The Infernal Dragon Slayer

by Silvers066

Igneel not only knew of the potential that Natsu has, but also what he'll face in the future and is determined to make sure his son is ready to face every obstacle that he'll face. Natsu will be stronger, smarter, and slightly darker. AU

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Edolas or Bust

I don't own Fairy Tail

Magic is a peculiar thing. It's an intangible thing that gives various creatures the ability to pull of various feats. For some, magic us a part of everyday that almost seems as natural as the air they breathe. For others, it's an increasingly rare resource that requires special tools to harness. As with any rare resource, some people will go to great lengths to ensure that they possess as much of it as possible, regardless of the harm that may cause others.

In a cavern in an unknown location are two individuals. The two individuals are looking at a floating ball of energy that ls surrounded by multiple statues that all appear to be praising it. "Tell me Byro, how is the Anima operating?" asks one of the individuals. This individual is a tall bipedal cat with black and white fur and a scar going across his left eye. His outfit consists of a green pants and silver armor chest piece and bracers. This person is Panther Lily, the first division commander of the king's royal army.

Byro is a short elderly man with a bald head with the exception of two spots of hair that look like horns. "At the moment, it is far too difficult to tell. We are still experiencing some malfunctions; however, I should be able to make the necessary repairs before another malfunction" he says while not taking his eyes off the tablet in his hand.

Lily couldn't help but release a sigh of disappointment at this piece of news. He's seen what the results of these 'malfunctions' were and didn't like that such a device could continue to exist after what he's seen. The head of the royal guard remembers what he found after being sent to investigate an unusual report. Well, it was more accurate to say what he didn't find. Instead of an island he found what remains of an island. The only thing left were some of the rocks that made of the island and some remains of a few buildings. "Wouldn't it be better to perform these repairs with the device off?"

"The king has ordered that under no circumstance is the device to be turned off."

"Surely that cannot be wise."

"It does not matter whether it is wise or not. If our king's wishes for the Anima to stay on then so be it."

"But what about all the innocent lives that are at stake?!" Panther Lily says, his voice getting louder as he becomes more frustrated.

"What of them?" came another voice, catching the attention of both men. Turning to where the voice came from, both of them kneeled before it. The source of the voice was another elderly man with long gray hair and an equally long grey beard. He's wearing a regal rend and brown outfit. This person is the king of Edolas, Faust. "So what if we lose a few people. All that matters is that we gather all the ethernano from Earthland."

"But your majesty, the people…" Lily tries to plead

"Will do what they are supposed to do. They will continue to be ignorant of the truth and believe the lies that we are feeding them. If we must sacrifice a few useless people so that can maintain our way of life and not be taken over by those blasted exceeds then so be it." Faust said, effectively cutting Lily off in the process.

Much to his displeasure, Panther Lily relented. He knows the king well enough to know how pointless it is to talk to him when his mind is set on something. If Faust believed that someone or something was a threat to his status as a king, then that threat would be eliminated as soon as possible. The division commander was better off seeking another way to shut down the Anima.

"How is the Anima operating?" Faust asks as he turns his attention to Byro. "I assume that you are making progress."

"Of course your Majesty. The Anima is still operational and the repairs are underway as we speak. All I need is the necessary time for said repairs."

"As long as you don't take too long, you'll get all the time you need." Faust says as he turns to walk away but not before turning to his division commander. "Don't forget Panther Lily, the only reason you have reached your position is because of my gratitude for what you've done in the past. However; recently you are giving me reason to question your loyalty. Tread carefully less you wish to be disposed of like everyone else who gave me reason to question their loyalty." He says, making his way to leave the cavern.

Panther Lily glared at the king's departing figure. While he was grateful for everything that the king has done for him, he couldn't stand how power hungry the king has become. While the king has always been power hungry to an extent, the lengths he's going to now was terrifying at best. Turning to look at the malfunctioning machine, he couldn't help but loathe the wretched thing. Ever since it was discovered that Edolas was losing its magic, the king has become desperate to find a solution to this serious problem. Over time, that desperation turned fanatic. Not for the potential salvation of his kingdom but the power he hopes to gain. It's a well-known fact that amongst the higher ups of the palace that king has an intense hatred for the exceeds and their ability to freely use magic without the aid of any kind of magical device to aid them. The king always fears that the exceeds will one day enslave them all. That's why he wanted the power, to wipeout the exceeds and prove his own superiority.

Hearing a chuckle, the exceed turned his attention to glare at the only other inhabitant of the cavern. "It seems the king is starting to question your loyalty. You should be careful; we are both familiar with what how severe he is with those whose loyalty is in question." Byro warned, though he knew that his exceed companion knew his warning was anything but. In all honesty Byro loved this situation. Out of all of the King's advisors Lily was the only one that would speak out against him and openly disagree with the king. Byro has always been a loyal follower of Faust, always eager to give him whatever he wants despite the cost. He finds the exceed's presence to one of the most annoying things that he has to endure for any period of time. Seeing the king threaten the annoying exceed brought him a lot of enjoyment.

"Hurry up and get to work on the Anima before King Faust starts questioning your loyalty" Lily replied, the contempt in his voice was clear as day. Byro couldn't help laughing at the exceed's misfortune.

In Earthland

"When is this guy going to get here?" Natsu asks as he is relaxing against a tree.

"According to Master, he should be showing up anytime now." Sayla answers, reading a book while sitting against her pink haired companion.

"Let's hope he shows up soon, all this waiting is getting boring." Morgana says from his resting spot on Natsu's head.

Earlier that morning the Makarov had told Natsu and Sayla that another member of the guild was in need of help with his mission and that both of them were to lend their aid. Neither of the mages denied helping out a guild mate, but they had to wonder. If Makarov was sending the both of them to help, how bad was the situation. The old master even told them that they had his permission to whatever they deem necessary to survive, further proving just how dangerous this mission is.

Leaving almost immediately after Makarov informed them of the job, both mages, plus Morgana who usually tags along with Natsu on his jobs, are waiting in a field a few miles away from a town whose name they didn't bother to learn. Neither mages were given a specific time to meet up with their guild mate; they were just told where to go.

"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?" Natsu asks as he looks at the sun. If he had to guess, they've probably waiting for at least a couple hours.

"Not much longer." Another voice said, catching the attention of the waiting mages. "You must be the mages the Master was telling me about. I apologize for making you three wait so long; it took me quite some time to get here." The voice said as he emerged from the tree line.

"Don't worry about." Natsu said casually. While he appears calm on the outside, internally he was having trouble hiding his shock. The pinkette prided himself on how fine-tuned his senses are. He could easily track everyone within miles around him with his sense of smell alone. Yet the newcomer managed to get within twenty feet of him without the dual slayer knowing it. Whoever this guy is, he's a very talented mage to say the least. "Are you Mystogan?" he asks as he stands up to face the stealthy mage.

"Yes, I am"

"So what's this job you need help with? Master didn't give us any details on what we are helping you with." Sayla asked

"Before we discuss the dangerous nature of the mission, I must ask. Are you three willing to get your hands dirty?"

"Don't worry, Sayla and I have no problem with that kind of stuff." Natsu answers

"Even if it involves killing people?" Mystogan ask; his voice sounding for more serious just to make sure the mages before him knew what they were getting into.

"It wouldn't be the first time for either of us." Sayla responds

"And the cat?" The stealthy mage asks, getting both mages to look at Morgana

"What are the odds that things will go that way?" Natsu asks, trying to think of what would be the best way to answer.

"Almost guaranteed"

The pinkette had to think for a moment. For him and Sayla, killing wasn't a big deal. But for their little fury friend, he has never been exposed to that kind of stuff. There's no way for either of them to know how he'll react. Additionally; given how dangerous this job seems to be, he had to question if it was smart to bring his cat friend. Morgana was born only a couple weeks ago, if things got dicey he didn't have the strength and speed to run away and hide. And if the other three mages had to watch out for the cat and protect him, that'll make the mission even more risky. "Morgana, it might be a good idea for you to go home."

"But Natsu…" Morgana began to say sadly. The black and white cate always tried to go with the pinkette on every job he took. He knew he couldn't accompany Natsu on his more dangerous jobs. Doesn't mean he still didn't try.

"Sorry Morgana, I'll make it up to you next time" Natsu says before turning to Mystogan. "Do we have enough time for me to take Morgana back to town so he can catch a train back to Magnolia?"

"We have some time to spare for now. Though, I would like to make this quick if at all possible. We may need to leave in hurry at any given moment"

"Good, then you can explain what it is that you need our help with." Sayla says as the group started to make their way back to the town they were at earlier.

As they were walking, Mystogan explains that he needs their help finding the source of some portals that are opening up across Fiore and destroy it. While the newest member of the group was explaining this; both Natsu and Sayla couldn't help but notice that he knew more than he was letting on. From what they could tell the mysterious mage at the very least knew what the source of these portals is. He also didn't mention what these portals were doing in the first place.

However; neither mage had the opportunity to question these things as they both start to notice the weather changing almost instantly from a clear sunny day to storm clouds covering the skies as they drew closer to the town.

"Everyone stop! Now!" Mystogan shouts as a sudden flash of light blinds the group, right before they enter the town.

A few second pass before the light fades revealing the shocking state of the town they were not even a few hours ago. What was once a lively town now stood nothing. Every single building, person, kiosk, and tree was gone. All that remained was a dirt patch in place of where the town was.

The mages couldn't believe what they were seeing. Most of them have never seen anything like this before. To see an entire town before them literally disappear in a flash of light left them speechless. However; one of them was shocked for a completely different reason. Instead of staring at the town in shock, he was instead looking at the sky. "It's gone, the portal's already gone." He mutters, gaining the attention of the other mages

"What do you "It's gone"? What the hell was that?!" Natsu shouts, demanding an answer. Even with all the powerful creatures that he has met and seen what kind of powerful attacks they were capable of, he's never seen anything that could completely wipe out a town in an instant without leaving a trace of anything.

"That is the result of the portals I was telling you about. They are the main reason why you have never seen me at the guild. I'm constantly travelling around the country to close them before something like this happens." Mystogan explains, still not taking his sight off the sky.

"Then why the hell didn't you shut this one down?!" Natsu shouts again, getting the stealthy mage's face.

"Something's wrong with these portals. Ordinarily; I am able to sense them before they open, giving me enough time to close them before anything like this happens. This time, I didn't sense anything until the absolutely last second." Mystogan explains as he takes a few couple steps away from Natsu to give himself some space. "On every other occasion there was always a residual portal leftover that would stay open for a minute or two."

"Natsu, calm down. We can't learn anything if you don't give him a chance to talk." Sayla said calmly, effectively silencing the pinkette. "Let's start from the beginning. What purpose do these portals serve and where do they go?" She asks the cloaked mage. While the demon seems calm and collected externally; internally, she wants answers just as much as Natsu. She's read and heard about various magics that are powerful enough to wipe out entire cities of the face of the map. Sayla has even heard stories of other demons, more specifically other etherious, which are capable of such feats. But to wipe out an entire town without a single trace of said town or the slightest trace of residual ethernano is completely unheard of to her.

Mystogan couldn't help sighing at the situation. He had every intention to explain the situation to his guild mates. Unfortunately; with having only just met them, he hasn't had the time to truly explain anything yet. Once more how could he explain the situation given how outlandish it is? What reason would they have to believe him? Looking towards where the town once was, he realizes that they have no choice but believe what he says. How terrible that this is the proof he needs. "Those portals are designed to harvest the ethernano from this world to use as a power source. The portals specifically target locations with higher concentrations ethernano."

"Then why target that town? From what I could tell there weren't any mages there to begin with. Wouldn't it make more sense to target somewhere like Magnolia or Era" Natsu ask.

"You're correct. That town was fairly unremarkable in terms of magical energy. Without the presence of a guild that town should not have been targeted in the first place."

"Then what was the point of targeting it?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I have a theory that the machine creating these portals may be malfunctioning. It's the most reasonable theory I could come up with that has the most potential for being true. Recently the locations where the portals have been opening seem almost completely random. This isn't the first time I've come across portals that have opened above locations that are completely devoid anything worth targeting." Mystogan says as he looks back at what used to be a town. "Nor is it the first time I've seen it target a town like this."

"How many towns have towns have you seen end up like this one?" Natsu ask as his eyes start to gain a goldish tint to them.

"Too many. This is why I asked for help; to make sure that no one else shares the same fate as those unfortunate souls." He replies, noticing the pinkette's eyes lose their golden hue.

"You still haven't answered the other half of my question." Sayla says, trying to keep this conversation on track. "Where do those portals go?"

Sighing once again the cloaked mage tries to ready him for the tough part of the explanation. "Would you three believe me if I said that those portals lead to an alternate dimension that runs parallel to this one?" he says plainly, getting blank stares in return.

A few seconds pass before countless thoughts start running through their minds. The idea that another dimension is harvesting magical energy from their world seemed completely absurd to put it lightly. But given what they seen, it was a possibility. It had to be. If this was the work of another mage then they would have at least sensed some form of magical energy prior to the town disappearing.

Natsu was the first to regain his composure from the bomb that was just dropped on them. He could tell that the stealthy mage was telling the truth. The dual slayer could hear that his guild mate's heart rate kept beating at the same rate as when they met. Additionally the look in the reclusive mage's eyes told him that there was nothing dishonest about what he was saying. "Are you serious?" he asks, only to get a nod of confirmation in response. "So another world is stealing our magic." Natsu loosely parroted what he's heard so far. "How the hell is something like that possible?!" he nearly yelled.

"I do not know the specifics myself. Something of such scale is too far beyond my comprehension to understand." The very idea of this plan is absolutely ridiculous to Mystogan. For starters, there was issue with the energy source that is being stolen. Magic is by no means a tangible object with a specific set of rules to follow. Everything he's learned about the magic of both worlds has told him that they were completely different. In Earthland, magic is a naturally occurring thing that most creatures could freely use. It's a naturally occurring source of energy with seemingly no limits in how it can be utilized. In Edolas, on the other hand, the only creatures capable of naturally using magic were the Exceeds. The only way for humans to use it was with the aid of specifically designed tools that require magic to act as a power source to carry out a specific task. Additionally, the energy that magic provided usually didn't last long. Most of the time, the magical energy would only last long enough to carry out a task or two before depleting. The biggest problem he has is with the morale dilemma. Is it right to steal energy from a world to potentially save another? Would it be right to force an end to the way of life that the people of that world have known so that another can maintain their own? No matter how much he thought of those questions, a clear answer never came to mind. "The King of Edolas, the man orchestrating all of this, has gone to great lengths to ensure the success of this project."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Sayla ask, still trying to comprehend everything she's heard so far. Never before has she heard a story as crazy as this.

"Most believe he is doing this for the salvation of Edolas. Over the years, Edolas has been showing more signs that it is losing its magic. With that in mind it's not unreasonable that the king is doing everything he can to stop this from happening."

"I sense a "but" coming up."

"You would be correct with that assumption. The king is a power hungry fool. I believe that his true intentions are to take the magic he is harvesting from this world to horde for himself. Giving himself absolute authority throughout all of Edolas"

"How do you know this" Sayla asked, narrowing her sight on the stealthy mage. "You know far too much on the subject to be an ordinary mage."

"That would be because I am from Edolas" he answers, hoping that the brunette wouldn't ask anything else on that specific line of questioning. Unfortunately his luck isn't that good.

"While I believe you are not lying about being from that world, it seems like there is more to it than you are letting on."

"I was really hoping you wouldn't ask something like that. The reason why I know is because the king is my…" Mystogan was about to answer before he suddenly staring off in the distance. He could feel it. Another portal was opening. Given where they are, the mages could make it in time in a few hours if they're fast enough. "Quick we must go! Now! Another portal is opening." He yells as he starts running in the direction of the portal.

"Another portal is opening already?!" Natsu ask as himself, Sayla and Morgana start running to keep up with Mystogan. Well, Morgana was flying, but he was still keeping up with them.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I've never felt a portal open up so soon after another one closes."

"I hope you know that I still expect an answer." Sayla says as she kept pace with the others.

"And you'll get one later. But for now we must hurry."

As the mages start to move to their next destination, Natsu notices that Morgana isn't following them. The young cat was instead just staring at where the town used to be. Then it hit him, the pinkette just realized that his friend was in shock of what he had just witnessed. Morgana is still technically a new born, meaning he has never faced what was essentially a potential near death situation. If it wasn't for Mystogan yelling at them to stop when he did than Morgana very easily could have been caught up in that portal along with the rest of the town

"They're gone," Morgana mutters, having finally regained the ability to speak. He could have died. Barely two weeks old and the young cat just narrowly escaped death.

Natsu couldn't help but feel bad for the cat. Thanks to his training, he has experienced plenty of near death situations where one mistake could prove to be fatal. He knew how difficult the first one is to process and how much it can affect someone. Scooping up Morgana, Natsu hugs him in attempt to try to comfort the young cat. "Don't worry Morgana; we're going to make this right." It may not have been the best thing to say, but it was still something. Unfortunately, the pinkette didn't have to time to properly help his friend through the situation. They're on a deadline and the more time they waste, the more likely more people will die as a result. Holding the cat close to him; Natsu turns and starts running to catch up with the rest of his team.

Edolas

"Byro! What is the meaning of this?!" King Faust shouts angrily from his throne to his throne towards his chief of staff. "You told me that you would have fixed the Anima days ago and in that time we still continue to lose parts of our territories."

"Please your majesty; these repairs are not a simple matter." Byro began to plea. He's always been a person that would do whatever it takes to give the king what he wants. But this was a different matter. The repairs needed to fix the Anima were far more complex than he initially thought. It wasn't until shortly after he started the repairs that he realized that he overestimated how long it would take. And it wasn't until this moment that it's now coming back to bite him. "The Anima is a complicated device, getting everything to function the way it's supposed to is proving to be more challenging than I originally anticipated. I said that if you were to give me enough time that I was confident that I could resolve these issues."

"I've given you the time to make the repairs and all you have given me in return are these poor excuses!"

"Please sir, a few days is not enough ti…"

"Enough! Either get me the results I want or I'll find someone else that will." Faust bellowed out, cutting Byro off in the process. "Now be gone, you have much work to get done and very short deadline that's coming up."

"Yes, your majesty" Byro said as he made his way to leave the throne room. He knew better than to speak anymore on the topic. Doing so would do nothing but earn him a public execution. If he wanted to continue to serve Faust then he would need results and he would need them soon.

Faust was furious with this turn of events. The Anima is still malfunctioning; he's still losing territories as a result, not that he cares to much about those regions, and worst of all the power he was ensured is now questionable at best thus putting his status in jeopardy. Now he has to question the loyalty of all those around him. Multiple members of his staff were now suggesting that he should put the Anima project on hold. A few short years ago, the King would not have hesitated to have all of them executed for suggesting such an audacious idea. But for now he needed the resources. He could have taken them forcefully but that would lead to too many problems. No, having them give him their resources willingly made things easy enough to justify listening to their inane prattle.

"King Faust, may I have a word?" Panther Lily said as he entered the throne room. The Exceed commander was taking a big risk with his timing. He knew very well that Faust was just yelling at Byro for his supposed incompetence. Knowing that the King is still furious made this more challenging. If he worded his request the wrong way it could lead to his execution.

"Panther Lily, if this has anything to do with the Anima then my answer is already no." Faust said as he glared at the Exceed. Out of everyone on his staff, none was more opposed to the use of the Anima more so than Lily. If it wasn't for the loyalty his army has towards the exceed than the king would have had him publicly dismissed ages ago.

"Please reconsider your majesty. Thanks to the Anima we are losing more people by the day. At this rate we are in danger of losing the kingdom."

"Enough with this nonsense! Who cares if we lose a few settlements if it means that we can maintain the kingdom's power?!" The king bellows out. "If you're going to anyone's time with these pointless demands than do so with someone that actually cares. Now, do you have something useful to report?"

"I do not your majesty." Panther Lily said while doing everything he could to not show his discontent.

"Then leave at once" The king says.

The exceed knew well enough to know that what Faust said was more of an order than anything else. Leaving the throne room, Lily is in deep thought about what to do next. With how the situation is developing, one wrong move could lead to disastrous results.

"I'm guessing that didn't go well." A voice said, catching the attention of the division commander.

Turning to see who was speaking to him, the exceed saw one of his more loyal commanders, Dalton approaching him. If there was anyone that Lily wanted by his side in a rough situation it was this soldier. Throughout the years, the two have seen countless battles that have led the two to experience more close calls than either cared to count. Each time resulted in the two soldiers saving each other's asses. "No, It didn't," Panther Lily replied as he continued walking through palace halls.

"Great. You'd think that a king would actually give a damn about what's happening to his people." Dalton said casually as he kept pace alongside his superior officer. "So what's the plan?"

"For now, get the men ready." Lily said vaguely.

"For what?" Dalton asked, he could need to prepare them for any number of things.

"For now, nothing. But if Byro is incapable of repairing the Anima soon then we'll be taking care of it ourselves."

"Commander Panther Lily" another voice as it approaches the two soldiers.

Both soldiers turn to one of their subordinates running towards them. The soldier they knew as Jackson is one of those soldiers that they saw as a necessary evil that they had to put up with. Shortly after Jackson joined their division, the two soldiers learned that he is a spy that fed information of their actions to other higher ups within the kingdom, likely to be used as black mail against the exceed commander. The only reason why they haven't disposed of this spy is because while he is quite adept at being discreet, the spy was quite useless when it came to checking to see if the information he gathers is in fact true. Lily and Dalton kept the inept spy around mostly as a form of payback towards the other higher ups within the kingdom. Both soldiers found much amusement at the frustration of the other higher ups and nobles that had to silently seethe in frustration quietly.

"What is it Jackson?" Lily questioned tersely as he gave the soldier a look that intimidated the spy.

Jackson was all too familiar with that kind of response. Whenever the exceed had that look on his face, he was in bad mood and it would better to be near him as little as possible. "Sir, I've come to report that the island of Baracour has vanished"

"Damnit," Lily couldn't hold back a scowl. Islands disappearing were becoming an increasingly more common thing. The citizens were taking note and were demanding that the kingdom do something out it. Anyone in a position to do something either didn't do anything or couldn't do anything. The unfortunate people that worked directly with the people were constantly being harassed or threatened. Each day was getting worse than the last. At this rate, it wouldn't take long for things to turn violent.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Jackson asked.

"Go report this development to the king."

"Are you sure that's a good idea Sir? Wouldn't it be better for you to tell him?" Jackson paled at the order he was given. The phrase "Don't shoot the messenger" always seemed to be a foreign concept to King Faust.

"No, the king is already angry enough at me as it is." Lily said dismissively.

Great; not only did he have to deliver bad news to the king, but the king is already in a bad mood to begin with. "Yes sir" Jackson said hesitantly as he made his way to the throne room, silently praying to whatever deity there was that he would be able to walk away from this encounter with his life.

"Poor bastard" Dalton said somewhat sarcastically.

"Indeed"

"Don't you at least feel a little bad for the guy?"

"Should I?" Lily asked as he gave his comrade a side eye glance.

"Good point" Dalton said as turned to walk away. "Well, I got a lot of work ahead of me now. I'll make sure everyone's ready for what comes next."

"Thank you. Please try to do so discretely. If the Faust learns of what we're preparing he won't hesitate to execute all of us."

"Come on it's me, when am I not discreet?" Dalton asked smugly.

"Would you like for me to explain in detail or would you prefer a list?" Lily replied with a smug grin plastering his face.

"You know, that's just mean." Dalton said as he left to make the necessary preparations.

Lily couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's comment. The usual banter provided a small last minute reprieve from what's to come. With any luck the preparations that Dalton is making wouldn't be necessary. However; with so many lives on the line and how things have been going, Panther Lily couldn't afford to rely on luck.

In Earthland

Hours. Over the course of a mere few hours the small group of mages managed to cross the great distance to where Mystogan had sensed another portal opening. As luck would have it, this portal was still open. However; there was something different about this portal. The portal itself seemed unstable. It was seemed to be having trouble maintaining itself if the appearance of its near constant flickering was any indication to go by. Additionally; the town that was located beneath the portal was still intact with all of the citizens littering the streets, likely staring at the portal in confusion and some level of fear.

As Mystogan stared at the town he couldn't help but feel confused. Thanks to his experience with tracking the portals, he has become extremely proficient at sensing any kind of magical energy. From what he could tell, this town was no different than the last one. He couldn't sense a guild or a large enough amount of ethernano. 'Why are these portals targeting towns with little to no ethernano? Why would they waste what little energy they have on these worthless locations.' He thought to himself.

"I don't get it, isn't something supposed to be happening?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence.

"You're right; from how long this seems to have been open, that town should have been long gone by now." Mystogan answers as he tries to figure out what's going on. From what's he's seen, the portals always open up for a few seconds before siphoning whatever magical energy is in the area before closing a minute or two later. Going off what he's been sensing, this specific portal has been open for about ten minutes and has yet to do anything remotely similar to the others he's encountered. For all intents and purposes this portal can easily be described as the most defective one he's seen.

"Let's figure that out later. What's the plan?" Sayla asks.

"We don't know how much time we have before the portal starts to…" Mystogan began to say as the portal flickered a few more times before it stopped. Before the mages had a chance to process what happened, the portal released a surge of energy before opening even further. The next thing they saw was something that appeared to be coming out of it. After a couple seconds, they saw what was coming out. Safe to say, it was by far the last thing any of them expected to see.

"Are you kidding me?!" Both Natsu and Sayla yelled in unison as they saw what appeared to an island coming through the portal.

"How is this possible?" Mystogan said, completely shocked by what he's seeing. In all the time that he's been shutting down these portals, he's never seen anything like this.

They watched as the island slowly exited the portal, still in disbelief of what they were seeing. It took a second before they fully realized the situation. There's an island coming out of a portal in the sky that's located above a town.

"Oh shit, we have to get everyone out of that town!" Natsu said as he started running towards the town, the rest of the group quickly followed him.

"Do you have a plan?" Mystogan asked from one side of the pinkette. Looking towards the falling island, he estimated that they had a minute or two before it finally collided with the town.

"Yeah, grab everyone we can and run like hell."

"I like it; simple and to the point" Mystogan said with a hint of sarcasm lacing his voice.

"I'm open to suggestions" Natsu replied with an equal amount of sarcasm. Given how many people he could smell within the town; he doubted that they had enough time get everyone out. "Sayla, do you think you can stop that island?"

"As flattered as I am that you think I'm capable of pulling off impossible feat like that; no, I can't completely stop something that size."

"Then can you slow it down? Even if it's only for a minute, we need all the time we can get."

"I'll try," Sayla said as came to a stop, now standing a few miles outside of the town. Raising both of hands towards the island, the demon activated her Macro. Almost immediately, she felt every muscle in her body strain in protest of what she's attempting to do. Every brain cell she has was screaming at her to stop what she was doing. The first thought that popped into her head was that this was clearly something that is far beyond what she is capable of at this point in her life. Or at least that is what she believes to be the case.

Unbeknownst to her, the island had slowed down slightly in its descent, much to the shock and relief of her teammates.

"Holy… Sayla, you're doing it." Morgana exclaimed

"Great," Sayla said through gritted teeth. So far, this stunt is easily proving to be the most difficult and painful stunt that she's ever attempted. "Now get going! I've bought you guys another minute at best." She all but yelled.

"Got it" the rest of her team yelled in unison as they once again started running towards the town.

Even though Sayla had managed buy them slightly more time, neither Mystogan nor Natsu like the odds. They had to successfully evacuate an entire town with only a couple minutes. If they were lucky then everyone would already be outside and ready to run for their life. Of course, neither of them assumed that it would be that easy. There was always something or someone that made things more complicated than it needed it to be.

"I really wish we had some help right now." Natsu said. Knowing their luck, they were bound to encounter people that were bound to make things worse. Given the situation, it was guaranteed that people would be scared out of their mind and that most would become frantic. In the chaos, people are bound to get hurt or left behind and be in a position where they can't escape on their own.

"Don't worry I'll get us some back up," Mystogan said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see once we get to the town."

As much as Natsu wanted to question his teammate, his instincts were yelling at him to look up. Listening to his instincts, the pinkette looked up and immediately glad that he did. "Shit, look out!" he yells as he pushes Mystogan out of the way of a piece of debris that had broken off the island and nearly crushed them.

"Thanks, that was close one."

"No problem," Natsu replied as he looked towards the island. Upon closer inspection he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a building or a house. "Morgana, I need you to fly up to that island."

"What? why?" Morgana asked, not understanding why he was being asked to do so.

"Because I think I might have saw a town up there."

"Are you sure about what you saw?" Mystogan asked only to get a nod in response. Sighing at this new piece of information, he looks towards the flying cat. "Be sure to keep as much distance from the portal as possible. There's no telling what will happen." he warned before taking something out of his pocket. "Take this, it's a flare lacrima. If you find survivors then hit it on the ground and throw it off the island." He said as threw the lacrima towards the cat. "Once we see it, I'll send some help."

"Thanks," Morgana said as he flew off towards the island.

A few seconds later both Mystogan and Natsu finally reached the town. As they expected, the people in the town are completely terrified. All of them were understandably panicking at the sight of an island coming out of the sky to crush them. Why most of them weren't using this time to run as far away as possible in what little time they have. At least some were smart enough to not let natural selection do it job.

"So where's this help you were talking?" Natsu asked

Instead of answering, Mystogan reached for his staff that had a skull with a single eye socket and an elongated jaw. "Familiar Summons" he yells as he slams the butt of the staff into the ground. In the next instance multiple shadowy figures started manifesting around the mysterious mage. Each figure stood at about six feet tall and appeared to be lanky in stature. The only other feature that was worth noting was their heads which were very similar to the skull on the staff that Mystogan is holding.

"This is your help?" Natsu asked, already knowing the answer. "They seem helpful."

"They are." Mystogan turned his attention to the people in front of him. "I'll have a small group go with you to assist with people that can't get out on their own. I'll take care of the people who don't need assistance."

"Sounds good to me."

Before either mage could commence with the evacuation a loud bang caught there attention. Turning to see what made that noise, they were shocked to see that the noise came from the portal itself. Once again; the portal started flickering in and out of existence, causing the island that is still exiting it to start to break apart.

Realizing that they now had much less time than what they were hoping for, both Mystogan and Natsu rush to save everyone they can.

With Sayla a couple moments ago

This could not get worse for Sayla. She could feel every muscle in her body strain more than she ever thought possible. The migraine itself was worse than anything the demon. "Could this get any worse?" Sayla asked sarcastically to no one in particular.

As if hearing what Sayla had said, it seems the universe gave her an answer in the form of a loud bang.

Looking up, Sayla's eyes widen at the sight of the island now breaking apart.

Great, this is just what she needed. With the island staying as one solid piece, the demon was able to keep the entirety of her focus on a single thing that she was trying to control. It was still far too much for her to handle, but it was still somewhat manageable to at least slow it down slightly.

With the island now breaking apart, Sayla has to keep her focus on multiple falling objects that are plummeting to the ground. Granted each piece is technically easier to handle just because they are technically smaller and weigh much less. But the collective weight still made this a nigh impossible stunt to pull off.

"You guys better hurry up. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for." Sayla said as she coughed up a small amount of blood.

With Mystogan and Natsu

Things could not get any worse right now. With the plummeting island breaking apart, everything has completely broken down. Nearly everyone in the town is now panicking more than they were a minute ago. The only people that weren't in a frenzied panic are the people that were smart enough to evacuate the town as soon as the island started appearing out of the sky and the two mages that were trying to save the people that didn't leave.

In the panic some people tried to start a riot. Key word being tried. As soon as they started wreaking havoc, someone was there to knock that person out. Whether that person is Mystogan with his sleep magic, Natsu with literally anything within arm's reach, or the various shadow figures with whatever they feel like. Between the last two, there have been quite a few people that have been knocked out by signs, benches, various plants, and on a couple of occasions other people that have already been knocked out.

Thankfully, things were moving at a fairly consistent pace. If things kept at this pace and nothing worse happens, then the town should be completely evacuated fairly soon.

Of course, the universe had to intervene somehow.

"Everyone, you have to keep moving" Mystogan said as he directed the citizens out the town. The shadowy familiars he summoned were doing a good job of keeping things relatively calm, if for nothing else because no one wanted to get knocked out by the shadow figures.

Natsu for his part had just ripped the door off of a house along with a small portion of the front of the house. Given the situation, the pinkette isn't concerned with property damage.

Entering the house, the dual slayer quickly makes his way towards where he can smell people. Busting through another door, he sees a woman standing there with two kids who the pinkette assumes are her kids.

"Who are you?" The woman asked as she moves in front of her kids.

"Sorry, I don't have time to explain that. I need to get you and your kids out of here before the island hits the ground."

"How are you going to do that? We're in the middle of town."

"Just leave it to them" Natsu said as he gestured to the two shadowy figures behind him. The familiars move to pick them up, one picking up both of the kids while the other picks up their mother. "What are you waiting for? Run!" Natsu yells as the familiars rush out of the house in attempt to clear the town as fast as possible.

Exiting the house, the pinkette smells the area around him. From what he could tell anyone that was stuck indoors has been rescued. All that needed to be done now was escort the remaining people out of the town. 'It'll be close, but we should be able to make it,' Natsu thought to himself as he looks towards the island.

He was brought out of his thoughts by something crashing into the house he was just in not even a few seconds ago. The force of the impact was enough to nearly knock him off his feet. Turning around, Natsu saw what he could only assume is a rather large piece of debris had just crushed the house.

"Mystogan, we need to hurry up. It's raining island on us." Natsu yells as he dodged a couple of smaller pieces of debris.

"Easier said than done," Mystogan said as he took out another one of his staffs that has a fan like design. "Is there anyone else that needs help with escaping?"

"Not that I know of, anyone that needed help is either already out of town or on their way."

"That's good" Mystogan said as he fires a beam of whitish purple energy towards another piece of debris, instantly destroying it.

"Yeah, now for the fun part" Natsu said sarcastically as his looks over the people that are still escaping. "Can you have those familiars' group people together?"

"Shouldn't be too much trouble," the reclusive mages said as he orders his familiars to do just that. He could understand what the pinkette was thinking. Having the people group up makes it lowers the amount of area that they have to protect. However, this plan did a very huge flaw in it. If a piece of debris got past both of the mages, the number of people that would get hurt will be higher than when they were spread apart.

Thanks to Sayla's efforts, they wouldn't have to keep this up for long. They only had to do this for about another minute. Unfortunately this is going to be the longest minute either mage has experienced in a long time.

Noticing a few more large pieces of debris; Mystogan fires of a few more beams of energy towards the falling rocks, obliterating them instantly.

"Fire Fist," Natsu yells as he launches one pillar of fire after another, destroying everything in its path. "You know, on any other occasion this would actually be a lot of fun"

"If it wasn't for the fact that any mistake we make will result in people dying, I might agree with you." Mystogan replied before a particular piece of debris caught his attention. Not only was it much larger than any of the other pieces that have been falling, but their also happened to be a couple buildings that were resting on it. This confirmed some bad news that the mage was hoping he wouldn't have to hear of. The island that was falling is indeed one of the populated ones. Unfortunately that thought will need to wait another second or two. From the size of it, Mystogan could tell that he didn't have an attack at his disposal that would destroy the falling rock in time. "Natsu, we need to take out that rock! Do you have anything that can destroy it?"

"Yeah, I just need to get up to it," Natsu said as he sized up the falling rock. His train of thought is similar to his partner. The pinkette also noticed the buildings on the rock. His line of thought also drifted to Morgana. Since the cat has left to search the island, he has yet to return. 'Please Morgana; tell me nothing happened to you'

"I'll take care of it," Mystogan said as he summoned another one of his familiars. Instead of the usual ones that the reclusive mage has summoned, this particular familiar had a pair of wings attached to its back.

Without being told to do so; the familiar bolted towards Natsu, picking him by the back of his shirt. Quickly changing its course; the familiar flies as fast as possible towards the larger piece of debris. Ducking and weaving, it effortlessly dodges every obstacle in its path. Anything that was too large for the shadow dodge was quickly destroyed by the beams that Mystogan shot out of his staff.

Natsu, for his part, surprisingly didn't hate the experience of being carried by the familiar. Initially he assumed that his motion sickness was going to effectively make him useless until he landed on the debris. That being said, it still was a far less than pleasant experience.

A few seconds of hectic flying later, Natsu was dropped off on the giant piece of rock. It was at this moment that the pinkette's motion sickness had set in. "Ugh, you got to be kidding me!" he yells as he tries to steady himself. A couple seconds. That's all the time he'll need to pull this off. Engulfing his hand in purple and black flames, the devil slayer takes a deep breath. "Fire Devil's Cataclysmic Inferno" Natsu yells as he plunges his fist into the debris, sending cracks throughout it. From the cracks emanate an ominous purple light which are quickly followed by the entire falling rock being engulfed in purple and black flames. Not even a second later the falling debris explodes from the attack, completely destroying it and leaves Natsu to fall to the ground.

While falling, the dual slayer was caught by what he assumes was the same familiar that was just carrying a couple seconds earlier.

"I'll admit it, these familiars of yours are awesome" Natsu said as he was dropped off on the ground.

"Thank you." Mystogan said as he tried to catch his breath. He wasn't used to summoning so many familiars in such a short amount of time. Especially to carry out such a demanding job like this. Normally he would only summon them to assist in discreetly setting up traps while he was busy fighting. Add in the number of powerful long range attacks that he used to destroy falling debris, it's a wonder that Mystogan still had any energy left. "Let's go, the evacuation is finally over."

"What about Morgana? We still haven't heard anything from him." Natsu asked as they started to make their way out of the town.

"Right now all we can do is hope for the best. I know that's not what you want to hear but we don't have any other option with the time we have."

Noticing a shadow that's growing larger by the second, both mages stop and look up. Immediately they regretted their unconscious decision to stop running. Not too far above them is by far the largest piece of debris that they had seen so far. How it got to so close to either of them without their knowing was beyond either mage at that moment.

"Shit, look out!" Natsu yells as he roughly kicks Mystogan out of the way. Seeing that his partner is safe from immediate danger, the pinkette turns towards the rock. The falling rock was large enough that if the slayer turned and run at the moment he would probably still be crushed. Realizing that he only has one option, Natsu cocks his arm back.

However; before he could prepare any kind of attack, the pinkette feels something crash into his stomach hard. Whatever it is, it certainly had enough force to assist in launching Natsu far enough back to not be crushed to death.

Hitting the ground hard, the dual slayer notices a ball of black and white fur lying on his stomach. "There you are Morgana. Thanks, I owe you big time for this." Natsu said as he wraps his arms around his cat friend.

"Yeah you do. I demand some sushi when we get back to Magnolia." Morgana said with a slightly cheeky tone to his voice. If it wasn't for his exhaustion, the flying cat would probably make another joke at that moment. But with all the flying he has had to do, Morgana barely had the strength to move a muscle. Thankfully Natsu is more than willing to carry him.

"Natsu!" the two hear another voice yell out. Turning their attention to its source, they see Mystogan running from the other side of the massive piece of island that had just crashed into the ground. "Good, you're ok." They hear him release a sigh of relief after that before he notices the cat the pinkette is holding. "Good timing Morgana, it's good to see that you're alright."

"Sorry to rush you guys, but we still need to get the hell out of this town." Natsu said, making the others with him notice the island that is still falling. Just from looking at it they could tell that it was now picking up significantly more speed, indicating that Sayla was no longer able to slow it down.

"I agree. Run now, talk later." Mystogan replies as they all started running as fast as possible. As if to provide further encouragement, the area around started being pelted by even more falling debris.

"Shit!" Natsu yells as he raises an arm to shield his face from rock that landed to his right. His arm was busy trying to carry Morgana and shield the cat at the same time.

By now, so many rocks were crashing into the streets and various buildings that it felt more like the mages were caught in the middle of a battlefield. Everything thing around them was exploding. They were being showered in debris every couple of seconds.

Without looking, all three of them could tell that island was drawing closer to them.

Grabbing the skull staff on his back, Mystogan quickly summons two more winged familiars. The already flying familiars grabbed both mages by the back of their shirts. If there was ever a time to use of the last of his reserves, now is literally the best time to use them.

Natsu, who was busy trying to not get himself or Morgana, was completely oblivious to the familiar's presence. Turning his head, he was immediately relieved to see the familiar. Having just experienced how fast the flying shadowy figures are, the pinkette couldn't be happier to see it.

Dodging debris at a much faster rate, the familiars were further proving their value with each passing second. They were able to consistently stay ahead of the encroaching shadow that is indicating how close the island is to crashing in the town.

Fifty feet to go, the edge of the town is now coming to view of the mages. Judging by their speed, they were a mere few seconds away from escaping. Thirty feet, the shadow of the island is now catching up to them. Ten feet, they were nearly there. Five feet, this is it. Either they were going to escape the crash with their lives or be crushed.

Much closer than any of them would have liked, the mages managed to escape the town. Looking back they saw that the island is only a few seconds away from impact. Quickly bracing themselves, all they could do at this point was watch.

The moment the island touch down, a massive shockwave kicked up an even larger dust cloud. The force of the impact was more than enough to cause the familiars to dissipate; leaving the mages they were carrying to hit the ground hard as the momentum was enough to keep propelling them forward.

Eventually they came to stop. Using this time catch their breaths, the mages waited for the dust cloud to settle before doing anything.

"Hey Mystogan, are you still alive?" Natsu said in between breaths; the adrenaline that was keeping him going was now fading away. Leaving him with whatever residual energy he has left.

"I'm not sure, ask me again in a couple hours," Mystogan answers sarcastically. He is beyond tired. Physically the young mage is ok, but magically he is running on fumes thanks to the number of familiars he summed and all the additional spells he used to destroy debris.

"Eh, you're fine." The pinkette says as he looks down towards the other member of the group. "What about you Morgana, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," unsurprisingly the cat is tired too.

"That's good. Come on we need to go check on Sayla"

"Can't we catch our breath first" Mystogan asked, not wanting to get on his feet just yet.

"Sure, after we meet up with Sayla" Natsu said as he pulled Mystogan to his feet.

"Fine, let's get going"

With Sayla

She had done it. Sayla had managed to slow down an entire island that was plummeting towards the ground. She had managed to slow it down enough to give the others enough time to evacuate the people in the town below it. And now she was suffering the after math of that impressive feat. Everything hurt. The young demon could feel an intense pain shooting throughout every muscle in her body. The migraine she has is quite literally the most painful one she has experienced. Even breathing normally was proving to be a bit challenging.

"Sayla," the demoness hears someone yelling her name. From where she was sitting, which was against a tree that was fairly close to where she was, Sayla saw her group approaching. She couldn't help but feel relieved at the Confirmation of their safety. Upon further inspection, she could see that they were covered in dirt and grime and their clothes were lightly tattered and slightly torn in a couple spots. Other than that, they seemed mostly fine with the exception of obviously looking exhausted.

"Hey guys," Sayla said; the exhaustion in her voice made it clear to the others just how much she had over exerted herself.

"Hey Sayla, are you ok?" Natsu asks; feeling concerned at seeing the state the demon is in. As he walked forward he noticed a couple spots of grass that were covered in blood.

Sayla couldn't hold the small smile that appeared on her face that came from seeing how concerned the dual slayer is over her wellbeing. "I'll be fine; just don't ask me to do anything like that for a while."

"That's good, hopefully we won't have to." Natsu said as he sits against the tree next to Sayla. Upon sitting down, the pinkette could feel her resting head against his shoulder. Letting her try to get comfortable, Natsu turns his attention toward the other member of their group. "What are the odds that we'll have to do this again?" He asked Mystogan.

"Unfortunately I can't answer that. I've never seen anything like this before." Mystogan answers as he finds a comfortable spot on the grass to lie down on.

"I guess today is a day full of first then." The pinkette says as he rests against a tree. "So what's next?" That's the million jewel question. After what they just went through; what will they have to do next?

"For now, let's rest. I can't sense any other portals opening at the moment so our option are limited at the moment. We'll need to be ready for whatever happens next."

Unfortunately those words didn't provide much comfort to the rest of the group. "Please tell me you have a plan to stop these portals." Sayla says. So far, Mystogan still hasn't explained much of the plan to them.

"I do, unfortunately we cannot do anything until another portal appears." Mystogan replies. He didn't like the fact they are stuck in a situation where they have to wait and react before they can move any further with his plan. Seeing as they currently have more than enough, Mystogan turns his attention to the cat the Natsu is holding with an important question in mind. Though he believes he already knows the answer, he needs the confirmation. "Morgana, when you went to search the island did you find any survivors?"

Hearing the question causes Morgana's ears to drop as is face took on a sullen expression. "I… I couldn't find anyone alive."

"I see" Mystogan says, after all of this he was hoping to hear some good news. Sure they had managed to save everyone in the town but they weren't able to help those that were unfortunately trapped on the island. For him, the worst part is that there was no way for him to know if those people could have been saved. Their deaths alone also raised some concerns. He knew for a fact that travelling through the portals and surviving is completely possible. That just brought up more questions that he didn't want to think too much on.

"But I saw something strange. There weren't enough bodies." The cat said, quickly gaining the attention those around him.

"What do you mean?" Mystogan asked, sounding hopeful at this piece of news.

"I mean I didn't find that many people. For an island with so many buildings, I thought that there would have been more people."

"I see, thank you." It wasn't much but did provide the masked mage with at least some comfort that at least some people managed to escape. To where he didn't know but anywhere is better than a doomed island.

Edolas

Things were going so well. In a few short days Panther Lily had managed to organize a considerable strike force and get the necessary supplies to carry out what needed to be done. What was better was that him and Dalton managed to put all of together discretely.

In the time these preparations were taking place even more islands have disappeared. Byro kept promising to have the Anima repaired before things became worse but after a couple days of Lily came to conclusion he expected to come to. It was time to put the Anima out of commission.

The plan was simple; Lily and Dalton would sneak into the Anima chambers and destroy it. The strike force was to be brought along with in the case things went south. In hindsight, Lily should have brought the entirety of his division. Maybe then he and his men would have stood a better chance.

They only managed to get to one of the courtyards that were closer to the palace before they were ambushed by two separate divisions of the military. The second division made up one of the larger divisions of the kingdom's army. However, where the second division had the advantage of superior numbers, Panther Lily's had the advantage of having far superior soldiers. One of Lily's soldiers is easily worth a dozen of the second division soldiers.

However the skill wasn't enough for their situation. They were surrounded by all sides by the second division and had to worry about the sixth division. The sixth division was a smaller unit of specialist that was made of mages that specialized in demolition and outmaneuvering opponents.

In every single way the odds were stacked against them. If it wasn't for Dalton then the whole operation would have been lost.

Flashback

"Hicks, Burke cover our flank!" Lily orders as he takes behind a downed pillar to protect himself from multiple explosive attacks.

"Damn this went south fast." Dalton said as he took cover besides his commanding officer.

"Indeed, we need a new plan of attack." Lily said as he attempted to catch a peak over the pillar. From what he could see, the other divisions were well dug in and ready to drag this out as much as possible. If it wasn't for the mages in the sixth division, Lily would have rushed their encampments and overpower them. But the mages did an outstanding job at keeping his men on the defensive. Any plan Lily could have come up with for an effective counter attack posed too many risk. It had now become a battle of attrition and him and his men were on the wrong side of the onslaught.

Dalton saw the same Lily did. If they tried to counter attack, they died quickly. If they stayed on the defense it was only a matter of time before there killed or captured and executed for their actions. Dalton couldn't help himself from laughing grimly at the situation. "We're damned if stay here and damned if try to move."

"That's the gist of our situation," There had to be something. There had to be some play that would get him and his men out of this situation. He would even settle for attempting to gain better position by now. But every plan he could come up with could be easily countered and leave his squad in a worse situation for later.

Unlike Panther Lily, Dalton had a plan. It wasn't a good one but it had the highest possibility for success. It was a plan that someone like Lily could never come up with. The damn exceed was far too honorable and loyal to his soldiers to even entertain such an idea. "Commander, I have a plan." He said, gaining the attention of his commanding officer.

In all the time Lily has known Dalton, Dalton has never called the exceed by his rank. With as much as they've been through together, calling each other by rank was almost a foreign thing to them. Whatever this is, Lily knew he wasn't going to like it. "What is it?"

"You make your way to the caverns secret entrance whiles the rest of the men and I buy you as much time as we." Dalton said as he stared the exceed in his eyes.

"You can't be serious!" Lily yelled in protest, ducking even more as another explosion went off near the pillar he was taking cover behind. This plan is tantamount to a suicide mission. They were out number and out gunned. They were already in a situation where they were struggling to hold what ground they had. Their position left them surrounded by all sides with no way to escape without suffering heavy casualties.

"As serious as I can be. No matter what we're not all getting out of here. We don't have the numbers to force our way through their defenses. With the way their dug in and how well their equipped, the longer we stay here the more opposition we'll have to deal with. With us acting as a diversion, you'll be able to make it to Anima chambers and stop that damn device."

"That's suicide dammit!" Lily yells angrily. How could Dalton expect him to go through with such a horrible plan? The exceed commander would rather be publicly executed than abandon his soldiers.

"Look commander, we don't have any other options. We're already up shits creak as it is."

"I refuse to abandon all of you! There has to be a better."

"Sir there is no other way, besides you wouldn't be abandoning us." Another soldier said.

"We're soldiers. If it means that we can protect the citizens of this kingdom, we'll happily lay down our lives and accept our fates." Dalton said, cutting off Lily before the exceed could come up any kind of retort.

One by each soldier that was part of the strike force vocalized their approval of this plan. They knew that this is a last ditch effort. Each one of them accepted that fact.

"I'm sorry, if I had prepared better for this situation then we wouldn't be in this situation." Lily said apologetically. This is by far the toughest thing he has ever had to do. The fact that each one of his soldiers were telling him to go made this much harder for him.

"If you're really sorry then you can buy the drinks once we make it through this." Dalton said jokingly in an attempt brings the mood in this bleak situation. "We knew that this was a possibility when we agreed to tag along for this mission."

"If all of you make it through this then I'll buy the damn bar." Panther Lily replied. He really could not have asked for better soldiers to fight side by side with.

"You heard the man! If any of you die then I'll personally drag you back from the gates of hell and kick your ass myself." Dalton said, getting a round of cheers from each of the soldiers with them. Facing the exceed, Dalton threw a bag towards Lily, "You heard them Commander, you better get going."

"Thank you" Panther Lily said as slung the bag over his shoulder. He immediately recognized it as one of the bags carrying explosives.

"No problem, I'm just doing my job."

"Goodbye Dalton"

"Goodbye Lily, see you once this is all over."

Flashback End

In the chaos of the fighting Lily managed to sneak away from the fight. One of the many things he could credit his soldiers with was that they certainly knew how to make a damn good distraction. Thanks to the distraction, he managed to make it to the secret entrance.

Now standing before him is the very device that has become the bane of his existence. In the recent weeks, the Anima has proven to cost more than it was worth. It claimed so many lives that the exceed couldn't believe that it came to this. He couldn't believe that the he had to betray the kingdom he swore to protect just so the he can ensure the safety of the citizens.

But the Anima isn't what the exceed was focusing on. What he was focusing on who has become the bane of his existence if King Faust himself. But the old king wasn't there without some form of prediction. That was putting it mildly. Faust didn't bring a simple magical weapon or a group of soldiers.

What the king had brought is a mechanical dragon known as the Dorma Anim. Amongst all the weapons the kingdom has in its disposal, there is known that anywhere near as dangerous as the mechanical dragon. It was even banned from being so dangerous along with consuming too much magical energy.

Diving to the right, Lily just narrowly avoided beam that was fired from the arm of the machine.

"Why am I not surprised that it is you who is behind this coup" Faust said from within the cockpit, the intercom making his words clear the exceed to hear.

"What do you expect me to do when you are so consumed by your lust for power that you have quit caring for the wellbeing of the citizens of your kingdom?!"

"I wouldn't expect a blasted exceed to understand our situation. All of your damn kind can freely use magic. None of you have ever had to ration your magic. None of you have ever had to make tough decisions and sacrifices to maintain your way of life!" Faust yells, getting angrier with each sentence.

Lily recognized that tone; it's a tone that told him that trying to change the King's mind will be impossible. The exceed fully expected this to happen but the timing and conditions could have been better. Lily had to play the situation smart since he didn't have enough explosives to deal with both the Anima and the Dorma Anim. Additionally he wasn't aware of any weaknesses the mechanized dragon had to he could exploit with the given conditions. However; If Lily played this right, he could trick Faust into taking out the Anima for him. Though the requires the exceed to leave himself open to every attack and hope he can move fast enough to dodge every attack at the last second. He couldn't afford to make a single mistake or that's it.

Bringing the exceed out of his musings, he barely had enough to time to dodge the large beam that was blasted towards him. Dodging at the last second, Lily quickly ran off to another side of the cavern. The wall he was hiding behind not even a second ago was completely destroyed.

"If you think I'm going to give you enough time to catch your breath then you are sorely mistaken." Faust yells as he begins firing off a series missiles.

While somehow missing Lily with every missile, the cavern wasn't so fortunate. The walls were gaining massive craters, various pillars were being destroyed and multiple stalactites we're falling to the ground. Unbeknownst to either of the people in the massive cave, something was happening with the Anima. As the fighting continued to escalate, the Anima began glowing brighter and became redder with each passing minute.

After so much time, the changes became so apparent that it caught attention of both occupants

Panther Lily could only stare at the glowing bright red device in dread. "Oh shi…."

Earthland

"AHHHHH," Came the pain filled scream of Mystogan as he dropped to ground, clutching his head with both of hands.

"Mystogan, what's going on?!" Natsu asked. In the couple hours they've been resting, he's one that managed to recuperate the most.

"Portals" the masked mage said in between grunts of pain. "So many portals are opening are opening at the same time." His voice made it clear to the others just how much anguish he was experiencing at that moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a lot of portal just opened all at once." He answered as he managed to get back on his feet. "Come on, we need to go now."

"Where are we going?" Sayla asked as Natsu helped her to her feet.

"Wherever the nearest portal is," and like that Mystogan began running towards where he felt the highest amount of magical energy, leaving the others to catch up to him.

Unlike every other timer he's done this, Mystogan didn't know exactly where he was going. Before, he would just have a single energy source to follow. But this time that wasn't an option. There are simply too many portals to track which was the best to go to.

Instead Mystogan was relying on a pure gut feeling to lead him. He didn't know why or how but something was telling that the direction he's going now is the best route to take.

It wasn't till after almost an hour of running when it felt like they were getting close to something. Well, it was more like that was when Natsu picked up a scent he wasn't familiar with. There was something about the scent that just seemed off to him. He's been to many places and has experienced many things but this scent is one of the most peculiar that he has smelt. In his relatively short life, he's only ever smelt one thing that was similar to this. For some reason this smell reminded him of Morgana. "Guys, there's someone up ahead."

Passing a few more trees, they see who Natsu smelled. Lying against a tree is a cat with black and white fur. What caught Natsu and Sayla's attention was the cat's height. He is as tall as a full grown adult man. Upon further inspection they noticed something more interesting, the condition they found him in. it was easy tell that he was in some sort of serious fight. The armor the cat man was wearing is heavily dented and has multiple fractures with large amounts pouring out of the cracks.

"Panther Lily, what happened to you?!" Mystogan asked, feeling concerned for the exceed that was once his savior.

"Huh, who are you?" Lily asked, not recognizing the masked kid in front of him.

In place of answering the question; Mystogan removed the bandannas he was wearing that was covering his blue hair and tattooed face, revealing his face to the exceed and the others in his group that are now seeing his face for the first time.

"Prince Jellal? What are you doing here?" Lily asked, not expecting to see the prince in the middle of who knows where.

"I'm trying to find out what happened to you?" Jellal said as he dropped his bandannas to the ground.

"Hehe, I see that you still have that dry sense of humor. To answer your question, the Anima suffered a final malfunction."

"How did that happen?" Mystogan asked. Out of all the outcomes he expected, this was by far one of the worst ones he was hoping to avoid. With as many portals as he felt opening, the fate of the universe he was from was becoming more uncertain.

"For a while now the Anima has been malfunctioning at an increasing rate. It got to a point where it was almost occurring on a daily basis. If I had to guess, your father who thought it was a good idea to use the Dorma Anim against me in the Anima Chambers proved to be too much for it."

Jellal couldn't believe it. He's always known how power hungry his father is, but he never expected the old man to be willing to go to such extremes in such a dangerous location. "Why would he do something so dangerous?"

"Simple, I couldn't accept the malfunctions nearly as well as your father could and tried to shut the Anima down myself. And, well, we both know severe he can be when he gets angry enough. We also know just how much he believes in overkill."

And there it is a reminder of what was easily the worst part of Faust's personality. Countless times Jellal has seen his father execute large numbers of people over what the young mage would consider petty reasons. "What happened to him? Is he still alive?" Lily had done a great job at answering the entirety of Jellal's questions. But now he needed to know what happened to his father. The may not have parted on the best of terms, but he needed to know of his father's fate.

"It's possible, but I cannot say for certain. I've been here for some time and I'm not exactly in the best to go looking for him."

"He's over there" Natsu cuts in, pointing somewhere past another group of trees. This caught both Jellals and Lily's immediate attention, their heads turning so fast that the pinkette was surprised that their necks didn't snap.

"What do you? How can you be certain?" The exceed asked as he focused on the pinkette.

"Because I can smell someone that has a scent similar to Mystogan past those trees." Natsu stated evenly.

Hearing this, Panther Lily tried to get up. He didn't know what he was going to do; he'll figure it out later. In his attempt, Lily felt a on his shoulder apply enough to keep him against the tree.

"You're in no position to go anywhere. I'll confront my father, you stay here." Jellal said firmly. There was something about what he said that convinced the exceed to listen.

"He's right; you'll bleed out if you don't get your wounds taken care of." Natsu said as he turns his attention to Mystogan. "Go, Sayla and I will take care of him." He continues, only getting a nod of agreement from the bluenette.

"Thank you for looking after me," Lily said with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"You would hold your thanks till after I heal you. The spell I'm going to use isn't a pleasant." Natsu warns before turning his focus to Sayla. "Can you put him to sleep."

"Of course," Sayla replies as she activated her Macro.

"Why are you putting me to sleep?" Lily asked curiously. He didn't know why but he felt like he wasn't going to look forward to finding out why.

"Because that spell I mention is going to hurt like hell and… huh, well let's just say that you don't want to be awake for it" Natsu answers right before Sayla knocks out Lily.

With Mystogan

There he is, the man that Jellal knew as his father. Faust was kneeling on the ground in front of a rather tall cliff. Surrounding the king are the destroyed remains of the Dorma Anim. All of Jellal's life, his father had this aura around him that warned people not to cross the old man. Growing up in the palace, Jellal has witnessed multiple times what happened when someone wasn't smart enough to heed that unspoken warning. "What happened," he asked the king only to get no response. "What happened?!" Jellal asks more forcefully. "Father!"

That managed to catch the king's attention. "Jellal?" the king says as he turns to face his son, shocking the bluenette with his appearance.

From what Jellal could tell Faust appeared to be just fine when it came to his physical health. It is the look on the old man's face that was shocking. Faust looked as though that he was feeling shock and despair that left him more lost than he ever has in his long life. It's so contrasting to his normally intimidating and imposing presence that Jellal could help but feel disturbed by it.

"It's gone. My kingdom, it's all gone." The king said, now coming to realization that he is no longer royalty. His birth right, the very thing he has dedicated his life to is now gone. Unbeknownst to him, those words he just spoke enraged his estranged son.

Stepping forward to see what his father was looking at, Jellal was mortified at what he saw. Standing at the top of the tall cliff gave the young mage a clear view of multiple islands that came from his dimension, all of which had clearly crashed into the ground beneath them. One the islands had the remains of the palace that he once called home resting on it. But it was the realization of how many must have died that mortified him the most. "Oh my god"

"Dammit! If it wasn't for that damn exceed I would still have my kingdom! I would still have my title! I would still have the Anima"

"Really?! With everything that has happened, that's all you care about?!" Jellal couldn't believe. How is it possible for a king of all people to be so apathetic towards his own people? How is it possible to put material possessions above the lives of all the people that must have died?

"Of course you stupid brat! I'm their king; it's the duty of the people to do whatever their kings tell them. I must die to maintain my position, then so be it."

That's all the confirmation Jellal needed. With those words the young mage knew that the man he used to recognize as his father has now lost his mind to. "It's over now Faust"

"Don't tell me it's over! I'm the King! I say when it's over!"

"No, you were a king. There's no such thing as a king without a kingdom, which you just lost." Mystogan replied, feeling more pity for the old man then he expected to. "Who knows; if I haven't been shutting down the portals on this side, than this universe could have been lost to."

"You little bastard! This is your fault. You're the reason why I lost everything."

"Don't blame me for your failures."

"You little shit! I should have had you executed you when I had the chance!" Faust yells. Never before has he felt so much rage. If it wasn't for this little waste of life that is unfortunately his spawn he would still have everything. It's because of this one child that all of his life work is gone.

By now, there is nothing that Faust could say that would have any kind of impact on Jellal anymore. He's nothing more than some rambling old man that's looking for someone to blame. "Goodbye Faust" Jellal said as he turned to leave.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Faust bellows out angrily. Not liking that he is being ignored by his own sown of all people, he reaches for a sharp piece of shrapnel. He'll make this little brat pay. "Damn you!" he yells as he rushes towards his son.

Faust is many things, but a fighter he is not. He's never had the training or combat prowess of those under him. He doesn't have the speed or reflexes necessary to kill someone, just the willingness. He's never been the one getting his hands dirty.

Mystogan on the other hand did have those attributes. Swiftly dodging to the side, Mystogan grabs one of his staffs before pressing the head of it into Faust's chest. Before Faust could process what happened, a blast of magical energy rips through his chest.

Taking a few subsequent steps back, Faust barely musters enough strength to look down at his wound. In place of where his old heart once was now is massive hole. Looking towards the child in front of him, he didn't see a glimpse of remorse on Jellal's face. "You…" was all Faust managed to say before falling backwards off the cliff.

It was almost a minute before Mystogan moved from his spot. A myriad of thought and emotions were going through his mind. Right now there's only one that mattered now.

"So that's it?" Mystogan hears someone say. Turning towards where the voice came from, he sees Natsu and Sayla standing not too far away from him.

"Yes, that's it," was his reply. Given how many things were going through his mind, it's amazing that he was able to say that much. "It's over"

"Are you ok?" Natsu asked

"I'll be fine. How's Panther Lily?" Mystogan asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"He'll be fine, his wounds have been taken care of and we left him with Morgana. Are you sure you're fine? You did just kill your father." Sayla asked, concern lacing her voice. While she may not be familiar with parental bonds, she is aware of how much humans value those types of relationships.

"If I didn't then he would have continued trying to kill me." The bluenette couldn't stop himself from letting out a long drawn out sigh. With everything that has happened today, he just needed a break so that he can collect his thoughts. Unfortunately now is not the time for a break. "Can you please take Lily back to the guild?"

"Sure, but what are you going to do?"

"There's something I need to look into."

"Ok; if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask." Natsu said as he held out Mystogan's bandannas.

"Will do, thanks." Mystogan replied as a he took the pieces of cloth from the pinkette. "It shouldn't take me too long." He finished as he put his bandannas on as started to leave the area. Seeing no reason to stay, Natsu and Sayla went to pick up the exceeds before making their way back to the guild. All they could do now was hope for the best.

Three Days Later

It's been a long few days for Natsu and Sayla. Upon returning to the guild before Mystogan, it was up to them to inform Makarov how the mission went. While happy that his children made it back from this mission, he still felt remorseful with how everything turned out. The old master especially felt sorry Mystogan for what he had to do.

On the lighter side of things, Panther Lily managed to make a full recovery despite having a few scars that were added to collection. Since recovering, he even joined the guild and seemed to be fitting in quite well. Though, he has spent most of his time training. When asked about this, Lily claimed that he was training so that he would never be in another position where he has to rely on Natsu to heal his wounds. Lily even said that he would rather go another ten round with the Dorma Anim. While some didn't believe he was telling the truth, everyone just left it at that. They all just let the former division commander process his feelings on his terms.

At the moment Natsu and Sayla are walking back to their house. Wanting to get cleaned up after a day of training and spending time at the guild, Wendy ran ahead with Carla and Morgana following close behind.

If it wasn't for the pinkette picking up a certain scent, they would have made it back to the house already.

"You know, one of these days we're going to have a long conversation about how got so stealthy." Natsu said as he turned to face a tree that was a short distance away. Seriously, with as strong as the pinkette's sense of smell is, there should be no reason why someone the same age as him should be able to get so close without him noticing.

"How about we save that conversation for another day." Mystogan said as he came out from behind a tree.

"I'm going to hold you to that Mystogan," the pinkette said while smirking before gaining a serious expression. "Or would you prefer if we started calling you Jellal" Natsu asked curiously

"No, I would prefer if the both of you continued referring to me as Mystogan. As far as I'm concerned, Jellal Faust is no more.

Both demon and devil slayer could understand why he get rid of his old. After seeing what kind of person his was, it only makes sense Mystogan wouldn't want anything that associates him with the former king. Even if no one in this world knows of King Faust, the more degrees of separation the better.

"So, did you find whatever it is you were looking into?" It was Sayla's turn to ask. With as fast as he left, it had to be something important.

"I did and before you ask about it, I want to thank the both of you for assisting me with the job. I was so quick to leave that it slipped my mind." Mystogan said as he started removing his bandannas. With what they went through together a few days ago, there's no reason for him to hide appearance from them.

"Given what had happen right before you took off, it's understandable that something so trivial would slip your mind." Sayla said she took in Mystogan's new appearance. Instead of the blue hair they seen, the usually masked mage has dyed it black. Additionally he has another tattoo that surrounded his left eye that matched the tattoo around his right eye. "So what is it that you were looking into? Or were you actually spending these last few days getting a makeover?"

Mystogan couldn't help but chuckle that. It was actually the first time that either Natsu and seen him express an emotion other than serious and angry. It was kind of relieving for them to see. "No, I can assure you that I was actually looking into something important." Mystogan said before gesturing towards his new features. "I just did this this morning."

"Come on, out with it. What were you looking into?" Natsu asked, his curiosity starting to get the better of him.

"I was looking into the wreckage that came from Edolas." Mystogan said, noticing that both of the mages before him were paying even more attention to his every word. "Relax; I might have some good news. There weren't enough islands that came through the portals." He said, only gaining confused looks from the others

"Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?" Natsu was the first to ask.

"It means that when the Anima was destroyed, it didn't take out every island in Edolas."

"That's great news," Sayla was the first that responded to the news.

"You can say that again," Natsu couldn't help but smile at this piece of news. Both he and the demon beside him were thinking the same thing. They were relieved to learn that an entire world didn't die just because of a single deranged man's greed.

"It is. At least something good came of this mess." Mystogan said as he ran a hand through hair. "It's not much, but it's something at least."

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to try to find some way to get back to Edolas?" Natsu asked

"No; I would prefer to stay here in Earthland. Edolas was never really home to me. With everything I've seen Faust do when I was still living in the palace, there's no way for me to able to step foot in in that world without feeling guilty for failing to stop him." That wasn't the entire reason behind his reasoning, but it was basically gist of it. Honestly; there are too many bad memories and experiences associated with Edolas for him to want to return.

"It's good to hear that you're going to stick around. Does that have something to do with you changing your appearance?" Natsu asked.

"Yes it does. You see; Earthland and Edolas are worlds that run parallel to each other. As such each world has their own versions of the same person." He explained.

"So you're saying that you changed your appearance so that you won't get confused for this world's Jellal" Sayla asked. The reasoning behind it made perfect sense. Going around looking like someone else and sharing that person's name was just asking for trouble.

"In a nut shell, yes. I have a couple other reasons but that's basically it." There's no point to go into those other reasons right now. Nothing would change either way and the reasons themselves weren't important enough at the moment.

"So what are you going to do now? Are you going to stay a part of Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked. While the pinkette is genuinely curious, he did have a specific reason for asking.

"Looks like it. As far as work goes, I believe that the guild offers the best employment opportunities for me. Plus the jobs can be pretty exciting at times." Mystogan said, not being able to hide the grin on his face. While he has never spent an extended period of within the guild, he's always heard of how strong the comradery is with everyone that's part of the guild. It might be good for him to experience something like that for once in his life.

"Then I have an idea," Natsu said excitedly, gaining curious gazes from both Mystogan and Sayla. "The three of us should form a team."

"What?" Both brunettes asked in unison.

"I said that we should form a team."

"I can understand why you would want to start one with Sayla since you two seem close. But why would you want to form a team with? We just met three days ago." Mystogan asked incredulously.

"Why wouldn't I? With as well as we worked together during that job, it makes perfect sense to." Answered Natsu

"So you want to work together because of our chemistry during the last mission." At least the reasoning behind the pinkette's thinking makes sense. They've already proven that they can react to each other's actions in near perfect harmony with very little.

"That and you seem to have a knack for picking really intense and life threatening missions. So sticking with you should be more fun and exciting."

Really; Natsu wanted to work with him in the hopes that he'll pick out more exciting missions. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hold it in any more. After hearing the second part of Natsu's reasoning, Mystogan couldn't contain his laughter. To him, the pinkette's words were quite possibly the strangest, dumbest and funniest thing Mystogan has ever heard. In his short life, he couldn't remember the last time he's genuinely enjoyed himself this much. It took less than minute for to regain his composure, mostly.

"Fine; you convinced me, I'll be a part of this team. But I have one condition. You can't expect me to always pick out jobs where cataclysmic events are a possibility." Mystogan said, his grin was almost big enough to compete with Natsu's

"Awesome! What about you Sayla?" the pinkette asked the demon of the group. Though, he had a hunch that he already knew the answer.

"How could I say no? The three of working together would certainly make for an interest story." Sayla answered, feeling just as happy about this decision as her teammates.

"Alright first thing tomorrow, we'll go to the guild and make it official. But first we got to celebrate."

"You're just using this as an excuse to make extra food, aren't you?" Sayla asked with a knowing grin.

"I'm offended, like I need a reason for to make extra food." Natsu said as he started walking towards his house with his teammates following closely behind.

"No, no you don't" the demoness could help but giggle at the pinkette's actions.

"What did I get myself into?" Mystogan asked jokingly as he shakes his head.

"I have a feeling we're going to be asking that a lot," Sayla replied

Finally, the Edolas chapter is over. Damn, this is by far the longest chapter I've written. It certainly turned out to longer than I thought it was going to be. Originally I was going to break this chapter up into two smaller chapters but I just couldn't find a place that seemed like the right place to stop. Hopefully no one has a problem with this. If so, I'll try to break up future long ass chapters.

Before going any farther, I want to clear up the confusion for anyone that has questions with the timeline in this chapter. When I started writing this chapter I didn't bother to re-watch the Edolas arc because of how much of it I changed. One thing I wanted to keep though was that time flowed differently in Edolas and Earthland. In hindsight I really should have at least watched the last couple episodes of the arc because I completely forgot what the time difference was. If I remember correctly, which is questionable at best, a couple minutes to a few hours in Earthland is about two or three days in Edolas. I really wanted to build up tension without making it seem like Lily was jumping the gun to much so I extended the time difference to about an hour or two in Earthland is about five or so days in Edolas. If anyone needs any further explaining then feel free to PM me your questions and I'll happily answer them when I can.

Anyways, this is one of those chapters that I've been planning for since before this story started. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to give Natsu a new team. And having him putting on a team with Mystogan and Sayla gives me a lot of options for how I can approach fights for future chapters. Also I didn't want to let everything with Edolas take place in between chapters because than I would feel like that would be passing up a lot of opportunities. One problem though is that I don't have a team name yet. I did come up with a terrible place holder name that I will be making fun of in the chapter, but I want a better name. So if anyone has a suggestion, I would love to hear it. But for now it's going to be one bad team name after another.

On a related side note, the team mentioned above won't be the only team Natsu will be a part. There will be other people/teams Natsu will work with for certain chapters and arcs. In fact the next chapter will have a very obvious hints towards who will make up one of those teams.

Thank you to everyone one that continues to read, follow, favorite, and reviewed so far. Last I checked this story just passed a couple mile stones. As of when I'm writing this, there are: 20,413 views, 331 favorites, and 412 follows.

Like always, what did all of you think of the chapter? Loved it, hated it, think it was way too long, let me know what you think. Also if you have any questions then feel free to leave a review or send me a PM and I'll answer your questions as soon as I can.

Till next time

Mreh