I am so happy right now. The Assassin's Creed III trailer was released today and it looks absolutely amazing. Hm, other than that, nothing much. Heh, Hades and Justinian. We are really heading towards the end of the story. I estimate this story will probably go until 48 chapters. I could be wrong though. It is Sophomore Testing Week so I don't have to be at school until 9:55. That is an extra 2 hours of sleep.

Anyways, enough of this chit chat. Chapter go. Sorry for the abrupt time skip but it is needed.

Several weeks have passed since the battle near Rain Town. Over the course of the few weeks, the war against the Angkols has destroyed lives and the Angkols continue to advance deep into Hohenheim territory, the inexperienced Green Army no match for the Angkol military machine. Lidia continues to stall in her decision to meet the Angkols head on and the news that the chairman of the Wizard Council has been gravely injured led to many mages deserting and many soldiers deserting as well. It seemed that nothing could stop Sebastian and his hordes of religious warriors.

Currently, the guild masters of Fiore meet with Lidia at Adrianople to discuss what action they should take. Meanwhile, Tadaaki Ryuusaga tells his brother some disturbing news.

Meeting room, Adrianople

The meeting room was modest unlike all the other rooms in the fortress. It consisted of three white walls with no windows, a long wooden desk with several wooden chairs and the door that was made of stone and inlaid in a fourth white wall. Inside the room sat the guild masters of Fiore. Lidia sat at the head of the table, trying to keep her wits about her. The Angkols had defeated yet another Hohenheim force and it seemed that Tate would soon find herself dangling from a hangman's noose.

The two guild masters sitting closest to her were the guild masters of Fairy Tail and Saber Tooth and they were very vocal about their opinions. They seemed to almost always disagree but they did agree on some important topics. Currently, Lidia was considering entering the war as soon as possible and not waiting until the Hohenheims had surrendered.

"Join the war without seeing how far the Hohenheims can slow down our enemy? That is madness! They have proved their failure in every battle they have fought! They do not deserve our further support!" the guild master of Saber Tooth said, his eyes narrowing as Gildartz glared at him.

Gildartz slammed down his fist as he faced his fiercest opposition, Vance Zarian. He was cunning, willing to sacrifice his guild members like pawns and was a member of the Wizard Council unlike Gildartz*. Vance's snake-like eyes looked back at him, the devious forces already at work. He was wearing a shoulder cape that was dark red and his guild tattoo was printed on his forehead and he wore absolutely no clothes besides the black dress pants he wore and his dark brown boots. Gildartz just glared at Vance, his anger growing.

"Are you saying that we allow thousands of people to die? Is that what you want Vance?" Gildartz demanded as Vance shook his head slowly.

The other guild masters watched in silence as the two major guild masters duked it out. Lidia just listened, closing her eyes. This argument had caused her to have a massive headache.

"Oh you misunderstand Gildartz. I do not want wholesale slaughter. I am just saying that was is a few mercenaries dead in the fields? They might just be able to slow the Angkols down enough that we can easily defeat them." Vance said coolly as Gildartz seethed in anger.

"How dare you-" Gildartz was about to shout when suddenly Lidia's eyes snapped open. She had allowed this bickering to go on long enough.

"Enough! It is obvious that you can not handle such a decision without almost killing each other! I was a fool to consider the opinions of such close minded people!" Lidia shouted as she stood and stormed out of the room, the other guild masters sighing and standing to leave as well.

Soon, the entire room had been emptied besides Vance and Gildartz who continued to glare at each other. Gildartz knew that Vance was up to something dangerous.

"Just who's side are you on?" Gildartz demanded as Vance stood from his chair.

"My allegiance is of no concern to you." The Saber Tooth guild master said as he left the room without another word.

Office of the Consuls

Hitoshi Ryuusaga was sitting at his desk in the Office of Consuls when his brother came into the office, looking grim. Hitoshi looked up at his brother, his face instantly clouding with worry when he saw Tadaaki's dark face.

"Something wrong Tadaaki?" Hitoshi asked as Tadaaki nodded slowly and explained what had happened to Hitoshi, details and all.

Tadaaki spoke urgently about the fight with Darren and what the dark mage had said to him. Hitoshi thought deeply as he took in everything Tadaaki was saying. He had researched something like this before…

"Ingredients you say…for brewing a…soul?" Hitoshi asked as he looked at Tadaaki, the general nodding.

Hitoshi turned to select from a book from the bookshelf that was behind his desk. He had collected rare medical and magical books from his travels around the world and perhaps one of them had something on "Soul Brewing". Hitoshi selected an old dusty brown book with several tatters in the cover. The lettering was faded but Hitoshi opened it to a page he had marked.

The title of the page read "The dead and all their rights". It was the closest Hitoshi could get to a "soul".

Once someone or something passes into the land of the dead, they become the property of Death. Those that have committed acts of good or evil pass through a place known as "The Eternal Forest". There, they await their rebirth. Whether the soul was good or evil in its former life is of no concern. The dead have a right to return, neutral.

Tadaaki and Hitoshi finished reading the pages and the two looked at each other.

"Did the Tartaros mage say who exactly he was trying to bring back?" Hitoshi asked, Tadaaki shaking his head.

Hitoshi stared down at the page in the book. This was a bit too confusing. The attacks on Magnolia, "Soul Brewing" and Tartaros somehow being involved. Just what were they planning? Suddenly Hitoshi thought back to the Magnolia attacks. Why Magnolia? Why bomb that city instead of Adrianople? Then he remembered that he had received a document from Makarov a while back speaking about "guild treasure". But there was still another city they could be targeting. Hitoshi didn't want to take a chance of them only attacking one. Hitoshi looked at Tadaaki, his voice urgent.

"Tadaaki! The Tartaros mages! They are going to attack Magnolia!"

Magnolia

Magnolia had recovered from the bombing attacks but not by much. Debris still covered the streets in some areas and the bombed section of the city had not yet been rebuilt. Not many people visited the city for fear of another bombing. Magnolia had a long past of invasions despite the rocky hills that surrounded it due to its ideal position in a crossroad of trade routes and its rich soil. The only visitors to the city were brave adventurers and mages who sought out Fairy Tail.

But on the side of the mountain that surrounded Magnolia, two men watched the city. One was a greasy black haired man with a suit and tie and his face had a blank expression on his pale face. The other was a familiar character, manly short brown hair with blonde streaks down the sides, his green greatcoat and his amber eyes that looked down on the city with obvious disapproval.

"Magnolia…it contains a great treasure." Bael said as he watched the city from on top of the rocky hill.

And all around them, hundreds of people brought cannons up the side of the hill and positioned them pointing down into the city. Bael smiled as the last cannon was positioned. He looked at the greasy haired man in the suit. He was Kyle Anton, the guild master of Bilderburg**, the dark guild version of Hunter Pride. Bael nodded his head and Kyle turned to look at the nearest cannon crew.

"Fire!"

Bael smiled as the cannons roared one by one. The second battle of Fairy Hill had begun, and Fairy Tail's treasure would be captured.

I wrote most of this chapter last night but I finished it this morning. Took a while to actually figure out what I was supposed to be doing but I got it done.

References: *Fairy Tail was not represented in the Wizard Council because of their active resistance against Garlan rule

**I think you have seen Bilderburg appear many times in my stories. The chain of command went from Brandon to Kyle and when Brandon left to join Fairy Tail, Kyle took over.

I hope you liked this chapter. I will see you all next time. FF