It has been a while since I last updated during weekend. I hope more people will read my fic XD!

Thank you ahuna67 for your beta and sereneskydragonslayer for your review as usual. I'm really happy when a reader PM-ed me as a review. It had been a long while I received feedback like this. At least I guess there are a number of silent readers out there.

Good or bad, I will like to hear from you one day even as a guest or anonymous. Please review ^^.

Chapter 9: Scheme of Evil

Tsuna and his team had accomplished their mission smoothly and they were on the way back to Magnolia. Taking a deep breath on the ship, Tsuna and Happy was filled with a fresh feeling. The air is so fresh! Way better compared to the mission area and the Village where they met that weird boy. The air felt dangerous and stiff there.

"Good job, Tsuna. I'm sure Master will be proud of you". Gray praised him. The boy had grown a lot since he first met him. He actually completed his first mission as a commander.

"That's of course. I won't fail my mission as the fastest man of Fairy Tail". The said boy replied proudly. "I'm not the youngest but I'm the fastest". He was still at it even if he refused to admit that he was jealous of Wendy who was the youngest S Class mage.

"Why does it have to do with me?" Wendy asked in confusion. Lucy cracked into laughter.

"What's on your mind Charles?" Happy asked the white exceed who was deep in thought. "No, nothing". What happened earlier with Cait Shelter etched in her mind. She wondered if she should she make a trip home?

Thank goodness Lucy thought, the members of Oracions Seis except Brain were safe from harm but arrested by the Magic Council. Because of that, the three Celestial Spirits, Aries, Scorpio and Gemini who belonged to Angel were being entrusted to Lucy. Angel had actually sent Gemini to aid Lucy in the destruction of the Lacrima to thank her for saving her.

"I will take good care of your spirits, Angel". Lucy looked up to the blue sky and smiled. Before they departed for their respective guild, Hibiki had approached her. "Lucy, if you can't find anyone better than Natsu, remember, I'm always here for you".

"Rubbish, we can never get back together to what we were". Lucy thought to herself after she rejected his offer. Deep down, she still held some hope that Natsu might be alive all along like Jellal. She wondered if she was naïve to think of that but she was certain that Natsu would watch over her.

Gray was smiling from ear to ear for one reason. Lyon had lost his love. Apparently, Sherry had dumped him for Ren of Blue Pegasus. Lyon was complaining when he saw both of them blushing at each other and denying their feeling openly.

"Hey, Sherry!"Lyon whined.

A few days had passed since they completed their missions and headed on their separate ways.

Gray was working hard taking more missions to prepare for his upcoming S Class exam this year. Wendy thought she should work hard as well after seeing Gray taking one mission after another. But she thought it would be better if she waited for Jellal for any news about Natsu. Her heart lurched at the thought of the Natsu she first knew. Natsu was a hard worker despite his disability from the loss of his magic power and she respected him for it. She could not believe what happened to her hometown was his doing.

"Natsu-san, why?"

Erza was seen sitting alone by the window of the guild often. She was deep in thought. She had tried asking Master if he knew anything about Zeref but he would not say anything to her. Erza did not report the identity of Zeref's current vessel as she felt that it would affect the morale of the guild. No one would believe her especially Tsuna even if she was to reveal the truth. Jellal had not contacted her since then, so what should she do? She was deep in thought until a black cat approached her.

"Pantherlily? Why are you here?" Erza was surprised. The cat looked different. He is small and... cute?

Jellal had sent his trusted companion Pantherlily to join Fairy Tail while he waited for his news. He turned himself small just like fellow exceeds Happy and Charles to avoid attention from others. He turned into his original form to challenge Erza.

"I'm glad to see a familiar face here." Pantherlily wiped his sweat as he said to Erza. His eyes scanned around the guild and a raven haired boy caught his attention. He realised who he was. "He is..."

"Gray Fullbuster, our Ice Prince." Erza explained turning towards Gray's direction.

"I see."

"It seems that he has grown into a fine young man. Even though I saw him and his senior during the S Class exam, I didn't think much about it. To think he joined Fairy Tail as well. That's how small the world is. ". Pantherlily who was also known by the guild as Lily smiled to himself as he glanced over at Gray's direction.

Gray had just pulled down a poster of his next mission before turning over to glance at the salmon-haired boy who was drinking and chatting happily. He stuffed the poster into his pocket and walked towards him with a dark look. Apparently, something was bothering him as he heard unpleasant rumours about Tsuna during his mission.

"What is it, ice cube? Are you looking for a fight?" Tsuna asked. Gray gave him a serious look. He was not in mood for jokes.

"I heard of something outside and I want you to answer me honestly. Do you have a double running around like Jellal?" Gray lowered his volume as he popped the question. Tsuna was not very happy to hear about it. Obviously Gray was suspicious of him.

"How much magic power do you think I need to use to maintain a double? Did you think I have the power and the license to do so? If you have nothing else which concerns me, leave me alone."

"There is a rumour a spiky salmon-haired boy sighted to be lurking around in a number of towns. Strange enough, the towns where he appeared in will be destroyed the very next day and the situation is similar to what had happened in Cait Shelter." Tsuna's eyes widened after hearing what Gray had said. He stood up and walked past him.

"I don't know what you are trying to say but I won't let you off if you try to smear my reputation." He stopped beside Gray and said.

"I don't know if you are trying to avoid this issue. I think you know more than you look. Do you think that the incident on the Tower of Heaven is over? I believe you know that there is a good chance that your brother is still alive somewhere. Why are you not taking any action and acting oblivious about it? I suggest a search mission for him if you are ok with it. I feel that we should not drag this any longer. We should bring Natsu back if he is indeed alive. I'm very worried about him. Natsu is someone who always keeps to himself whenever he is in trouble because he doesn't want to get anyone of us into trouble".

"Who knows if he is still alive? You better watch your mouth and not going around telling others especially Lucy about this when nothing is verified". Tsuna warned Gray. They did not realise that the iron mage, Kurogane Gajeel who sitting besides Tsuna before he stood up was eavesdropping on their conversation with his sharp hearing skills.

Of course he was worried about his twin. He had heard about sighting of a salmon-haired boy at Cait Shelter from the Village Head when the girls from the village were bandaging him up. The boy was found unconscious near the village and was taken in by the villagers who took care of him as he was recovering from his injuries. The Head mentioned that the boy seemed to have gone through a lot and his eyes was full of fear and despair. He begged them to kill him before he did something he would regret but was rejected obviously. No one would do that. Soon, the boy had recovered and he left the village. An massacre occurred in the village not long after.

*Flashback*

Tsuna had been wondering about the reason why his twin would not try to contact him at all if he was alive after hearing the news from the Head of the Village. He ran through a number of possibilities in mind. He must have had his reason.

"Zeref..." Tsuna realised. Zeref was possibly the culprit who hurt his brother. His brother must have gone into hiding with his injuries in Cait Shelter. That must be the reason why he did not contact them. He doesn't want to get them into trouble. It was just like his brother. Tsuna bit his lip. He needed to find his brother before he was found by Zeref. He bet Zeref was after his life because of his Dragneel bloodline. His mother was right that his twin brother would have a harsher life than him. It had been this way since young.

"I swear I will get you Zeref! I promised my mother. As a member of Dragneel Clan, I will find a way to seal and destroy you completely. I will not let you hurt my brother again."

*End Flashback*

In the flying ship of Grimoire Hearts, Ultear was reporting the progress of the mission she had done with the other two members to her Master.

"How is the boy doing now? When are you going to bring the boy back? I hope you haven't forgotten your mission."

"We let him go and allowed him to roam around. It had been interesting to observe him looking for ways to free himself for his sufferings like a lost soul. Don't worry, I will not let him have his way considering how important he is to us".

"I'm still unable to believe that the boy had successfully merged with the dark mage."

"After years of experimentation, we finally found a suitable vessel for him. This is the first time we tried the experiment on a mage emptied of his magic power" Ultear added.

"If you have enough, bring him back here. I don't want the light guilds to notice his presence."

"But because of that we found out that Jellal is alive and that Jellal had found out the identity of the vessel and was being made a fool of. I have some scores to settle with him. I want Jellal to have a taste of despair of not being able to save his precious disciple. We will make him run around in circles like we are currently doing. Don't worry about the kid. There is no way out for him. Lives will be lost wherever he goes. He doesn't dare to go near humans because he treasures them. He is just too kind and naive by nature. As his power has yet to fully awaken, he won't be able to take any lives of human beings yet. In order to remove his hatred, we have finished Brain off for him. We have also obliterated the towns and villages he had been to. Cait Shelter had been unlucky to take him in and learnt of his identity. We can't afford to let anybody know the fact that Natsu Dragion had been alive all along so no matter where he goes, we will clean up the places and give him the ultimate despair he needed to fully awaken his power. Look, it is going along quite well. He is being forced to hide in a corner somewhere where no one will be able to find him". Ultear lifted her crystal ball showing a black haired boy who was found crying his eyes out alone in despair on an island where no one is around. The boy's face was full of tears.

"The boy needs to be cold and unfeeling like our guild mate. He actually killed his father". Ultear reported.

"Good! Let's proceed with the next stage of our plan." The man hiding in the shadow, Hades smirked.

Standing by the ledge of the flying ship, Ultear took a deep breath."He actually killed his father." echoed in her mind. Even though she was supposed to be cold and unfeeling, she actually shuddered when she saw his limp body. Brain smiled when he died. It seemed that he was glad that his younger son who was thought to be dead was actually alive. She was sure the mages of Fairy Tail would be glad to hear that Natsu Dragion being alive too. That was the bonds between humans she herself had lost nine years ago. Who would have bothered about her?

The sun was setting. It was a beautiful orange. Ultear reminisced about her childhood when she was watching the sunset with her childhood best friend.

*Flashback*

"How I wish this moment will last forever". A boy in red top exclaimed when they were watching the beautiful sunset together.

*End Flashback*

"Ultear?" The woman was startled to hear someone calling her breaking her line of thought. A young pink haired girl with a headphone over her head in red hood approached her.

"Meredy." Ultear greeted her and smiled sadly. Meredy reminded her of her childhood friend she had lost because of her pink hair. As Meredy is a girl, it was not so hard for her to accept her. However, she hated guys with pink hair to the core as they resembled him. That was why she was rather harsh on Natsu. If her childhood friend was still alive, he would be of his age too.

"Are you thinking of him again?" Meredy inquired carefully. She was afraid she would flare up on her when she mentioned about him in her presence but she could not help it. This time, she just turned away from Meredy.

"Don't worry, you will see him again once we get there, Ultear. Our dreams will come true. I will be with you." Meredy hugged her by her arm. Tears welled up Ultear's eyes as the girl closed in to her. This girl sure knew how to console her. She needed it badly.

"Thank you, Meredy.