This chapter took a lot longer than I'd hoped but hey, December's always a slow month. It contains my birthday and Christmas after all I usually get quite a lot of distractions, and a few personal things came up that made finding the time and motivation to write was quite tricky. But nevertheless I'm pulling through. And just for the record, whoever it is that kept posting an anonymous review that said nothing but the word 'Next' - that will not get me writing any faster so please don't do it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter everybody.

Also, one more thing - in light of some recent revelations from the manga, I have gone back and made a few edits to the content of Chapter 33. The end result is still the same, I just altered some important explanations along the way.

Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 38:- Old and New Magic

Mirajane couldn't believe her eyes and her mouth seemed determined to prove it by hanging open in disbelief. It was nothing new for Lisanna to gain another form she had not seen before but this… this was off the Richter Scale. The bat-like wings, the scaly feet and armour, the horns projecting up from her hair… there was only one thing that this could have come from as far as she could imagine.

"Lisanna…" she whispered, as her sister stood boldly beside her, glaring down the livid tyrant at the other end of the room. "You used your Take-Over… on a dragon? Is that… even possible?"

"It's possible when the dragon helps you to do it, Mira-nee," Lisanna gave her a smile out the corner of her eye. "But that's not important. What's important is that you're okay. I was so worried about you and Elf-niichan… I didn't know what to do with myself these past few weeks."

"Weeks!?" Mira blinked in alarm. "But… we… how…"

"I'll explain later," Lisanna said, returning her glare to Voldemort. "You… what were you trying to do to my sister!?"

Voldemort's slitted nostrils flared, his red eyes blazing with anger beyond comprehension. "It doesn't matter now," he snarled. "You interrupted the ceremony before it could be completed. You Fairy Tail members have done more than enough interfering in my world. If I cannot have you join me then I will wipe you from the face of existence. You will not exist in any world by the time I am finished with you."

"We won't go down without a fight," Lisanna declared. "In fact, we won't go down at all. Fairy Tail has faced worse than you and come out on top. We will do so again. And I won't ever forgive you for trying to turn my sister against us. Never!"

Without another word she launched herself forwards, the claws of her feet cutting grooves in the floor as she shot across the room at incredible speed, wings flared and fist reared back to strike. Voldemort reacted instantly by conjuring several wooden spikes out of the wall around him, curving in towards Lisanna like a giant, pointed ribcage. Lisanna veered to the side, tucking one wing in to barrel-roll and avoid the strikes but moments later she'd punched her way through the side of the wooden barrier and brought her fist swinging in for Voldemort's chin.

It was met with an invisible force as Voldemort raised a Shield Charm and the Dark Lord cackled as he lashed out his wand like a sword. The moment it touched Lisanna's stomach she was sent blasting backwards like she was fired from a cannon to crash into the wall beneath a large deer's head, wings slapping back against the wall around her.

Voldemort followed up with a powerful Killing Curse that zapped its way across the room towards her, but Lisanna acted quickly and spun around, crashing her way through the damaged wall shoulder-first and spreading her wings to shoot upwards and crash through the ceiling, the Killing Curse whipping underneath her to crash into a distant wall. Lisanna curved her way over in the room above to slam through the floor directly above Voldemort, spinning down to aim her tail down towards his head. But he Disapparated and the tail smashed the floorboards in while Voldemort appeared a short distance away and suddenly the nearby fireplace exploded. A torrent of flames washed out and hurtled across the room to engulf Lisanna and swallow her up in its blaze.

"Lisanna!" Mirajane cried - having been watching the fight in stunned amazement until this point. Voldemort leered in anticipation, expecting to here Lisanna's screams of agony at any moment.

What happened instead was Lisanna's wings flared out to either side, a current of air billowing out all around her to pulse the flames backwards as she rose above the fire entirely unscathed. And she could feel a warmth rising in her chest, tickling its way up her throat to fill her mouth with heat that should have been searing, but which felt… soothing… natural in this form.

"Two can play at that game," she said, sucking in as much air as her lungs could contain and blasting out a flood of flames from the back of her throat, setting half the room ablaze as it spread out before her like a tide from floor to ceiling! She could feel the power, Kilgharrah's power, radiating through her body as she roared. And this was a mere fraction of what Kilgharrah himself could do!

Voldemort pulled back as the flames converged on him with all the strength of Fiendfyre. He had no time to throw up a shield charm that would hold an attack of that magnitude so he conjured a physical shield instead - a huge metal construct that caught the attack as he crouched behind it, flames charing the ground on either side of him and setting the walls themselves alight. Voldemort grimaced as he swung his wand and banished the shield from him, sending it catapulting back through the flames to cannon straight towards Lisanna, following it up with a blast of water that carried the shield at even higher speed and fought back the flames to either side of it.

"GYAAH!" Lisanna cried as the shield struck her head on, jarring her body and flattening her against the wall as a deluge of water put out the flames around her. Moments later and Voldemort blew up the shield - he literally had it spontaneously combust even as it was pressed against Lisanna's body, ripping another scream out of her throat as she was flung backwards into the next room, her body lightly smoking as she ploughed across the floor. Gritting her teeth, she started push herself back up only for Voldemort to suddenly appear on top of her, his foot slamming down on her chest armour to push her back down against the floor, his wand raised in triumph!

"AVADA… GYAAAHH!"

His red eyes bulged, his voice grew much more high-pitched and he wheezed in sudden pain, stumbling backwards and crouching over in agony.

Because Lisanna's tail had instinctively swung up between his legs and hammered him straight in the nether regions.

"Huh… good to know that still works on evil overlords," Lisanna noted before backwards rolling and pulling in her wings to help flip herself back onto her feet. Instinct took over and she thrust a hand out and screamed a word she'd never heard before in her life:- "Ástríce!" Voldemort was promptly scooped off the ground and flung backwards like he'd been clobbered with a massive golf club to smash against the wall. However, even as he was flying backwards he roared and lashed out his wand to launch a flurry of chains across the room. Lisanna gasped as she lashed around her body, pinning her arms to her side and enshrouding her wings, carrying her backwards to embed themselves into the wall and pin her there.

Even as she struggled, Voldemort pushed himself back to his feet, wincing in pain as he tried to act like his crotch didn't hurt. Lisanna thrashed and bucked against the chains, kicking her clawed legs wildly through the air but Voldemort raised his wand and said, "This is the end of the road for you, dragon girl!" before launching a gigantic cutting curse across the room. It looked like a transparent blade of air, expanding in size to slice through the walls on either side as it homed in on Lisanna's stomach.

That was when something came streaking in, claws slashing to slice clean through Lisanna's chains, grabbing the girl and yanking her down to the ground so the cutting curse cleaved straight through the wall behind her but left her unharmed. Moments later and Mirajane was on her feet, body morphed into full Satan Soul as she glared at Voldemort with eyes that could melt a basilisk! She didn't say a word, she simply thrust forwards with her clawed hands and an enormous blast of dark energy erupted from her palms, streaking across the room and forcing Voldemort to Disapparate before the blast consumed the corner he'd been standing in and reduced it to rubble.

"Are you okay, Lisanna?" Mirajane asked as Lisanna pushed herself upwards again.

"Yeah, I think so," Lisanna replied. "You saved me again."

"Call it returning the favour," Mirajane offered her a smile, even as she scanned the room for any sign of their opponent. "Sorry it took me so long to join the fight… I was just so stunned watching you. The power you've gained since I last saw you… it's incredible."

"It is something," Lisanna conceded. "But… I was rather hoping that… now I have it… I wouldn't have to rely on you saving me again. Not after… last time…" she flinched, her mind flashing back to Mira's fight with Azuma once again.

"When did you get this magic, Lisanna? This… Dragon Soul?"

"…Earlier today. Why?"

Mirajane chuckled. "This is a brand new form of magic for you, Lisanna. I'm guessing you haven't had a lot of time to practice it yet. It would be like me suddenly gaining the ability to use Erza's Requip magic. I might be strong but I'd still have to hone my abilities with it before I could be remotely as good as her. Power is useless without skill. You have one. Now you need the other. And I know you, Lisanna, with your perseverance and your dedication, I know you will get it."

Lisanna blinked, but smiled gratefully. Mirajane was right - it was stupid to think she could just jump into this magic and be an expert right away. This wasn't just a power-up of the same kind of magic she normally used, it was a whole new magical style. And she'd picked a hell of an opponent to try it out on for the first time.

Suddenly Voldemort re-appeared, having caught his breath a couple of floors down and fired what looked like dozens of Killing Curses at the two sisters. Both of them reacted instantly, shooting in opposite directions. Voldemort screamed in frustration, spinning around and lashing curse after curse at them as they folded their wings to dodge and weave under his fire.

"DON'T LET THE GREEN ONES HIT YOU!" Mira shouted. "THEY'LL…"

"KILL ME, I KNOW!" Lisanna shouted back. "COME ON, MIRA-NEE! LET'S TAKE HIM TOGETHER!"

"AGREED!" Mirajane shouted and kicked off from the ground, slamming her way through the ceiling above and the ceiling above that to burst out through a rooftop and into the open sky. For the first time she realised that she'd been imprisoned inside a giant manor, but for the moment that didn't matter. She gathered her energy in her claws and thrust it downwards, roaring, "EVIL EXPLOSION!"

Lisanna heard the shout and dove through an open doorway as the roof caved in, torn aside in a spectacular burst of power that send shockwaves and debris pouring in on top of Voldemort. The Dark Lord thrust his arms out and re-directed much of it to either side but he was still forced to dodge aside as a large chunk of mortar almost landed on him. Mirajane bolted downwards, spinning about in front of him to slam her tail into his side and send him flying. Moments later and Lisanna charged out to crash her own tail into him and send him rolling the other way. When he pushed himself up it was to see Mirajane thundering down on top of him with both clawed fists raised above her head.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, Disapparating again and re-appearing in the middle of the room while Mira's fists pummelled the floor where he'd been. Whirling his wand arm above his head, Voldemort screamed aloud as the winds picked up around him, a gigantic tornado forming in the centre of what remained of the room and whooshing down upon the two siblings. Their wings were instantly turned against them as they were caught in the windstorm, swirling round and round it several times before they were slammed into the opposite wall. Voldemort's eyes burned with intensity as he poured all his strength he had into the attack, the wind scooping up debris from around the room and sending it hurtling in towards the sisters, who both struggled to move in the furious maelstrom!

"NOBODY BESTS ME!" he shrieked. "I WILL NOT BE OUTDONE BY TWO ALIEN WOMEN! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!"

Lisanna gritted her teeth, thrusting her hand out before her and delving deep into the dragon within her. She might not have experience yet, but one perk of a Take-Over was that you always knew what abilities your forms had when you needed to know them. Summoning her power she intoned words foreign to her own ear:-

"Fordrifan miswider æt nānwiht!"

And just like that… the wind stopped. It didn't peter out, it didn't lessen off. It just completely stopped. Voldemort stumbled back in astonishment when he realised Lisanna had literally just cancelled out his spell. And as the two sisters dropped smoothly to the floor, Lisanna swung an arm up and shouted, "LIGFYR!"

Fire exploded from the ground beneath Voldemort's feet in a huge wall that spread across the room. Voldemort bellowed as his robes caught fire and he blasted a spell downwards to send him shooting off the ground and into the air above the flames, but as he looked down Mirajane had swept into the air again and bellowed, "DARKNESS STREAM!"

Huge clawed hands composed of dark energy whooshed out of the magic circle that formed beneath Mira's scaly palms and Voldemort hissed as he fanned his robes out and swooped down like a bat, tendrils of smoke streaming off him as he dodged from left to right, able to feel the breeze of the claws as they skimmed past his flightpath until one smashed him in the side and sent him reeling, while the others all closed in.

He spun around to bring his wand lancing upwards and suddenly a massive shockwave exploded out from the tip, pummelling in all directions to disintegrate the claws and catch Mirajane in the front, sending her somersaulting backwards. But she landed smoothly on a nearby wall and sprang off it at startling speed, her fist sinking straight into Voldemort's gut with enough force to send him cannoning backwards, all the wind driven out of his lungs. But Lisanna was there to meet him as he fell and a hammer blow to the side with her tail and as Voldemort was flung back down towards the grounds of the mansion, both Strauss sisters converged on him like falling arrows.

"DEMON BLAST!" Mira shouted, while Lisanna sucked in another breath and blasted it out as another flaming projectile between her teeth. The two attacks pulsed in from different directions and Voldemort only managed to avoid them with a rapid Disapparition. But even as he apparated back into existence a short distance away the two attacks collided with a colossal explosion that blasted him backwards with the shockwave alone and he skidded across the lawn until he came to a tumbling stop.

"It would make it easier on all of us if you would just surrender," Lisanna suggested.

But Voldemort got to his feet, his red eyes burning so intensely they were practically on fire. "You are strong," he conceded. "But you have yet to see me at my full potential. I am the most powerful sorcerer in this world. You will see that for yourselves soon enough… !"

Death Eaters screamed and scattered as Natsu fell amongst them, his arms blazing and his scarf whipping out behind him as he thundered pell-mell through the throng of black-cloaked minions. His flames tossed them into the walls, into the ceilings, singing their outfits and sending those that were lucky enough to avoid being hit scurrying for cover. Except for one - Thorfinn Rowle actually charged straight at Natsu, raising his wand high and with the Killing Curse on his lips. Natsu whirled around to face him and responded to the challenge with a will, his body enshrouding in flames and blasting forwards before Rowle could get a word in edgeways.

"KARYUU NO… KENKAKU!"

The Sword Horn attack's aim was immaculate and Rowle eyes practically bulged out of his face as Natsu's crashed into him headfirst, a blast of flames combining with the strike from the top of Natsu's skull to shoot him backwards with enough force to bowl a couple of other Death Eaters over, rendering Rowle unconscious.

"WAY TO GO, NATSU!" Happy cheered from where he was perched on Elfman's shoulder, dancing from side to side as the Death Eaters scrambled for cover. Natsu grinned, thumbing his nose cheerfully. He was in the basement of a house a mere few streets away from where Lisanna had gone to get Mirajane. He'd been astonished when he'd caught Mira and Elfman's scent on the course back to London, but he'd known that they were in trouble the moment he'd smelt another familiar odour - that of those two Death Eaters that had been on top of the mountain in the Cairngorms.

That was why the two of them had instantly gone in guns blazing without any further questions. Though Natsu had no idea just how well-timed their interruption had been.

Nevertheless he knew it would not take long for the enemy force to rally, and he had an unconscious Elfman to deal with.

"Elfman, wake up!" Happy was saying, his small paws gripping Elfman's cheek as he pulled backwards, trying to rouse the slumbering Strauss brother but Elfman only seemed to snore momentarily as his lip was stretched to one side. If it hadn't been for the rising and falling of his barrel chest he would have looked completely dead. Natsu gripped the chains holding him haphazardly to the post and ignited his hands, rapidly melting the metal in his grip and yanking the chains free. But this only caused Elfman to slide down to the ground, his head lolling and his thick arms lax against his side.

"What should we do?" Happy asked, wheeling round the column a couple of times. "They must have hit him with some kind of strange spell… I think I can carry him though he might be the heaviest person I've ever lifted… except for Lucy of course."

"No need for that. We just have to wake him up."

"Won't we need a counter curse or something?"

"I got a counter curse right here," Natsu grinned. And Happy balked as he reared his fist back and brought it swinging in to pummel Elfman straight in the side of the face!

"WAKE UP, ELFMAN!"

"GAAAH!" Elfman's eyes shot open even as he fell sideways and he spun around to bring his arm swinging up on instinct alone, cannoning his fist straight into Natsu's chest and belting him backwards across the room. Elfman shot to his feet, fists raised, and blinked when he realised exactly who he had hit.

"NATSU! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR DEAL!?" he roared. "YOU DON'T SUCKER PUNCH A MAN LIKE THAT WHEN HE'S GOT HIS GUARD DOWN! THAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF MANLINESS RIGHT THERE!"

"Hehe," Natsu rubbed his ribs as he pushed himself back upwards. "That frigging hurt, ya bastard. It's good to see you again."

Elfman frowned in bemusement - from his perspective he'd last seen Natsu just a few minutes ago. But then he looked around at the basement and blinked again. "What the hell… where are we?" he asked. "This isn't on Tenroujima is it? And what… what happened with…"

"There's no time to really explain," Happy said, hovering up to Elfman's considerable height. "You just need to know that everyone survived Acnologia's attack and that you were being held prisoner by some bad people that were keeping you unconscious until Natsu woke you up by… punching you."

"Bad people…?" Elfman started, but then gasped as the memory of what had happened during his brief moment of lucidity before he'd been stunned. "NEE-CHAN! Where's nee-chan! I… I think they've got her too."

"Not for long they haven't," Natsu said. "She should be being rescued right now. Come on, we'll take you over to where she is. It's not far."

"Damn, I'm not even awake for a minute and I'm already on a mission," Elfman murmured, cracking his neck and flexing his arms. "Can't be helped I guess, but I want a full explanation later. And Natsu… thanks." He offered the Dragon Slayer a wry smile. "Being held captive… it ain't very manly of me. But it takes a real man to come storming to the rescue like that. I owe you one."

Natsu grinned. "Let's get you back to your family," he said. But then his nose twitched and he looked towards the small doorway, where they could hear clattering their way down stairs towards them. "Looks like they've regrouped though. We'll have to fight our way out."

Elfman's fist pounded into his palm with an smacking noise that echoed around the cellar. "Well I dunno who these guys are, but I suppose I should repay them for their hospitality. That's the real manly thing to do. As is taking point!"

And without another word he surged forwards past Natsu, thundering towards the doorway just as the first Death Eater appeared in the gap. All he had time to see was Elfman glowing yellow and bellowing, "TAKE OVER: BEAST SOUL!" before he literally wet himself at the sight of the monstrous creature that took his place.

A colossal brute over twice Elfman's original size and with a body covered with reddish fur except for its bare muscled chest and neck, revealing the green skin that lay beneath. His feet were like those of huge bird's, his massive arms ended with hands tipped with ferociously big claws, and a giant yellow spike protruded from each shoulder. His bestial face came with a white beard and thick white hair that almost looked like a mane, long pointy green ears and two gigantic horns protruding up from his forehead. The only thing vaguely human-like that remained were his trousers, which were thankfully still intact.

And with a furious roar he descended on the hapless Death Eater, who screamed and tried to backpedal, crashing into the others that were coming down behind him. The door and the stairwell beyond, but the Beast didn't even slow down. He tore through the gap with a shower of bricks and plaster and ripped his way up the stairs, rending the walls and the ceiling asunder as he passed and pushing up or trampling over all the Death Eaters in his path.

He exploded out into the wide hallway beyond with a mighty bellow that shook the walls around him, seizing one startled Death Eater by the top of his robes and heaving him around as if he weighed as much as a shuttlecock, bowling him into several others.

"STUN HIM! SOMEBODY STUN HIM!" one of the Death Eaters screamed, under the assumption that they still needed him as a bargaining chip for his sister. A pair of Death Eaters scrambled up and fired red beams at Elfman's back, but he spun around and charged through them like a runaway freight train, completely ignoring the spells and backhanding the first Death Eater to send him spinning into a wall hard enough to dent it before scooping up the second by his leg, using him as a flail to smash the third backwards and heaving him around to sweep the feet out of from underneath two more.

Most of the Death Eaters were shooting off in all directions now, many Disapparating in blind panic to get away from the terrifying monster that had fallen upon them. Two of the only ones to stand their ground were Crabbe and Goyle Senior, who both took it upon themselves to end the fight quickly, jabbing their wands forward even as Elfman slammed another man to the side so hard he crashed straight through a wooden door.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" They screamed at the same time. But even as the tips of their wands began to glow green, Natsu burst out of the stairway in front of them with Happy at his shoulders and a foot cloaked in flames. With a furious bellow he swept his leg out in a spectacular roundhouse kick, his Fire Dragon's Claw attack vaporising their wands right before their spells could go off and blasting the two away, firing them back down the corridor and right into the front door of the house, sending it toppling over and skidding out into the outside world.

"Elfman! Watch out for the green spells! They'll kill you if they touch you!" Natsu shouted back over his shoulder.

"What!? Like the kind of magic that guy did on Tenroujima…? Like Zeref? Magic that can kill instantly… that's about as unmanly as its possible to get! It's so cowardly!"

"Follow us! We'll take you to Mira and Lisanna," Happy said as he swished out of the door, scooping Natsu up into the sky above the house, which was in what looked like a perfectly ordinary… and very Muggle… suburb. The crashes and noise had gotten the attention of most of the street at this point and Muggle neighbours gasped as Natsu swept up into the air above them, one of them who had been calling the police dropping the phone in disbelief even as he peered through the window.

But suddenly a flash of green caught Natsu's eye and he heaved his body up and over, dragging the startled Happy sideways just as a Killing Curse streaked past his leg. Looking up, he saw a phalanx of four Death Eaters that had managed to get onto broomsticks homing in on his side, green curses filling the sky as they approached. Happy took the initiative and dived downwards, levelling off moments before they hit the floor and streaking along the top of the road.

"They're coming in behind us, Natsu!" he yelled.

"Up and over, Happy! We can take 'em!"

"Aye sir!" The blue cat flipped over and streaked back in towards the oncoming attackers, his back facing the ground and heaving Natsu above him as the Dragon Slayer reared back his fire clenched fist. The lead Death Eater had no time to react as Natsu's knuckles pummelled into his face, an explosion of fire ripping his broomstick to cinders and sending him crashing to the ground. The other Death Eaters veered off and Happy rapidly flipped Natsu back around to pursue, leading to a helter-skelter chase through the sky.

"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME HEAD ON!" Natsu shouted, blasting flame from his mouth at two of the Death Eaters but they veered off to either side, the blast blowing a hole in the tarmac over which they'd been flying. Happy spun around as a Killing Curse blitzed past his wing and dove upon another Death Eater, but again he avoided Natsu's next Iron Fist attack and Natsu ended up demolishing a stone wall in its place.

"Cheh… these guys are fast in the air…" Natsu growled, looking up to see the three grouping together for another pass. "We'll have to outmanoeuvre them!"

"Going up!" Happy shouted and exploded into the sky with a burst of Aera. But even as the Death Eaters veered up to follow him, the plucky cat span himself and Natsu around several times and flung Natsu downwards towards them. Natsu grinned wildly, his feet igniting to thrust him forwards as if he were wearing rocket boots.

"KARYUU NO… ENCHUU!" he shouted, his elbow igniting with fiery power. The Death Eater he was for tried to swing away and did manage to stop Natsu from hitting him in the chest as was Natsu's intention. But the Flaming Elbow still caught him in the arm and ripped him off the broom, sending him spinning through the air to the floor below. Natsu landed on the broomstick himself and spun around to yell, "ALRIGHT! WHO'S NEPPWWEERG!"

His hand clapped to his mouth and his face went blue, his cheeks puffing out as he collapsed onto his front upon the broom, looking like he was about to hurl at any moment. Evidently broomsticks… were definitely transportation.

"NATSU!" Happy cried, diving in towards him, but already the two remaining Death Eaters had fired their Killing Curses, the green spells diving upon the retching Natsu like falcons descending on their prey.

That was when a car… an entire car… came hurtling over Natsu's head from below to intercept the spells and plough straight into the Death Eaters with two horrible crunches, their unconscious bodies tumbling unconscious to the ground with shattered brooms as the car smashed down headfirst into a rooftop! Happy scooped Natsu off the broom two seconds later and looked down to see Elfman leaping over to another driveway in a single bound and heaving a second car into the air with what seemed like very little effort, hurling it like a gigantic shot-put into the front door of the house where he'd been held prisoner. Two Death Eaters that ran out through that door immediately back-pedalled and charged back in, screaming as the car demolished the doorway and caved its way through the walls a short distance into hallway, forcing Death Eaters to scramble to safety until it came to a stop in the kitchen.

"Nnghhh…" Natsu grinned blearily as he rapidly lost his motion sickness. "Thanks for the save, Elfman."

"Repaying debts is a Man," Elfman thumped his chest. "And I guess this makes us even now."

"Yeah. Come on, the others aren't far," the Dragon Slayer said as he and Happy winged their way over another house, Elfman following on by taking a spectacular leap and scrambling easily up the wall and bounding from roof to roof after him, leaving behind a street full of bewildered and terrified Muggles and many, many unconscious Death Eaters.

Narcissa Malfoy groaned as she regained consciousness and followed up with a momentary panic attack when she realised that she was half buried in bits of rubble and shattered wood. The fuel of adrenaline that came with it propelled her to her feet, shouldering her way out from beneath the dusty debris and swaying unsteadily for a moment…

But a raucous screamed ripped its way free of her lips when she took a look around her… at the devastation that surrounded her. It was a miracle that she'd come through it with only a few scrapes, for what looked like the entire top two floors of the manor had been wrecked! Family heirlooms, centuries old, along with countless precious artefacts destroyed. Damage that would require far, far more than a simple Reparo spell to fix.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" she screeched to the air. "MY HOME! IT'S ALL BUT GONE!"

A nearby flash of light and an angry roar caught her attention. Fear flickering at her stomach, she nonetheless hurried towards it, snatching up her wand from the ground as she went. But when she saw the battle unfolding in the air above she skidded to a stunned halt so fast she nearly skidded over.

It was a veritable brawl. Lord Voldemort, his cloak flared out wide like wings and trailing what looked like tendrils of darkness behind him, swerved aside to avoid another blast of fire from the draconic Lisanna's lips only for Mirajane to come pounding in towards him at high speed. He lashed his wand to the side and produced a flurry of Cutting Curses that sought to slice into the demon girl but she somehow managed to dodge her way straight through the barrage with ridiculously rapid movements and slam her palm into Voldemort's chest, electrical power lancing from her hands to pulse him backwards with a furious hiss and a smoking cloak.

Swinging back down towards the ground, Voldemort arced low with the two sisters in rapid pursuit, but as they neared the manor garden the Dark Wizard wheeled around and muttered something under his breath. Instantly the ground around him began to fire up rocks and chunks of earth that bombarded the two girls like a flurry of cannonballs, smashing into their wings and flinging them out of the air.

Lisanna vaulted herself over and slammed her hand into the ground the moment she landed, yelling out, "Dōn se hrūse wiell!" And suddenly the earth beneath Voldemort exploded upwards like a gigantic geyser, engulfing him and sending him pulsing up into the air, choking on mud and gravel that entered his mouth. Spitting and screaming he forced himself free with a charm that sent the earth blasting out in all directions, but even as he wheeled around to aim his next hex, Mirajane was suddenly in his face, her hand smashing over the top of his nose as she seized his head in her claws and slammed him down towards the ground, intending to pile-drive his head into the stone driveway that led to the mansion.

Voldemort screamed and Disapparated, taking Mirajane with him to a point higher in the air. The horrible effect of Side-Along Apparition threw Mira off balance and she recoiled away from him, giving him time to slash his wand and hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. Mira screeched, her body racking with intense pain as if thousands of hot needles were being plunged into her skin, but even through that she was able to slam her hands together and launch an Evil Explosion that practically blasted a hole in the air itself around her. If Voldemort had not Disapparated again a split second before it could go off, he would have taken some serious damage.

"Mira-nee! Are you okay?" Lisanna asked as she rose up beside her heavily breathing sister.

"I'm fine," she said stoically - the effect of the Curse having broken as soon as Voldemort vanished. "That hurt but I'm okay… no injuries. More importantly, where did he go?"

The answer to that question was that Voldemort had appeared in the mansion again, screened from the view of the two airborne siblings and gasping for breath. This was ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! He was the Dark Lord! The man everyone feared in this entire world, even Dumbledore. And here he was locked in combat with two young girls and not only were they matching him blow for blow… he could only say that he was coming off worse in this fight! How was this possible! How could these Fairy Tail mages be so strong as to challenge him at such a young age! This wasn't a case of an ancient protection spell as was on Harry Potter! This was solely a case of power. And they were winning out!

"No…" he hissed to himself, gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles went as white as bone. "No… I am far from beaten. Not yet."

"My Lord," Narcissa hissed when she spotted him, hurrying over quickly. "My Lord, we… should we not retreat?"

Voldemort instantly turned and lashed out with his wand, and Narcissa barely contained a scream when a line of blood appeared on her cheek and some of her hair fell away. Voldemort eyes burned as he glared at her furiously. "I will not withdraw now! I am still waiting for your money-grabbing husband to return with my most loyal supporters from Azkaban! He will come back here and if I am not here to meet them, this will all have been for nothing… but I will nonetheless take precautions," he added as an afterthought. "These Fairy Tail mages… they do not yet know we have a second of those Spheres here. Go downstairs and transport it away. Take it to McNair's place and await my instructions there. Now!"

"Y… yes, my Lord," Narcissa stammered as she bolted away down the stairs. Voldemort grimaced as he stepped back towards the hole in the wall and glowered up at the two sisters. At the very least he had to keep them busy… but if he retreated now… he was certain he would never live it down. When the world finally learned he had returned, he would not allow them to believe he had been bested by these offworlders. He simply wouldn't allow it!

"Let's see if your firepower can stand up to this, girls," he hissed, raising his wand high above his head. And with a wild flourish of his hand, fire burst forth from the tip of his wand. Flame that spewed upwards above the mansion and moulded itself into the shape of a colossal serpent, dwarfing even a basilisk in size and striking out for the two startled mages with all the speed of a real snake. The two separated instantly as the flames clashed down where they'd just been and Lisanna steeped into a dive as the snake pursued her, eyes locking on its tail end to spot Voldemort down below. Ignoring the giant flaming coils beside he she folded her wings in and plummeted towards him… but as she got close… suddenly another snake appeared out of nowhere and lunged at her, fangs aiming straight for her arm!

Nagini!

Lisanna rapidly broke off her attack and flipped over, barely avoiding the sudden snakebite and skidding to a halt on what remained of the mansion's roof. She whirled about to see Nagini slithering rapidly towards her, slitted eyes alight with the thrill of the hunt. But Lisanna wasn't worried - her mind rapidly focused upon the snake, drawing up her Animal Soul magic and commanding her to stop.

…But Nagini ignored her… and kept coming!

Lisanna gasped and recoiled sharply. The snake hadn't just ignored her command… it was her magic had been physically repelled somehow. She'd never come across an animal in all her life that hadn't at least responded in some way to her magic… but this snake… there was something… wrong with it!

Such was her shock that Nagini had time to bunch her coils and spring forth with a furious hiss. Lisanna threw up her arm and Nagini's fangs closed around her scaly gauntlet, failing to pierce the armour plating, but her body was still quick to lash around Lisanna's own, pinning her wings to her side. Lisanna's hands flew to Nagini's neck, struggling to hold her back as she tried to strike again for her neck and gasping as her attacker's teeth stopped inches from her neck, flecks of venom spattering over her skin.

"What… what are you?" she whispered as she thrashed to free herself from Nagini's ever-tightening embrace.

Voldemort's attention now was entirely focused on Mirajane, and she was dodging nimbly from left to right with the flaming snake tracing her movements and snapping at her heels. Voldemort sneered and flicked his wand again, and suddenly two gargoyles on the side of the mansion sprang to life and threw themselves into the air, ignoring the fact they were made of stone and should have fallen to the ground as such and instead swooped up towards Mirajane with claws and teeth slashing in like knives. Mira's eyes narrowed and she blitzed in towards them with a shout of "DARKNESS STREAM!"

Two huge hands of dark energy blazed out of thin air to seize the gargoyles in mid flight and smash them together, shattering them into chunks of debris which were then sent streaming down towards Voldemort himself. He dodged backwards with a sweep of his cloak but was not fast enough to dodge away from Mirajane's powerful punch, her claws cloaked in demonic energy as she came sweeping in and smashed him backwards hard enough to punch him straight through a wall… and then another wall. Gasping and wheezing for breath, Voldemort tried to bring his fiery serpent descending down on his attacker… but his eyes widened when he saw it was being drawn away into the air… and into the mouth of the same pink-haired boy that had attacked the guards holding Elfman!

"No… this can't be happening!" he cried, and he Disapparated moments before Mirajane's fist could impact with his chin. He stumbled into existence again on the lawn just in time to see Natsu swallow the last of what used to be his magic serpent, while Lisanna locked eyes with Nagini and whispered:-

"Ic ābannan mīn bāncofa hyt tō hlifan!"

Suddenly her skin became searing hot to the touch and Nagini hissed sharply, letting go with her scales lightly cooked as Lisanna threw her away by the neck. The snake hissed and slithered away, but Lisanna let her go. She hated killing animals for any reason except for food and though she could tell there was something very wrong with that snake, she didn't have the heart to go after it. Instead she rose up into the air to join Natsu and Mirajane, the three of them hovering together over the blazing mad Voldemort.

"This is getting interesting," Natsu smirked. "And now that I've eaten I'm all revved up!"

Bluenote roared as Gildarts slammed him into the floor, the Fairy Tail ace's hand planted firmly on Bluenote's chest to crush him against the ground, a huge crater erupting in the middle of the graveyard as Gildarts' magic blasted it to pieces. Bluenote's eyes bulged as he felt his ribs only just keep from breaking under the impact - any normal person would have been obliterated by such a strike. But he was quickly able to get Gildarts off him by altering the gravity around him to send them both catapulting straight upwards.

The two of them rose high over the sinking Azkaban and Bluenote's fist caught Gildarts a glancing blow in the chin just as they reached their peak. Gildarts flipped over and kicked Bluenote in the nose, which was met with a strike right to the stomach from Bluenote's own foot. The two of them dropped like rocks, fists pounding into the other's face and chest until Bluenote was able to push himself away from Gildarts and bring his hands together.

"BLACK HOLE!" he bellowed, and this time the dark gravity-sucking sphere appeared right between his palms, rapidly growing and drawing in intense pressure rapidly. Rubble from the building below came soaring in towards it, as did Gildarts, and Bluenote was hoping that being in the air wouldn't give Gildarts enough purchase to resist it long enough to break it with his Crash Magic.

But Gildarts instead actually angled himself towards it and punched it head on, his fist not only shattering the attack but detonating it as well, sending all the gravity it had been sucking in blasting back outwards like a colossal shockwave that sent Bluenote barrelling back down towards the ground. Only a quick altering of his own gravity caused him to fall at a diagonal slant that allowed him to land in the ocean rather than impact back upon the island. He rose gasping for breath, his clothing ripped and his body battered, but still able to pull himself out of the water until he was literally standing on the surface. He looked up, clutching his chest, as Gildarts landed in a crouch on the shoreline just before him.

The shoreline which was now mere inches above the water. Much more and Azkaban would start to flood!

"Shut off your attack!" Gildarts demanded.

"Not a chance," Bluenote smirked even as he wiped some blood from the side of this mouth. "It's rare I get to cut loose as much as this. But there are only two ways that this island will stop sinking now. Either you'll have to kill me, or at least knock me out… or you'll have to kneel before me and let me kill you. The choice is yours."

Gildarts wrinkled his nose and growled. "Fairy Tail won't surrender to anyone unless there is no other choice. You haven't limited the options enough for that to happen yet. What do you even hope to accomplish here? You and I, we're not even in our own universe anymore. Is beating me your only purpose now?"

"I will find a new purpose," Bluenote replied. "My long-standing goal has always been to fly… to obtain strength that no other can match. It's a little disappointing that I'm no longer in Earthland, but if that is the case, I could be closer to that goal now than I ever was before."

"And what will you do with that power once you have it? Have you given any thought at all to how you will live once you are the strongest? What the point of being so even is? I am the strongest in my guild, but my strength does not define me. There is so much more to my life than power. And there could be for yours too if only you had the foresight to see it."

"Tick tock, Gildarts," the Grimoire Heart ace sneered as the island dipped still further down. "You're running out of time."

"Then I'll just have to make this quick won't I?" Gildarts muttered, his fist raising high into the air before he slammed it down upon the soil before him with the force of a charging rhinoceros. A colossal explosion of Crash energy ripped into the rock and send a massive rockslide spewing out towards Bluenote, but he was quick to redirect it to either side of him with an outward sweep of his arms. He clenched his teeth and responded by clapping his hands together and suddenly Gildarts found himself pushed to the ground by what felt like an intense wall of gravity pushing at him not only from the top but from the sides as well. He grunted and gasped, trying to lift his arm to throw another spell but the force of the gravity was so intense that he couldn't!

"Let's see if you can survive this one," Bluenote gritted his teeth, piling on more pressure than he'd ever applied to a single person. Gildarts gasped and cried out as he felt the metal of his arm began to buckle, his bones shaking and his blood stopping in his veins as Bluenote piled it on. His own cloak was pinning him to the floor under its weight and it was growing heavier by the second… in a few seconds if this kept up he would end up crushed under his own weight, like a beached whale.

But he was far from done!

"No matter how intense… the gravity… it can be overcome… with enough lift!" he grinned, and suddenly Crash magic exploded out of his hands and feet with enough force to vaporise the entire graveyard and the wall behind it, rocking the island and propelling Gildarts forward at high speed. He couldn't move his limbs in mid-flight but he'd angled his trajectory so his head struck Bluenote square in the nose and Bluenote howled as it fractured under the impact, reeling backwards and losing control of his powers so both he and Gildarts plunged into the water below.

Instantly Bluenote tried to make his way back to the surface but Gildarts' hand closed around his long ponytail and yanked him back down. Bluenote rolled over to hammer Gildarts in the chin with his fist, and Gildarts responded in kind, the two hammering each other blow for blow as they rolled beneath the surface, Gildarts making sure to keep a firm grip on Bluenote at all time so he couldn't try and send him plunging down into the depths again.

But he got a moment to look up for a split second and cursed through the water as he saw that the surface had welled up over the top of the shoreline.

Water was now entering Azkaban!

"We have to move quickly," Cana shouted another explosion rocked the building, everyone in the company staggering to stay on their feet. "We have to get as many to safety as we can!"

"But how? The anti-appraition wards aren't tied to this building!" Kingsley shook his head, raising his voice above the sounds of outside conflict. "Even if the whole thing is destroyed, nobody would be able to apparate away unless we got outside the wards and with the causeway destroyed they'd have to swim! And we can't release all these people out into the world anyway! Many of them aren't as bad as the demons but they're all criminals nonetheless! Or at least most of them are!"

"I put half of these people in here," Moody agreed. "I'll be damned if I let 'em all escape on my watch."

"At the very least we cannot let them drown," Erza said stiffly, her body glowing until she was dressed in an armour that came with a single shoulder-guard, vambrace and knee-guard all down her left side and all with cheetah-spot patterns that were also present on her top and the cat-like ears suddenly sticking out of her red hair. "We get them all to the roof… and hope that Gildarts can pull through before we're all underwater."

"What about the Death Eaters?" Tonks asked. "We can't just let them escape!"

"Too late," Mad-Eye growled, looking through the nearby wall. "They've already gone. They've conjured a raft between them and are using Propulsion Charms to get themselves to safety. It won't be long before they're out of range of the wards and then they can Disapparate."

Tonks hurried to the window, Remus right behind her, to see for themselves. Mad-Eye was not mistaken - a crammed raft was indeed making its way off from the island, three different Death Eaters at the back with their wands in the water making it go. Tonks could see a dishevelled Bellatrix standing in the middle and she shouted in frustration at the sight of her deranged aunt making a getaway, hurling down a Stunning Spell at the fleeing raft. Despite the distance it was extremely accurate, but Bellatrix saw it coming and slashed her wand to block it with a quick Shield Charm. The two locked eyes with each other for a moment, before Bellatrix drew her wand across her own neck. A clear sign that the next time they met, she would make sure Tonks was dead meat.

"Dammit," Tonks whispered, but she felt Remus' hand on her shoulder consolingly. The shabby werewolf stuck his own wand out of the window and fired off a silvery wisp - a Patronus - that zinged its way low over the waves and shot off into the distance, overtaking the raft and whooshing off towards the distance horizon.

"What was that for?" Tonks asked.

"You'll see… but for now we have to let them go. Erza and Cana are right. We can't let anyone in here drown when we could save them - criminal or not."

"Make your way up the stairs," Erza nodded. "Get everyone out that you can!" And without another word she shot off down the corridor at blinding speed, her sword flashing through the air to cleave one of the doors in two, wrenching one half down and yelling at the stunned occupant within. "The prison is flooding! Get to the roof, now!" before darting off to another cell and doing the same. Cana split off and went another direction, one of her cards pasting itself over another cell door and melting the handle off to a similar effect!

"You heard them, you lot!" Moody growled as he hobbled forwards as best he could despite the shaking building. "Let's get these bastards to safety!"

It took a mere few minutes for the inside of Azkaban to become a veritable helter-skelter of people, all rushing upwards. Erza rushed from door to door at top speed, her Flight Armour giving wings to her step as she slashed through the bolts holding the prisoners in their cells, leaving the others to try and rally the confused and terrified mass of convicts. None of them knew what was going on but they'd all felt the building shaking, all heard the explosions ripping the air asunder from outside.

Some tried to make a break downwards for the exit in a bid to get their wands and escape, but they were quickly put paid to by the Order and Cana as they fanned out to drive the rabble up the steps, like sheepdogs with their herds.

"Get to the roof, you dolts!" Moody roared over the din. "Unless you want to feed some giant squid tonight get your asses to the roof!"

Most obeyed and those that decided to push their luck were Stunned and instantly re-animated just do the order could get their point across. And when the word spread amongst the inmates that their prison was flooding from the ground up they bolted, pushing one another out the way in a mad scramble to reach the top floor. Every shake of the building tripped many of them up but they pushed themselves up, clambering over each other in the rush to escape a watery grave.

"Hestia!" a voice in the crowd yelled, attracting the attention of the young Auror witch as she sent a warning shot arching into the wall close to a pair of middle-aged men who had been advancing on her with the aim of wrestling her wand away until she made them think twice. "Hestia, is that you!?"

"Sturgis!" Hestia replied, smiling in relief as her fellow Order member pushed his way through the crowd towards her. "Thank goodness you're okay. We hadn't heard anything about you after you were thrown in here without trial."

"Sorry… I was put under the Imperius Curse by someone… they tried to make me break into the Prophecy room."

"It's okay now - the Prophecy has been destroyed."

"Destroyed? But I thought that…"

"Dumbledore wanted it intact. Yeah, he did. But that's not important right now. Help us get these people to safety!"

"What is going on out there!?" Sturgis shouted as another loud crash seemed to rock the entire floor and the sound of crumbling stonework outside pushed the people to run upstairs all the faster.

"That's something I really, really don't have time to explain," Hestia said, leading the way upwards to usher a young man and woman along before her.

A few corridors away and Kingsley was managing as best he could despite his wounded back, his Lynx Patronus beating back a couple of Dementors that had managed to slip back into the facility from somewhere, probably through a hole in the wall. But he was quite taken aback when a bedraggled looking man appeared out of the passageway just ahead of him, wild-eyed and gasping for breath and quite astonished at the sight of him.

"Shacklebolt!" he gasped.

"Robards!" Kingsley blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Gawain said as he hurried forwards to join him. "I was forced to come here… one of those men out there… he made me Apparate him to the prison. He killed two of my operatives, Shacklebolt. Nick and Veda… they're both gone… crushed to death! And he threatened to do the same to me if I did not bring him to Azkaban!"

Kingsley paused, grimacing at the news of the death of two good Aurors, but shrugging off his shock for the time being in the face of peril. "But why would he want to come here?"

"He was after one of the two Fairy Tail women, sir. And the strangest thing… the other man out there - the one that destroyed the Prophecy Room - he protected me, sir! He saved my life!"

"Did he now?" Kingsley said. "Well you just make sure you remember that when you tell Scrimgeour and the Minister about this later. Come on, help me get these people to safety."

"But, wait… sir… why are you here?"

"Can't explain now. We have to move. Come on!"

Gawain blinked, but nodded, falling into step behind Kingsley to join the rush. Up at the top of sinking prison Erza blasted her way out onto the flat, triangular rooftop - literally blasting her way up through the ceiling in her Black Wing armour rather than taking the stairs. Rushing over to the edge as the first of the prisoners began to filter out into open air, her teeth tightened at the sight of what lay before her.

The ocean was churning around the island and the first four floors of the prison had already been swallowed up by the waves, which were churning and frothing in a veritable whirlpool down below. She could faintly see Gildarts and Bluenote at the centre of the vortex, plunging up and over each other as they punched each other with unimaginable force. She saw Bluenote hammer his fist into Gildarts chin with enough strength to tear the Fairy Tail ace away from him, but Gildarts was able to seize Bluenote's ankle with his other hand just as Bluenote used his gravity to make him heavier, jerking the both of them underneath the waves. With the island beneath the prison swallowed up the two of them had literally nothing to stand on but the sea itself and their watery battlefield was proving a hindrance to both of them.

But that wasn't all. A hideous sensation of cold rushed through Erza's body when she looked up and beheld them… Dementors - hundreds of them swirling in a wide circle several hundred feet above the prison. They made no move towards the escaping prisoners but Erza got the sense they were waiting to see how the battle between Gildarts and Bluenote played out before they entered the fray again. And there were so many of them.

"Jeez, this really doesn't look good does it?" Cana said as she stepped up next to Erza.

"Not at all," Erza said grimly. "When those Dementor things descend on us… I very much doubt my conviction will be enough to fend off their effects."

"And all the Order members with us are worn out," Cana agreed. "They won't be able to ward away such a big hoard all at once."

"We'll have to worry about that when we come to it… for now we need to stop that man while we still have something solid left to stand on."

Bluenote tried to tug his foot loose from Gildart's grip but Gildarts clung on grimly - his metal hand gripping his opponent's ankle even tighter than a vice. Wrenching downwards, Gildarts was able to deliver a pile-driving punch to Bluenote's chest that knocked the wind out of him but Bluenote was able to counter by altering gravity to the side and sending the both of them shooting straight back towards Azkaban. Gildarts coughed bubbles as his back slammed against the stonework and smashed straight through it into the first floor corridor which was completely flooded by this point.

The two tumbled over and over each other, their lungs beginning to burn but Bluenote's face suddenly split into a sinister grin as he raised his hand, channelling his magic into his fingertips and he prepared to bring the ceiling collapsing in on top of Gildarts. The Crash Mage's eyes widened, knowing that if he succeeded in doing that he could bring down the whole prison and crush dozens of people upstairs so he did the first thing he could think of, which was to channel his Crash Magic into the water itself, splintering it into squares and blowing it out of holes in either side of the prison, temporarily rendering the corridor free of water.

A surprised Bluenote dropped to the ground and landed on his face, but Gildarts landed much more smoothly and charged towards him even as the water began rushing straight back in on either side, ramming him with his shoulder even as he tried to get up. A blast of magic from his feet disintegrated the floor of the entire corridor and sent the two of them crashing through the oncoming flood and back out into the open ocean.

Both were short on breath at this point and hurriedly kicked their way to the surface. But Bluenote got there first and just as Gildarts breached the water for a quick gulp of air he was sent plunging back downwards beneath a sudden intense pulse of gravity. He shot vertically down until he crashed straight into the wrecked graveyard several dozen feet down and was pinned there by the gravity, retching for air as what little he had left was forced straight out of his chest by the pressure.

Bluenote, who was now standing on the water, leered down through the surface at his submerged adversary. "What's wrong, Gildarts? Not going to use your magic to get you back up again? Or are you concerned that if you damage the island any more than its already been damaged you'll bring this building tumbling down?"

Gildarts didn't hear him but he'd come to the same conclusion. Everything outside the prison tower had already been demolished except what remained of the graveyard, and with Bluenote's Black Hole eating away at it from below… he could feel the whole thing trembling. He knew then and there that the amount of Crash Magic it would take to get him back to the surface alone would be dangerous for the stability of the prison, and that amount wouldn't be enough to end the fight with the Gravity Mage.

'Damn…' he thought as his throat convulsed, forcing back the instinctive need to draw another breath. 'Why did we have to meet on such a small island. If we were back on Tenroujima I'd have kicked his ass by now! There's… there's got to be something I can do… I can't let… him… win…'

And then… quite suddenly… he could breathe. The water around him vanished and before he could figure out why he'd already sucked in a breath, his lungs heaving in great quantities of life-giving oxygen. He looked up and saw Bluenote standing there above him on the edge of a waterfall… because the sea had opened up - the water literally receding outwards in a wide semi-circle around the side of the prison to leave the graveyard open to the air.

"What…?" Bluenote gasped, looking about wildly for an explanation. But Gildarts could already see one. Far above on the top of the prison - a lone, distant figure clad in green and whirling a sword in wide circles over her head and red hair streaming out behind her.

Erza in her Sea Empress Armour. She was manipulating the water as best she could from so high up to give Gildarts some literal breathing space. Gildarts grinned. That armour didn't give her as much control of water as someone like Juvia, but it was good enough for the task.

"That's it!" Bluenote bellowed, bringing his arms to bear and the entire prison suddenly shaking as the walls began to crack. "If I cannot drown you then I will bury you, Gildarts! I will crush you under the remains of the building you're trying so hard to protect!"

But even as massive fractures ran across the walls and the whole thing began to splinter, something else came zinging down from above. Three cards, two of which swept into Bluenote's face, taking him by surprise and suddenly exploding with intense light right before his eyes.

"YYAAAAGGHHH!" Bluenote reeled backwards, clutching at his face as his eyes practically felt like they were smoking. His magic faltered and Gildarts found the gravity pinning him down had vanished. He pushed himself to his feet instantly, just as the third of Cana's projectiles pasted itself on the ground right before him. He blinked as he looked down at it, but then grinned knowingly. He didn't know much about Card Magic, but he knew what the watery-looking face depicted on this card meant.

"Attagirl," he whispered as he jumped into the air right as the card began to glow.

Far above, Cana raised her arm and shouted, "Inoriko no Funsui!"

The Prayer's Fountain spell burst into life with an intense geyser of water pulsing out of the tiny card to impact with Gildarts feet-first and blasted him straight upwards past the watery wall that Erza was holding in place. Gildarts was shooting towards the reeling Bluenote like a circus clown fired out of a cannon and he knew full well this would be the all or nothing shot. He reeled back his right arm, channelling all his power into his fist and roaring loud enough for the crowd on the rooftop to hear him:-

"HAJA KENSEI… ITTEN!"

Bluenote gasped - those were the same words Gildarts had cried back on Tenroujima right before the final blow. He spun around and raised his hands, but it was too late! Gildarts pounded in towards him and hammered his fist at full power straight into Bluenote's gut, and a massive blast of Crash Magic rent the air around them, pulsing back the water, shaking the tower of Azkaban like a rattle, a spectacular column of white magic bursting skyward and carrying Bluenote with it. He screamed as his body was once again consumed by the blast, his body fired up to such a height that the swirling Dementors had to dodge aside to avoid him and he disappeared among the clouds, sweeping away from the tower in one long, spectacular arcing flight.

Gildarts himself rose high enough to bypass the roof of the prison and quickly angled himself down towards it, coming in for a landing right next to Erza and Cana. As he stood up, panting for breath but smiling roguishly, he looked up into the staring faces of the crowd, including the six Order members he was familiar with - all of them slack-jawed and staring openly in disbelief.

"What're you looking at?" he asked. But he didn't wait for an answer - instead he turned to look back out across the waves, spotting Bluenote's body in the far distance as he came plunging back down about a mile away, so far off that they didn't hear the splash when he finally impacted with the surface again.

"Do you think he's dead?" Erza asked.

"I doubt it," Gildarts replied. "That guy seems to be something of a survivor."

"UNGH!" Bluenote rasped for breath as he finally breached the surface again. His body was bruised and drained of energy, and he could barely muster the strength to tread water - if it hadn't been for his remaining magical reserves reducing his weight and boosting him up to the surface he probably would have sank.

"Damn…" he hissed, glowering at the far distant prison even as it continued to plunge below the waves. "I was close… if those other two hadn't interfered I would have had him… I know it. I would have really been able to fly today."

"Are you in need of assistance?" a silky smooth voice hailed him from not that far away, and Bluenote turned around to see a raft approaching him, one manned by various men and a single woman all dressed in black. The speaker was a blond-haired man at the front of the raft and was smirking down at him with no small amount of triumph.

"Who are you?" Bluenote growled.

"I? Why, I am the one who can help take you out of here," Lucius Malfoy replied. "You are an enemy of Fairy Tail, are you not? So are we. Perhaps you would be willing to come with us and we'll take you to meet with our Lord and Master. I am sure that he would love to form an alliance with a man of your… calibre. Perhaps together we can find a way to put an end to Fairy Tail and its allies once and for all. Or alternatively we can leave you out here, where you will either drown or be forced back to Azkaban where they are waiting for you. It's entirely your call."

"We don't need him!" Bellatrix sneered. "We are more than enough to fulfil any wish the Dark Lord demands of us!"

"Then you have a bigger head than I thought, Bellatrix. As you may recall, the Dark Lord tasked us with bringing back those two Fairy Tail girls and we just failed at that. But perhaps if we bring him back with us, he will not be quite so angry at that failure. And you, my friend, your options are limited. Why not take this one and I am certain you will not regret our assistance."

Bluenote eyed them irritably, knowing that even with his magic greatly depleted he could easily sink the raft and everyone on it. But they were right - he did not have many options. So, he quickly rose himself out of the water, stepping forward until he slumped to one knee upon the raft, panting for breath and turning baleful eyes up towards Lucius.

"Get me out of here," he said. "One day I shall fly… and when that day comes, Gildarts will be the first to know."

"Just the attitude we wanted to hear," Lucius nodded knowingly. "We're beyond the range of the wards now, so we can get out of here."

He quickly took hold of Bluenote's arm and twisted on the spot, Disapparating with a whoosh of air that scooped him and Bluenote up into nothingness. The other Death Eaters were quick to follow, cracking out of existence one after another until Bellatrix was the only one left. She glared back in the direction of the castle and whispered, "I'm coming for you, dear niece. And your new friends too - just you wait and see."

Then she too vanished with a whirl of her robes, leaving the raft floating empty in the currents. But as soon as Bluenote had vanished, the Black Hole spell buried deep within the sea mount fizzled out of existence too - no longer sustained by its caster. The mountain came to a stand-still at last with half of Azkaban still protruding from the frothing waves.

"What happened?" Tonks asked when the building finally stopped shaking.

"Looks like the spell Bluenote was using to sink the place has gone," Gildarts said. "Which can mean several different things. Either he's unconscious, dead, could no longer sustain the spell or willingly cancelled it out. Whatever it is… I don't think he'll be troubling us again today at the very least."

"But what was he doing here?" Cana mused. "He can't have come through in the Fairy Spheres with us so how in the world is he even here?"

"I don't know. But you've just reminded me of something," Gildarts said.

"What?"

"CANA!" Gildarts cried and instantly glomped his startled daughter, pulling her in close and rocking her from side to side slightly. "I'm so glad you're safe. I spent the last two weeks fretting over you - I thought I'd lost you so soon after finding out who you really were!"

"Gaahh! Pops, you're all wet!" Cana struggled and spluttered to get out of Gildarts' suffocating grasp. "If you're gonna hug me at least wait until you've dried off, will ya?"

"I can't help it, I just want to show everyone how much you mean to me," Gildarts purred, actually lifting her off the ground for a moment before depositing her back down. "But thanks for the assist down there. You did good, my girl. You did good."

"Jeez," Cana rolled her eyes as she rubbed flecks of water off her arms. "Who'd have thought you'd end up being so soppy after learning you had a daughter? But… thanks…" she said, her mouth tweaking into a small smile as she punched him lightly in the chest. "Thank you… for coming for me."

"Anytime you need me and I'll be there."

Erza and the Order Members couldn't help but smile at the little family reunion. But the scene was promptly interrupted by the loud voice of Gawain Robards saying, "Is anyone going to tell me exactly what's going on here?"

"No," Moody said bluntly. "And more importantly… that lot look like they're gearing up for a fight."

He was right - the convicts massing the roof did appear to be steeling themselves, eyeing the wands in the hands of the Order members and mentally daring themselves to try and take one. The Order quickly formed a semi-circle in readiness for battle but before anything could start two things happened in rapid succession.

Firstly the building suddenly rattled, and Gildarts had to grab a surprised Cana as she was almost thrown back off the side of the prison. Deep splintering cracks could be heard coming from below, and everyone quickly grabbed at something as they felt everything they were standing on jerk.

"What's happening?" Lupin shouted.

"The mountain… it must be ruptured!" Gildarts yelled. "DAMNIT! I was too late! Bluenote's spell took a huge chunk out of the inside of the mountain and now it can no longer support the weight of its own summit! We're all going down!"

The second thing that happened was an inrush of cold that sparked everyone present to look up. The Dementors had finally decided to get their act in gear and were gathering together, floating steadily down towards them - wary but hungry - and forming a massive swarm. Almost instantly Erza gasped and began shaking, the death of her friend Simon replaying itself on the back of her eyes.

"No!" she cried, shaking her head and trying to block out the image. "Mustn't… think… that…"

"Try thinking of something happy, Erza! It helps a little!" Tonks shouted, even as Erza stumbled and clutched at her head.

"Dementors above and the sea below… we've got nowhere to go!" Emmeline despaired, her own knees shaking as the Dementors sent a wave of hopelessness rushing through them all, closing in for a feast of despondency - like the humans were a literal buffet.

But Lupin, on the other hand, smiled. "We've still got some hope though," he said. "Look!"

He pointed out to sea with his wand, and everyone turned to follow the direction of the tip - squinting as they caught sight of something approaching at high speed.

"What is that?" Hestia queried.

"It's the cavalry," Lupin chuckled.

For down below, his wolf Patronus was bounding smoothly over the waves towards the prison, and just behind that was a large rowing boat, moving at unnatural speed. Standing at the helm with her long blonde hair blowing in the wind was Mavis. And behind her, bunched together but gearing themselves for a fight, was Gray, Gajeel, Levy, Wendy and Juvia, the last of which was using her Water Magic to propel the boat in pursuit of the Patronus.

"Fairy Tail stands together!" Mavis cried, as they zoomed in towards the rapidly sinking prison.