Natsu's POV

I glanced around at everyone, playing with my fire boredly. Laxus was ignoring everyone with his sound pods on, Gajeel was busy molding something with his iron, and Wendy was talking excitedly about something with Lucy, who was looking at her fondly. My eyes trailing back to my hands, I started to form figures, wondering how much control I had with my fire. I was able to form words easily, as I had done with Sting and Rogue during the GMG's, beckoning them by spelling 'Come on' in flames. I smirked at the memory of beating the two, but it turned to a smile as I realized that they were now important nakama.

My thoughts returning to my previous challenge, I began to form the first thing that came to mind: A dragon. Soon enough, a rough, simple, yet beautiful dragon of fire was created, and I grinned proudly. Throwing a rock at Gajeel and getting his attention, I smirked.

"Oi, look at this, Metal Head! Ain't I awesome?" I boasted prudly, showing off my dragon.

Gajeel raised and eyebrow before rolling his eyes, seemingly exasperated.

"Idiot, I can do that, too." With that, he had created a beautifully detailed and exquisite dragon made out of iron in mere seconds, and I was left there, gaping. He went back to whatever he was molding, and it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at this.

"If you can do something like that in a second, then what're you doing that's got you so hung up for hours?" I voiced my questions allowed, though the slight blush that momentarily painted his cheeks didn't go unnoticed by me. As my smirk grew bigger, I slowly scooted closer, and once I was in range, started to continuously nudge Gajeel's head with my foot. This continued for about five minutes before he snapped.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Moron…." He muttered that last part, bu being the dragon slayer that I was, I heard him, and punched him in the face, only to revieve a returning one from the other.

"So…?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

"I was making something for Levy…" Now, he REALLY said that lsat part softly, because I almost didn't catch that. But, not being that experienced in this love talk, and shuddering at the mere thought of actually having to initiate love talk with Gajeel, I quickly added this information to my blackmail box, and scooted back, flopping back onto my back again. My eyes boredly trailed the clear sky, wantng at least a little attention from anyone. And there was no way that I was going to interrupt Laxus or butt into some weird girl talk. As I was thinking about how much longer this whole thing was going to take, Acnologia suddenly stopped, and sudden speed change made me fly forward, face planting onto his hard scales. Looking up, annoyed, I was about ready to pick a fight with the great beast.

"Oi! What the hell was that for, idiot?!" I shouted, and saw that the others had suffered the same fate as I, though less dire.

The dragon's head turned around to look at me, his eyes portraying no emotion. Whatever, you morons, get off my back, he's here." He said, and my annoyance was soon forgotten a I leaped up to my feet, already taking on a battle stance.

"Hell yeah! Finally, it took you forever, old man!" Maybe that wasn't the best idea, because I was promptly thrown off of his back no more than a second later. I groaned again, and rolled my eyes, deciding that it was best to just focus my attention around me.

Lucy's POV
Silently sending a message to Acnologia to give a warning beforehand, the said dragon let Wendy and I carefully get off beforing disappearing under the other boys, leaving them dropping from about ten feet in the air onto the jagged rocks of Tenroujima. I raised my eyebrow at our location, though, and looked around.

There didn't seem to be any traps, and everything looked like it was the last time I came here, which was quite a while ago. Biting on my thumb nail, I racked my brain for an explanation.

Why would he stay in the same place if he knew we were coming? He seems like the type to fool with people, so I would expect him to move around, or ambush us along the way… My eyes trailed over the surrounding area, and I was only then that I caught a flash of midnight black with a contrasting white. Instead of exclaiming victory, I stepped cautiously forward, sensing that something was off. Ignoring the calls and questionings from the rest of the group, I only walked even further, only to have to cover my mouth at the sight before me.

Zeref lay there, bleeding from his head and multiple other places, tied up and propped carelessly against a tree. How…? He's the most powerful wizard in existence. Not caring about who he was, or about our differences, I ran to him, examining him. The leaves behind us rustled, and the others stood there, staring at us. I didn't care, though. There was blood. It was everywhere. I almost threw up, but I held him softly.

"Oh my god…" At this slight whisper, though, his eyes cracked open, and he stared at my tear filled state in confusion. Lifting his head up slightly, he looked even more confused.

"Huh? Faries…? What are you doing here?" He sounded genuinely confused, and it was our turn to b confused at his reaction.

"What…? You were the one who declared war on us." I explained, seeing that the others were staying quiet, probably due to the shock.

"Why would I do that?" With that, he pried my fingers off of him, and sat up. In a split second, the ropes disappeared, and his pale skin lost all of the scars that had previously covered him. He peered at me, alarmed, now.

"Why aren't you dead?" Now that he was not practically half dead, I sighed, and sat on the grass, my heart beat calming down.

Showing him my hands, I let my aura be slightly visible, the barrier magic that I casted now being shown.

"Barrier magic. It's a dragon type, that's why I didn't break down." I said, eyeing him.

"Anyways, what happened? Aren't you supposed to be the Dark Lord?" I added abit of sarcasm in my tone, and the mage rolled his eyes. I looked behind me. The others were still there, not saying anything.

"I kind of froze time…" Zeref admitted sheepishly, and I nodded, realizing that that was the reason everyone was so quiet. Well, less distractions. I turned my attention back to him, now having a guard up.

"Answer my question."
"Geez, you're all cuddly-cuddly one second, and the next, you look ready to pull a knife out on me." He said defensively, stretching out his neck with a cringe worthy 'pop!". Seeing my annoyed glare, he sighed.

"All right, all I know was that I was sleeping, and then I woke up, and this dude with some really weird tattoo had come up on me and straight up wacked me with something really heavy. I guess I passed out, because I woke up again, and he had me tied up here, and I was stranded. He came back, but I was sooo tired, and I fell asleep again. After that, I woke up with you guys here, and I was apparently really bloody. I guess the punk took advantage of the situation." He explained, clicking his tongue at the end. I was too busy to notice, though, because I immediately knew who the man with the tattoo was. Frantically, I called out Sylvia.

"Sylvia, take everyone back to the guild safely, I can trust you. Tell them that you're one of my spirits, and quickly make something up for me. I have no time to explain, just take everyone, now!" I yelled out the orders, using wind magic to prop my still frozen companions onto her back.

Once they were out of my sight, I turned back to a puzzled Zeref.

"Can you let time flow again?" I asked politely, but with my guard still up.

He snapped his fingers, not bothering to reply, and I heard a distressed, faint shout, and I smiled a little, knowing who it was.

"What? My little brother gets the special treatment and I don't?" He asked, and I looked at him, silent, my smile gone, and my mood now somber.

He looked back, and I stared at my feet, fists clenched. I would have to fight that monster again…but would I be able to win? Of course not, that was the answer. So why was I sacrificing myself?

"I need to go." I said, my head raised, but my bangs shadowing over my eyes. He said nothing, and I started to walk. It seemed as if the moment I realized what was wrong, I could sense him. He was laughing at me, he was mocking me. Facing east, I took one step, one step closer to what was sure to be my doom. It wasn't like me to be so pessimistic, so why was I like this? I felt limp, all my previous energy gone.

Taking a deep breath, I stared into the vegetation. Sure enough, a figure stepped out, both of us completely oblivious to a Zeref hiding behind a tree, eavesdropping.

"Well, look at what we have here. Never thought you'd find me here; I'm impressed."

"I'm able to easily detect scum against the sacred land of my First Master." I shot back, disgusted that he would even dare lay a finger on Tenrou island.

"Oho, sassy now, are we? Not like you can defeat me." He said smugly, and I secretly knew he was correct, at least not without that crystal.

"That won't stop me from trying!" I shouted as I rushed forward, fist raised.

"Star dress: Leo! Regulus Impact!" My hand glowed, a bright light absorbing it. Light that would defeat the darkness.

"Power Fusion: Elemental Aspect: Purity!" The light grew brighter, and when it made contact with Kukyo, a very painful, yet satisfying sizzle was heard. I heard him growl as he jumped back from me, cursing.

I searched his body quickly, looking for any sort of weakness, lead, anything that would help me get at least a tiny advantage in this battle. Before I could do anything, an image flashed in my mind, motivating me.

What if… just what if… his crystal was still broken! I smiled to myself, using this message as a sense of relief, knowing that there was no guarantee, yet this being one of my only hopes here. With newfound strength, I ignored the pain as Kukyo delivered a blow to my ribs, and stood back up.

Pulling out a key, I called the dragon forth with determination, knowing that I could handle him, even with Sylvia out.

"Gate of the Tortured Souls: Dame!" My strongest dragon appeared at my side, and I smirked as I saw Kukyo silently gulp.

Dame quickly got to work, slashing and roaring side by side with me, while I also worked around with my whip and knives.

My eyes were constantly darting everywhere, hoping to get some sort of weakness from him. When I felt the magical tug on my energy, I called back Dame, who had successfully hit Kukyo multiple times, where the latter was panting heavily. I looked at him, and then my eyes stopped at his neck. A necklace. A lacrima. That was it. The only thing, even if I didn't make sense at the moment, that would help me here. I ran forward, my fingers pinpointing the precise location, my magical energy centered and aiming for that necklace.

He didn't sense my intentions, so I let a smile break out on my face when the small, crystal like lacrima burst into a thousand pieces. He saw this, and he was visibly panicking.

"I have a lead now, so how are you going to defeat me, now?!" I yelled in determination, mocking him. HE snapped back to reality, angered.

"You fool…!" We both ran forward, our fists clashing. I didn't give up, but our power was evenly matched. I gritted my teeth, pushing all of my power into my hand, only to fly backwards. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact, but I only felt two large, warm hands steadying me. Looking up, I watched as Zeref didn't spare me a glance as he put his hand out in front of him. A black orb shout out at Kukyo, but he dodged. Zeref turned to me, and started some incantation, but it was only until he was halfway through it that I realized he was going to teleport me.

"No! Don't! This is my only chance…!" I yelled out, pleading the great wizard, but he only silenced me with an ice cold glare, emitting an aura that I expected him to be equipped with when I first met him.

"It's useless. You already have a dragon out, fight when you're at full power." He said, his voice steely. Before I could protest even further, I was teleported to the others, who were now staring at me. They were yelling at me, questioning me, but it was all muted. I pulled my hair in frustration and clenched my jaw. I lost. I lost the one chance that I had. Why, why did this have to happen every time?! Why did fate always have to push me away?! What am I supposed to do?!
I was angry. I was angry at myself, for not being able to do anything. I was angry at Kukyo, whose baseless self confidence always seemed to taunt me. I was mad at Zeref, who had good intentions, but took away my only chance, the one time where I found Kukyo's weakness. Most of all, I was mad at the world. Fate had a twisted sense of humor, didn't it? I let out a small laugh at this.

Natsu's POV

I froze when I heard that laugh. It wasn't her usual, cheerful one that could light up a room. No, it was something much darker than that. She sounded so hopeless, so desperate, yet, beneath all of that, she sounded so defeated. She sounded like she could just crumble before my eyes at any second. So, I went up to her, and hugged her tightly. I don't know what happened, but when we were off of the island, and she was gone, I was worried. But now, when she suddenly appeared in front of us again, I was scared. I was scared that there was something much bigger than us, a challenge that would show no mercy. It was a scam, and we were fooled so easily. I that was the case, how would we be able to defeat this enemy. I looked down when I heard her whisper out one, last cruel line before she erupted into sobs.

"Fate… it's not fair…" My eyes narrowed at this, knowing that something bad definitely happened. Lucy was strong, but if something could make her fall so easily, if something could make her break so suddenly, then this something was going to pay. Nobody was going to hurt my best friend and get out alive.

"I'll turn fate into a pile of ashes…"

Sylvia's POV

I could hear the boy's thoughts, saying that he wouldn't let anyone hurt Lucy, saying that he would protect her. My mouth set into a firm line, I looked ahead.

Boy, I don't think you have the right to say that. You've already hurt her more than you know. And besides, Fate is not a very cooperative being. I can already see the future, and this is Lucy's fight. You want to protect her, yet in the end, she'll be the one protecting you. I agree with you, my child. Fate has a twisted sense of humor.

Sorry that it's short, and that I haven't been updated. I've decided that I'm putting this story on hold until after the State Tests, and that after them, I'll upload once a week, so that I'm not rushed and I can focus more on the quality and quantity of the chapters I'm uploading. Once again, I'm really sorry, but I have so much going on. Don't worry, I don't plan on abandoning this story! I'll carry through until the very end!

~FatedGateway