Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or Fairy Tail. I only own the OC Drake Redgrave.


The tension could be cut with a giant knife with what was going on right now. There was Lucy and Happy on the sidelines, watching with baited breath and wide eyes as Drake Redgrave faced off against Erza Scarlet. Drake had Ebony pointed at the scarlet woman's head, and Erza had her sword against the white haired hunter's neck.

"Lower your weapon." Erza demanded with a glare that could freeze a demon in it's tracks and make it shit itself out of fear of the scarlet haired woman's glare.

Drake said nothing as he kept Ebony pointed at her before he smirked and lowered the gun, spinning it on his finger. "You gotta relax sometimes, Erza. But seriously, never try and sneak up on me again or else I may end up pulling the trigger next time."

Lucy and Happy, the former sitting on the beach, tied up by Erza, the latter being held by his tail in her free hand, looked at each other incredulously even as Drake twirled Ebony on his finger before holstering it. The mighty Erza had her sword at his neck, but Drake acted so carefree! More so, he drew a weapon on her! The Erza Scarlet! Erza herself, on the other hand, didn't appear fazed in the slightest; instead, she gestured slightly with her sword.

"Come with me; we are going to get the others and go back to the guild," She then lowered her sword and began walking towards the village. Happy was still in her other hand while Lucy followed, though she had some trouble standing since her upper body was tied up.

However, what took everyone by surprise and angered the redhead was when the demon hunter let out a dismissive scoff.

"Remind me, when did I take orders from you?" Drake asked with narrowed eyes.

The simple action, of disrespecting her orders immediately caused Erza to spin around glare harshly at the demon hunter. But the man wasn't even fazed by the intense glare. If anything, he folded his arms, like he was daring her to answer.

"You, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Gray broke guild rules in taking an S-Class quest. You must be brought back to face the consequences." Erza answered with her glare fixated on the son of Sparda.

"Sorry, but I don't leave a job unfinished, especially when innocents are in danger." Drake replied just as coldly as Erza. "If I did, I'd be spitting on my father's grave."

Drake turned to walk away when he sensed danger and whirled around, grabbing Ebony as he did so.

BANG!

Lucy and Happy gasped in shock and fear as they witnessed the sight of Drake holding his gun at Erza's who sword had just ended up embedded into the wall after the gunshot since Drake aimed for the sword that Erza swung at him.

Drake. Shot. Erza!

She hated when people defied her, that was certain in her expression as her left eye blazed with fury while her right was concealed by her long hair.

"Try that again... and I won't aim for the sword next time." Drake said with a cold glare and a growl that sounded demonic. "I don't care what rules are broken, I don't care whatever Makarov's punishments are, I don't give a fuck about anything or what's been done... all I care about is helping the innocents that are in danger and I will not leave them to suffer. Just because I'm in a Guild does not mean I will change my ways and become some uncaring bastard that leaves innocents to suffer just because of a broken rule. I hunt demons for a living, I slay monsters, so as far as I'm concerned... S-Class quests are just the same as slaying powerful demons. If you've got a fucking problem with how I do things, Erza, then you and me can sort it out right here or I will leave Fairy Tail. No way will I EVER leave humans to suffer, I will not spit in my father's legacy like that just because YOU say so."

Despite being her friend and all that, Drake had his morals. He would not leave humans to suffer, especially under some demonic curse. He will not change his ways, his moral code, for anyone. If anybody had a problem with it, then they can say it to his face and get a fist to the face as a result.

"Take Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy all you want, but I'm staying here and finishing this." Drake said coldly. "If you don't like it, then go to hell before I put you there myself. I may have a rule not to kill humans... but you keep acting the way you are in front of me, I'll think you have no humanity and are just a demon and kill you without even batting an eye."

Holstering his gun, Drake turned and walked back in the direction of the village, leaving a shock Lucy and Happy, and a very angry Erza.


The next day, when Gray woke up, he noticed two things; first, that he was in a tent, but otherwise ignorant of his surroundings. Second, the pain in his body had lessened greatly. With some effort, he stood up, noticing that someone had bandaged his torso, shoulders and head.

Stepping out of the tent, Gray shielded his eyes against the afternoon sun. Around him was a mass of tents, similar to the village, but it was clearly located somewhere else.

"Oh, thank goodness," a voice from behind Gray said, causing him to turn and see one of the village girls, "I'm glad you're awake."

"What is this place?" Gray asked, being careful not to stare at the girl's cursed leg, which was blue and almost insect-like.

"It's a storage area, not too far from the village," the girl answered. "Everything was destroyed in the attack last night, so we decided to come here for shelter."

"The whole village was destroyed?" Gray asked, horrified. "That's horrible."

Then he remembered Lyon ordering his lackeys to raze the village and kill everyone in it.

'I can't believe you actually tried to do it, Lyon.' Gray thought, disgusted with his fellow student.

"You know," the girl continued, "it's a miracle that Natsu, Lucy and Drake were here; because of them, everyone in the village survived the attack."

"It's a relief that no one died." Gray said, grateful for his friends' actions. "Are the others still here?"

"Well, Lucy is, but after the fight, Natsu disappeared, and Drake went after him this morning. They wanted you to meet them over in that tent." The girl pointed to the tent in question.

After thanking the girl, Gray made his way over to the tent and walked inside. For a moment, he went cross-eyed, trying to take in several things at once. First, there was Lucy and Happy, tied up and looking thoroughly miserable, and then there was the girl whose wrath haunted his nightmares, Erza Scarlet. Though she sat calmly, her legs crossed and her hands folded over her lap, her eyes told of a very different, very violent mood.

"You made me wait," she said in a calm, yet dark, tone, "not smart."

The only thing that kept Gray from bolting was that he was still exhausted from his fight with Lyon.

"Erza!" Gray desperately wracked his brain for something to take the heat off of himself, "Um, why are Lucy and Happy tied up? And why isn't Drake?"

"Lucy informed me of the situation," Erza replied, not answering Gray's first question, "And Drake... made it very clear he wasn't going to be tied up before he went after Natsu."

If Gray wasn't worried that Erza might kill him, he might have noticed that Erza's expression darkened slightly when she mentioned Drake.

"As it is," Erza continued, "I thought that you had been sent to stop these fools, not join them; needless to say, I'm disappointed. However, now that you're up, we're going to search for Natsu and Drake, and then we will go back to the guild."

"But we can't leave the island just yet!" Gray objected, "If Lucy filled you in, then you know what these villagers are going through!"

Erza barely glanced at him, "And what would be your point? I came here solely for the purpose of taking you all back to the guild. I'm not interested in anything other than that."

"Seriously!?" Gray yelled, "Have you even seen the people on this island!?"

"I have," Erza said evenly.

"And you're just gonna turn your back on them!?" Gray demanded, shocked at what he was hearing.

"Their request is posted on the Request Boards of every guild hall. The villagers would be better served by wizards who are cleared for S-Class quests. You, on the other hand, are not qualified," countered Erza, though she remembered a conversation with Drake earlier before he left to go after Natsu.

"How can you be so heartless?" Gray accused.

Erza whirled around, furious. "What did you say!?"

As cold as Erza acted, she was far from heartless; she did everything in her power to make sure that innocents were spared from pain and suffering. However, the safety of her guild, her family, would always take precedence over the safety of strangers. If she had to live with guilt over that later, she would, but the guilt would be tempered by the knowledge that those she cared for were safe.

A red magic circle appeared in front of her hand, and a sword emerged. She grabbed the hilt and pointed the blade at Gray.

"If you break the guild's rules, then you will face the consequences."

Gray flinched but then steadied himself. To everyone's shock, he grabbed the blade and placed the tip over his chest, right above his blue guild mark.

"Wanna know something, Erza? Drake didn't want to come to Galuna Island after discovering Natsu tricked him and the consequences of breaking the rules. I was sure he was going to kill this fire-brain idiot. But he didn't, and he wanted to come to this island, and do you know why?"

The redhead continued to glare darkly at him, but was curious at her friend for a moment. Her interest, however, was piqued given that she knew Gray had both a point and believed it would somehow alter her current decision.

But no matter what the Ice Wizard said to her, Erza was still furiously angry with what the group had done. She'll make sure to beat the shit out of Natsu and then give Drake an earful when she sees him. With that, she allowed her companion to continue.

"Enlighten me," she said.

"When he learned about what was going on, he immediately wanted to help. He didn't care about the reward, S-Class, rating up in the guild, or even being kicked out. All he wanted was to help these people. Drake knew that saving lives meant the rules had to be broken, and he was going to break them a thousand times over to do just that. And you know what, so would I," Gray declared, steel in his voice. "I can't walk away from what I know is right.

For what seemed like an eternity, neither Gray nor Erza broke eye contact. Finally, Erza lowered her sword.

Gray walked to the hut's door and opened it. "I'm seeing this through to the end...and you can't stop me," Gray proclaimed before he walked out.

After he was gone, Erza started trembling in anger, before leveling a glare at the bound Happy and Lucy, causing them panic. Knowing full well that she was going to take her anger out on them.

"Please don't get mad at us!" Shrieked Lucy. "We don't have any control over Gray!"

"He's not feeling like himself right now 'cause he lost a fight to his old friend!" Happy added desperately.

Faster than either of them could blink, Erza swung her sword, slicing through the ropes that held them.

"These events are intolerable," Erza said, "but we'll deal with the immediate problem first; we're going after them!"

"Hooray!" both Lucy and Happy cheered.

"This doesn't change anything," Erza growled, "You're still going to face punishment."

Their faces fell, "Yes, ma'am."


"Oh man, this sucks," Natsu groaned to himself as he finally made it to the temple. "I came up with a great plan, but then I got lost and fell asleep!"

"At least you got here at all!" Drake's voice called out from behind him, causing the Dragon Slayer to spin around. Drake was leaning against a tree, an amused smile on his face.

"Drake? How did you know I'd be here?" Natsu asked, a little confused to why the Demon Hunter was here and not back at the village.

"It was kind of obvious," Drake retorted. "You said that you had a plan to stop the demon from coming back, and Deliora is under the temple. You'd have to come here to do… whatever it is that you're planning. I'm just surprised that you got lost!"

Natsu scowled when Drake started to chuckle. "Hey, it's not my fault. I'm used to searching for stuff from the air with Happy!"

"It doesn't matter anyway." Drake said dismissively, "We're here, so let's wrap this up before Erza gets her hands on you."

"Erza's here!?" Natsu immediately panicked.

"And pretty pissed when I ran into her," elaborated Drake before shrugging, "Well, more pissed now after I shot her."

"WAIT!? YOU SHOT ERZA!?" screamed Natsu, his body losing all its color while he looked at Drake like the guy wanted to die.

"Yep!" Drake said, popping the 'p' with a carefree smirk. "She thinks I'm gonna leave innocents to suffer just because of an advanced quest? Like hell. Now, are we gonna go stop the bad guy or sit out here like a bunch of losers?" Drake asked as he pushed off the tree and walked towards the temple.

Natsu soon grinned and followed after the Demon Hunter. "Oh yeah! I'm all fired up now!"

"Then let's rock!" Drake grinned and they ran towards the temple.


Meanwhile, inside the temple, Lyon stared at his last remaining subordinate with a look of disappointment at a very sheepish looking Toby. He sat on a large stone throne with his arms crossed. "How pathetic. You're the only one still standing, Toby?"

The dog-man in question shifted nervously, sweating from his brow.

Still, the news that was just delivered to him did worry the man slightly. At the moment, he had lost both Sherry and Yuka, and on top of that, the Fairy Tail wizards were still alive. This posed a threat to his plans, but he maintained his composure as he sat on his throne.

"Those Fairy Tail wizards ...they're quite impressive," Lyon thought aloud.

"Hey, can we keep the whole 'shocking myself' thing a secret?" Toby asked hopefully, but his head hung in shame.

"This unfortunate turn of events could put the resurrection of Deliora in jeopardy."

This new but familiar voice brought Lyon's attention to a small, hunched man who wore red clothes, a gray cloak, and a red, horned tribal mask covering the upper half of his face. His mouth, the only visible part of his face, displayed a wide grin.

"Zalty, you're as stealthy as ever," Lyon said, raising an eyebrow to the man's sudden appearance. Zalty was an enigma to even Lyon. However, he had proven to be a valid source of information, and he's never shown to fear Lyon or his power in any way.

"If all goes as planned, the demon should awaken at some point tonight, but we have to keep an eye on those wizards," Zalty said with his usual wicked smirk. "If they were to interrupt the Moon Drip ceremony, then Deliora will forever remain entombed in ice."

"Are you that worried?" Lyon asked, amused. But then a frown spread across his face. "But this situation is getting out of hand. I should've just taken care of them myself."

"Salamander and Titania are very powerful, but there's also the infamous Demon Hunter of their guild. I am given to understand that he deals with demonic problems. And may carry demonic power himself from his life as a Demon Slayer."

"As always, you seem remarkably well-informed," Lyon replied calmly. Leaning forward in his seat as he started to boaster. "However, I can't say that I'm worried. Those fools may be strong, but they're no match for me."

"I was hoping you'd say that, so it's very reassuring to hear. But still, allow me the honor of joining you in battle for old time's sake." Zalty offered eagerly.

"Hold up! You're a wizard?!" Toby exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes," Zalty answered. "It's been a while since I used it, but I've dabbled in a particular kind of Lost Magic."

Lyon considered the offer for a moment, reasoning that it was a safe bet since Zalty hadn't done anything to betray his cause. "Sure, we could use another wizard," Lyon said to the short man.

Suddenly, the very temple itself started shaking violently. Rubble and debris fell from the walls and ceiling, as statues and pillars started crumbling and falling over throughout the room. It gave off the impression that some kind of seismic activity was the cause.

"Is this an earthquake?" Toby asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," Lyon said. The shaking was coming and going in short bursts, not a long quake, and it seemed to be happening on only one side of the temple.

And then the temple started shaking without any explanation. But the temple was suddenly tilted on one side. Nearly causing the three men in the room to lost their balance and fall. They thought that it was all over, until…

BOOM!

Until a blast of fire ripped its way up through the floor, nearly frying them.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Lyon demanded. Zalty looked into the hole in the floor and grinned.

"I should have known that Salamander would make the first move, though I would have thought he'd come alone; it seems he brought the Demon Slayer with him as well."

Drake leaped out of the hole, holding Natsu and they landed on the floor. Drake having used his demonic strength to go with Natsu's plan, plus used his inhuman ability to leap high to get onto the current floor.

"Can anybody join this party or does there need to be an invitation?" Drake asked with a taunting smirk as he had Rebellion in hand. Lyon leveled a hard glare at the duo in front of him.

"You bastards...What's the meaning of all this!?" He demanded, enraged.

"We're putting an end to this bullshit." Drake growled. "There is no way in hell you are awakening that demon. and we helped in doing that."

"What the hell are…" Lyon gasped upon the sudden realization hit him.

"It appears that they've tilted the entire temple," Zalty said in an amused tone. "They must have destroyed half of the pillars supporting this temple, so that it tipped over on its side. That means moonlight won't reach Deliora."

"How dare you!" Lyon growled out, gritting his teeth as he began to fill with rage. "Who do you two think you are?!"

"The guys who are gonna kick your ass." Drake replied with a shrug. "So, you can stand there and get your ass kicked, or you can stop your plan and get lost. It's your call, pal."

Natsu decided not to engage in any sort of banter; instead, fire shot out of the bottom of his feet, propelling him upwards like a rocket.

"Fire Dragon Sword-Horn!" the impact didn't even slow Natsu down; he and Lyon were nearly at the ceiling when the ice wizard's body began to crack like glass and then shattered.

"Dude!" Drake yelled, having caught up just in time to see the hit. "Did you just kill him!?"

"No, he didn't," Lyon's voice came from behind them. "He hit my Ice Fake."

"Oh good." Drake whirled on the ice wizard and delivered a punch that sent Lyon flying back across the temple room. "Be grateful you still have some humanity within you and aren't a demon... else I'd shoot ya."

"How noble." Lyon spat some blood and a broken tooth out his mouth, grimacing as he felt the Demon Hunter's strength behind that punch... and he had a feeling that wasn't even close to his strength. So, taking out the easier target was the first thing he'd do. Focusing on Natsu, the Salamander had just started his descent.

"Let's see you dodge in midair!" Lyon held out his hand. "Ice Make: Eagle!"

The flock of Ice Eagles darted towards the falling Dragon Slayer, but Natsu only angled his face upwards and shot a breath of fire, propelling him right towards Drake who leaped and caught the Dragon Slayer in midair, taking him out of danger.

"Sweet moves you got there," complimented Drake, setting him down, "You'd make a good demon hunter."

"Thanks," Natsu said, grinning; then his smile disappeared, "Look out!"

Drake whipped out Ebony and Ivory and fired at another flock of Ice Eagles, shattering the ice into pieces from the bullets. Strong as the ice was, Drake's demonically-powered bullets were much stronger. After getting rid of the Ice Eagles, Drake continued firing, causing the three enemy wizards to duck and find cover.

Natsu then leaped onto Drake's shoulders in a handstand and began to spin his legs around, firing jets of fire from both feet. Lyon managed to dodge again, but in doing so, he ended up in midair, allowing both Natsu and Drake to fire their respective ranged attacks at the Cold Emperor. The result was a powerful Charged Shot.

Just before the attacks hit, Zalty held out a hand, and the floor beneath the two suddenly grew brittle and turned to dust, sending the two plummeting to the lower levels of the temple.

"Very fortunate, Cold Emperor," the masked man remarked, "luck is on your side."

Luck, however, wasn't on the side of Toby, who had been scorched by one of Natsu's attacks.

"Can we keep the whole 'Toby got charred' thing a secret too?" he whined pitifully.

"What did you do?" Lyon asked, suspicious of Zalty's unknown magic.

"Whatever do you mean?" Zalty asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me," Lyon snapped, "Your magic had to have caused that hole in the floor."

"Heh, don't you have ever the watchful eye?" Zalty commented, "Please allow me to explain my actions, sir. You're the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora, so it's imperative that you remain safe until his resurrection."

The air around Lyon became dense with a cold fog, "Are you suggesting that I could fall victim to such paltry magic?"

With a twitch of his finger, and the entire room froze. The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered in a thick layer of ice. The only part of the room that wasn't frozen over was where the three wizards stood and the hole that Drake and Natsu fell into.

"Leave me," Lyon commanded, just as Drake and Natsu get back up, "I can take care of this myself. Once I finally defeat the demon, everyone will worship my name, Cold Emperor Lyon. I've worked too hard to let these two brats tarnish this day."

"Why you gotta tarnish other people's work?" Drake asked with a quirk of his head. "C'mon dude, don't you have any hobbies?"

"Why do you want to fight Deliora? The thing looks half dead already! You're going to all of the trouble to melt that ice just so you can fight it!?" Natsu demanded, glaring at the Ice wizard.

"I must rise above Ur's legacy," Lyon declared, even as he sent another wave of Ice Eagles at the two, "I will not rest until I have fulfilled my dream!"

"Why go this far?" asked Natsu, dodging the incoming eagles while Drake used either Rebellion or Ebony & Ivory to take out the spell, "Can't you just challenge Ur and be done with it?"

"I would if I could!" Lyon snapped, "But Ur has been dead for years, and it's all Gray's fault! If he hadn't challenged Deliora to a fight, Ur wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself to seal the demon away!"

Natsu remembered Gray telling him that Ur had sacrificed everything fighting Deliora, "I didn't know that she'd died sealing it."

Distracted by the revelation, Natsu didn't notice the Ice Eagle until it was inches from his face; it was only stopped when Drake shot the Eagle, turning it into ice particles.

"Someone sounds desperate for approval or something." Drake noted with his usual smartass smirk. "You want to be better than your master, surpass her, that's easy to get. But putting innocents in danger? Trying to reawaken a demon that your master gave her life to seal away? Buddy... you're going off the deep end if you continue on this plan of yours."

"How dare you!" Lyon sent a wave of ice at Drake who merely slashed through it with Rebellion.

Despite being outnumbered, as well as facing an elemental disadvantage, Lyon was doing an admirable job of fending off his opponents, matching them move-for-move. Still, all three fighters knew that sooner or later, Lyon would either make a mistake or simply run out of energy, while Natsu and Drake had plenty of energy to boot.

"Why don't you just give up and save yourself from an ass kicking?" Drake suggested as he rested Rebellion on his shoulder.

"I'd never give you that satisfaction," Lyon calmly replied.

"Oh, you're asking for it," Natsu said, his fist wrapped in flames.

Just as they were about to clash again, the wall next to them began to crack, until it shattered, revealing Gray!

"Guess this party's free for anyone to join in." Drake remarked with a smirk. "Where's Lucy and Erza?"

"They're fighting those robed goons. They shouldn't have too much trouble. Now, both of you back off," Gray said to Drake and Natsu, "it's time Lyon and I ended this once and for all."

"No way, man!" Natsu told him, "You already lost to him once!"

"And it won't happen again," Gray countered confidently, "I'm ready this time."

"You seem awfully cocky," Lyon said.

The raven-haired wizard was quiet for a moment, "You were right, Lyon," Gray admitted, "I am responsible for Ur's death."

Lyon's eyes narrowed. What was he up to?

"But you're no better," Gray continued, "You threatened my friends, brought harm to the villagers and now you're trying to destroy what Ur gave her life to create. It's time we faced our punishment together."

Gray widened his stance, stretching out his arms, and then crossing them at the wrists. While Drake and Natsu looked on confused, as for Lyon, he looked downright terrified.

"That stance… not the Iced Shell!"

Both Drake and Natsu were shocked; they knew that Ur had used the technique Iced Shell to seal Deliora away. It was also what killed her. Was Gray planning to make the same sacrifice?

"Are you insane?" Lyon demanded. "You wouldn't dare!"

"If you want to live," Gray said, "change the villagers back to their human forms, and then leave this island and never return!" An icy-blue magic circle appeared under Gray's feet. "If you'll agree to that, I'll stop; otherwise, this is the end."

Lyon's confident smirk returned. "Is that so? Well, I don't believe a word of it. You're bluffing!"

Before Lyon could continue, a massive wave of ice magic exploded from the magic circle. Drake and Natsu shielded their faces from the vortex of magic. He wasn't bluffing at all.

"No, I'm not," Gray replied in a deadly serious tone.

"You'll die!" Lyon exclaimed, as he held out his hand and conjured a magic circle. But before he could cast a spell, another burst of ice magic pulsed off Gray's body. The magical wave of energy blew Lyon away.

"Gray! Don't do it!" Drake yelled as he stabbed Rebellion into the ground to keep himself from flying back and grabbed Natsu to keep him still.

"All these years, I've lied to myself. I didn't wanna admit that Ur died because of me." Gray said, as his body started to freeze over in preparation for his attack. "But she did! And it's time I took responsibility. So I will here and now. I'm not afraid to die! If that's what it takes!"

"Stop this now!" Lyon exclaimed, practically begging as he stood back onto his feet.

"What's it gonna be, Lyon? Are we gonna die, or are we gonna live? It's up to you!" Gray shouted over the raging vortex of ice magic.

"You wouldn't," Lyon said with a maniacal smirk spreading across his face. "You're not brave enough to give you life. You're nothing but a coward!"

"...Just watch me."

'Drake, Natsu, all my friends in Fairy Tail...the rest is up to you. I don't wanna leave you, but my time is up.'

"ICED SH-"

"Stop!" Gray's spell was interrupted when Drake and Natsu tackled Gray to the floor and pinned him down. Lyon's eyes widened; his heart was beating erratically in his chest.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Gray demanded, struggling to get out of Drake's hold on him. But the Demon Hunter just applied more pressure on him.

"What about you, Gray?!" Drake shouted back, glaring at Gray's right eye. The one that was facing up. "What the fuck is going on inside that head of yours to make you think you can come in here and pull a stunt like that?!"

"I've got a score to score with this guy, and I'm ready to die if that's what I gotta do!" Gray protested.

Gray winced when Drake turned him over on his back and slammed his hand on his chest. Right over where his guild mark was.

"How is killing yourself 'settling the score?' In my eyes, all you're doing is ending your life and leaving everyone you loved to clean up the mess. You are not a coward, Gray! You're a wizard of Fairy Tail!"

Gray flinched, and then slumped. He hadn't consciously thought about it, but perhaps he really had been using the Iced Shell as an excuse to escape the guilt. While he felt terrible about what happened to Ur, the thought of leaving his friends to pick up the pieces after he was gone made him feel even worse.

Before Gray could apologize, the room began to shake.

"Oh, what now?" asked an exasperated Natsu.

The room, as well as the rest of the temple, had been resting at an angle; however, it was now falling back to its original position. In a few moments, it was as if the damage that Natsu and Drake had done was never received, to begin with.

Drake looked around confused, and quite frankly, annoyed while Natsu released Gray and began stomping the ground in frustration. What's happening?

"This is bad," Gray said, getting back up, "Now the moon's gonna shine on Deliora!"

"Pardon the interruption," Zalty said, entering the room. He had slipped out during the fight between Lyon, Natsu, and Drake.

"I should have known," Lyon said calmly, "You did all this?"

"The moon will be out soon," Zalty replied, "So I thought I'd straighten the temple for you."

"That weirdo fixed the temple all by himself?" Gray asked; impressed by the level of power that must have required.

"And after all the trouble we went through to mess it up, too," Natsu complained. He then shook his fist at Zalty, "Hey, so what'd you do to fix it, huh?"

Zalty looked at Natsu in surprise as if noticing him for the first time, and then laughed maniacally.

"TELL ME HOW YOU FIXED IT, YOU JERK!" Natsu screamed.

"Well, if everything else is in order, I'll go prepare the Moon Drip ceremony," Zalty stated before running off down a corridor.

"Would you quit ignoring me, you masked freak!" Natsu shouted as he began to chase after him.

"Gray, Lyon's yours! Don't kill yourself and just beat this asshole!" Drake ordered before he chased after Natsu and Zalty, recalling Rebellion to his right hand as he ran. "Win not just for yourself, but for Fairy Tail!"

Drake ran off. It was now up to Gray to defeat Lyon.


"Natsu never chase after weird guys who's power you don't know!" Drake yelled at the Dragon Slayer as they ran after Zalty.

"No way!" Natsu called back, chasing the still-fleeing Zalty, "Not until he tells me how he fixed the temple!"

"Geez, it's not THAT important!" Drake rolled his eyes.

Finally, Zalty stopped running and pointed his hand at the spot above Natsu; a chunk of the ceiling came loose and fell right at him!

"Muttonhead." Drake sighed before he sprinted, leaped and smashed his boot through the debris with enough strength to break it into rocks that crumbled. "Natsu, look before you run and you might've seen that coming."

"Sorry." Natsu said sheepishly. They then noticed that Zalty wasn't done. The masked man waved his hand, and the chunk of ceiling lifted back to where it was the damage disappearing like it was never there.

"That's how I fixed the temple," Zalty explained.

"Guy can use time... or manipulate it." Drake noted. It was a bit similar to his Quicksilver style. "Impressive."

"This magic is extremely rare, rare enough that it is one of the Lost Magics, a type of magic so powerful and dangerous that it has been lost to history." Zalty explained. "Your Dragon Slayer magic is another example of Lost Magic,"

"Wow, really?" Natsu asked, completely surprised by the revelation.

"Okay, enough of the pointless chit chat and let's do this." Drake said as he pointed Rebellion at Zalty who merely laughed in response before he disappeared. "That's getting really annoying!"

Drake and Natsu ran until eventually they found Zalty again in another room, standing before the frozen Deliora as the purple energy poured down from the ceiling as a sign that the Moon Drip had continued. "At long last," he whispered, standing atop a nearby rock formation. "It's time."

Drake stopped when he felt his feet stepping in something wet. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw the floor was flooded with a large amount of water. This was a bad sign. Deliora's body was about to be completely freed from the ice. And when it does, then it was going to be resurrected.

"Hey! Jackass!" Drake shouted, getting Zalty's attention. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to mess with demons?"

Drake was sure he felt a dark glare coming from Zalty when referring to the guy's mother.

"What's the plan?" Natsu asked as he clenched his fists.

"We're kicking this guy's ass and making sure Deliora stays on ice." Drake explained quickly and simply.

"I like it." Natsu nodded. "By the way, this guy reeks of lady perfume."

"Yeah, I noticed." Drake said with narrowed eyes. 'Unless this guy's got a fetish for using perfume for women then it's more than likely he is actually a woman in disguise. And I get the sense I've met this person before. But who and where?'

Drake then looked and his eyes widened when he saw a beam of Moon Drip hitting the ice!

"Someone's performing the ceremony?" Natsu asked, confused on what was going on and how that is possible.

"Lucy and Erza said they'd handle the chanters," growled Drake.

"They took out the chanters," Zalty confirmed, "but Toby snuck out during the fighting and is performing the ceremony on his own. It won't be much Moon Drip with only one person, but it will only take a little more to free the demon anyway."

Sure enough, a huge chunk of the ice began to crack and shatter, causing Natsu to panic.

"Ah! I gotta get up there and stop him!" he rushed to the exit, but Zalty used his magic to once again send a chunk of ceiling falling at him. Natsu barely dodged in time.

"I'm afraid that neither of you are going anywhere," Zalty said with a sadistic smile, "I guess chasing me was a mistake."

"No..." Drake said with a deadly serious expression. "Your biggest mistake was trying to revive a demon and curing innocents who have nothing to do with this. Oh, and by the way, it's not us trapped in here with you... it's you trapped in here with us."

Behind the combatants, the frozen body of Deliora began to shake; the vibrations were strong enough to make the entire temple shudder. The silence under the temple was broken when a moment later, Deliora let out a loud roar. It shook off the last of the ice that had entrapped it for ten years and took a step forward.

"No," Gray's voice caused Natsu and Nero turned around to see the mentioned wizard limping into the chamber that held Deliora.

"Sorry Gray, we couldn't stop it. I guess our only choice is to take that thing down," Natsu stated.

"No," stated Drake as he gripped Rebellion in hand, "I got this, Natsu, get Gray."

"No way!" Retorted Natsu, "there's no way to take it down by yourself!"

"I took down Lullaby by myself." Drake retorted, reminding Natsu that he did in fact take down Lullaby. "Trust me, I've faced more powerful demons than this chump. And like all the others who've stood before me, this one will fall before me."

"None… none of you are strong enough," Lyon's voice weakly called out behind them, and they saw the Cold Emperor dragging himself towards the demon, an insane smile on his face, "But I am… I will defeat Deliora."

"Do yourself a favor pal," stated Drake, not even bothering to turn around, "and just shut up while a professional goes to work."

"S-silence!" Lyon shouted, "I am going to surpass Ur… at long last."

"You can't fight," Natsu said incredulously; even he wasn't this stubborn, "You can't even get up off the floor!"

Lyon ignored them, continuing to drag himself across the ground; then, with titanic effort, he hauled himself to his feet,

"My dream… will be… fulfill—ugh!"

Gray didn't allow him to finish, knocking Lyon out with a single blow to the head.

"Natsu, get Gray outta here. I'm about to kick this thing's ass and send it on a one way trip to Hell." Drake said as he glared at the demon.

"Fine," groaned Natsu as he slung Gray over his shoulder and dragged Lyon to the side of the chamber leaving Drake to glare at the demon.

Deliora took another step forward, the single act enough to shake the entire cavern, but despite this, Drake remained unfazed. Even as the demon looked down at him. It's eyes narrowing.

"SSSSSPPPAAAAARRRRDDDDDAAAAA," the demon rumbled powerfully. It recognized that smell, that power. It was like Sparda, that traitor. Did he have a son?!

"If I had a nickel for every time somebody's called me that." Drake drawled.

Deliora pulled it's fist back before it tried to crush Drake with it's fist and it collided with the ground. Deliora raised it's fist to see... nothing! The demon growled in confusion and looked around for it's prey.

"Hey buddy." It heard and looked to see the son of Sparda sitting comfortably on it's right shoulder with a cocky smirk. "You missed."

Deliora roared and shook Drake off who landed on the ground and smirked up at the angry demon, then whipped out Ebony and fired at the demon relentlesly, causing it to roar in pain before it tried a sweeping swipe attack that Drake jumped to avoid then he threw Rebellion right into the demon's chest, causing it to roar but Drake had taken the chance to grab Ivory and now fired down on Deliora with his guns before he landed on the demon's right arm and ran up it, leaped and recalled Rebellion and landed on the ground, spinning around and slashing Rebellion right through Deliora's left hand when the demon tried grabbing him.

The demon clutched it's missing hand before it glared hatefully at the spawn of that traitor, Sparda, and roared in defiance. Drake merely smirked as he had Ebony and Ivory aimed right for it's head.

"And jackpot." Was all he said.

BANG! BANG!

Two bullets sailed through the air and into the head of the demon, blowing it to pieces and soon enough, the demon's body crumbled into nothing but dust. Drake twirled his guns and holstered them before sheathed Rebellion across his back.

"That was too easy." Drake said with narrowed eyes. "Demons that big shouldn't be that easy to take down."

"Deliora was already dead. For ten years, Ur's spell was gradually depleting the demon's life-force; what we just saw was its last breath." Lyon muttered.

"Wow," Natsu said, patting Gray on the back, "your teacher was pretty awesome!"

"Yeah," Gray said, a few tears falling down his face as he realized that his nightmare was finally over, "She was."

"Well, least Lullaby put up a bit of a fight when I battled it." Drake shrugged as he turned to his friends. "No, shall we get outta here and join the ladies?"

Gray and Natsu nodded...