A/N: Hi hello it's been like two years. ...oh, it's only been one and a half? Cool, cool.

Life update for those curious about what's going on behind the scenes here. I've been working on this story on and off since the last update, mostly off (like 99.5% off), and I figured it's about time to get back to posting. Did I not promise to finish this story no matter how long it took? It's just uhh...taking a REALLY long time. Anyone who's read my author notes on my YoI fics will be disappointed to hear that I am STILL essentially unemployed :D Going on a year now...it's exhausting. I hardly have the energy to write anymore, but this chapter has been sitting around waiting to be posted this whole time so I might as well get it out there. Next chapter is mostly done. Then lots more bits and pieces. The reason it's taking so long is because I'm awful at fight scenes and such, and the majority of what's left is the main battle sequence. I know what my goals are for the fights, but the actual act of writing it is very difficult. I'll get there. Very, very slowly, as I have been. I WILL finish. Eventually. In the meantime, here's the next chapter.

A recap for old readers who probably don't remember what this story is even about anymore...again:

After figuring out who some of the Tartaros members are, they went to Seven and defeated two of them, including Gray's dad. Natsu got the revelation that he somehow has END inside of him. He finally told Lucy about what happened with Lisanna as a kid, so that's off his chest. The gang just got back from Seven to debrief after a tough mission, and now suddenly Magnolia seems to be under attack...?


The air approaching the guild was heavy with dust. Lucy had her nose pressed into the frills of one of her sleeves, the other arm shielding her eyes against the thick haze of debris that hung in the air. Natsu let her take the lead as they made their way into the crumbled guild unimpeded.

"Erza!" Lucy cried. The guild was in shambles, but they'd cleared the bar of debris to turn it into one long makeshift clinic bed. Wendy, with Charle's assistance, was frantically attending to the citizens seeking medical attention. Erza was in the very center of the chaos, Elfman standing guard beside her covered in bandages. She was unconscious.

"It's Tartarus. My sister took over for her," Elfman said, a protective hand on Erza's shoulder. "There's two demons. You should go help."

"Is she okay?" Lucy asked urgently.

"She's sleeping. She was alone when the demons came, and they seemed to have been torturing her before they started attacking the rest of the city. We had no idea they were even here until everything got knocked down. A bunch of us went to help Erza, but in the end we had to bring her out of the fight."

"They tortured her?" Lucy exclaimed in horror.

Natsu scowled. Knowing Erza's past, the torture must have brought back a lot of bad memories. No wonder she was exhausted to the point of sleeping.

He felt grew angrier the longer he saw Erza lying bruised and vulnerable like this. Erza was strong. She was supposed to be strong. Erza enjoyed having a dominant attitude, and it suited her. Natsu loved the strong Erza. Anyone who cracked Erza's armor would have to pay the price.

"Lucy," he said.

She nodded, not needing a word of explanation. "Let's go. A little backup could never hurt."

"My sister's been retired for years; this can't be easy on her body," Elfman said. "She insisted on staying to fight in Erza's place, but I'm worried."

"We'll make sure she's all right," Natsu said. "I promise. You stay here and get your injuries healed."

"Good luck."

Elfman pointed them in the direction of the fighting and the three of them took off.

"Happy, fly me up," Natsu ordered. "We need to see where exactly it is."

"You can go ahead of me," Lucy said. "I'll catch up soon. I can already hear it, so I won't be long."

"Got it. Happy, let's go!"

"Aye!"

A few blocks away, chaos awaited them. Fairy Tail mages clashed with Tartarus's henchmen. Happy released Natsu at the perfect angle to land on one who was trying to sneak up on Jet from behind.

"Watch your back," Natsu shouted over the din, grinding the henchman's face into the dust for good measure. He was definitely unconscious after a hit like that, but you could never be too safe.

Jet knocked out his opponent, then backed up to catch his breath. "You made it. Quite a scene, huh?"

"Where's Mira? Elfman's worried."

"She's in the church with the Etherious," Jet said, indicating the large stone edifice that stood alone among the rubble of all the weaker wood-and-plaster buildings that surrounded it. "One can manipulate your senses, the other's telekinetic."

"Thanks." He used Happy's flying abilities again to get a look into the church from the outside. His vision was warped by the rippled stained glass, but he could clearly see Mirajane and Gray fighting two other figures. Only Mira and Gray. Everyone else was out here fighting the henchmen, even Gajeel, which Natsu found odd.

No matter. With a signal to Happy, Natsu crashed through the window, fists blazing. His surprise attack sent one of the demons sliding backwards, but they otherwise looked completely unaffected. How annoying.

"Took you long enough," Gray said.

Natsu glanced over. Gray's expression seemed back to normal, so maybe talking to Cana really had helped. That or Gray had better things to worry about at the moment, such as the two demons he was fighting.

"Just you two in here? From what I heard, these guys weren't that weak," Natsu said.

Gray grimaced. "Well, the one with the horns has a rather scary talent. Mira and I are the only ones unaffected for some reason."

"She the pain one?"

"No, telekinesis. It works on people, too."

"Well shit."

"Who are you?" the horned woman said, stalking toward Natsu and Gray while her fellow demon exchanged blows with Mira.

"Me? I'm the one who's gonna beat you up," Natsu said, lighting his arms on fire again. Time to get this over with.

"I can't control you either. How irritating, the whole lot of you," she sighed.

"Seilah, focus," ordered the other demon, calmly, as if she wasn't even breaking a sweat against Mira. Mira looked to be in a lot of pain, too. Was it okay to let her fight this demon alone?

"Yes, Madam Kyouka," Seilah said, her frustrated expression vanishing. She raised her arms, and the remnants of church pews lifted off the ground, floating around her. "If we destroy this building, won't that little one's enchantment also break?"

Natsu looked at Gray. "Levy?" She and Freed always used to teach each other bits of spells, since their magics were both based on written words.

Gray nodded. "Demonic energies are unable to leave the church's perimeter. Gajeel's protecting her while she keeps up the barrier."

Wooden shards crashed into the stone walls, making the building tremble but ultimately causing no damage. Wood was nothing against stone.

"Hmph, how useless," Seilah said, pouting. "Looks like I might have to enter my Etherious form."

"I don't know what that means, but I have a feeling I shouldn't let you," Gray said.

"Hm? You're speaking to me?" Seilah laughed. "Foolish humans. You don't have the right to 'let' or 'not let.' Silver may have been foolish enough to give you demon slaying powers, but even demon slayers are inferior to the power of Tartarus."

"Leave Gray's old man out of this," Natsu said, leaping toward Seilah to land a flying punch into her gut. She sputtered and stumbled backwards.

"Don't touch me," she snarled. "It disgusts me."

"Then I guess I'll just have to do it again," Natsu said, running forward once more.

"Only Madam Kyouka can touch me!" Seilah shouted, leaping out of the way and slamming a heavy tabernacle into the back of Natsu's head using her telekinesis. His head spun for a moment, and when his vision returned to normal, Gray was already advancing on her, cutting his way through the flurry of flying debris the demon had surrounded herself with.

Natsu dusted himself off and rejoined the fray. He blasted balls of fire, and soon the entire area surrounding Seilah was in flames.

"You're making it worse!" Gray shouted, dodging a burnt book.

Natsu laughed. "But look how irritated she is!"

On the inside of the sphere of debris, Seilah was absolutely fuming. Without warning, the debris flew away from her all at once. Natsu caught one and immediately charged in, brandishing a flaming piece of pew like an axe. But before his hit could land, Seilah was engulfed in a miasma of darkness, her silhouette shifting.

Natsu backed up while they waited to see what this transformation would bring. "Oh. My bad."

"Good going, Natsu. She's probably going into her Etherious form, which probably means she'll be that much stronger."

"Didn't you get some of your dad's demon slaying abilities? That magic was made for battling Etherious. Or are you too weak to handle it?"

"That's not the point," Gray said, letting out a frustrated sigh. Then he suddenly laughed. "A demon and a demon slayer, slaying a demon together," he remarked.

Natsu grinned. "This oughtta be a piece of cake." Inside, though, he was trembling. How many more times would he have to fight someone who could control human bodies?

"A demon, a demon slayer, and a princess," Lucy corrected from behind them. Natsu whirled around to see her in the doorway. "Or should I take on the Dowager Queen with Mira instead?"

As if on cue, Mira cried out sharply. She lay crumpled in a ball, trembling with pain, and the demon called Kyouka sauntered toward them. "Oh? Princess Heartfilia, what a pleasant surprise. It's been a while."

"I'd say I was surprised to find out you two were demons, but I'd hate to be a liar," Lucy said back, her voice dripping with the kind of fake pleasantness elite people always had. It was a little jarring to hear it from Lucy's mouth, but at the same time, he made him giddy to hear the arrogance in her tone. Damn right, Lucy, you show these demons who's boss!

"Too bad you just missed Seilah," Kyouka said, looking over at the transformation taking place. "She would've loved to see you again."

"Yes, what a shame," Lucy drawled. "Though I must say, it seems she's been letting herself go lately," she said as Seilah finally reached her Etherious form. Her true demonic form was a strange looking creature, still humanoid but very large and misshapen. A terrible aura seemed to surround her, and it sent Natsu into shivers.

If she heard it, Seilah didn't react to Lucy's snide remark at all. With trance-like focus, she struck at Gray, Natsu, and Lucy with incredible force. She alone managed to occupy all three of them, enough that Kyouka just stood by and watched as Mira continued to whimper in pain behind her.

"Gray, go after Kyouka. I don't think she can handle multiple at once, or else she'd be attacking with Seilah right now."

"But—"

"Mira needs help. Lucy and I have this."

"Don't blame me when you get your ass kicked. Hey Lucy, take care of this idiot."

"I can take care of myself," Natsu snapped, right as Seilah punched him square in the face. Did she time that on purpose? And that hurt!

Gray took a moment to laugh before doing just as Natsu suggested. With Kyouka occupied, it seemed like Mira's pain was starting to subside, and the fire in her eyes was relit. Satisfied she would be okay now that she had help, he refocused on Seilah.

Seilah's Etherious form was already a handful with three of them against her, but with only two, it was positively overwhelming. Natsu's attacks didn't even seem to faze her. He could punch and kick with all his strength, but even the full force of his blows didn't move her. At least she wasn't trying to knock down the walls anymore, so everyone outside would be safe so long as they managed to defeat her. But defeating an Etherious demon was a tall order, especially without Gray's demon-slaying magic to assist them.

Natsu muttered a string of curses to distract himself from the pain of one of Seilah's blows. He had to think up a strategy, but this new fighting style of Seilah's was relentless, not giving him enough time to think, or even breathe. Demon particles swirled around them, and Natsu tried his best to avoid them as he remembered Silver advising, but it was difficult. He liked it better when she was just throwing around debris instead of deadly toxins. Maybe awakening her Etherious form had been a bad idea after all.

But it was too late for regrets, and they'd have to face this side of her eventually anyway. He and Lucy had singlehandedly defeated a member of Tartarus before, and they could do it again.

"I can't find a weakness to exploit," Lucy said, standing by Natsu and catching her breath for a moment. "We need more manpower."

"So does Mira."

"I know, and Gray can take care of the other one. He's a demon slayer, he'll be fine. But we need some extra help."

"We can't! She can take over anyone who doesn't have demons in them! You shouldn't even be in here!"

Natsu immediately wished he hadn't said that, because despite her sudden personality shift, it seemed Seilah could still hear what they were saying. And he'd just told her that Lucy, unlike him and Mira and Gray, was a perfect target.

Sure enough, Lucy stiffened, trembling as if fighting her own body. She doubled over, coughing violently.

"As if I'd let you!" she rasped, pulling out her keys. "Open, Gate of the Twins! Gemini!"

Gemi and Mini came flying through the gate, and immediately seemed to know what was expected of them. They transformed into the spitting image of Lucy in her usual uniform and began attacking Seilah with their duplicate of Lucy's whip. Meanwhile, the real Lucy stood back and summoned another spirit, and then a third.

"Lucy!" he cried, seeing her struggling to maintain the gates while fighting Seilah's telekinesis.

"I'm fine!" she shouted back. She relayed some instructions to Leo and Capricorn, which was all Natsu managed to see before he had to return his attention to Seilah.

"Don't get distracted," Gemini said sternly. The resemblance to Lucy really was eerily exact.

"If Lucy gets taken down, you're gone, too," Natsu said. "Happy, where are you?"

"Here, Natsu!" Happy said, flying over from where he was waiting for a chance to help.

"Gemini, will Lucy be able to hold your gates from outside?"

Gemini's face lit up. "Right! Happy can take her out of Seilah's reach!"

"Already on it," Happy said, flying to Lucy and swooping her up into the air. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she was whisked up toward the window Natsu and Happy had entered through.

"Oh, no you don't," Seilah growled, sending a wave of demon particles on their trail. A wall of light sent them bouncing back.

"Unfortunately, I can't let you do that," Loke said, holding his wrist.

Capricorn stood next to him. "We got your instructions loud and clear, Lucy. We'll take care of this. Just keep our gates open for a few more minutes."

And with that, Lucy was through the window and outside the barrier, free from Seilah's control. In an instant, Gemini seemed to gain strength, bolstered by a boost in magic power from Lucy.

"It's common knowledge among nobility that Bosco's princess will fly off the handle when the Dowager Queen is concerned," Gemini said as if talking to themselves. "Lucy herself got a punch in the face once for a seemingly innocuous comment. If the Dowager Queen is in trouble, Seilah will soon follow. How long will you be able to focus on fighting, Your Highness?"

Gemini's words were effective immediately. Seilah's eyes strayed toward where Kyouka was surrounded by Mira, Gray, Loke, and Capricorn all at once, and obviously struggling.

"Madam!" Seilah shouted in distress.

"Silence!" Kyouka snapped. "Why don't you defeat them already? I've lent you my power and you're squandering it! Is it not enough strength? How much more must I enhance you before you can even crush a single bug?"

"Lent me…" Seilah turned back to Natsu and Gemini with a glare. "I even have the blessings of Madam Kyouka's curse, so how you are still standing?"

"Wait, you're powered up somehow?" Natsu said.

Gemini grinned even wider at this. "So you're the reason Her Majesty is struggling. Her curse is strong, but even she can only use so much at a time. She used so much curse power on you and you're still so disappointing."

"Shut up!" Seilah screamed, lashing out at Gemini, who dodged.

"Are you sure you can be playing around like this? The Dowager Queen is defenseless in front of four powerful mages, all thanks to you. None of us here can be controlled by your curses, and you can't even beat us with enhanced strength. To me it seems like you're just a burden on Her Majesty."

As if on cue, Kyouka let out a sharp cry when a slice of Loke's light slashed her arm.

"Madam Kyouka!" Seilah cried, immediately shifting out of Etherious form and lunging toward Kyouka.

Kyouka let out a long-suffering sigh. "Really, Seilah? Very well. I'll take care of the rest." Kyouka stretched out her hand and Seilah's body was pulled toward it. The demon particles Seilah was controlling centered back around Seilah's body, and Seilah was absorbed into them, dissolving into a black cloud that disappeared into the surface of Kyouka's skin.

Kyouka took a deep breath. "Much better," she said. "Now I can enter my Etherious form. I must warn you; as an Etherious, my curse's power is limitless."

Compared to Seilah's transformation into an Etherious, Kyouka's was much shorter and less dramatic of a change.

And the second the transformation completed, Natsu doubled over in pain.

It was like nothing he'd ever experienced. His body was frozen stiff, but on the inside he could feel tremors of pain pushing for a release. Was this how she tortured Erza? Is this what Erza had to endure alone? The thoughts pushed him to open his eyes and stand up, however painful and however difficult. He couldn't let Erza experience this a second time. Kyouka had to be defeated, and now.

"I'm going back," Gemini said, their voice strained. "Natsu, good luck. Lucy's counting on you."

"Wait," Natsu said, grabbing Gemini's wrist. "Encourage me. Say what Lucy would say."

Gemini smiled mischievously for a moment. Then they bent over and gave Natsu a peck on the cheek. "Don't disappoint me, lover boy," they said.

Natsu snorted. "That's not Lucy-like at all."

Lucy's body popped out of existence, replaced by Gemini's usual form.

Gemi: "If you want to hear something from her…"

Mini: "...hear it from the real thing when you're done."

Then the spirit disappeared in a flash of light.

"At least tell me what Lucy's plan was before you go, yeesh," he said aloud. But he had an inkling of what she had in mind, and Lucy was counting on him to follow through.

Natsu took a moment to analyze the situation with Kyouka. Due to the advantage of numbers, the Fairy Tail mages weren't taking much physical damage, but it didn't look like Kyouka was much fazed by their magic either. Then there was the immense pain that made it hard for Natsu to even focus his vision. If he tried to join the fray now, he'd probably just end up hitting one of his own comrades.

"Clear out!" he shouted.

Gray and Mira didn't hear him, too focused on the battle. But Loke and Capricorn both paused before disappearing in a flash of stardust, and that got the others' attention.

"Back off!" Natsu yelled to them. Even Kyouka stared at him in confusion. Natsu just grinned. "This one's mine."

Though they both looked skeptical, they seemed to understand that there was a method to this because Mira immediately sprouted demon wings and flew off with Gray in tow before Kyouka could stop them from leaving. Now only Natsu was left.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kyouka said. "It seems that the barrier preventing demons from leaving has been released. One little insect isn't enough to stop me."

"Even if that insect is the 'END' you're looking for?" Natsu said, grimacing as the pain slowly intensified. Kyouka's eyes widened.

Everything became black for a moment, and Natsu realized his vision had been blinded. Could Kyouka do that, too? Panic rose in the back of his throat as he tried desperately to sense the world around him.

Something touched his right arm and he pulled back violently, lighting the air around him on fire as he did so. He could feel his arm burning.

"I see…" Kyouka said. Natsu paid close attention to the source of her voice, careful to keep a safe distance. "There may be truth in your statement. Are you giving yourself up as a vessel? Or is it something else? Mard Geer should know the answer to this..."

"Urano Metria!"

Relief washed through Natsu at the sound of Lucy's voice echoing throughout the church. A loud roar filled Natsu's ears as the church came tumbling down around them. His vision returned, and the pain disappeared. Kyouka stood in the center of a pillar of light, screaming as her Etherious form was stripped away by immense celestial power. He had thought it many times before, but he was really glad he wasn't Lucy's enemy.

The spell ended. Natsu held his breath, then let it out when Kyouka fell to the ground unconscious. Lucy's spell had done the trick. Like the other Tartarus demons before her, Kyouka's body crumbled and mixed with the dust kicked up by the collapsing church.

Wingbeats announced Mira's swift return. "Natsu! That demonic power just now—"

"You flaming idiot, do you have a death wish, or..."

"Natsu, are you okay? Did my spell hit you?"

"—was that END? It felt like nothing I've ever—"

"...do you want me to kill you? You're the last person who should be…"

"Oh gosh, you got hit didn't you? Are you okay? Natsu, look at me."

Natsu opened his mouth to tell them all to shut up and speak one at a time, but he found that no sound came out. His body suddenly felt tired. He blinked slowly as the world seemed to tilt. The last thing he saw was Happy's worried expression before his eyes closed and he slipped into darkness.