Chapter 94: End of an Era

"Huh...? That sounded like Reve. And not in a good way." Zalen noted as he and other continued to fight off what remained of Tartarus's forces. Jack heard the same, keeping a serious visage. "I really hope it's nothing to worry about, but to hear him scream like that.." They both stood back to back, looking over the horizon where the scream of terror came from, silently praying for their guild mate and brother in arms. "I should have followed..." Zalen said to himself. "He was injured, and I let him go off alone.. I won't do that again. Just survive, Reve. I cant be your shield right now, but from now on, after this.. I won't leave your side."

"Unless Kyouka activates Face, the humans...somehow won this battle. She's Marde's last hope. Funny, she might be my last hope.." Daityas found himself still making his way towards a certain location, now standing once more but not without the guidance of a brick wall he used to remain on his feet. Gradual pants continued as he held the gaping wound in his stomach, trying to shake off the death magic Zeref blasted him with, and the King of Hell could only keep his mind on one thing as he traversed towards one of the remaining battles. Stay alive.

"This is impossible...! You both have lost all five of your senses! How can you stand?" Kyouka remained perplexed as both Erza and Maggie stood before her. Happy cocked a brow. "If I was losing my mind, I'd say that Erza and that demon were standing together, like they were about to fight together."

"I wouldn't be surprised." A struggling Minerva said. "Kyouka's curse causes her to grow stronger by the second. Even if they're able to fight without their senses, it probably won't be enough. But it seems their sixth senses are connecting. They both realize that they have to fight together in order to win."

How right Minerva was as the unlikely duo took off together at a fast pace, cornering Kyouka from both sides. She swung at Maggie who arrived first, and the Lava Demon ducked the swipe of her claws, slamming a right, magma filled fist to her chin in retaliation.

"H-How!?" Kyouka asked again, unable to grasp an answer from the senseless femme fatales. Erza followed up by slamming a lunging knee into Kyouka's abdomen, causing her to slide away. "Ugh! How are you able to find me! You have no senses left, and my curse is amplifying your pain! Make sense of this!"

Neither of them answered, but instead they combined for two fists slamming into the bridge of Kyouka's nose, sending her crashing into the ground repeatedly until she finally came to a stop.

Seconds passed before Kyouka popped up in a rage, screaming at the top of her lungs. "DAMN YOUUUU!" The demon shouted, causing the timer to the Face project to speed up dramatically.

"Erza! The time!" Minerva shouted, to which Happy and Lily unfortunately reminded her that she could no longer hear them. Before she could react, Kyouka swung her claw, slashing right into Erza for a heavy blow, causing her to cry out in pain. Maggie tried to rush in, but she fell to the same fate as Erza as Kyouka swung again, hitting her right in the left-side rib cage.

"A mere human and a demon outcast. Did you really think that you could defeat me!? Die, you worms!"

Extending both of her claws, Kyouka struck both Maggie and Erza, the two's defenses failing despite cushioning the impending blow. Screams of pain filled horror took over, but neither one backed down from Kyouka. The demon couldn't even lax for a second, for Erza appeared before her once again, slamming a powerful kick to Kyouka's chin. She would grit her teeth, nearly stumbling back from the blow, but that was the least of Kyouka's worries. Before she could retaliate, a whip of magma wrapped around her, restricting her arms yet burning her with the power of lava.

"Do...these two not feel pain!? Do they no know fear!?" Kyouka asked herself as Erza charged in once again. This time, the redhead went for the decisive blow, summoning two swords in her hands that she used to slice directly through the lone remaining demon of Marde Geer's camp. The demon fell over, defeated but not dead.

"Times still ticking!" Lector pointed out. "She has to finish things once and for all!" Pantherlily added. Unfortunately both Erza and Maggie were too exhausted and beaten down to go on. They both fell over, but with Erza's blade no longer in her hand, falling towards Kyouka, Minerva did what she had to do by transporting herself to Erza's location, switching places with her. Grabbing the blade, Minerva stabbed Kyouka directly in the chest, killing her once and for all.

"Huh? She's smiling?" Minerva asked, pointing out her observation. It all made sense why once she looked up to the lacrima timer that controlled Face. The timer hit zero and now it seemed that magic would soon disappear from this world forever...

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Together, the forces of Fairy Tail and White Eclipse continued their counterattack the Lamy clones and the remaining forces of Tartarus soldiers. Finally, as Elfman disposed of the final and original Lamy, Lucy and the others appeared, huddled up together. "Lucy!" Lisanna shouted, garnering everyone's attention.

"Takeru!" Luke did the same as the Omega Shadow Dragon appeared. "Luke, Calium is.."

"He's as fine as he will be for now.." Sidney finished, appearing before them. "I caught up to him, and right now he's in Arcturus's care. But..."

Luke raised a concerned brow, and the others of White Eclipse turned to him as well, not liking the tone which Sidney spoke in. "But what?" Jack asked. Waiston and Zalen were in tune as well, waiting for an answer.

"It's not looking good. But right now, we need to finish things here."

"How's Reve!?" Zalen shouted. Sidney responded. "I haven't seen nor sensed him for the longest, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt."

That answer didn't sit well with Zalen, but there was nothing he could do right now.

"Lucy, what about you? Did you run into anyone?" Warren asked. Lucy nodded. "Here and there. Levy and Gajeel...they have Juvia and are on their way to Porlyusica's place with the medicine for Laxus and the others."

"For ours too, right?" Like asked for clarification. Lucy nodded again. "And apparently Gray obtained a new power. As for Natsu...I don't know where to begin... He's probably in the air fighting Acnologia right now with that Dragon he's been looking for, Igneel."

"Well, that thing has been giving Acnologia a fight!" Elfman shared. "Things aren't looking so bad for us now!"

"We still have to stop face." Wendy said, appearing with Cynthia and Charla and Doranbolt."

"We have a massive number of Faces to deal with." Charla added. "Somehow, a few of them have been destroyed. One by Wendy, and I guess a few more by random mages in Fiore, but even then... it won't be enough to stop magic from disappearing from Fiore."

{About 30 Minutes Ago.}

"It's...it's no use!" Lyon panted heavily as he and Kagura stared at the Face before them. Not even Jura or Bacchus were making even dents in the structure, leaving them to feel hopeless as time dwindled down. "We've thrown everything at it, and it won't even budge."

"Then leave it to us, hm?"

Lyon and the others turned to see who spoke, noticing a man with a top hat covering his eyes before he tipped it up to reveal his green eyes and black hair. Beside him were a few more mages, all graced with the same guild insignia as they stood together. That's when he spoke again. "Or rather...leave it to her." When he said that, the bunch parted, allowing the woman with black hair and green hair to appear before them. Now standing in front, she walked over to Face, now standing at the base of the gigantic structure, analyzing it with her bare sights.

"Wait, I know her." Kagura admitted, now wide eyed. Lyon turned to her, inquisitive to who was. "That's Evanee Carlisle. She's the Ace of a guild. Twilight Zone I believe."

"Oh? And just because she's an Ace she thinks she has what it takes to do what we couldn't together?" Lyon asked, disgusted at the fact that one person held the confidence to complete a task he couldn't. But, Kagura quickly replied with the truth.

"...She definitely does." She admitted, still somewhat watching in awe even though Evanee has yet to make a move. "No way!" Lyon protested, but the Ice Make Mage was about to witness first hand as Evanee slowly crouched into a readied position, clenching her right fist tightly by her side. Lyon raised another brow. "She's not gathering any magic. What...she's going to do it off of raw strength? I've fought with plenty of strong people, and none of them I know have the ability to do that, so why does she think that..—"

He was cut off by Evanee's battle cry, the Ace of Twilight Zone slamming her fist directly into the base of Face. Her fist went right through, and seconds following, the structure came crumbling down into pieces, completely destroyed. Lyon looked on in absolute terror, unable to speak as Evanee exhaled, keeping a neutral visage as the rest of her guild stood next to her.

"The next closest one is over there, Evanee." A brunette who resembled her in looks pointed.

"I can get us there in seconds." A short, blonde haired male added. Evanee looked over, and seconds later, she grinned. "Actually, take us to another one. It looks like someone else is taking care of that one."

The group blinked, but shrugged and followed her orders, making their way to the Face she pointed out, leaving Lyon and Kagura with more questions than answers as they stood before the destroyed structure they couldn't even dent.

"HAAAAAAA!" She yelled as she fired a flaming fist forward into the Face structure. A small impact occurred, and as the smoke cleared, the purple haired female placed her face against her target, squinting her amber colored eyes in an attempt to find even a scratch on Face. She found it, and turned to an ecstatic person, jumping up and down as she pointed. "Tristan! Tristan! Look! Look closely! I damaged it! Maybe about a hundred more punches and I can bring this one down, so leave it to me!"

Tristan laughed, brushing back his dark blonde hair at the female's comment. "Asuka. Do you have one hundred punches in you? And could you get them off in time?" He asked, using such dire a dire moment as a teaching one. Asuka puffed her cheeks, flaring her nostrils.

"I have a million in me! You know I never give up!" Asuka shouted, turning back to Face to prepare to strike again. As the others around her stood quietly to watch, some shaking their head, another male stepped forward, voicing his opinion. He had black and white hair and green eyes along with a very pale complexion. "Just move out the way. You're wasting time. Let Tristan take care of it so we can move on to the next one."

Immediately Asuka was ok front of him —nose to nose with the male comically, pushing him back with her forehead. "Shut up Alexa!"

"It's Alexander!" He fired back, pushing back against her. "And I won't! You're wasting our time, tomboy!"

"Call me that again, Pale Face! You look like this thing we're trying to destroy! Maybe it's a sign!"

"A sign for what!?"

"To send you flying!"

A few laughed, others sighed in annoyance, but as Tristan kept a positive visage, he stood up and walked past the two, catching their attention as he stood before the structure of Face. With a singe exhale, Tristan was gone in a flash, reappearing above Face now with a giant sword in both his hands. As he plummeted to the ground, Tristan reared back before swinging his giant blade, slicing right through Face almost cleanly as the structure split right in half. Landing again, everyone else looked in awe as he dispelled his blade and began walking off to the next closest Face.

"It's amazing every time!" Asuka shouted, forgetting Alexander even existed as she ran after Tristan to walk by the Ace of Black Phoenix's side.

"Keep training under Black Phoenix, and you'll be even stronger than that, Asuka." Tristan added with a smile. That's when Alexander and the others caught up, objecting the notion that she would surpass them. "Not on my watch!"

"Pale Face! You've returned!"

"I never left you ignoramus!"

{Present Time}

As Natsu and Gray continued to face off with Marde, Adamantine and Igneel's overwhelming strength coupled by their two on one assault kept Acnologia cornered, yet nothing more. The dragon of destruction was still just as volatile and dangerous, and one false move could end them both. Neither were planning on letting that happen. The king of ice and the the king fire dragons danced together in the skies of Ishgar as they took on despair, remaining advantageous as they did.

The hard fought battle between Natsu, Gray and Marde came to its conclusion; Natsu and Gray defeating the Master of Tartarus, the King of Hades, Marde Geer. As he laid there in defeat, the Dragon Slayer huffed once he recovered enough strength to stand. "We did it.." He noted. "It's not over yet." Gray replied. "Not until I destroy END."

"Oh yeah, the book." Natsu was reminded. "Igneel wants me to take it to him."

"I'm destroying it." Gray replied unfavorably. "Cut the crap!" The Salamander fired back, but his eyes widened once Gray revealed that he held the book in his hand already. The two stared each other down, until another rumbling occurred.

"It can't be...Face!" Natsu pointed out, to which Erza admitted. "I couldn't make it.."

"The faces are activating." Said Lector, pointing at the screen as they lit up on the map. "What's going to happen?" Frosch asked. Mirajane answered. "Magic will leave this world." To which Minerva followed up. "It's the end of this magic world for us.."

Marde laughed, coughing out his response as well. "This is only the beginning. Magic will drain from this continent, leaving an emptiness and allowing END to resurrect from feeding off that emptiness. And when the strongest Etherious arises, you humans will no longer have that defense you call magic."

Despair struck everyone. "DAMMIIIIT!" Natsu shouted to the air, but his screams were quickly quelled at the sight of Acnologia falling from the sky, crashing into the ground back first. A second later, both Igneel and Adamantine slammed their front legs into his chest, and Igneel roared — ice encasing Acnologia as he laid there. "Don't give up, humans!"

Natsu stared up at his father in surprise, confused as to what he meant at a time like this, but suddenly, the next Face closest to them went down with ease, followed by another and another. "Grandeeny?" Wendy questioned, though she knew the answer. "The Face markers are disappearing one by one." Happy pointed out, watching the screen. "What's happening?" Erza asked, unable to see what was unfolding from her position.

"Metalicana..." Gajeel's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible...Weisslogia?" Sting questioned. "I can feel Skiadrum too.." Rogue admitted. Igneel roared again. "The dragons you freed, are dancing in the skies of Ishgar!"

And dance they did, destroying every remaining face within seconds, showcasing the power of a dragon. Luke watched in awe as he noticed dragons that resembled his comrades of White Eclipse. Umbra, the strongest Shadow Dragon, holding the same usual lonely expression Takeru once held before warming up to his guild mates.

"A...Adamantia..." Selene whispered, watching her diamond scaled dragon soar directly over her. "Tunundra!" Waiston shouted happily, tears falling as he waved his hands like a little kid. Luke then looked over towards the horizon, giving a small smile as one final dragon became noticeable. Purplish, almost resembling a snake as much as a dragon, Luke nodded as she flew off after finishing her job destroying her share of the Face structures.

"I'll take that as a sign that she's doing okay.." He said, turning back to the others.

"The Faces are gone!" Someone shouted in glee. "The dragons destroyed them all. END's resurrection has been halted." Igneel reassured, causing everyone to cheer.

"Defeated..." Marde said to himself, unable to believe it himself. Despair had struck for the demon. But one threat still remained. As the ice beneath them cracked, Adamantine shouted. "Move!" And as he and Igneel took to the skies once again, Acnologia roared, following right behind them.

"Igneel!" Natsu shouted. Igneel then fired back. "The book, boy! Grab the book!"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu remembered, but as he turned around, there was Gray holding exactly what he needed. "Gray."

"I have a promise to keep." Gray replied, holding the book up with a serious visage. And as Sting and Rogue tried to remain the voice of reason, suddenly, the book disappeared from Gray's grasp. "What did you do!?" Natsu shouted.

"It wasn't me." Gray defended himself.

"Actually, this book belongs to me." His voice, it caused Gray to stop completely. Natsu was already aware that he was still alive, but this was Gray's first revelation of the matter. As he turned, there he was. A nightmare come true, Zeref stood before the two with the book of END in his hand.

"Zeref." Natsu growled.

"Marde Geer. You did well. You were so close in reviving END. I commend you. You can sleep now."

Marde slowly raised a hand, pleading for his life. "Marde Geer can realize...what you wish!"

Zeref raised a hand, just bout to snap his fingers. "You can't." But as he snapped them, a blurry figure ran zoomed by, scooping Marde up from his laying position and holding him in his arms. Zeref blinked once in a bit of surprise, but as he turned, everyone but him gained another bit of shock and fear. It was Daityas, holding Marde in his arms as if he was his savior. Upon further look however, the eyes of hunger rested upon the King of Hell's face.

"What!? Let me go you filthy mongrel!" Marde Geer shouted, helpless. Daityas chuckled, then bursted into laughter. That's when he turned sharp eyes back towards Zeref. "I told you. I'll tell you when my revenge is complete. And I'll start by taking this."

Marde's eyes widened, and the next thing he knew, he was screaming in pain as Daityas absorbed him, combining his strength along with Marde's. Shrouded in curse magic, a heinous laugh was heard as the transformation took place. Though Zeref stood unfazed, Daityas couldn't help but observe and admire his new strength and frame.

"I don't know what happened to Maggie, but Marde more than makes up for it." He laughed again before turning a glare back towards Zeref. "Even so, I know that with my injuries still lingering, this is an unfavorable fight for me. But mark my words, Black Wizard, I'll be back for you. That goes for you humans too."

In a shroud of flames, Daityas disappeared. Zeref shook his head. "My my. I probably should have finished him off, but he'll play an important role when the time comes. Until then, I'll be parting too. I was hoping to end our fight here, Natsu, but it seems that the apocalypse is upon the human race here in Fiore. Maybe if you survive this event, we'll meet again."

"Huh? What are you..." Before he could finish asking, Natsu turned to see what was happening with Igneel as a large crash was heard. "Igneel!" He shouted, running his way, but Igneel shouted back. "Stay back!"

"No! We're invincible when we fight together!"

That's when Igneel went on to explain to Natsu the reason he and the dragons remained hidden all this time. But as the two on one fight went on, it suddenly took a wicked turn as Adamantine suffered a powerful claw strike filled with Acnologia's magic, sending him crashing into the ground away from the fight. Acnologia then turned his sights right back to Igneel as if he was the prey that mattered. The two charged each other and then...

As he fell with one of Acnologia's arms in his mouth, Igneel could be seen with nearly half of his body missing.

"The days I spent with you...have been the happiest my whole life, Natsu.. You gave me the power...to love humans."

Natsu could do nothing but watch as Acnologia gathered an insurmountable of magic within his mouth, then firing a powerful dragon's roar that obliterated the king of Fire Dragons just before he hit the ground. "IGNEEEEEEL!"

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Acnologia fled, Daityas and Zeref were gone, and the fight against Tartarus was over. Those who remained stood around the destroyed guild of Fairy Tail, and as the Dragon Slayers said goodbye to their dragons, the others took count of everyone, trying to come to a conclusion of things. On that day, it was White Eclipse who had to come to terms with a lot of hardships. Takeru reappeared after saying his goodbyes to Umbra, his dragon, just as Waiston did the same with Tunundra. That's when the Shadow Dragon Slayer walked over to stand next to Reve and the others, who stood over a resting Calium. He looked like he could stop breathing at any second. His skin was graying, his body weakening into a fragile state, actually matching his age for once.

"I don't know what this is..." Porlyusica said, shaking her head shamefully.

"Find out." Reve snapped back, the hurt in his blue eyes evident to everyone around him, which is why she didn't snap back at him. That, and a second reason, as Nami was seen being held closely in the background by Zalen as Jaxon. Luke sat by a beaten down Cygnus, but he kept his head low as Reve repeated himself.

"Dont go silent. Fix him or I'll find someone who can... but we're not losing him. We're not losing another one! Not Calium! I won't have it! I won't—"

"Reve..." He quietly exhaled out, catching the gunslinger's attention. "Calium..." Reve started taking a step closer. "How are you feeling? What can I do? Your magic can beat this, right? Please—"

"I'll...be...okay..." He stretched out due to weakness. "But...I...need...something from...you.."

"Anything!"

"I can't believe Taya is gone." Wendy said, leaning her head against Cynthia's shoulder as the rest of Fairy Tail watched from a distance. Everything was silent. Between Natsu's last words to Igneel, and White Eclipse mourning the loss of one of their own, this was anything but a happy ending.

"What about you, Maggie?" Erza asked, turning to the demon who stood alone. She raised a brow. "You sure had a change of heart after fighting Kyouka with me. Would you like to join us?"

Maggie stared at the entire guild who looked back at her. "...I came to an inkling when I lost my senses fighting Kyouka, and when I heard Daityas absorbed Marde, that confirmed it. He killed his own kind for power, and I was going to be next if I stuck around with him. So I opted out of that route."

Erza smiled.

"But. That doesn't make me some good guy with you losers now." Maggie said, walking off with a wave. "I'll find my own way. Don't worry, you won't hear of any demon activity from me. You have my word. I got my own path to walk now, so I'll go and do that instead. See you losers later."

Erza smiled once more, nodding as Maggie walked off out of distance. To her, at least one good thing came of this.

"What happened?" Aira asked with the utmost concern. "Is he going to be okay? Is Master going to be okay, Reve?"

He walked back over, standing before his guild with his eyes covered by his raven colored locks. "...He says he'll need time to recover, but he'll be fine." Nearly everyone gave a sigh of relief. Everyone except the two people who knew better, Sidney and Arcturus. A bandaged Adamantine even stood up. "You sure? He didn't just tell you that to give us ease, did he?"

Reve didn't answer, but instead he gave a different set of demoralizing news. "But from this moment here...White Eclipse...is officially disbanded. It's only temporary, but in order for Calium to recover, he has to defeat the curse power plaguing him with his own magic. Us being around him would only interfere with his recovery."

"Disband the guild!?" Luke shouted in surprise. Reve didn't say a word, allowing the small uproar of disbelief to happen. "Can't we just relocate until he's better?" Jaxon asked.

"You know as well as I do, Jaxon." Reve started. "That house on the snowy mountain is the only building worth holding the three moons that you have on your body. Stop your crying, everyone. Believe in the long term. Believe in the old man, and let's meet back where it matters in about a year. I have a promise to keep after all... Thats it from me. For right now, I'm no longer your S-class. I'm just another mage. You're free to do what you want, so make the most of your time. That's my advice, not an order of course. I know it's sudden and hard to grasp, but you're all amazing mages. That's why you're here at this guild. Remember the principles you learned, figure out what you want to do and I'll...I'll see you guys again."

Without saying another word, he patted Nami on the head once and walked off, leaving everyone else to figure it out for themselves as he walked back to White Eclipse one last time to grab his things.

"This might be it for me.." Nami said, sniffling as she wiped her tears away. "What do you mean?" Jaxon asked.

"I made a promise too...to my sister, and I don't think I can complete it here. Not without her...so I'm going to go travel..and I'm sure I won't be back in that year.. I want to make her happy, so I'm going to go do that."

"Nami..." Kuro started, but then lowered his head again. Suddenly, he felt her embrace around him, holding him close as she kept her head buried in his chest. Soon, Luke joined in, then Jaxon, then everyone else one by one as they silently made plans for their year long stint without their guild mates. But even though Reve said that it was only for a year, most of them felt as if it was truly the end...of White Eclipse.

A week later, Fairy Tail also disbanded once everything settled down. Natsu disappeared without Lucy, and the year long journey began.

And before everyone knew it...

...a year had passed.