AN: Thanks Goku275, Wadeparker, and MDM11. MDM11, I've enjoyed 100 Year Quest so far and am curious to see how the current stuff with Gold Owl will turn out.

"I can't… move…" uttered Zeref, shocked, as he laid on the ground. His clothes were tattered and burnt, and his body wasn't doing much better. "This has never happened before. Could this be… no… I can already feel my body recovering very slowly. But, Fairy Heart and the Space Between Time…"

Although Natsu's flames had been unable to destroy the Curse of Ankhseram, they did succeed at incinerate Fairy Heart and the Space Between Time. The Black Mage was no longer able to activate Neo Eclipse. When Zeref realized this, broken tears fell from his face.

"I can leave the rest to you, right, First Master?" asked the Fire Dragon.

"Yes."

"I'm… burnt out. I just wanna see everyone. Bye, Big Brother."

Zeref dimly watched as Natsu departed, leaving him alone with Mavis.

"Natsu's… pretty incredible," admitted Zeref. "But… he's underestimating me… and my powers of revival. These wounds will heal within half an hour."

"Zeref," began Mavis, looking at him with sad eyes. "You made my friends suffer… you hurt them. I can never forgive that. Not as the first master of Fairy Tail, and not as someone who believes the bonds of a guild are thicker than blood. I want to help you permanently leave this world."

"You know, it wouldn't be so bad being killed by you," responded Zeref, giving a smile. "But if that were possible—"

"If only I had trusted you more back then," lamented Mavis, cutting the Black Mage off. He looked at her with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your Curse of Contradiction took my life. That proves that you truly loved me. But I was under the same Curse, and yet I never took your life. Which means that somewhere in my heart, I didn't believe in you fully. The power of my love was not strong enough."

"…Don't trouble yourself over that," replied Zeref after a moment. "In my life, no one has ever loved me. The emotion you felt toward me was not love, but rather pity."

"No!" rejected Mavis vehemently. Herself aside, Natsu and August had clearly cared about Zeref. "It wasn't pity! It was the Curse's contradiction! It was only after I met you that I was able to use magic! Magic that helped me save Magnolia! It's because I met you that Fairy Tail could be born! I wanted to be just like you!"

"But," she continued, her sadness shifting to anger. "You brought death and you turned my fate into this! You hurt my friends! You even tried to use me to destroy Fairy Tail! I hate you for that, and still… I love you! It's because I'm the only one who feels the same loneliness as you. I'm the only one who can understand!"

Mavis's anger cooled, though she remained upset.

"My thoughts are a mess of contradictions. I can't make any sense of it! If I love you, I'll kill you. If I love you deeply, from the bottom of my heart, then I will kill you. That was… my strategy, and yet…"

As she trailed off, Zeref looked at her and felt sadness. It hurt him to see the woman he once — no, still loved — in such a state; pulled in every direction by intense, conflicting emotion. He murmured her name. "Mavis…"

"I don't want you to die!" she exclaimed, sobbing heavily. "I want us to be together always!"

It was that declaration which made Zeref realize that Mavis was right.

"The answer was simply to be loved," he mused. "Thank you, Mavis. And I'm sorry."

"You can't die!" shouted Mavis, immediately recognizing the reason for his apology. She started pounding on his chest. "I hate you! I hate you so much! You destroyed the guild! You hurt my friends! I have no love for you at all! So hurry up and die already! I never want to see you again! I don't love you! You're the enemy of my guild! The enemy of the whole world! Just die already!"

'Don't die.' Zeref knew that those two words were what Mavis truly felt, because he could already feel his body starting to fail. His belief was confirmed when she stopped banging his chest, cupped his face, and kissed him.

"I'm… very… happy now…" went Zeref, struggling to speak as death began to take him. "And it's… all because of you. I think I can sleep now… There was… so much more… I wanted to talk with you about. I wanted to… make up with Natsu, too…"

"Take me… with you, Zeref…"

"You… have to keep on living…!"

"Do you really mean it? From the body of your heart?"

"Yes! Oh, no… That means my Curse will…"

"Let's go together, Zeref…"

"Mavis… So this is what it feels like to die… I can see August and Larcade… They're waiting for us… We should go meet up with them… They've been waiting long enough…"

Shortly after Natsu exited the guild hall, a group of mages appeared before him in a burst of Spatial Magic. The people in question were Mest, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, Laxus, Erik, Happy, Carla, Panther Lily, Lector, Frosch, and Sherria.

"Acnologia is coming," said Mest before the Fire Dragon could even ask why they were there. He spoke in a rushed tone, his fear evident. "Jellal used Telepathy to warn us. Acnologia is after Dragons and dragon slayers, and he's currently following a Dragonized Wendy to Hargeon Town."

"Then what are we waiting for?" replied Natsu, instantly ready to fight.

"Your injuries," answered Laxus. He gestured to the wound on the Fire Dragon's chest in particular, which was still bleeding. "Acnologia isn't someone we can defeat with anything less than our full strength. Sherria will heal you like she did us, then we'll teleport to Hargeon Town with Mest's Direct Line. It's already being evacuated by Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel."

Natsu frown. He wanted to complain. To go to Hargeon Town immediately, then fly toward Acnologia before the Black Dragon made landfall and demolished the place, along with anybody who was still there. But he remembered Igneel and the other Dragons' defeat.

"Alright," accepted the Fairy unhappily. He would just have to hope that everyone evacuated in time and save his frustration for Acnologia.

"Everyone, release your Magic Power!" commanded Meredy. The mages of Fiore and the Alvarez Empire obeyed, sending their energy through the links that the Independent Mage had established with her Maguilty Sense.

The recipients of this Magic Power were the Dragons and dragon slayers who were preparing to battle Acnologia. More than just restoring their strength, this act supercharged them.

"Aaaand… stop!" went Meredy, cutting of the flow of Magic Power. "Any more energy and it would overwhelm Erik and the others. Besides, we need to keep some power in reserve to refuel them during the fight."

This was how everyone had decided to contribute to the battle against Acnologia. It wasn't just those present, either; across Fiore, every single mage had been contacted through a network of Telepathy Magic and decided to offer up their Magic Power.

Of course, not everybody was happy about taking a support role.

"Is this truly all we can do?" grumbled Jacob, who had accepted the ceasefire after regaining consciousness.

He could tolerate teaming up with Fiore despite several of his fellow Spriggan being killed by enemy mages because it was necessary for the survival of his remaining comrades. However, it still bothered him that he had to rely exclusively on Fiore mages to take down Acnologia, especially when both God Serena and Irene had been killed by the Black Dragon.

"We can't even avenge our fallen allies," said the Spriggan with a sigh. Ajeel, who was standing nearby, gave Jacob a sympathetic look.

"Tell me about it," agreed Ajeel. "I'd at least feel a bit reassured if August or Irene was fighting Acnologia too. But I guess it's our own fault that only Fiore mages are left. If we'd just tried working together sooner…"

Jacob gave Ajeel an appraising look. He'd only ever seen the Desert King as a proud, battle-loving warrior. Yet, since the beginning of the war's final battle, Ajeel had started exhibiting the traits of a leader — humility, compassion toward soldiers outside of his squad, and the maturity to work with former enemies for the greater good.

"If we… no… when we return to the Alvarez Empire, Ajeel would make a fine successor to the throne. He'd undoubtedly face opposition, especially by those who haven't witnessed his actions today, but I bet that everyone who has would gladly support him. I know I will."

When Acnologia reached Hargeon Town, he found the Dragons and Dragon Slayers waiting for him, just as expected. Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy hovered in the air in Dragon Form, while Sting, Rogue, Laxus, and Erik remained on the ground. Each of the dragon slayers had an Exceed paired with them, ready to take flight at a moment's notice.

The town had been fully evacuated. The only noncombatants remaining were Sherria (to heal Wendy if she suffered any serious injuries), Panther Lily (to replace any of the Exceeds if they became too injured or exhausted to continue), and Mest (to teleport Sherria and/or Panther Lily to safety if Acnologia attempted to target them).

"Good… every remaining Dragon, gathered together in one place," spoke Acnologia, eyeing the seven of them as he smiled viciously. "I will annihilate you all!"

Inwardly, Natsu let out a sigh of relief. Shortly after the Eclipse Gate incident, Blaze and Iggy had been given bracelets with the same Enchantment that Future Wendy had used to conceal the dragon slayer attribute from Future Acnologia. The Black Dragon's statement proved that the Enchantment was just as effective against the current version of him.

"Why?" asked the Fire Dragon, genuinely curious. "Why do you want to kill all Dragons?"

"I was born in a time when Dragons all but ruled the world," responded Acnologia. "I became one of the first dragon slayers, foolishly pursuing the goal of coexistence between humans and Dragons. I served as a doctor, treating those who were harmed by Dragons."

Encountering Irene had brought the memories to the forefront of the Black Dragon's mind, where they stirred up his rage. By letting them out and killing these Dragons, Acnologia would be able to push the unpleasant memories back down.

"Then, Dragons that were supposed to be our allies betrayed us! They killed all of my patients, among many others! That day, I realized that Dragons are monsters that cause nothing but destruction and pain! I vowed not to stop until I slayed every last Dragon in existence, including the vile humans who bear a Dragon Seed!"

Silence followed.

"I see," went Natsu. He could understand feeling furious toward monsters who butchered innocent people. However… "But that doesn't justify your actions! Not all Dragons are like the ones who killed your patients! You can't blame an entire race for the actions of a few assholes! Besides, with all the innocents that've been caught up in your rampages, I'd say you're just as shitty as they were!"

Acnologia snarled, the Fire Dragon's words having touched a nerve. Nothing infuriated him more than being compared to Dragons, especially those Dragons!

"Eternal Flare!" screamed the Black Dragon unleashing a barrage of countless explosive, star-like lights onto Hargeon Town. "Diiiiiiie!"

Omake

As they waited for Acnologia to arrive, Erik and Carla glared at one another. The two had been temporarily partnered together because the combination of the former's Hearing Magic and the latter's Precognition would (hopefully) make up for the fact that they were basically strangers. Neither was happy about it.

"If only Kinana could turn back into Cubellios for a bit," grumbled Erik, wishing for his former flying partner. Fighting the Black Dragon might be dangerous, but he trusted her to have his back.

"If only Wendy were still a human," muttered Carla, similarly unhappy. It made the Exceed uneasy, not being able to support Wendy directly.

Begrudgingly, the two shook hands, accepting the temporary partnership.

"But I'll do it," they both thought. "For her!"

AN: The final battle has begun. At this point, I'd say that only 2 or 3 chapters remain. Maybe 4, though I doubt it.

On a less important note, I originally was going to have the omake be Erik and Carla just being hostile toward one another. But, when I wrote it, the scene ended up becoming about them putting aside their reservations for the sake of those important to them.

That's all for now. Bye!