AN: Thank you Goku275, NinjaFang1331, AliceCullen3, and Wadeparker.
I thought about it and decided that there was a bit too much to just skim over, so I ended up writing a chapter covering the time between the two arcs. Although, admittedly, the first two parts are near the beginning and the remaining three are near the end.
"Natsu Dragneel," said Draculos Hyberion, one of the Ten Wizard Saints and the current Chairman for the Ishgar Magic Council. The dragon slayer in question was currently in the Magic Council headquarters, sitting before all of the current Wizard Saints (including Makarov, who wasn't actually on the council). "As you have no doubt realized, God Serena is no longer one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"Huh?" went Natsu, who hadn't realized that. In fact, he didn't even remember God Serena until Draculos mentioned him. "He isn't? Why?"
Makarov facepalmed, then grumbled in exasperation. "How do you not know about the most powerful of the Ten Wizard Saints after seven years as guild master?"
"He didn't want to join the Council," lied Draculos. The fact that the strongest Wizard Saint had defected to the Alvarez Empire was highly confidential, to the point where not even Makarov (who wasn't on the council) or Jura (who had only just joined after the Grand Magic Games) knew the truth. "He stepped down quiet, and I'd imagine he's currently hunting powerful monsters for fun."
"Ah," replied Natsu, understanding the sentiment completely. "So, what does that have to do with you guys calling me here?"
Makarov facepalmed again and several other Wizard Saints felt the urge to join him.
"You defeated Jura during the Grand Magic Games," stated Warrod. "You're being punished for making us look bad."
"What!?"
"It's a joke, a joke!" laughed the former Fairy, causing Natsu to groan. He had met Warrod a few times during his tenure as guild master, and the man's jokes had not grown on him at all. "That victory put you on a short list of Wizard Saint Candidates. Then, winning against a dragon in one-on-one fight just a few days later put your name on top!"
"Indeed," said Makarov, smiling proudly. "You have grown into a powerful mage, one that doesn't cause wanton destruction. So, Natsu, do you want to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"Not interested," responded Natsu instantly. The speed of his rejection surprised and confused the Councilors (except Makarov), causing the dragon slayer to explain his reasoning. "I quit being guild master to get away from long meetings and boring paperwork. There's no way I'd go back to that, especially with Acnologia still out there."
"I suspected you would say that," replied Makarov, who then turned to his fellow Wizard Saints, with an admonishing stare. "I could have told all of you as much if you had talked to me before scheduling this meeting."
The councilors, embarrassed about messing up and getting called out for it, dismissed Natsu soon after. With the dragon slayer gone, they went over the remaining candidates on the list — this time, with Makarov and Jura's input.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" shouted Wendy, Dragon Force active. She swung her arms and unleashed a powerful whirlwind upon Romeo. The god slayer raised and crossed his arms, enduring the attack.
It had been two months since Natsu turned down a place in the Ten Wizard Saints, and Wendy had learned to use the Dragon Force at will after two and a half weeks of his intense training.
"It's my turn now!" exclaimed Romeo, determined. He ran toward the dragon slayer, covering his right hand in black flames. "Fire God's Bronze Fist!"
The attack hit Wendy in the solar plexus, eliciting a cry of pain.
"I'm not… *huff* done yet…" said Wendy, panting heavily. However, while her spirit was still able to fight, her body was not. Her Dragon Force deactivated, and she fell to her hands and knees.
"That's seven minutes, fourteen seconds," stated Carla, holding a stopwatch in her paws. "You've improved by a full six seconds compared to last week."
The amount of time that Wendy could maintain the Dragon Force when activating it without taking in highly-concentrated Ethernano was still lower than she liked. To remedy that, Wendy had convinced Romeo to help her improve by performing weekly mock battles with her.
These mock battles were similar to regular sparring matches, except, since the goal of them was to build Wendy's endurance, Romeo would fight in a more defensive manner, only throwing the occasional strike as the dragon slayer wore herself out.
The reason that the god slayer had agreed to this was because, once Wendy recovered enough, the two of them would have a regular fight. Romeo also wanted to get stronger and fighting one of Fairy Tail's stronger members helped him to improve. Plus, he wasn't entirely over his loss during the Grand Magic Games. Or his defeats in previous sparring matches.
The two youngest Fairies were growing, and their development wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. Neither would Romeo's losing streak or Wendy's embarrassment whenever Sherria referred to the training as dates, for that matter.
"Fairy Tail has won the Tournament! For two years in a row, the top guild in Fiore is Fairy Tail!" exclaimed Chapati. The 'Tournament' was the final event of the X792 Grand Magic Games, a single-elimination type tournament between the last two remaining teams — Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale.
This year, Team Fairy Tail consisted of Lucy, Yukino, Sorano (who had insisted on participating alongside her sister), Sting (who had felt competitive after Natsu passed the latest S-Class Trial and officially became an S-Class Mage), and Cana (who somehow convinced Mavis to give her Fairy Glitter for the GMG).
"…Still, it's a shame that the rest of the team couldn't make it," said Lucy to herself.
Natsu and Happy were on a family vacation. Wendy and Carla were watching over Lamia Scale's guild hall because of a promise to Sherria (in case their rival guild, Orochi's Fin, tried anything while the strongest members were out of town), and Erza and Gray were taking down a Dark Guild for Crime Sorcière.
As Lucy thought about how her friends had missed out on seeing her and the others win, her memories of the wager between Teams Fairy Tail A and B last year flickered through her mind. The Fairy suppressed a shudder.
Gajeel had decided to make her and Levy dress as bunny girls and dance as he performed music badly. Then, after Levy ran off due to embarrassment and the Iron Dragon Slayer chased after her, Lucy had been reassigned to Yukino.
Yukino herself hadn't been a problem, simply asking Lucy to teach her how to use Star Dress. No, the problems came when Sorano returned from a mission and convinced her younger sister to let her have a turn. The less said about what occurred, the better.
"…Maybe it's a good thing they were all busy," mused Lucy. "Otherwise we might've had a second team and another penalty game."
"Agreed," said Sting, who had overheard Lucy. He grimaced, her words reminding him of how Laxus had treated him like an errand boy and sent him all over town.
"We were two thousand strong… how could we be defeated…?"
"It's a nightmare…"
"What… what are these people…?"
These were the words of the Dark Guild Avatar's elite members after their entire guild was defeated by just six Fairy Tail mages. Those who were still conscious tried to run away.
"It's up to me now!" exclaimed the only elite who hadn't been knocked out or given in to despair. "I've gotta—"
His words were cut off as Gajeel's arm, transformed into an iron pole, slammed into him. The dragon slayer looked at the now-unconscious 'elite' with dissatisfaction.
"All that talk about replacing the Balam Alliance and they couldn't even put up a good fight," complained Gajeel. "I should've taken part in the Grand Magic Games."
"True, this guild did not live up to its reputation," agreed Erza. "I suppose Crime Sorcière's information was wrong this time."
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Gray, oblivious to his lack of clothing. "We've already got Acnologia to worry about, not to mention Zeref being out somewhere plotting to exterminate humanity. The last thing we need is another powerful threat to deal with."
"I don't care how many evils there are out there, as long as I'm facing them alongside you, Gray," declared Juvia in a lovestruck voice. The Ice Mage blushed and looked away.
"…" Rogue stare ahead blankly.
"Are you okay, Rogue?" asked Levy, noticing how despondent the Shadow Dragon Slayer was.
"…Did I spend six months infiltrating Avatar… pretending to be taken over by Shadow Rogue… not contacting anybody in Fairy Tail, including Frosch… FOR NO GOOD REASON!?"
The other five Fairies looked at their friend with concern, especially as he fell to his knees and began sobbing hysterically. Rogue had snapped, and they could only hope that time would eventually heal the wounds on his heart.
Thankfully, it ended up only taking a week of being incredibly clingy toward his guildmates and hugging Frosch 24/7 for Rogue to return to normal. All the Fairies would agree, though, that mopey Rogue was much worse than Shadow Rogue.
"Welcome home, Your Majesty," said Invel the Winter General, one of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12. The 'home' he was referred to was the Alvarez Empire's imperial palace, located within the capital city of Vistarion.
"Good to be back, Invel," replied Zeref, also known as Emperor Spriggan. Even without having to worry about the Curse of Ankhseram triggering, Zeref still spent a lot of time wandering from place to place. Sure, his main goal was to ensure the success of his plans, but he also just genuinely enjoyed roaming around.
"Let's put aside the pleasantries, please," continued the emperor, dismissing his thoughts about the nomadic life. "How are the preparations progressing?"
"The Brandish Squad is on their way toward Caracole Island as we speak," stated Invel. "Once Brandish has taken control of the island and captured any Ishgar forces positioned there, the empire will be secure against attack and we will be able to launch a full invasion."
"Good," said Zeref, though he didn't care about being invaded. Taking over the island was simply to prevent any sabotage to their army or defection by soldiers who realized that he didn't care about the lives of his people. "Assemble the rest of the Spriggan 12. We will begin as soon as Caracole Island has been dealt with… one way or another."
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied the Winter General, recognizing the intentions behind Zeref's words. He, as well as some of the other Spriggan 12, knew of their emperor's true feelings toward humanity. Despite this, they remained loyal to him. "The day that you claim the power of the Fairy Heart is soon at hand."
"Acnologia. Mavis. Natsu," spoke Zeref. As the emperor said the names of the only ones who threaten his plans, Invel frowned. "The final Dragon King Festival is about to start. It is time to decide who among our three groups will survive."
The peace was over. Now, it was time for a war that would determine the future of the entire world.
Omake
"Please give me some of your magic please give me some of your magic please give me some of your magic," begged Blaze as she kneeled before Wendy in a dogeza.
The Hell Flame Dragon Slayer had fully merged with her alternate self and mastered the spells combining her two types of magic. The only thing she didn't have was Sky Hell Flame Dragon Mode, hence the current situation.
"I don't think that's a good idea," responded Wendy hesitantly. Memories of an older self or not, giving so much power to a little kid was clearly a terrible idea. However, the Sky Dragon Slayer had trouble resisting the little girl's adorable pleading face.
"…What if I ask your parents about giving it to you on your thirteenth birthday?" offered Wendy, using F-Blaze's age as a guideline.
"Yay, mya!" went Blaze, accepting the deal. After all, once they agreed to give her access to Sky Hell Flame Dragon Mode, she could start wearing her parents and Wendy down until they gave it to her sooner.
AN: Blaze will not get Sky Hell Flame Dragon Mode until the story is over. I just felt the need to say right now that she won't have it during the final arc. Speaking of which, the curtain has finally risen on the final act — the Alvarez Empire arc!
That's all for now. Goodbye!