Lyon and Juvia wandered aimlessly through stores and cafes, blindly searching for faces neither of them had actually seen. It might not have been the best plan, to volunteer for this task. Yet, Lyon couldn't help but enjoy himself. With how the day had begun, it was now almost like a date for the two of them. Despite how important their task was, he couldn't help but find moments to focus on just Juvia and him. Juvia didn't seem to complain either, moving along happily as Lyon pointed out dresses that would bring out her eyes, or flowers that reminded him of her hair.

Lyon never thought he'd be the sort of person to hand out sappy lines like those either, yet Juvia made him want to write poetry and sing to the heavens. She was perfect. Now, she was his and it gave him the freedom to do things like that. When he wasn't walking with his arm over her shoulders, he was holding her hand, always finding some way to stay in contact with her.

"Juvia now sees the difference in Lyon when he knows we're together. She is happy we clarified things earlier." Her comment only made things even better and she never seemed to stop smiling. The mission was practically forgotten in the process and Lyon had to keep reminding himself to scan faces and find the people he was looking for. Eventually, they took a break to eat at a sandwich shop in town, sitting down at a table and discussing what to do next.

"Juvia is sorry. She keeps distracting Lyon and isn't staying focused on the task either."

"Don't be sorry, Juvia. I am enjoying our time together." Lyon hesitated, staring down at the table. "Yet, we were given a task to complete. I cannot fail, not when it may mean forcing Gray to set aside this mission of breaking Zeref's curse."

"Indeed. Doing that and managing a guild does not seem like a simple matter."

Lyon sighed, focusing on the map that was spread out over the table. "We've already visited most of the shopping district here and without actually being paying customers, most restaurants won't let us search for them inside. That leaves us with residential areas, but they aren't ideal for searching."

"Apartments might be possible. Juvia can ask if she has the right building to visit one of her friends, but that would only help with locating a single individual, not all of them."

"If we find one, we might be able to get them to lead us to the rest." Lyon frowned. "Maybe I should've let Gray do this, not me. I could keep a better eye on Zeref, since at least I understand he doesn't always have good intentions."

"Juvia thought you were trusting Gray's opinion on the matter?"

"I'm trying to. Gray isn't as easy to sway as Ur seems to think. He can be stubborn when he gets an idea in his head and not even Zeref would be capable of changing that. So, if he was stubbornly holding onto his anger when this all began, something major must have happened to change his mind. In that sense, I am almost inclined to believe that Gray is right in terms of us being able to rely on—"

"Sorry to interrupt, but did you just mention Gray?" A girl with light blue hair stopped by their table. She was wearing an orange dress and Lyon found himself studying her appearance while trying to recall the rushed descriptions he'd been given of Fairy Tail's wizards. "I know someone by that name and have been looking for him. Some friends of his got into some trouble and we were hoping to get extra help dealing with a situation."

"Juvia thinks that description matches what has happened." She glanced over at the girl. "Are you one of the former members of Fairy Tail?"

The girl looked around, before rubbing the back of her head and nodding. "Yeah, I am. But could you try to be a little quieter about that? People in town aren't too happy with us right now."

Holding out his hand, Lyon nodded. "I'm Lyon and this is my girlfriend, Juvia." He could proudly give her that label now and the water wizard smiled happily hearing it. "We're friends of Gray's, although we are separate from your guild. He just returned to town and discovered that something had gone wrong."

Shaking his hand, the girl smiled. "I'm Levy. If you want to talk more, I'm actually meeting with some of the others nearby. Master wants to plan out a way to fix this mess."

"Well, it just so happens that Gray had a plan of his own to help in that matter as well." Lyon folded up the map, rising to his feet. "I think we might want to update your master on the plan, to save us some of the issues it may cause."

They began walking out of the cafe, with Levy carrying her meal to go. Juvia and Lyon left their meals behind, more concerned with finishing their task than eating more. "Juvia has been wondering what exactly happened. She saw the new guild master and she has seen the fear in town, but she has not heard any details."

"Oh." Levy frowned, biting her lip. "Laxus was getting irritated with the guild, I guess. He thought none of us were strong enough to be members and wanted things to change. So, he basically forced us all to prove who the strongest member was. He had Freed place enchantments all around town, blocking Master from participating and trapping most of the female wizards in stone. Whenever two wizards entered an enchantment, they'd be forced to fight until one was no longer capable of moving on. To make sure we actually fought, Laxus said that we had to find a victor before the time limit was up. Otherwise, he'd activate the Thunder Palace and destroy all of Magnolia." She paused, looking away. "The city knew something was up and our fights caused a lot of damage. No one understood why it was happening, since it was supposed to be a festival that day. When it was all over, we'd destroyed nearly half of the town and the parade was cancelled. Laxus took over and made an announcement to town that he was the new master of Fairy Tail, and that they better respect that or pay the consequences. They learned that the lacrimas in the air weren't just for the festival, but that they were being threatened by the very guild that was supposed to protect them. None of us could actually stop Laxus, not even Mystogan."

"Juvia cannot imagine such a horrible way for a member to take control of a guild. The battles were not done fairly and your master was forced to hand the guild over from what it sounds like."

"He was." Levy looked ahead, hardening her gaze. "That's why we're going to fight to take it back."

Levy led them into a quieter area of town, towards a cafe with an outside patio area. There, a group of people were gathered, sitting down and talking together. Levy led them towards the group, smiling as she arrived. "Hey guys. I brought along some help. This is Lyon and Juvia. They're Gray's friends."

The faces were all unknown, but greetings and introductions were given rapidly. "I'm Mira and this is my brother Elfman."

"I'm Jet."

"I'm Droy."

"And I'm Makarov, Fairy Tail's third guild master." The elderly man looked tense, looking up towards them. "Have you been told what we're discussing today?"

"You wish to take back your guild." Juvia answered for them.

Makarov nodded. "Indeed." He paused. "Laxus is a foolish young child, unable to realize the damage he might cause with these plans of his." The elderly man narrowed his eyes. "Our guild is our home and we will not stand by and let it fall apart so easily."

The rest of the table gave out hoots and cheers of agreement to the comment. "Sorry I'm late to the party." Another girl joined, with a face Lyon recognized for a change. "Well, well, looks like Gray's little friend is here too. And here I thought I'd have to do all the explaining by myself for a change." She held out her hand. "The name's Cana. Nice to officially meet you."

"Lyon." He shook her hand and frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Spying on Laxus, of course. Your creepy wizard from before nailed it on the head when he said Laxus is too dull to actually plan things out ahead of time and spot subtle things like this."

"Wait, you met them before?" Levy frowned at them, glancing between Lyon, Juvia, and Cana.

The brunette nodded. "Yup. Gray, Natsu, Lucy and a few strangers came barging into the guild hall yesterday. One of them had Laxus pretty freaked out." She smirked, leaning forward. "They found someone more reckless than Natsu who destroyed the entire Thunder Palace." Her gaze flickered towards Lyon. "Care to explain how the hell he was able to do that and still stand? Because we've been trying to plan out how to get around that mess ever since we realized what he was doing."

"You said this wizard was with Natsu?" Makarov spoke, his eyes wide. "It can't be…you are still working with that dark wizard who swapped bodies with Gray during the changeling spell?"

"Can't be. This wizard seemed a lot more aggressive than that one did, by far." Cana spoke before Lyon could reply. "He barged in, threatened Laxus with war, and destroyed the Thunder Palace when Laxus laughed off the threat. His face after that was priceless, especially when that wizard just got right back up as if nothing had happened. Like I said, I was hoping to hear how that had happened."

"He threatened war?" Makarov seemed tense, his eyes wide. "We cannot allow this to move forward. Why would Gray work with such a wizard at all?'

"Because his war is meant to remove Laxus from power, at least for the time being," Lyon said. Makarov turned towards the ice mage, who sighed. "I cannot deny that he claims to have other reasons for wanting a war with Fairy Tail in the future. The man is quite vague when he wants to be about answering questions on such things. However, there is a way to prevent that war." Lyon glanced at them. "That is what Gray is working towards, along with myself and a team from your guild. The wizard Cana saw is desperate to find a way to end a curse that has been placed upon him. All of you saw some of what it could do when you were on Tenrou Island."

"That black cloud of magic was a curse?" Levy frowned. "That doesn't make much sense. Not only did it not feel like normal magic, but I haven't seen any description of a curse that'd lead to such an uncontrollable haze that seemed to kill everything it touched."

"It isn't exactly a common curse." Lyon glanced over at Makarov. "Gray says we can trust him to assist in taking back the guild. As we speak, they are gathering other allies to put a stop to Laxus. His plan, however, is to put Gray in charge of the guild if you are not found. He seems insistent upon not allowing anyone else to take up that role for some reason." He looked over at Makarov, narrowing his eyes. "Supposedly, it relates to secrets held by your guild."

Makarov closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat. "He specifically mentioned our guild's secrets?" Lyon nodded. "Were these secrets his reasons for wanting war in the future?"

"And his reason for being wary of Laxus leading now, at least verbally. He won't reveal his true motive for helping us at the moment," Juvia added.

"Master, is something wrong? I'm not seeing what the problem is. He's probably after one of our spells like Fairy Law," Mira asked.

"No." Makarov shook his head, inhaling slowly. "If that man is who I think he is, then he already knows how to use that spell himself."

Lyon stared at him, his eyes widening. "You know who he is?"

"There are very few wizards who would speak as if they knew Mavis personally these days. Even fewer would know of secrets that are a strong enough motivation for starting a war with our guild over. There is only one conclusion I can arrive at and it fits with the description Cana has given about him surviving the destruction of the thunder palace." He looked over at Lyon, his gaze calm. "So, my question for you then is do you know? Does your team realize exactly who you are helping with this task of yours?"

"We do." Lyon met his gaze. "While the actual motivations have changed over time, he seems to have ways to manipulating others towards what he wants. Saving him from the curse is the better of the fates he provides every time."

"How likely is it that he will take advantage and steal our secrets now?"

"According to Gray, it won't happen."

"And according to you?"

Lyon hesitated, staring at the table. What would Zeref do? He had every opportunity to steal it away right now. All he had to do was defeat a few small wizards, even if they were the strongest of the guild. "I'm not certain. Without knowing his true reasons for helping, I cannot be confident either way."

Makarov nodded. "Then it seems as if our task is two-sided. Not only will we go to take our guild back from Laxus, but we will also go to defend what is ours from him."

"Master, what are we even defending?" Droy frowned. "So long as he leaves us alone, I'm not really seeing a problem."

"That, Droy, is information for guild masters only." Another thing Zeref had implied. This guild had secrets on top of secrets it seemed, just like the black wizard. None of them were being revealed, but Lyon needed answers from somewhere. The only question left was who to ask. Would Zeref share first or Fairy Tail? He had a feeling that Gray would know before all of them anyway, so really, Lyon just had to approach him for the answer retrieved directly from Zeref's own head. They'd turn that enslavement spell against him and use that to their advantage this time.

Gray didn't sleep well, with everything on his mind. The knowledge of why Zeref was helping them combined with the chaos of so many problems stacking up at once just led to him tossing and turning, without actually resting. Whenever he did manage to relax and close his eyes, his dreams would be enough to wake him back up with only a vague recollection of dreaming about some fight with Laxus ending poorly. So, as soon as he opened his eyes to see a hint of sunlight in the room, he gave up on getting more rest and settled in for a day of exhaustion.

He meditated in their room, hoping that it'd help clear his mind. Even Zeref was still asleep, his thoughts quiet and calm while Gray focused. It gradually did begin to calm him briefly and he lost track of time as he relaxed. A quiet knock on the door had him opening his eyes and getting up with a sigh. He opened it, stepping aside to let Ur into the room.

"Good morning," Ur said. "Any update on when we're expecting to meet up with Zeref?"

Gray shook his head, sitting down as the door shut behind Ur. "He's still asleep. Last I heard, Dimaria was on her way though."

"Then I suppose I got up early for nothing." Ur sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You wouldn't happen to know if there's coffee nearby? There's no way I'm awake enough to deal with Zeref or anyone he associates with without it."

Raising his eyebrow, Gray got back up. "Come on, you aren't seriously still upset about the plan, are you? You seemed to actually be in agreement with him for a change yesterday."

"Doesn't mean I'm happy about it." Ur frowned over at him. "I know, you're going to tell me not to worry about it. But nothing about him sits right with me, Gray. He's manipulative, deceptive, and clearly lacks any sense of a moral compass to stop him from taking things too far. That sort of person just isn't someone I can easily trust."

Opening the door, Gray shook his head. "Well, we don't have to worry about that now, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a heaviness in his body from the struggle to sleep. "I could use something to help me wake up too. Let's go to a cafe or something."

Ur nodded, moving to walk by his side. Magnolia was still as quiet and tense as it was when they arrived, leaving Gray frowning as he made his way to his favorite coffee shop in town. His former master was quiet, not speaking during the walk and leaving Gray to constantly look over his shoulder to make sure she was still following him.

After a moment, the young ice mage stopped and narrowed his eyes at her. "Look, I get that we've been arguing a lot. We have our disagreements on how to handle things, but are you honestly going to just say nothing for the entire morning? I thought you'd at least have something you'd want to talk about other than our damn issues lately."

"Sorry." Ur clasped her hands in front of her, shaking her head. "It's just…I don't even know where to start, Gray. I hate the way things have been going. Every time we see each other or speak, we just seem to end up working through the same arguments. You refuse to listen to my warnings, I refuse to compromise and agree with you, and it just…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip. "With Lyon, it's been easier. I've been talking with him one-on-one like this, about Juvia and small things that have changed. But with you…I just can't understand you anymore. Both of you grew up and I'm still stuck viewing you as the two kids struggling to make a shield during practice."

Gray felt a small pang in his heart as he opened the door to the coffee shop. He swallowed, inhaling slowly and nodding. "Well, people change, Ur. That doesn't mean we have nothing to talk about." He turned towards her. "I can't say I'm an open-book. I'm not nearly as impulsive as I was as a kid and with everything that happened, I ended up with a habit of not letting others know about my issues. It only got people hurt the last time, after all."

"That isn't healthy for anyone, Gray." Ur hesitated. "Is there something else still bothering you then? Some issue you've been refusing to get help with?"

"Not exactly," he said, trying to ignore the confusion he felt as he recalled Zeref's admission to caring for him. He walked up to the front counter, ignoring Ur as she tried to reach out to pry for more details. "Slow day today, huh?"

The barista shrugged, looking between him and Ur. "Things have been tense for a while, not to mention the competition lately. Some coffee shop in a nearby town started stealing away all of our business, despite the travel time to get there." She rolled her eyes. "I honestly thought you'd been stolen away by them too. Haven't seen you around much, after all."

"Yeah, guild work has kept me busy." Gray shrugged. "Took a job that had me out of town for a while, so I haven't had time to stop by."

"Looking for your usual?" Gray nodded as the young barista looked over at Ur. "And your friend?"

"Just a regular black coffee," she said after a moment, looking between them. "You're a regular here?"

Gray shrugged. "I mean, it's probably the best coffee shop in town. I don't usually take jobs that bring me out of Magnolia for this long and it's nice to talk to someone who isn't going to immediately challenge me to a duel."

The barista snorted. "Yeah, you've got some pretty annoying friends. That fire wizard tried to drag me into one of your fights when you brought him here with you." She narrowed her eyes at Ur. "Please tell me you have more sense than that."

Laughing, Ur shook her head. "I can see why you keep glaring at me then." Placing a hand on her hip, Ur smiled. The door opened behind them as another customer walked in, but Ur continued talking. "Don't worry, I'm not here to cause any trouble. Though, I am somewhat curious about how you can have a competitor hours away from here. People aren't usually willing to travel that far for coffee."

The barista began making their order as the newcomer spoke up. "Good coffee is definitely worth a quick trip if you ask me." Gray turned, seeing a girl with short, messy blond hair standing behind them. In her hand was a coffee cup that she took a sip out of. "Just stopped by a friend's new shop, actually. Eternal Life's gotta be the place you're talking about."

"We don't allow outside drinks in the store, m'am," the barista said.

With a scowl, the blond practically slammed her cup down on a nearby table. "You got a problem with it? Jeeze, I'm not stupid enough to not order something when I walk in with this. You'll get your damn business either way, so why does it matter to you?"

"I don't make the policies, but I'm not supposed to let anyone in with—"

"Am I hurting your ability to do business by drinking this here?" The blond gestured to the door. "No, people can still walk in whenever they please. Am I stealing your customers by drinking this here?" She looked over at Gray and Ur, the only people inside. "Well, am I? You two suddenly feel like leaving and going elsewhere because I have this?" She picked up her cup again, shaking it in the air.

"You need to chill down and relax." Gray folded his arms over his chest. "It's a matter of respect, you know."

"And it is disrespectful for you to not offer me service because of something this stupid." The blond turned towards the girl at the counter. "So, what's it going to be? Can I get another coffee here or are you gonna refuse because I'm ignoring your stupid policy?"

The barista looked over at the potential customer before her eyes flickered around the building as she lowered her head. "I…you'll have to order it to-go. I can't let you consume your other coffee in the building."

The blond huffed, shaking her head. "Stupid policy. No wonder you're losing all of your business." Her eyes turned towards Ur and Gray, narrowing for a moment. "At least, to people who aren't idiots."

With a small smile, Ur placed her hands together for a brief spell. Gray's eyes widened as she wordlessly cast a spell directed towards the blond. The younger ice-mage blinked and suddenly, the other customer was gone with a cone of ice wrapping around thin air where her coffee cup used to be.

"Nice try, but you're not messing with my drink. I'm going to need it to deal with an even bigger idiot all day long, you know." Gray jumped as her voice came from right by his shoulder. The girl laughed, chugging her coffee and crushing the cup in her hand. "Alright, outside drink is gone. That means I'm good to stick around. So, are you two residents here? Because I'm eager to hear all you know about this stupid problem with your guild in town."

"Why would you care about that?" Ur asked.

"Because I'm curious if they'll be an interesting challenge or not." The strange girl looked over at the barista. "Oi, get me the largest latte you can make with an extra shot of espresso." She slammed some jewel on the counter. "Keep the change - consider it a thank you for ignoring any violations of your stupid policies while I chat with your regulars over here. And might as well make the latte iced, just so they can't try and pull the same prank on me twice."

"We never agreed to talk to you, you know," Gray glared at her. "You think people are that blindly trusting? For all we know, you could be trying to join up with them and make things worse."

The girl snorted as Gray and Ur grabbed their drinks. After a moment of observing them, the blond folded her arms over her chest. "Well, alright then. Maybe I misjudged the two of you after all." She looked over at the barista, waiting until she had her drink before pulling a chair out at a table and gesturing to the others as she leaned back and stretched out her legs. "The name's Dimaria, and that idiot I mentioned before wants me to deal with that stupid guild's problems."

"Dimaria?" Ur looked over at Gray, her eyes widening. He frowned, focusing on the connection with Zeref just to verify that he was still asleep. Looking over at Ur, he shrugged, uncertain of why she was here and not looking for Zeref first instead. "Well, I'm Ur and this is Gray. If you're looking for a resident, I don't qualify."

Nodding, Dimaria turned towards Gray. "But you do?"

"You could say that. I haven't been around for the start of this mess though." He frowned over at her. "Why are you at a coffee shop anyway? Seems like an odd place to start for getting rid of a hostile guild master."

"Because I need to verify something first." Dimaria scowled. "Specifically, making sure I'm here because my idiot, ah, 'friend' asked me to come here and not the guy I'm preparing to beat to a pulp for manipulating him."

Gray felt a weight in his stomach at those words. "Care to elaborate on that? Because I'm starting to think telling you anything is a bad idea." He narrowed his eyes. "No offense, but you sound like the sort of person that has a short-temper and I'd rather not be around to see the result of that."

Dimaria grinned. "You've got good instincts, kid. I think I kinda like you." She leaned forward over the table, tilting her head. "Even with that, I'm not exactly allowed to share. Gotta keep my personal investigation a bit more hidden, ya know? It isn't exactly something I'm supposed to be looking into."

"Then it doesn't sound like I can help you."

The blond scowled, taking a sip of her drink. She set the cup down, stirring it carefully with the straw for a moment. "Fine. My idiot friend thinks it is a great idea to let some stranger have complete control over him. It's a spell that's outlawed in pretty much every country, usually labeled as either a curse or just generic dark magic depending on which definition you look at. So, when he calls me up and asks me to do something as absurd as helping out a guild in some random country, I've gotta question who's the one giving me that order."

August must have told her about the enslavement spell then. Gray swallowed, again checking in on Zeref. This time, there seemed to be more of an awareness to his mind. Gray? It took Zeref only moments to likely hear what Gray was focused on. Without even responding, Gray felt Zeref activate a teleportation spell. Immediately, he was in the cafe and looking over at their table.

"Dimaria." Zeref narrowed his eyes at her. "You are overstepping your authority. While your concerns are noted, the request for your aid came from me."

The blond narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah? And what proof do you have?"

"The fact that you are sitting and speaking to the person I cast the human enslavement spell on." Zeref raised his eyebrows at her. "Or did you think I randomly arrived here and knew what you were up to by chance?"

The woman gritted her teeth, turning towards Gray with narrowed eyes. "You…you tricked me."

"Dimaria." There was a harsh note to Zeref's voice. "You will follow orders and leave him be." The black wizard approached them, taking a seat at a nearby table as he spoke. "He's—"

"Some stupid friend that you think should have the option to give orders to all of us." Dimaria scowled, looking over at Gray. "Let him speak for a change, if you're so confident that he's trustworthy." The young ice mage frowned at her, watching as the time mage sat up straight in her chair and met his eyes. "Tell me, kid, what exactly are you planning with all of this? You got some sort of grand scheme to get power? Learn some ancient magic from him? You're not as dumb as you look, so you can't pretend there's nothing you're gaining out of this little cursed connection of yours."

"I didn't exactly ask for it, you know." Gray sighed, shaking his head. "At this point, I'm just trying to figure out how to get rid of his curse and protect my guild. I could care less about gaining some kind of authority over you or your other…friends."

Dimaria frowned. "Get rid of his curse?" The blond leaned back, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're an idealist who thinks that's possible. You have no idea what sort of a thing you're dealing with."

"Well, resurrection with magic was supposedly impossible too." Dimaria didn't answer. "Sure, it won't be easy - it isn't like we can just find a god and ask nicely to have them lift the curse. That doesn't mean we don't have the ability to try and find answers on our own though."

"Trust him on that," Ur shook her head with a sigh. "I've been trying to convince him to give up on that little mission of his for a while now. If you want someone outside of that manipulative enslavement spell to talk on it, I'm the closest you've got to vouch for his word."

She was quiet again, looking between Gray and Zeref. When she didn't speak, the black wizard leaned forward. "Satisfied?"

The blond slowly looked back at Gray, nodding and looking the calmest he'd seen her so far. "Seems like August did have the right idea about you after all." She picked up her drink, giving him a nod. "I might not have faith that you'll succeed in your quest, but I can respect your determination to win. Maybe we can get along well after all, even with this stupid illegal spell between you two." She took a drink, looking over at Zeref. "You're still an idiot, but at least you picked someone smarter than you to cast that spell on. He already recognized me as a threat without even seeing what I can do."

"If you're done, I would say it is time we hurry up and handle the situation with Fairy Tail," Zeref said. "You shouldn't need any preparation to handle them - I simply called you to deal with things efficiently."

"Then let's get this over with." Dimaria stood up, shaking her head. "I'm getting sick of this town already and want to get back as soon as possible." She grinned after a moment. "After all, I've gotta have my chance to brag about meeting your little friend in person, something even August didn't get the chance to do." Zeref didn't respond to the comment, though Gray was getting the idea that this was just common behavior for the blond. Their group began to leave the cafe together, with Gray giving a waive to the barista as they left. It was time to take their guild back from Laxus and make sure he didn't cause more damage than he'd already done.

When Zeref said Dimaria would be able to handle Laxus efficiently, Gray hadn't expected it to be quite so quickly. Her magic technically gives her eternal youth, though unlike me she is still mortal. So, despite her appearance, she is actually quite old. I've worked with her for years. His explanations and commentary about her didn't exactly make it any easier to understand what had happened either.

It had started out as planned, or at least, as Gray had expected it to happen. Ur, Zeref, Dimaria, and himself had walked into the guild hall. Laxus and his team had been there, and no one else. Laxus had said he still wasn't going to change his ways and insisted it was the best thing to do for the guild. Then, he was on the floor, along with the rest of his team. It was reminiscent of the way she'd just vanished from Ur's attempt to freeze her coffee earlier.

"Well, that was boring. You ever gonna give me a challenge for a change?" Dimaria turned towards Zeref, placing a hand on her hip.

"I wanted the matter handled swiftly and saw no reason to prolong a pointless struggle, Dimaria." The blond sighed, shaking her head. Zeref just walked inside, turning back towards Gray. He frowned for a moment, before he shook his head. "It seems as if we are now waiting for the others to return. If they've located Master Makarov, the guild goes back to him. Otherwise…there will be other matters to discuss." He glanced over at Dimaria, nodding. "You are free to return home if you wish. I think you've more than proven your capabilities here."

"Yeah, even under his new rules she's practically become the guild master," Gray said.

Zeref smiled and Dimaria just shook her head. "Not interested. Have fun cleaning up the rest of your mess, kid." Dimaria gave him a wave, walking out of the guild hall and leaving them alone.

"So, what's the plan while we wait?" Gray asked after a moment.

Zeref paused, before shrugging."Training, I suppose. An empty guild hall is as functional as anything else for the task." He glanced over at Ur, nodding. "And it will at least reassure you that I'm not actually harming him with my instruction to observe me discussing things."

"Well, how considerate of you." Ur sighed, shaking her head. "Just get on with it. I thought there'd be an actual fight, but since I was wrong, I will stick around and make sure you stay true to your word."

"And you think you could stop me if I changed my mind?" Zeref met her gaze, smiling. "You just watched Dimaria defeat that man and cannot even say how she succeeded." Ur didn't reply. "I have at least eleven other wizards that are of a similar skill level as her, all completely loyal and willing to serve me. Are you confident you'd be able to win against that?"

"I could damn well try."

"That, I suppose, is true." Zeref turned towards Gray instead. "However, we are off topic again. We were about to focus on learning devil slayer magic, correct?" Gray nodded, and Zeref sighed. "There were good reasons for me wishing to avoid this path. Slayer magic in general comes with harsh side effects and odd requirements to meet for it to be learned. Anyone wishing to gain the ability to use it must be gifted that ability from either the race it targets, or from another slayer."

"So, Natsu could technically make another dragon slayer?"

"Dragon slaying magic is…different, in that matter." Zeref paused. "Out of all branches of slayer magic, Dragon Slaying magic tends to actually be the weakest, to my knowledge. Dragons must impart a portion of their magic into a wizard to grant the ability, but splitting it off further is not quite possible as their magic doesn't replenish in the same way as other races. In other words, creating a dragon slayer weakens a dragon and a weakened dragon slayer simply cannot function so it is not possible."

Zeref paused, though Gray wasn't quite certain he understood all the details. Either way, it didn't seem highly important to learning the magic, so he left it alone for now. "Devil slayer magic comes from demons and their, ah, magic, is quite easy to replenish. To put it simply, what you've been given is a small sliver of the power a demon would be capable of using. The more you use it, the stronger that power will grow and if you use it excessively…then you come into the side effects I mentioned before. My advice would be to learn the basics for this task and then to continue advancing your maker magic instead for future purposes."

"You keep mentioning this side effects without explaining them. What exactly might happen to Gray if he uses this magic too much?"

Zeref glanced over at Ur, seeming to hesitate. Then, he sighed and seemed to make a decision. "I suppose there is little harm in letting you piece this bit together for now." Zeref paused. "Slayer magic is given to others by imbedding a piece of another race's magic into a wizard. With excessive use, it clashes with the natural magic of a wizard and eventually overpowers their natural state. While there are some…extreme measures that can be taken to avoid this fate, the end result is typically a permanent transformation."

"Into what?"

"Depends on the slayer." Zeref glanced over at Gray, inclining his head. "For devil slayer magic, it would theoretically be a demon."

"And dragon slaying magic into a dragon?" Zeref nodded and Gray's eyes were wide. Natsu would one day become a dragon? That didn't make sense. He didn't seem anywhere near doing something like that. However, Zeref had also mentioned potential ways to avoid it. "You have something in place to stop it, don't you? That whole vague nonsense you talked about with Natsu's scarf—"

"Yes." Zeref looked away. "That is what is being suppressed in him, what will clash with what he is. For wizards it is one matter to undergo the transformation, but for a demon it is more complicated." He sighed, glancing back over at Gray. Thus far, they'd avoided the topic of conversation that they really should have addressed, but Gray wasn't going to complain. He was fine going about things as if nothing had happened.

"You're putting him at risk of transforming into a demon?" Ur stared at Zeref, who shrugged.

"So long as he doesn't use it, nothing will actually happen. He just needs to be capable of using a few small spells to fool Grimoire Heart into believing he's just discovered this latent talent. They will insist on teaching him more and likely pair him with the only wizard capable of magic even remotely similar to Gray's for instruction - the god slayer."

"And what makes you so confident of this?"

"My knowledge of their master. I did say before that I knew him rather well, didn't I?" He paused, glancing at Gray. "So, now that you understand the basics and exactly what you will be learning, do you still wish to move forward?"

"I'm ready. What exactly is so different about this magic from my own then?"

"It shouldn't feel like magic you are familiar with." Zeref tilted his head. "Demons don't draw their energy from ethernano at all, in fact. If using devil slayer magic properly, you shouldn't feel any drain on your magical energy." What the hell did it use then? "Their form of magic is curses, or at least, that's what they're fond of calling it. The name is misleading, as the spells themselves aren't actual curses, but that's a technical point we don't necessarily have to get into right now." Did Zeref always ramble when he taught? It seemed strange, but the man was almost distracted. Gray smiled, leaning back and listening to the rest of the explanation. "Curse power is a different form of energy, running off of a different particle in the air. Since it is so uncommon, it has not even been named. Only demons absorb this energy, and devil slayers once they've gained the ability."

"So, how do I access this other energy then?"

"Much like magic, you must first be aware of the energy to find it." Zeref sat down, closing his eyes. "Meditation focuses the mind and lets you look internally for its location. Unlike magic, whose container is consistently in the same physical location in every person, curse power is not natural for a wizard to possess. Its container will form where it finds room, so where you search for this energy will vary from person to person."

Gray didn't think internal anatomy would change that much between people, but he did sit down and start to meditate as directed. It wasn't like he'd never done anything similar in his training before with Ur, though that meditation typically was a lot colder and done with less clothing. Though, that likely wasn't the sort of meditation he should be thinking about now.

By his side, even Ur seemed to sit down to meditate too. The three of them sat in silence, letting time pass as Gray tried to turn his focus towards his energy inside. The magic energy was easy to find, always present inside of his chest and waiting for him to reach out for it. Yet, he needed something different, something he'd never quite felt before. Frowning, Gray stayed focused and kept searching.

He lost track of time during his search, uncertain of how long it typically took to find such things. Yet, just when he was debating if he felt something, a door slammed open and broke his concentration. "Alright, Laxus, we're coming to take you down!" Cana stood there, blinking in surprise into the guild hall. "Wait, you guys already beat us to it?"

Zeref sighed, opening his eyes and turning towards her. "Yes, we did. I did inform him yesterday that the situation would escalate rapidly if he did not restore things to how they should be." He glanced around them and smiled. Gray noticed Lyon and Juvia there, along with Master Makarov. "And your master has returned as well, meaning there is nothing more to be done."

"And what exactly were you planning to do had I not returned?" Master Makarov walked forward, looking towards him. "I heard a few details from Lyon and as vague as his comments were, I'm finding myself wary of your presence in our guild, working with our members in any form."

"Have you determined what I'm after? Or have you determined who I am?" Makarov didn't answer and Zeref smiled. "I see. Keeping your cards close at hand. You are indeed much wiser than Laxus as a guild master." Zeref rose to his feet, shaking his head. "Would knowing that I utterly despise war improve your mood? The plans Lyon likely spoke of did not include the detail that it is my final resort, when all other plans have failed to achieve success."

"It would not, for you would still be a threat to whoever comes after me."

"Then you have answered both, it seems," Zeref said. "For your initial question…if you had not arrived, I was going to do everything I could do to ensure Fairy Tail retained a proper master. Given my experiences, Gray is the only member I'd entrust with such information."

"You'd have shared that knowledge with him?"

"That knowledge…among other details." Zeref paused. "Isn't Fairy Law also a spell known to all guild masters of Fairy Tail? I had assumed I'd need to instruct him on that matter as well. Plus, there is the matter of proper leadership. Given his goal of personally finding an answer to end my curse, he can't exactly be tied down to a specific location as he leads. There are ways to allow him freedom of movement in such a position, though it would require some adjustments to things around here."

"Juvia cannot imagine how a guild could be run without the presence of its master."

Looking towards her, Zeref smiled. "I'm the emperor of a nation myself and I have not physically visited my empire in…" He trailed off, his brow furrowing. "Fifty years? Perhaps longer yet."

"That's not possible. You can't be older than twenty and even that's pushing it." Cana stared at him and Zeref chuckled.

"They shared my war plans but not the news of my immortality? How strange." Cana stared at him with wide eyes. "Your master knows exactly who I am, as does the rest of Gray's team. That knowledge alone would tell you how old I am."

"Who…who the hell are you then?"

Zeref didn't answer and Makarov bowed his head. After a moment, he let out a sigh. "This man is the black wizard Zeref. He is the greatest threat to our guild that we'll ever encounter."

"Hey, he isn't planning on threatening the guild right now." Gray stepped forward, narrowing his eyes. "Master, I get that you're concerned, but he's not going to start a war if he can avoid it."

"Gray, you are being far too optimistic. I don't know what came over you to trust him so much, but you have to see how this looks." Lyon met his gaze. "This man claims he wants something from Fairy Tail, barges into the guild hall and blatantly points out how weak the guild currently is. Are you truly just going to write that all off as an act to intimidate a man who was clearly easy to defeat?"

"I was attempting to avoid violence as a solution." Zeref met his gaze, sighing. "Of course, that seems absurd to anyone here. Fighting and conflict is all anyone turns to these days for solutions."

"You said it. They'd probably have been more comfortable with the two of us off on a mission to destroy the moon, right?" Gray looked over at Zeref, giving him a half-smile at the joke.

The black wizard chuckled, shaking his head. "Indeed." He turned back towards the others, his smile fading. "However, my goals do remain unchanged. If necessary…" He trailed off, frowning. Zeref's eyes flickered towards Gray, before he shook his head and turned away. "If I were to forget, I know what I'd move towards. That much…remains unchanged."

"Forget what? Do we need to send you reminders every week to not blindly attack us then?" Cana placed a hand on her hip. "Because even a drunk like me can remember important stuff like that, you know."

"Gray is helping me remember what I need to recall." Zeref's head throbbed slightly and he took a step back. "Right now, it is best that I don't focus on that topic, however. All you need to know is that it is unlikely that I will target Fairy Tail in your lifetime, so long as the current path does not lead us astray."

"Then are we attacking him or not?" Jet frowned. "Because it sounded like we were supposed to be enemies, but this guy isn't moving to fight at all."

Makarov stared at Zeref, before lowering his gaze. "We cannot allow him to leave, not with what he knows." Makarov looked over at Gray, sighing. "I'm sorry, Gray. Maybe one day, you'll understand."

"What the hell? You want to trap him here because of something he knows? Gramps, he's not doing anything about—"

"Gray." Zeref spoke, interrupting him. The black wizard smiled, nodding at him, before turning his gaze towards Makarov. "If you do this…I will reveal all that I know to Gray."

"And you think I am not capable of stopping you?"

Zeref smiled. "I am quite familiar with magics that interfere with speech, Makarov. Even if you were to somehow surprise me and block my ability to say such things out loud…you are forgetting the curse I placed upon Gray, the one you never quite identified when we last met."

"Are you saying you can use that to inform him of all of this?"

Zeref nodded. "Quite simply, actually." His smile widened. "In fact, it is more of a challenge to keep the information from him than it would be to grant it to him. If I didn't have practice controlling my very thoughts, it would be impossible."

"You make it sound like he can read your mind. That doesn't sound like a curse to me." Mira frowned.

Nearby, Levy seemed to blink in surprise. "No, it doesn't unless paired with something more." She stared at them, before stepping forward. "You're using human enslavement magic, aren't you? That magic was banned ages ago and no one is supposed to know about it. Of course, someone who was alive centuries ago probably was able to pick a few things up before it was forgotten."

"You are quite clever, aren't you?" Zeref smiled at her, before nodding. "You are correct, nonetheless. And before you make the suggestion, Gray is quite aware of how to turn the spell against me too. He's even done so in the past already."

"Enslavement magic…you used that on one of my children?" Makarov's glare was harsh.

Zeref shrugged. "Keeping track of his location and keeping him alive, yes." The master didn't respond. "He was a key component to one of my plans, Master Makarov. I did not wish for his death, yet the spell was not cast with the intention to force him to do much of anything. Really, I only utilized it…twice? Three times? And even then, it was only in an effort to keep Gray from further danger."

"And I'm at the point where I could care less about that spell anyway." Gray sighed, glancing over at Master Makarov. "Look, I get how unhappy you are with all of this. I won't say I understand what it is the two of you are hiding, but I do get your distrust of him. Do you think I trusted him right away when we met? Zeref's responsible for creating Deliora. I'm not that oblivious and I'm also not a very forgiving person. Just ask Ur if you want to confirm that."

"Ur?" Makarov frowned, glancing behind him. "That's not possible…"

"Repayment for his assistance." Zeref glanced over at Makarov. "In return for helping me with the curse, I developed a true reversal spell for iced shell."

"So that is why you are so determined to move forward with this." Makarov stared at Gray, before sighing and shaking his head. "And I take it Natsu and the others are working with you as well?" Gray nodded. "Then perhaps there is a story to be shared that may be of use to you. A story your companion would know well, but likely has not revealed."

"If you are speaking of Mavis, then I have already explained that story to him." Zeref met his gaze, seeing Makarov grow quiet. "As much as I can manage, that is."

"You're openly assisting them?"

"They are aware of what I've tried in the past, the origins of my curse, and the conclusions I'd already drawn. What they decide to do from there is something I follow along with and help with as I see fit."

Makarov frowned, taking a slow breath. "Before I make my final decision…just what exactly are you trying to do now to move forward?"

"Locate god slayers to better understand the magic of the gods." Zeref glanced over at Ur. "I had not heard of such a type of slayer magic existing before, so it will be new information even for me. Supposedly, Precht managed to find one."

"Precht? He can't possibly be alive."

"He's toying with dangerous magic, likely attempting to recreate what was made accidentally years ago." Gray still didn't know what that referred to, but Makarov seemed to know based on the dark expression that gave him. "Worry not, I am confident it isn't possible to do without the…added magic he can't obtain elsewhere."

"You promise you will not let harm come to my children on this task of yours? Handling a curse such as yours will be no simple matter."

"To the best of my ability, I suppose." Zeref shrugged. "There is only so much I can manage before I become deadly to them myself, after all."

"Right." Makarov sighed, glancing at Gray. "Be careful, Gray. Do not be reckless, and do not let Natsu do something stupid while you are working." Wait, was he changing his mind? Gray stared at him, confused as Makarov walked past them both, moving to the counter.

"I'm confused. Are we supposed to stop him or not?" Droy looked at Jet for answers, but Jet only shrugged.

Zeref walked towards the door while they were uncertain, leaving quickly. Gray watched him, before Ur patted his shoulder and sighed. "Ready to head out, kid? I think that's our cue to get back to work."

He nodded, moving towards the door. However, he stopped when he walked by Levy, remembering he wanted to talk to her when he saw her. "Hey, Levy?" The girl turned towards him and Gray hesitated. Did he really want an answer this badly? It might be for Natsu, but Zeref was keeping his secrets guarded for a reason. Still, with everything else going on, solving this mysteries might be his best chance at figuring out who the hell Zeref really was and if it was someone Gray cared for or not. "In the history books you've read, was there anything about some hero who was just as strong, if not stronger than Zeref? He mentioned something about it before and I was curious about it."

Levy frowned, tilting her head. "I'm not really certain. There are very few books willing to use Zeref as a reference for comparison, just because of how powerful he was." She paused, frowning. "Though, if you look at around that same era, there were a lot of warriors that were regaled as heroes for their efforts during the war. There was Irene Belserion, the one who created dragon slayers, and of course Acnologia, the most powerful dragon slayer ever known to history. According to the texts, he took down more dragons alone than the rest of the dragon slayers combined. And then there were the more subtle heroes like Anna Heartfilia, who tried playing a role of strategy and tactics behind the scenes. Do any of those sound like the one you're looking for?"

He'd heard Zeref mention two of those names directly, though it was likely a different Irene since he mentioned that one as one of his generals. Yet, the dragon slayer's name was new. Would a dragon slayer really warrant so much attention though? Recalling his recent lesson with Zeref, Gray wasn't so sure. If Acnologia was now a dragon, there was every reason for Zeref to want to keep dragon slayers alive to stop him. Plus, the guy was a hero according to history, like Zeref claimed he'd be. Yes. Acnologia…is the one I'm fighting to stop. Of course Zeref hadn't stopped listening in to his thoughts. With a sigh, Gray thanked Levy and turned to leave. It seemed like this background plan of Zeref's was far more complicated than he'd realized and likely less possible for him to help with than he thought. Dealing with dragons wasn't something anyone was skilled at anymore and Gray knew nothing that would help come up with a legitimate plan to stop one.