Welcome back everyone! Enjoy this week's chapter!


Lucy pulled a stick out of her hair, grumbling. When this was all over, she would never sleep in the woods again. She pushed down the ever present sick feeling in her gut. It will all be over. Everything will be fine. You'll get Natsu back… She rolled up her sleeping bag a little bit faster and shoved it in her pack with more force than necessary. Dawn was breaking, and tonight would be the Blood Moon. She fought down a restless, agitated feeling as she stood. Reaching out for an enamel mug, her magic sparked against her fingertips, knocking it over and spilling the last dregs of her morning brew. Lucy shook her hand, taking a step back. She had to get control over her emotions! She hadn't known her magic to ever be so wild. She turned back to packing, mulling over the day ahead.

It had been a trying three days of marching. The fortress was hidden in the forest, the largest path barely a cart's width wide. With their numbers it was faster to walk than try to hire an army's worth of rickshaws. Fairy Tail had been grim, tamping down their usual gregarious nature and turning it into speed and endurance. No one wanted to slow up the rescue mission.

Happy and Carla had been nearly inconsolable. They had wanted to fly ahead themselves, to hell with the humans stuck on two legs, but Pantherlily had convinced them to stay with the group. 'No one doubts your love, and I want to rescue Gajeel as much as you do Natsu and Wendy,' he had said firmly, 'but flying into danger and being captured will only hurt them. They'll use you as a bargaining chip to get the Slayers to do what they want. Help them by scouting for the main group instead.'

Since then, Happy had stuck to Lucy like glue. Surprisingly, Carla had also stayed close. Usually Happy would be over the moon about it, but he was too upset about Natsu. So the two kittens rode on Lucy's shoulders or pack in between scouting trips. At night she would find them both curled up in her sleeping bag. As guilty as she felt about the kidnapping, she found herself wanting to spoil them and at the same time push them away. If she had been able to control her emotions, maybe she or Natsu would have been alert enough to recognize the danger before it was literally on top of them.

She'd broken down on night two and told them, along with Pantherlily and Levy, about the events just before the attack. To her surprise no one had blamed her for anything.

'I do not think your kissing Natsu helped the attack in any way,' Pantherlily had reasoned. 'They bypassed all our guards and took their captives even with Natsu's warning.'

Carla, Lucy's biggest fear, nodded. 'Yes. As much as I would like to lash out and blame those around me, I could not save Wendy either. We must focus on helping her now.'

'It's not your fault, Lu-chan,' Levy had soothed. 'I would've done the same thing… hypothetically, of course! Definitely not with Gaj一um, anyone. But I've read that telling someone all about it makes people feel better. So why not give me the details of this make out session while we walk? I think we could both use the distraction!'

Happy had looked the happiest she'd seen him since Natsu was taken. 'You llllike him!' Though it had been hard, Lucy had done the mature thing and not murdered the cat, generously attributing his annoying giggles to his distraught state at his father figure's kidnapping.

Shaking her head, she zipped up her pack. The talk with her friends had helped relieve her guilt and strengthen her resolve even further. She and Natsu still had to have that talk, once they had rescued the Slayers and the threat of the UnderLords was no longer .

A shout sounded at the edge of the camp, and Lucy's head whipped around as Team Ceartas stumbled in. They were helped to the center, where Mira was dishing out breakfast and wrapped lunches.

All three of them looked like hell. Bruises and scrapes littered their bodies, and Lona had a bandage wrapped around her head. Lucy rushed over, pushing her way through the crowd. All three of them were strong mages, and she didn't want to think about what could have happened for them to be beaten this badly.

"... when we saw them come through yesterday with the Slayers, we followed them hoping they would stop to rest. When that didn't work, we attacked," Rai hung her head. "There were too many of them and they were readily armed for an assault. They have several strong mages that slowed us up as the rest kept moving. But we injured the mages at least as badly as we were hurt, and I know some of our wide range attacks harmed a big portion of the main group. Hopefully that will blunt some of their defensive ability."

The Master nodded, stepping aside for Mira and several others to carry over food and medical supplies for the battered group. "We know we injured many of their people as well in the initial attack," he mused, "and from the size of the group you ran into, they must have remained behind or gone to another location. While that means we won't have as many opponents in the fortress, it also tells me that the enemy has fighters to spare. Luckily," he raised his finger and thumb to the sky, "Fairy Tail doesn't care how many they have! We have the main strength of our guild here, and we will take our own back!"

The guild cheered, turning back to the task of breaking camp. Lucy stayed where she was, as did Mira. Once the group was bustling around them once more, Makarov's face grew grim. "Have you been able to get close to the fortress itself?"

"Only at night," Lona responded, "and it's been heavily guarded. Malleolus himself is definitely there, which means his strongest mages are as well. From what little we know he travels with a pack of them 一 at least ten that he probably didn't send on the mission, and at least a couple hundred non-mages, all well trained."

Torin jumped in, "The fortress itself is well built. We tried to climb a few trees to get a look inside, but none are close enough to get over the wall. One thick outer wall made of stone, with one pair of doors. There's a large courtyard inside and small buildings around the inner edges of the walls. There's a castle in the middle of the yard. It's built… weirdly."

Master leaned forward. "How so?"

"It's got a radial symmetry," Rai took up the tale, "everything is built around one center tower. It's got a line through the center of the roof and we think it might open up to the sky. So we're guessing that the lacrima is in there and when the Blood Moon passes overhead they'll do the ceremony."

"When will the moon pass over the tower?"

Lona answered. Lucy noted with some surprise that her eyes seemed to be glowing slightly, even though she wasn't using power. "From what I can tell, it'll pass over the lacrima right at midnight," the moon mage told them. "It would be best if we can get to it before then. I can't tell you what will happen when they start. But you should know some of the effects of the Blood Moon. Can you gather everyone back?"

It was the work of a moment to have everyone back in the center, which given the nature of Fairy Tail, told everyone how grave the situation was. Lona stood, balancing on a tree stump to be able to look over the crowd.

"The Blood Moon is known widely to increase the power of dark spells, but that's not all. The Blood Moon calls to that which is wild and fearless. Oftentimes we align that with darkness, but it doesn't have to be that way. Some of you may have already felt a restlessness in you, like your power doesn't want to sit still. It's heightened especially by emotions 一 so we'll all be more open to its influence than usual."

Lucy looked down at her fingers, remembering the spark that escaped her that morning.

"The Blood Moon can amplify your ability if you tap into its wildness. But if you do so without understanding your limits, you can be caught up in its power and 'wake up,' so to speak, to find that you've hurt someone you love. Or you overextend and don't wake up at all," she looked around at the assembled mages. "Don't lose your sense of self tonight. Remember that we are Fairy Tail and that we're here to protect our friends."

She jumped down from the log and the Master stepped onto it. It put him almost eye level with Levy, and he harrumphed before addressing the guild. "Pay attention to that, brats. I don't want to lose any of my children to some rock in the sky," behind him, Lona looked both touched at his sentiment and deeply offended at his description of the moon. "We should reach the fortress by nightfall. That means we'll have only a few hours to get our people and destroy the lacrima. Based on Team Ceartas' reconnaissance, we're going with a full frontal assault. But Fairy Tail never did subtle very well, then, did we?"

He got an answering roar in response, and grinned fiercely back. "Then let's go get our family!"


Natsu leaned his head back against the cold stone wall, ignoring its dampness. He smiled tiredly at Wendy, who was curled into his side, absorbing what little warmth he could retain without his fire. Gajeel shifted restlessly in his corner as Laxus sat nearest the door, watching it stonily, a sanctified vigil. They were in a dungeon, in a hallway full of cells. Three sides of the dank little room were made of dark slabs of stone, and a fourth wall of slatted iron, allowing them to see down the hall a little ways in each direction.

Normally, this wouldn't have presented a problem. Gajeel would have eaten the manacles and the bars, and they would have blasted their way out in a blaze of Dragon Slayer glory. Except that Gajeel had been chained as far away from the bars and the rest of them as possible, and the manacles weren't manacles, but thick rope, weatherbeaten and tarred until it held firm as any metal. And normally Natsu would have burned it to a crisp, but each had been fitted with a collar that muffled any attempt at magic. The collars were made of a metal with a blue sheen and fit closely around each neck. Even if he had been able to get past the revulsion of Gajeel necking him, the Iron Slayer couldn't reach anyone else to bite them off. Yes indeed, Natsu thought, they were well and truly trapped. Master had been right when he'd warned not to underestimate their enemies.

After the fight, Natsu had woken up in a wagon, bound and collared. Not that his captors needed any of that, the transportation was quite enough to keep all three of the men down for the count. With Wendy they'd just slathered more of that damn salve on, keeping her asleep for most of the trip. They'd been moved into individual rickshaws once they hit the forest, but the transfer had been so quick the Slayers were unable to regain their strength to fight. The carts had never stopped moving for more than a minute; apparently 'rest' wasn't in these people's vocabulary.

Well, that wasn't accurate. His had stopped once, and Natsu had recovered enough to hear voices shouting and see explosions of magical power. His heart (and stomach) had lept. Was Fairy Tail here? But the rickshaw started moving again just as he'd mustered the ability to raise his head, and Natsu moaned in both nausea and despair as it had bounced down the road at a sprint.

By the time they got to this place, wherever they were, the mages were too sick and dehydrated to fight back as they were bound to the wall in this cell. But that wasn't the worst part. Not the roughness of their handlers, or the 一ugh一transportation, or the indignity of having to eat off the floor and share a bucket for waste. The worst thing that had happened so far took place immediately after being placed in the cell. People dressed head to toe in robes (seriously, why did everyone here insist on hiding their faces?) had entered holding odd little spheres of crystal.

Natsu was still too sick to realize what was going on, but he and the others had heard Wendy's exclamation of horror, and had tried to fight, weak as they were. It hadn't done any good.

His head had been forced back, exposing his neck and its collar. The sphere had been placed against his mouth, smushed into his face however he fought. He ground his teeth, keeping it out. The mage holding the sphere in place had pulled out a small, wicked looking knife and nicked his cheek with it. They'd swiped their fingers across the blood and wiped it onto the sphere.

His magic had crackled inside him then, flaring to life in a way he hadn't felt for days. But instead of flying to his fingertips and roasting these bastards to a crisp, it had funneled up his throat. His mouth opened of its own volition and his magic, his magic, was pulled away from him, soaked up by the crystal.

They'd repeated the process several times with new balls of lacrima, and he'd had the terrifying realization that he was being used to power magic batteries, as it were. When he'd barely a spark left, they'd stopped, dropped him on the floor, and left without a word. Blearily raising his head, the others had been in a similar state.

While the first round of magic draining had been horrific, the Slayers were able to recover. The last twenty four hours had allowed them to refuel on the food tossed into their cell and their magic levels to rise once more. But given what they knew about the Blood Moon and the Underlord's plans, Natsu had the sinking feeling that next time there wouldn't be a recovery.

As he looked at the food they'd been given, his heart sank as he recognized that everything was thought to help raise magic levels. Their captors clearly didn't give a shit about their physical well being, but obviously cared about their magical potential.

His dark thoughts were interrupted by footsteps making their way down the hall. All the Slayers shifted, leaning toward the door slightly, scenting the air. Any piece of information could be useful.

The steps were confident, quick but not hurried. A large figure came into view, striding down the hall. Behind him came the patter of more steps, these less sure of themselves and sounding more rushed. The man stopped outside the cell wall, scrutinizing them. Natsu felt the weight of his regard. He stood nearly as tall as Laxus and Gajeel, with dark hair streaked with silver falling to his jaw. His face was clean shaven, leaving a hooked nose, firm mouth, and square jaw on display. A scar ran down the side of his face, partially hidden by his hair. But his most arresting feature were his eyes. A bright, piercing green, they were beautiful (and Natsu did not consider himself someone who gazed into other men's eyes).

Those eyes flicked to each Slayer individually, assessing. Probing. They weighed him down, saw through him, and seemed to divine all of his secrets. Natsu realized that this had to be the head of the Underlords, the one Lucy had been hunting, the man who wanted to tear his magic out by the roots: Domme Malleolus.

Determined not to fold under the weight of his stare, Natsu glared back defiantly. He could sense his family around him doing the same. Malleolus broke into a wide smile at the defiance. His eyes flickered for a moment, some emotion Natsu couldn't place in their depths.

"So," his voice was deep, rich. "These are the mages that will make me strong."

He received four ferocious growls in return. He threw back his head and laughed, before gesturing to one side. Natsu blinked, noticing for the first time the people gathered around the leader. A guard, who was now unlocking the cell, and several more of the tall, hooded figures in robes. Part of him wanted to press himself into the floor and hide until they were gone. He ignored that part, glaring at them.

The door to their cage swung open, and Malleolus stepped inside. The guard attempted to follow him, but he stopped the man with a cold stare; "I don't believe our friends here will attack me. You may all leave me."

One of the hooded figures stepped forward. "My lord," the voice was light, feminine, but had a sibilant character to it that made Natsu's skin crawl. "These Slayers are not to be trusted. They are little more than animal and thus we cannot calculate what they will do. Your safety is paramount."

Malleolus whirled around, rage splitting his features into something feral. "I said to LEAVE ME!" he stepped forward, hands curled into fists. The guard stumbled backward, bowing, but the three people in hoods only stood tall for a moment before turning and gliding away. Malleolus panted heavily for a moment before regaining his composure. He turned to them.

"So, now that the rats are out of the way, I'm sure you have questions. Please do not hesitate to ask." He spread his hands genially.

The room was silent for a moment, before Wendy asked in a small, yet firm, voice, "Why are you doing this?"

The most powerful lord of the underworld looked down at the little Slayer, before swiftly crouching and leaning into her space, causing her to flinch back against Natsu. All three of the men snarled, surging forward against their confines. Damn the chains, damn the guards, Wendy was a little sister to all of them, and they would protect her to their last breath.

Malleolus jerked away out of their reach, laughing. "Why? Why? You saw the vultures behind me! They watch my every move, they seek to control me! Me! Who built the Underlords from nothing, to the greatest empire this land has known! The governments tell you that I am a monster, a criminal, but without me there would be chaos! How many would die in the struggle for power? They should hail me in the streets as a hero! And these mages whom I found and cultivated, whose research I funded and power I encouraged, they think that they will do better?"

Malleolus paused, looking through each Slayer like they didn't exist, his tirade solely for an intangible audience. "No. I will become the strongest, I will stop these sniveling backstabbers, and when I have imposed order within my own ranks once more I will finally be able to come out of the shadows. Your governments will fall, your Rune Knights done. I will reshape the world with myself at the helm! When I am done, I will be seen not as shadowy criminal, but a conquering hero! People will revere me as a God for what I've done for them!"

His eyes were fever bright as he ranted and Natsu recognized the expression on the Lord's face: madness. This man could still command attention and respect, he had built the largest criminal assemblage on the continent, but somewhere on his rise to power insanity had infected his mind so that he now believed in his own heroism. Maybe he always did. Maybe his mages had never really turned against him, or maybe they'd recognized the Messianic madness and knew that it spelled their end. Did it really matter? Either way Natsu and the others would be fed to a spell in just a few hours to fuel the dreams of this madman.

Laxus pulled on his chains. "You think this will work? The magic will burn you out! You'll die before you can take over anything," he roared.

Malleolus leaned down toward Laxus, just out of his reach. "You think I haven't thought of that? Planned for it?"

"If you used those mages you're so scared of to build the thing, then you don't know it's safe," Gajeel grunted from his corner. "Doubt you know enough magical theory to make it yourself."

Their captor's eyes widened maniacally. "Do you think someone strong enough to build an empire wouldn't think of that? The machine works, I've tested it!"

Wendy gasped, "You pulled out someone's core? You killed them!" all signs of fear were overridden by anger. The little Slayer lunged at the Underlord, trying to kick at him. "You're a monster! A monster!"

Malleolus' eyes turned dark, a shadow masking them. He lunged at Wendy, but Natsu was faster. He yanked on Wendy's chain, pulling her behind him and putting his body in between her and the madman. He stood, slightly hunched from the shortness of the ropes, but met Malleolus' wild glare with one of his own. He could hear the low snarls of the other two as they pulled at their bonds.

After a tense moment, Malleolus seemed to collect himself. He straightened, smoothed his hair, fixed his collar. He turned and walked to the door. Stepping out into the corridor, he glanced over his shoulder, imperial facade back in place. "You may believe me a monster, but in the end history will sing my praises. I will make sure the masses know your magic helped create their new world. After all, after tonight we will all be one, in a way."

He strode off down the corridor, leaving the Slayers frozen. Natsu held Wendy to his side. He may not be able to use his magic, but he could offer some warmth and comfort since they'd been chained so close together.

Barely a minute after Malleolus had left, guards rushed into the cell. Hampered as they were, none of the Fairy Tail mages were able to do much as they were rebound and dragged from the cell, although several guards were left inside, unconscious, as they were carried away. Natsu couldn't help but smile at Wendy, who'd roundhouse kicked two of them into the wall.

His smile faded, however, when they were brought to a wide, circular room that seemed to stretch upwards forever, the ceiling lost to shadows. In the center of the space was a raised dais, and on it sat a machine made entirely from magic absorbing lacrima. A throne sat in the center, tubes and gears and panels rising up around it to form a vaguely spherical shape. Several ropes stretched from inside the machine, reaching over to the edge. Natsu usually didn't get cold, but he felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that the ropes were thousands of lacrima filaments wound together, and that at the end of each 'rope' was a slab and straps designed to hold someone down.

Natsu fought wildly as he was pulled over to his slab, but bound as he was he really only managed a furious wiggle. Still, it took six men to strap him down. He spared a triumphant thought that they only used five on Gajeel. And then a jealous one for Laxus and his eight handlers.

Once all the Dragon Slayers were secure, the guards left. A few remained behind with two of the hooded mages. There was silence. Until Natsu broke it. "Well? You freaks gonna start this ceremony or what?!"

One figure stepped forward, that same chilling voice from earlier sliding over him. "It is not yet time, Sacrifice. Be patient a little longer."

Natsu huffed, pulling at his bonds. Then stopped, and made a show of collapsing back onto the table as if he'd given up. But very carefully, he pulled his left arm toward him, applying a constant pressure. There was a tiny tear in the leather and he'd felt it give, just a hair. If he could get his hand free… well, he didn't have a plan beyond that. But he was Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail! If anyone could destroy a fancy piece of equipment without a plan, it was definitely him.


Lucy took a deep breath. This was it. Nightfall had crept across the land, and the first stars twinkled proudly in the sky, and she took it as an encouragement from the Divines. The walls of the fortress rose overhead. Fairy Tail had crept through the last mile of undergrowth, taking out advance guards with the help of their own winged scouting party. Now they hid amongst the last line of trees before the door. Magic from her guild, her family, electrified the air. Lucy could feel hers prickling under her skin, thrumming at her fingertips. The wildness of the Blood Moon was upon them. She stood with Team Ceartas on one side, battered but ready, and Gray and Erza on the other. Having both of her teams there, here with her to rescue her partner and the others, gave her hope.

The Master strode out into the front ranks, then broke the treeline. Growing to his giant size, he bellowed to the wall, "Come out, come out, UnderLords! We are Fairy Tail, and we're here for our own!"

The guild roared in response, flooding out of the trees and across the ground. Lucy screamed too, running full speed at the gate. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and she turned her head to see more of those black clad figures 一 lots more 一 running at them from around the sides of the walls. It was a classic pincer movement, and they had only moments until they were trapped against the wall, upon which more Underlords were appearing. She grabbed Lona by the arm, dragging her to a halt as the rest of Fairy Tail charged forward, heedless of the danger.

"Lona! We have to do something!" she pointed wildly at the two groups converging on them.

Lona's eyes swirled an amethyst storm.. "You take this half, I'll take that half!" she yelled, turning to place her back firmly to Lucy. She turned back to shout in her ear, "Tap into the Moon!"

Lucy gulped, but there was no time to dither or hesitate. The moon was a Celestial object, so surely it should be easier for her of all people to give in to that wildness, right? And later, to control it? The Summoner closed her eyes and dipped into her magical center, and then gave herself to the wildness that had been calling to her all evening, a willing tribute. Opening her eyes and extending her arms to the oncoming horde, she began to chant:

Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...

All the stars, far and wide...

Show me thy appearance...

With such shine.

Oh Tetrabiblos...

I am the ruler of the stars...

Aspect become complete...

Open thy malevolent gate.

Oh 88 Stars of the heaven...

Shine!

Urano Metria!

As she spoke she was dimly aware of Lona reciting her own spell in a language Lucy did not recognise. They both yelled the final incantation at the same time, throwing their arms high. Just as the black clad ninjas reached their friends, judgement day rained from the sky.

On Lucy's side, glowing planets and asteroids tore through the air, blasting enemies with the power of the Heavenly Divines. On Lona's slightly smaller, but no less devastating front, purple orbs slammed down and exploded with so much force Lucy could see the shockwaves. Huh. Must be the asteroid field spell she'd mentioned.

Usually after Urano Metria Lucy felt drained, but the Blood Moon's power rushing through her not only kept her upright, but seemed to power her up. She jumped on the balls of her feet, barely noticing the golden radiance she was giving off. She moved to run back into the fray, but Lona grabbed her arm. She glowed her own beautiful amethyst, and her lips were drawn back in a ferocious smile that Lucy was sure she mirrored.

"Lucy! Just remember," the smile turned into a grimace, "don't let the Moon take over!"

Lucy pulled the other girl into a swift hug. "Thank you. But I have to go save someone I love, now. To hell with the consequences."

And with that, she turned away and started sprinting toward the gate.


Hurray, another week down! A little on the short side, but next week is the entirety of the fight scene between the Underlords and Fairy Tail. Mad action the whole chapter!

I did have to put in Urano Metria, though. I've been waiting to use that Lucy-Lona back to back power move the whole story. Lona, by the way, is using her Asteroid Field spell. It's her biggest power move against multiple opponents and is exactly what it sounds like: a rain of exploding asteroids from the sky. It was also exciting to finally introduce Malleolus!

As usual, a huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Lady Lutka!

Author shoutouts this week! Freyjabee writes multiple pairings, all very well. If you like darker themes, this author is for you.

Rivendell101 has several stories that I am really enjoying, and if you haven't checked them out you absolutely should. Berserk is in the process of being rewritten, but has a great storyline that really does remind me of the rhythm of an ancient tale.

AbsentAngel has written a whopping 34 stories! Ignite is definitely one of my favorites.

Drop me a review! I'll see you all next week!