Dear followers,

Here it is, the mythical chapter I didn't think I would ever post. I feel absolutely awful that I haven't posted a chapter in FIVE FUCKING MONTHS, but I was so busy with college essays (got my #1 btw), scholarships, family, girlfriend stuff, and crying about Naruto ending (SO GOOD) that every time I had free time to type, I had absolutely no inspiration. So out of respect to you guys and my own self-respect, I decided to wait until inspiration hit me instead of pumping out some bullshit filler chapter like some sitcom with no new ideas.

Also I'd like to address a comment that was made after the last chapter came out. It was mentioned that one of the readers was aggrieved by the fact that I was straying from FT's cannon. Meaning no offense to said commenter, but I do not believe that a FanFiction SHOULD adhere strictly to the show's cannon, that is the very point OF FanFiction.

And lastly (I promise) I'd like to mention how touched I was to see people commenting during my prolonged vacation and asking for the next chapter. I don't want to make you feel like you have to comment, but I must say, seeing praise or critique of my story fills me with so much joy and new ideas respectively!

Anyway, sorry bout the rant, but I just had to get that out of the way.

ENJOOOOOOOOOYYYYYY!

•••

BOOM!

Black fire blasted Natsu off the cliff, sending him plummeting towards the forest below, away from Zancrow's terrible laugh. With a scream of panic, Lisanna leapt from the ledge in Phoenix form, propelling herself to her lover with one flap of her wings. Grasping his vest in her talons, Lisanna unsteadily glided down to the ground, her broken wing and greatly depleted magic supply forcing her to descend quicker than she would have liked. The second they reached the forest floor Lisanna morphed back to her human form, unfortunately landing straight on her badly broken arm. Her scream of agony tore Natsu from his dazed state.

"Lisanna!" He ran to her side, rolling her off of the offended limb and surveying the damage. The ulna and radius had been shattered under Zancrow's foot, a diagnosis that would usually have kept her from ever using the arm again. Natsu had already seen Wendy mend even worse injuries when Jet had fallen off the Guild's roof a few weeks ago. But right now Wendy was God knows where.

"Natsu..." Lisanna stirred awake, wincing at the pain in her arm, "are you alright? Did he follow us?"

Natsu looked up in concern; sure enough, Grimoire heart's blond lunatic was jumping from ledge to ledge down the cliff behind them. He picked up his girlfriend and ran for it, begging for forgiveness the entire time. Lisanna bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming in agony as her injured arm was jostled about by the running motion. Natsu ran as far and fast as he could away from Zancrow's maniacal cackle, eventually stopping as he reached a large clearing. As he set Lisanna down at the foot of a tree he realized that her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to be breathing...

No... It can't be...

"Lisa, wake up..." Natsu started hissing, his mind telling him all kinds of cruel thoughts his heart meanwhile refused to believe.

Finally his rational side kicked in and he took a deep breath. Hoping against hope he would feel something, he pressed his fingers against her neck. A few terrifying moments passed, and then he felt it; a minuscule pulse that gave him more relief than anything else in the world.

Thank goodness... She's only fainted.

Natsu decided that he couldn't do anything to help Lisanna until she awoke, so he stood and turned to survey the clearing. It took him one glance to realize that this was not a natural glade, but had been caused by a titanic, yet perfectly circular crater; evidence of extremely powerful magic. The area was littered with debris; chunks of wood from trees, shards of rock, and a strange white object at the other end of the crater. Natsu looked closer at the object in question and his eyes widened in horrid realization upon realizing what it was.

"Master!" He sprinted across to the little old man and knelt beside him, "What happened to you?"

Makarov slowly opened his eyes, "Natsu... Leave the island... Run..." He slumped back into unconsciousness.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu exclaimed, trying to shake the old man awake, "We have to take care of these Grimoire bastards first!"

"The fuck you sayin' bout us bitch?" Cackled a cold voice from behind.

Natsu span about to see Zancrow leaning against the tree he had just lain Lisanna against; to his horror, the maniac was stroking her head, as if she were some kind of pet.

"She's a pretty one, this little fairy." Zancrow grinned, "I think I might keep her after I kill you."

In a fit of rage, Natsu launched himself toward the blond lunatic, flaming up his entire body as he attacked. Zancrow knew what was coming and simply kicked Natsu in the jaw with a sombre fire-kick as soon as he was in range. The Dragon Slayer spiraled away and smashed into a boulder, disappearing momentarily under the rubble until he blasted it all away with an aura of fire. Zancrow simply breathed deeply, sucking away all of Natsu's fire and weakening his foe. Finally, the Fairy hit his limit, falling over as the last of his magic was drawn from him. Grimoire's mage took his sweet time walking over to his opponent's frail body and pulled him up by the hair, forcing him to make eye contact.

"What kind of a mage can't defend his loved ones?" tittered Zancrow, "You know what I'm going to do now?" He asked, squeezing his grip on Natsu's hair, "I'm going to kill you, then the old man. Your little bitch, however," His face was spread in an insane grin, but his eyes were empty and dead, "I'm going to take her back with me, I'm going to torture her, then I'm going to rape her."

Natsu felt the terror and rage build within him, he tried to summon up any power, but he was completely drained. Meanwhile, Zancrow continued,

"When I'm done with her, I'll let everyone else have a turn or two, and when she gets boring, I will kill her myself."

I will kill her...

kill her...

kill...

kill...

kill...

"KIIIILLLLL!"

The last word turned into a roar of fury as Natsu felt his body wrench through the agony of powerlessness and force his hands to Zancrow's throat. The God-Slayer was too shocked to hold Natsu off, and he fell to the floor, feeling the Dragon Slayer's hands crushing his windpipe. However, just as he felt his head start to spin, the dark mage's reflexes finally kicked in. He buried a palm full of dark flames into Natsu's chest, sending the Fairy flying back into a tree and collapsing on the ground. The commotion was enough to wake Lisanna, giving the injured girl enough time to see Zancrow wreathed in black flames, his boot raised above Natsu's head. Her reaction required no thought or hesitation; oblivious to the pain in her arm, she pushed up, leapt into the air and shouted the first spell that occurred to her.

"INFERNUS!"

Zancrow just had the opportunity not to believe his eyes before it hit him. IT was not exactly anything, but it wasn't nothing either; the entire clearing was now filled with flickering light, emanating from a twisting and morphing column of flame. Unlike her other forms, Infernus had no material shape, but like fire, it was infinite in its forms. A column of flame twisted and danced erratically, surrounded by other small patches of fire on the ground. Lisanna's face was omnipresent, but it was simply a shape of the flames, flicking from one small conflagration to the next. The only thing that unified all these faces was that each and every one of them was furiously glaring at Zancrow.

The Grimoire mage, however, only laughed again, starting with a light cackle that only increased and swelled into an insane guffaw.

"Are you actually an idiot?" Zancrow tittered, "You're trying to attack me? WITH FI-"

Lisanna had not been listening, the plethora of fire had been very useful for its actual purpose. While the arrogant enemy had laughed and criticized Lisanna's transformation, small strands of fire had slipped behind her and into Natsu's mouth. The now reinvigorated Dragon Slayer took advantage of the moment an leapt through the fiery wall that was Lisanna, smashing his fiery fist straight into Zancrow's jaw. The Grimoire Mage didn't have much time to register his shock however, as Lisanna barreled toward him with furious vigor, sweeping him up into the sky and then driving him back down onto Natsu's fist.

Unfortunately for the perfectly synchronized couple, Zancrow had now fully recovered from his shock and now blasted Natsu away with an arc of flame. Lisanna was fortunate enough to dodge the attack, but the Grimoire Heart Mage already knew how to deal with her.

"I've had enough of you!" Zancrow exclaimed.

He inhaled.

Time slowed to a sluggish drag as Natsu stared in shock to see Lisanna's fiery form being sucked into the God Slayer's maw. In the last moments of that time warp, Natsu saw her face in the flames, a faint surprise marking her gorgeous features.

Then it was done, Lisanna was nowhere to be seen and Zancrow was grinning cruelly at Natsu.

"Oops," he giggled, delighting at the horror in his foe's eyes, "guess she's gone now!"

Images flew through Natsu's mind; the rainy day when Lisanna had 'died' replayed in full, a cruel parallel to the present.

"Such a shame," continued Zancrow, "I really was looking forward to playing with the little bi-"

He froze, all glee and malice fading swiftly. A ear splitting bellow roared from his throat, filling the vale with agonizing sound. Natsu watched in shock as Zancrow's eyes rolled up into his head and his skin began to glow a faint copper color. As suddenly as the fit had started, the God Slayer collapsed to his knees. He then looked up, his face was neutral, his skin still glowing faintly, and his eyes now a solid orange. Natsu's shock only multiplied as Zancrow stood up, lit his hands aflame, clasped them together, and slammed his chest with titanic strength. As he dealt himself the crippling blows, a torrent of pure orange flame rushed out of his mouth. The fire coalesced and morphed back into human shape and Lisanna crashed to the ground.

"Lisanna!" Natsu sprinted to his collapsed mate, "Are you ok?"

The shapeshifter neglected to respond, leaping up to embrace her Dragon Boy in passion.

"Nobody's keeping me from you." She mumbled between kisses, "Nobody."

With a slight smile gracing her lips, she slipped back into unconsciousness. Natsu smiled and kissed her on the forehead, he then picked her up in his arms gently and walked over to Makarov, quickly picking up the old man and slinging him over his shoulder. With a last smug look back at the immobile Grimoire Mage, Natsu walked into the forest, keeping an eye open for a little blue headed girl.