Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Hey guys! Sorry this one took a while but, as you can see, it's very long. Hope that makes up for it.

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! Read at your own risk. There's still original stuff in here, but if you haven't gotten to this point in the anime/manga, then some things may be ruined for you. I advise catching up to the anime/manga if you haven't already (for more reasons than just reading my story)! Thank you and enjoy!

Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon

Chapter 44

Lahar paced back and forth on the deck of his Custody Enforcement ship. "Damn that Doranbolt. What is he thinking taking the communication lacrima and running off? Doesn't he understand the gravity of the situation that we face?"

"Perhaps he doesn't, Head Captain Lahar," one of the soldiers said.

Lahar lifted his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I honestly don't know what has come over him. He's acting so irrationally. He also doesn't seem to understand that by stalling, he's only going to make things worse when we report to the Council."

"But what if Doranbolt's right?" another soldier asked. "An Etherion blast is a little much and we'd be wiping out a guild that hasn't done anything malicious."

Lahar sighed. "Of course I realize that, but you also have to view this from the perspective of the Council. Where we see an innocent guild that just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Council will see a golden opportunity to destroy some of the greatest threats to this world with minimal consequence."

"Head Captain, if I may ask a question?" another soldier asked.

"Go ahead."

"I understand Zeref and Grimoire Heart, but what about this Half-Dragon?" the soldier asked. "Why does the Council want him eliminated?"

Lahar closed his eyes. "They don't need him eliminated. In a perfect world, they lock him away for good where he can't pose a threat. However, since he's on the island with Grimoire Heart and Zeref, the Council will see destroying him alongside the two others as an easy solution to a difficult problem."

"But why pursue him at all?" the soldier asked.

"The Council fears the fact that he's such an unknown," Lahar replied. "No one knows exactly where his loyalties lie, especially since no one has dealt with a Half-Dragon before. As far as the Council is concerned, they view him as a ticking time bomb; any day now, he could destroy everyone and everything."

"Has he done anything to warrant such fears?" the soldier asked.

"Yes, he has. Did you hear about the Magnolia incident a couple of weeks ago?" Lahar asked. "He was the dragon that attacked the town."

"So he has already attacked civilians," the soldier said astounded.

"He has and the Council fears that he'll attack again."

The conversation stopped there, for Doranbolt appeared out of nowhere. He immediately fell onto a box, his face pale and his eyes wide.

"There you are, Doranbolt," Lahar scolded. "I hope you've come to your senses. Now where is the communication lacrima?"

"Still on the island," Doranbolt murmured, his fearful eyes focused on the wooden deck. "I forgot it there."

Lahar sighed loudly. "And why, may I ask, did you forget it?"

"I…I saw Zeref," Doranbolt said.

"Wait, you saw the Dark Wizard Zeref?" Lahar asked. Doranbolt gave a slight nod. "That explains that look on your face. What exactly did you see?"

"He killed one of the Grimoire Heart mages without even lifting a finger."

"So his power is as terrifying as the legends say," Lahar said.

"That's not the worst part," Doranbolt said while holding his head in his hands. "I heard him say Acnologia."

Lahar's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Did you just say…Acnologia?"

"Damn it. How could I allow myself to be so paralyzed by fear?" Doranbolt muttered.

"Get it together man," Lahar commanded. "Are you positive that that was what Zeref said?"

Doranbolt lowered his head. "I'm positive. There's no doubt."

Lahar grit his teeth. "This is not good." He turned around. "ALL TROOPS WITHDRAW IMMEDIATELY! AS OF THIS MOMENT, OUR SURVEY OF TENROU ISLAND IS NEGATED!" Soldiers scrambled about, shouting and relaying orders as the Custody Enforcement Unit prepared to retreat. Lahar looked towards Tenrou Island, the massive Tenrou Tree lying broken in the water. "Acnologia. This can't be happening."

Doranbolt looked up towards the island as the ship began to sail further away. He then looked over to Lahar who was watching Tenrou Island with his hands clenched. "Was this really for the best, Lahar?" Doranbolt asked.

"I have to consider the lives of my soldiers," Lahar responded without turning around. "The only option we had was retreat."

"That's not what I meant!" Doranbolt shouted as he stood up. "What about all of the innocent people that are still on the island! We could have saved them!"

"Look, I can see how close you've become to Fairy Tail and I can relate," Lahar said as he turned to face Doranbolt. "There was a time when I thought the same as you, but there comes a time when you need to wake up and realize how naïve such thinking really is."

"How is it naïve to want to save innocent lives?" Doranbolt cried.

"Sometimes justice calls for…"

"Would you stop with that justice bullshit?" Doranbolt yelled. "Call it what it is, Lahar. We're running away!"

Lahar closed his eyes. "You're upset and not thinking logically. You feel guilty and you're lashing out at me. If that will ease your mind, then by all means get it all out of your system."

Doranbolt took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I don't feel it's your fault. It's just that I don't know how to make things right."

Lahar looked back towards the island. "In the end, sometimes you can't make things right. You just have to live with what's happened and try to focus on the good, even if it's too small to see."


Hades stood out on the deck of his ship, looking out at the pouring rain. "I never would have imagined it. Not only have my Seven Kin been defeated, but even Bluenote fell to the fairies. I must give you credit, Makarov; you trained your children much better than I would have thought. I can see that my decision to make you the next guild master was a wise one at the time. Still, play time is over. Fairies have no hope of defeating Devils and I will personally exterminate the fairies that my team was too weak to kill." He grinned as he watched a small group approach his ship from the forest's edge. "I will take great pleasure in furthering your suffering, Fairy Tail."


"C'mon, kick it into gear, slow pokes!" Gracie called out as she ran towards Grimoire Heart's ship with the rest of the attack group in tow.

Natsu was right beside her. "Yeah, what she said! We've got some revenge to dish out."

"Gracie, you shouldn't push yourself," Erza said. "Your leg is still in bad shape."

"Same with you, Natsu," Lucy warned. "Take it easy. We're not exactly rested up right now."

"I don't care," Natsu said. "I just wanna beat the shit out of Hades. That's all I care about."

"I'm actually with Natsu here," Gray said. "I want to get some hits in as soon as possible so that we can end this nightmare."

"Hey everybody!" Happy called out from up ahead where he was flying with Carla and Lily. "The ship is right there. We made it."

Natsu pumped his fist. "Alright. Let's get started."

The small group burst through the forest's edge, a looming airship resting in the water before them. Their gazes immediately went to the top of the ship where they saw a tall, white haired man with a long beard standing confidently with crossed arms on the deck of his ship, his black cape billowing in the stormy winds.

"So Fairy Tail has come at last," Hades called out. "I'm guessing you wish for the same treatment that I gave your master?"

"Listen here you old fart," Gracie called up. "You and your little pets have had your fun, but now we're here to repay the favor!"

Hades chuckled. "Quite a mouth on this one. Very well. If you all share her views, then by all means come aboard and face your inevitable destruction." With that, he turned and entered his ship.

"We need a way up there," Gracie said while turning to everyone. "I don't know how we're gonna do it without Niky's wings, though."

Gray smirked. "Oh, I've got this one. We've got to make sure he pays for what he did to Gramps."

"He will pay soon enough," Erza said.

"We need to beat that guy so that Grimoire Heart leaves and the Council won't fire on us," Lucy said.

"Wait back up," Gracie said. "Who's firing on who now?"

Lucy scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously. "Yeah, we may have forgotten to mention that the Magic Council may be firing an Etherion blast at us if we can't defeat Grimoire Heart."

"No way. An Etherion blast?" Erza asked in fear, recalling the power of the Council's weapon from the Tower of Heaven.

"I don't know what that is, but I'm taking it that it's not a good thing," Gracie sighed.

"It's a highly concentrated blast of magic energy," Wendy explained. "It can wipe out entire cities in one hit."

"So win or we're fucked," Gracie summarized. "Awesome. I always liked to have incentives going into fights."

Gray put his right hand in his left palm as ice crystals began to form. "Well we've waited around long enough. Let's get moving. ICE MAKE STAIRS!" Ice shot up towards the deck of the Grimoire Heart ship like a crystal staircase.

"Handy!" Gracie commented.

Natsu turned to Happy. "Hey Happy, I've got a favor to ask you."

"Sure! What is it?" Happy asked.

"I need you to fly through the ship and find what makes this thing move. Once you do, destroy it. Ya think you can do it?" Natsu asked.

Happy lifted his paw. "Aye! I can do it! I guess it would be bad if the ship started moving on you, huh?"

"That's not the point," Natsu mumbled. "I just don't want them getting away."

Gracie giggled. "Natsu, do you get motion sick? That's adorable!"

"Watch it, Gracie!" Natsu barked.

"We're getting off topic here," Erza said. "We need to move."

"Right. Let me use my Troia spell just in case," Wendy said as she quickly applied her magic to Natsu to prevent potential motion sickness.

"We'll go with Happy as well," Carla said.

Lily trembled and plugged his ears as more lightning and thunder rocked the sky, but nodded. "We're on it. You can count on us."

"Alright, we have a game plan!" Gracie said as she began bounding up the steps. "Time to kick some ass!" Everyone followed her up the stairs.

"Good luck!" Happy called out as he, Carla, and Lily went off to search for another entrance.

"Alright everyone, listen up," Erza said. "We need to keep in mind that Hades' power surpasses that of Master Makarov. When we find him, hit him fast and hit him hard. Don't give him any opportunities to strike back."

"We got this," Lucy said.

"Quick and strong. Sounds like one of my strategies with Niky," Gracie said with a smile.

"We're taking him down!" Natsu roared as he leapt the rest of the stairs, his right fist ablaze. Once he cleared the lip of the deck and saw Hades waiting, he cocked back his fist. "I've got a message from Master Makarov!" Natsu roared as he threw forward his fist, releasing a jet of powerful flames. "Choke on it!"


Freed sheathed his rapier. "That should take care of that." He looked to Levy who was on her knees, aiding Freed in his rune writing. "Make sure you check every detail twice, Levy. If there's even the smallest hole, these runes will be useless."

"You got it," Levy nodded, taking a moment to look to Gajeel. "I promise, I'll protect you."

"What was that, Levy?" Freed asked.

Levy blushed and looked back at her runes. "Nothing. I didn't say anything."

Lisanna sat in front of Elfman, having just finished re-bandaging his wounds. "There! All done. You should lie down now, big brother."

Elfman shook his head. "I can't take this lying down crap anymore. I'm going to help keep an eye on the camp."

Lisanna had a mischievous grin. "You know, while you were sleeping, you kept saying Evergreen's name."

Elfman turned a deep shade of red. "It's not like that! I was just concerned for my partner's safety! That's what a man does!"

"Geez, I was just kidding!" Lisanna laughed while playfully punching Elfman. Of course, with his injuries, it felt more like a wrecking ball and he was immediately on the ground in immense pain. "Oops. Sorry!"

"Could you guys get serious?" Bickslow asked as he walked back into camp, his babies echoing his statement.

"Where have you been?" Lisanna asked.

Bickslow pointed behind him with a grin. "I was taking care of our glasses-wearing friend. Had to get rid of him in case he used some kind of Body Link magic to reveal our location, so I sent him down river."

Freed nodded and smiled. "That was good thinking, Bickslow."

Levy looked up at Freed. "You and Bickslow should rest up while I finish here."

"You kidding?" Bickslow asked. "After dealing with Grimoire Heart, this is nothing." Suddenly, Bickslow's eyes went wide as the Japanese character for PIERCE shot through his stomach from behind.

"Bickslow!" Freed cried as his friend fell to the ground.

"No, it can't be," Levy murmured. "That's Eastern Solid Script magic."

Everyone looked past Bickslow's body to see a goat-like man and a chicken-like man laughing.

"Who are they?" Lisanna asked.

"These are the two that Gajeel faced," Levy said. "I thought he beat them."

"It takes more than what you've got to beat us!" Kawazu shouted as he fired hundreds of eggs into the air, letting them fall to the ground like small bombs all around the Fairy Tail mages. "HEAVY EGG RAIN!"

Levy was able to put up a guard just in time with her Solid Script magic. "This isn't good."

"They must have found a way to trace our whereabouts," Freed said as he put a hand on his rapier's handle.

Yomazu grinned as his right hand flew through the air, creating multiple signs. "Normally, I fight with more battle etiquette, but such considerations are meaningless to a warrior who has lost his blade!" He pointed forward with his hand, sending out multiple runes that dispelled Levy and Freed's runes.

"No, the enchantments!" Levy cried. "He erased them!"

"Protect the injured!" Freed commanded.

"You got it," Elfman said. Suddenly, a beam of light crashed into Elfman's side, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Lisanna whipped around to see a large, white, fat man standing on the edge of the camp. "More of Grimoire Heart?"

"If we don't beat you, Master Hades will be very angry!" Kain shouted.

"And we have no intention of letting him down," Yomazu said as he and Kawazu charged.

"And thanks to all of the damage you've done to our guild, we'll be promoted to the Seven Kin of Purgatory once we've erased you all from existence!" Kawazu cawed.

"We won't let you hurt anyone else!" Levy cried as she prepared to defend against the new opponents.

"Wait, Levy. Rewrite the enchantments first," Freed said.

"But Freed…," Levy began.

"Get up, Bickslow," Freed interrupted. "Take them down."

"Man you're bossy," Bickslow said as he pushed himself to his feet. "Eh, whatever. I wanna take these guys down anyway. Just leave everything to me. Go, babies!" Bickslow's dolls charged forward, crashing into Kawazu's head multiple times from behind and knocking him to the ground.

Yomazu stopped once he heard Kawazu go down. "This guy uses Seith magic?" He raised his hand. "Well, if that's the case, PROTECT!" Yomazu quickly wrote the character for PROTECT in the air, creating a barrier that prevented Bickslow's dolls from getting through to him.

Meanwhile, Lisanna used her Take Over magic to transform into her Tigress form. She leapt at Kain and slashed him over and over again with her claws.

"Ow! Stop that! That hurts!" Kain then thrust his palm at Lisanna, hitting her fully and pushing her away. She still managed to land gracefully on her feet.

"How is this guy so tough?" Lisanna wondered out loud.

"Of course I'm tough!" Kain said with a big grin while holding up his doll. "I reinforced myself."

"Wait, what?" Lisanna asked, completely confused with what was going on.

"This is Mr. Cursey II," Kain explained. "I had to go to my spare after a stupid blue cat stole my other Mr. Cursey."

"Mr. Cursey II?" Lisanna repeated.

Kain nodded while holding up a white hair in his other hand. "Yep! And because I'm so powerful, I've already snagged one of your pretty little hairs."

Lisanna readied herself, knowing full well that something bad was going to happen. Why else would he be so excited to get a hold of one of her hairs?

Kain stuck the hair into his doll's head while removing his own. "I hate being defeated, but it taught me a lot. Mr. Cursey II, turn to iron!" Upon command, Mr. Cursey II's entire body became iron.

Lisanna braced herself, but felt no changes. "Huh?"

Kain stood proudly. "Now listen. I'm a forgiving man, so if you want to get back together with me, then I'll accept."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lisanna shot at him.

"Is that a no? Well then, I have no choice. I learned this from the last guy who defeated me," Kain said as he went into a wind up. "Now, METALLIC ROCKET II!" Kain went through the throwing motion, but held onto Mr. Cursey II. Instead, a completely iron Elfman went barreling towards Lisanna.

"Big brother?" Lisanna said in confusion as she managed to dodge at the last second.

"Look out, Lisanna!" Elfman cried as his body went flying through the air, whizzing past Lisanna as Kain directed his body with Mr. Cursey II.

"Isn't sibling love wonderful?" Kain asked while dancing with his doll, forcing Elfman to fly through the air. After multiple attempts, Elfman's body finally struck Lisanna, forcing her out of her Tigress form. Kain then stopped controlling Elfman, allowing him to drop head first to the ground. "Ooo, that hurt," Kain said with a laugh before taking an offensive stance, his smile fading completely. "Now listen here. Just because you're the small fries doesn't mean I won't go all out to destroy you. You need to learn what happens when you mess with the Seven Kin of Purgatory."

Lisanna found it difficult to move, but kept trying. "We won't lose. We'll keep fighting. That's what Fairy Tail is all about!"

Back with Bickslow, he was finding that fighting Yomazu and Kawazu by himself was challenging. Their teamwork was solid and they could fairly easily block his attacks. He smiled. "You guys are definitely a challenge, I'll give you that."

The two laughed. "Grimoire Heart shouldn't be messed with," Kawazu bawked.

"And now you die!" Yomazu said.

However, before they could make a move, several magic cards shot towards them, forcing them to leap away. The two looked behind Bickslow with surprise. Even Bickslow was surprised by the attack as he, too, turned around.

Standing on shaky legs, cards in hand, was Cana. "I've had just about enough of you dicks. Not only do you disrupt the Trials, but you hurt my friends? I'll never let you get away with that."

Freed walked past Cana. "Cana, I shall fight beside Bickslow. You aid Lisanna in her battle."

"What about the enchantments?" Cana asked.

Freed stood next to Bickslow. "The minimal level of defense has been enabled. Right now, our true focus should be throwing away this trash." He looked to Bickslow. "Are you ready?"

"Of course!" Bickslow said.

Freed returned his gaze to his opponents. "Well they certainly don't look too tough. We should be able to handle this with relative ease."

On the other side of camp, Lisanna was trying to keep Kain away from Elfman, but she was low on energy. Kain easily landed a strong palm attack before lifting her up by her leg. He smiled. "You sure are looking bad. I think it's time I finish you off. Don't worry, I'll make it quick so that you don't have to suffer."

Suddenly, a blast of fire collided with Kain's back, forcing him to drop Lisanna. Lisanna looked up and was shocked by what she saw. "Cana!"

"Hot, hot, hot! Why did you do that?" Kain complained.

"It's what you get for being so cocky," Cana shot at him. "Don't think you've won this fight."

Kain snarled at her and charged. "I'll show you!"

Cana whipped out more cards. "CARD MAGIC! SUMMONED LIGHTNING!" Bolts of lightning shot from the cards and electrocuted Kain.

"Stop!" Kain complained. "That tickles!"

"Wait, what?" Cana said. "How is that doing nothing?"

Kain held up his doll. "Mr. Cursey II here is a generator. SELF REINFORCEMENT! LIGHTNING BOLT!"

Cana threw more cards at Kain that burst into flames as they traveled. "Try this then!"

Kain leapt into the air and began to float. "Too easy to dodge with Mr. Cursey II becoming cotton!"

Cana quickly reacted as soon as Kain dodged. She threw a card on the ground. "PRAYER'S FOUNTAIN!" From the card, a powerful jet of water shot out and collided with Kain. "How about a little bath?"

"No! If cotton gets wet, it'll absorb the water and get heavy!" Kain cried as he quickly plummeted to the ground.

"I'm not done! Go, ICICLE!" From her cards, massive icicles shot towards Kain.

"SELF REINFORCEMENT! HEAT!" Kain shouted as the icicles melted on his body before they could do damage. "Two women fighting over me? My, I don't think this has happened since high school!"

"Get a grip on reality!" Cana shouted as she felt a shiver run down her spine. Suddenly, a metal, 3D version of the word IRON fell onto Kain's face. Cana turned around. "Levy!"

"Is this guy a problem?" Levy asked.

"Not really," Cana said with a smile.

Lisanna managed to stand. "We'll take this guy out together and teach him a lesson."

Kain shook off the attack and stomped the ground. "So three ladies want to date me? This is even better than high school, but unfortunately, I can only date one of you. I'm old fashioned that way." He leapt forward and slammed the ground with his meaty palm, trying to squash the three women. He followed up by charging the three, thrusting his palms out as he charged. "So whoever survives will be the one who can date me!"

"As if!" Levy cried. "SOLID SCRIPT! HOLE!" The word HOLE appeared on the ground before Kain stepped on it, causing him to fall into the pit.

"Nice one!" Cana complimented as she whipped out more cards and threw them into the hole. "EXPLOSIVE FLAMES!" The hole became filled with powerful flames that engulfed Kain.

Once the flames died down, Lisanna leapt above Kain. "TAKE OVER! PENGUIN!" Lisanna turned into a massive penguin that descended towards Kain. However, before she could land, Kain managed to somehow switch places with an injured Elfman, causing Lisanna's attack to crush Elfman instead. She immediately left her transformation. "Elfman? How did you get there?"

"So…heavy…," was all that Elfman could say.

Kain laughed as he floated towards the group like a ghost. "Did you like that? I call it Self Reinforcement Overlap. I put a hair from my head and someone else's head into Mr. Cursey III and I'm able to switch bodies with the other person. Pretty neat, huh? And now you're screwed because I self reinforced into a mist!" However, he was stopped midway by an invisible barrier and fell to the ground. "What the heck?" He looked down at the ground as his body returned to normal, noticing runes written all over the ground. "No fair! You tricked me!"

Cana smiled at Levy. "Care to explain this?"

Levy giggled. "Freed had a feeling this might happen so we set up these enchantments before the fighting started. He's pretty insightful." Levy looked at the struggling Kain who was scratching against his rune cage. "This nifty little enchantment keeps wizards from using their magic."

"Very nice," Cana complimented.

"Should we finish this guy off now?" Levy asked.

Cana whipped out her cards. "Yeah let's do this together!

Levy sent out the word STORM while Cana threw out her cards. "Lisanna!" the two cried simultaneously.

Lisanna was in the air, her arms now bird wings as she caught the two attacks in her wings. "Flames in my right wing and storms in my left! TRIPLE UNISON! EXPLOSION!" Lisanna flapped her wings together, combining the attacks into a powerful tornado of fire and wind. The attack collided with Kain, creating a fiery explosion that engulfed a large area, and sent Kain flying.

Yomazu and Kawazu watched Kain fly overhead. "So he lost, huh?" Kawazu squawked.

"Yeah, but that's good news for us," Yomazu smiled. "It's a better chance of getting promoted."

"You two are forgetting a small yet important bit of information," Bickslow spoke up. "To get promoted, you'd actually have to beat us and that'll never happen."

Yomazu laughed as he made signs in the air with his hand. "We'll just see. SLICE!" he roared as he wrote the character for SLICE. The character slashed through the air and headed straight for Freed.

Freed huffed as he unsheathed his rapier. "You think writing of such a weak caliber can even touch me?" He raised his rapier to block the attack. The character crashed into his rapier, but was rendered ineffective. Freed glared at his opponent from behind his blade. "My talents go far beyond just defensive enchantments, you know."

"Is that so?" Yomazu sneered.

"I suppose we were afraid of Grimoire Heart for nothing," Freed said as runes appeared in the air in front of him. "Your talents seem to have been exaggerated. But by all means, try again. You'll only fail."

"SLICE!" Yomazu shouted as once again, the character for SLICE appeared and rushed towards Freed.

"You never learn," Freed sighed. "DECHANTMENT!" Purple runes surrounded Freed, completely negating the attack. "Your writing is useless now."

Yomazu smiled. "You don't even see the flaw in your enchantments, do you? It's long and complicated. Mine is fast, versatile, and simplistic. Here, I'll demonstrate so that you can understand! ROAR!" Yomazu quickly wrote the character for ROAR in the air, sending out powerful sound waves that shook Freed's runes.

Freed fought with all of his strength, but ultimately the Roar shattered his barrier. "What? He managed to break through?"

Yomazu quickly fired another Slice at Freed. With his barrier down, the attack easily hit its mark and knocked Freed to the ground. He laughed. "You're not as smart as I would have thought. Your runes couldn't defend against my attack because 'roar' is both a noun and a verb!"

"I see," Freed said as he stood back up. "Plus, you strengthened one character with another. An interesting tactic that I didn't predict, but you don't seem to understand that true expression comes from gathering words together to form a structure of ideas!"

Yomazu tilted his head. "Wait, you're still fighting over whose writing is more efficient?" He looked over to Kawazu. "I hope your opponent is far less irritating, Kawazu."

"Not particularly," Kawazu said.

Bickslow snickered. "You're only saying that because you know I'll wipe the floor with you. Let's go, babies! BARYON FORMATION!" His dolls formed a ring and began to spin, charging magic power in the center before firing it as a powerful beam at Kawazu.

"EGG WALL!" Kawazu clucked as he fired dozens of eggs in front of him that almost immediately exploded and stuck together, forming a wall of massive whites and yolks.

"That's the weirdest defense I think I've ever seen," Bickslow said.

"It's also a great way to get back our strength!" Elfman roared as he ran over to Bickslow, having finally recovered from his fall against Kain. He leapt at the Egg Wall and began to devour the eggs. "Time to restore my magic power!"

"Hey! Stop eating my wall!" Kawazu clucked.

"Yeah, seriously. That's gross, dude," Bickslow said.

Elfman wiped his mouth after filling his stomach. "What's it matter? I feel a lot better after eating all of that protein." He smiled at Kawazu. "Now I can show you how a real man fights!"

"I am a real man!" Kawazu protested. "Take this! EGG BUSTER!" Dozens of eggs shot at Bickslow from Kawazu's beak.

Bickslow leapt out of the way as Elfman leapt over him. "I'll show you just how wrong you are, chicken! BEAST ARM! IRON BULL!" Elfman's arm became metal as he cocked back his fist.

"PROTECT!" Yomazu cried, sending the character for PROTECT in front of Kawazu. The character became a barrier that completely blocked Elfman's punch. "SLICE!" He then wrote the character for SLICE and sent it towards Elfman. The attack connected, slashing through Elfman and causing him to fall to the ground behind Freed and Bickslow.

"Take it easy, man," Bickslow said. "You're not as 100% as you seem to think."

"I don't give a damn," Elfman panted. "I may not have enough magic power for a Full Body Take Over, but all I need is this one arm. This one arm that has caused so much pain to those I care for will also be the arm that beats these animals down!"

"Very well, we fight as one," Freed said. "I'll give you the chance to make it up to Evergreen."

Yomazu and Kawazu charged the three. "If you're done with the pep talk, I think it's time to finish you off!" Kawazu cried.

"Yeah, get ready to beg us for mercy!" Yomazu shouted.

Freed raised his rapier. "DARK ECRITURE! PAIN!" He swiped his rapier, sending out purple runes that rushed towards Kawazu like beams.

"Alright, babies, let's do this!" Bickslow cried. His five dolls cheered as they rushed towards Kawazu. As they traveled, each doll became enveloped in Freed's attack, giving them extra speed and power.

"EGG BUSTER!" Kawazu cried, firing dozens of eggs in an effort to counter. However, even though the eggs exploded as they hit their mark, the dolls wouldn't be stopped. They easily broke through the counter and slammed into Kawazu's body.

With Kawazu dazed, Elfman leapt up and cocked back his Iron Bull arm.

"Look out, Kawazu!" Yomazu warned, but he wasn't able to protect Kawazu this time, for Freed leapt towards him, now in his Absolute Shadow form. He made to land a flying kick to Yomazu, but the goat samurai was able to react in time. "PROTECT!" he shouted as the character for PROTECT managed to appear in front of him in time to prevent the kick from landing.

However, because Yomazu was preoccupied, Elfman was able to land a powerful punch to Kawazu's head, sending him crashing to the ground.

Yomazu grit his teeth. "You'll pay for that. Now it's my turn!" He pushed Freed off with his barrier before quickly writing the character for PIERCE in the air. "PIERCE!" he cried as magic energy pierced Freed.

Freed cried out in pain as he felt the attack tear through his armor and his skin, forcing him out of his Absolute Shadow. However, when the armor faded, Yomazu could see that he was smiling. "I must commend your timing," Freed said as he fell towards the ground. "Finish him off for me, would you?"

From behind Freed's falling body, Elfman appeared, right arm cocked back. "Time for you to go down!"

Yomazu was caught completely off guard. "Wait, where'd you come from?" was all that Yomazu could say before Elfman landed a powerful punch that sent him flying through the air.

Lisanna, Levy, and Cana, who watched the fight after depleting their magic power against Kain, ran over to the three. "You did it!" Lisanna cheered.

Elfman, Freed, and Bickslow all sat on the ground, panting. "I'm beat," Elfman said.

"Anyone else for a nap?" Bickslow asked.

"We all should rest up once we've officially removed our enemies from the camp," Freed said. "We should all be proud, for we have protected the injured."

"Yeah," Elfman said as he looked towards the still sleeping forms of his sister, Evergreen, Gajeel, and Makarov. "We did it. And I can finally say that I successfully protected you for once."


Hades held up his hand and easily parted the flames from Natsu's attack. "You'll have to do better than that, boy!" Suddenly, Hades could make out three figures through the flames. "What?"

Erza quickly requipped into her Black Wing Armor. "MOON FLASH!" she cried as she slashed the air with her sword, sending arcs of bright light in a cross pattern towards Hades.

Gray put his right hand in his left palm. "COLD EXCALIBUR!" he cried, creating a massive sword of ice. He then proceeded to swing the massive ice sword at Hades.

Gracie summoned her halberd. "I don't use magic so…HEEYAH!" she yelled while swinging the black axe head down at Hades.

The three attacks hit their mark as the three landed on the opposite side of Hades. Hades stood, awestruck that they even got that close.

Lucy lifted one of her keys. "OPEN GATE OF THE GOLDEN BULL! TAURUS!" In a flash of light, Taurus appeared before Lucy. He leapt in the air and swung his massive axe down at Hades. However, Hades was able to block the attack with his arms.

Wendy became shrouded in magic power. "ARMS! ARMOR! VERNIER!" she cried as Erza, Gracie, and Gray took to the air and shot towards Hades with increased power, defense, and speed.

Hades leapt away from Taurus and prepared for the next onslaught. He dodged Erza's strike, leapt away from Gracie's blow, and ducked under Gray's Cold Excalibur. Gray followed up his attack by swinging his ice sword down, creating a powerful icy blast where it connected with the wooden floor.

Hades leapt from the mist just as Erza appeared behind him, attempting to slash through his back. He managed to react in time and leap away. "You're quite nimble, aren't you?" he shouted while sending out one of his magic chains to grab onto Erza's neck. He then swung the chain, forcing Erza to crash into Gray.

Gracie was on the ground and dashing at incredible speed towards Hades. She swung her halberd mercilessly, performing incredibly complex combinations that had Hades completely off balance. He couldn't read or predict her movements. He made one final leap and sent out more of his chains towards Gracie. However, she was always quick on her feet and was able to leap out of harm's way.

Hades had no time to catch his breath, though, for he quickly noticed someone approaching from above.

Natsu's body was ablaze as he descended towards Hades. Fire extended from Natsu's arms as he swung them down towards Hades with incredible force. "FIRE DRAGON WING ATTACK!"

The attack was easily avoided, though, as Hades flipped through the air, sending another one of his chains at Natsu's head. It struck him in the back of his skull, allowing Hades to whip him around like a rag doll.

However, Erza was back on her feet, now in her Japanese cloth armor. She swung her blade at the chain, severing it with ease and freeing Natsu.

Gray stood where Natsu was headed and created a massive ice hammer. "Natsu!"

Natsu immediately repositioned his body so that he could plant his feet flat on the hammer's head. "You got it!"

"Get in there!" Gray cried as he swung his hammer, sending Natsu rocketing towards Hades. Natsu lit his body ablaze as he flew.

As soon as Natsu pushed off, Wendy took a deep breath. "SKY DRAGON ROAR!" A powerful tornado of wind shot towards Natsu's feet.

"OPEN GATE OF THE SCORPION! SCORPIO!" Lucy cried as Scorpio appeared before her.

"Right! SAND BUSTER!" Scorpio cried as a tornado of sand shot after Natsu. His Sand Buster also fused with Wendy's Sky Dragon Roar as the two attacks wrapped around Natsu, immensely increasing his power and speed as he spun in the vortex.

Hades' eyes widened. "Impossible. They performed a Unison Raid?"

"This is for Gramps!" Natsu roared. "FIRE DRAGON SWORD HORN!" Natsu rocketed into Hades' abdomen, landing a powerful headbutt that knocked the wind out of Hades and sent him crashing into the back wall of the room.

Gracie pumped her fist. "Alright! We got him!"

"Excellent teamwork everyone," Erza complimented.

Natsu panted as he got to his feet. "That'll show him."

A dark chuckle sounded from across the room. "I do believe that young ones refer to their mistakes as life experiences," Hades said as he walked towards the group like nothing had happened. "However, I never understood that because there are some mistakes that are nothing more than mistakes, for there is no coming back from them. This would be an example of the latter. Opposing me was foolish and that mistake will cost you your lives."

"No way," Lucy breathed. "How is he standing after that?"

"He doesn't even have a scratch," Wendy said, her eyes filled with fear.

"You've gotta be freaking kidding!" Gray shouted. "We poured everything we had into those attacks!"

"His magic power increased somehow. How do we beat someone with such crazy high magic power?" Natsu asked as he felt an even more intense wave of fear wash over him; fear that far surpassed what he felt when facing Gildarts.

Gracie grit her teeth. "Guess we're not done yet. Doesn't matter to me; I'm always willing to make evil people suffer more. I'm not gonna get discouraged and I'm not giving up!"

"You have an exceptionally high spirit," Hades remarked. "Well, now that I'm all warmed up, why don't I see if I can crush that spirit of yours?"

"I'd like to see you try," Gracie spat.

Hades smirked. "Very well then. Time to get serious." Suddenly, the very air seemed to shake as the Fairy Tail mages could feel an increased pressure in the air. They all stood, fear in their eyes, preparing for whatever would come their way. Hades then focused his attention fully on Wendy, locking his gaze with hers. He widened his eyes and released a powerful cry that echoed in the room of the ship.

Wendy could feel a strange pressure approaching her body as she stood frozen in fear.

And then she was gone, nothing but her clothes remaining behind.

"WENDY!" Natsu cried.

"No!" Gracie shouted as she whipped her attention towards Hades. "You son of a bitch! What did you do to Wendy?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about her if I were you," Hades said. "Her death was a mercy kill. She got off easy. As for the rest of you, you will all join her soon, but be warned; each of your deaths will be more gruesome than the one before."

"This isn't real," Natsu said as he clenched his fists. "Wendy can't be gone!"

"'Don't worry, I'm fine!'" came a strange voice from above. "'I'm up here!' she exclaimed with relief."

Everyone looked up to see Lucy's clock spirit, Horologium, clinging to the ceiling of the ship.

"The hell is that?" Gracie asked, taken aback by the grandfather clock that had randomly appeared.

"Horologium!" Lucy cried. "He's one of my spirits."

"Ah, okay. Still don't get what's going on," Gracie said.

"Horologium saved Wendy," Lucy explained. "That's the important part."

"Really? Nice!" Gracie exclaimed.

"Good save," Gray said.

"Thank God," Natsu said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad I got here when I did," Horologium said. "My automatic danger detection mode activated just in time for me to save this girl."

"I think this 'automatic danger detection mode' needs a rework. Do you know how many times I've needed help throughout this whole thing?" Lucy asked with slight annoyance in her voice.

"But your life was never truly in danger," Horologium explained. "'Oh, thank you for saving me, Horologium! That was too close,' she said graciously."

"Why does he keep saying what Wendy would say?" Gracie asked.

"It's not important right now," Lucy said. "I'll explain later."

"Fine, but I have one more question," Gracie said as she poked at Wendy's clothes with her halberd's tip. "Why are Wendy's clothes here?"

"I only had time to protect her physical body," Horologium explained. "'Ah!' she screams in embarrassment. Don't worry; I will provide her with new clothing."

"Thank you for your assistance," Erza said.

"I'm happy to aid you, but be warned; this is the last time that I will be able to offer assistance so please, be extra careful," Horologium said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Wendy, now in her new clothes, dropped to the floor and stared down Hades.

Hades chuckled. "I must admit, I am impressed that you were able to survive. Makarov's Fairy Tail certainly is fortunate. At least I will be thoroughly entertained when destroying you."

"How do you know Gramps?" Natsu asked.

"You mean to say that he never mentioned me? Well, I suppose I'm not surprised," Hades said. "You see, I was Fairy Tail's second guild master. I was known as Precht then and I was the one who appointed Makarov as the third guild master."

"How dare you say such a thing!" Natsu roared as he charged at Hades. "That's a disgrace to the Fairy Tail name! Gramps would never have anything to do with a monster like you!"

Hades looked disinterested as he lifted his right hand, a dark purple orb appearing from his raised index and middle fingers. He then pointed the orb at Natsu. "AMATERASU!" The orb released waves of magic that wrapped around Natsu before exploding.

"Natsu, no!" Lucy cried.

Hades then moved the orb so that it was pointed at the other Fairy Tail mages. Once again, the orb released waves of magic that exploded around the mages. This move acted as nothing more than a smokescreen, though, for while the Fairy Tail mages were still bracing themselves from the explosion and smoke, Hades sent out his magic chains that grabbed onto the wrists of Lucy, Erza, and Gracie. The chains pulled the three together before wrapping tightly around them. Then, with a snap of his fingers, the chains exploded, causing the three women to scream in pain as they fell to the ground.

"I'm not done with you!" Natsu shouted as he ran at Hades again.

Hades made finger guns and used his bullet magic to fire a projectile of magic. The shot hit Natsu in the leg, causing him to fall to his knees. Hades smirked. "That was rather enjoyable." He aimed his finger guns at Gray and Wendy, firing bullets that hit Gray in the stomach and Wendy in the arm. The two hunched over in pain. Hades laughed as he fired bullet after bullet at every member in rapid succession. "Don't you see how foolish it was to challenge me? This is nothing more than child's play!"

Despite the pain from the bullets, Gracie stood with her halberd gripped tightly in her hands. She took the deepest, calmest breath she could as the bullets collided with her body. She then lifted her halberd, spun it over her head, and screamed, "YOU WON'T BREAK ME!" She then began swinging her halberd with remarkable speed, knocking away almost every bullet that came her way. However, due to fatigue and injuries, some bullets still hit their mark, but she wouldn't slow down or stop.

Hades chuckled. "I can see that your spirit is truly hard to break." He then fired a large bullet at Gracie that exploded as soon as it connected with her swinging weapon. With a cry, she fell to the ground. "I suppose I will just have to break your body first." He laughed as he looked at all of the injured bodies of the Fairy Tail mages lying motionless on the ground.


Happy, Carla, and Lily continued to roam the halls of the Grimoire Heart ship. Happy lead the way with Carla right behind him. Lily, however, lagged behind as the sound of lightning outside had him shaking with fear.

"Hurry up, or you'll be left behind!" Carla called behind her.

"I know, I'm going as fast as I can," Lily responded with a shaky voice.

Happy took a turn down another hall. "Let's try here next."

Carla nodded while following him. "Alright, but we need to hurry. Who knows how bad things are for the others?"


Hades slowly walked towards Natsu. "I have to say, I was hoping that you would have put up more of a fight. I was looking forward to stretching out a little more. However," he paused in front of Natsu to step on his head, "it looks like it's all over for you now."

"It's never over," Gracie groaned as she tried desperately to sit up, but her body just wouldn't respond.

Hades hummed while continuing to step on Natsu's head. "Such an attitude furthers my belief that handing the guild over to Makarov was my greatest mistake."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Natsu growled.

"Makarov changed the guild by bringing magic out of the darkness where it belongs and into the light," Hades said.

"That's how we do things in our Fairy Tail," Natsu said while pushing back against Hades' foot. "If you don't like it then too bad! We aren't heartless like you and your guild. We live everyday to the fullest. So you can stay in the darkness if you want, but all it means is that you're too cowardly to try to change anything!"

"Another one with a mouth," Hades said while pointing his finger gun at Natsu. "I'm afraid you'll have to be punished for such disrespectful remarks." He then fired magic bullets at point blank into Natsu's body, causing the Dragon Slayer to cry out in pain with every shot.

"Natsu!" Gray said weakly.

"Leave him alone!" Lucy cried.

Hades continued to fire the bullets. "I don't see why your anger is being directed at me. If you wish to be angry, be angry at Makarov, for it is because of him that you will perish right here and now in such an agonizing fashion."

"Leave him alone!" Erza demanded.

"If you want to punish someone for their mouth, take it out on me!" Gracie challenged as she got to her hands and knees. "Just stop hurting him!"

Hades paused momentarily to fire a single bullet at Gracie, hitting her in the arm and forcing her to fall back to the ground. "In due time, girl. First, I must take care of this one."

Natsu slowly began pushing himself off of the ground. "I swear I will make you pay for hurting Gramps. I…"

"Will die a horrible death," Hades interrupted while charging another large bullet, similar to the one he fired at Gracie only even bigger.

"Please don't kill him!" Lucy wailed as the trip to Freesia Town replayed in her head, remembering when Lord Nato almost killed Natsu. "Please don't kill him! Someone, please help! Nikolias, where are you?"

And then suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Hades in the arm before he could fire the bullet. Hades winced in pain and stepped back as the bolt of lightning moved in between him and Natsu.

The bolt of lightning started to fade and everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing.

It was Laxus.

Laxus stared down Hades, lightning dancing around his body. "So this is the guy who took down Gramps?"

"Laxus," Natsu said with a smile. He was relieved to see his fellow Dragon Slayer appear to help when they needed it most.

Hades' eyes widened. "Impossible. It couldn't be…the boy?"

Laxus roared before striking Hades in the head with his own lightning-charged head, sending him sprawling to the floor. "No one messes with Gramps or Fairy Tail. You got that, old timer?"

"Laxus, you're here!" Gracie cheered as energetically as she could, but it sounded more like a child waking up from a nap.

Laxus quickly scanned the area. "So why are you six the only ones fighting this guy? Where's everyone else?"

"Some are watching over the wounded. Some people we just don't know where they are," Wendy explained.

"So are Mira, Nikolias, and Gajeel among the wounded then?" Laxus asked.

"Mira and Gajeel are. We have no idea where Niky is," Gracie responded.

Laxus grit his teeth. "So he's off doing god-knows-what? Why wasn't he protecting Mira?"

Gracie was slightly taken aback. "Look, we can discuss this later. Right now, we need to beat this guy with what we have and this is it."

Laxus nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

Hades got to his feet and brushed off some dirt. "I see. You must be a blood relative of Makarov. That would explain why I see so much of him in you."

"Laxus what are you doing here?" Erza asked. "You weren't part of the Trials."

Laxus snickered. "I had a feeling that my services were needed. And it sure seems like I was right. I mean, look at you guys. You got beat so bad you can't even stand up."

Natsu laughed. "No kidding. Glad you came, Laxus."

Laxus' smile faded as his lightning danced around him. "So while I'm here, what do you say I bury you, second guild master? I think you've lived long enough."

Hades became enveloped in a dark magic aura. "Poor Makarov. To think that he would have to deal with such a troublesome lad. I actually feel sorry for him."

"I'm not sure what kind of trick you used to beat Gramps," Laxus growled while squatting low, his lightning intensifying, "but I'm about to show you that it was nothing more than a fluke!" With those words, Laxus vanished in a streak of lightning, quickly repositioning himself behind Hades. Before Hades could even fully turn around, Laxus landed a powerful lightning-packed kick to Hades' face. Laxus quickly followed up with a powerful left hook with a lightning enveloped fist. The hit sent Hades flying, but Laxus wasn't through. He chased after Hades in a flash of lightning, quickly getting next to him and slamming his head into the wooden floor with a lightning enveloped hand.

Laxus tried to follow up with another lightning charged punch, but Hades quickly leapt away to dodge the blow. "You have more skill and courage than I thought. And to think that Makarov was hiding another wizard with such high magic power. You could perhaps rival Gildarts one day. Still, I feel you need much more work to surpass him or the Half-Dragon. And for that matter, you stand no chance against me."

"I don't really care about how powerful you are," Laxus said. "Gramps always said that it didn't matter how powerful an opponent is as long as you stand up to them. Isn't that what's most important, Natsu?"

"He's right!" Natsu rasped. "Laxus will take you down no matter how strong you are!"

"What nonsense," Hades sighed. "Your magic power may have impressed me, but don't get so carried away. If there's anyone in Fairy Tail who could possibly defeat me, it would be the Half-Dragon. That being said, even he would fall to my power."

"You know what? I'm getting a little tired of everyone I meet thinking that Nikolias is so high and mighty," Laxus spat, his lightning crackling around him. "I'm gonna show you just how wrong you are. I'll beat your ass right here, right now."

"Very well," Hades said. "If you believe that highly in your abilities, then show me what you've got."

"With pleasure!" Laxus roared as his lightning intensely danced around him.


"We're getting nowhere fast," Carla said as she, Happy, and a terrified Lily paused in one of the halls. "Clearly going as a group isn't working, so I suggest we split up here and search individually."

"Good idea!" Happy cheered.

"Search individually as in…split up?" Lily asked timidly.

"You scared?" Happy teased.

"Of course not!" Lily shouted as he took off down a hall. "Let's split up!"

Happy and Carla sighed before taking their own routes.

The three Exceeds searched room after room, but came up completely empty. Eventually, they all ran into each other once more and decided to share their findings.

"Any luck?" Happy asked.

"None whatsoever," Carla said. "This ship has far too many doors and most of them are useless."

"What about you, Lily?" Happy asked.

"I didn't find anything either," Lily reported.

"So much for that then," Happy sighed.

"It was worth a shot," Carla said. "We'll just stick together from now on."

The three nodded and continued to search for the ship's power source.


Laxus gathered lightning in his mouth. "LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!" A powerful beam of lightning shout out of Laxus' mouth towards Hades. Hades leapt out of the way, but Laxus chased him around with the Roar.

Hades tried to counter by grabbing hold of Laxus with one of his magic chains, but Laxus easily dodged the attack. However, Hades was able to find a way to use his miss to his advantage by grabbing hold of a large statue in the room. Once the chain grabbed hold, he pulled the brass statue from its pedestal and dragged it towards Laxus.

Laxus was able to feel and hear the statue coming and leapt out of its way. He then leapt at Hades with a lightning-charged fist.

Hades simply held up his hand and sent out a concussive power that pushed Laxus back. Without missing a beat, he made a couple of signs with his hand before trapping Laxus in his magic.

"Shit, is this an Amaterasu formula?" Laxus asked as he observed the purple rings that were above him and holding him down.

"Now die!" Hades cried while activating his magic, causing the Amaterasu formula to explode in a ball of dark purple magic. The very force of this attack sent all of the injured Fairy Tail mages flying further away. He smirked at his success. "The Amaterasu formula drains all who are hit of their strength to move their limbs, leaving them immobilized. Even trying to block it uses so much magic energy that it could kill you. This fight is over now."

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot from the dirt cloud and moved behind Hades. With incredible speed, Laxus directed his body towards Hades and landed a powerful kick to his spine, sending him crashing to the ground. Laxus landed and smirked at Hades. "C'mon, that was just one leg and you're down? How pathetic. If I were to put all of my strength into another attack, it would be far stronger than the simple kick that had you collapsing like the old fool you are."

Gracie's jaw dropped. "Holy shit. How powerful is Laxus?"

"Even I'm surprised by his level of power," Erza said.

Hades stood back up and turned to face Laxus. "You talk big. You're certainly confident, but your skill level is not as high as you think it is." He leapt at Laxus with a ball of magic power in his hand. "YOU CAN'T BEAT ME!"

Laxus leapt at Hades with a lightning enveloped fist. "JUST WATCH ME!"

The two attacks collided, creating a massive explosion.

"Incredible!" Gracie marveled as the dust began to settle.

Laxus and Hades faced off, glaring at each other, before Laxus dropped to one knee.

"Well what is this?" Hades said. "Falling to your knees before me already? I must say I'm surprised. I thought that your bravado would keep you standing just a little longer."

"Laxus!" Natsu cried.

"Get up!" Erza demanded. "Please get up!"

"So he didn't completely avoid that Amaterasu spell," Lucy said as she watched with fear for her fellow guild mate's safety.

Laxus laughed. "You know, I've seen a lot of things as I've traveled, but other than that Gorn bastard, I've never met such a monster." He lowered his head. "I guess I do have a long way to go."

"Stop talking like that!" Natsu roared as he got to his knees.

"Get it together, Laxus!" Gray shouted. "You can't be giving up!"

"I'm pleased to hear that you've realized how greatly our powers differ. I wish you had more time with this realization," Hades said as he lifted his hand, creating a large orb of darkness in his palm, "but this is the end! Prepare to die!" A magic circle appeared behind the orb before it expanded, condensed, and then fired a powerful beam of darkness at the downed Laxus.

"GET UP!" Gracie screamed.

"Move or it'll hit you!" Wendy begged.

"LAXUS!" Gray shouted.

"This bastard took out my grandfather, right?" Laxus asked. "So I will make sure he pays for it big time, even if I'm not the one who gets to do it." Suddenly, Laxus' magic power increased and spread, creating a flash of lightning that blinded everyone. The lightning then shot towards Natsu, enveloping him in its power.

And a moment later, Hades' attack struck Laxus, creating a massive explosion that rocked and broke apart the ship.

Laxus fell through the hole that was created from the attack. He was barely conscious.

"Laxus, no!" Erza cried.

Laxus landed with a thud. "This one's…my treat…Natsu."

Natsu stood up, his head hanging low. "Laxus…" Suddenly, lightning began to dance around his body. "Thanks for the meal."

"What happened to Natsu?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know," Lucy breathed.

Hades raised an eyebrow. "An electric charge? A rather pathetic last effort, don't you think?"

"Not a charge," Laxus said. "I gave him…all of my magic power."

"He did what?" Gray asked.

"He transferred all of his magic power to Natsu," Erza said in shock.

"You can do that?" Gracie asked. "That's a thing?"

"So Natsu ate lightning?" Lucy said, worry in her voice. "But if he eats anything other than fire, he'll get really sick!"

"So if what you're saying is right, Erza, then that means that Laxus didn't have any magic power left when he was hit," Gray said.

"He risked his life to help us win," Wendy said.

"Laxus, why give it to me?" Natsu asked. "You're so much stronger than me."

Laxus gave a weak laugh. "It's got nothing to do with that, moron. I took too much damage from that Amaterasu spell and I can't really feel one of my legs. There was no way I was going to be able to move let alone fight. Plus, you've got more heart than anyone I know. Even if you're down, you get back up. I think that fire inside of you grew once you got closer to Nikolias and learned from him. Now go, Natsu. Kick this guy's ancient ass for Gramps and Fairy Tail."

Natsu nodded. "You got it." Natsu's flames erupted around him while the lightning danced around it, causing the very ground to shake. Natsu glared at Hades with rage-filled eyes. "You're gonna pay big time!"

"No way," Wendy breathed. "A lightning flame dragon!"

"Two elements at once," Gracie smiled while shaking her head. "What Niky wouldn't give to see something like this."

"This is almost like when he ate that shard of Etherion back at the Tower of Heaven," Erza said, recalling the power it gave Natsu and the pain it put him through.

Natsu gave a mighty roar, one that could rival a dragon, before shooting like a rocket at Hades. The Grimoire Heart master didn't even have time to blink before a flaming, electrified fist struck him in the face, pushing him straight into a wall. Natsu then quickly redirected his body and, with a flame and lightning enveloped foot, struck the top of Hades' head, leaving behind red hot flames.

Hades quickly brushed off the flames, but as soon as he did, a powerful bolt of lightning struck him, electrifying him and causing him to roar in pain.

"This is what happens to anyone who dares to mess with Fairy Tail!" Natsu roared as he landed another powerful flaming, electrified fist to Hades' head, knocking him to the ground. "I won't let you get away with it!" He hit Hades with another punch that had him tumbling across the floor, splintering the wood as he went. "YOU WILL PAY!" Natsu leapt into the air, flames in one hand and lightning in the other. He then connected his hands, firing a massive blast of fire and lightning that completely engulfed a huge portion of the ship in a dome of electrified flames with Hades in the center.

The dome exploded and from the smoke, Hades leapt up and threw a magic chain at Natsu. The chain connected with Natsu's hands, keeping them locked together. Hades laughed. "Try hitting me now, you insolent worm!"

Natsu didn't even pay any mind to the chain. With a roar, he pulled on the hook of the chain that connected his hands and split it apart, releasing his hands from their prison. He then quickly gathered flames and lightning into his right hand and condensed it into an orb. "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON PULSE!" Natsu roared as he threw the orb at Hades.

The orb traveled much faster than usual, but Hades was able to dodge it. What he didn't anticipate, though, was that as soon as the orb collided with the floor of the ship, it discharged a wave of lightning that connected with Hades' airborne body. He felt the electricity spread through his body as he found it difficult to move. "What is this?" Hades shouted as he tried to get his body to obey him.

Natsu quickly began gathering flames and lightning into his mouth. "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu cried as an enormous blast of flames and lightning shot from his mouth. The attack collided with Hades' frame, causing him to roar in agony. Even the spectating Fairy Tail mages were pushed away by the sheer force of the Roar.

The Roar pushed Hades into the wall of the ship, but also continued to break through the wall, unleashing its power into the outside world as it shattered the trees and pierced the sky.


"What the hell is that?" Levy cried as a strange column of fire and lightning passed overhead. She could even hear the faint roar of a dragon as it traveled.

"I've never seen power like that," Lisanna said.

"Natsu, don't die on us," Freed said as he watched the flames pass by, knowing that the reckless Dragon Slayer was behind it.


Gildarts lay on the ground, trying to recover from his battle, and watched the pillar of flames and lightning tear through the sky. He could hear a mighty dragon's roar and smiled. "Atta boy, Natsu."


Nikolias watched with wide eyes as a mighty blast of flames and lightning passed overhead. He could hear a powerful dragon's roar coming from far away near the shore of the island. "It couldn't be…Natsu?" he breathed before smiling. "Two elements in one, huh? Never thought that was possible. You really do continue to surprise, Natsu." He continued to slowly trudge through the forest, the pain never letting up as his wounds slowly continued to close. "I'm counting on you, Natsu. Protect everyone for me just a little while longer."


The Roar faded away as Natsu stood panting, exhausted from the amount of magic energy that went into that last attack.

Everyone watched, awestruck.

"That Roar…it may have been bigger than Niky's," Gracie breathed.

Erza smiled. "He really is full of surprises."

"He did it!" Lucy said. "That's my Natsu!"

Hades lay on the ground in a pile of rubble, completely motionless. His clothes were torn, his skin was burned, and his mouth hung open in a frozen scream.

Natsu chuckled. "I warned you," he wheezed as he felt his consciousness slipping. He was also losing his strength in his legs as he began falling backwards—towards the massive hole in the floor that went several stories down.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, her concern for her love giving her the strength to stand and run over to him. She dove for him just as he started to fall, just managing to grab hold of his arm before he could plummet to the bottom of the ship.

"Thanks, Luce," Natsu said wearily. "That was really close."

"Idiot," she giggled. "You're not supposed to scare me like that."

"Sorry," he apologized. "By the way, do you have any food? I could really use some energy."

She sighed but smiled. "It's just like you to be thinking about food at a time like this."

Gracie managed to get to her feet and walked over to Lucy and Natsu. She smiled as she reached down and grabbed Natsu's arm, helping Lucy to pull him to safety. "Not bad, Natsu. You'd make one hell of a Half-Dragon. You could probably beat Niky with power like that."

Natsu gave a tired laugh. "You think so?"

Gracie nodded. "You could! As soon as you find a way to prevent one of your own attacks from knocking you over!"

"So we beat him, huh?" Gray said with a smile. "Chalk up another victory for Fairy Tail."

"We did it!" Wendy cheered. "We beat Grimoire Heart!"


Happy, Carla, and Lily crawled through an air duct as they continued their search. They had tried every room and came up empty, so Happy figured it might be somewhere they couldn't see. It was then that Happy said they should try the air ducts since they ran all throughout the ship.

"I bet the power source is small and we just missed it," Happy said.

"Look at the size of this ship," Carla said. "I doubt it's something too small."

Happy continued to lead the way, but a strange glow from a grate beneath them caught his attention. He stopped, causing the Exceeds to bump into each other.

"Why'd you stop?" Carla asked.

Happy found himself shivering. "Guys, come look at this."

The two Exceeds crawled closer and peered down the grate and were shocked and slightly terrified by what they saw.

Happy's body was shaking uncontrollably. "It's alive," he breathed.

Lily moved the grate and fell through, Happy and Carla following him down. "This has got to be the ship's power source. The Heart of Grimoire Heart."

Before the three Exceeds was exactly that; a massive heart within a glass container that was seemingly pumping power throughout the ship.


Natsu struggled to his knees, using Lucy and Gracie as a support. "We did it. We got revenge for Gramps and everyone else."

Gracie stood up and nodded, feeling her strength starting to return. "Yep. We did it. Man, that may have been my toughest fight ever."

"Don't get ahead of yourselves."

Everyone's eyes widened at the sound of that voice. It was Hades.

"No way," Lucy whimpered. "After all that, he's still not down?"

"I have to give credit to you, Makarov," Hades said as he began to stand. "These children of yours are actually quite formidable. Their strength is incredible considering the flawed philosophy that you've had them follow." Magic waves washed over Hades, healing his wounds and repairing his clothes. "I can't recall the last time I've had such a good fight. I was actually wounded. I must thank you for entertaining me this evening, but I'm afraid I have to get back to work. There is just so much to do. I must obliterate all of Fairy Tail, starting with you six fools of course. Afterwards, I must recover Zeref and the Half-Dragon and be on my way."

"What do you want with Niky?" Gracie spat.

"His power is unlike that of anything in this world," Hades said. "He would be a powerful asset to Grimoire Heart as well as a perfect right hand man."

"He'd never join you," Gracie hissed. "No matter what."

"Unfortunately, the Half-Dragon—Niky, was it?—is far too wounded to put up much of a fight," Hades said. "If he's even still alive at this point, he will become one with Grimoire Heart."

"Niky's wounded?" Gracie asked.

"Yes, he lost in a fight with Azuma, who left him for dead. Somehow, he was able to survive, but barely. Last I was aware, he was fatally wounded, but I've been so busy dealing with you pests that it's all too possible that he passed while I wasn't looking."

Gracie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Azuma…that's the guy we beat, right Erza?"

"Yes he is," Erza said. "He was formidable, but to think that Nikolias lost to him…"

"Alright, chat time is over," Hades said as he moved his hand towards his eye patch. "I must dispose of you now. And believe me, you're about to wish that I had done so sooner."

"I still don't get how he survived Natsu's attack?" Gray asked in bewilderment. "That should've finished it."

Hades removed the eye patch from his right eye. "DEVIL'S EYE, OPEN!" Slowly, Hades' right eye began to open, revealing a glowing red eye. Dark power began to circle him. His ears became slightly pointed and his moustache, eyebrows, and hair began to spike and stand on end. "You're now about to witness something the likes of which none of you have ever seen; the abyss of sorcery. From here lies an endless realm with power that you couldn't even dream of."

"This power…it can't be real," Wendy whined softly as she felt her whole body shake in fear.

"There's so much power," Erza said. "How can he have so much?"

Gracie felt her knees turn to jelly as she fell to her knees. "I…I feel…afraid."

Hades smiled. "You can call me the harbinger of Fairy Tail's last breath."

Natsu tried to move, but found himself falling over. Fortunately, Lucy was right beside him and held him up. "Natsu, are you okay?"

"No. My strength is all gone. I used it all up," Natsu growled in frustration. "I used it all up and he's not even down."


"I heard voices in here!" one of the Grimoire Heart members said.

"Impossible. How did someone get in?" another asked.

"Uh oh. They found us!" Happy cried.

Lily ran towards the door. "I'll distract them. You two find a way to put that thing out of commission."

"Well, we'll just have to break it," Carla said. "Look around Happy. There must be something we can use."

"Aye!"

Lily opened the door and sprinted out, finding himself face to face with a large mass of Grimoire Heart members. In his hand, he held a silver door handle; a door handle that he had acquired during the individual search when a bolt of lightning crashed in the sky at the exact moment he went to open the door. It terrified him enough to accidently snap the door handle off. He had kept it hidden in his green shorts and now he was glad he did.

The Grimoire Hear minions stared at Lily. "How the hell did a cat get in here?" one asked.

"Who cares? Get rid of it!" another demanded.

"I'd like to see you try!" Lily cried, throwing the door handle like a boomerang that struck several minions in the face before returning to him just in time to use it to block a minion sword. He pushed the sword away before taking on his Edolas form.

"What the hell?" a minion cried in fear. "How did he get so big?"

With a mighty cry, Lily leapt forward and punched one of the minions away. Another minion charged him with his sword, but Lily easily caught the sword blade with one hand and pulled it away from the Grimoire Heart member. "Why thank you," he said before swinging the sword, batting away several minions. Lily was prepared for another attack, but was surprised to see the sword begin to glow and increase in size. He smiled as he gripped it with two hands. "What a wonderful surprise. To think that I would actually find a size-changing sword outside of Edolas." He admired the blade as the minions charged. "I think this will do nicely." He ran forward, slashing at the minions and knocking most of them away. The force of his swing was even enough to knock down the door to the Heart. Several other minions charged forward, but Lily just slammed the sword on the floor, sending waves of magic along the ground that knocked them all away. "You'll have to do better than that!"


"Come on, Natsu, you can't be out!" Lucy cried.

"There's nothing I can do, Luce," Natsu groaned. "I can barely move right now."

"In order to walk the path of sorcery, one must be willing to sink into its abyss of eternal darkness," Hades said while lifting his hand. "Within it lies primordial magic; magic power at its purest." He smiled. "You can feel it, can't you? You can all feel the primordial magic. With this power, I will pull from the depths of the abyss the lost world; the Grand Magic World! The key to that world is Zeref and on this very night, he will awaken, he will change history, and I will obtain all of the primordial magic! And with a dragon at my side, nothing will stand in my way as my dreams are realized!"

"We can't let this happen," Erza said.

'Primordial magic,' Lucy said. 'Why do I feel like I've heard that before…wait. Did I hear it from Mom once before?'

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but only the strong are allowed to live in the Grand Magic World and you lack the resolve to reach into the abyss, so you will die here," Hades said while moving his arms in a circle like hands on a clock.

"This isn't good," Gray said.

The dark magic around Hades increased. "Chapter 4, Verse 12 from the Book of Zeref. ARCANE MAGIC! NEMESIS!" From the rubble of the ship, numerous demons rose up and stood behind Hades. They were all different shapes and sizes, but they were all blue with red lines running along their bodies. They had no eyes, but they were massive and all had razor sharp teeth. They all roared, shaking the ship from their power.

"He's creating monsters from the debris!" Gray shouted.

"I have the power of the abyss at my command," Hades bellowed. "This is nothing at all. I could create your worst nightmares from a speck of dust! Arcane magic is supreme!"

"All of these demons are incredibly dangerous," Erza said as her whole body was frozen. "How do you kill pure magic power?"

Wendy hid her face in her hands. "I'm scared," she whimpered. "Someone make them go away."

Erza looked at her hand. 'I can't stop shaking. This must be terror.'

Gray was on his hands and knees as he tried to clear his head. 'Stop feeling so afraid, damn it! Snap out of it!'

Lucy held Natsu close as she cried. 'We're done for. I've never felt so helpless. It's like all of my courage is gone.' Her tears fell onto Natsu's head causing him to flinch.

"Heh, what of it?"

Everyone looked up to see Gracie standing on shaky legs as she faced down Hades.

Hades chuckled. "Your high spirit is waning. You can't deny the fear in your heart, can you? Look at you; your legs are visibly trembling in fear."

"Don't flatter yourself. I just really have to go to the bathroom," Gracie said with the best determined smile she could muster, although her voice was shaking a bit. "I've seen a lot scarier things than this in my life, believe me. You may be able to create friends from rocks, but you won't keep me down."

Everyone looked at Gracie with shock. It was clear to all of them that she was terrified, for her body was shaking and her voice was wavering, but she still found the strength and courage to stand up.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm, causing her to shift her focus to him. "I don't ever wanna see you cry, Lucy."

"Natsu?" she whispered.

"Thank you, Gracie. You woke me up a bit," Natsu said.

Gracie nodded. "Not a problem."

"Don't you worry about a thing, guys," Natsu said. "I've got everything we need to beat this guy once and for all." He took a deep breath. "There's nothing wrong with feeling fear. Without fear, how would any of us come to understand our own weaknesses? You need to know them in order to become a stronger and gentler person."

Everyone turned to look at Natsu.

Gracie smiled. "Well said, Natsu."

Natsu started to straighten up. "Today, we learned how weak we really are. So now that we know, what do we do about it? Where do we go from here?" Natsu stood up and walked next to Gracie. "I'll tell you. We get even stronger!" Gracie put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "We may be too weak and afraid on our own to even think about standing up to someone so strong, but we're not alone right now. We have our friends by our side."

Everyone listened to Natsu's words, feeling courage reawaken within them.

Lucy's tears of fear turned to tears of happiness. 'That's my Natsu. He never stays down for long. He'll always jump right back up, no matter the odds.'

"You wanna know why Gracie and I can stand right now?" Natsu continued. "It's because we have courage thanks to all of you being here with us. Because you're all here, there's no reason to be afraid! When we're together," he paused to raise his fist into the air, "we can accomplish anything!"

"How much longer before you fools finally let go of the light and embrace the darkness?" Hades asked. "There is no hope for any of you!"

"Our friends are always by our side," Erza said as she stood.

"We don't have to be afraid," Gray said while standing.

"You've given me hope, Natsu, Gracie," Lucy said as she managed to stand.

"We'll fight even if our magic power is all gone," Wendy said while swaying on her feet.

"BECAUSE THAT'S THE FAIRY TAIL WAY!" all six cried at once.

The demons began to advance and with a mighty cry, the six tired but determined fairies pushed off, ready to do battle until their final breath.

"What do you hope to accomplish with no magic power left?" Hades asked. "It's just begging for a quicker death. NOW DANCE MY DEVILS OF THE EARTH!" Upon command, the demons fired powerful blasts of magic from their jaws and hands, all beams converging on the advancing fairies.

However, the six pushed on, almost ignoring the blasts of power that were whizzing past them and crashing at their feet. They pushed on with renewed courage and willpower. Without fear, they advanced.

One blast managed to trip up Natsu, who was at the back of the pack, but Wendy and Lucy managed to grab his arms and carry him along before throwing him forward. The act caused them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.

Gracie sensed Natsu coming. Without missing a step, she spun, grabbed Natsu's outstretched hands and threw him forward with even more force than before towards Gray and Erza, who led the group. By doing so, the last of her strength left her legs as she toppled to the ground.

Erza and Gray knew Natsu was coming. They watched him get closer and closer and as soon as he was near them, they lifted one leg each simultaneously. As soon as Natsu ended up right in front of them, they each leveled their foot with one of Natsu's and kicked him forward with all of the strength they had left. They watched Natsu go as they fell to the ground as well.

Natsu roared as he rocketed towards Hades, the strength and courage of his friends' efforts giving him renewed life.

"I will gladly send you fools into the depths of darkness!" Hades shouted as Natsu advanced. "It's all over for you, Fairy Tail!" Beams of magic power shot from Hades' back and made their way towards Natsu.

However, Natsu never wavered. He allowed his momentum to carry him towards Hades, paying no mind to the beams as they shot past him.

The beams of power did collide with immense force into the ship, completely destroying the roof of the ship and allowing the pouring rain to wash over the remains.

The five Fairy Tail mages who gave the fight their all watched with amazement as Natsu landed a powerful punch to Hades' face, sending him sliding across the floor.

"He did it!" Lucy cried. Suddenly, a white object caught her attention. She turned her head to look at it. It was Natsu's scarf. "It must have come off when he was fighting," Lucy thought out loud. She then noticed that the wind from the storm was carrying it out to sea. With every bit of strength she had left, she ran after it, grabbing it and falling backwards onto the ship before it was lost forever.

"This isn't possible!" Hades shouted. "How could my Arcane magic have no effect on you? No, that's not right!" Suddenly, Hades felt an odd throbbing in his right eye as the red faded to his natural eye color. "No, they couldn't have…"


A FEW MOMENTS AGO

Happy looked around at all of the machines that surrounded the Heart. As he searched, a strange button on the side of a machine called to him. Knowing that destruction was the aim, he pushed it without hesitation. An alarm began to sound as the machines began to overheat and emit smoke. "Did that do it?"

Carla looked at the Heart. "Perhaps it did."

The machines continued to blow fuses until the heat from the machines attached to the Heart's glass container was too much for the glass to handle, causing it to shatter. Purple liquid poured from the remnants of the container as Happy stood proudly in front of his work. "Mission accomplished!"

Lily turned around after hearing the glass shatter and smiled. "We did it."

All of the minions began to panic. "The Heart! They broke the Heart!"


Natsu gave a mighty battle cry as he ran at Hades, landing a powerful uppercut to his jaw and sending him flying through the air. "Take this!"

Hades landed on his feet, but could feel all of his strength leaving him. 'What have you done to my Devil's Heart? If they destroy it, I will lose all of my magic power! It is the source of my power and longevity!'

With Hades' power waning, the demons began to harden and crumble back to the earth from whence they came.

"The monsters are crumbling," Erza said.

"That must have been one hell of a punch," Gracie giggled.

Natsu wasn't going to relent. He landed punches and kicks to Hades in fast succession. "This time you'll stay down!"

Wendy was watching the fight until something caught her eye. She turned and her eyes widened while her jaw hung open. "Wow, look at that!" Wendy breathed.

Everyone looked and they were shocked by what they saw.

"You're kidding," Gray said.

"What the hell is happening?" Gracie asked.

"The Tenrou Tree…it's back to normal," Erza said.

"But how?" Lucy asked.


Ultear stood at the roots of the downed Tenrou Tree, using every bit of magic power she had to rewind time on the massive tree. She panted heavily as she continued to pour her magic into it. "Thank you, Fairy Tail. I have a new chance to live my life and I owe it all to you. Allow me to attempt to repay you with this act."


Lucy watched as the pink Fairy Tail mark on her hand began to glow. "What is this?"

"I don't know!" Wendy said as her light blue mark on her right arm began to glow brightly as well.

"Why are our emblems glowing?" Gracie asked as the forest green mark on her left shoulder glowed brilliantly.

Erza's blue mark on her left arm began to glow while she looked at her hands. "Our magic power is back."

Gray's navy blue mark on the right side of his chest glowed. "It's about damn time."

Nastu's red mark on his right shoulder glowed and he felt completely revived. He charged at Hades. "This is what you get for hurting our friends and our master, you bastard!" He unleashed a powerful punch, but was stopped by Hades throwing a quick palm to his face.

"Stay back!" Hades roared as a wave of magic power pushed Natsu away. He followed with a kick to Natsu's face and a punch to his chest, sending him flying. "Until I stand above all others who follow the path of sorcery, the devil within me will never sleep!" And then a figure appeared out of nowhere, completely catching Hades off guard.

Laxus had been revived by the return of the Tenrou Tree and, with his renewed energy, landed a heavy punch to Hades' face. "What are you all standing around for? Kick his ass! ATTACK!"

Gracie clapped her hands together and then held her arms out to the side, summoning her katanas. "You don't have to tell me twice," she said while spinning her weapons in her hands and charging forward. Everyone else followed her.

Hades used his magic to shove Laxus down. "If you fools come any closer, you will not be spared from my wrath!"

"This may be our only chance," Erza said as she ran next to Gracie.

"We've gotta take him down!" Gray shouted.

"I warned you!" Hades roared as he sent out a powerful blast that shoved the charging fairies back.

Lucy skidded to a stop as she whipped out a key. "I know we don't have a contract yet, but please help. OPEN GATE OF THE GOAT! CAPRICORN!"

In a flash of light, Capricorn appeared and bowed. "I have arrived, my lady. Do you need assistance?"

"Take this guy down!" Lucy commanded.

"Of course," Capricorn said while leaping forward.

"How dare you betray me!" Hades cried at seeing Capricorn charge at him.

"I am no longer your pawn now that I have rid myself of Zoldeo," Capricorn said as he landed a punch and then a kick to Hades' head. "I am now Lady Lucy's Celestial Spirit, Capricorn!" He landed a sharp elbow attack to Hades' face.

"I want to help!" Wendy cried as she leapt into the air behind Hades. "SKY DRAGON WING ATTACK!" Wendy waved her arms, sending powerful winds crashing down towards Hades and causing him to tumble across the deck.

Gray was waiting for him, his Ice Make magic already activated. "ICE MAKE ICE BRINGER!" Two ice swords appeared in Gray's hands as he slashed at Hades in an X-formation. The attack landed, slicing through Hades' clothes and landing a heavy blow to his chest as he was knocked into the air.

Erza ran towards where he was falling. "REQUIP! HEAVEN'S WHEEL!" In a flash, she was now wearing her Heaven's Wheel Armor as she charged forward. She raised her two swords and slashed at Hades in a star pattern. "PENTAGRAM SWORD!" The slashes hit their mark, sending Hades sliding across the floor.

Gracie ran at Hades with incredible speed considering her injuries. She lifted her blades. "We can't have you running away. This may work better with Niky, but it'll have to do!" With incredible swordsmanship, Gracie swung her swords at Hades, making swift and deep incisions to the tendons in his legs and ankles. Without his legs to support him, Hades fell to his knees with a cry. "Looks like you're the one who's broken. Finish him, Natsu!"

"Right!" Natsu roared as flames and lightning danced around him. With a fire enveloped right hand and a lightning enveloped left hand, he dashed towards Hades.

Hades wasn't ready to go down. He put his hands together and began charging magic power. "GRIMOIRE LAW!"

"Not today, asshole! DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART!" Natsu roared.

'I'm not going to make it!' Hades thought.

"FLAME LOTUS EXPLODING LIGHTNING BLADE!" Natsu swung his arms, combining the two elements into a powerful combined attack of fire and lightning. The attack consumed Hades as he screamed in pain. The force pushed him back and caused him to crash into the ship's deck.

And with that attack, the sun pushed through the darkness and forced the rain clouds away.

Natsu stood and looked at Hades' motionless body. He fell to his knees with a groan of exhaustion. "We did it, Gramps," Natsu whispered as he felt the warm morning sun on his skin. "We fought and showed them who's boss. We put it all on the line and showed them exactly how strong our guild is." With a mighty cry, Natsu shouted at the sky. "YEAH! FAIRY TAIL IS THE GREATEST!"

Everyone smiled. "Can't argue there," Gracie said with a smile.

"We really did fight well as a guild," Erza said as she requipped back to her Heart Kreuz Armor.

"You didn't do too bad, Natsu," Laxus said as he sat up.

"Thank God it's all over now," Gray said.

"We finally won," Wendy said while breathing a sigh of relief.

Lucy walked over to Natsu and knelt beside him while handing him his scarf. "Here you go, Natsu. I'm so proud of you."

Natsu took the scarf with a smile. "Thanks, Luce. This scarf means a lot to me, but I think I want a bit more of a reward."

Lucy blinked. "What kind of reward?"

Without wasting another moment, Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her into a searing kiss. She was caught off guard, but quickly wrapped her head around what was happening. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with just as much passion.

Gracie giggled. "Get a room you two!" she teased.

"Ugh, I don't wanna see that," Gray moaned.

"A fitting reward, Lucy," Erza said with a nod.

Wendy blushed while turning away.

Laxus just sighed.

"NATSU!"

Everyone turned to see Happy, Carla, and Lily running towards them with an army of Grimoire Heart minions on their tails.

"A little assistance would be greatly appreciated," Carla begged.

"You're fucking joking," Gray moaned. "Talk about bad timing."

"How are we supposed to fight? I'm all out of magic power," Wendy said.

"We'll just have to do our best," Natsu said, standing up and wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"Why don't you let us lend you a hand," came a familiar voice.

Everyone turned around to see Makarov and everyone from base camp standing on the sidelines.

"Gramps!" Natsu cheered.

"You're all okay!" Lucy said thankfully.

"Yes, with the Tenrou Tree back, the blessing that it gave to everyone has returned," Erza said with a smile.

Gracie jumped up and down. "Hooray! People are better now! It's good to see you all. Feels like years, doesn't it?"

Makarov looked at the minions through one eye. "So what's it going to be? Will you retreat from this island peacefully or will I have to make you leave?"

"Shit, there's so many," one minion said.

"And look! They've already taken out Master Hades!" another cried.

"Just run for it!" another said and all of the minions turned around and ran away.

Gracie pouted. "No fun. They didn't stay for a good beating."

"Who cares! We won!" Natsu cheered as everyone in Fairy Tail celebrated on the broken deck of the ship. Well, all but a few.

"Is something the matter, Gray?" Freed asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah. Where's Juvia?" he asked.

"She never came back to base camp, so we aren't sure of her whereabouts," Freed said.

"I hope she's okay," Gray said.

Gracie jumped onto his back. "How cute! Are you worried about Juvia?"

Gray blushed. "Would you get off of me? And of course I'm worried! She's one of us after all!"

"Hidden motives," Gracie giggled impishly while putting her hand to her mouth.

"Oh shut it! And for the last time, GET OFF!"

"Gracie."

Gracie turned to see Mira walking over to her. "Hey, Mira. What's up?"

"Do you know where Nikolias is? I thought that he would be here with you," Mira said, worry clear in her voice.

Gracie got off of Gray's back and walked over to her. "No, he's not here. I don't think anyone really knows where he is."

Mira felt a heavy weight in her chest. "I…I see."

Gracie took her hands. "Don't you worry, though. I'm sure he's alright!" Her words remained positive, but she couldn't help the feeling of doubt that she had deep within her gut. She was nervous and worried. She wasn't sure if Nikolias was still alive after hearing what Hades said. Besides, knowing Nikolias, if he was alright then he should have made it at least back to base camp long ago. But she didn't want Mira to worry, so all of the other details as well as her personal thoughts she kept to herself.

Mira nodded. "Right. I have to believe that, too. I will remain positive. I just don't know why he hasn't returned."

"He fought Azuma, Mira," Lisanna said while walking over to her sister. "After you lost consciousness, he showed up and fought him. He told me to run with you and to keep you safe."

Mira lowered her gaze. "I see. So because I was weak you were hurt and Nikolias could be as well."

Lisanna embraced her sister. "Because of you, I'm alright. We're all alright. Thank you, Mira."

Mira returned the hug. "Lisanna…"

Makarov walked over to Laxus who was sitting on the floor of the ship. "So do you mind telling me what you're doing here? Last I checked you weren't part of the Trials in any way."

"Oh, lay off," Laxus snorted. "You guys needed my help, so I came. Don't blame me."

Makarov sighed. "I suppose so. Thank you, Laxus. Still, for future reference, don't break such rules again."

"Yeah, I got it," Laxus grumbled.

"Okay!" Natsu said while pumping his fists. "Let's get back to the Trials!"

"Are you brain dead?" Gray shot at him.

"What? The second round of the Trials was interrupted, so we need to finish it!" Natsu said. "I think we should have an all out brawl to see who wins, though!"

"You really are brain dead if you think you stand a chance against me looking like that!" Gajeel roared as he butted heads with Natsu.

"You think so?" Natsu said. "Well you're even worse! Plus, I can walk all over you 'cause I'm a Lightning Flame Drag—" Suddenly, Natsu froze and fell to the ground.

"Hey, don't think you can get out of fighting by passing out!" Gajeel shouted.

Erza chuckled as she walked over. "It's probably a side effect from consuming something other than flames."

"I think we should all go back to base camp," Wendy said. "We need to rest up."

"A smart idea," Makarov said. "Let's go, everyone." Everyone nodded and started walking towards base camp.

Lucy walked over to Natsu and hoisted him onto her back. "Man, you're heavy. But how else are you going to get back to base camp?" She smiled at his sleeping face. "Still, thank you, Natsu. We never would have won without you."

Suddenly, Capricorn appeared beside Lucy. "May I help?"

"Capricorn! That'd be great, thanks!" Lucy said with a smile.

Capricorn nodded, carrying Lucy bridal style with one arm and carrying Natsu like a rag in the other. "Then let us be off as well."

As the group walked on, certain members still held out prayers for those who had yet to return.

'I hope my father is alright,' Cana thought.

'Juvia, you better be okay,' Gray thought.

'Nikolias, please come back soon,' Mira begged.

"Makarov," came Hades weak voice. The group carried on, but Makarov paused. "Why not finish me off?"

"I've learned so much from you over the years and because of that, I will repay the favor by overlooking what you've done here," Makarov said. "However, you must leave at once and never return."

"How can you be so naïve, boy?" Hades asked. "If you let me go, I will return to crush you and your children and capture the Half-Dragon for my own."

"You may have been able to defeat me, but my children proved to be too much for you, Precht," Makarov said.

"Your children didn't best me," Hades said. "I was weakened because my Devil's Heart was destroyed while your children had Tenrou's blessing on their side. Had neither of those things intervened, your children would be wiped out completely."

Makarov turned to look at him. "Why did you turn to the dark side, Precht?"

"I told you that darkness is the true nature of magic. It is comprised of miracles that were born in the shadows and managed to find their way into the light. After leaving Fairy Tail, I walked the path of sorcery with the hopes that I could find the underlying principles of the world. I learned on my travels that the world we live in, the world with overflowing magic, is a lie. The true world of magic is the world that Lord Zeref described; the Grand Magic World. I wanted to see this world, so I began collecting the keys necessary to resurrect Lord Zeref." Hades reached up to the bright sky. "And I was so close to my dream. I could finally reach the primordial magic."

Makarov sighed. "Even if your dream was realized, nothing would change."

"What?"

"If magic's true nature is darkness, I can accept that. If it's light, I can accept that as well." Makarov summoned some magic in his hand and admired it. "I can feel this way because I recognize magic as alive; its purpose is always evolving and changing with the times. It grows alongside the wizards who wield it. It's undefined because it can be used differently. Its only limit is your own imagination, thus it can also become darkness or light, depending on the caster. That's why Fairy Tail will always be allowed to use magic however we choose." He started to walk away. "All of these things that I have said here are things that I learned from you, Master Precht."

Hades closed his eyes. 'From me, eh?'


There you go, everyone! Hope this was a satisfying battle. But don't you worry; another great fight is coming up-one that I'm very excited to write. I wonder if you can guess...Anyway, until next time! Hopefully the updates will start coming around sooner!

Thanks for reading!