Part 2 of their long dark trek through Moria, this part when on a bit longer than I thought...but hey, the epic battle scenes have to be this long and good to read, right? Anyway, here it is, so I'll just stop talking now.

Disclaimer: Still the same answer there.

And for akitowolfblood, I'm not sure if it's exactly as you requested but there are some moments in here of Legolas helping Lucy out. But I guess I'll just let you be the judge of how it turned out, even though I hope you still like it anyway.

Now onto the story.


Chapter 9 part 2 Tragedy Within Moria

The Fellowship and Team Natsu were soon making their way through a dark chamber with cobwebs until they came upon a large chamber wherein Gimli rushed forward with a cry. "Gimli, wait!" Aragorn cried out. They saw Gimli fall to his knees in front of a large ornate box carved out of stone with a white light shining above it. Carved into the surface were words Gandalf read: "Here Lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." Gandalf sighed, taking off his hat. He spoke quietly, "I am sorry my old friend..." He said, brushing some dust from the tombstone. Seeing a skeleton, Gandalf took an old cobwebbed tome from its clutches after handing his hat and staff to Pippin to hold onto. "We have taken the twenty-first hall, there is good air, it can be watched. Balin has become Lord of Moria...found Mithril...Oin to seek upper-armories." Gandalf turned the page, the book had been damaged and slightly burned, and some of the writings were unreadable. "Sorrow already... five years since we came...dreadful place...Balin...slain. ..orc archer...many more came...something in the water...took Oin..."

The Fairy Tail wizards were all horrified at what had happened to Gimli's kin here that they weren't exactly sure how to respond, though Gray somehow felt that he could probably relate the most in a way when Deliora had completely destroyed his entire hometown and all the people there -his own parents included- when he was still just a kid.

"Tha-That's awful," Lucy commented sorrowfully, yet she was horrified at the same time at whatever monsters would do such a thing to the dwarves who once lived here at one time.

"It's like...like Deliora somehow came and happened all over again," Gray added, feeling a sudden wave of emotions sweep over him at the very thought of the demon wreaking its havoc everywhere. He could be seen clenching his fists to keep from trembling in fear, which didn't go unnoticed by the Fellowship...although they had no idea what this 'Deliora' was that he referred to, though it was clear that the ice wizard was now suddenly terrified of being here, as were the other members of Team Natsu as well.

Gandalf turned to the last page, "We cannot get out...we cannot get out...Dwalin slew fifteen of the goblins before they slew him...and even then...was able to take four more of them despite his wound...we have barred the gates...a shadow moves in the dark...we cannot get out...they are coming...they are coming..." Gandalf shut the book saying sadly: "That is where it ends..."

Natsu found himself watching Pippin as the hobbit could be seen running his hand along an arrow that was sticking out of a skeleton that was just sitting on top of what appeared to be a well of some sort, though unfortunately his action had suddenly caused the head to roll off and tumble loudly down the well followed quickly by the skeleton's body falling down after it just as loudly as well, making both Pippin and Natsu wince from the sudden noise it had just made, as everybody soon turned to see the source of the noise.

Gandalf had then gone over and taken his hat and staff back from Pippin as he harshly reprimanded the hobbit for his foolish action. "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us if your stupidity! And while you're at it, you should take Natsu with you so I no longer have to deal with his stupidity as well!" He then proceeded to whack Natsu on the head with his staff.

Just then the sound of drums could be heard somewhere in the distance and getting closer and louder the closer they got, as Natsu and Wendy suddenly began sniffing the air for any possible sign of enemies that could still be lying in wait to attack them at any moment. A grunting and growling was soon heard, and three goblins were seen with torches, and holding chains connected to an iron collar around an ugly troll's neck. Boromir, Aragorn, and Legolas were then seen rushing over to quickly push the doors closed to prevent the orcs and goblins from getting in, with Erza, Natsu, and Gray also going over to help bar the doors shut as well.

"They have a cave troll," Boromir commented as though he were stating the obvious.

Gimli was now seen standing up on Balin's tomb and declaring in a challenging tone of voice to just let them come in already. "There's one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"

The battle soon commenced as orcs began flooding into the room as the Fellowship and Team Natsu were now seen fighting them off. Erza had requipped into her Purgatory Armor and moved to help out Aragorn and Boromir with fighting off the orcs and goblins. While Lucy decided to help Legolas take out the troll, as she pulled out one of her gate keys and calling out "Open! Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!", as the man-horse spirit appeared before her. Then she got out another key. "Open! Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

"Hey there Miss Lucy, how about a smooooooooch?" Taurus asked her in his usual pervy manner, and much to Legolas' disapproval when he noticed how the perverted cow spirit acted towards Lucy after she had summoned him.

Although Lucy, however, only sweat-dropped at that. "Yeah, now is hardly the time for that," she told her most perverted spirit. "I need your help taking care of these guys, Taurus and Sagittarius," she added, referring to the goblins and the troll.

"You got it, Miss Lucy," Taurus replied. "And then that smooooooch afterwards."

Lucy just rolled her eyes as she began to help her two spirits out as well, with Sagittarius helping to take out the troll while Taurus was taking out orcs, while she got out her own bow to help out as well although she realized that she had lost most of her arrows when the Watcher had grabbed her and held her upside down, and decided that she would just have to use them sparingly until she could get more.

Wendy and Carla were over by the hobbits helping them out, as the Sky Dragon Slayer was helping them out with her support magic. And even Happy was doing his best to help out as best he could, as he was now seen on top of an orc and trying to punch the top of its head as hard as he could. While Natsu and Gray were just helping out wherever they could, knocking down orcs here and there as they were seen fighting back to back -Gray having lost his shirt somewhere in the midst of the battle without realizing.

"Heh! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu declared. "Fire Dragon Roar! Fire Dragon Iron Fist! Talon! Wing Attack! Sword Horn! Flame Elbow!" He continuously shouted out attack after attack at any orc that happened to cross his path.

"Hey, don't go showin' me up, loser," Gray called over to him, as he was taking out a few orcs of his own as well. "Ice-Make: Lance! Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!" He also decided to use a bit of his Devil Slayer magic on the orcs as well. "Ice Demon's Rage!" Gray shouted out with his Devil Slayer breath attack at any orcs that happened to cross his path.

Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin fought bravely to protect one another. Frodo utilized Sting whose blade was indeed glowing blue to indicate the orcs' sudden appearance. The hobbits were clearly not experienced in combat, and were sloppy. The cave troll could soon be seen going for Sam, who then dived underneath the troll to avoid being attacked by it as the ginger-haired hobbit could now be seen knocking down orcs with his frying pan.

"Frying pans! Who knew, right?" Happy suddenly said, as he was now seen clawing at another orc from on top of its head.

Sam looked over at him and just shrugged. "I think I'm gettin' the hang of this," he replied to the blue Exceed, who in turn gave the ginger-haired hobbit a catlike grin and a thumbs-up in reply.

Boromir fought back to back with Erza, but he suddenly noticed something off about Team Natsu's fighting methods as he happened to noticed they were only just knocking out any orcs that crossed their path instead of killing them on sight. Even Erza, despite the fact that she was fighting with swords, while Natsu and Gray were hardly using their own swords as they were solely relying on their magic to fight with most of the time despite their sword practice with Erza. And then there was Lucy fighting alongside two of her spirits...well the Celestial Spirits weren't really the problem, but it was the way she was using her bow and arrows and not even hitting a single vital spot on any orc she took aim at. And not to mention the little girl Wendy, along with those two cats Happy and Carla...well, those three were over helping to protect the hobbits -and not to mention Wendy was still only a child, so it was understandable for her...and even the hobbits were understandable since they were just only inexperienced in fighting...but Boromir knew something had to be done immediately to correct Team Natsu's fighting methods before anyone else would notice. "Why do you not kill your enemies?" he asked of Erza, who in turn blinked in surprise at the sudden question. Even Natsu and Gray -who happened to be close by as they were fighting orcs- had heard the question as well, as they were now seen punching their way through orcs to reach them.

"What kinda question is that?" Natsu harshly shot back at him in reply.

Gray sighed. "What flame-for-brains means is...well...that is...," he took a deep breath before finally saying; "UsFairyTailwizardshaveneveractuallykilledbefore...," he said all in one breath and hoping that Boromir didn't catch on.

Erza nodded solemnly. "It's true," she admitted. "Usually after we defeat an enemy back in our world, the Magic Council usually steps in to take them into custody afterwards."

"Well here in Middle Earth, when fighting enemies it's either kill or be killed, and there is no 'magic council' here to 'take enemies into custody' as you put it," Boromir explained to them. "So however you go about dealing with enemies where you're from won't work here, unless you want leave a bad impression of yourselves towards the Free Peoples. So you may want to keep that in mind when dealing with enemies. And going off of that, you may also want to consider being less conspicuous when calling out your attacks the way you've been doing as it makes it sound as though you are announcing your presence to the enemy, which is something you may want to work on avoiding."

Natsu, Gray, and Erza all suddenly had equal looks of surprise as he told them that, although what he said about the way they call out their attacks the way they do had left them with something to ponder on -though Erza wasn't all too happy with that, as she could now be seen trying to argue her point across. "It's not as though we were trying to do it on purpose, that's just the way we always use our magic," the Titania argued. "And also going off of that, why do you see it fit to lecture us on this in the middle of a battle?"

Natsu's and Gray's jaws dropped in utter shock at her argument, considering how she would always get after them for trying to argue, although Boromir was not the least bit intimidated in the slightest by Erza's arguing statement -and nor did he even flinch at the sharp tone of her voice, as he then suddenly turned and sliced off the head of an orc that had somehow decided to take advantage of his being distracted while he was talking with the now paralyzed with shock Fairy Tail trio as they just stood there stunned speechless watching him decapitate an orc right in front of them. Of course they knew that Boromir had a point with what he had just explained to them, but couldn't he see that this was all still new to them for him to just go and do that? To Natsu and Gray, it was more horrifying than being intimidated by Erza -which they could actually live with, unlike the thought of killing. While Erza, meanwhile, was trying not to show it, although it was clear to Natsu and Gray that she was just as terrified as they were about this -if her trembling in fear was anything to go by. Boromir noticed this as he turned back towards them, though however he just figured that they would have to get used to it eventually if they wanted to survive in this world until this whole quest was finished. Though he never meant to be that harshly critical about it, he just felt as though that was something that the Fairy Tail wizards ought to keep in mind for as long as they remain here in Middle Earth. He then just continued on battling more orcs that came at him, while dealing with traumatized teenagers could wait until later once they were finally out of these mines. Although the three of them just continued to help fight off orcs to the best of their ability despite the trauma it may end up causing them later on, and not to mention they were now wanting to get out of these mines as fast as they could now.

Although aside from Boromir, Gandalf had also been observing the way the trio of Fairy Tail's strongest team fought off the enemies as he somehow had a feeling that Team Natsu might now be beginning to understand what he had meant when he told them that they would never be the same again as he sensed that they may end up being traumatized for life once they returned to their own world after this quest was finally finished -but at least they would have their guildmates back in Fairy Tail to help them get through it. And the old wizard had also heard Boromir's comment on the way Team Natsu always called out their attacks and how it sounded almost as if they were announcing their presence to the enemy with the way they were doing that, and it made him think that Boromir may have a point there and thought that perhaps the Fairy Tail wizards would probably have to find some other way of calling out their attacks without being too conspicuous while doing so in the process without drawing too much attention to themselves or to the enemy. And he was also considering giving Erza a good whack on the head with his staff, once they were finally out of here, for trying to argue her point against Boromir for only trying to help by pointing out things like that to them.

Meanwhile, Lucy had also just received that same initial traumatic shock as her three teammates had as she watched as Legolas fired an arrow that pinned an orc's head to a wall, while Gimli was fighting in a rage and slaughtering every orc he could get his axes on -though Lucy could only understand that it was because the dwarf was just avenging his fallen kin that were slain here.

"Aragorn! Behind you!" Legolas called out, as Aragorn stabbed an orc through the stomach who was attacking him from behind.

The sight of orc blood being splattered everywhere was enough to make Lucy suddenly feel sick to her stomach -like Natsu and motion sickness, only much much worse- which didn't go by unnoticed by Legolas and Aragorn as they both saw her suddenly looking a bit pale. Out of concern for the Celestial wizard, Legolas was soon seen making his way over to her to ensure that she was doing alright. "Lucy, are you doing alright over here?" the elf inquired worriedly.

"Huh?" Lucy blinked out of her shock for a moment after taking notice of him now standing before her. "Y-Yeah, I'm totally fine," she replied with a nervous laugh that didn't sound at all convincing for her to be 'totally fine' as she put it, and Legolas wasn't about to let it go until he knew what had shocked her so suddenly like that as he gave her a look that clearly showed that he wasn't convinced. Lucy sighed as she wondered why elves had to be so perceptive, though she figured she may as well just confide in him about what was bothering her. "Well i-it's just that...where we're from, u-us Fairy Tail wizards have just never actually had to kill our enemies before since the Magic Council usually just takes them into custody afterwards...," she said somewhat hesitantly, hoping the elf wouldn't judge her for it. Though instead of showing judgmental criticism about it the way Boromir had done with Natsu, Erza, and Gray...Legolas merely looked surprised as she said that. So then this was all just a new experience to her, and to her friends as well, but at least that made a lot of sense now as to why she suddenly became so paralyzed with shock in the first place. Although he didn't really understand what this 'magic council' was that she mentioned, though that was something that could be asked about later once they were finally out these mines.

Taurus and Sagittarius eventually had to return to the Celestial World to rest up and recover their strength and magical energy, but just as Lucy was about to summon another spirit to help out...that was when the cave troll suddenly decided to take advantage of their momentary distraction from the battle to attack them, which Legolas took notice of and took aim at the troll's head and letting loose two arrows that embedded one each in the beast's eyesockets making Lucy cringe slightly though she also managed to fire an arrow at the same time which found its way to being embedded right into the troll's nose -although it happened to be her last arrow, much to her dismay, which she blamed the Watcher for. The troll suddenly roared and blindly lashed out, knocking Lucy aside before either she or Legolas even had a chance to react in time, and sending her flying back and hitting the wall next to the hobbits where she lay barely conscious and badly injured. That was when Natsu had suddenly heard her scream, as he looked over in shock as the troll had just injured his Lucy and sent her flying and crashing straight into a wall. "Lucy!" Now fully enraged, the Salamander was now seen burning down orcs in his path in order to reach her -with Gray helping out as well, freezing enemies in his path.

"Natsu, I got things here, you just focus on getting to Lucy," Gray told him.

"Huh? You sure?" Natsu asked back in reply, knowing full well that both he and Gray still haven't even fully recovered yet from the shock they received about having to kill their enemies.

"Yeah, don't worry, but Lucy probably needs you right now," Gray assured him, though the ice wizard hardly felt confident in himself anymore after what Boromir had told them about needing to kill their enemies, and he knew Natsu was right to question the matter, but he still wasn't about to let that stop him from continuing to help out wherever he could.

"Alright then," Natsu agreed, as he and Gray both nodded firmly to each other and fist-bumped in acknowledgement before splitting up -with Natsu fighting his way through orcs while making his way over to Lucy, while Gray was now seen helping out Legolas and Gimli with taking out more orcs, although the elf and dwarf also happened to take notice of how the two boys were just as uneasy about this as Lucy -but at least surprisingly they weren't bickering with each other since they knew that now was no longer the time for that anymore, as both Natsu and Gray did tend to show extraordinary teamwork when seen working together like this.

Meanwhile, the troll was lashing out everywhere in a blind rage and smashing things in its path as it was now blindly charging over towards the hobbits. "Oh no, it's coming this way!" Merry shouted as the troll began to blindly charge at them. Boromir stepped forward and stabbed the point of his sword into the charging troll's forehead, and causing it to be embedded up to the handle. Aragorn quickly sliced the beast's throat as Boromir removed his sword, while Erza was also seen slashing at the troll with her own swords as well.

Time seemed to slow down as Frodo was suddenly hit by an orc arrow in the belly and his back hit a pillar as he slid down it and appeared in shock of what had happened. Wendy gasped in shock, as she was horrified at seeing that Frodo had been struck down. "Carla, you stay and continue to help out here! I'm gonna tend to Frodo!" And with that she was rushing over to see to Frodo, with Carla calling out to her to be careful as she did so. Though little did the Sky Dragon know, she was soon in for a big surprise as she went over to try to heal Frodo. While the white Exceed, however, was still recovering from the shock of her vision actually happening -although it never showed anything about Lucy getting injured as well, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Natsu rushing over to help the Celestial Wizard.

Soon what was left of the orcs all fled into the darkness, and Frodo was seemingly unaffected by Wendy's magic because he wasn't injured at all -much to her surprise when she tried to heal him. "How are you alive?" Aragorn asked in surprise. Frodo felt that one of his vest buttons had come undone and revealed the shining Mithril mail underneath. Gimli's jaw dropped as he smiled, "You hobbits are certainly full of surprises..."

Even the members of Team Natsu all breathed a sigh of relief that the Ringbearer was alright and still alive. Natsu had also gone over to help Lucy back up, though unfortunately the moment she attempted to stand up the Celestial wizard suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot up through her right leg that suddenly caused her to wince and cry out in pain -as it appeared to be either broken or dislocated, though she didn't know which for sure, but the pain did make her feel dizzy and a bit queasy while standing even though she had Natsu supporting her to keep her from falling back over.

"Um, I can do a quick healing session if you want, Lucy," Wendy suggested, as Legolas had also gone over to help support the Celestial wizard as well.

"Maybe you should wait until we get out of here first," Lucy politely yet nervously declined...nervously because she didn't want to be in here any longer and she could tell that everyone else agreed with her on that as well, along with Gandalf even saying that they should not continue to linger here any longer than they already have.

"Aright then, you're right," Wendy agreed, as she too wanted to get out of Moria as quickly as possible now as well.

The Fellowship and Team Natsu were soon making their way cautiously into the large marble halls, Natsu was seen carrying Lucy piggyback style and being careful of her either broken or dislocated leg in the process, as the group continued to follow behind Gandalf...when the old wizard jolted as if something had struck him and he gripped his staff tightly and held his chest.

"Gandalf!" Legolas went to assist the elderly wizard. That was when they heard the earsplitting roar...

The company went silent until Boromir spoke in quiet fear: "What is this new devilry...?"

Gimli had gone pale.

Gandalf gripped his staff tighter: "A Balrog; a demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you! We must make our way to the bridge of Khazad-Dum, it will lead us out of this place!" Gandalf strode forward into a dimly lit room split in two by a narrow bridge...they could see sunlight on the other end.

"Gandalf..." Aragorn said to the panting wizard. Gandalf turned to Erza and Aragorn, "Lead them on...Erza, Aragorn...I'm trusting you to lead the company to safety."

Aragorn went to assist the seemingly struggling old man, but was surprised when Gandalf shoved him aside. "DO AS I SAY! Swords are of NO MORE USE HERE!"

Erza placed a hand on Aragorn's shoulder. "If that is his wish, then we must obey him." Even though she didn't like it any more than the rest of them did, the Titania was still willing to go along with it anyway.

"Gray? Are you ok?" Lucy worriedly asked the ice wizard, who seemed to be frozen with fear after hearing the roar. The Celestial wizard reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "No, of course you're not," she quickly amended. She hated to see her friend terrified like this, it just made her feel helpless to know that she somehow didn't know how to fully comfort him in this situation. Even if this demon wasn't the one from his childhood, it was still just as traumatizing for him to even think about.

"That roar...i-it can't be...D-Deliora..." Gray said quietly as he found he couldn't stop himself from trembling in fear.

Gandalf turned towards the terrified ice wizard. "Calm yourself, Gray Fullbuster, you should know all too well that this demon is not the one from your past," he reassured him. "The Balrog is far more dangerous and powerful than I assume what this 'Deliora' is capable of...and just as deadly to anybody foolish enough to even think of devouring its flames," the old wizard directed that last part towards Natsu, who wasn't really paying any attention at all as he said that.

"Huh? You say somethin', gramps?" Natsu asked, which earned him a whack on the head from Gandalf's staff for not listening.

Gray blinked, coming to from his initial shock to find the Fellowship all giving him concerned looks. Great, as if he wasn't already feeling pathetic enough as it is, right? Even the hobbits must be thinking of how uncool he must seem to them now. "Y-Yeah, but...," he started to say, but was interrupted by Erza.

"It'll be alright, Gray," the Titania tried to reassure him, but even she knew that it really wouldn't be alright anymore. Not with this demon that was now after them.

The Fellowship and Team Natsu all made it to the bridge and hurried over to the other side, while Gandalf remained in the center of the bridge as a gigantic demonic creature with horns and a body made of flame and pure shadow leaped out before Gandalf and roared. Gandalf stood his ground and held his sword and staff at either side. "You cannot pass!" He shouted.

Carla suddenly became extremely fearful at this, as this was now the second part to her vision that was now happening right before her very eyes and she suddenly felt powerless to even try to prevent it now. She just hoped that at least Natsu and Erza wouldn't end up involving themselves in fighting this flame demon as well, especially the part where she saw Natsu eating the Balrog's flames...there was no way Carla would allow that to happen, at least that's what she hoped anyway.

"Gandalf!" Frodo attempted to go back, but was held back by Aragorn.

The Balrog snorted in response to Gandalf's cry as the wizard continued, raising his staff as a shield of light surrounded him. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire...wielder of the Flame of Arnor...the dark fire will NOT avail you! FLAME OF UDUN!" The Balrog wielded a sword made of flame and struck Gandalf with it, the magical shield cracking a bit as Gandalf cried out from the strain his magic was enduring.

The Balrog's sword vanished into ash as it touched Gandalf's forcefield, and Gandalf spat at the beast: "Go back to the shadow!"

The Fairy Tail wizards could only watch with horrified expressions as they somehow had a feeling of what the old wizard was planning on doing, though for Gray he somehow thought he was seeing Ur all over again as she was casting the Iced Shell to seal Deliora away...except that there was no Iced Shell this time in this case, but it was still just as traumatizing for him to witness. Although the pyro of the group wasn't about to lose anybody here at all, especially not Gandalf of all people despite the trouble that Natsu always caused him since this whole quest started. "No way, gramps!" Natsu declared, his fists igniting. "We're all getting outta this place together, you hear me?!" he shouted to Gandalf. "So don't you dare go dyin' on us!"

"Natsu, don't! You can't involve yourself in this fight!" Carla shouted frantically and fearfully to him.

But Natsu only ignored her as he continued on ranting to Gandalf. "I know I've always given you a hard time up till now, but I promise I'll behave better from now on, and I know I can learn restraint just like you want me to! Just please don't do this, gramps!" He was unaware of it, but tears had suddenly began streaming down his face as he pleaded with the old wizard to just forget about the demon so they could all leave this place together, and he was also unaware of the fact that he had unknowingly sounded almost similar to Gray back when the ice wizard had pleaded for Ur to not use Iced Shell when she had sealed Deliora away -much to Gray's added trauma to that, as the ice wizard knew that his nightmares of Deliora would return after this. "'Cause us wizards gotta stick together!" Then Natsu suddenly did something completely stupid and foolish. After passing Lucy over to Legolas to look after, the pyro then charged forward to help fight off the flame demon.

"Natsu, get back here this instant!" Carla shouted after him, in fear of what he was about to do.

Erza sighed. "Natsu, you idiot!" She requipped into her Flame Empress Armor, much to Carla's initial shock as that had been part of her vision as well, and charged off after the pink haired pyro.

"No, this can't be happening...," Carla said fearfully before shouting out towards the Titania and Salamander. "Natsu! Whatever you do, you mustn't eat the flames!" she shouted just as the Fellowship were all now glancing towards the white Exceed as they began to wonder just how she was able to know all of this despite not being from Middle Earth to begin with, though it was Wendy who did the explaining to them that another of Carla's magical abilities was Precognition -the ability to see into the future, though the white Exceed often didn't have good control over her visions which she was still trying to work with perfecting.

Meanwhile, Natsu had leaped up while using his flames as a boost so he now was on top the Balrog, as he could now be seen eating its flames, much to the shock and surprise of the Fellowship as they had never witnessed him actually eating fire before until now -although devouring the flames of the Balrog would be considered a foolish thing to do, as Natsu would soon learn the hard way as Gandalf had suddenly taken notice of what the Fire Dragon Slayer was doing.

"You foolish boy! Are you trying to poison yourself?!" Gandalf shouted to him, and much to Erza's shock since she had been within earshot as she heard that.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time he did something this foolish," the Scarlet Knight said. "Like the time he ate Ethernano in the Tower of Heaven while he was fighting Jellal, only to end up getting really sick afterwards."

Gandalf nodded as he then used his magic to pull Natsu from off the Balrog and whack him on the head for his foolishness before roughly throwing him back towards the rest of the Fellowship, where he was now seen choking and gagging on the flames he had just devoured. "Aw man...forget the fire in my belly...those were by far the worst tasting flames I've ever eaten...! Ugh...I...suddenly don't feel so good...," he moaned as he was on the ground looking like he was about to puke his guts out, much to the surprise of the Fellowship that he would even do something so foolish to begin with.

"Aye...that's Natsu for ya...," Happy said with a deadpanned expression.

"Well that's what you get for ignoring my warning!" Carla huffed in annoyance, though she also continued to watch Erza as she was attempting to cut down against the Balrog in her Flame Empress Armor although she wasn't having much luck considering the flame demon was much more powerful than her Flame Empress as she continued to get beat by it. But knowing Erza, she wasn't about to give up just yet and nor would she allow the old wizard to take care of the Balrog alone. Just then the Balrog suddenly caught Erza around the ankle with its fiery whip as it swung her around and threw her away, as though she were nothing but a pesky fly buzzing around it, where she hit the wall next to the Fellowship unconscious and badly injured.

"Oh no, Erza!" a horrified Lucy screamed as she just watched the Titania being thrown aside by the demon, while the Celestial wizard was unable to do a thing with a broken leg, and even Natsu was out of action now as well. And Wendy was also just as terrified by what she was witnessing as well.

Meanwhile, Gray had suddenly snapped out of his initial shock when he saw the Balrog throw Erza and he couldn't take it anymore as he then charged forward and throwing himself in between Gandalf and the Balrog while going into a certain stance for a certain spell that surprised even Gandalf himself -and not to mention Carla as well, as Gray had not been a part of her vision here.

"Gray...," the old wizard began to reprimand.

"Don't worry, gramps, if this demon is what's holding you back from leavin' this place with us...then I'll gladly seal it away for you!" Gray declared, though he was still slightly trembling a bit as he crossed his arms out in front of him and surprising his friends -well, those who were still conscious anyway- as he was about to perform an Iced Shell simply out of fear.

"No way, what can Gray possibly be thinking...?" Lucy whispered fearfully.

"He isn't thinking...," Natsu weakly managed to say as he shakily pulled himself back to his feet again after devouring the Balrog's flames, much to everyone's surprise and relief that he was still able to stand after that in the first place. "It ain't worth the risk to use Iced Shell, Gray, so don't do it!" he shouted over to the panicked ice wizard, and nearly stumbled as he charged forward to try to stop him from doing it, as the Fellowship began to wonder what this 'Iced Shell' even was to begin with -and even Frodo had begun to worry for the ice wizard as well.

But Gray somehow didn't even hear them as he just continued with the advanced ice spell. Natsu, Erza...everyone, and all my friends in Fairy Tail, I'm sorry but it ends here for me, he thought to himself. "ICED SH-" WHACK!

Gandalf suddenly whacked him on the head with his staff before he could even finish, as he somehow had a clear idea of what that spell was capable of and what it does to the caster just by observing him. "Don't be in such a hurry to give up your life for an old man, Gray Fullbuster!" He then proceeded to whack Gray repeatedly back to his senses before roughly throwing him back straight into Natsu who was still charging forward again as the impact sent them both tumbling back towards the Fellowship. Now that there were finally no more interruptions, Gandalf turned back to continue confronting the Balrog as the demon had suddenly stepped forward onto the bridge towards the old wizard and was now wielding a whip made of flame with many thongs. Gandalf raised his sword and staff together in the air and shouted his defiance: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" he slammed them both down onto the bridge of Khazad-Dum...and the stone crumbled beneath the Balrog's hooves.
The Fellowship and Team Natsu all looked relieved that it was finally over as they watched as Durin's Bane roared as it fell into the pit. Gandalf seemed more weary than ever as he watched the beast fall, and turned back to join the others. But that relief soon turned to horror when the Balrog's whip suddenly came up and latched itself around the old wizard's ankle and yanked him down into the pit where he grasped vainly at the crumbling stone as Frodo screamed and attempted to break free of Aragorn. "GANDAAALF!"

Gandalf met their eyes and spoke: "Fly, you fools...," and was pulled down into the darkness.

Natsu and Gray were both seen running over to help try to pull him back up, but were too late in reaching him as he had already been pulled down along with the Balrog, leaving them staring down into the abyss in complete and utter shock.

Carla suddenly took off flying down to try to bring the old wizard back up much to everyone's surprise considering how reckless it was. "Carla, wait!" Wendy cried out fearfully after her, but the white Exceed was determined to save Gandalf as she was only acting out of fear because of her vision since she felt she had to at least do something in order to keep everyone together including Gandalf. Lucy and Happy too were also in complete and utter shock as well...and even Erza, who was just starting to come to from her fight with the Balrog at the same time, had witnessed Gandalf's fall into the abyss and became completely shocked by it as well.

Natsu angrily punched the ground with his flaming fist. "No way...we were supposed to all make it outta here together!" he shouted down into the abyss.

Gray, meanwhile, wasn't doing any better. "Gramps..." He punched the ground as he suddenly could no longer hold back tears that had begun to build up, as he was also frustrated with himself for attempting an Iced Shell without even thinking. That was when Carla flew back up, her attempt at trying to save Gandalf having failed as he was falling too fast for her to be able to catch up with him. "I'm sorry...I was unable to...they were falling too fast for me to completely catch up to him," the white Exceed was sobbing uncontrollably.

"We have to go! They're coming!" Aragorn called to Natsu and Gray, and Carla as well, as orcs began to flood the large chamber and shoot arrows at them. Boromir pulled Merry and Pippin outside, after first having gone over to help Erza as well. Legolas was still supporting Lucy due to her leg, and was about head outside with her, when... "Wait!" she cried out.

"You heard what Aragorn said, we cannot stay here any longer," Legolas told her.

"I know...but, there's something I wanna retrieve first," Lucy said as she pointed to a spot on the ground where she noticed Gandalf's hat was now lying just a couple inches away from behind Natsu and Gray.

Legolas allowed his gaze to follow where she was pointing and nodded before leaving her in Aragorn's care as he went over to retrieve the hat for her, knowing that Gandalf probably wouldn't want it being left behind in a place like this. "Let's go, you two," he also told Natsu and Gray, breaking them out of their shock. The boys had eventually snapped out of it, and Natsu had suddenly taken notice of the orcs surrounding them on all sides and his body was soon engulfed in flames but was stopped from charging forward by Legolas holding him back by his scarf.

"Arrrhhh! Lemme at 'em! I'm still fired up enough to avenge gramps!" Natsu snarled angrily as he practically had to be dragged out of the mines by Legolas as the elf could be heard muttering something about how the pink haired boy was about as stubborn as a dwarf, while Gray and Carla just followed right behind them.

Once they were finally out of the mines, they all sat around the cliffside in disbelief and grieving over the loss of one of their companions. The hobbits were crying and wiping their eyes, Gandalf was a known friend to the halflings of the Shire. It was hard to believe he would never pop back in with his fireworks and tales of the world outside the borders of that village.

"Let me go back in there! I'll kill all of them! EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!" Gimli shouted in a rage as Boromir had to hold him back.

Legolas had gone over and set Gandalf's hat down in Lucy's lap -which she gratefully thanked him for- just as Wendy began healing her leg and finding that it actually was just dislocated, which the Sky Maiden just did her best to heal back into place the best she could before moving onto anyone else who was in need of a healing session. Erza, and most of all Natsu after devouring the flames of the Balrog which he was still feeling extremely sick from and would end up taking longer to fully heal from, were especially in need of her healing magic.

"You should also focus on healing your own wounds as well," Boromir had gently informed her.

But Wendy only shook her head at that. "It doesn't work that way," she replied quietly. "That's the limit to my healing magic...I can heal others, just not myself."

Meanwhile, Erza was seen trying to comfort Natsu and Gray, as the trio were also seen grieving over the loss of Gandalf as well. Natsu and Gray especially, as both boys had come to view Gandalf as sort of a grandfather figure to them since first arriving in Middle Earth and in the short time they've come to know him -and he, them. Despite Natsu's troublesome behavior and Gray's smart-mouth attitude at times, there was no doubt they really did look up to the old wizard like a relationship between grandfather and grandson -well more like two troublesome grandsons always giving the old wizard a hard time anyway, especially Natsu. Lucy, Wendy, Happy, and Carla also were grieving and comforting one another as well, as Lucy could also be seen holding Gandalf's hat close to her. And Carla also came to realize that if she had better control over her visions, then perhaps she would have been able to better prevent such a tragedy from happening to begin with despite Wendy telling her that nobody here blamed her because of her visions.

However, their grieving was soon cut short by Aragorn who suddenly ordered Legolas and Boromir to get everyone up, much to Boromir's protests to give them a moment to grieve.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs," Aragorn said in reply to Boromir. "We make for the woods of Lothlorien."

Boromir and Gimli were now seen helping the hobbits to their feet, while Legolas took to helping Lucy to stand since her leg still ached despite Wendy healing it as best she could, and Natsu was being supported by Erza since he was still weak due to eating the Balrog's flames.

"That's it," Natsu suddenly declared. "I've made up my mind to become stronger, so no one else in our group will ever have to die like that again!" And it was clear by the determined look in his eyes that he was indeed serious about it, despite Lucy telling him that he doesn't always have to be the one playing the hero like this who has to save everybody.

But Natsu wasn't the only one thinking like that. "That ain't good enough, since there might be other demons out there just like that," Gray stated somewhat darkly as he could be seen firmly clenching his fists. "And I'm gonna become strong enough to destroy every last one of 'em in order to fully avenge him."

And although the Fellowship thought his determination was admirable, they somehow didn't think that vengeance by destroying every demon they came across was the best way to go about it, and also because that kind of thinking could easily lead a person into dark temptations. Once the group was all one their feet, Aragorn had suddenly called out to Frodo who had begun walking away from the group as Wendy and Carla had also gone over to try to comfort him. Frodo was silently sobbing, and staring out at the horizon as Wendy and Carla approached him. "It was my fault...I chose to go into the mines and Gandalf knew what was there and he...he went anyway..." Frodo sobbed.

"Now stop that, you're beginning to sound like Wendy whenever she blames herself over something!" Carla harshly reprimanded him, before sighing and adding a bit more calmly; "If anyone's to blame, it should be me for not having very good control over my visions from the start. If I had then I would have been able to help prevent that whole thing from happening, and then even Natsu and Erza wouldn't be in the condition they're in now...and not to mention Lucy..."

"Stop it, Carla!" Wendy could be heard shouting. "You're always telling me I shouldn't beat myself up over things beyond my control, so what makes that any different with you?! Natsu and Erza helped out because they wanted to, despite your visions, even if they did end up badly injured afterwards... None of us are to blame for what happened to him, not even Natsu or Erza...and not even you or Frodo are to blame..." She soon found herself unable to control the stream of tears that began flooding her face as she tried to reassure the Ringbearer that nobody here was going to start blaming him for choosing to enter the mines when most of the others would have frozen to death on the Caradhras had he not made the choice, even if that choice wasn't able to protect everyone along the way.

"Wendy," Carla whispered in amazement at her sudden boldness of speaking up like that, as she suddenly felt bad for blaming herself for lack of control over her visions back in the mines. "You're right, child, I really shouldn't blame myself because of my visions."

Frodo nodded tearfully as he placed a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Thank you, Wendy. And you too, Carla," he told her, as he knew the white Exceed meant well too despite her harsh tone. The trio was then joined by Aragorn who had gone over to tell them that they needed to move on from this place as soon as possible.

The Fellowship and Team Natsu were now following behind Aragorn, finally leaving the mines behind as they began making their way towards the safety of Lothlorien.


Aye, Gandalf's death affects them all in many ways, I know I'm always almost near tears when I watch that scene. :'( And Team Natsu may end up with PTSD by the time this whole quest is finished and they finally return home. Anywho, next chapter is when they enter Lothlorien. And another Fairy Tail wizard may end up joining up with them as well...sorry, no spoilers though. ;p Have to find out next chapter. Until next chapter, Mew Sakura out. ;)