Round 2

With Kain blasted away, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy paused to consider their options. There weren't many.

"Why would Zeref be here?" Lucy asked, tapping her finger on her folded arm, "And why would Grimoire Heart be looking for him?"

"Dunno," Natsu said, "What's so special about Zeref anyway?"

"You are aware he is easily one of the top three greatest magic users to have ever lived, right?" Lucy asked, as her leg suddenly shot up. Didn't take her long to realize what was happening, as she chased after Happy, who still had the doll.

"Well, what do we do now?" Natsu asked, rolling his wing arm.

"We look for the others," Lucy said, as she got her revenge on Happy by stretching the doll's limbs, "Can you smell anything?" Natsu sniffed the air briefly. Normally with all the different scents, singling out a few was difficult, but to Natsu's somewhat surprise, he could faintly pick out a few of his comrades.

"I've got Wendy and Carla closest to us," Natsu said, "Erza and Juvia too. Can't pick out anyone else."

"Let's go to Carla!" Happy said, as Lucy finally released him.

"I'm with Happy actually," the blonde said, "Erza and Juvia can take of themselves, but Wendy's already beaten and tired." She also knew she had to find Cana, who she had admittedly ditched after going to fight with Loke. Natsu nodded in agreement; his little sister wasn't in a good way when he took off to find Lucy, and now that Lucy was found, he needed to get back to Wendy.

"What about the Magic Council?" Happy asked, as he took the doll back from Lucy, who was careful this time to make sure none of her hair was in it.

"Yeah, they might be a problem," Lucy said.

"Ya kidding?" Lucy and Happy looked at the Dragon Slayer. They'd heard Natsu hiss before, but this one seemed downright reptilian.

"This is our territory," Natsu said, his draconic hand against a tree, the claws making gashes, "If they think they can push us around here, they've got another thing coming." Lucy wasn't sure what to feel about that statement. However, bringing up the Council made Lucy think of something else.

"Hey, that reminds me of something," she said, "The Council of course came by ship, so how did Grimoire Heart get here?" Natsu and Happy just looked at her blankly. Lucy sighed at that slightly.

"Here's hoping Haru takes after me," she said, before continuing, "They have to have their own ship somewhere. We need to know where they're coming from."

"We'll figure that out after we find the others," Natsu said, "Now let's go!" With that, the trio tore back into the woods.

(on the beach, in the airship)

One would think Hades would be frustrated to find out that three of his elite had been defeated, but it was quite the opposite actually. He was actually impressed.

"I have to give it to Makarov, his brats are something to behold," he said with a laugh. He was sitting a dining table, eating his dinner. To the side of the room was a figure cloaked in shadow.

"What are you laughing about?" the figure asked, "This isn't good for us. You need to send me out."

"Be patient, Bluenote," Hades answered, "This isn't your fight yet."

"But I'm getting bored, and boredom's no good for anyone." He then put his hand on the table. The entire ship then sank into the ground. Hades frowned at Bluenote.

"You've made your point," he said, "My decision stands, but I want this new Fairy Tail to come to me. I want to test their metal." Bluenote sat in a chair across from the Master.

"If one more of the Seven goes down, I'm joining the fight," he declared, "Whether you want it or not."

(with the Magic Council)

Mest had taken numerous jobs for his guild, some he liked, some he didn't. But this job spying on the Council, he absolutely hated. Not because it was hard, but because he had to deal with the superior, pompous attitude from these soldiers, who only protested "wrong" when it didn't benefit them. It didn't help that they insulted Fairy Tail every chance they got. Word had just reached them that Bluenote was present, and they were all understandably frightened.

"We need to get into touch with headquarters," Lahar declared, "This calls for some more serious actions. No one, not even Fairy Tail, can deal with him." Mest didn't like the sound of that. The Council had a tendency to go all out when they perceived a big enough threat; the problem was, that could potentially include the Etherion cannon. As Lahar reached towards the communication lacrima, Mest quickly grabbed his arm.

"Doranbolt, what are you doing?" Lahar demanded.

"Give me some time," Mest said, but didn't say anything beyond that, before putting his hand on the communication lacrima, and flashing away, much to the shock of his "compatriots".

(with Wendy)

Wendy was making very steady progress with healing Makarov, which while slow, was advancing. While he couldn't fight, and was still unconscious, he was certainly not at death's door anymore.

"Wendy!" The Sky Dragon Slayer looked up, and saw Natsu, Lucy, and Happy coming up to him.

"Natsu! Lucy!" Wendy said happily, as her brother ran over, and checked her out to make sure she was okay. Carla also took note of Happy, though she made it less apparent.

"So how's the Master doing?" Lucy asked.

"He's still unconscious," Carla answered, "But Wendy's doing her best."

"Well if its any consolation, we took out another member of Grimoire Heart," Lucy said.

"Well, that's progress," Lily noted, "And at this point, what else can we ask for?" Right then, their attention was seized when Mest flashed into form beside them, with the communication lacrima beside him.

"Mest!" Wendy said, smiling at the sight.

"Wait, who the hell are you?" Natsu demanded, folding his arms.

"Really?" Mest asked, deadpanned, "You don't recognize me?"

"Why, should I?"

"Well, I have been a member of Fairy Tail for a long time," Mest muttered more to himself, before shaking his head, "It doesn't matter. How's the Master?"

"Better, but not out of the woods yet," Wendy answered. Mest cringed at that.

"What is it?" Pantherlily demanded.

"I've got bad news," Mest said, "The Council is getting nervous. They're considering going all out here."

"You think they'll attack?" Lucy asked.

"That'd be the best-case scenario," Mest answered. He didn't have to continue, since even Natsu could put two and two together like that.

"They're going to use Etherion!" Happy yelped.

"They never do learn, do they?" Lucy asked with a sigh.

"So what do we do?" Wendy asked.

"We finish things here before they do it," Natsu answered simply.

"I'll fly out and look for the others," Pantherlily volunteered, 'We need to communicate with our allies at this point." With that, the Exceed floated away.

"One way or another, you better think of a plan quick," Mest said, "I can buy you as much time as I can, but I can't delay them forever. Unless you want to leave our holy ground to Grimoire Heart, then you need to move fast."

"You sure you're a member of Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked, glaring at him.

"What're you talking about?"

"Its obvious," Natsu hissed, his chest lighting up, "If the Council decides to get their nose into our business, we're going to burn that nose off!"

(somewhere else on the island)

As if the weather could sense the terror taking place on the island, dark clouds built up over the island. Some may have blamed Juvia for that, but this storm was different, with clouds that were so dark, they were almost black. Those clouds soon open dup, sending buckets of water down.

As Erza and Juvia went out looking for the others, they came across one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, who called herself Meredy. After some time fighting, Erza had decided to leave Juvia to her fight with Meredy. While the Kin seemed strong, Erza didn't doubt that Juvia could prevail. She was now moving through the trees, continuing the search for her comrades.

"Wendy! Natsu! Lucy!" Erza called out, "Where are you!" As she was a running, she ground to a halt, sensing a presence.

"Show yourself, coward!" she called.

"Titania Erza," a voice called from the trees. Erza looked up, and noticed the voice was literally coming from the trees, as a man melted out of a branch, "I've been looking for you." Erza glared at this newcomer.

"Identify yourself," she hissed.

"Azuma, of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. I'm here specifically to challenge you."

"That's a decision you'll come to regret."

(at the Fairy Tail camp)

"So Lu's with Natsu and Wendy?" Levy asked.

"Yes," Pantherlily answered, "When I left, they were devising some kind of strategy."

"We need to find the rest of them," Lisanna said, "We need to coordinate."

"I can smell them out," Gajeel said, "I'll go look for them."

"No need," Pantherlily answered, "I know where they are, I can bring them to you."

"Lily's right," Levy said, "We need you here to help guard our wounded."

"Gods know you're going to need it." Fairy Tail whirled around, to see Rustyrose emerging from the trees, a confident look on his face, as he cracked his neck.

"Get ready," he said, "Because I'm going to eat you all alive."

(with Team Natsu)

Mest had flashed away to buy the guild more time with the Council, and the team had struck out to keep looking for their team, with Lucy carrying the Master. Natsu and volunteered, but found it hard with his wing arm.

"I'm worried about Cana," Lucy said, "I haven't seen here since we met up with Capciron."

"Hopefully, she made it back to camp," Happy said. Right then, Natsu who was at the head, ground his heels into the ground.

"Big brother?"

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"There's someone coming," Natsu answered. Sure enough, a silhouette had appeared through the win. Something that they all took note of, was how the rain was pouring harder while around him.

"The hell are you?" Natsu answered, position himself between the figure on his family.

"Can you fly?"

"What?"

"I take that as a 'no'." With that, the man flicked his wrist. In an instant, the rain surrounding the group seemed to stop in mid air. The man was a towering figure in a blue outfit and a white cape, with his hair tied up into a massive tail.

"Now fall." With a flicked his wrists again. The group was all sent crashing to the ground. It wasn't just the crew, the ground itself rippled out into the ground, like some kind force had crashed into the ground.

(with Erza)

Azuma paused, as he suddenly looked away to the side. Erza did the same thing, as both of them sensed a tremendous force on the island.

"What is that?" Erza muttered.

"Such a shame when Bluenote gets sent out," Azuma muttered.

(with Team Natsu)

Bluenote Stinger, the Vice-Leader of Grimoire Heart, just calmly watched as his opponents sunk into the ground. As the family tried to pull themselves up, they found their bodies intensely heavy.

"Look I couldn't care less about Fairy Tail, or even Zeref," Bluenote said calmly, "I just want to know one thing: where is Mavis Vermillion's grave?"

(with Cana)

Despite everything, Cana had found the way. Moving through the cave, she noticed a light before her.

"There it is," Cana murmured, "The grave of the First Master."

Note: Again, I'm going to cut some of the fights out of the story, mostly because they were just ending up the same as canon. And fights that end up just as canon aren't fun to write, and I take it they aren't particularly fun to read either. Probably all the fights except one will be cut, since again, it would just be the same as canon.

I guess I might as well take some time to briefly talk about the new movie that's coming out. I'm certainly looking forward to it, if only to see more of the anime. I've also heard that a new anime is currently in development.

On another note, some people have been suggesting that I get a account. I don't see that happening though, because though I do have a pretty sizable reader-base, I'm not sure how many would be willing to donate. Besides, that would mean I'd have to stick to a schedule, which my life currently isn't permitting me.

Please review.