Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon

Chapter 10

"Hey, I'm home," Nikolias called out.

Silence was all he got in response.

"Are you not home?"

Again, no response.

"Odd, I don't remember her saying she was going out," Nikolias whispered to himself. He shrugged it off and walked towards the kitchen.

Suddenly, an awful odor hit his senses. He sniffed the air a few times and his nose crinkled; it was blood. He knew that scent well.

'Why do I smell blood?' he thought. He was starting to get a feeling of foreboding. Something was not right. "Is anyone here?" he called out. He then saw that the bedroom door, which was always closed, was slightly open. "Michelle, are you there?"

He slowly crept towards the door, the smell of blood intensifying. His entire body was stiff with fear of the unknown. What was behind the door?

And then a new scent hit him. This one was faint, almost completely masked by the smell of fresh blood, but it was there and it was unmistakable. It was a scent that always reminded Nikolias of a meadow filled with blooming flowers and a gentle breeze blowing pollen through the air. It was a scent that always relaxed Nikolias and brought him peace of mind. On this particular day, however, it filled him with dread and quickened his pace to the door. He threw the door fully open, allowing it to crash into the wall. His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him.

The room was torn apart. Furniture was knocked over, broken candles lay scattered about, and belongings were thrown haphazardly around the room.

The floor was stained a dark red from the massive amounts of blood.

And lying in a pool of blood was a beautiful young woman.

"MICHELLE!" Nikolias roared as he ran to the young woman's side. "Michelle, wake up! Michelle, answer me!" He shook her lightly over and over as he attempted to awaken her. It took a few minutes for reality to set in. And when it did, it hit hard.

Michelle's body was covered in deep puncture marks, most likely caused by multiple stabbings from a knife of some kind.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. He held her tightly, not even caring that Michelle's blood was staining every fiber of his clothing. He wanted to be with her.

"Michelle, please don't leave me," he sobbed. He slowly began rocking back and forth on his knees. He didn't even notice the wood of the floor tear small cuts in his flesh as he rocked. "Please, I need you, Michelle. You can't be dead."

But Michelle had been dead for a few hours.

The sun began to set on the day as Nikolias sat in a corner, staring at the corpse of his beloved laid out peacefully on the bed. His clothes were heavy with blood and his hands and forearms were covered in it as well. He had been crying for hours and the tears had finally run out. The sorrow, however, remained.

"How could this happen?" he rasped. "Why is she dead? Who would do this? She was so innocent." He lifted his knees up to his chest and buried his face into his thighs before shouting as loud as he could, "She never did anything wrong!"

It was then that Nikolias noticed a faint scent that he had ignored due to the current situation. He knew that smell. It was like fertilizer and fear…

'The townspeople…they killed her…' he thought.

Sorrow was beginning to become replaced by anger.

"How could they? She was kind and understanding. Why would they kill her? Is it because of me? Because she fell in love with a dragon? Is this her punishment? How is that fair!?"

His whole body began to tremble with rage.

"They all need to pay…" he hissed.

He slowly began to get to his feet, his eyes closed as his head hung loose.

"They must realize their mistake…"

He stood straight up and curled his lips, revealing fangs. He then whipped up his head and shot open his eyes, revealing golden dragon eyes.

"I will make them all pay!"

And then everything went red.


Nikolias bolted upright, panting heavily and sweating profusely. He looked around and saw nothing but the calm night sky and twinkling stars. The sound of crickets chirping was the only thing to disrupt the peace and quiet. He had found a small clearing in a forest and decided to set up camp for the night. Plus, it was only a few dozen miles away from his destination.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to regulate his breathing and slowly lowered himself back down onto the ground. "Man, I'm fucking glad I woke myself up. I really didn't need to see that again. Still," he reopened his eyes and stared at the darkness above him, "despite how much it sucks to relive these memories, at least I think the reasoning for their sudden reappearance is becoming clearer."


The mood in Fairy Tail was gloomy. Well, it was gloomier than usual. While most of the guild seemed in the same bright spirits, a particular table was not partaking in the jovial conversations or activities.

Gracie, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Mira all sat at a table in silence.

Gracie sat with her chin balanced on her hands as she stared into space. She'd never admit it out loud, but she didn't feel comfortable letting Nikolias go alone. She knew him well and she knew that if he wanted to go alone, then it was one of two things. The first possibility was that it was something dangerous and he didn't want to risk her or anyone else getting hurt. However, if it was that dangerous, then that would mean that Nikolias could be putting his life on the line and that made Gracie feel afraid for his safety. The second possibility is that he was going somewhere that would cause him harm emotionally or mentally and the thought of Nikolias losing the progress he made towards accepting humans back into his life made her nauseous. He had come so far in their ten years together, especially when they came to Fairy Tail. He made friends again. He felt his heart beat faster again, even if he wouldn't admit it to her. She just wished that Nikolias would have let her come along.

Natsu was more upset that a member of Fairy Tail had decided to leave on a secret solo mission. Natsu always had a kind heart and he worried for his family members. He had no idea where Nikolias had gone, but he just hoped that he would return safely and be able to show him more dragon stuff. Still, Natsu could smell something on Nikolias that he had never smelled on him before; fear. He didn't know what Nikolias could possibly be afraid of, but if Nikolias was afraid, then Natsu was afraid for him. Someone as strong as Nikolias shouldn't be afraid of anything, yet wherever he was going, Natsu knew that it was someplace he dreaded going.

Lucy was saddened by the sudden leaving of Nikolias. He had been someone that she always saw as kind-hearted, despite his and Gracie's job. He had always gotten along with people in the guild and she especially enjoyed seeing the relationship he had with Natsu. It was like he was an older brother to Natsu, showing him things to make him stronger, but always making sure that Natsu was safe. She would also always feel eternally grateful towards Nikolias for saving Natsu during the mission in Freesia Town. She didn't know what she would have done if Natsu had been killed. It was truly in that moment that Lucy saw a friend in Nikolias, for she had been afraid of him for some time. He was now someone that she felt she could entrust her life to and she was sure that there were others in the guild who felt the same. She looked over at Natsu and saw how sad he looked. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and gave a smile which she returned. She knew that they were both thinking the same thing; 'Please, let Nikolias come back soon.'

Erza and Gray were both feeling the same thing. They saw a friend leave to who-knows-where and they feared that wherever it was, Nikolias would be unable to return. They had accepted Nikolias into their lives and he was a friend to them, a part of their family. They truly believed that family should stick together and fight alongside each other, but they could tell from Nikolias' tone and expression that he needed to go alone for this. They felt confident that he was strong enough to take care of himself, so they made no objections, but still, they couldn't help but worry. The fact that he told Gracie to stay behind was what worried them the most, especially Erza, who considered Gracie a close friend. She knew what Gracie could do, and yet Nikolias was adamant that he go alone. This worried Erza, making her wonder if Nikolias was getting into something that he couldn't actually handle alone.

Then there was Mira. She felt her heart drop in her chest when she heard Nikolias say that he was leaving. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted Gracie to keep him from doing this. However, none of these things would come to be. She watched him fly away and in that moment, she felt like she was being crushed under an enormous weight. She feared that he was never coming back, despite his promise. It wasn't that she thought he was just abandoning them; she was terrified that he was going to die. All through last night, as she lay in bed staring at the moon, she ran through all of the best memories she had with Nikolias. The first time she saw him, the eye contact they held during Gracie's explanation, the first time she saw his partial transformation, standing with him while Erza and Gracie sparred, watching him with awe as he sparred with Natsu, the feeling of joy she had when he asked to do a mission with her, the night in Shirotsume when they fell asleep in each other's arms, their battle against the monster, the surprise gift he gave her, the festival and the fireworks…remembering all of these wonderful memories made her cry uncontrollably. She wished that he was beside her, holding her in his strong arms and comforting her. She wished she could be with him right now and forever. She wanted him back.

"My, aren't you all a chipper group?"

The group turned to see Makarov standing by the table and smiling at them.

"Sorry Master, we were all just thinking," Erza said.

"No need to apologize. It only makes sense that you all would be the most affected by Nikolias' decision. Just know that he will be alright and we will see him again soon," Makarov said, trying his best to comfort his saddened children. "Now, I know that Nikolias wouldn't want you to be saddened by his brief departure, so try and enjoy yourselves, alright?"

"Yes Master," they mumbled in unison.

They all stood from the table and attempted to immerse themselves in the happiness of the rest of the guild, praying that it would bring their thoughts away from Nikolias, if only for a moment.


Nikolias stood atop a 50 foot cliff, staring down at the barren land before him. A strong wind blew in from the west and he closed his eyes. A sad smile crept to his face. 'This wind hasn't changed at all.'

He leapt from his perch on the cliff to the ground below. He landed gently despite the height, barely disturbing the dirt. He stood and looked around, chose a direction, and began walking.

After roughly ten minutes, Nikolias stopped at a large stone slab. It was covered in weeds and the weather had worn the rock face. He bent down and wiped the stone as clear as he could, brushing away ivy and moss with each sweep of the hand. Once he was satisfied enough, he sat and stared at the stone.

"Hey," he whispered. "I'm home."


"Master Severo, you summoned me?"

A tall man knelt before Master Severo. He was extremely muscular and bore very similar tattoos to Master Severo. He had cold gray eyes that showed no emotion whatsoever. He wore no shirt, revealing a heavily scarred chest.

Master Severo turned around to face his subordinate. "Critik. Thank you for arriving so quickly. I have a job for you."

"Of course, Master Severo. Your wish is my command."

"An excellent attitude." An evil grin appeared on his face. "Critik, you have been my right hand man for years. I have trained you myself. You are the only one I can trust with this assignment."

"Yes, Master Severo. What is it that you wish me to do?"

"I don't believe it would be fair to unleash the full power of the Bloody Moon guild upon Fairy Tail. There would be no sport in that."

"Yes, Master Severo."

"Critik. I want you to go to Magnolia and destroy them all."

"Yes, Master Severo."

"Good answer. You're dismissed. Leave for Magnolia as soon as you are prepared."

"Yes, Master Severo." He stood up and bowed before turning and leaving to make preparations.

Severo laughed wickedly. "Fairy Tail will soon fall and once they do, all will fear the might of the Bloody Moon guild."


"Sorry that I haven't visited in a long time…or at all," Nikolias said.

He smiled sadly at the stone before him. He sat in silence as he gathered all of his thoughts. Once he felt like he knew what he wanted to say, he began.

"I guess I should start with the obvious, huh? I really miss you. Not a day goes by when I don't think about you. I just hope that you can forgive me. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."

He stopped as he felt his throat tighten. He shook his head violently, trying his best to keep the tears from falling. He took some deep breaths and once he felt better, he continued.

"I know I should have come to visit, but it…it hurt too much. I couldn't bring myself to face that pain. I bet your wondering what changed, though. Why am I here now if it hurts? The answer is pretty simple, you know. You were always the person I could talk to about everything. You were always so understanding and you were always there for me. And I really need to talk to you now more than ever. I guess I'll start with catching you up, though.

"I met someone when I was roaming. Her name is Gracie and she's become my best friend. She's like a sister to me. We've been working and travelling together for about ten years now. It's been a lot of fun. She pisses me off sometimes, but it's just 'cause she thinks she's funny. She's also the one who started to show me that I could live a normal life again and I'm extremely thankful for that. I don't know what I would have done without her. It's also because of her that I ended up becoming part of the Fairy Tail guild. They're a great group of wizards. They celebrate nearly everything, but they're extremely kind and they care for each other. I…I can honestly say I feel at home there." He chuckled lightly. "That's the first time I've been able to say that for a long time. Anyway, that's pretty much the highlights of my life since last we spoke."

He paused to take a deep breath. He knew talking about these next parts was going to be hard. "There's something I really need to talk to you about. Lately, I've been reliving the two worst moments of my life. The two times when I…changed. It's happening more and more frequently, too. I don't know what it means. What could it mean? Why after all this time would I start reliving those moments more frequently instead of less frequently? I can't wrap my head around it." He stopped to look at the stone in silence before chuckling lightly. "God, I wish you could answer me. You would know what to say. You always knew what to say. Well I do have one thought and it may provide an answer, but I'm so unsure of it.

"Could it be that I'm moving on with my life and I feel guilty? Is having new friends making me experience some sort of…survivor's guilt? I don't know if I'm right or not, but it's the only thing I can think of. Am I subconsciously punishing myself for trying to move on, making new friends and even possibly…falling in love again?"

He looked at the ground before he continued. "I have to ask, do you think this is the real reason why I'm reliving these moments? Because I'm wondering if these feelings I have are wrong. I love you with all my heart and I'm wondering if my head is trying to tell me that feeling love for anyone else is wrong. What do you think? Am I wrong to feel guilty about moving on in that aspect?"

He looked back at the stone, his eyes praying for an answer he knew he would never get. After a few moments, he sighed, indicating that he realized that he was waiting for nothing. He gave a sad smile to the stone. "You may not be able to answer, but even now, just talking to you makes me feel better."

He stood from his seat and smiled down at the stone. "Well I should be off. I have to get back to Fairy Tail before Gracie and the others start to worry. I'll try to come back and visit soon. Thanks for listening, Michelle."

He bent over and kissed the stone before allowing his wings and tail to appear. He shot the stone one last look, then leapt into the air and flew off.

"Time to go back home."


A few days had passed since Nikolias' departure and the sad dispositions had all but vanished. Gracie had begun to feel better as the days passed, feeling less and less worried by the day. Her increasing good mood made Erza feel better, which made Gray and Natsu feel better, which made Lucy feel better. They were all still a little worried about Nikolias, but it didn't keep them down. Even Mira was feeling better, although many could tell that some of her smiles were faked at times. She couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding that had washed over her when Nikolias left.

Still, the guild seemed to have returned to normal, full of laughter and good times.

Until the explosion.


Critik stood on the outskirts of Magnolia, looking down at the peaceful town. He scanned the area before his cold eyes fell on a tall building. He recognized it easily.

"Fairy Tail." He cracked his knuckles and neck. "Master Severo won't want to be kept waiting. Better get started."

He lifted his right arm and the red tattoos that wrapped around it lit up. After a few seconds, the light disappeared and blood began rising from his skin. He then called some blood in his hand with magic before pointing it towards Fairy Tail.

"BLOOD BOMB!" he called out, forcing the blood ball to shoot from his hand at high speed towards Fairy Tail.


Everyone in Fairy Tail ran outside to see what the explosion was from. They all looked around, but saw nothing.

Overhead, another explosion went off, destroying the roof and sending wood splinters cascading down upon the mages.

"ICE MAKE SHIELD!" Gray called out. A thick shield of ice appeared over everyone's heads, protecting them from any harm.

"Good move, Gray," Makarov complimented. "Alright, whoever you are, you better come out!"

"I'm impressed," said a dead voice.

Everyone turned to see a tall, muscular man walking towards them with blood dancing around his body.

"Identify yourself!" Erza demanded as she instantly changed to her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

"Does it matter? You will all soon be dead," the man said. There was absolutely no emotion in his voice.

"Identify yourself!" Erza demanded again.

"Very well. Consider it a parting gift. I am Critik of the Bloody Moon guild."

"Why are you here?" Makarov asked.

"I have been sent here by my Master to destroy the Fairy Tail guild and all of its members."

"Like hell we're gonna let that happen!" Natsu shouted as flames engulfed his fists.

"There's no fighting it. You stand no chance against me."

"We'll just see about that! FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu unleashed a ferocious jet of fire from his mouth. It crashed into Critik's body and Natsu smirked at his quick victory.

When the flames died down, however, everyone saw Critik standing before them with burns all over his skin, but otherwise unaffected by the attack.

"He didn't try to dodge it," Gajeel said. "Why the hell would he take that?"

"Simple. I cannot be brought down by fire," Critik responded. "None of you can kill me. It is impossible. Just accept your deaths."

"Fairy Tail never backs down!" Natsu bellowed.

"Very well then. Die fighting. I don't really care how you die as long as you are all obliterated." He put his hands together before slamming them to the ground. "BLOOD CLONES!"

The blood that surrounded him dove onto the ground and began taking the form of multiple clones of Critik. By the end of the spell, a small army of 500 Critiks stood before Fairy Tail.

"Holy shit, what kind of magic does that?" Gracie asked, completely blown away by what she was seeing.

"I don't know, but everyone needs to prepare for a fight!" Erza commanded.

Everyone nodded.

Lucy whipped out a key. "OPEN GATE OF THE LION! LEO!" In a flash of light, Loke appeared before Lucy, ready to fight.

"I'm ready to fight, Lucy. Just give the command," Loke said as he stared down his opponent.

Elfman went into his Beast Soul form, taking the appearance of the Beast, the King of all monsters.

Lisanna took her Animal Form: Tigress form, gaining cat-like claws, a nose, a tail, and ears.

Mirajane used her Take Over magic to take her Satan Soul form.

Gracie summoned her twin katanas into her hands and began to twirl them.

Natsu, Gray, Cana, Makarov, Gajeel, and all the others waited for action, preparing to fight as soon as they needed to. Wendy ran to the back, prepared to heal all who got injured.

The Critik clones charged forward, looking to end things quickly.

Erza raised her sword. "Attack!"


Nikolias flew through the air with increased speed. A few moments ago, he felt like something bad was happening back at Fairy Tail. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that there was no time to waste. He flapped his wings with more and more ferocity, willing himself to fly faster.

'I can't lose anyone else. I won't.'


The clones were proving to be much stronger than they appeared. Being blood clones, they had the ability to harden their bodies wherever they willed it, so the only way to bring them down was to surprise them. That was easier said than done since they packed a solid punch.

Lucy had been fighting them off with her whip as best she could while Loke was fighting multiple enemies at once. He had taken down a few, but was expending a lot of energy.

"Lucy, I'm running low on power. These guys are tough and I can't run through them easily," Loke called out to her as he blocked an incoming punch.

"Alright Loke, you can leave. I'll summon someone else. Thank you for the help."

He nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Lucy whipped out another key. "OPEN GATE OF THE—" She was interrupted by a sneak punch to the back and she fell to the ground. She tried to get back up, but the punch had caught her spleen and she couldn't quite move with the pain. Suddenly, she was surrounded by half a dozen clones. Her eyes widened as she reached for the whip she had dropped after the punch. But she saw that she wasn't going to be in time.

"FIRE DRAGON PULSE!"

Out of nowhere, a ball of fire connected with one of the clones, causing it to melt away instantly. A pulse of fire then shot out from the fireball, blowing away the remaining clones and causing them to splatter from the impact with the ground or building.

Lucy turned with tears in her eyes. "Natsu!"

Natsu ran over to her. "Lucy, are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yes, thanks to you."

Natsu gave her his signature grin. "I'll always protect you, Lucy."

She blushed as she wrapped her arm around Natsu's shoulders.

He hoisted her up. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," she said as she let go of Natsu. She stood shakily on her feet, but she could still stand.

"Good. I'll stay by you and provide support."

"Thank you, Natsu."

"Lucy! Natsu! Are you two alright?" Gray called out as he ran over.

"Yeah, we're okay, Gray. How are you doing?" Lucy asked.

Gray pointed behind him. "I just took out a few. These things won't go down easily. I had to freeze them, which seemed to stop the blood flow. That let me shatter them easily."

"Yeah, these things are tough," Lucy agreed.

"How many more would you say there are?" Natsu asked.

Gray shook his head. "Even if I could count how many are left, it wouldn't matter."

Lucy lifted an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Erza walked over. "Because this Critik guy continues to create new clones."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah, just look over there." He pointed to Critik and, sure enough, every now and then, he would create more clones. "Every time we take some out, he just replenishes his downed forces. It's never-ending. We'll run out of magic before he runs out of clones."

"He appears to be fighting with his blood, so if we can outlast his blood, then we should be able to win," Erza said.

"It may not be that easy."

The group turned to see Gracie and an untransformed Mira and Lisanna running over.

"Why not?" Erza asked.

Gracie looked at her. "This guy may be using blood, but I noticed something on these clones. Have you all seen the tattoos?" She got nods from everyone. "I think those act as reserves. He's running through his tattoos first before he dives into his own supply."

"You're kidding," Lucy said. "So how do we win?"

Gracie gave her a wink. "Kill the clones and hope they don't kill us. That's how."

Erza looked to Mira and Lisanna. "Why aren't you two in your Take Over forms?"

"We ran out of energy. It took more to kill these clones then I realized," Mira admitted.

"We're in a bad situation," Erza said. "Alright, for now, we fight together. We watch each other's backs. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Gracie, you and I are front line defense. Natsu and Gray, you keep an eye on Mira, Lisanna, and Lucy. Kill any clones who get near. Lucy, when you feel well again, join in. Let's go!"

Erza and Gracie jumped forward, slashing at any clone in their path. Even with their sword skills and speed, the clones were able to react to most of the attacks fast enough to harden their bodies. They both swung furiously, looking to catch the clones off guard, but it proved to be a time consuming task. Eventually, a clone would slip up and fall to a cut, but with the sheer numbers of the clones, taking advantage of weaknesses was proving to be difficult.

Natsu and Gray stood guard over the three girls, blasting away any clone that approached. Natsu fired Fire Dragon Pulse after Fire Dragon Pulse and Gray had summoned his Ice Cannon to shoot down any clone that got even remotely close.

Although clone after clone fell, more and more would appear as Critik kept on creating clones to replace the fallen.

"This won't end!" Gray called out in frustration.

"Keep going! We can't lose to them!" Erza called out as she sliced through a clone.

Gracie nodded. "Yeah, Fairy Tail doesn't quit, right? We'll win."

"It would be nice if Nikolias were here," Gray said. "We could use the extra fire power."

"Yeah, he has poor timing," Gracie said as she danced away from a clone attack and swiftly cut off its head. "But we can win without him."

"Right!" everyone cheered.


Critik watched his clones work. He was amazed that so many clones had fallen and not a single Fairy had been killed, but he figured it was only a matter of time. They were tiring and his clones never felt fatigue. He knew that sooner or later, they would all fall and Fairy Tail would be destroyed.

However, he grew bored of seeing no Fairy blood. He craved it. Seeing other people bleed was the only thing that gave him any emotion; excitement. He decided that toying with them was not enough, so he decided to weaken their morale a bit. He looked around and saw two girls sitting behind a group of two boys and three girls. He could tell that they had exhausted their magic so he knew that they would be easy targets.

He lifted his hand and pointed his index finger towards one of the white haired girls. "BLOOD SPEAR!" A hardened, pointed trail of blood shot from Critiks hand at incredible speed and impaled his target. He grinned with excitement as he saw blood shoot from the wound he had inflicted.


"MIRA!"

Everyone ran to her side once they had seen a spike of blood shoot past them and impale their friend. Gracie sliced through the blood, causing it to disappear.

Mira coughed, sending out a little blood. "I'm okay," she said as she held the wound. "It didn't hit anything major."

"Wendy!" Erza called out. The young dragon slayer heard her and ran over immediately. "Please Wendy, heal Mira."

Wendy turned to look at Mira and gasped when she saw the wound. She ran to Mira's side and began to heal her. "This would is deep. It will take some time. Please, give me some cover." She never took her eyes away from the wound as she spoke.

"You heard her. Provide cover for them," Erza said as she took up a defensive stance.

"Right!" everyone shouted in unison as they prepared themselves to defend Wendy and Mira.

The clones kept on coming. Everyone in Fairy Tail was nearing their limit. Wendy was healing Mira as fast as she could, knowing that at any minute, someone else could need her help.

"It's over, Fairy Tail," Critik called out. "Accept your fates and embrace the death that awaits you all."

"Never!" was the resounding response from all in the guild.

"Pathetic. Allow me to show you how foolish you are."

Suddenly, black clouds covered the sky. Everyone looked up to see what was happening. Even the clones.

"What's he doing now?" Laxus called out.

"What could this be?" Levy asked.

"This is bad news for sure," Gajeel mumbled.

It was then that Erza noticed Critik wasn't doing anything. In fact, he too was looking at the sky. "Everyone, this isn't Critik's doing. Be on your guard! This could be a new enemy."

But Gracie felt something. Something familiar. She stared at the sky before she realized. "Those aren't clouds…" she whispered. She stared past Critik and his clones and saw a figure standing a few hundred feet behind Critik. Her eyes immediately lit up. "NIKY!"

Everyone turned to look at her and then followed her eyes to see what she was staring at. Once they saw, they too felt relief. Standing there was indeed Nikolias, shadows pouring from his body and covering the sky.

"Welcome back, my boy!" Makarov exclaimed.

"Took ya long enough," Gray said.

"Glad to see you decided to join the party," Gajeel joked.

"Nikolias," Mira whispered as tears filled her eyes. She wished that she could run to him and hug him, but her wound hadn't been healed yet.

"You there," Critik called out to Nikolias. "Who are you?"

Nikolias just stood there, head down and fists clenched.

"Answer me," Critik said in what could only be considered his angry tone, even though it was still void of emotion. "Are you a Fairy Tail wizard?"

Again, no response.

Gracie's smile was beginning to fade. Something wasn't right. "Niky?" she called out. "Are you alright?"

Critik stared at the new arrival, wondering who he was, when he noticed something. "You should leave little boy. It is clear this is no place for you since you are crying."

Sure enough, tears were rolling down Nikolias' cheeks.

"Is he really crying?" Natsu asked in disbelief. "Why would he be crying, Gracie?"

But Gracie wasn't listening. She was getting a very bad feeling.

"Run along now and you may still live," Critik called out to Nikolias. "Stay and I have no choice but to kill you."

Nikolias began to tremble slightly. "Your fault…" he rasped.

"If you are speaking, I cannot hear you," Critik called out again.

"It's your fault." Nikolias' voice sounded different. It was deeper, raspier, and each word dripped with venom.

"What was my fault?"

"She's hurt…I couldn't protect her…it's your fault…she needed me…it's your fault…she was innocent…it's your fault…"

"You are not making sense."

"You will pay." The darkness in his voice was clear.

"I doubt that." Critik turned around but looked over his shoulder. "Now please leave so that I may carry out my mission."

"You must realize your mistake." Nikolias' voice was beginning to echo.

"I have made no mistakes. I have no interest in you, so leave."

Suddenly, the entire ground began to shake. Everyone stared at the ground as it moved beneath their feet.

"What is this?" Critik asked. He looked back to Nikolias. "What are you doing, boy?"

It was then that Gracie understood. "Holy fuck. EVERYONE RUN!" she called out.

They all turned to look at her.

"We don't run, Gracie. We're Fairy Tail," Erza said. Everyone nodded and smiled, trying to assure Gracie they could win.

"No, none of you understand!" She then turned to look at Nikolias as tears began running down her face. What she saw proved her fears right. "Niky has lost control."

Everyone turned to look at Nikolias and what they saw made them gasp.

Nikolias had looked up and was glaring straight at Critik. But he wasn't looking at him with regular eyes. His eyes were glowing red. His face showed pure rage and his teeth were pointed. His body trembled as the shadows that were pouring from him ceased.

He stood straight up and narrowed his eyes at Critik. "You hurt her. You will pay. You will realize your mistake." He lifted his hand into the air as he roared, "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"