Hello! How have you all been? Um, where to start? A BIG THANK YOU to all those who read, reviewed and liked my latest chapter. I seriously wasn't imagining to get such a big response since its been so long since my last update. But, nope, it seems most of you have kept up with this story. This makes me even more determined to finish it off for all you readers! And, I have some more stuff to say, but for now let's get on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Fairy Tail but Scarlet Destiny is all mine :D


Loud shouts vibrated across the atmosphere as the blazing blue flame consumed everything in sight. Natsu couldn't control his body, his mind, nothing at all. A pure doll on strings as he prolonged the attack longer than any other Fire Dragons Roar. His chest was beginning to thud in pain as his body refused to take a single breath of air as the attack continued to disperse out of his chest.

Finally, the fire started to die down before it vanquished swiftly as it had appeared. Natsu stood breathing heavily, mouth gaping as he tried to breathe in the oxygen he had been deprived of. His mind was reeling and his legs trembled ever so slightly.

"You...bastard..." Natsu managed to choke out between breaths.

"I agree with Pinky for once!" a light voice shouted upwards.

Natsu's eyes zoomed up to the ceiling where Ren was floating with an easily pissed and agitated Keahi in his arms.

"Why the hell did you grab me up here with you?" Keahi snarked as he fidgeted in Ren's arms as if trying to get down.

"Hey, don't be like that. I was trying to save you from the fire. I deserve thanks at least!"

"A thanks?! Do you know I'm a fire demon? The fire wouldn't have hurt me at all. Are you an idiot?"

"Oh...right..."

"Don't agree so nonchalantly! I swear once this ends, I'm going to kill both of you dragon slayers."

Suddenly, Ren unwrapped his arms from Keahi causing the latter to lose the support that was helping him float in the air. In one swift movement, Keahi dropped down to the ground faster than a solid rock being thrown into the ocean. There was a loud thud as he landed straight on his face mercilessly.

Ren blinked a few times, looked down at this hands and then down to Keahi,

"Sorry! It wasn't me I swear! The Lord he took over my mind and dropped you, don't be mad at me."

Keahi's response was to groan a few times. After a few seconds, he managed to lift himself off the floor both hands clutching onto his nose.

"Like I said, I'm killing both of you when this fight is over," Keahi said nasally.

From his eagle eye view, Ren decided to ignore Keahi's threat and focus on the Lord instead. The guy was planning around with them. By the extent of his abilities, he could have already wounded a lot more then they are now.

But, he hasn't.

And, Ren knew the answer to as why.

The Lord was seeing this a game. He didn't view any of the three before him a threat so he was just playing with them. Like a child with a plate of food. It aggravated Ren to no end. How could he move this fight forward? How could he start attacking Lord without any interruption? If the fight kept going on like this, all three of them were going to exhausts themselves out of magic before they could land a single finger on the man sitting idly on his throne.

"I see..." Lord started to speak out loud suddenly causing Ren to snap out of his dwindling thoughts "I had not imagined you would lose...Kyron."

The name caused a bell to ring in Ren's head. He remembered hearing that name spill into his ears when he was leaving Zolo and Erza to their fight. That was the name of the Master. He was sure of it.

"Ah, well. No matter. I had no expectation of you whatsoever Kyron. You served your purpose as filth beneath my feet. I have no need of you."

Ren had a feeling that Lord wasn't in the room now. He wasn't the only one. Natsu and Keahi also thought it was strange for Lord to start talking like that all by himself. All three boys stared at Lord who was still sitting comfortably on his throne.

"Why do you seem so shocked, Kyron? Did you actually believe I have any loyalty to you? That I was concerned about your health or wellbeing? You were a means to an end. Nothing more. You have achieved your purpose of damaging the S-Class member." Lord said, voice as cold as steel.

"He's talking to someone through his mind. Just like he was to us before." Ren said out loud, realising what was happening.

And, it looked like the Master of Lacus Animarium was on the receiving end of the conversation.

Suddenly a loud chuckle, humorously to the very core, erupted deep within Lord's chest.

"I did not take you for such a fool, Kyron. Is this what you believed? That I was your saviour? Your role model? I only helped you all those years ago because you were useful to me."

Ren felt his face botched with anger at every infuriating word spilling from Lord's mouth.

"I pity you more than the other pieces of scum. With all of our other members, I had to manipulate their minds to force them to help me with my cause. But, not you, Master Kyron. You were willing to bow down at my feet with no manipulation at all. All because you trusted me, you were loyal to me. That makes you a million times of a stupid than the rest of us."

There was a moment of silence as if Lord was hearing a silent response.

"Enough!" Lord said, voice increasing for the first time during the one-sided conversation the three boys could hear "I will not break your mind for you, Kyron! You are not worth for me to even waste a single amount of my energy on. Do as you please from now on."

Nothing else was said. The brutal conversation seemed to end. Lord leaned back as if to get even more comfortable on his high pedestal.

"How could you...?" Ren said slowly, voice low and thick with unhidden rage.

"Yes...?" Lord said, head tilting up slightly to show his attention on the water dragon slayer flying in the air.

Nails dug in deeply into his skin as it took of Ren's willpower not to charge down and punch the bastard off his throne. The attack wouldn't work but that didn't quell the urge down a single bit.

"He was part of your guild, wasn't he? How can you say those kinds of things to your teammate!?" Ren yelled out, eyes burning with anger.

"Excuse me?" Lord started swiftly followed by a laugh "Guild? I am in no guild."

"What are you talking about?" Keahi spoke up, not liking how this conversation was heading at all.

"It's not my fault if those pieces of shit thought we were in some kind of guild. They're merely helping. I have a goal I need to achieve. The best way to do so was to form a guild with those fools. But, guild only by name. I care for no such things. Like I said, it's not my fault if they fooled themselves into thinking they were all apart of something. Like, they were equal to me." Lord explained cruelly.

"But, we met them. They're really loyal to you..." Ren said softly.

He may dislike them all but he couldn't deny their loyalty to the lord. The members he had met, at least, showed fierce loyalty to the man sitting on the throne.

"Lacus Animarium does not exist. It never has. I have already destroyed one member's mind beyond repair, the other two minds will never heal and remember their past properly and Kyron finally knows how little he means. I only have one goal. And, it is so close..."

"You will never achieve what you want! I'm going to beat the hell out of you!" Natsu promised, feeling the exact same way as Ren and Keahi.

"I would have achieved my goal three months ago!" Lord shouted, voice booming against the walls "If it was not for Scarlet Destiny, everything would have been complete. Your guild had to come in my way. And, now that you have, I will destroy you all in payback. After I finish with you filth here, I will head for your guild base next and kill everyone there."

"I won't let you!" Ren swore, "You have to kill me before I let you step even one single foot in my guild."

He didn't care anymore. Ren didn't care about the reason why Lord was doing this, what he wanted to accomplish or the plan he had set into play to do so.

This guy had killed members of other good guilds, he hurt members of his guild, he took over Sarah and forced her to fight against the people she loved...and most importantly, this fucker had made Lucy cry.

Ren was going to kill him.

"If you wish for death so badly, then I will gladly fulfil it for you. No more games. Each of you will destroy each other in the next move." Lord promised.

After his statement; Natsu straightened his back, Keahi head titled upwards and Ren's wings flared out as each of their minds were taken control off at once.

Covered in numerous shadows, Lord grinned menacingly. No one could oppose. He had won. He was on another level that nobody could lay a hand on.

"Fire Dragons-"

"Flame Burst-"

"Water Dragon-"

Before, all of the three boys could begin with their devastating attacks, a bright burst of flaming red launched through the air like a high-pressure rocket. The monstrous flame tore through the air and headed straight through the three boys.

Its target was the Lord who was sitting arrogantly on his throne.

The humongous flame smashed against Lord's chest before he could even register the attack. A cry ripped out from his chest as his body was forced to crush against the throne. There were loud creaking sounds mixing with the roaring heat of the fire, as the attack caused the wall the throne was leaning against to crumble.

In one swift movement, like a water balloon that bursts on impact, the throne breaks through the wall with Lord in tow. The hole caused in the wall was massive and dust clouds swirled around the break. The Lord was nowhere in sight as he must be somewhere in the next room over.

Ren let out a massive breath when he felt himself gain control. That was close! After he managed to gather himself, one questioned pushed through his mind.

Where had that flame come from?!

His head snapped around to the direction of the attack before they widened in amazement.

Lucy stood tall, a smile stretched across her pink cheeks. A hand was held out, most likely where the attack had shot from, and she was brimming with confidence. Leaning against her shoulder, nearly encompassing her, was Zolo who had a satisfied smirk across his cheeks.

"I got to hand it to you, blondie, I didn't think you had it in you," Zolo admitted, the smile widening across his face.

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Lucy snapped back, her eyes narrowing on Zolo's bruised body.

"Lucy..." Ren said absently "You're amazing."

"Just on time Lucy! You really are getting better with my power," Keahi beamed.

"Yeah...I guess it was...kinda cool..." Natsu admitted as he looked at the hole in the wall where the Lord had previously sat.

All the compliments caused Lucy's cheeks to change into a deep red that matched her eyes and hair. She had never been the saviour before, usually on the receiving end, but she was really liking this. Hopefully, she would be able to play this part more often.

"What was happening? Why did it look like you three were going to attack each other?" Lucy asked.

She had just entered the room with Zolo when it looked like a standoff between the three boys. Her body had acted before her mind could keep up and she threw out an attack at the man who seemed to be orchestrating the situation.

"I'm guessing it's the bastard mind ability. He was controlling all you three, right?" Zolo demanded to know the answer.
All three boys shook their head of agreement instantly and in slight fear. Scarlet Destiny S-Class Mage was too freighting even when he could barely stand.

"Zolo," Ren started "we can't put a mark on him. He keeps taking control of our mind before we can attack him."

Zolo sighed as he took Ren's words into consideration, "I'm not fit enough to fight and the pain is easily distracting which isn't good for my mind magic ability. However, if I focus enough, I should be able to keep him from taking control of your mind. In other words, he won't be able to make you attack each other."

"That means..." Natsu started

"We can beat his ass now!" Ren finished off.

Both boys grinned at each other, Ren from the sky and Natsu from the floor, before they easily headed off in the direction of where Lord had been thrown into another room through the wall.

"Hey! Wait, you two! We should at least come up with a plan before-and they just ignored me and left!" Lucy said, sounding pissed.

She expected this from Natsu but had thought at least Ren would hold himself back. Why was he rushing so much? She knew they both hated this Lord guy and wanted to take care of him as soon as possible but if they came up with a plan, it would be beneficial.

Lucy had half the mind to kick Ren in the face with her signature move.

"What the-" Natsu's voice spilt out from the room over.

"Is that...a gate?!" Ren's voice shouted out, completely enveloped in shock.

That caused Lucy's mind to change thoughts. Gate? What did Ren mean by that? What was he talking about? That didn't make a single lick of sense. What was in that room where Lord had crashed into?

Lucy took a couple of steps towards the hole determined to find out what the hell was going on, Zolo stumbling along with her. But before she could take too many, a hand wrapped around her wrist stopping her.

She looked down at her arm and seeing the bandaged hand, her eyes snapped to the person who stopped her.

"Keahi, what are you doing?"

Keahi had a slightly nervous look on his face, and his eyes seemed to refuse to make contact with Lucy's.

"Lucy...There's something I need to tell you..." Keahi started.

But, how could he even begin to tell her? The secret he kept? Luckily for him, someone else managed to reveal it before he could.

"Flaming hair, you took Lucy's keys..." Zolo suddenly spoke up.

Keahi's mouth dropped open in shock. Shit! He forgot about Zolo's mind magic. He must have read his mind just now. Lucy's eyes widened at Zolo's words and she looked at Keahi with a gobsmacked expression.

What did Zolo mean by that? Keahi had her keys? Was that...her celestial keys? But, how?! She thought they had been taken by Fairy Tail. How could Keahi get his hands on them? Why did he have his hands on them?

"You have my celestial keys, Keahi?" Lucy questioned, not understanding this at all.

"I, uh..."

"You do, don't you?" Lucy said, voice high and shaky "Why do you have my keys? When did you get them...No, why do you have them!?"

"Lucy, calm down for a second-"

"I can't calm down! Those are my friends! My family! Why do you have the keys? Why didn't you tell me?! Are you not on my side?!"

"Lucy!" Keahi said, voice breaking "Of course I'm on your side! I...there's a reason for why I have them! I swear! Just listen to me. For a few seconds...Please..."


The sound of rain easily echoed through the hall. For once, Scarlet Destiny was relatively quiet. Apart from a few conversations held in a light whisper, the only sound was the pelting rain.

There was no fighting in Scarlet Destiny guild hall. The individuals who mostly caused the arguments were on either side of the hall, immerse in their own worlds. Rose and Ivy were in a middle of a calm tea picnic while Taichi and Hiro were in a middle of a healthy card game. The rest of the members have scattered around, in their own business.

At the long bartender table and knee deep in work was Genta. The guild was a mess and would continue to be until Mia came back and reverse time on everything. That meant destroyed walls, holes in ceilings and a broken infirmary door. Yeah, Kouta won't be at all happy with the last one.

"It's weird to see everyone so quite here," Narria commented as she was the only one who was near Genta, on the other side of the bartender table.

She was sitting on a long stool and had a glass of warm milk cupped into her hands.

"I agree, little one, things are very sombre right now." Genta agreed.

He didn't particularly like it. Scarlet Destiny was known for being loud and while it did annoy him at times, he wouldn't have it any other way. The mood was difficult to describe right now.

The air felt heavy and nobody seemed willing to do much. Individuals were lazing across tables and others were in deep sleep. Sure, it was a late night but Genta had a feeling this wasn't the case why everyone in the guild was acting like this. How could he describe this feeling?

Something...wasn't right.

It was a feeling deep within his gut screaming at him that something was wrong. Although, he couldn't explain it at all. Genta didn't know why but he just felt a little...sad.

"You know," Narria started "I-Nothing's bad is going to happen to them right? All of them are extra strong. Zolo, Jared and Sarah went along with them. That means nothing bad happened to Veruna and Nyx with their fight against Lacus Animarium right?"

"Of course, I'm sure nothing bad has happened," Genta said softly, hoping to perk up the usually cheerful girl attitude "Why are you asking this?"

"I don't know why, I just feel really...sad all of a sudden," Narria whispered.

It was becoming hard for Genta to swallow. The air had become thick after all.

"They say that when you're really close to someone, you always feel their presence. Scarlet Destiny members are all close to each other so much so we can always feel each other. But now, I don't why but I feel like someone's presence is...gone."

"Narria," Genta stated but he was interrupted by the short girl,

"I don't want to lose anyone. Never again. Especially Veruna and Nyx. So, do you really think they are okay?"

Bright eyes looked enquiringly into Genta's grey ones. Genta sighed as he reached out a hand over the bartender table so he could ruffle up the girl's spiky pink hair,

"Nothing has happened. And you want to know why? Because I believe in the members that were sent out to face Lacus Animarium. They will all come back safe and sound."

"Really?"

"Really." Genta agreed.

Narria looked thoughtful for a second before she quickly brought up the glass of milk to her lips. With a huge chug, she managed to down the whole glass in a second. Genta looked on at her with a sweat drop.

"Done!" Narria shouted out proudly as she placed the empty glass on the table "Thanks for the warm milk Genta. It will help me sleep tonight. Hopefully, the feeling will go away tomorrow."

With that as her goodbye, Narria slid off the table and ran off towards the dorms of Scarlet Destiny. Genta watched the little girl carefully before she was fully out of his sight.

He wondered if he had comforted her enough. Or if he seemed believable. Genta was feeling the exact same thing Narria had described. And by the looks of people around the guild, he wasn't the only one.

Something, or someone, was missing. A presence. A big whole like someone was gone. Genta could only describe it to the feeling he had when he was younger and on the night he had lost his brother.

Shaking his head as if to clear his head, Genta reached for the empty cup Narria left behind. Just as his fingertips were a few inches away from the glass, there was a slight cracking sound before a split was spotted to move down the side of the glass.

Genta's hand snapped away from the cup like he has been touched with hot fire.

Genta was no superstitious man by any means, but a broken glass was always a sign of bad luck. The feeling of something bad happening was spreading out to every inch of his body.

Were the individuals fighting against Lacus Animarium safe? Were they winning? He doubted Jared would ever let anyone gets hurt really badly. Scarlet Destiny would win. Genta was sure of it.

But...

"Please stay safe. Not one of you will die. All of you...come back okay." Genta said out loud to no one.


Jared was dead.

Wendy didn't know for sure but the moments leading up to this was playing in her mind like an old record that was set on a constant loop. Sarah was shaking on the floor like a leaf during a hurricane and the tears just wouldn't stop leaking out of her eyes.

Wendy hated it.

Why did this have to happen? Why did people she loved keep having to leave her?

She couldn't imagine what Sarah was feeling right now. A hundred, no thousand, no billion times worse then she did.

"J-Jared...Please..." Sarah managed to choke out between tears.

There was no response.

Wendy could see the boy's eyes looked glazed over.

"I-I'm sorry...I never meant to...I wasn't...Don't..."

The words died off from Sarah's mouth. Her sobbing was all they could hear. Wendy knew she wasn't in the right mind. She felt so helpless. What could she do? How did she make things better right now?

Then, Wendy saw it.

It was quick, as fast a blink, but Wendy knew she saw it.

And, at once hope filled her body.

"Jared breathed!" Wendy yelled out, causing both Kouta and Sarah's head's to snap towards her "I saw his chest just rise up now. He's still breathing. He's still alive."

"Alive?" Sarah whispered as she looked down at Jared's body, focusing on his chest.

And, there it was again! It raised ever so slightly before deflating. Sarah's eyes widened, brimming with tears, and she moved closer to Jared.

"Jared," Sarah repeated.

"Move him onto his back!" Kouta shouted out the order, not caring on the attention that brought to him "If he's still breathing, I can heal him. I'll save Jared. I won't let him die, Sarah."

Sarah nodded her head in agreement and moved her hands up to her face so she could brush the tears off.

Once she was done, she moved closer to Jared so she could start moving him. Sarah pushed him back slightly so instead of lying on his side, he was on his back instead. As soon as she did that, Sarah moved towards Jared's head. Carefully, she gripped his head in two hands and gently raised his head up. Once it was off the ground enough, she moved her knees in between the two and let go of Jared's head.

Jared's hair tickled her legs as his head rested in her lap. His glazed eyes stared up into Sarah's from this position. Kouta also moved into position as he settled against Jared's side. He grabbed onto the bottom of Jared's shirt and lifted it up. The shirt was soaked with blood and it took a few seconds to get it up enough so he could see the wound.

The stab wound was large and glaring on his pale skin. It was still leaking a lot of blood and looked utterly horrible. Wendy could barely stomach to look at it.
Sarah let out a whimper when she saw the wound however she refused to let a single tear drop from her eyes. Wendy gave her hope and she wasn't going to let it go. She watched as Kouta placed both of his hands on Jared's chest not caring for the blood that instantly soaked his hands as he inspected the wound.

She couldn't watch for much longer and instead brought her eyes to Jared's glazed ones.

"Your breathing." Sarah croaked out as if to encourage herself and Jared "I-It's going to be okay. Kouta's going to heal you now. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I did this. I-I..."

"It's not your fault," Wendy interrupted bringing Sarah's attention to her "I know you would never willingly hurt Jared. I may not know everything that is happening but I know this for sure. You would never do something like this to him on purpose."

"Wendy..." Sarah trailed off "You have gotten so strong and determined. Thank you so much for being here."

"Its thanks to you and Jared that I've grown up like this," Wendy admitted, knowing she never used to be this determined and if it wasn't for Scarlet Destiny she would have stayed that way.

She left her attention from Sarah and looked towards Kouta to see how the healing process was going.

But, what she saw shocked her.

Kouta just had his hands pressed against Jared's wounds and nothing else. There was no green glow. No indication that Kouta was using his healing magic. He was staring at the wound, his hands shaking like mad, and tears were sliding down his face.

"Kouta, what are you doing? Jared's still breathing. Why are you not healing him?" Wendy asked, fear enveloping her body in a scalding hug.

"I-I can't..."

"What?" Sarah said, voice incredibly low and fragile.

"What do you mean Kouta? You can heal him," Wendy replied back, panic drenching her voice.

"Wendy, I can't..."

"But Kouta-"

"It's a wound to the heart Wendy!" Kouta screamed, wet eyes clashing with Wendy's "I can't heal Jared! You know I can't! I can heal every wound except for wounds to the heart...I can't heal him..."

And, just like that, the flicker of hope died.


And done! Yes, I am cruel and leaving you at this. Oh god, I loved writing this chapter! I feel like the story is really coming to a end now. Jared's fate is still hanging in the balance I am afraid. Oh! And what most of you have been waiting for...A Lucy badass moment! Enjoyed writing that and there will be more to come. Also, what did you think about the convo between Lord and Kyron? Did you expect it?

Please read the following...Please read the following...Please read the following...Please read the following...

1) This is for Howl365, I don't mind answering your question XD I got degree in *drumroll please*...Broadcast Journalism!...Yes this means I am a certified Journalist...

2) If you are a guest reader (Don't have a fanfiction account) and you want to ask me direct questions about Scarlet Destiny or anything else (like the person above) then it might be better for you to just message me directily on my Tumblr account. I think that would be a lot easier for you to do and for me to reply too quickly then having to wait until I update a chapter (this can also go for any fanfiction users too) Search me up on my username which is 'Zebzy1' The link to my Tumblr is: : zebzy1. tumblr. c o m (Take out spaces and add www to the front)

Please review and tell me what you think!

Tiil next week...See yh!