out. "You weren't back home for a long time.

"I abandoned this village and ran off on my own." Flare muttered. "So..."

"It's fine." Lucy assured. "Nobody's angry at you."

"Well, probably..." Ulyo trailed, looking at the giants' stern looks.

"How was the outside world?" the village leader questioned.

"There are many fun things as well as painful things." Flare mumbled.

"That's the same everywhere." the village leader stated. "As long as you are alive, anyway. Whether you leave of come back, this is your home. There is one thing we'd better tell you. Welcome back, our daughter!" the giants chorused.

"I'm home." a sobbing Flare bowed.

"We arrived in a blink of an eye, but going back is a long haul." Happy remarked, the group were now making their way back to Warrod's place.

"That's because Warrod-san's Tree Magic was incredibly fast." Wendy pointed out.

"Don't talk like that." Erza chided. "Think of it as training."

"We have to go back soon and give Warrod-san the full report." Lucy reminded.

"Not to mention, collect the reward." Gray stated.

"And speaking of reward," Ulyo looked at Lucy. "Isn't your rent coming up?"

"That's enough of a break." Erza cut in before Lucy went into a breakdown. "Let's go."

"I knew I was right in trusting you, young'uns." Warrod laughed after the group reported back. "You did me proud."

"We're relieved that we successfully fulfilled your request, Warrod-sama." Erza said.

"I was surprised that Tartarus was involved too." Wendy pointed out.

"You can leave that to the Council to investigate." Warrod assured. "More importantly, I need to give you your reward. Here you go." he revealed a potato. "A potato from my field. Just kidding."

"It's a marvelous view." Erza noted, the girls were soaking in an outdoor hot spring later that night.

"This feels so good..." Lucy gushed.

"Ulyo-san, did your breasts get bigger?" Wendy blinked at the water wielder.

"Are they?" Ulyo looked down.

"Sorry, we're late." Erza apologized when the girls arrived.

"Now the gang's all here." Warrod brought out a tray of tea. "Drink some of this."

"So, what is this?" Natsu asked. "It smells like leaves."

"Tea infused with medical herbs." Warrod replied. "It has a fragrant scent and mature sweetness. And it relieves fatigue, too. It's my prized concoction."

"Then, down it goes." Erza noted and the group drank the tea.

"That was just a joke." Warrod teased. "But, it really is good for fatigue."

"Isn't it more bitter than it needs to be?" Natsu gawked.

"This is some tea..." Erza stammered.

"It could use some wild ginseng, though." Ulyo noted, calmly sipping her cup.

"And so, we spend the same time together in the same place, it's a fine thing to have comrades." Warrod recited. "I really am overjoyed to meet you young Fairies. Mavis always said we had to have 'harmony'. The mage Guild 'Fairy Tail' is held together by the bond of souls that ran deeper than blood. Even now, after the passage of time, your hearts have inherited that spirit. It has nothing to do with the success or failure of your work. I sensed it in you the first time I saw you. Mavis once said, 'comrade' is more than just a word. 'Comrade' is heart. And believing in your partners unconditionally."

"So, what..." Natsu started. "Are you older the Gramps? But if you're around way back when... I was thinking maybe you know something about that demon, END."

"END?" Warrod echoed. "As in 'the end'?"

"Supposedly a demon from the Books of Zeref." Natsu supplied. "I hear my dragon dad tried to exterminate it."

"The Books of Zeref." Warrod mused. "I wish I hadn't heard those words again."

"I figured if I could find out what this END is, it'd give me a hint about Igneel's whereabouts." Natsu reasoned.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that." Warrod apologized. "But when you mentioned Tartarus this afternoon, it made me recall something. No one really knows anything about them, except that they're a creepy Guild. Their location, members and numbers are all unknown. But I have heard eyewitness accounts of their gatherings. Those witnesses all say the same thing" their meetings are demonic rituals. This is the only conjecture from one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar, but it is possible that they possess a powerful demon from the Books of Zeref."

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.