While the rest of Fairy Tail celebrated life, the team of mages heading to the depths of hell were dealing with death in all forms.

They quickly realized the best way to make progress was to divide into their previous chosen units from their days that they were briefed. Each couple took 30 Royal Guards. When they ran into their first monster, a hideous double-headed-snake-like monster with two mouths and four eyes, Erza and Jellal had stayed behind with their unit to battle it while the rest of them carried on. Four floors down, they came across another monster, a centipede similar to the one that Gray and Juvia had battled months ago. Accordingly, they stayed with their unit to battle it while the others carried on. The plan was as each team finished off their monster, they would catch up to the others.

"How far down are we?" Gajeel asked Levy as they hurried down yet another staircase. Sometimes it seemed like the staircases were getting longer and windier.

"This is about the 125th level," Levy replied, panting. It was getting harder to breath now too. The stench, although by now they were becoming numb to it, was getting worse the farther down they went. It was particularly bad for Gajeel, with his Dragon Slayer nose. Levy had scripted a mask of sorts for him to help with the overwhelming nausea that came with it. However, the air was becoming a lot mustier as well...and thinner. It became apparent that they were going to need to do something about the lack of oxygen for all of them.

Levy stopped mid-staircase and scripted Oxygen above herself and Gajeel. The first breaths of air were Heaven. Gajeel went ahead to check the next door as Levy continued scripting oxygen for everyone else as they descended the stairs.

"Levy's magic is going to get low fast," Cana warned Gajeel, "It's one thing to script torches, one for every 10 people. It's another to make sure we all get fresh air."

"Do the Royal Guard need oxygen?" Gajeel pointed out, "They're Celestial beings."

"True," Arcadios agreed as he adjusted his mask, "But we still breathe just like you do."

Gajeel nodded, "We'll have to figure out some other way to get oxygen."

"Leave that to me," Levy said, dumping out her backpack. She pulled out her book, flipping through it until she reached the page she was looking for, "There!" she announced triumphantly, "It's a spell. As long as one of us wizards can utter words, any one of us can perform it."

"Perfect," Jellal panted as he and Erza caught up to the group, Gray and Juvia on their heels.

"Do you think it's safe to stop for the night?" Cana asked, glancing at the nearby weary soldiers. She was feeling the exhaustion too. The idea of sleeping in this room – this devoid, maggot-infested, room – was revolting. But everyone was exhausted.

"Can anyone take care of the creepy crawlies?" Arcadios asked.

"Allow me," Gray said, using both fists to conjure up his ice magic, "ICE MAKE- FLOOR!"

Instantly, a floor 4 inches thick appeared overtop of the moving mass of things on the floor, effectively freezing them beneath.

"It'll be creepy sleeping on the floor with all those things underneath," Juvia stated, "But not as creepy as sleeping in them."

"Yeah," Gajeel agreed, "and the ice floor will provide some relief from the heat. Good job, Ice-Breath."

It was true. The further down they got, the hotter it seemed to get. Everyone, including the Royal Guard crowded into the small room, filling it completely. They had collectively decided it was too dangerous to split into two rooms.

Once everyone was seated, Erza called upon her Requip closet to bring out the night's rations, splitting it equally between all. They munched their meals in silence.

Surprisingly, since sleep had been elusive the night before, sleep came relatively easy this time. They assigned guards to watch throughout the night and passed out, no qualms about it.

Four hours later, Jellal and Erza began rousing the troops. It wasn't a lot of sleep, but it was better than nothing. Anxiousness had begun to sink in.

"I've lost count of the days," Juvia said as they began down the next staircase, "I don't remember how long it has been since we saw the light of day."

"Heads up! Monster in the next room," Gray called back. He could hear the snarling before he even opened the door, "It's a fire wyvern," he closed the door, glancing up the stairs, "Who's best to handle it?"

"I can, but I don't want Levy battling right now," Gajeel said.

Gray could see why. She looked exhausted and Gray knew it was getting to the point where she was over-exerting herself. She had been faithfully providing everything they needed: air, water, etc.

"We'll do it," Erza said, pausing slightly as she remembered the wyverns she and Gray had fought a few years back. They were nasty things.

"Okay," Gray said, "Count of 3, the door opens. You two go through and distract it. I'll get the troops through to the other side."

The others nodded.

"1," Gray started.

"2".

"3!" Gray threw the door open, Jellal and Erza charging past him. Glancing around the room, Gray spotted a door and headed for it, the others tight at his heels.

The fire wyvern was viciously throwing flame at Jellal and Erza, dodging their attacks. It was more vicious, it seemed, than the ones they'd face before. It's fire was scorching hot, even scalding their skin when it missed.

"GO!" Erza yelled at Gray as he tried to open the door.

"We can't!" He yelled back, "The door is stuck!"

The wyvern turned, narrowing its' sight directly onto Gray. Cana turned, pushing the Royal Guard, Arcadios, Gajeel, and Levy back to the staircase.

"NO!" Juvia screamed as the wyvern let out a feral roar.

Gray was trapped. He wouldn't get past the wyvern back to the staircase. Juvia was on the other side, refusing to go into the staircase without her Gray.

Jellal leapt in front of Gray, attempting to pull his magic from the surroundings.

"SEMA!" he yelled, crashing his fists into the ground.

Nothing happened. Jellal's confused face looked up as the wyvern drew in a large breath for another fire attack.

"My magic isn't working!" Jellal yelled, "We're too far from the surface!"

"RUN!" Juvia screamed.

Jellal and Gray looked around – there was nowhere to run.

"ICE MAKE – BARRIER!" Gray yelled, forming a large ice barrier between Jellal, himself, and the wyvern.

The wyvern released its' attack, shattering the barrier, then releasing another attack immediately afterward, aiming straight for Gray. Jellal slammed his body against Gray's, throwing him backward. He rolled off to the side, hollering as the attack tore through his side. He got back up, ignoring the pain and he backed up beside Gray.

Cana threw a card at the wyvern, her eyes wide when it recoiled, shaking the card off.

Juvia threw a water bomb at it, which fizzled and evaporated before it touched the wyvern's body.

The wyvern began throwing serial firebombs at Gray and Jellal, despite Gray's constant ice interference.

Pushing Cana behind him, Arcadios forced his way through the crowd, breaking into a run as the wyvern drew in its' breath to release the next attack. He threw himself onto the wyvern's back, its' fire flaring as it tried to buck him off.

"How is he doing that?" Levy asked incredulously, "His body is going to catch on fire!"

"Arcadios has infinite resilience," Juvia replied quietly, "The man walked through Lava to protect Hisui that time...do you remember?"

Arcadios raised his sword, driving it into the wyvern's skull. Jellal drove a fist through its back.

Shaking off his state of shock, Gray slammed his fists together, "Ice make: SPEAR!"

Copying his friend's movements, he drove the spear directly between the wyvern's eyes. The fire on the wyvern's body flickered, then went out as it collapsed to the ground.

Dead silence filled the room, before one of the Royal Guards whooped out a victory yell, the others following shortly thereafter.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Gray screamed at it, "YOU'RE DEAD!" he kicked it in the head repeatedly, "YOU STUPID, UGLY MOTHER FUCKER!"

Gray was breathing heavily when Juvia pulled him back. He hugged her gently, then man-hugged Jellal over their very close call.

"Man, I don't wanna do that again," Jellal mused, slapping Gray's back.

"That was too close," Gray agreed, "Arcadios! You okay, buddy?"

Arcadios was retrieving his sword from the wyvern's back. He waved back, "Sometimes it's great to be virtually invincible!"

Gray and Jellal both slapped his back and he joined them.

"Jellal," Erza noted the blood running down his side.

"It's a scratch," he assured her.

"A little too close," Arcadios commented, returning to Cana's side, "Let's not repeat that mistake again. I think from now on, before we start trying to get to the door, we need to confirm it's going to open."

The others nodded.

Gajeel was examining the door, "Almost like it's welded shut," he muttered.

"Gee," Levy said sarcastically, kneeling beside him, "Too bad we don't have an Iron Dragon Slayer with us."

He shot her a sideways glance, warning her to shut up, before going to work on the door, gnawing apart the metal frame. Finally, he used brute strength to rip it off the hinges, flinging it behind him.

"Whatdaya know?" He threw his hands in the air, "Another fucking staircase! I SO did not see that coming!"

Gray sighed, charging full speed ahead. This was getting old already. And they had a very long way to go yet.


Deep in the caverns of Hell, Andromeda listened to the demon reports with a gleam in his eye.

"The Princess of Fiore, huh?" he said, grinning wickedly, "All this time looking for the Celestial Princess…and she never stopped being a princess at all. Tell the troops that we're moving out. Tomorrow, we attack Crocus. Alpheratz…you will lead the charge."

Alpheratz was large, even by demon standards. He roared, the blood of a lesser demon he'd eaten recently dripping from his teeth. An arm still lay crooked between two of his jagged teeth. Festering wounds oozed from his greenish-black skin.

Smiling to himself as Alpheratz left to gather his army, the devil glanced at the broken egg urn, retrieved from the House of Dorthos. He would have his revenge. Soon. Very soon.