Fairy Tail S

by ZenkaiPower

For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ

14. Chapter 13

Chapter XIII: A Dream of Late, Fulfilled?

About six hours later, on Earth…

Flying just under the clouds above New Ginger Town, Goten sat just behind Wendy as he let her fly the Nimbus this time around, with this time being the seventh time they've boarded the magic cloud today. Having visited Hercule Satan and a surprisingly slim and fit looking Majin Buu in Satan City first, the young couple had then visited everyone at Kame House before next moving on to briefly tour The Ox-King's kingdom and then Tien Shinhan's temple/dojo, prompted mainly because Goten sensed Uub as well, who had apparently flew there seeking some background knowledge about his current sensei and his old rivals, and to also seek a little bit of training advice as well. After leaving that pleasantly surprising meet up, they stopped so Goten could show her Gohan's first training grounds, a place which ended up becoming a favorite spot of both of theirs to train, only just to quickly follow that with a detour up north to see what remained of the Cell Games' Arena.

Knowing that place was the reason why Goten grew up for years without his father, Wendy had wanted to land there, planning to take in and remember as much of that view as possible; and that desire is what led them to their current seating arrangement. The concern Wendy showed for him, even when he gave no sign he needed it, was always enough to calm him, and to make him feel loved; but after seeing her actually stop and try to imagine the grueling battle his brother endured, and how the loss of Goku that day should not only have devastated Gohan, but also actually did cause Goten to lose a parent well before he even knew he had one. That last part was something Wendy was all too familiar with; as to this day, she still had no memories of her own biological parents.

Seeing her cry for him and his brother while she stood at the edge of a moss and grass laden crater, Goten had wanted to hug her and kiss her, and to tell her just how glad he was for every moment that led up to his meeting her; but he had ultimately reigned himself him, knowing there would be plenty of time for that later and instead simply settling on giving her just the hug. The idea to let her control the Flying Nimbus though, this had come to him precisely during that hug, as he realized he would get to hug her the whole time if he had her steering their ride. A brief conversation about it later, and the two were currently in the positions they were, sailing about with a few needless spins and rolls as Wendy had finally gotten used to, and was now quite enjoying, piloting the Nimbus. -just as her boyfriend was enjoying the excuse to have his arms around her, and to squeeze her tightly as they tipped sideways or briefly inverted from a roll or loop in flight. Being atop the Nimbus, with the Nyoibo on his back, the woman he loved leaning back against his chest, practically sitting in his lap, and the beautiful layering of blue sky and pure white clouds humming past just above his head, Goten could not have felt more complete. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he felt a bit punch-drunk at the moment.

"Oh, this is so amazing!" The Sky Maiden cheered with the same mannerisms of her twelve-year-old self, "I'm so jealous you've had something like this your whole life, Ten-kun! And I'm sorry I ever tried to eat you, Kinto'un!"

Seeming to accept her apology, the cloud quickly dived into a wide double-looping maneuver in response, clearly trying to impress her just as badly as its other passenger wanted to.

"Heheh," The demi-Saiyan chuckled as he leaned his chin atop her right shoulder, "Even my cloud likes you. But then again, you're not called The Sky Maiden for nothing, huh?"

Blushing slightly at his words, and even more so at the feel of him lightly squeezing against her once again, Wendy was forced to play coy, lest she start thinking a few dirty thoughts and possibly lose control of her ride.

"Now even you're using that line on me?" She sighed playfully, making her boyfriend respond with an amused smile and another jest of his own.

"I'll use whatever line I can, as long as it works. But hey, if it's the nickname you don't like, you could always just get married. Your fans would probably give you a new one after that…"

Feeling her tense up and noticing that her heart had actually skipped a beat, Goten knew instantly her mind had wandered exactly where he wanted it to; and his assumptions were further confirmed when he felt the Nimbus slow down considerably.

"Y-Yeah, that would probably do it…" She agreed bashfully, having realized the first implication right away, which was an innuendo; but the second, vaguely possible other idea he could've been suggesting, it was what started to make her vivid imagination go wild, "B-But I dunno if doing all that would be worth it, for just to get my alias changed, I mean… I-I-I'd only marry someone because I'd love them, n-not for anything else…"

"I know." Goten said quietly, knowing that was all he needed to say before continuing to watch the seeds of his thought growing and blooming before him.

"B-But that being said," She skittishly wondered aloud next, barely even getting her last few words out intelligibly, "T-Th-That wasn't some clever attempt to segue into… um… some kind of, um… proposal…?"

"It wasn't." He admitted honestly with a mischievous grin, briefly letting her feel the shape of his lips after reassuringly giving a quick kiss on the back of her head, "But I am glad to know that the thought of us getting hitched interests you so much. I'll keep it in mind for future reference, I promise."

"Oh, you…" She sighed with amused relief as soon as she realized he had baited her into this conversation, "You really had me going there, for a second."

"Heheh, sorry," He apologized with another loving squeeze, "But your reactions when you're being shy, their too cute for even me to avoid teasing you sometimes…

"And um, to be honest…" He added honestly with a shrug, "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't imagined that myself… once or twice… already… I mean, my parents were around our age when they got married…

"B-But don't worry!" He quickly added to reassure her, "I'm not gonna drop something that heavy on you this soon! I-I wanna do something like that somewhere else. You know, like on a date or something, with maybe a bit more of a… romantic… kinda plan."

Smiling warmly and placing an arm over both of his still locked around her waist, Wendy giggled airily before having the Nimbus reaccelerate as she did.

"And now it's my turn to say you're the cute one, Ten-kun. That little stutter just now, and the way you were snoring this morning… They were both pretty adorable."

"I wasn't snoring." He argued playfully, though his curiosity ended up getting the better of him, "Was I actually snoring?"

Nodding honestly a few times, Wendy giggled again as she felt him slump against her dejectedly.

"Aw," He sighed jokingly, "And so goes all my effort to look cool in front of you…"

"And now you're fishing for compliments, or maybe just more affection…" She pointed out sagely, "Well, your mother was certainly right. Whoever marries you is gonna have a hard time reigning you in."

"My mom told you that?" Goten blushed a bit as he spoke.

"Uh-huh." His girlfriend affirmed with a nod, "I talked with her once everyone else left after dinner. She's quite an amazing woman, your mother… It's another reason I feel a bit jealous of you."

"Hopefully not too jealous, or else you'd fall through Kinto'un." He half-joked before adding more, "But seriously, whoever your real parents were, I'm sure they did their part to protect you, otherwise you wouldn't really be around, would you?"

Realizing she had never come to such a conclusion about her birth parents herself, Wendy could only smile happily and move her right hand to tightly lace her fingers between the ones on his right hand, hoping that simple motion would be enough to show him her appreciation for his ever-refreshingly hopeful point-of-view. She wanted to say she loved him again, though she didn't for fear of sounding like a broken record; but she also kept it to herself because she was confident Goten was already well aware of the fact.

That simple thought actually made her feel a bit giddy; and once she realized that she had actually been feeling that way for quite some time now, she also realized that she hadn't been this happy in a much longer time. Being with Romeo might've made her happy too, for sure; but upon retrospection, she realized that she never acted so immature around him, unlike with Goten. At first she put it up to nostalgia; but at some point during their date in West City, she had realized that nostalgia wasn't the particular drug she was getting high on… That drug was simply being around Goten, and two of its side-effects was the lowering of her guard, and in her forgetting the whole concept of 'acting her age'.

"Well, I can tell you're getting used to flying the Nimbus," Her boyfriend suddenly observed to pull her from her reverie, "But uh, it looks like you're thinking about something kinda heavy… we've slowed down again."

"Oh, we did?" She quietly gasped with apologetic surprise as she made their ride accelerate again, "I'm sorry, I was kinda getting lost in my thoughts there…"

"That's alright, Master Korin's Tower should be only be just a few minutes away by now." He quickly assured her, "And we still got a good chunk of time to kill anyway. You got the hang of riding Kintoun quicker than I thought you would."

"Thanks," She readily accepted his honest compliment, "I feel bad about it like I said, but I think eating that little bit of the Nimbus actually connected me to it somehow. Ever since I did, I can swear that I've been sensing its feelings; and riding it hasn't given me motion sickness either…"

Smirking with proud relief that she was finally understanding the nature of the thing that was both one of his oldest friends and also his favorite means of transportation, Goten was quick to explain both her observations as her voice began to trail off.

"Well, you see, that's 'cause it does have a mind of its own; and riding Kintoun probably isn't bothering you because you see it as a friend, and not a vehicle, like I do. And you probably ate enough of the Nimbus to get some kinda new magic or something. If you really are connected, I'd be kinda jealous. It's taken me years to try and figure out what Kintoun's thinking sometimes…"

Almost on a perfect cue, the magic cloud slowed down once again as Wendy started to think of joke to tease him for once; but Wendy was quick to notice that it was silently, albeit cleverly, disobeying her will at seemingly strategic times, as it had done just now. She knew she was telling it to speed up, and she was getting the hang of multi-tasking midflight; but this magical cloud was playing some other game this whole time.

"It's up to something, you know." She informed her boyfriend amusedly, "I think your mischievous side's tainted our ride a bit over time. For some reason, I get the feeling it thinks like you do."

"Yeah?" Goten smirked playfully as he made no defense, "Well, I can be a real airhead when I wanna. Haven't you heard?"

"I sure have." She held her amused tone and expression as she replied, "But I feel like you're dodging the point for some reason."

"I'm not," He admitted openly, "But the Nimbus has kinda been reacting to what I want this whole time, too. I didn't notice it until a few minutes ago, but he's been kinda acting like my wingman this whole time."

"So you're the one that's been slowing us down this whole time?" She asked curiously.

"Kinda, but not on purpose." Her boyfriend confessed, "He's definitely been listening to you when you're telling him where to go; but he's also been listening our other thoughts too. If either of us thinks about, say… wanting to slow down, maybe to spend some more time alone with the other… Kintoun often decides to try and be helpful when it senses stuff like that; and it really does come in handy when something dangerous or scary happens, too. No getaway ride is better than one that can think and act on its own; and it only ever wants to help out the people that can ride it."

"People that are pure of heart?" She recalled to conclude his explanation, to which she felt him hum and nod a confirmation before she added, "I know that feeling of wanting to be useful all to well… And considering that only so few people, I can tell why it feels like this cloud wants you and I together… I was kinda surprised you called it a 'he', honestly; but that's because I can sense that its scheming feels more like your mother's hopes for us…

"You said the Nimbus is just a smaller piece of one big cloud, right?" She continued while Goten struggled to recover from the surprise of her last remark before that rhetorical question of hers; and little did he know, her next comment was really going to throw him for a loop, "Well, it would make sense that they would both want us together. The big Nimbus Cloud would grow with more pure-hearted people on the planet, and your mother is apparently obsessed with getting more grandchildren; so yeah, I kinda thought you'd call it a 'she', for a moment there…"

Glad that his girlfriend talked as long as she did, Goten took every precious second he could try and get his mind and heartrate both under control, knowing that if Wendy took even one glance towards him she would see that every inch of his skin was steaming scarlet at the moment; and he was already sure she could feel his muscles tensed and his heart thumping against his ribcage.

"Y-Y-Yeah?" He stuttered bashfully, "A-A-And, did her… or Videl… tell you that, like… last night?"

"They didn't have to, Ten-kun." His love told him honestly, "Chi Chi and I didn't actually talk about you like that, she is pretty easy to read. And thanks to my magic, apparently this cloud is as well."

"I'm sorry if they weirded you out, or-" He began to apologize.

"No, you don't have to be sorry, Ten-kun." She just as quickly interrupted him, "This cloud only lets people pure of heart ride it, and its even let us ride it while we were making out, if you recall; and that tells me two things: one, this cloud, probably, really wants us to be together; and two: these feelings we have for each other, and these supposed 'dirty thoughts' we might have about each other… they're not as impure as others make them sound. Being able to ride Kinto'un while thinking them is concrete proof of that."

Turning and leaning her head back slightly, she kissed him on the cheek before finally making her point.

"Thanks to this wonderful little cloud, I've been able to confirm what I had always suspected to be true: that your love for me is pure, and honest; and that all these feelings I have for you, including my love, they're all just as pure, selfless, and innocent as yours is for me… Anything I do with you… I'll do it for you, just as much as I'll do it for myself. Making you feel good… is more than enough to make me feel good."

Wanting to say or do something in response, the demi-Saiyan quickly found himself at a loss for words, partly because he knew anything he would say or do next would come with a very high risk of getting carried away; and exactly on cue, the Flying Nimbus slowly, and almost stealthily, brought itself to a halt, just in time for her to add another dangerously inviting remark.

"Goten, I think you already know this; but I feel like I should've said this last night, anyway… so, I'm just gonna say it now… I've made up my mind, for good. I consider myself lucky to have both you and Romeo in my life, but there is a subtle difference between the two. Being with Romeo, it felt like I had earned it, like it was something I deserved. But with you, I feel so… spoiled… it's a kind of happiness that I really don't deserve; and while I can understand all the decisions I've made involving Romeo, I still can't wrap my head around the all of decisions I've made involving you. Even now, I… I'm always fighting off the urge to…"

"C-Careful, Wendy," He half-gasped, half-growled into her ear to interrupt, lowering his head against hers and tightening his hold around her in a desperate attempt to keep his hands from wandering as he did, "Master Korin's got a cat's senses, y'know… He'll know what we've been up to, if we-"

"Maybe, but honestly, I don't really care." She quickly interrupted him this time, and he could hear her breathing get heavier the more she spoke, "I've seen a lot of your human side; and yesterday, you gave me a glimpse of what's it like to live a normal day in this world… But right now, I kinda wanna know what your Saiyan half is thinking… I wanna know... what it wants from me…"

Making him tense up suddenly once more, Wendy then kissed him again, this time just under his jaw; and she kept her lips locked on that point as she started to tease him. The sky mage hadn't realized it, but the moment the Nimbus came to a stop was also the moment the wind had stopped carrying away his scent with it; and she once again found herself getting quite drunk on it.

"We… Wendy…"

Her name was all Goten could say as he felt Wendy secure a hold on both his hands; and she gently pried them off of her, only to deftly guide them back onto her in separate directions. His right hand was brought up to just below her jawline, where she forced him to start massaging her neck; and his left hand went the other way, with her guiding it halfway between her hip and her left knee, letting him feel the small part of her thigh that was just barely covered by her long white leggings and bright red skirt.

"Your father and brother, they got married like humans do, right?" She recalled with a whisper as soon as her lips came off his now lightly-bruised skin, "They had a whole wedding and everything… But there was something your mother told me last night; and I think it was a hint, or maybe a bit of a warning, actually… She told me that you think more like a Saiyan than Gohan does, and maybe even more than Goku, too…

"Hearing that, it made me wonder… that maybe, you didn't want a wife first… and that maybe, you'd like to have a… a mate... before you'd ever… want a wife. If that is the case, then, I just want you to know… that I'm okay with that. I know that waiting until marriage is a romantic and wonderful test of someone's will and commitment, but I live in, apparently now… two worlds where… weird, crazy, and dangerous things could happen at any time. I'd be an idiot not to live in the moment."

Taking his lower arm by the wrist and pushing his hand under her skirt, she moaned a bit from the feel of him massaging her highly sensitive skin before picking up where she left off.

"Also, I've never been one for religion. I don't put my faith in gods, demons, or any other mystic entity that thinks it should tell me how to live… I put my faith in my friends, and the people I love… If there's anyone I've ever come close to worshipping, or more accurately, completely idolizing… it would be you, Son Goten."

Considering that she felt the space between his legs stiffen well before she was finished speaking, Wendy knew she had him where she wanted; but somehow, the young man was just barely able to keep his head, despite some parts of him having already succumbed to her will. Pulling her off his neck again gently, Goten pulled her back in for another kiss; but to her disappointment, he didn't keep kissing her for as long as she wanted, instead speaking cautiously the moment he backed away again.

"Wendy, I really love you; and yeah, I do hope that one day you'll be both my mate and my wife; but… if I give in to this, right now… and tried to show you how I feel, or everything that I'm thinking… we'd be here all afternoon. Hell, I'll probably need a whole day, just for all the… 'fun stuff'… But we can't do all of it now, okay? We promised Igneel we'd be back on Earthland for dinner, because-"

"Our friends need us, I know." She finished his sentence before leaning all the way back against him and whining, "But ever since I woke up this morning, I've been thinking about nothing but you… Even Eighteen-san read me like a book, and we only just met for all of like, five seconds. She called me out quicker than Videl did, actually. But you know what? The next time one of them teases me like that, I'm gonna say 'so what?' and tell 'em they were exactly right…"

Feeling halfway confident his hands would stay where they were, Wendy let his right hand go as she slowly brought hers back down, and she snuck it down between her and her boyfriend, where it made Goten groan pleasurably as it briefly rubbed against its intended spot.

"Please, Ten-kun," She begged as she rubbed him through the thick fabric of his orange zubon, "If we don't do something right now… I dunno if I'll be able to focus on… well, anything, really…"

Having heard and felt what she just did down to his very core, Goten knew there was no way to completely defuse this situation without leaving her feeling let down. Combining that and the fact that he also wanted to find some release from this tension between them as well, it was all more than enough to make him finally decide to give in.

"And neither would I, honestly…" He admitted as his right hand left her neck only to relocate to the two lower red buttons of her white mandarin-collared blazer, which happened to be the only two of the five buttons that were still fastened; and Wendy moaned in anticipation as she felt both the jacket and the white dress underneath bunch up around the bottom of her chest, which was a side-effect of him pulling her against him in order to get leverage for undoing the buttons with just the one hand, "Every time we get this close, I usually end up thinkin' about this stuff, too. So, yeah, I'll give you what you want, and then some; but I've got just one little condition before we go any further."

"What is it?" She almost panted the question as she felt her jacket come undone, but Goten was quick to answer by surprisingly kissing her the next second. His right hand stayed where it was while his left hand quickly came off her, only to quickly join his right in holding her waist after he deftly pivoted and brought her to lie down underneath him; and Wendy lightly gasped in surprise as soon as she realized she was now staring up into her beloved's eyes. Keeping one hand still on her waist, Goten brought his left hand up to caress her cheek just before moving to kiss her again, speaking just before their lips touched once again.

"If I'm gonna give you want, right here, right now… I'm gonna be the one in charge for it; and we're gonna stop once I say we'll stop, alright? There's a few rivers we can use to get kinda cleaned up after, but we still don't have all the time in the world to do that either, alright?"

Kissing her as soon as she nodded an agreement, Goten let Wendy briefly wrap both hands around his neck while he kept both hands as they were; and they continued tasting each other's mouths for a few seconds before Goten slowly brought both hands to the lower hem of her dress, where he just as slowly pulled it and her jacket up, over, and off of her together. By the time Wendy had lowered her arms and went back to lying down, she ended up smiling with a mix of pride and embarrassment as she watched her boyfriend struggle to even just carefully set her clothes aside, as his eyes had stayed locked onto her finally exposed, c-sized breasts the whole time he tried not to drop her clothes.

"W-Well… I know I joked yesterday…" He gulped as finished laying her top layers just off to her right, "But those really did grow in well, like I said they would…"

"Maybe, but you were just saying that to make me feel better back then." She recalled humorously before pouting a little, "They're still not as big as Lucy's or Erza's, though…"

"They're perfect to me." Her boyfriend blurted aloud, "I could look at them all day, if we had the time."

"Please don't." She requested after giving him another giggle.

"I won't." He assured her before leaning down and briefly kissing her again, "But I will go back to enjoying them in a minute, don't worry…"

Enjoying this new and seductive side of him, the Sky Dragon Slayer's only instinct was to respond by egging him on.

"Well, whatever you're gonna do, Ten-kun, just do it, and do it soon…"

Remembering a certain memory of Trunks' he retained from being fused with him, he quietly celebrated having recalled the once highly-undesired memory before actually trying to put what he had learned into practice.

"You got it." He promised her with a nod before bringing his lips just under her jaw, in the exact spot she'd left a love mark on him, "But first, I gotta get some payback…"

The Sky Maiden gasped as she felt him lightly bite down on her throat, and she moaned a few times as he sucked on her long enough to leave a hickey of his own. After that, his lips backed off with a faint pop before he gave her a goofy grin and teased her aloud.

"See? Now we're both marked as taken, just like you wanted. Now whaddaya say we stop, before we show Dende anymore than he's probably already seen?"

"Awmm…" She half sighed, half moaned in disappointment, "But doesn't he see everything on this planet? He's probably seen a bunch of people naked, and I'm sure he looks away anyway, when he knows he should."

"Gee, you're really worked up, huh?" He observed with honest interest before quickly moving past it, "Well don't worry, you're not the only one that feels like their bursting at their seams. I did give you want you, but I also promised you a little bit more; and I am still a man of my word…"

Goten briefly hesitated in his attempt to please her as he silently tried to memorize her features and spoke to her. Her usual white-as-snow complexion was heavily tinted pink everywhere he looked, and aside from a small stray scar here and there, her skin was as smooth as silk; and it felt even smoother with the small layer of sweat that was building up and giving her a bit of a sheen. He had tasted a bit of it when he marked her already, and though he wasn't going to admit it aloud, he found himself acting on the desire for another sample or two.

Kissing her constantly as he moved his lips further down her neck, doing nothing but kissing until he had reached her cleavage, where his hands had soon quickly joined his mouth in playing with her upper erogenous zones. Wendy's eyes briefly shot open, and she gasped once more before laying her head back and squirming uncontrollably under his touch. Her hands would have fallen to the side as well, if they hadn't managed to somehow hang onto his back as they did; but they would ultimately fall in the end.

While his mouth and left hand continued to entertain her topside, his right hand went lower, with him purposefully running two fingers down the center of her soft and slim, muscular abdomen. How someone could have such soft skin over muscles so firm, he'd never know; but his whole thought on the matter vanished upon hearing her moan again as his two fingers traced around her navel and ventured the rest of the way down to her skirt.

Thinking she could guess where Goten was going with this, Wendy's face began to glow red as she finally realized the reality of just how far they were going; and the only negative thoughts running through her mind was a small amount of bashfulness and a lot more of a fear that this moment wasn't actually happening.

"Ten-kun…" She breathed his name as his hand now slipped under the lower hem of her skirt, where she felt his fingers search for and find the top of her skirt-matching red panties; and she raised her hips slightly between moans to allow him to easily take them off. Having kissed her all the way down to her belly-button as his right hand ventured lower and lower, he pulled both his face and hands away from her once she was free of her underwear; and as she settled back down, he kissed her fervently once her third article of clothing was added to the pile.

Amidst the kiss, his right hand sank back down her body while his left held onto her face and kept it close; and the demi-Saiyan could not contain a grin once she gasped into his mouth, having felt his hand cup her exposed sex from under her skirt.

"Say my name again." He growled at her, surprising even himself with that line; but he was more than happy not to take it back, as it seemed to make his lover more excited once he said it.

"Ten-kun…" She gave in instantly, and he began to rub her again while also kissing her.

"Say it again." He demanded.

"Ten-kun." She sighed, firmly grabbing pieces of yellow cloud as she lost control of most of her limbs.

"Again." He responded, and this time she practically screamed in delight as he finally slipped a finger inside her.

"Ten-kun!"

Seeing her twitching and feeling her spasming around his stray middle finger, her boyfriend knew from Trunks' knowledge what had just occurred; and though he realized he had just done more than enough to fulfill his hastily-made promise, there was one detail from his recollection that he was curious about. Planting his left hand on the little space of cloud between her and her clothes, Goten pulled back and leaned up before making Wendy widen her eyes in surprise as he stuck his finger into his mouth, savoring the taste along with the scent that engulfed the rest of his hand. He wasn't going to say it aloud, more for Trunks' sake than anyone's, but he was actually comparing his girlfriend's his scent and flavor to Lisanna's; and though their scents were very different, their tastes were similar and yet very different at the same time. It was a bizarre observation, but before he could ponder anymore on it, he realized he was already moving his head down in search of another taste; and his lover was more than willing to allow it, as she whimpered anxiously with each kiss he placed before he finally ducked his head under skirt and kissed her at her core. Just as he thought, Wendy definitely tasted better than Lisanna, as far as he was concerned.

"Goten!" She moaned at his curious gesture before suddenly closing her eyes tight and arching her back as she felt him start to lick, suck, and occasionally dip his tongue inside her, "I-I love y-you, Go…ten…"

Hearing her say that, he doubled his effort to please; and the moment he grinned at achieving his goal was the moment he slipped a finger into her again, where he once again felt her spasming dramatically around his digit. Neither of them heard her say his name again, but the point never mattered to them as Goten came out from under her skirt in order to lay just above her, feeling somehow just as light-headed and dizzy as she was.

"Ten-kun," She practically purred while placing her hands on face and neck, "That… That was… amazing…"

"Thanks," He replied honestly, "And I promise this was my first time doing that, so you don't have to ask."

"You're what Cana would call 'a natural' then." She concluded amusedly, and Goten could only chuckle before Wendy used her hands to pull him back down for another kiss; and though it was a bit weird, she enjoyed the taste and smell of her self that was lingering everywhere in his mouth and all over his face. Just that fact was enough to make her want to go further with him, but like all good things, their little bargain here had finally come to its end; and by the time the two realized it, the Flying Nimbus had begun to descend back below the clouds.

"Okay," Goten smiled warmly as he broke off the kiss to turn and lay on his gut beside her, all the while looking over and below the front of the magic cloud as he spoke, "Let's land down by that lake over there, in the middle of that forest; I don't sense any people near it."

Looking back to Wendy as she rolled onto her side to face him, he briefly resumed his role of tour guide.

"One good thing about Korin's Land being sacred: the only people that live there are in one small village and a couple huts just under Master Korin's Tower. The waters across the whole land are the cleanest on Earth, there's even a couple hot springs with some kinda mineral water. It's supposedly good for your skin; but I never tried it myself."

"You sound like you're talking from experience." Wendy observed aloud.

"I am." He readily agreed, "I went to one a bit closer to West City with Trunks once, to get Videl a wedding gift. We fought a snake, filled up a clean jug of water, and flew it all the way back to Mt. Paozu. I dunno if she actually used it or not, but I do know she doesn't complain about getting old like my mom does."

Almost giggling at his trailing remark, Wendy held back a response as the Nimbus finally halted just above the place Goten had designated.

"And, here we are." He said declaratively, "Come on, let's hurry up and get clean, while we know we're alone. Leave the clothes on the cloud."

Knowing he only really had to wash off his hands and face, Goten only took off the Nyoibo, his blue obi, and orange uwagi while Wendy undid her skirt and began to take off her sandals and stockings, which she succeeded in doing quickly with a little help from her beloved; and within a minute, a fully nude Dragon Slayer had dived into the crystal-clear water while the partially nude demi-Saiyan simply leaned over the Nimbus and dipped just the top of his torso into the water. By the time Wendy resurfaced and moved her hair out of her eyes, she could see Goten popping open a Hoi Poi capsule that instantly turned into a small green pencil case that had the Orange Star High logo on the corner; and he was currently digging inside it when he addressed her once again.

"You want a mint?" He offered her helpfully as his fingers found what they were searching for, "Or maybe some kinda hard candy? I'm not in school anymore, so I took all the pens and stuff out ages ago; but I still kept the habit of using this thing to carry some snacks around."

"That's kinda adorable, actually… and very you." She remarked humorously before changing the subject as he popped a small white mint out and into his mouth, "This water feels great by the way. You sure you don't want to join me?"

"I do, but I'm not gonna." He revealed, smirking once her noticed a slight look of disappointment on her face, "We can go skinny-dipping together some other time, but we're kinda running low on time now."

Smiling happily, though with a small sliver of reluctance, she observed something aloud.

"You're a lot more responsible than I remember, you know. I guess that's what it means to grow up, but fourteen-year-old would've definitely lost track of time by now."

"Hm, and who says I didn't?" Goten chuckled thoughtfully before admitting with a hint of pink to his cheeks, "Honestly, I didn't plan on doin' that… second part… to you; but I just, well… it's like you said…"

"Lost track of time?" She finished his sentence before adding, "Well, you can consider me glad you did. It's nice to know somethings never change."

"You still haven't answered my question though," He pointed out before shaking the little white box of mints he held between his fingers, "You want one, or not?"

"I might," She asked before trying her luck, blushing a bit as she did, "But um, you sure you don't want me to, um, you know… return the favor… first?"

"That's a dangerous question, you know." He remarked dismissively before trying to change the subject, "And uh… where did you get that idea from anyway? Was it Cana?"

"Uh-hm," She affirmed with a nod, "But Juvia's partly to blame too. She purposely likes to ask Cana for romantic advice very publicly; and you hear a lot of it if you happen to sit next to Gray."

"And the more drinks they have, the worse it gets, huh?" Goten concluded amusedly, to which Wendy nodded with a matching smirk.

"It sure does." She agreed with a half-giggle, "I was gonna say I don't know how Gray puts up with it, but I think I got a glimpse of just that a few minutes ago… I realize I got a bit pushy there, kinda like Juvia…"

"It's fine, though. I'd bet Gray puts up with it 'cause he secretly likes it." He quickly assured her before once again trying to change the subject, "And I woulda liked it more if we weren't pressed for time, like we still are…"

Wendy always enjoyed the little motions his eyebrows made whenever he spoke with a pointed tone; and she found herself biting her lip once again. The whole expressiveness of his honest and innocent face, combined with the mental images his words were bringing up, it all warmed her to her very core as quickly as it always had; and she could not help but feel a bit let down as she finally gave in, with the whole time she took to decide it occurring just as he shook the mint box a final time.

"So, I'll ask ya again," He offered her with amused suggestiveness, "Would you like a mint?"

About fifteen minutes later, the young, fully-clothed and air-dried couple had landed at the top of Korin's Tower; and they were quickly greeted by both the feline martial arts master and his occasionally-unwanted attendant and roommate, Yajirobe.

"By god, it's a time travelling Goku!" The old white cat joked as Goten and Wendy hopped down between the wide balcony opening together, with the demi-Saiyan speaking first to do the introductions.

"Hey, Master Korin," He replied politely, "Those Senzu Beans did their job like they always do, so thanks for that. And hi to you too, Mr. Yajirobe."

"No problem, kid." Korin purred politely while the squat bandit samurai simply nodded back, "But if you're here looking for more of 'em, you're gonna have to come back in a week or two."

"Oh, we're not here for that, Master," Goten quickly assured him, "I've still got one on me anyway, but we're actually here because Wendy, my girlfriend, had a few questions for you."

"Oh? Is that so?" The staff-wielding feline mused aloud, "And she's your girlfriend, you say? Hmph, not bad, kid… you've got good taste."

Both blushing a bit in response his blunt remark, Wendy eventually stepped a bit forward before bowing slightly and greeting him properly.

"T-Thank you, Korin-Sensei, it's an honor to meet you. My name's Wendy Marvell."

"Oh, and she's polite." Korin observed amusedly, "But then, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considerin' I just saw you hop off the Nimbus. So what kinds a' questions you got for me, little lady?"

"Oh, well," Wendy didn't expect him to just offer her answers so easily, "I was hoping you'd tell me how you managed to grow Senzu Beans in the first place."

"Oh ho… that's certainly a very interesting question." He purred amusedly once again, "And what made you so interested as to ask? You should know I only give this type of info to the people that actually climb this tower…"

"Ten-kun told me you'd say something like that." Wendy admitted in response, "But I promise, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think it was important. And I didn't come here empty handed, anyway. I'm more than happy to trade some information, if you'd like. Even if you couldn't find a use for it yourself, I'm sure you'll find it intriguing, at the very least…"

"I'm sure I would," He agreed casually before adding, "Considering you're clearly some kinda witch from another world or something, you probably know quite a few types of magic I'm not familiar with; but you're still gonna have to give me a better sales pitch if you'd hope to get me to pass along my trade secrets. This kinda stuff is proprietary, y'know?"

Goten was glad that Wendy understood that last word, as he had briefly given her a confused look before she replied to Korin again.

"A-And, I promise I will, but um, can we maybe have this talk without Yajirobe-san here? Ten-kun told me about how much he likes to talk."

"Hey, I've been good so far!" The man whined honestly.

"Until now." Korin quipped dismissively, "Go ahead and scram, Yajirobe. You still had some errands to do, anyway, if I recalled."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… ya old furball." The samurai sighed while waving his words away, and he reached into his pocket for a Hoi Poi case while grumbling as he walked away, "Tch, and once again, the pretty girl wants nothin' to do with me…"

Hearing Yajirobe's capsule pop and changing into a black jetcar behind them, Wendy waited to hear the vehicle start up and fly off before she spoke again.

"So, it's like I hinted at earlier: I can't show you the magic directly, it's just not in my ability; but I can tell you all about it. The First Master of my guild gave me permission to tell you about it. It's called Fairy Heart; and it connects everyone in the guild by their guildmark, even if they go all the way to another universe, even… And, for the sake of transparency… through three of the Saiyans, she's been watching all the important people on this planet already."

"So someone from a whole other universe's been spying on us, huh?" The feline wondered amusedly, "Funny, I didn't think I was all that important."

"That's not true, Master Korin," Goten chimed in helpfully, "You've done a lot for this world, and you've helped people save it a dozen times over, even if you didn't do any fighting yourself."

"And my point is," Wendy took over after giving her boyfriend a grateful glance, "My First Master Mavis is very interested in these magic beans you grow; and as one of only two of my guild's healers, I can totally understand why she would be. With the ability to grow that powerful of a magic item, I could save so many more lives on the battlefield…"

"Or you could perpetuate the conflict, if you hadn't thought of that." The cat interrupted pointedly, "If you handed this out to wounded soldiers in a battle, whaddaya think they're gonna do once they're wounds can be healed like that? They'll go back to fighting, and they'll be even more reckless the second time around. I give these things out in a handful to a few good-hearted warriors I believe in. How many people are in this guild of yours? Tens? Hundreds?"

"Master Mavis and I would be the only ones who know." Wendy assured him, "And whatever setup is required, it won't be any larger scale than whatever setup you have yourself, I promise. I only plan on using your Senzu Beans in an emergency, just like Ten-kun has."

"You really can trust them, Master Korin." Goten once again tried to help, "The guild's got a lot of people, but they're all really good people; and there's not a single one of them that'd betray the guild, or its friends. And if it helps, I can leave for this conversation, too…"

Tapping his foot to show his internal debate, Korin finally decided to at least entertain Wendy's offer a bit more.

"Alright fine, we can have a little chat if you'd like. But your boyfriend's gotta beat it, and I still might not tell ya anything, if I don't hear something that interests me, ya got it?"

"I do, Korin-Sensei, and thank you." She replied before looking to Goten reluctantly.

"It's cool," He reassured her quickly, "I wouldn't really understand much of what you guys'll be talking about anyway. I'm gonna fly on up and wait for you with Dende, so you go ahead and chat as long as you need to; and I'll be waiting for you there when you're done."

"Thanks, Ten-kun." She smiled warmly, realizing how good it was to have her favorite partner and guildmate working with her again, "I'll see you real soon."

"Bleh, get a room, why don't ya?" Korin groaned playfully, but Goten just ignored him before kissing Wendy goodbye and taking off without the Nimbus; and as soon as the young man had ascended out of earshot, the old martial arts master questioned his curious guest once again.

"So, little Miss Marvell, what all did ya wanna know?"

Meanwhile, on Earthland…

In the commander's tent of the Alvarez Empire's Seven-Fiore border encampment, Invel Yura was impatiently tapping a gilded pen against the top of his luxurious, dark wooden desk by the time someone of some use had finally reappeared, bringing him news he had already assumed would be negative.

"Jacob, surprise me." He questioned his fellow Shield as the man became visible before him, "Tell me you've found him, like I'm sure you haven't."

"Sorry, Invel," the assassin answered plainly, "But I'm afraid our dear Larcade might've gone and bitten off more than he could chew."

"And you're sure you'd know nothing more on the matter?" The Winter General inquired pointedly as he stood up from behind his desk, "You are our Emperor's leading expert in assassination and mysterious disappearances, after all…"

"Are you accusing me of something, Invel?" Lessio noted with a hint of annoyance, "Rest assured, you glorified secretary, I wouldn't stoop so low as to attempt a petty betrayal so late in the game; and we are nearing the endgame, if you haven't realized it yet. If anyone's responsible for Larcade's disappearance, I'd surmise it to be this other Acnologia. With Larcade's love to talk, he could've easily said something to incur that dark god's wrath."

"A convenient patsy to be sure," an annoyed Invel noted aloud with quick adjustment of his glasses, "But a valid suspect nonetheless… It's true that we must be careful. Everything we've worked so hard to accomplish is one the verge of collapsing; and it will all come undone if we're not careful with how we address this dilemma."

"I agree." The skull-tattooed man replied with calm curiosity, "So, what's our next move? Irene and August would certainly be more effective than Larcade was…"

"Those two have their own agendas, even though only one of them could admit it." Invel reminded him coldly, "I'll play them suggestively, as I always have. You just worry about finding me that boy before it's too late."

"About that," Jacob recalled informatively, "The kid you're looking for is in Magnolia right now. He and his usual partner were doing some odd jobs for the locals last night. It's like I said, Irene and August could secure both him and the true prize before our mutual problem would notice. You take the boy, and our Emperor takes the prize; and we can all go back to the days where things were much more simple. It is quite the wonderful concept, in my humble opinion."

"Yes, your 'opinion' has certainly been registered." The Winter General replied with his back turned his ally, "But I will handle the boy on my own. By the time I'm done with him, he'll be practically begging to join us. Find Irene and send her this message for me: tell her I'd like to speak in person, and soon. The life of our Lord Emperor depends on it."

"Right away, your highness." The assassin joked before vanishing the next second, "Make sure you give the new recruit my best, when you see him."

Letting his fellow Shield leave while being ignorant of his true schemes, Invel waited with bated breath for the moment he expected to happen at any instant, for the moment their true foe would target him. And just when he started to put that sense of paranoia aside, he heard it: the Dark God Edo had begun to laugh as he slowly appeared from a shadow behind him.

"Well, so you are the one behind this little insurrection." That pale skinned immortal practically hummed with amusement, "I always knew Irene, Larcade, or August would do something stupid and selfish; but you, well… I had a higher opinion of you, if I'm being honest. We are, after all, looking for the same person right now."

"For the same reasons, I doubt." Invel quipped with dismissive defiance.

"Oh, you'd be quite surprised." Edo retorted with a chuckle before getting slightly distracted, "This is a nice tent by the way, very spacious. And is that a real piano, like one you can play? I'm sure you just drag it around for looks though… With as much time as you spend with your nose up Zeref's ass, I doubt you'd ever have learned how to properly play."

At first running his right hand's fingertips across the keys on the right playfully, Edo soon dragged them across notes until he whipped his hand across them in a flash, slashing through the piano beyond the halfway point as he did.

"Oops," He remarked innocently as half the piano's keys were either halved and tossed aside or seemingly erased completely from existence, "It looks like I got a bit carried away."

The dark being had swiped through the piano so finely that it was still holding its shape, despite the fact that a good chunk of upper left corner was no longer physically connected to the rest; and it didn't fall off until Edo tapped his foot impatiently, after which it slid off and caused the piano to collapse on itself with a musical crash.

"But now you see," Edo continued as he turned back to face Invel with a satisfied smile and approached him, "This is what happens when I play with toys that are simply too… fragile… to withstand me. Tell me, Invel, the Winter Puppet, in whose hands would you prefer your strings? The foolish idealist, whose best offer he'll give you is oblivion; or would you rather it be me, a Dark God that could give you all you've ever wanted, and then some?"

"What I want is irrelevant, Black Dragon of Edolas," The ice mage argued pointedly, "I swore to Lord Zeref that I would serve him, and serve him I shall. I will defend him against all his enemies, and that list most definitely includes you."

"Aw, it's so nice to know when you're appreciated." Edo purred sarcastically, "Now if only one of you idiots would ever decipher my intentions before I have to fully exposit them, I could die happy."

Using the shadows on the floor around them deftly, Edo grabbed two chairs by base of their legs and dragged them between himself and his current hostage without moving a muscle; and he smiled with apparent pleasantness as leant against the back of his chair with one hand resting atop it.

"Please, sit." He ordered politely, to which Invel silently obeyed before Edo slowly sat down a few feet across from him, speaking again only after the Winter General had been fully seated, "Okay, now that I have your full attention… I'd like to discuss your plan to save your Emperor, and how I'd like to assist in the matter. I've no intention to allow him to use Fairy Heart; but other than that, his state of existence is irrelevant to the rest of my plans. If anything, his living is rather convenient for me, as my God Slayers can act with impunity under the cover or your banners."

"So you're saying you want to help me train the boy, and to turn him over to our cause…"

"Exactly!" Edo quietly cheered as he wiggled in his seat, "You see, while you've targeted him; I've also targeted his beloved along with him, because I've got much better insight than you ever could."

Enjoying the reluctantly curious glance that briefly appeared across the Spriggan Shield's face, Edo smirked before he continued.

"Quite a time ago, I planted the seeds for this certain contingency involving those two; and what you need to know… is that our best move will be to turn the one he loves most to our cause first, and then the three of us will convince him to ally himself with Zeref, together. Trust me, I've seen what happens if you try this endeavor on your own; and I assure you, this is the only way you will ever succeed."

Meanwhile, at The Fairy Tail Guild Hall…

Levy McGarden was still pouring over some of the notes he kept from her conversation with Hibiki Lates when she just barely heard someone trying to sneak through the Data Storage Room's front door; and when she quickly turned to see who it was, she sighed with relief to see it was only Gajeel Redfox, who was wearing this cute face she thought resembled that of a kid getting caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"Oh, thank god, it's just you."

"Whaddaya mean, 'just me'?" The Iron Dragon Slayer quipped teasingly, "Ain't I enough for ya?"

"That's not what I meant, Gajeel." She assured him as she turned back in an attempt to return to her work, "Between you and this kid we'll be having in a few months, I've got barely enough energy to do all this work as it is."

"I'm sorry," He apologized honestly, prompting her to stop her work again as he did, "If there's anything I can do to help with the research or something, I'd love to help ya, Lev."

"Thanks, but I don't need any errands run at the moment, I don't think." She answered honestly after turning in her seat to face him again, "I've hit dead ends in regard to both Edo and interstellar travel, because as it turns out, most people on our world know nothing about either any old gods, or of the other worlds that exist outside of our own. Not even Hibiki could find any scrap of info on gods like Edo and Iga, and he couldn't find any records of wizards trying to go to space either, let alone even consider the concept of reaching another universe…"

"I love it when ya talk nerdy to me." Gajeel deadpanned amusedly, and he grinned to see her blush slightly before turning back away and pouting a bit.

"Now's not the time for that, Gajeel. If we're gonna get into another fight with Edo, his goons, or his creepy little monsters again, we're gonna need to find better ways to fight them; or else the next time will just be a repeat of the night before… We almost died, Gajeel; and you almost got taken control of. Again. I've gotta find some way to beat these guys, and it can't just trust that some god is just gonna give us all the answers for free, no matter how nice he acts."

Sighing dejectedly after reading her expression, Gajeel finally crossed the distance between them, speaking as he did.

"Geez, my cynical side sure has rubbed off on ya. Usually you'd be more grateful to the guy that saved our asses."

"I'm grateful that Lisanna saved our butts." She told him pointedly, though she was still looking at her notes atop the table before her as she did, "And I am aware of Iga's involvement in it, but I'm only trusting him because her and Trunks seem to trust him. I don't know why I don't really trust him, but I do know that we shouldn't be so quick to rely on someone with such a convenient, and incredibly powerful, magic. That guy could be spying on us right now, and we'd have no clue!"

"Easy, shorty, let's not get too worked up now," The metal mage replied as he quickly placed his hands on her shoulders to help calm her and keep her from kicking around in her seat, as she tended to do just that when she got angry enough, "Things might be kinda rough now, but they'll get better."

"You say that so confidently…" She quietly whined, though enjoying the feel of his hands atop her shoulders softened her tone a bit.

"Well yeah, someone's gotta." He remarked considerately, quietly trying to decide to either sit next to her or to just remain as he was, with his hands gently massaging her shoulders, "But I gotta admit, that new house of ours feels pretty empty right now, especially that king-sized bed we bought… It's a shame we spent so much money on it, considerin' we're only using half of it, lately…"

"I get the hint, Gajeel, but we don't really have time for that." The solid script mage restated seriously, "I can rest after I've figured out something that'll help us. We know of some weaknesses that Edo has, right? Like Master Mavis' magic, or Sting Eucliffe's… Maybe if we could find some way to weaponize them, or at least focus them into something… Maybe then we could use that to protect people, like maybe at the next time one of those jerks try taking control of someone… And while we're at it, maybe we could design some kinda early-warning system, something that'd detect Edo's dark magic, or maybe even Iga's-"

"Lev, you're doing that thing again." He cut her off helpfully, this time sitting in the seat to her left as he realized a good shoulder rub wasn't going to be enough to calm her, "Just relax and take a breath, alright? Even Lily's with me on this one, and you know how serious he is about being the overprotective uncle. But even he knows that there's no point in getting stressed out over things we can't control."

"I know that," Levy insisted tiredly, "But what if there is something involving Edo we could control? The only way we'd find it out is to well, find out…"

"Yeah, but then we'd have to test your theory too, wouldn't we?" Her fiancé replied thoughtfully, "And in this case, the only way to test whatever we tried, would be to test it on Edo, or one of his stooges…"

"Meaning by rushing my end of the plan, I might risk hurrying someone else off to their death?"

"You said it, not me. I like the idea of buildin' some kinda defense system or something; and we do know the Lumen is already strong enough to keep Edo away, which is helpful… It's kept him outta the guild this whole time… To be honest: I just talked with the First Master, and it sounded like she had some kinda plan to keep people safe outside the guild."

"She does?" the bluenette perked up immediately, "What is it? And didn't she tell me?"

"Well, that's kinda why I'm here, actually…" Gajeel admitted with a vaguely bashful expression, "Mavis said she won't let you in on anymore of our plans until you finally get some sleep. You need to take good care of yourself Lev, and it's seriously more important than ever. I joked about our bed getting cold, but I'm actually not letting you leave this guild until Mavis' plans work out."

"Gajeel-"

"And I'm not having any arguin' about it today. I get why you wanna stay up so bad, and I've let you have your way for this long, at the risk of pissing off Jet and Droy even more than they are… but you're only gonna keep hitting dead-ends if you don't stop and take a step back."

Knowing he was right, but still unwilling to admit it, Levy could only sigh in defeat as she finally set down her pen.

"Hah… You're right, and I know it… Claim I blame this on a mood-swing and say we just move past it?"

"Works for me," Gajeel smirked at her attempt to amuse him, "But only if ya go to the Recovery Room and get some rest. I don't hear you say I'm right very often, you know… so-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll threaten to bring it up any time we argue, like you always do…"

"You know me so well, shorty."

Seeing Gajeel lean in to kiss her, Levy ultimately found herself allowing it; and by the time they both started to enjoy it, they were interrupted by Gray Fullbuster, who cleared his throat awkwardly to announce the fact that he and Juvia Lockser had entered the room. And considering the door was completely closed behind them, the two could only infer the ice/water duo had likely been standing there for quite some time.

"So uh, I know you guys are getting' married and all," The ice mage complained quietly while looking away from everyone, and particularly Juvia, as he spoke, "But maybe you guys could wait to do that stuff behind your own closed doors, and not the guild's?"

Looking skeptically at Juvia, who was currently steaming red and clinging to Gray with his left elbow being practically engulfed in her cleavage, Gajeel couldn't help but try to deflect this conversation onto them.

"Says the two havin' their own little peep-show in the corner there. Why didn't ya say you were in the room sooner, if ya didn't wanna see nothin'?"

"That's a double-negative, Gajeel." Levy chimed in annoyedly.

"Eh," He shrugged in response, "He knows what I meant."

"I wasn't trying to," Gray told him honestly, "You didn't hear us come in, so we just let you go on for a bit. It was Juvia that wanted to watch you guys… She put a hand over my mouth the moment you two started flirting."

"Juvia regrets nothing!" She cheered bubbly, "Gajeel-kun looks so cute and adorable when he's with his future bride, it makes me imagine my own future with Gray-sama!"

"We're not even dating, Juvia!" Her partner reminded her as he once again failed to pry her off him.

"Hmhm," Levy giggled upon seeing Gray's face had slightly reddened as he argued, "I gotta admit, you two would make some pretty cute babies together."

Trying to stop himself both from choking on air and having a nosebleed, Gray was quick to recover his bearings unlike Juvia, who only gasped 'Juvin!' before she lost control of her magic and became amorphous, practically waving off his arm as she drifted up like a flag in the wind.

"Gah! Don't encourage her!" Gray gasped at the same moment Juvia had, quickly turning to his partner next as he added, "And you, what the hell are you doing? Calm down, before I hafta freeze you again."

"Aw, but Juvia loves getting frozen by Gray-sama!" She whined as she continued her cartoonish behavior, "The feel of his magic rushing over me is just as good as his hands, touching m-"

"Okay, that's enough." Gray cut her off before quickly freezing her solid, and he carefully slipped his arm out of her grip as he carefully set her to stand upright, "Sorry about that, guys, we really did come here to talk about something important; but it can wait until you guys catch up on your sleep. First Master wanted us to check on you two anyway…"

"Thank you, Gray," Levy replied politely while Gajeel quietly and begrudgingly showed his thanks with a nod, "You're concern is appreciated. And I'll make sure to put your request at the top of the list, once I get my rest; but are you sure you don't wanna tell me now, while you've got me?"

"Nah," He feigned dismissiveness for her sake, "Like I said, its not important enough to keep you up. And you have been up way too long as it is…"

"Alright, I get the point. Master Mavis is gonna send the whole guild into here eventually…" Levy replied with calm irritation as she reluctantly left her seat, "C'mon, Gajeel, let's go before Master Makarov comes in here and punishes us or something…"

"Yeah, that would be bad…" Her lover agreed, and he was quick to follow her out their chairs; and he quickly told them 'see ya later!' as he passed them, with the expecting couple taking only the next couple seconds to walk through and close the door behind them.

Sighing as soon as they were alone, Gray finally undid his magic, allowing a still fully conscious Juvia to pop out of the self-shattering and vanishing blue ice.

"Jeez, you're a real handful, you know that? If you had let me stop them earlier, we might've had time to bounce a few ideas off them; but you just had to go and make things weird, forcing me to act nice to save face."

"I'm sorry, but Juvia can't handle it sometimes…" She pouted honestly, "Even now, your consideration for others makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside…"

"Alright, I get the point." He accepted her apology with a quick attempt to change the subject, "Now how about we go and talk with Kinana? We can get something to eat, and ask her about some job requests, while we're at it."

"It sounds like a wonderful plan for the day." Juvia agreed pleasantly, holding herself in a desperate attempt to keep her hands off him as she did; and seeing her reaction to his casual invitation made him shake his head dejectedly as he replied, starting to lead her out the room as he spoke.

"Juvia, you're hopeless… but at least you're the good kinda hopeless. Any other way, and maybe I wouldn't have tolerated it; but you're alright… as you are."

Stopping behind him just for a moment, looking like a deer in headlights, the water mage took that moment to process his words before realizing he was flirting with her yet again; and by the time the dots connected in her mind, she was leaping for joy as she latched onto his neck from behind.

"Oh, Gray-sama, I love you too!"

About thirty-five minutes later, the Ice Devil Slayer and his aquatic partner were leaving the guild on another monster hunt; and though things seemed to be going nicely, the two could not stop arguing for the next ten minutes as they walked.

"I'm still serious about this Juvia," Gray said as they cut through Magnolia's Southgate Park as a shortcut on their way out of town, "You might not like it, but everyone would be able to relax a whole lot more if you actually listened to me and just stayed at the guild."

"You can tell Juvia that all you want, Gray-sama," She countered dismissively once more, with what frustrating him more was how happy she sounded when she said it, "But as long as we're worried about Edo attacking, she is never letting you out of her sight."

About to argue with her some more on the matter, the ice wizard ultimately found himself interrupted by the very thing he was just arguing about.

"And quite the convenient decision that was…" they both froze instantly with chills down their spines as they recognized Edo-Acnologia's voice, "For me, at least."

"Edo!" They both shouted together, planning to immediately move to an attack formation when they suddenly realized that neither of them were able to move; and try as they might, they remained locked in their surprised stances the entire time Edo and his new cohort Invel appeared before them through a shadow on a nearby tree.

"Oh, it's such a shame, always having to be greeted like this." The dark immortal pouted as he casually strolled between the pair of Fairy Tail wizards, "But then again, I suppose I should expect it. What, with my friends trying to kill your friends, and your friends trying to kill mine in return, I can understand the sheer amount of hostility that's compiled here; but I'm sure you'd at least agree with me when I say that it's quite the vicious circle, isn't it?"

Although the only parts of their bodies they could move were their mouths, the two were still completely silent from the shock of noticing that both of their bodies had begun to change color. In almost an instant, the surfaces of their pale-skinned complexions rapidly became deep shades of jet black. Gray recognized the feeling of his Ice Devil magic giving off an evaporating aura that unwillingly rose off him; and Juvia tried to stifle a cry as she felt a terribly familiar sense of searing pain.

"And speaking of vicious circles…" Edo added as he quietly gestured for The Winter General to step closer, "I was hoping that by coming here, I'd be able to put an end to this little circle we've got going between us."

Wondering what he meant by that exactly, Gray wanted to ask for a clarification, but he also refused to entertain Edo anymore than he had to. In sensing that hesitation, Invel decided to speak up.

"You may be wondering why this Dark God can control not just your partner, so allow me to explain. You may not have realized it yet, but your Devil Slaying powers are meant for great things; such that destroying E.N.D. would only be the tip of the iceberg…"

"You know where E.N.D. is?" Gray couldn't contain his curiosity, "Or who is he is?"

"Mhmm," Edo purred consideringly as he ultimately decided to reveal just a hint of information, "Yes, and yes; but let's be honest, it'd be no fun if I just handed you everything on a silver platter… What we're offering you is pretty generous enough, so I'd recommend you listen to this man's pitch."

Realizing he had no choice but to humor them, Gray sighed in defeat.

"Alright, fine. But you better be quick about this, 'cause there's a good chance we'll bump into someone from the guild out here."

"I've always admired your fortitude, Mr. Fullbuster," Edo taunted him back, "But your faith in your guild is misplaced. In fact, faith is almost always misplaced the moment you put it into something. Faith in oneself, however, that's the only one you can control. You're quite lucky you have someone who's so in sync with you, even when you're not always of one mind…"

"And we can promise we won't threaten her," Invel added next, "As long as you calmly listen to what he have to say, that is."

Sensing Gray had finally relaxed, Edo released both him and Juvia, who gasped in immense relief as she hunched over and tried to stop tears from coming out of her eyes.

"Before you ask," The Winter General opened their explanation, "The Devil Slayer Magic your father gifted you is the reason Lord Edo can control you. That dark power is highly corruptive in nature, as I'm sure you're aware. The more you use it, the more one is driven insane."

"Unless you've got a god like me around," Edo chimed in briefly, "I can suppress that madness, you see. I might even be able to erase it completely, if I had your full cooperation. The process is so invasive that any resistance during could lead to irreparable damage to various systems throughout your body. You would need to have the utmost faith in me for it to work smoothly."

"If you think I'm gonna kiss your ass just to get the easy way out," Gray argued defiantly, "You got another thing comin', pal."

"Oh, don't worry," Edo assured him, "I have no intention of us getting that well acquainted at any time soon. Just listen to my favorite general here, and I'm sure you'll start to understand why we're here."

"We're here because this world demands it." Invel revealed gravely after readjusting his glasses, "It was destiny that gave you your powers, and you both were fated for the roles you shall play. You as the one who defeats E.N.D., and your lover, as a God Slayer, one who will help free this world from its delusions of false hope."

"You mean Gohan." Gray recalled quickly as he looked to Edo, "You're going to use Juvia to try and kill Gohan like you did before."

"Incorrect, my dear devil-killer," The cursed god hummed amusedly, "There's no way I'd have the time to train Juvia up to his level. Hell, its been a nightmare trying to keep up with that beast in my own right… No, Juvia won't be training to kill Gohan; she'll be training to kill Igneel's favorite student, Trunks. And maybe Gohan's little brother too, if he happens to get in the way."

"You say that so confidently," Gray observed annoyedly, "But you do realize that even with Juvia, there'd only be you and three God-Slayers? You're not gonna be able to get Orga back, you know…"

"Don't you worry about Orga, my friend." Edo replied once again, "He'll come back around to our side eventually. And if there's some shocking twist of fate where he doesn't, there's still another name or two that comes to mind, if I recall. There aren't only the four elements, after all… By the time I'll do battle with Gohan, I aim to have all the existing God Slayers under my command. But you know what would help me sleep at night, just a little bit better? It would be having a Demon-killer around as well, to help keep the other fools obeying me in check, much like Mard Geer used your father to keep 'his' demons in line as well…"

"But I don't understand," Gray replied honestly, "There aren't many demons on the Spriggan Twelve, are there?"

"Oh, there's one or two of them." Edo was being purposely vague, and Gray hated it, "But your bigger concern will be the new ones I make."

"New ones?" Juvia questioned, having finally got her breath back under control, "So you also know how to make demons, like Zeref has?"

"Lord Edo offered an increase in power for anyone willing to accept a lacrima implantation," Invel explained matter-of-factly, "What they don't realize, however, is that there is no lacrima involved in the process. Lord Edo is going to kill them, and then he will bring them back as demons of his own design."

"They will look like themselves in every way," Edo continued proudly, "But on the inside, they'll be packing so much power that they'll punch a hole straight through that smug idiot Igneel's chest the moment he gets close."

"So that's what you want from me, huh? To be you're executioner? First I kill E.N.D., and then I help you keep your fresh batch of freaks in check?"

"To a dark god, an executioner is more like a priest." Invel pointed out bluntly, "And since we're fortunate enough that Lord Edo doesn't require such foolish worship, your explicit loyalty in the matter is not required. Your motivations are irrelevant, as long you comply."

"You and Juvia could have a happy life together, Gray." Edo added enticingly, "On your current path, the cycle of violence these dark and light guilds maintain, it… it's gonna get you both killed. I've seen your future up to a point where your situation will become so dire and desperate that you will both attempt suicide together."

"Liar!" Juvia argued accusatorially, "Gray-sama would never-"

"He would, and you know it." The Shadow immortal interrupted her quickly, "Why do you think he's finally entertained your advances, and yet never gone the full way, either? It's because he's a man capable of accepting his reality, and he knows that just like your love for him, his fate is also inevitable; and nearly unstoppable at that. He may not have told you, but once he kills E.N.D., the next step in his current plan is to cast a higher level of the Iced Shell on Zeref. It not only will kill him, but it will also erase his very existence from all time and space. Your memories of him will vanish like they never happened at all; and the 'you' that you are now, it'll be gone right along with them…"

Not wanting to believe him, yet sensing what he said to be true, Juvia could only look to her partner questioningly while Edo barely contained a chuckle at their expense.

"G-Gray-sama," She uttered his name with desperate hopefulness, "Tell Juvia he's lying. Tell her you'd never do such a thing… You promised everyone you wouldn't, remember?"

"Ah, but that's the thing, Juvia," Edo reminded her amusedly upon seeing Gray look away in shame, "If his spell erases all memories of him, that promise would no longer exist. The ability to just vanish in such a way, it's quite liberating, if you ask me. The only things Gray can't take back would be anything he had physically affected. Memory loss or no, he wouldn't be able to take back being your first, or any children he'd risk leaving behind… That's likely why, despite the fact that he loves you just as much as you love him, he'll never fully reciprocate your feelings."

Having already been on the verge of tears the moment Gray looked away from her, Juvia was completely unable to contain them the moment Edo called her partner out. This was not how she wanted Gray to admit his feelings for her; but as Gray's fist clenched, she noticed how he failed to deny any of the dark being's words as he finally replied to the immortal.

"And so what?" He questioned bitterly, "You want me to betray the guild again, and this time, for good? And for what? More power and selfish desires? Do you think I could really with myself if I betrayed my whole family for just the one… friend…? Don't be ridiculous."

"You're the only here that's being absurd." Invel quipped calmly, "Even now, you still lie to yourself as you deny our words."

"What we're offering here isn't just a chance to save yourselves." Edo added next, speaking the plainest he had in quite some time, "We're offering you a chance to minimize losses on your current side as well. Our guests from Universe Seven have to go, that's just unavoidable; and so must Igneel, along with anyone else that's taken his power inside themselves… But your guild, on its own, is no threat to me. Help us kill the aliens, E.N.D., and destroy Igneel quickly; and you may even get to go back to the guild, before too much damage has been done. I can manage both Zeref and this world's version of myself rather easily, but how far I let them go… That'll be your decision."

"To make things simple," Invel once again put it bluntly, "You two can either reject our offer and accept your miserable fates as we laid them out, or… You could accept our invitation, become one of The Twelve, and one of the God Slayers, discover your true potentials, and live on in the age of glory to come after."

"This world will know true peace once I've succeeded." Edo joined in, "And what's more: you and Juvia can finally be honest with each other. I never understood those feelings until recently; and though I can't feel them myself, I've seen first hand how having those connections can be so… I wanna say useful, but there's something else to it, too… Maybe you'd know it better than me, but that's why I'm still shocked you haven't accepted this offer yet. Don't you want a life with her, Gray? Once you drive yourself to madness, destroying E.N.D. like your father asked… wouldn't it be so relieving to know you'll have a way back to her? After your fated foe is defeated, I will heal you, I swear it; and as long as you fight beside me after, I will do everything in my power to protect you both. Of all the things people could call me an evil bastard for, lying… and pointless murder… those two are not on the list."

"Gray," Juvia said next, instantly getting his attention by withholding the usual honorific as she did, "W-Wha… What should we do? If we say no, they might just take us with them anyway… And what they're offering…"

"It's the easy way out." Gray restated forcefully, staring directly at Edo as he replied, "It may sound nice, but this creep never lies because he only bends the truth… he's keeping things from us, and I imagine they're some pretty important details."

"A teacher doesn't cover the whole course in one day, you know." Edo quipped tauntingly, "It usually takes a semester or two… Just ask your First master. I'm sure she knows who E.N.D. is by now; and yet, she hasn't broken the news to you at all, has she?"

"Master Mavis knows who E.N.D. is?" The ice mage questioned him with wide-eyed shock, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Don't sweat the little things, Gray-darling." Edo replied dismissively as he decided to try the peaceful approach just one more time, "Worry about your bigger concerns, like what'll happen if you both reject this offer we've so kindly given."

"If you hurt Juvia any more, I'll never do anything for you ever again!" The Ice Make mage shouted a bit louder than he meant to.

"Oh?" Edo replied curiously, "And does that mean you will cooperate, as long as she remains unharmed?"

A long silence fell over them, and only the leaves rustling in the wind could be heard for a few seconds until Juvia looked to Gray, wondering what he could possibly be thinking.

"G-Gray… sama? What are we… going to do?"

Still unable to make the decision for either of them, Gray hesitated long enough for Edo to speak again, who stepped a bit closer to the Fairy Tail duo as he did.

"Do the one thing you can do, Gray. If you want Juvia to endure this painlessly, convince her to accept my power. It's the only way to avoid the pain of her transformation. You don't even have to accept all the other terms to our conditions yet. Just help her get past the change; and you two will have the ability to go wherever you want, save for Fairy Tail. Finish this, go somewhere safe, mull this over a couple days, and we'll come back to you eventually, if you haven't come to accept our offer before that, that is…"

Waving a hand lazily, Edo reopened the shadow along the tree he and Invel emerged from, instructing his subordinate as he did.

"Come, Invel, we've done all we need to here." He said, having the Winter General go through before him as he turned around at the last second to address the two wizards one more time, "Oh, and Gray, if I were you, I'd get to talking her into all this quick, because that change in form is about to happen right about… now."

Almost before the dark god had finished speaking, Juvia's breath hitched loudly as she felt the burning sensation starting to build up again; and as Gray turned back to Juvia to take her into his arms and comfort her, Edo laughed quite loudly in response.

"Ha, what a lovely couple! Goodbye for now, Mr. and Mrs. Fullbuster!" He mocked them as he strolled through his portal, lazily waving his hand at them as he did, "I'll see you both very soon…"

As soon as Edo's portal vanished, Gray carefully set Juvia down onto the grass as she started to whimper in pain.

"Help me, Gray-sama," She pleaded weakly as the pain slowly intensified, "I know what will stop this, but Juvia's… Juvia's afraid to give Edo what he wants. She wants to stay as this Juvia, because this is the Juvia that Gray-sama loves…"

"N-No, you're wrong!" He told her in a bit of a panic, "It doesn't matter what kinda person you are! I love your dark side, just as much as I love the person you've become! It's all a part of you, even if you've put it all behind you; but I accept that Juvia, because all the bad things you've done eventually led you to me!"

"B-But, but Gray-sama…" She wondered aloud, gasping in the middle of her sentence before biting back and pained scream and continuing, "I- ah, ha- I don't want to kill our friends… He's gonna make me… And Gohan, he… he's got a wife, and a daughter…"

Knowing she was right and hating that he was about to try convincing her otherwise, Gray was quickly relieved to hear another portal opening beside them, only this time with it appearing from the light reflecting off a tree opposite the one Edo departed from.

"Damn, I was too late!" They heard Sting Eucliffe swear as he leapt out the white rift, quickly scanning his surroundings as he did, "I was hoping to test that creep's strength out for myself!"

"Trust me, you really wouldn't wanna do that." Gray countered to get his attention before ordering the guild master with clear desperation, "Now hurry up and help me save her, please! You've got magic that'll weaken Edo's right? Do something with it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm already on it." The blonde assured him with stifled annoyance, as he had already been charging his magic to do exactly what Gray was demanding, "Now let go of her and back up a bit. I don't know how much I can do for her myself, but I think I can suppress Edo's power longer enough to get her someplace safe."

"That's it?" Gray questioned ungratefully, "But what about Orga? You guys fixed him, didn't you?!"

"Me and Wendy fixed him together!" The White Dragon Slayer informed him argumentatively as soon as he had placed his right hand just over Juvia's abdomen, "She'll be back on Earthland soon, but I'm gonna take Juvia to the Sanctuary first. Master Igneel might be able to do something for her himself; and if not, he'll be able to help us buy some more time, at least."

Before Gray or Juvia could consent to her being moved, more people finally arrived onto the scene, with this time it being Erza Scarlet and her unofficial boyfriend Jellal Fernandez.

"Juvia! Gray!" The Knight shouted worriedly as she dashed towards them, with Jellal right on her heels as she moved; and they both quickly joined Gray in huddling over Juvia, "What's happening?! Is this Edo trying to control her again?"

Nodding numbly, Gray didn't have to say much to convey all the emotions his face currently blended together; and despite being one of his oldest friends, Erza froze with even more concern, realizing she had never seen him look this way. At first, he appeared panicked and you could see his was visibly calming, albeit not for very good reasons. One look in his watery eyes told her all she needed to know; because as soon as he stepped back a bit and wiped the tears out of his eyes, she noticed that nothing seemed to replace them. And by nothing, she meant nothing. Gray didn't look afraid, angry, guilty, or any of the negative emotions you'd expect right now; but he also didn't look happy either. There was no sense of relief, hope, or gratitude, and he barely even acknowledged Erza unless she happened to say something of interest to him.

"It is," Was all the ice mage said in response before ordering their first rescuer around again, "Now Sting, take us to Iga, now!"

"I'm trying!" Sting informed him annoyedly, "But it's kinda hard to keep Edo's magic suppressed and to do the whole teleporting trick at the same time!"

"Then just let her go for a second, and make the portal!" Gray insisted before moving to crouch down beside his partner's left and taking her hand, "Juvia, this is gonna hurt for just a little bit longer, but then we're gonna get you to safety, alright?"

Nodding agreeably, Juvia forced herself to smile as she spoke up.

"Juvia will go anywhere, as long as it's with Gray-sama."

Having secured both of his hands around her left, the ice mage squeezed his hold on her a bit tighter and smiled back, despite the fact that anyone else would've noticed it wasn't genuine; and before Juvia could realize that fact as well, he looked back to Sting the next instant.

"Do it."

Nodding the next second, the white mage did as he instructed; and Juvia immediately gasped in pain again as soon as Sting had turned his back to her. Taking a second to refocus his magic and reopen the portal he had come from, Sting was unable to see that Juvia's blue hair was starting to turn black; and once again, the pain she was feeling suddenly became too intense for her to keep quiet.

"G-Gray… s-sama… He-Help… me!"

"Hurry it up, dammit!" Gray barked at Sting, who quipped angrily the next second.

"Shut up, I'm doing it!" He said just before the white rift reappeared on the face of the tree, "There! See?! I just needed a chance to focus, alright?! Now let's get your girlfriend outta here, before this gets worse…"

Turning back to look at Juvia with everyone else, the whole group was shocked to witness that upon turning around, Sting was met with an arcing blade of water that nearly cut his face in half. Leaping aside while Gray ducked, the dragon slayer was only cut alongside his right jawline; and the wound was slowly streaming blood down his neck until Sting halted his momentum in order to stop and put two fingers to his injury.

Having leapt backwards at same time Sting had leapt aside, Erza and Jellal could only look on in shock as they watched history repeat itself; and though it pained Titania internally to realize it, she knew she had to realize the fact that she had failed Juvia yet again. In the blink of an eye, Juvia had gone from struggling against Edo's power to being completely receptive to it, with even her outfit having fully changed to reflect her shift in personality; and the most painful fact of the whole ordeal was that there was nothing she and Jellal could ever have done to stop it.

"No!" They all heard Juvia shout just as everyone dodged her attack, "I said I'd go anywhere with Gray-sama, but I didn't say I'd let you take him anywhere!"

"Juvia, no!" A desperate Mavis Vermillion popped up between them all, having sensed she was about to attack everyone else around her, "Don't give in to Edo's power!"

"Ngh, shut up!" The Water God Slayer argued back, and she angrily fired a blast of black water right through the top of Mavis' head, despite knowing she was only an image projection that couldn't be harmed, "You might've been trying to fighting him off this whole time, but your power just isn't enough to defeat his!"

Unable to properly process the current events, Gray only staggered back a few steps once he'd stood back up, as the sight of the super-powered Juvia willfully attacking their friends broke him internally just as much as it made him feel numb on the outside; and he could do nothing as he watched Juvia summon a huge wall of water around her, planning to send it arcing towards her current opponents the next second. Seeing what she was up to, Sting wasted no time in trying to blow the water away; and he quickly roared into the center of it with all his might.

"Erza!" Jellal shouted over the commotion, "We've got no choice here! We need to work together and defeat Juvia before we can save her! She's too strong for just Sting to contain her!"

"Like hell you will!" She shouted back at them before Erza could reply, and Sting found himself gasping in surprise as the massive wall of water completely engulfed his magic before flowing past it and driving right for them.

Activating her Re-Quip ability while Jellal summoned a golden aura around himself and leapt away, Erza reappeared wearing her Sea Empress Armor and dual-wielding the Sea Empress Sword with the Crystal Sword to match; and unlike the rest of her comrades, Erza did not attempt to dodge Juvia's attack, instead meeting it head on with a powerful slash of the Crystal Sword.

Jellal watched with amazement from above at seeing Erza's counterattack cut a clean path straight through to Juvia; and he quietly thanked her for buying time as he finished drawing his last magic seal.

"Grand Chariot!" He shouted the next instant, and the black-haired Juvia was forced to quickly shield herself as hundreds of small rays of golden light rained down and exploded around her. Seeing their attacker was currently preoccupied, Sting readied himself as soon as he cleared the destructive wave that uprooted a number of trees behind Erza; and he was soon following up Jellal's attack with one of his own.

"White Dragon's Claw!" He shouted after channeling white light into his hand and firing it right where he last saw Juvia; and he failed to contain a smirk as he heard her yelp in surprise.

"Rrrgh, damn you, Sting!" She swore loudly as the smoke cleared to reveal one of Sting's Stigmas was currently attached to the left side of her waist, "You're cheap magic isn't going to stop me from rescuing Gray-sama!"

"Rescuing?" Jellal repeated calmly as he landed beside Sting, "You're not rescuing him, Juvia, you're taking him hostage!"

"Hostage?" She repeated in turn, "Take a look at my beloved. Do you see any bindings around his wrists? Has he even asked me to stop attacking you?"

"Jellal's right, Juvia," Erza agreed from off to the side, despite beginning to worry that Gray was still staying silent, "Gray's not doing anything because he can't bring himself to fight you; and you are just taking advantage of that."

"Sting, start weakening her powers, now." Jellal ordered his ally, who was quick to aim his palm back at Juvia and blast a few more Stigmas onto her, channeling his magic into each one the all the while, "We've gotta contain her long enough to get some backup."

Before any of the wizards around could speak again, the whole group was stunned to see every part of the park's forest behind the three began to glow dark red before it completely vanished, with the heavily-wooded area having been somehow seemingly switched out with the entire, heavily fortified stone structure that housed Magnolia Town's southern gate, and the two stone towers that flanked it as well; and standing before it all was two very familiar women, albeit for very different reasons.

"Well," The Scarlet Despair remarked with quiet amusement, "It seems we've stumbled onto quite the scuffle, my newest friend."

"It sure sounds like it." Cel Rhea agreed with similar amusement, having enjoyed seeing the effects of Irene Belserion's World Reconstruction Magic in person enough to ignore the fact that she was still unable see any of the guild wizards besides Gray and Juvia, "But at least it looks like we showed up just in time. 'Cause it looks like my bestie Juvia is actually struggling a bit here..."

"Rrg, go to hell, Cel!" Juvia replied before arguing back, "I can handle all of them, no problem. I just need you to get my darling Gray some place safe!"

Chuckling in response, Cel rolled her eyes before addressing Irene, ignoring the sound of people's magic activating nearby.

"You see the kinda thanks she gives me? I love it. But um, do ya think you can handle this group on your own?"

"As grateful as I am for your concern, it's unwarranted, my dear." The Spriggan Shield replied with a casual tone, "You just worry about securing our precious Devil Slayer. I'll help your friend fight off these poor fools, and we'll soon join you thereafter, ready to present all three of our prizes to your master. That is, as long as you promise to wait for us, I mean…"

Before Cel could comment on her new ally's confidence, the whole group stopped as they heard Juvia muttering angrily to herself.

"Ngh, come on, Juvia…" She said as she channeled all of the magic energy she could, "If Natsu and Zancrow could find a way out of this, then so can you!"

Using her magic to heat her body temperature to the point that she was beyond boiling, they group watched with various forms of intrigue as Juvia completely made herself evaporate; and as soon as she was free from the effects of Sting's magic, she was able to rapidly cool and reassemble herself as a shadow, thanks to the help of Edo's dark power.

Caught off guard by the surprising move, the group of heroes hesitated for an instant; but it was more than enough time for Irene to cast some enchantments on her foes. By the time Sting was swearing and trying to fire another Stigma onto Juvia's back, he ended up being surprised to see golden light come out of his hands instead of white; and the resulting blast proved completely ineffective as Juvia swatted it aside with the back of one hand.

"What the?" The Sabertooth Master wondered aloud, "What happened to my magic?"

Thinking there was no time to hesitate, Jellal ignored witnessing Sting's failure, or the fact that Erza was now disarmed and wearing her casual Heart-Kreuz armor, before trying to activate his magic next. But instead of Meteor's golden light beginning to shine from all around him, the leader of Crime Sorciere was shocked to see a plain white light beginning to overtake him instead; and by the time he had fully realized he was somehow using Erza's Re-Quip ability, this thought had unfortunately occurred to him at the same moment the spell finished activating. And because Jellal wasn't thinking about any set of clothes as the magic went to work, the only thing the spell could do was follow up on the first stage of its command, which was the complete removal of all the wearer's clothing.

Before Erza could shout a warning Jellal's way, she found herself having to stop a nosebleed; as Jellal reappeared before them, naked as the day he was born.

"Gah!" The temporary Re-Quip wizard gasped as he used both hands to cover his crotch, desperately trying to return to his original outfit the whole time, "E-E-Erza, don't look!"

Seeing the obvious opening in their guard, Juvia silently signaled Cel before they both acted simultaneously. Cel used her Earth magic to meld into the ground and reappear beside Gray, and Juvia used her magic to create another wall of water, with this one crashing into all of its intended targets. Jellal had just barely managed to get his clothes on by the time they were struck, but he made damn sure to leap in front of Erza before it would happen, clothes on or not; and he succeeded in taking most of the impact for her while Sting was forced to try and shield himself on his own.

Seeing the massive torrent slam the trio into the solid steel gate that was supposed to be a couple miles south of here, Cel smirked as she watched the water drain past it to reveal three sputtering guild wizards that had fallen from the top of the gate and landed in a heap atop each other.

"Not bad, Juvie dear." She chuckled before grabbing Gray by his right arm and creating a portal, about to toss him through when Juvia suddenly got between them.

"Thank you, Cel, but I'll take care of my darling from here." She spoke while wrapping an arm around the same arm The Titan had just reached for.

"Huh?" Cel replied curiously, "But don't you wanna bring him back to the Master?"

"Maybe, I haven't made up my mind yet." She replied honestly, "You might follow that man blindly because you love him, but the man that I love is standing right here; and just look at his face… He's not ready to face our friends in Fairy Tail, let alone one of the men he hates the most… Just give us some time, and he'll come around."

"Whatever you say." Cel remarked dismissively as she allowed Juvia to create her own dark portal instead, "But before you go, Juvia, I just want you to know: it's great to have you back."

Meanwhile, on Earth…

Son Goten was enjoying his conversation with Dende, sitting across from him on one of the long-benched tables in the Lookout's dining hall as they talked; and it had been nearly thirty minutes later before their conversation would be interrupted, as The Sky Maiden had finally been escorted in by Mr. Popo.

"Hey, Wendy." Goten greeted his girlfriend eagerly, "That took a bit longer than I thought it would. Does that mean you actually learned something from him?"

"Uh-hm," She hummed and nodded happily, "I can't tell you about any of it, but yeah. Master Korin's as wise as you told me, and he was surprisingly a lot more generous than I thought he'd be.

"But oh, where are my manners?" She quickly scolded herself before briefly bowing to Dende as she properly greeted him, "I feel so privileged getting the chance to meet the Earth's Guardian on such short notice like this."

"She's as polite and sincere as you told me, Goten." The young Namekian remarked amusedly before quickly standing up and greeting her in return, "And you don't have to worry about being so formal around me, Wendy. Goten's family and I go way back; so you can call me whatever you like, as long as you're not making fun of me. Now please, feel free to make yourself comfortable."

Smiling amiably at the guardian, Wendy was quick to accept his offer; and she sat down close enough to Goten's right to be shoulder-to-shoulder with him, soon snuggling up to him as he put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. The whole sight made Dende smile, experiencing both a sense of amusement and a feeling of happiness for one of his best friends at the same time.

"What?" the demi-Saiyan asked curiously upon noticing his expression, "Thinking of something funny?"

"Not really," He replied honestly, casually resting his chin on interlocked fingers as he looked between them, "I was just thinking that I haven't seen you so happy before."

"It's all her fault, really." Goten gestured to his girlfriend with a sideways nod, and Wendy simply giggled lightly in response.

"It's at times like these I feel a little jealous, honestly." Dende admitted plainly, "A mono-gendered people like mine don't form certain bonds and relationships that humans and Saiyans can. I've got a father and siblings, sure; but aside from friendships, those are the only connections I can make."

"You getting lonely up here, Dende?" Goten wondered with a vaguely mischievous tone, which made his slightly older green friend chuckle and rub the back of his head awkwardly.

"No, not yet." He admitted honestly, "Being the Earth's Guardian is pretty satisfying in itself; but I was just trying to point out how lucky you two are, to have each other…"

"Don't worry, Dende-san," Wendy reassured him, "I understood what you meant. Every minute I'm with Ten-kun, I feel lucky to have him."

Leaning her head against him, and briefly holding the hand he held against her as she spoke, she quickly shared a smile with Goten before their host replied again.

"And I'm glad to hear it." He remarked sincerely, "As Goten's green older brother, I'd have to give him an earful if he somehow disappointed his girlfriend.

"And speaking of older brothers," He quickly added while Goten blushed and Wendy giggled at him, "How's Gohan been? I know he's doing alright now that he's back on Earth, but out of respect, I haven't really kept my eye on him and Videl lately…"

"Well, I think he's pretty happy," Goten answered thoughtfully, "He's gotten insanely strong though. I dunno what he did when he was in Otherworld, but he's on a completely different level now. Honestly, I might be more scared of making him angry than am I my dad or Vegeta…"

About to make another inquiring comment on the matter, Dende was interrupted as a bright white portal opened up on the surface of the table between them; and the three jumped a little in surprise as it quickly appeared with Igneel's head popping out of it just as quickly.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt." The redhaired immortal quickly apologized before looking to Goten and Wendy, "So listen, I know you two were planning to head back to Earthland a bit later with Trunks and Lisanna; but there's been a recent development, and we kinda need your help right now."

"Why?" Wendy quickly demanded out of concern, "What's happened?"

"I'll explain when you're in the Sanctuary." He told her quickly, "Now hurry and hop in, there's not enough time to wait!"

Meanwhile, on Earthland…

Irene Belserion was simply toying with her opponents now; and Cel Rhea was simply standing by with a smug grin and hands on her hips, enjoying the sound of her ally easily blocking and countering all their foes' non-magic attacks with a staff. The dull 'whap' and thudding sounds the wooden weapon made when it found its targets was extremely satisfying to The Titan, and her only complaint was that she couldn't currently see their pained expressions as they yelped or gasped from being struck. But due to her only being able to hear and feel what was occurring, that sensory deprivation helped her to focus in one curious little detail. Cel wasn't completely sure of it yet, but every time Irene struck one of their opponents, there was just the slightest difference in how Irene was attacking one of them.

"I'm disappointed, Erza," Irene remarked with a casual bluntness after sending the younger redhead skidding backwards, "I just gave you the powers of both a dragon and a god, and yet this is the best you can do…"

"You know my name?" Titania questioned as she lowered her arms and stood straight again, having recognized Irene's familiar tone to at least be genuine, as mocking as it was, "How? And who are you, anyway?"

Chuckling knowingly, the Shield of Spriggan was about to play coy when Jellal interrupted her.

"Her name's Irene Belserion, and I know because she's one of the Spriggan Twelve; but now's not the time to be worried about that, Erza."

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Their attacker chimed in amusedly, "It could be a big deal, for some."

"What does that mean?" Jellal demanded impatiently.

"Guys," Sting spoke up before a smirking Irene could taunt them some more, "I don't wanna make things worse, but uh, I noticed it before she swapped our magics…"

"What is it, Sting?" The redeemed Wizard Saint replied curiously.

"This woman," the blonde replied as he massaged a bruise just under his left pectoral, "She smells just like Erza."

"Like me?" the former Fairy Tail master said with a dreading sense of curiosity; and she quickly turned back to Irene, wanting to get rid of this awkward feeling of familiarity that arose every time she faced the woman, "Just who are you?!"

"You still haven't realized?" The master enchantress remarked with amused curiosity, planting the bottom of her staff back down to earth as she took a closer look at Erza, "No… You're vaguely aware, but you don't want to believe it's true…"

"I don't know you." Erza interrupted her, only for Irene to smirk and raise her head slightly as she finished her statement.

"I am… your mother."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock to hear that reveal, and Sting was the first to speak out of surprise.

"What?! That lady is Erza's-"

"No!" Erza cut him off with a desperate anger, gritting her teeth repeatedly as she did, "I grew up in Rosemary Village. I always told myself I had no parents."

"Well, you're talking to one right now," Irene pointed out with a faint grin, "Me."

Closing her eyes as she briefly recalled the grim fate of her hometown and all the people she ended up meeting because of it, Erza seemed to be briefly considering Irene's statement for a moment before reopening her eyes and stating her opinion clearly.

"No, there's only one person I'll ever consider a parent: my master!"

For the briefest of instances, Cel sensed a spark of emotion inside her companion before Irene lifted her left hand casually as she replied.

"That's fine by me, then. I don't actually care that I have a daughter, either." She said while turning her hand over a few times before curling her fingers shut and ended her remark, "Because I thought you were long dead.

"But meeting you, like this…" She added, slightly raising her head in order to properly see Erza under the top of her wide, fluffy-brimmed hat, "How strange fate can be."

Forcing herself to speak assertively, Erza tried to talk past the whole issue.

"Anyone who attacks our guild is the enemy, no matter who they are."

"Mm," Irene grunted in agreement, "Likewise, anyone who opposes the Alvarez Empire is considered an enemy. Even my own child."

Still too stunned to speak while Erza was too reluctant to do so as well, Irene took the opportunity to continue uninterrupted.

"Even so," She added with a muted thoughtfulness, "To die before learning the secret of your birth… would be sad."

"Secret?" Jellal repeated the word curiously.

"I don't care." Erza declared bitterly, but Irene continued to speak undaunted.

"We've finally met again after all this time. I can at least tell you an old story."

Doing her best to channel some of Sting's white magic energy into one of her fists once again, Erza was successful in managing that as she angrily interrupted their attacker again, yelling a 'Be quiet!' as she dashed forward and tried to punch Irene; but she was ultimately unsuccessful, as the Spriggan Shield once again blocked the attack with her staff, which was the position the two briefly held as she continued to tell her story.

"I am Irene Belserion, the former queen of dragons."

Shoving Erza back and forcing her to leap back to safety, Irene smirked as Sting gasped once again.

"Huh?!"

"What did you say?!" Erza added with similar surprise, and she watched as Irene's glare sharpened with a bizarre mix of anger before she got a response.

"I was the queen of the dragons." She repeated before explaining, "It all began approximately four-hundred years ago, in a kingdom on Ishgar called 'Dragnof'…"

Taking the next few minutes to spin them the tale of her past, Irene told them of this great kingdom where dragons and people coexisted, and of the moment her greatest friend, the dragon Belserion, had staunchly vowed to defend humanity, as dragons from the west eventually threatened to consume every person they could.

"This marked beginning of the war that was later called the Dragon King Festival." She said next, "Indeed, it was a war sparked by the kindness of dragons."

"Four-hundred years ago?!" Erza repeated that fact aloud, "How are you still young?!"

"I'll get to that eventually." Irene assured her, "I think you'll really like this next part, Erza… And as will you, young Dragon Slayer…"

Seeing Irene look directly at him as she spoke, Sting could only say the one thing one his mind.

"What the hell are you talking about, lady?"

Smirking at his surprised expression, Irene ignored his vaguely insulting demand as she answered him.

"For generations, humans and dragons lived and worked in harmony in my kingdom. Several such kingdoms existed in Ishgar back then. However, the war was not at all within our favor. Not only did the western dragons greatly outnumber ours, there were also some dragons in Ishgar who didn't want to coexist with humans."

Describing herself as one of the first enchanters to exist, she then recounted a certain moment when a fatigued and battered Belserion had returned home from battle, only to admit to her his belief that he and his fellow dragons would not be enough to stem the overwhelming tide of the human-hunting dragons; but much to his surprise, that brief exchange would lead to the moment in which Irene would reveal to him her newest plan to save humanity. It was a sort of enchantment she had developed, one that would allow her to imbue someone with a dragon's power enabling them to be more like a dragon, in order to destroy a dragon. Planning to make herself the first to undergo such a change, Irene imagined herself as 'A wizard who fells wicked dragons with the power needed to fight them. A Dragon Slayer.'.

"Huh?!" Sting gasped again as soon as those two words were uttered.

"You're saying you created that form of magic?!" Erza questioned her next, sounding just as shocked as Sting.

"That's right." Irene affirmed with only the faintest of pride in her smile, "I am the mother of the Dragon Slayers."

Meanwhile, inside Igneel's Sanctuary…

Wendy and Rogue both needed to take a moment to sit, as they had both heard Irene Belserion's words through a hidden portal their current host had opened nearby their friends; and though the Sky Maiden had every intent to hop trough the rift and join Erza and co. in their fight, she had found herself hesitating once Irene had begun to tell her tale.

"This… this can't be true, can it?" She was currently glancing between Goten and Igneel as she spoke, "This woman really made Dragon Slayer Magic?"

Seeing everyone but his wife look at him expectantly, Igneel nodded a silent confirmation; and although Wendy was starting to feel as worried for her friends as Goten and Rogue both seemed to be, the Sky Dragon Slayer had suddenly had an epiphany.

"So wait… types of magic can be enchanted onto people? Why didn't I ever think of that? Hey, Iga, can I send magic energy through this portal?"

"Probably." He assumed aloud, "I've tossed energy and other forms of light through some before, so I don't see why not. Why do you wanna know?"

"Because, I'm going to save our friends," She revealed calmly as she stepped between the portal and everyone else, raising her hands to it as she did, "But first, we need them to be able to fight for themselves."

On the other side of the portal, Jellal, Sting, and Erza were in the middle of questioning Irene's revelation once again when they suddenly realized a subtle change within themselves; and though Irene was too busy answering them to notice it, Cel's magic sense was focused well enough on the whole exchange to notice it.

"Hang on…" She muttered to herself, and she smirked evilly as she realized Irene was too busy telling her tale to notice either the change or her ally's muttering.

"The plan to give people the power to fight dragons was technically a success." The Scarlet Despair continued, "After producing numerous Dragon Slayers, we gained the upper hand in the war. But that great power began to corrode the humans' bodies. Some, unable to suppress their power, went berserk. The mismatch of dragons' sight and humans' sense of balanced caused extreme vertigo. And… Inside the humans, there grew Dragon Seeds… Seeds that transform people into dragons and spell doom for any Dragon Slayer."

Looking to her daughter and touching the lower end of the scar that ran along her left abdomen as she added, "And, at the time, I was pregnant with you… Erza."

Giving the woman an anxious look, Erza once again decided to at least hear her out.

"Your father was a general of a neighboring country." Irene revealed next, "Ours was a political marriage – a solution to a territorial dispute between humans. He fought by my side on many battlefields and stayed with me as I watched Belserion die. When Acnologia rose up, the war ended with neither side as the victor. As if ridiculing the countless lives that were lost, Acnologia, alone, stood victorious."

Seeing all three of her listeners faces straighten seriously at the mention of The Black Dragon, Irene chuckled faintly before continuing.

"Then, one week after the war ended..." She recalled the moment her own draconification began, and of how her the father of her unborn child betrayed her in fear, disowning both her and their child before having her locked away, "My life after that was utter misery. Torture, beatings, humiliation… And then…"

Recalling for Erza next how she casted a spell on herself, halting her pregnancy in the hopes that she would one day be free and able to give birth somewhere safer; and how that led to her once-husband's skepticism as to the fact that she was even pregnant. On the day he had come down to tell her the date of her execution, Irene had only begged for her child's life to be spared; but in a fit of denial and anger, that man attacked her, claiming he'd open her up to prove there was no child inside her. And just as his blade began to slice open Irene's skin, the fear and shock of them moment forced her to defend herself, ultimately killing Erza's father in the process as she finally became a dragon and escaped.

"Centuries passed." She added next, ignoring the shocked look on her child's face as she continued, "Inside me all that time, I still carried you, Erza. Deep in the mountains, away from people, I continued to search for a way to lift the curse on my body. Then, one day…"

Telling the trio next about the moment a certain black-haired young man had approached her, seemingly knowing that the majestic creature before him had actually been human; and, for the first time ages, someone had shown her kindness, and greeted her as a friend.

"That's how I met His Majesty." She said next, "He was a magical genius. He so easily solved the problem that I had spent centuries trying to figure out."

Recalling next how Zeref had apparently restored her human form for him, even though he warned her she would never be human again; and then she recalled how she quickly celebrated her return to humanity by going to the nearest town and attempting to enjoy a warm meal, only to find that nothing she ate had any flavor.

"But I quickly discovered the shortcomings," she told them plainly, "Even after I ate and ate… I couldn't taste anything."

The next thing Irene recalled however, made everyone that was listening to her a bit startled, as she recalled the one desperate night that came after an untold number of cold, painful, and sleepless nights before it; and it was this one night when Irene had apparently decided she would enchant her own personality onto her own child, thinking that would provide her with both a new body and a second chance at life.

"But it didn't work." Irene revealed, not knowing that on the other side of portal hidden nearby that Wendy was currently holding a hand to her mouth, having gasped with shock upon hearing Irene's newest revelation; and she was currently holding back tears for the person she looked up to as an older sister, "Enchanting onto my child was impossible from the start. So I lost all interest in you and threw you away like garbage in the corner of some tiny village."

Quietly staring down Irene as a gust of wind gently blew past them, Erza spoke next.

"And that was Rosemary Village?" She concluded curiously.

"I don't remember its paltry name." Irene retorted flatly.

"Erza…" Jellal muttered aloud, coincidentally at the same time Wendy did on the other side of the portal, only for both of them to be interrupted by Erza.

"It's all right," She said to Jellal before speaking to Irene again, "I should probably offer you my appreciation for giving birth to me."

"Being thanked by garbage means nothing to me." Irene interrupted her briefly.

"How can she treat her own daughter that way?!" Wendy demanded angrily, not even caring that neither Irene nor Erza could hear her. Goten could see tears welling up in his girlfriend's eyes; but after feeling a spike in Wendy's ki and a clear change about the air in the room, he realized that now would probably not be a good time to get close.

And sure enough, he was right; as before anyone could say anything to calm her, Wendy's hair and eyes turned completely pink, signaling that she had activated her Dragon Force ability purely out of anger.

"And…" Titania continued resolutely, as if Irene had ever interrupted her, "I thank you for throwing me away…"

Widening her eyes a bit in surprise, Irene watched as Erza's clothing began to change, this time going from the Sea Empress Armor to her Rabbit Armor; and the Knight followed that up by summoning the Red-Black Twin Blades as she finished her statement.

"I never would've met my real family otherwise!"

Chuckling in response, Irene allowed her daughter to speak some more.

"I don't care if you are my real mother." She warned the staff-wielding woman before her, "Anyone who attacks my friends, or threatens my guild, will be cut down!"

"Likewise." Irene admitted her similar feelings on the matter, "I thought sharing some old stories would make me feel at least some love for you… But nope! I don't feel a single thing!"

Raising her left hand and opening her eyes wildly as she finished speaking, Irene launched an orb of red magic energy at Erza, who leapt past it just in time to avoid the large explosion that resulted from it striking the ground where she once stood; and while Jellal and Sting were forced to take cover, she advanced, bouncing around a series of much larger magical spheres that were all aimed in her direction. Successfully navigating them next, Erza made it past all of Irene's attacks only to be blocked by the staff once again; and once more, the two exchanged words as their weapons clashed.

"My magic power alone is how I became queen." Irene remarked tauntingly, "Do you truly think you can beat me?"

"Yes." Erza argued back without hesitation, "Because I have… a true family!"

As soon as Erza said those words, Jellal and Sting were shocked to see a pink stream of air come flying from seemingly out of nowhere; and they watched with wide eyes as it swirled in a loop that ended with it colliding right into Irene's gut.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" They all heard Wendy shouting; and Irene grimaced in shock and pain as she felt the surprise attack slashing at her abdomen before she reflexively leapt back, giving Erza an opening in the process.

"Crimson-Black…" Erza yelled as she quickly leapt forward, delivering two powerful slashes to the exact spot on which Wendy's attack had also landed, "Twin Blades!"

Skidding backwards and hunching over for moment, Irene spoke aloud as she slowly recovered.

"You managed… to scratch me…"

"Haha, alright Wendy!" Sting cheered without bothering to pick himself up off the grass yet, and Jellal showed a sigh of some relief just as Erza simply remained calm, knowing she needed to focus on the task at hand, no matter how happy she was to see her favorite little sister again.

"I'm very sorry about your past," The Sky Maiden told Irene honestly as she gave her fierce, piercing glare, "But I can't ignore a parent who has no love for their child!"

Chuckling to herself, Irene replied with the same casual tone she usually used.

"Listen, little Dragon Slayer. Did you also hear how I mentioned Dragon Seeds earlier? There's one inside you, too."

"I know." Wendy revealed to her, her angry expression changing to one of clear and deadly focus, "But my mother suppressed it for years to keep it from growing-"

"What?!" Irene's cool demeanor finally shattered upon hearing Wendy continue to speak.

"-Meaning we won't change into dragons."

"That includes Natsu, I assume…" Erza thought aloud, prompting to Sting stand back up and protest annoyedly.

"Natsu, Natsu, everyone always worries about Natsu! I'm gonna try and pretend like you two haven't forgotten I'm here!"

"Sting, forget about them for the moment. Wendy and Erza can take care of themselves." Jellal quickly told him with a hushed tone, "And besides, we've got other things to worry about, remember?"

Seeing that Jellal was subtly gesturing towards Cel Rhea as he asked his rhetorical question, Sting quickly went quiet and began to listen as he and his ally huddled together and came up with a plan.

"I see…" Irene observed aloud, "A dragon entered your body and halted the Dragon Seed's growth. Belserion, the dragon who granted me my magic, died on the battlefield. So I took his name and swore to avenge him. But to think you could prevent the transformation that way…"

Gritting her teeth angrily the next second, Irene aimed her staff at both Erza and Wendy; and an extra large red magic orb appeared from the end of it as she yelled.

"It's not fair!"

The force of just the air being pushed off their opponent's spell forced both Wendy and Erza to plant their feet and brace themselves, just barely staying on their feet as they slid back a bit.

"Give me my life back!" Irene demanded angrily, "I don't want this wretched body!"

"Then I'll free you from your misery!" Erza shouted back after stabbing her sword into the ground and halting her momentum, quickly redrawing both blades in preparation as she called out to her friend, "Wendy!"

"Right!" The Sky Maiden knew just what to do, activating her magic without even needing a request from Erza, "All physical abilities up! Deus Eques!"

As Wendy finished casting her support magic, Erza was already midflight, planning to slash straight down at Irene.

"Clever." The Spriggan Shield remarked as she calmly raised her left hand and activated her own spell with it, "Separation Enchant. Deus Zero."

"I cancel your Deus Zero with my own Deus Zero!" Wendy instantly countered, waving her hands again as she did.

"What?!" Irene quickly muttered to herself with wide-eyed shock, "She can cast such high-level enchanter spells?!"

Yelling angrily, Erza slammed her blades together before raising them together above her head, activating their power as she did.

"This is…" She declared as her blades combined into one before being swiftly chopped downward, "The end!"

The combined blade cut clean through Irene's hat before lodging itself only slightly into her head; and much to Erza's surprise, she realized the woman had made no motion to defend herself. She was even smiling as blood began to run down the right side of her face.

"I finally see it, Erza." She quietly proclaimed, "I finally understand the truth behind enchanter magic."

Staring at her mother in shock, Erza could only keep her blade pressed against Irene's forehead as the woman continued to think aloud.

"Was it because you were a baby? Was it because you were family that it failed? Or was it because enchanting a personality onto a human is impossible to begin with? The answer is no. Now I see that compatibility was the key all along."

Thinking she was catching onto her foe's intentions, Erza gasped slightly, with her hold on the Black-Crimson Blade loosening as Irene continued to speak.

"But now, standing before me, is one who is both a Dragon Slayer and an Enchanter, with a young body that's also safe from the dragon transformation."

Closing her empty hand into a fist angrily, Irene reopened it the next second; and Erza quickly turned around as she heard Wendy gasp in fear.

"You don't mean-!" She questioned Irene with a nervous gaze directed upon a blank-faced Sky Maiden.

On the other side of Igneel's portal, Goten was currently being restrained by both the Light God and his fellow immortal wife, as the demi-Saiyan was desperately trying to join his girlfriend on the battlefield.

"Goten, wait!" Igneel pleaded with his arms latched firmly onto his young friend's right arm, "You can't jump in until I tell you to! You're not gonna beat Cel unless you catch her completely off-guard!"

"My husband's right, Goten!" Vesta added, feeling shocked she needed to use so much strength just to hold his left arm back, "If you can just wait until the right moment, you might be able to beat her and get Gray and Juvia back in the process!"

"Shut up! I don't care!" The demi-Saiyan argued aggressively, "I promised Wendy I'd be there for her! She needs me!"

The next instant, on the other side, Cel was surprised to realize she could finally see Wendy Marvell standing a few yards behind Erza, only to quickly realize that the red aura now rising from the Sky Maiden's body was not the aura of Wendy's at all. And now that she realized it, she also noticed she could now no longer see Irene's body instead.

"Ahh, how long I've waited for this." The Scarlet Despair sighed from inside Wendy's body, blushing with pure pleasure and excitement as she spoke, "This one's magic will be weaker, but that's fine."

"Wendy!" Erza gasped desperately, her eyes widened with fear and anger.

"A new body. A new life." The bluenette remarked smugly, next examining her hand before just as quickly lowering it, "Irene is reborn… With this new body of mine."

"This can't be…!" Erza uttered in disbelief.

"Not a scratch on her, besides this bruise on her neck…" Irene continued to examine herself aloud, "But that's fine. This body works."

Testing her grip force and moving around a bit to get a feel for her new body, she then patted at her breasts amusedly.

"Oh, and this chest… its so much lighter! How adorable!"

"Wh-Where's Wendy?!" Erza stuttered angrily, but before she could get her answer, Irene's body behind her fell onto its knees with what Erza could've sworn was just the slightest of gasps; but before she could question it, her enemy finally replied.

"That's nothing but a pile of flesh now."

"Where is Wendy?!" Erza demanded once again.

"She's nowhere anymore." The body-snatcher replied with a cocky smile, gesturing to herself as she added, "Or… you could say… she's in me."

"Enough of this!" Erza stamped her foot as she stepped forward a bit, "Get out of Wendy right now!"

Dashing forward the next second, Erza's words prompted the current bluenette to sigh at her pitifully.

"You dimwitted child. This isn't a form of possession!"

Interrupting Erza's attack with a spinning kick that was fully charged with wind magic, forcing the air out of Erza's lungs as her foe continued to taunt her.

"I have become this girl, literally." She said before springing off Erza and adding, "Sorry, but Mom made herself young again without you."

Skidding backwards on one knee as she clutched her stomach with her left hand, Erza was already angry enough to shout back at her mother without bothering to stand back up yet.

"You're despicable…!"

Smiling darkly as she raised her right hand up in response, Erza's foe caused her to gasp in surprise once again as a massive blast of light blue wind slammed into her the next instant; and Titania only had just enough time to get her arms out in front of herself before she was struck.

Wanting very much to help Erza, yet also knowing this massive explosion was the perfect cover he needed; and he took one glance towards Cel to make sure her attention was focused on the resulting explosion before he quickly gave Sting the go-ahead.

Nodding and creating a portal in a nearby crater the next moment, Sting dove straight into it fist first, yelling as he did.

"Hey, block-head!" Cel suddenly heard coming from her right, and she gasped in shock as someone's magically-charged fist slammed right into the back of her head, "Quit standing there and start fighting!"

Sending her skidding forward as she recovered with surprising speed, she didn't have to see Sting to hear his smug little chuckle before he spoke again as she lifted her head back up and turned around.

"That one was for trying to hurt Yukino, at the Magic Council's place!" He informed her aggressively.

"You mean that little white-haired bitch with her weird fish spirits?" Cel recalled before soon grinning evilly, "Well, since you are her Master, I'm sure you won't mind repaying the debt I never squared with her, either. As a matter of fact, how about we go there now? If you followed me there, I could kill two birds with one stone…"

"You're not touching another member of my guild ever again!" Sting declared angrily, "Yukino, Orga, Rogue, none of them! You can't have them!"

Bringing his hands together and quickly separating them, the white mage wasted no time in attacking.

"Let's try something new!" He decided aloud, activating Dragon Force and creating copious amounts of white magic energy between his hands as he drew them apart, "White Dragon's… Divine… Holy Ray!"

Combining the technique from his Dragon Slayer repertoire with Igneel's divine magic, Sting launched a massive barrage of light beams that all streamed towards the God Slayer and exploded upon impact, engulfing the entire area around her in dozens of white explosions and clumps of dirt and grass that were blown into the air, if not outright disintegrated.

Hearing the whole commotion behind her had briefly distracted Irene, and it was the window Jellal needed to activate Meteor and slip away from the fight, planning to rally more of their friends and return. And just as he barely succeeding in doing so, the bluenette turned back to Erza and admired her own handiwork once more, glancing around the long trench she carved through the forest with Wendy's magic.

"Hmm! My magic power hasn't decreased as much as I thought." She observed pleasantly, "I guess this girl had that much potential to begin with. But what else is this that I'm feeling… there's a power inside me that I've never felt before… It… makes me feel so… alive…"

Bringing her hand back down, the Spriggan Shield looked to Erza once again.

"Now, then. Playtime is over." She declared triumphantly, "It wouldn't be right for this cute little girl to be a mother. So, as you can see, my new life can't begin… until I've erased your existence!"

Following up her declaration with another powerful blast of wind, she sent Erza sailing backwards again before she backed off and stretched out her arms tauntingly, speaking just as smugly as her face looked.

"Sky Dragon Dragon Slayer magic…" She wondered appreciatively as the air around her began to stir, "Is this how it works?"

Taking flight with a spinning flourish, the bluenette snapped her finger as she finished her twirl to create a clear, shimmering vortex of wind that spiral its way into Erza, who was slammed into the ground again immediately.

"This is great!" the villain cheered from multiple stories above, but Erza was quick to begin recovering.

"Wendy!" She shouted while still on her knees, "Push her out!"

"It's no use." The bluenette threw an arm back as she reasserted her point with some annoyance, "Her 'self' is dead. As of today, I am Wendy. Wendy Belserion!"

Hearing this on the other side of Igneel's portal, Goten snapped.

"Alright, I've heard enough of this!" He growled loudly before going beyond Super Saiyan Blue in an instant; and he instinctively headbutted Igneel first, causing him to recoil in shock. The resulting blow caused the first immortal to release him; and he quickly took the opening to grab Vesta by the arm and swing her off him, soon throwing her into the wall and making her gasp in pain as well. Leaping forward the next instant, Goten slammed into the wall where the rift used to be, and he instantly whipped around to face Igneel as soon as it happened.

"Open that portal back up right now!" He ordered the god angrily.

"No, Goten, I won't." Iga stood his ground, "Not until you take a couple deep breaths and calm down."

"Calm down?! Did you hear what she just said?!" The Blue Saiyan shouted back, beginning to sputter words as he realized he couldn't bear to finish his own train of thought, "If what she said is true, then I just… we all just… Wendy is… I can't… I can't lose her again!"

On the other side of the portal, Erza had also heard enough as well, and she was soon leaping hard into the air towards Irene, shouting as she did.

"I won't let you take Wendy!"

Waiting for just the right moment as Erza re-summoned her swords and reared them back, Irene asked her one question.

"Are you sure you can hurt this body?"

At just the last second, Erza stopped, realizing that her mother was right. As badly as she wanted to fight back, Erza could not help but think of all the precious memories she shared with her friend; and though she knew Wendy wasn't in there, the Knight still couldn't bring herself to harm her friend's body.

Ever since she had knelt beside that crying little girl, comforted her, and invited her into Fairy Tail, Erza had always felt a strong sisterly affection for Wendy; and she couldn't keep herself from thinking of all the jobs they've been on, and of all the fun times they've had together. But off all the memories that came to her in the moment, the one that struck the hardest was from one of the nights before Zeref's army invaded, where Erza happened to find herself sharing a bath with Wendy. At one point during their conversation, Wendy had hugged her from behind, promising that this time around, she would be the one to protect her.

Having been frozen in the air and trying to force herself both to not cry and to actually attack, Erza was struck by Irene the next instant, as she brutally used the cheap opening to smack her opponent with another, much smaller blast of clear air.

"You're too soft, Erza." She taunted as she watched the recoiling Erza's weapon go flying out of her hands; and she raised her hand with a chant as soon as Erza went tumbling back down to earth, "Armor, enchanted. Explode!"

Halfway through her rough descent, certain parts of Erza's armor did as commanded; and Titania could only yell in pain as the ensuing blast went off, but even before she crashed into the ground and began to recover, Erza noticed something was off, as she was still intact from an attack that could very well have killed her.

"Only minor damage?!" She observed aloud.

Back in the Sanctuary, Vesta had started using her own magic to monitor the situation; and she was soon shouting at Goten to calm down.

"Goten, stop!" She ordered him before adding, "Don't you have more faith in Wendy than this?! She isn't gone, just look!"

Quietly signaling her husband to open another portal at the same time, Igneel gave her a skeptical look before doing as he was bid; and he was relieved to see Goten had actually not jumped through the moment it was opened. In fact, the demi-Saiyan had quickly gone from desperate and angry to relieved and teary-eyed in a matter of seconds, having realized what was happening the moment he saw what used to be Irene's body now slowly standing up.

"All attributes and resistances up… Deus Corona." It muttered as it fight through the pain to stand all the way up; and Wendy Belserion gasped in shock as soon as she also listened to her own body talking back at her, "Since we're both Enchanters… I thought I might be able to do the same trick, too."

Panting as she spoke, the person inside Irene's body continued her explanation, looking directly at Erza as she added, "It took a little while… but it's me! It's Wendy, Erza-san!"

"Wendy?!" Erza replied, sounding both shocked and hopeful.

"Impossible…" Belserion whispered to herself.

Still leaning forward a bit uncomfortably, Wendy groaned as she struggled to adjust to her new, and much curvier, figure.

"This chest…" She whined as she cupped a hand under her right breast, "Is so hefty…"

"That's not possible!" Irene insisted, "This little girl performed a fully personality enchantment?!"

Looking up to the woman hiding in her body and smirking triumphantly, Wendy spoke honestly, charging a large sparking orb of red magic between her hands as she did.

"Your magic power is incredible. Choosing to enter 'my' body was a big mistake! Erza-san, please duck!"

Firing the spell of the next second, Wendy watched as her foe met the red magic with blue-green magic; and the color of the collision quickly flashed from between the two colors a few times before Irene realized her situation aloud.

"I'm… being overpowered?!"

Needing both hands to withhold the first attack, Irene was unable to counter Wendy as she only needed one arm to maintain her end; and she quickly used that advantage to cast another spell with her free hand.

"Separation Enchant."

Feeling her very soul being tugged at, Irene realized Wendy's play aloud.

"You intend to peel me out of this body?!"

"Yes." Wendy bragged plainly, "This one's magic power is stronger, remember?"

Eyes widening in fear, Irene once again thought aloud.

"Just… who are you?!"

"I'm taking my body back!" Wendy declared forcefully, "I'd love to have your large chest, but I've lived my entire life in that small body! And I am proud of the chest that I have grown!"

"Curse you!" Irene screamed angrily before she began to claw at herself, digging her nails deep into the abdomen before slashing away.

"What are you-?!" Erza demanded in shock as she continued to brace for the force of the magic energy still between the two enchantresses.

"Let's see you take it back now!" Irene taunted bitterly as she continued to dig into the right side of her waist and abs, "It took so long to get this body! I won't give it back! I refuse to!"

Continuing to act undaunted, Wendy continued both spells as she replied to Irene's desperate response.

"The scars on that body are symbols of the life I've lived! They're medals of honor I gained while fighting for Fairy Tail! I don't care how much more scarred it gets! That body carries the memories of all the people it holds dear!"

Unable to do anything but watch, both Goten and Erza shouted the same thing from their totally separate views.

"Wendy!"

"D-Damn you!" Irene screamed before the magic between her and Wendy exploded.

By the time the dust began to settle, Erza was already standing between them, glancing between bodies anxiously until she heard what she hoped was Wendy speaking from her own body, having only the strength to say 'Erza-san…' before falling to her knees in pain and exhaustion.

"Wendy!" The Knight immediately asked her, "Are you back?!"

"Yes…" The Sky Maiden affirmed weakly, not even having the energy to put her hand to her side and stop the bleeding, "Can I… leave the rest… to you?"

Sighing with immense relief, Erza quickly agreed while Wendy finally collapsed and began to put pressure on her wound, with her already bloody hand, thinking all the while about how angry Goten was going to be with her once she recovered.

"Yes." Erza answered her before turning to face their foe and changing armors as she did; and she reappeared in her Clear Heart Clothing before she finished her sentence, "I'll put an end to this!"

Barely a hundred yards' distance away, Sting and Cel were making a commotion of their own. Being unable to see her enemy was quite the hindrance, but the Titan made up for it by using only wide sweeping attacks; and though he was doing a fine job of dodging her attacks, the wild manner in which she did so made it very hard for him or his magic to get close.

"Damn," Sting swore as he leapt over another wave made of stone and soil, "This woman's insane!"

"Damn right I am! Now, just shut up and die!" The God Slayer retorted before pulling back and using an Earth God's Bellow the next instant, firing black stones and mud out of her mouth in every direction before her; and Sting quickly leapt above the blast, readying his own breath attack as he did.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"

Firing an equally large beam of white light down towards Cel, and he grimaced annoyedly as he watched her summon a dome of obsidian around herself at just the very last second. Both the stone and light exploded together; and from their separate angles, both Cel and Sting quietly waited for the smoke to clear before they would do anything else.

"You wretched little girls!" On the other side of the battlefield, Irene yelled at her foes venomously; but Erza only gave a barely-conscious Wendy another reassurance in response.

"I'll finish this quickly, Wendy."

"Quickly, you say? Don't make me laugh." Irene remarked before raising her right hand and activating more magic from it. With a single wave of her hand, the area around Erza exploded; but Titania had leapt up and away at the nick of time.

"You're dealing with four-hundred years of magic power!"

Before Erza could even land, she saw that Irene had swiped her hand again, creating dozens of small red magic orbs she knew would explode on contact; and she mentally braced herself as she suddenly saw all of them come streaking towards her. Controlling her descent, she weaved past a few of them before steering herself towards the wall of the left stone tower, where she quickly bounced off the top to avoid a whole string of magic beams that were now exploding against the tower instead of her; and she wasted no time leaping and darting forward atop trees and rocks as she dodged more of the blasts.

"For four-hundred long years, I protected you." Irene told Erza as the younger woman gritted her teeth nervously, "Yet you turned out completely useless once you were born! And now you're denying me my happiness?!"

Adding a quick and angry flourish as she shouted that last question, Irene made the whole line of trees between her and her foe explode; and even still it wasn't enough to keep Erza from advancing.

"I understand the misery you've been through." She told her mother honestly as charged through the flames, "But… I cannot afford to lose!"

Slashing at Irene as soon as she was close, Erza forced Irene back as the white magic wave created by the blade impacted against her target's shoulder; but the Knight was a bit surprised to see her opponent shrug off and swat away most of the impact, shouting as she did.

"What could you possibly know of my misery?!"

Recovering quickly from her sword being shoved back with her, Erza held her stance as she calmly replied.

"After you abandoned me in that village, a cult abducted me. For years, they treated me as their property. Sure, it's not much compared to your four-hundred years, but… I became who I am now because of who I was then!"

Leaping towards her mother with her sword drawn back again, she added, "I even met people I hold dear! And I overcame other painful events because my friends were there for me!"

Blocking her daughter's attack with her right forearm, Irene shouted back, her face slowly cracking in a perfect physical representation of her psyche.

"Enough of your rubbish! I despise your entire existence! I never should've had you! Die! Die! Die! Disappear forever!"

Her eyes glowed red and the flaking skin revealed scales just before Irene's ranting ended with an anguished wail; and Erza could only watch in awe as she watched Irene return to her true, draconic form, only to be slapped away as Irene struck her mid-transformation. Barely landing properly as she skidded back and looked up again, Erza gasped at the sight before her.

"A dragon?!"

Standing before the Knight now on all fours was a massive red and white winged reptile; and the enraged creature wasted no time in swiping at Erza, who only had the time to brace herself as an unimaginably strong amount of force slammed into her, sending her flying and bouncing along upturned soil for dozens of yards.

"W-With just one hit…" Erza realized aloud as soon as she came to a stop, "She shattered my bones…?"

Trying to move the next second, Erza howled excruciatingly, confirming her fear for good as the simple effort nearly blinded her with pain.

"Let's see you move now." The dragon Irene taunted, watching Erza twitch a few times before she added, "As a Sage Dragon, my enchanter magic is amplified even further into the supreme form of High Enchant magic: Master Enchant. This power transcends that of the land, the sky, the sea, and everything else. It enchants heavenly bodies."

Struggling once again, Erza was only just able to grab some dirt with her left hand and pull herself slightly before giving up with a sigh.

"I… c-can't move…!"

"Now, prepare to be obliterated into nothingness, Erza!" Irene announced as she reared up on her hind legs, raising both claws and her face to the sky as she created what looked like a red star twinkling in the sky above, "Deus Sema!"

That twinkling red light turned out to be an actual meteor, summoned from outer space and sent careening through the atmosphere; and Erza watched as clouds way above turned bright red before being shoved aside, revealing the fiery meteor in all its glory.

"Y-You can't be serious…!" She gasped to herself, "A more powerful version of Jellal's spell?! If that hits me, I definitely will die!

"No," she quickly corrected herself, "It won't be just me! It'll kill everyone here!"

Cursing at herself and trying to talk herself into moving, Erza's voice was drowned out by Irene's bellowing tone.

"This is the end, Erza!"

"I can move my right arm!" The Knight quickly realized, raising her hand up and channeling all her power into it next, "This is all or nothing!"

Watching her opponent leap into the sky the next instant, Irene was shocked.

"You're flying straight into the meteor?!" She observed aloud, "Just how stupid are you?! There's no way a human can possibly stop a meteor!"

"At some point in time, people started calling me Titania – the Fairy Queen." Erza shouted back as she and the meteor rapidly approached each other, "Honestly, I've never really cared what people call me. But if you're the queen of the dragons… then I don't mind being Titania."

Summoning her sword the next instant, readying herself for what would come as she finished her declaration.

"A queen loves and defends everyone! So I will protect everyone, even if it destroys me!"

"My daughter…" Irene wondered aloud as she watched Erza and the meteor reach each other, 'Just what is she?!"

Regaining consciousness a ways from the current spectacle, Wendy whispered to herself as she looked up into the sky.

"Erza-san…!"

Focusing every last ounce of her strength and magic power, Erza drove the tip of her blade directly into the center of the massive rock, planning to either force it apart or ride it all the way down in the attempt; and even Sting and Cel briefly halted their skirmish just to watch as the meteor slowly fractured with many yellow cracks before exploding violently in a bright yellow-orange fireball. Everywhere around Magnolia, people were running and ducking for cover as chunks of rock rained over the city; but Irene could only stare in awe as she watched it happen.

"How is this… even possible?!"

Before she could even finish that question, Erza returned back into view, diving straight for her dragonized mother with her blade drawn back.

"Prepare yourself!" She warned Irene as she did, with the dragon quickly roaring back angrily.

"Even if you can cut a meteor… it's impossible to cut through dragon scales! Erza!"

Once again forcing herself to look up, Wendy lifted her hand and quietly spoke up.

"I give Erza-san's sword… Dragon Slayer attributes… Enchant!"

Irene's eyes widened as she noticed a green aura began to coat her daughter's blade at the last second; and just as she desperately hoped, a roaring Erza managed to carve a deep slash all the way down the dragon's front before crash landing hard at the recoiling and gasping monster's feet. Blood came pouring out the massive chest and stomach wound for an instant before it all magically vanished, and the rest of Irene's draconic body began to disappear right along with it as she began returning to her human form.

"E-Erza-san…" Wendy said sympathetically as she tried to drag herself towards her friend.

Making a weak triumphant smile, Erza quickly changed her expression as she saw Irene, who was now covering face with one hand, leant down and picked up Erza's katana with her free hand.

"You've been a real nuisance…" She said to her daughter bitterly, "You miserable brat!"

Walking closer and pointing the blade just over Erza's back, Irene taunted her.

"It's over now. Just give up!"

Panting heavily as she said it, Irene was shocked to see that her daughter's only response to the current situation was to smile; and that brief little image brought back a very vivid memory, one she had even now been lying to herself about. She remembered now, back when tried to enchant herself onto her newborn daughter. It was that smile then that made her hesitate, and here it was again now, forcing her hand to waver.

"Stop smiling!" She screamed at Erza desperately, and after a few seconds she managed to force herself to drive the blade into her daughter's lower back, who grunted in pain before accepting it and trying to get back up, speaking as she did.

"I'm smiling… Because I haven't given up yet!"

Headbutting her mother and forcing the blade to rip out of her side the next second, Erza forced Irene to leap back again as she once again landed roughly onto her side. Immediately trying to stop herself from bleeding as she did.

"Erza-san!" Wendy shouted fearfully, seeing the desperate move play out before he very eyes.

"You… don't know how to finish a fight…" Irene informed her daughter amusedly before Erza wondered quietly aloud.

"My sword… disappeared…?"

"Right here." She heard her mother reply with a hint of finality; and just as Erza and Wendy mentally braced to for what they expected to be Erza's end, they both dropped their jaws upon seeing Irene turn the sword on herself, driving it al the way through her chest in one swift motion.

Over by Sting, Cel had only just managed to force him back again before she could glance over and see Irene Belserion standing a few yards from Erza with a katana sticking out both ends of her.

"That damn fool…" She muttered unbelievingly, just as Erza and Wendy also struggled to recover from their shock.

"How pathetic…" Irene remarked as her legs wobbled weakly, "The most powerful woman wizard in the empire… can't even bring herself to kill her own daughter."

Smiling as her eyes met Erza's, Irene pulled the blade out of herself the next instant, falling to both knees as she did.

"Wh-Why…?!" Erza questioned her immediately.

"Good question…" Irene remarked honestly, "Why, indeed…"

Recalling the moment she dropped her infant daughter off at Rosemary Village, she remembered how she had left her there on purpose, hoping to protect her daughter from her own dark desires. She knew Erza wouldn't believe her now, after all the lies she had said; but she could at least try to explain it before she fell down for good.

"It's all because… you smiled… I think it's what reminded me…"

Falling face first into the dirt, she concluded her statement with her very last breath.

"…that I loved you."

Watching as the last of Irene's life drained away in a pool of blood, Erza closed her eyes as she quickly came to terms with what had occurred.

"Goodbye, Mother." She said slowly, planning to pass out until she felt a familiar hand land upon her back.

"Erza-san." The Sky Maiden said quietly, kneeling over and trying to heal Erza a bit.

"Wendy…" She replied as she turned over, "Are you okay?"

Leaning back onto her heels, Wendy put her hands between her knees apologetically before replying.

"I should be asking you that."

"I'll be alright." The redhead sighed as she finished sitting up, hand still covering her newest injury as she did.

"No, I mean…" Wendy tried to clarify her question, "More than just physically okay…"

"Yeah… it's okay, I'm fine." Erza reassured her before giving her a warm smile and adding, "Thank you, Wendy…"

Both looking over towards the lifeless Irene, the Knight continued to speak.

"I understand she lived a life of sorrow… Even so, the only parent I have… is our Master."

Realizing she now had no ally to worry about hurting in the crossfire, Cel smirked successfully before deciding to use her Titan form, planning to lay waste to anyone unfortunate enough to still be in what was left of Southgate Park.

"Looks like Eddie was right…" She remarked aside, causing to Sting pause before raising her ki and activating her magic simultaneously, "The damn fool was always gonna get herself killed. And now with her gone, there's no collateral for me to be worried about."

The ground below her cracked for yards around as her energy spiked; and the broken pieces of earth soon quickly shifted together, fueling Cel's growth as her skin turned to stone and began to stretch. By the time the Titan was only one story tall, a familiar bright red light engulfed her and the stone gatehouse; and she quickly swore as she realized the effects of Irene's magic was finally reversing.

"Alright, this is our window!" Igneel quickly told Goten, "Now remember, get out there, give Wendy and Erza some energy to make sure they're okay, and then help Sting once Cel comes back. While you do that, I'm gonna go after Gray and Juvia."

"Got it." The demi-Saiyan nodded attentively, about to leap through the portal before Iga quickly added a warning.

"One thing before you go," The immortal added seriously, "If you don't think you can beat her quickly, just keep her busy until she's gotta run. And whatever you do, do not follow her through a portal. If you end up in Acnologia's Shadow, you'll be on your own."

"I'll be careful." Goten promised before turning back, not waiting another moment to leap through.

"Wendy!" He called out immediately; and he saw her and Erza break apart from a tearful hug just as he did, after which Erza's eyes widened in surprise. She immediately recognized the young man and his orange keikogi.

"G-Goten?" She observed as Goten finished jogging over to them and crouched down beside them the next second, "Is that really you? You're so… tall!"

"Yeah, it's me. All grown up and everything." He replied bashfully before just as quickly refocusing on the matter at hand, "But let's talk about that later. Right now, we need to worry about getting you two back on your feet."

"Wendy's healed me up enough, I'll be fine." Erza assured him, "Just take care of her."

Quickly going along with Erza's wishes, Goten finally turned to Wendy properly and sighed.

"You scared the heck out of me, you know." He told her with a weak attempt to sound joking, but Wendy knew immediately that he was serious.

"I'm sorry," She said with her head down a bit, "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"You don't gotta apologize," He reassured her, reaching for her hand and channeling some ki through it as soon as she accepted his hand, "Actually, as scared as I was… I'm really proud of you even more. You were amazing, Wendy. Both of you were amazing."

"Thank you, Ten-kun." The Sky Maiden smiled with a faint blush while Erza silently nodded in agreement, although she couldn't keep herself from smirking as she noticed Wendy's expression; and she was about to comment on her observations when they all heard Sting shouting as he finished running back towards them.

"Hey, guys, I'm sure this little reunion must be nice and all; but how 'bout we beat the bad guys before we stop and chat?!"

Looking off into the same direction Sting was, the trio was shocked to see Cel had not tried to teleport back to the fight, but was instead staying barely a couple miles south of them; and considering some of the familiar stone bricks they saw flying up in the air around the massive Titan, they quickly concluded she was tearing apart Magnolia's Southern Gate.

"Yeah, that's not good." Goten remarked honestly before quickly turning to White Dragon Slayer next, "Sting, I'm gonna need your help if I'm gonna stop her. I'm strong enough to hold her back, but her God Slayer magic could weaken me pretty bad if she hits me dead on. You don't know how to fly, do you?"

"D'ya see any wings on my back?" The Sabertooth Master wondered sarcastically, but Goten seemed to brush right past his remark.

"No, but I figure it was worth asking." He replied sincerely before quickly powering up; and only Wendy was not surprised to see the demi-Saiyan's hair change from a messy mop of black hair to a spiky, shimmering royal blue.

"Wha-?! What is that?" Erza wondered instantly while Goten smirked proudly at her and Sting's surprised expressions, "A new transformation of some sort?"

"That's the power of a god…" Sting noted aloud.

"A god?" Titania replied, still clearly surprised, "So, Goten can now turn into a god too? Like his brother could?"

"Wendy can explain it to you in a minute," The blue-haired Saiyan put her off as politely as he could, "But right now, I don't have the time. Hey Sting, do you want me to fly you there; or do you want me to throw you there?"

"You can throw that far?!" The blonde was instantly skeptical.

"Uh huh." Goten nodded quickly, "I could probably throw one of these trees halfway to Hargeon too, if I knew it wasn't gonna hit someone when it landed. But there's a limit when you throw living things: if their body isn't strong enough, they kinda… come apart… if you throw them too hard."

"I hope you didn't learn that from experience…" Erza remarked honestly; and Wendy couldn't keep herself from letting out a giggle at Goten's current awkward expression, as he shrugged in manner that suggested he had done exactly that, but it also didn't turn out as bad as Erza feared either.

"Well whatever ya did, you won't have to worry about me comin' apart on you." Sting chimed in again, looking mainly to Goten as he added, "But, uh, now that we're talking about it… Here's the plan me and Jellal came up with…"

Meanwhile, in a small house just outside Amefurashi Village…

"Juvia, Gray, please, hear me out!" Mavis Vermillion pleaded with her two rogue guildmates, who both seemed to be ignoring her as Gray simply sat on the bed and said nothing while the raven-haired Juvia went around sweeping dust off every surface, "I know you're still listening because you don't really trust Edo, but there's more to it, too. Isn't there? If you just go back to the guild, you two can be safe th-"

"Safe?" Juvia repeated the word annoyedly, "We're members of Fairy Tail. We're never truly safe. It's a wonderful notion, though, thinking you have friends that'll be there to protect you. But where were they when this happened to me, again? And worse, they didn't help my darling Gray again either!"

"I'm sorry I didn't catch on sooner, Juvia." The First Master apologized sincerely, "But I can't see what's going on around you unless I'm actively looking through your guild mark; and there are so many people in our guild… I can sense when you're grave danger, and my power does its best to keep you alive, no matter your injuries… But I'm not omniscient, and I can't be everywhere at once either."

"I don't want any of your apologies, or excuses, First Master." The Water God Slayer replied pointedly, continuing her refurbishment of the place mainly to avoid getting in Mavis' face and start yelling these words at her, "I understand you've got a whole guild to protect, but there's only one person I want to protect; and he's sitting right here."

"Is he really?" Mavis quipped, feeling a bit annoyed and frustrated herself, "Does that really look like the Gray that you fell in love with? He hasn't said a word since you got here!"

"I love my darling no matter what he looks like." Juvia replied indignantly, "And for the record, he's only confused like this because immortal jerks like you and Edo keep trying to tell us what to do!"

Slamming the wooden handle of her feather duster onto one of the shelves that ran along the wall behind the bed, Juvia spun quickly to face a stunned Mavis as she continued to lay out her grievances.

"It's your ex that's trying to get all of our guildmates killed! And if you and Precht hadn't made a weapon out of yourself, my beloved wouldn't be in danger right now!"

"If I hadn't made the choices I made," The image projection reminded her desperately, "I might not've made Fairy Tail, and then you two may've never met!"

"I don't believe that." Juvia dismissed the fact easily, "The love Gray and I share… it's the kind of love that only fate can deliver. Fairy Tail or no, I'm one-hundred percent certain I'd have met my beloved eventually."

"Juvia, I…" Mavis voice trailed off, as she was beginning to realize arguing with the water mage was likely a futile effort; so as Juvia went to another corner of the room in order to grab a broom and sweep the floor, their First Master turned to the ice wizard instead, "Gray, please. You're the only one Juvia will listen to right now. I didn't know you'd be in danger too, but we did ask Juvia to stay at the guild today, remember? There's a lot of people back home that care about you both so much, and they'd do anything to help you!"

"Is that true?" the young man finally responded, making even Juvia pause her work to watch them with surprised interest.

"Yes, Gray, it is." Mavis she assured him kindly, not expecting the next question he would respond with.

"Then," He looked her square in the eye, "Can you tell me who E.N.D. is?"

"Th-That's…" She stuttered immediately.

"So you do know who he is…" He noted attentively, "But why haven't you told me?"

"Gray, I didn't-"

"Stop lying to him!" Juvia chimed in from behind, "You know how important this is to him!"

"Who is E.N.D.?" Gray demanded solemnly, "Do you know where he is?"

"I… I do, but…" Mavis tried to explain herself, "You've got to understand, your father didn't know E.N.D.'s true nature. If he had, he'd have never…"

"What my father would've done doesn't matter anymore." Gray cut her off bitterly, "He's dead. And the last thing I promised him is that I would kill E.N.D., no matter what it takes. So tell me, who. Is. E.N.D.?"

"She's not going to tell you, Gray." All three jumped to hear Edo's voice come from the door; and they quickly turned to see him stepping out a dark portal as he spoke, "You can ask her that question as many times as you want, but the truth of the matter is that Mavis simply doesn't trust you."

"And what's your excuse?" Juvia quipped with same bitter tone Gray just used on Mavis, "You've been keeping this from Gray-sama too."

"I have, but I'm not hiding that fact either." The dark god replied pointedly, "As things stand, E.N.D. is too strong; and like your First Master, I know how impulsive your darling Gray can be. If we gave him the answer too soon, he'd go off and get himself killed. The Igneel of my world would say the same thing, if he wasn't too busy eavesdropping, that is…"

About to ask Edo what he meant by that, Juvia quickly put two and two together as a white portal on the wall across from the door opened in response; and the very subject of their conversation stepped out with a grim expression.

"You may not lie, Acnologia, but you're not telling him the whole truth either." The redheaded immortal argued calmly, "I don't know what your plan is, recruiting Gray like this, but I do know that E.N.D. is important to your plans. You need him to kill Zeref."

"And I need E.N.D. to die too. It's all matter of when, Igneel." The blue-haired immortal countered, somehow looking directly at his rival as he did, "But I shouldn't be surprised that this concept eludes you. You never were one to stop and consider all the possibilities, were you?"

"That guilt trip isn't gonna work on me anymore, my old friend." Iga informed him plainly.

"And your new tricks aren't gonna work on me, either." Edo quipped dismissively, "I don't know what kind of spell you put on me and the rest of my God Slayers… but you didn't ever think to cast it on Juvia, did you? Even if I couldn't see you through her eyes, we're bonded, Igneel. I felt your presence nearby the moment I walked in; and your scent… it's as noticeably disgusting as ever.

"Oh, and while we're talking about who I can see…" He added, surprising the Fairy Tail founder as he turned and looked directly at her, "I suppose I should thank Juvia for the chance to finally meet you, Miss Vermillion. I was still in Edolas long before it, but that last image I had of you was the moment Zeref turned you into a pregnant living corpse."

"Pregnant?" Juvia repeated the word with immense curiosity.

"Oh, did I say that part aloud?" The dark immortal playfully covered his mouth in response, "Sorry, I suppose my mouth just got ahead of my brain there. It's a dreadful habit, you see…"

"That wasn't a slip of the tongue," The light immortal countered seriously, "You wanted Mavis to hear that."

"Hear what?!" She almost shouted, "Are you both telling me that I'm pregnant?!"

"You were," Igneel decided to rip the proverbial band-aid off before Edo could, "But Precht helped you birth him not long after you were sealed inside the Lumen."

"Him?" Mavis replied weakly, "Zeref and I… we… had a… son?"

"Correction, you have a son." Edo chipped in next, smirking as Igneel gave him a warning glance, "He's quite the old man now, but he's almost as good as clinging to life as mommy and daddy are."

"This is below you, Acnologia." Iga told his rival seriously, "And you know it."

"What?" He deadpanned innocently, "I'm just trying to show Gray and Juvia just how inattentive their First Master truly is."

"Even so, this is none of our business." His rival repeated his point.

"And when has that ever stopped us?" He quipped playfully, "Ever since we were forcibly pulled from our world, we've both spied on this world, past and present, haven't we? After all, you can't win the game if you don't know the players… Isn't that right, Fairy Tactician?"

Turning back to the Fairy Tail founder, Edo smirked at seeing the stunned expression on her face.

"I… I can't believe it…" She muttered weakly, "I have a son…"

"Aaannd… we've lost her." Edo joked as he glanced between Gray and Juvia next, "But don't you see? This is what I've been hinting at this whole time. Your precious First Master couldn't even help her own child; so what makes you think she'll be able to do anything for you, either? Unlike these two, I'm not going to ask for your trust, loyalty, or any of those flimsy emotions… All I want is for you to be honest with yourselves, and to accept your full potential… Even my arrangement with Cel and Zancrow is like this. Hell, I've even encouraged them to try to kill me. Only, I didn't expect one of them to fall for me, as hard as she did…"

"That's crap and you know it." Igneel argued back, "You've taken advantage of that poor and lonely girl her whole life. What you've started doing with her now, it's disgusting."

"And were you any better?" He quipped with an evil grin, "You were hundreds of years old when you met your twenty-something year-old wife, weren't you? You see, I gave Cel a life, but you… you uprooted Vesta from hers."

"Don't you dare say her name in my presence." Igneel stepped towards his old foe aggressively.

"Careful, Igneel." Edo widened his grin as he taunted his rival, "You don't wanna start a fight inside your friends' lovely little home here, do you?"

Clenching his fist in frustration, Igneel was about to step back when Mavis suddenly spoke up again.

"What's his name?" She asked in a quiet daze, "My son… What is his name?"

"It's August." The redhead revealed with a sigh, "Your son's name is August."

"But everyone now knows him as 'The Wizard King'." Edo added amusedly.

"August…" Mavis repeated the name with tears welling in her eyes, "Zeref and I… we met in August…

"Did he…" She asked with a hint of desperation, "Zeref… he named our child?"

"The Wizard King…" Juvia repeated the moniker aloud, "Isn't that the leader of the Spriggan Twelve?"

"The very same." Edo confirmed with a nod, "Abandoned by Precht, little nameless August got by stealing to keep his belly full. But then one day, he just happened to run into his father, who named him on the spot; and he's loyally served at his side ever since. Growing up with an ignorant father incapable of showing love… honestly, it's quite pitiable…"

"That's enough, Acnologia." Igneel cut in again, but it was a tearful Mavis who ended up speaking next.

"Gray, Juvia… I… I'm sorry, but… I… I have to go. I need some time to think…"

Barely even finishing her sentence, the illusory mage vanished the next instant, prompting Edo to smile triumphantly as she did.

"And then there were four…" He mused aloud.

"You're despicable." Juvia told him bluntly, "As angry as I am with her, I'd have never stooped that low."

"You'll understand my decisions in due time, my dear." He shrugged her words off easily, standing up slowly the next moment as he added, "But until then, I've said all I need to say. Enjoy the early honeymoon."

"Not so fast, Acnologia." Igneel stepped in front of him again, "You and I, we should settle this now, before anyone else gets hurt."

"Perhaps." Edo smiled toothily as he replied, "But then again, it'd be no fun, just letting this all end right here. I appreciate your eagerness, though, my old friend. Maybe one day I'll play with you again, to add another scar to the list, and all…"

Opening a portal right below his feet, the dark immortal sank into it as he spoke one more time.

"Unless the Keepers kill you first, that is. But either way, farewell again, Igneel. I look forward to our next encounter."

As soon as Edo's portal closed, Iga turned back to the ice/water duo.

"Guys-"

"Quiet!" Juvia quickly interrupted him, stepping between him and Gray as she did, "Can't you see that my love and I need some time to ourselves?"

"But Juvia, your First Master was right," The immortal tried desperately, "If you two stay here, then-"

"Right now, you're the only one that's disturbing us." She cut him off again, "My darling Gray and I want nothing to do with any of you, and that's not changing any time soon."

"I'm not trying to pester you two, I'm just trying to help." He replied honestly, "Wendy's back now, and with her help, together we could-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Igneel flinched in pain as a small blade of water sliced just across the right side of his face.

"Enough!" Juvia shouted before lowering her hand, "We don't want you or Edo's help, and we don't want help from Fairy Tail either!"

"Unless," Gray added quietly, "You tell me who E.N.D. is. Do that, and I'll consider going with you."

"You know I can't do that." Iga said softly.

"Then leave." The ice mage ordered him, "And don't come back until you're ready to tell me."

"But about the guild, or your friends?" The immortal tried one last time, "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Why should it?" Gray put it bluntly, "Besides, we're the reason the guild's so divided right now anyway. They're better off without us."

"And we're better off without them." Juvia added with equal tactlessness, "Now, leave, Igneel. This conversation is over."

Having still so much to say, yet knowing it would all likely fall on deaf ears right now, the light god could only sigh as he finally gave in.

"Okay… if this is how you really feel. I suppose it's not my place to tell you otherwise."

Reopening the portal he came in through, Igneel turned away and began to move towards the white rift, only to stop just before; and he turned his head back to the pair of runaway wizards for a moment as he spoke one more time.

"All my life has been a series of major screw-ups, and I've lost so much more than I could ever gain; but still… All that bad… my flaws, and my failings… It's only going to define me if I give up and let it; and the same is true for you. Your friends and I are never gonna give up on you; so please, whatever you do next, just don't give up on us. Out of all the mistakes you could make, that one would be the worst."

Meanwhile, at the southern gate of Magnolia Town…

A hundred-story tall Cel Rhea was barely feet away from kicking down the steel gate when suddenly something shot across the sky; and before she could even see it coming, this glowing white projectile yelled at her just before colliding with her forehead.

"White Dragon's Holy Fist!"

Staggering backwards as a white explosion detonated just above her nose, the Titan was quickly struck again, only this time in the center of her chest; and just as she began to fall backwards, the royal blue bullet that struck her quickly leapt back and caught his ally mid-fall.

"You alright?" Goten quickly asked as he just as quickly landed on the ground.

"Never better." Sting replied as soon as the demi-Saiyan released him.

The next moment, the ground shook as gravity finally slammed Cel onto her back; and the two heroes were forced to wait as a large cloud of dirt and debris obstructed their view.

"Rgh, damn, this sucks…" She groaned to herself, planning to start picking herself up when she suddenly heard Edo's voice in her head.

You've disposed of our problem child as planned, and you've bought me all the time I needed as well, my dear. So tell me: what are you still doing in Magnolia?

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She quipped annoyedly, "I'm trying to kill Sting and Wendy, before they become a bigger problem than they already are."

Even so, you're out of time. The whole guild is going to show up at any moment now.

"But Eddie, I've got-"

Don't be a fool, Cel. Retreat now, while you can. This isn't a suggestion, my dear, this is an order!

"Err, fine!" She agreed reluctantly, "But I'm not gonna let them put me on my ass and get away with it! It's happened once, and it's not gonna happen again!"

About twenty yards from the bottom of the Titan's feet, Goten and Sting were waiting for her to try standing up for a few seconds until the White Dragon Slayer noticed something was off.

"Hey, you don't think we killed her already, do ya?"

"No way, I can still feel her energy." The demi-Saiyan answered quickly, "But I don't know why she isn't getting up yet…"

"That's because she isn't…" Sting concluded next, with a bead of sweat soon running down his face as he used his magic sense, "Unless my senses are goin' outta whack, I think she's about to try some kinda suicide attack!"

"Seriously?" Goten turned to him with a surprised look, "Why? What are sensing?"

"Can't you feel all that magic energy building up?" The blonde questioned him seriously, "We've gotta do something, now!"

Just as Goten agreed with him aloud, the two suddenly saw as the whole black and brown stone body slowly began to glow a bright red-orange; and they were both suddenly shocked to hear Cel's voice from behind them.

"So long, boys!" She taunted them as she stepped into a portal on nearby tree, "I hope you enjoy the present I left you!"

Watching the portal close behind her well before he could reach her, Goten skidded to a halt before just before the tree and quickly turned around, hearing Sting swear loudly as he did.

"Shit, shit! Goten, if this whole thing explodes, we can kiss Magnolia Town goodbye!"

"How long do we got?" The demi-Saiyan replied quickly.

"Judging by what I'm looking at…" Sting gulped nervously, "Maybe a few seconds…"

"A second's all I need." Goten replied before putting his hands together, activating a threefold Kaioken simultaneously, "Kamehame-HA!"

Throwing his hands forward the next instant, the ascended Blue Super Saiyan fired what was likely the largest blue ki wave he had ever fired; and the resulting blast forced Sting's jaw to drop as the entire Titan shell, along with most of the paved road leading out of town, was erased in the blink of an eye.

"Ho-Holy crap!" the stunned slayer remarked while a panting Goten quickly powered down, and they both stared at the steaming round canyon the demi-Saiyan's attack had carved through the earth, "Why didn't you just start with that attack?!"

"She woulda blocked it back then." Goten explained plainly.

"Really?" Sting questioned skeptically, "She woulda blocked that? On her own?"

"I dunno what Edo did to train her these last couple years." Goten remarked honestly, "But she's gotten way stronger now… We're lucky Edo hasn't taken us seriously yet."

"Somehow, that doesn't reassure me." Sting added sarcastically, making Goten smirk with a grim humor.

"It wasn't meant to." The demi-Saiyan said honestly, about to say something more encouraging when they heard a large number of people running up from behind them; and when they turned around to see what the cause of the commotion was, they soon saw what looked like half of the entire Fairy Tail guild standing before them. And just before them all was an exhausted Wendy and Erza, with the latter leaning on Jellal's left shoulder for support.

"Damn, kid," Gildarts remarked from behind the trio up front, "Remind me to never piss you off."

"Seriously." Max agreed from somewhere in the back, "With a guy like him around, I don't even know why I bothered comin' out here!"

"That was incredible, Ten-kun." Wendy spoke next, "Erza and I saw the whole thing…"

"That road's gonna need one hell of a remodelin'," Gajeel admitted aloud, "That's for damn sure."

"Road? What road?" Jet replied with clear shock, "There's nothing left!"

"Sorry," Goten apologized as he and Wendy stepped towards each other, "But I didn't have the time to aim it right."

"Heh, he saves all our asses, and yet he still feels the need to apologize." Gajeel chuckled, "I think Wendy's personality has rubbed off on him more than her scent has."

Blushing a bit by the Iron Dragon Slayer's teasing, Wendy began to look away until Goten took her hand and pulled her close.

"It sure has." Goten replied proudly while Wendy blushed a bit brighter, "Wendy does make for quite the role-model, after all."

"And uh," Cana spoke up from just behind Jellal and Erza, "What's the situation here? Are you two like a thing, or…?"

"We're dating," Goten told her plainly, "Again."

"And what about…" The card mage began until Wendy quickly answered.

"Romeo and I broke up. We haven't sat down and talked everything out yet, but he was the one that sent me to find Ten-kun."

"Poor sap's too nice for his own good." Cana joked with a shake of her head.

"It was a messed up situation all around, and somethings still are." Erza admitted with a sigh before giving Wendy a smile and adding, "But seeing you two together again, it's a bit reassuring. Like things are finally going the way they're supposed to. I'm very happy for you both."

"Thank you, Erza-san." Wendy replied while unconsciously wrapping her arm a bit around Goten's, "Honestly, I was a bit worried you'd all think less of me, for, you know…"

"Trust me, Wendy," Macao chimed in as a few people shifted aside to let the couple see him speaking, "I might feel a little bad for my son over this, but we all know you're not that kinda girl."

"Yeah, what he said." Wakaba agreed readily, "And besides, even if you were, you're nowhere close to being another Cana!"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" Gildarts demanded bitterly, forcing Wakaba to flinch nervously as he started sputtering an apology, prompting the others to start laughing, giggling, or chuckling in their own unique ways while Gildarts continued to scold him. And sighing in quiet relief while their friends laughed around them, Wendy glanced to Goten, only for her to end up staring at him as their eyes met.

"It's good to be home, isn't it?" He asked her warmly, to which she nodded eagerly.

"It sure is." She agreed with a soft smile, with the expression on her face being too cute for Goten to ignore; and he soon pulled her in for a kiss, prompting a few cheers and cat-calls from their audience as she returned the gesture.