Just a story I'm dabbling in to get myself back into writing after along hiatus. I might continue it alongside my other fics if I have the time. Hope you all like it :)

It all happened so fast. One moment the skies of Fiore were a clear blue only to turn pitch black as the smoldering embers of what was left of Magnolia evaporated into the clouds above. Or at least, it felt like only a moment had passed for Gray Fullbuster.

Bloodied and beaten, he was in all kinds of pain as he lay motionless underneath the rubble. The perpetrator floated high above, ranting and preaching all kinds of nonsense. Not that he could make out anything of what he was saying since the blood flowing from his head was making him woozier than usual.

But pain inflicted on the body was nothing; he had grown accustomed to it over the years. What hurt him more was seeing the devastation that was being wrought upon by these invaders. Adorned in golden armor and silk red robes as well as large wings, surrounded by what seemed like armored dragons with pure white feathers, like elegant knights straight out of a fairy tale, yet in this instance, their stunning brutality matched those of the demons Gray had faced before.

Fiore, his home, the guild hall he grew up in... everything was destroyed, the very earth itself was beginning to crack open and seemingly swallowed up by the sky. Worst of all were the bodies of innocents and soldiers alike littered everywhere, at least those whose bodies weren't turned to dust.

"Mortals of this realm, you may think of this as an act of barbarism, a punishment for your arrogance in obtaining powers akin to gods. But these actions are not without purpose. Your sacrifice serves a greater purpose than you could ever imagine. Your earth shall become clay that molds our cities, your tears shall be the dew that nourishes our rivers, and your magic shall be the fuel that enriches the lives of our world. In your death, you serve the Heavenly Principles"

The ice wizard gritted his teeth and glared at the angelic knightly figure from afar. "What a load of crap!" he snarled, struggling to free himself from the wreckage. An unexpected aid came in the form of a certain pink-haired boy who pushed away most of the rubble and reached out a hand.

"If you've got time to sulk, then you've got time to fight."

"Natsu"

Gray reciprocated Natsu's offer and got back up to his feet, clutching his chest as he bore the pain with a grumble. As the two rivals stood side by side, another familiar figure stood in front of them.

"Natsu…. Gray…it's time. Let's finish this" Her voice was strong, commanding as ever yet there was a hint of uncertainty, a tiny hitch in that contralto that belied her true feelings. Still, they both knew better than to question that, especially at a time like this.

"Wait" Gray spoke, still reeling from pain as he swallowed his throat, "Where's Lucy and the others?"

"They're evacuating survivors…whoever's left" Erza responded. Her voice became hoarse as she barely contained herself.

A slight relief came over Gray when he heard the news that Lucy and Juvia weren't on the front lines, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a foreboding sense of dread over what Erza said about whoever was left. Looking at Natsu, he realized he wasn't alone in that sentiment "And what does that mean!?"

The scarlet warrior tightened her grip around her sword, doing her best to hold it all in and draw strength from her magic. But the burden was heavy and the toll she had to pay was beginning to crack as her hands visibly shook. "They're…...gone" Erza bit her lip and did her best to hold the tears in, but the pain was too much to bear, "Master and the others…...they're gone."

The two boys stared at her, stunned to their very core. She was a pillar of strength and courage, yet she was crumbling before their eyes once more. The idea that the likes of Laxus or the master could fall in battle so easily should not have been unfathomable, after all, there existed a future where they all hit the bucket and Acnologia was such a terrifying force that the entire world had to unite to take him down. But even so, they were family, and losing family was painful for anyone yet even Gray knew that this was neither the time nor place to mourn. What was most obvious to Gray was the absence of Happy. The Blue cat was inseparable from Natsu, giving him moral support as well as flying him around, and given the situation, he could only hope that he was with Lucy as well as the other exceeds.

Without even so much as a word, Natsu it seems was in agreement with Gray. His way of processing, however, was a bit different. Instead of keeping it all in, holding it together, Natsu clenched his fists as fire engulfed his hands. He bared his fangs as reddish scales erupted from his skin, covering his arms and parts of his face. The fire inside of him had been let out and it seared into his very being as molten rage. "They're gonna pay for this!"

The question was; where were "they"? Where did they come from? What did they want? Gray couldn't make sense of what they were rambling about. But it mattered little in the end, they destroyed his home, murder his friends, killed innocents, and seemed to be on the verge of destroying the very land itself. And that made them his enemy. A cold chill came from his right arm as it began enveloping his entire hand with black markings that eventually covered the entire right half of his body reaching all the way to his face. "You got that right," he said in agreement with Natsu.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Erza wiped a single tear from her left eye and steadied her hands as she changed into a different kind of armor, one built for flight. "I'll lead the way" she proclaimed, ascending into the air with great speed. As she made her way to the one who seemed to be their leader, a flock of draconic creatures descended from above, intending to protect their master only to be met with a volley of blades Erza summoned from thin air as they were sliced apart. The being covered in golden armor noticed her presence and summoned an enormous, heavily decorated sword of his own as he blocked her strike.

As the two clashed their blades against each other, Natsu and Gray realized that the skies had been cleared for the moment and immediately took action. The fire dragon slayer summoned fire from his feet and used the momentum to thrust himself upward, while Gray summoned a pillar of ice from underneath him that kept building itself up, allowing him to ascend to the skies.

At that moment the unknown being shattered Erza's sword and pushed her away, ready to strike her while she was vulnerable, only for Natsu to come to the rescue with a powerful flame-enhanced punch to the face. But that did little to make the armored warrior flinch as he simply grabbed Natsu's arm and threw him straight at Erza, sending them tumbling back to earth.

At that moment when the knight's attention was on Erza and Natsu, Gray used the opportunity to quickly freeze the air and use them as landing pads to leap from one section to the other until he was right above the being. "Ice make; Cold Excalibur" he shouted, summoning an enormous claymore constructed from ice, bringing it down on the armored entity, who realized what was going on and blocked it with his hand. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" he furiously asked.

"You cannot fathom what we seek. This is but a small price to ensure the Heavenly Principles prevail"

"Oh yeah, then fathom this! Fire dragon roooooaaaaar!" Natsu returned with a vengeance, using the flames on his feet to keep him afloat as he puffed his chest and blew out a massive torrent of flames that burned through the golden knight, who withstood the flames while pushing Gray aside.

Spinning in the air, Gray puffed up his own chest and let out a scream "Ice demon...raaaagggeee!" releasing a large purple blizzard that engulfed the knight from the other side.

The potent mixture of fire and ice subdued the angelic knight but the advantage didn't last long as the knight summoned a burst of pure white energy that consumed both the flames and the blizzard, making them disappear. The mysterious being spread his wings wide and summoned two strange cube-like constructs, the very same ones that seemed to be ravaging the land itself. One went for Natsu who, instead of flying away, began punching them with his bare fists. Gray, on the other hand, summoned an ice shield that kept the cubes at bay as it dragged him across the sky. Meanwhile, Erza was busy fighting off the minions of the being before she reverted her attention back to the knight.

Summoning two unique blades in her hands, one engulfed in flames, the other covered in ice, Erza clashed her weapons against the knight's as she summoned an enormous number of other blades pointing right at him. The winged knight for his part, summoned orbs of bright light and sent them flying towards the swords. As they collided, the resulting impact created white spheres that blinded everything in its vicinity. Seizing the opportunity of the momentary hesitation, the knight cast aside Erza's weapons with a powerful slash and grabbed her by the throat. "This ends now" he stated, tightening his grip around her throat as she gasped for air.

But as he was busy choking the life out of Erza, the knight failed to notice the presence of a bright beam of fire coming straight for him. Once he realized the incoming sight of Natsu engulfed entirely in flames flying straight at him, the golden knight remained still, believing himself to be able to withstand the attack. Initially, he was proven right, as he took the hit without flinching once again, but something was noticeably off about this attack; it kept pushing and pushing, inch by inch. With a thunderous roar, Natsu summoned lightning to enhance his strength until he was strong enough to burst through his defense.

If the mysterious, knightly entity could display an expression of shock underneath his helmet, now would be the time. "Arrrggh" the golden knight let out an incomprehensible roar, reeling in pain as he let go of Erza while being pushed back by Natsu.

"Dragon Slayer secret art; Crimson Phoenix Lotus Flame!" Natsu roared, driving his entire body, headfirst through the torso of the angelic knight, sending him flying through the air. Before he could get any further, the knight grabbed Natsu's body and began pushing him back through sheer strength.

Not wasting any time, Erza joined in on the fray and resummoned the two blades, imbued with the fire of E.N.D and the ice of the Demon Slayer respectively. With the help of her heaven's wheel armor, she propelled herself forward with a thunderous scream and sliced through the knight, leaving a trail of fire and ice scarred into his armor as he howled in pain, thus allowing Natsu to continue on the offense until he ran out of magic.

Not to be outdone, Gray, who had safely landed back on the ground, created an intricate bow made of ice and took aim as it charged up. The only thing left was for Natsu and Erza to get out of the way. Once those obstacles were clear, he loosened the arrow as it flew at high speeds until it burst through the knight's chest, causing him to roar in agony as ice emerged from his body. The victory was theirs.

Even after all of that, however, the golden-winged knight was still not quite destroyed yet as he ripped out the ice from his body and groaned before floating upright causing the three to grumble in frustration as he had just shrugged off their best hit. "You fight well for mortals. But alas, you face a-"

"That is enough, Abaddon. I grow tired of your games" another mysterious figure emerged out of thin air: A feminine form that walked in the air with poise, and grace yet possessed a strong commanding presence. Power exuded from her every being.

"Y-you're here!" The knight whose name was now revealed to be Abaddon, seemed almost helpless before her.

"And who are you?" Erza asked.

Rather than answer her question, the unknown being pointed her left hand towards Erza, summoning cubes out of thin air that eventually engulfed her. Erza yelled and struggled with all her might, yet as they began enveloping her, the screams muffled until they dissolved altogether and Erza was seemingly erased from existence, as nothing remake in their wake other than pieces of her armor that fell to the earth.

"The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles" she finally answered, slowly descending while Natsu and Gray looked on widened eyes and an expression of abject horror. "And we shall not be denied"

"ERZA!" they both screamed in unison before leaping into the air and charging straight at this unknown entity.

Gray was intercepted in the air by Abaddon, who dragged him across the ruined skylines of Fiore before pinning him to the ground. Natsu continue on by himself as he set his right hand on fire and sent it straight at the woman, resulting in a massive explosion that sent shockwaves everywhere. But rather than burn her away, the fires somehow began to get vacuumed into the palm of her hands.

"W-what?" a bewildered Natsu gazed at the fire being reduced to nothingness while nary a scratch was inflicted on the woman.

The woman responded by directing her palm towards Natsu, summoning a beam of light that emerged from the ground and blasted right through Natsu. Once the light disappeared into the sky, Natsu was gone along with it. "Unworthy" she stated, staring at what was left of Natsu.

There was a tense moment of silence which was immediately broken up by the screams of the last remaining wizard. "NATSU!" Gray screamed at the top of his lungs, desperately reaching his hand out for the empty space where Natsu was last seen in. He had been holding it in for quite a while now, but seeing the two most important people in his life literally erased from existence broke him down as a single tear fell from his right eye.

But there would be no time to mourn, no time to properly process this loss. For he would be joining them as Abaddon summoned light from his palms and began to initiate the process of eliminating Gray.

"Feel the wrath of the heavens"

In an instant, all Gray could see was a flash of light as he reached his hand out for the knight, perhaps in a futile attempt to stop him. Whatever the ease, the pain was quick and it was over within seconds as everything turned dark.

This was the end. He had failed.

He came from nothingness and nothingness was where he would return. He had hoped to join his fallen comrades soon within this pitch-black void. The afterlife was emptier than he had expected.

"Don't give up, Gray"

A familiar voice called out to him, echoing throughout the dark empty void shining brightly like some sort of light; his formless body desperately reached out for it, and the light in turn, grew bigger and bigger until it enveloped him whole in a blinding flash.

When next he opened his eyes, he was back in a familiar yet unfamiliar world. What was once his home had now deformed into an unrecognizable hell. With eyes wide open, Gray gasped for air as he painfully turned his limp body. The numbness was slowly dissipating as the sensation of intense pain and agony coursed through his entire body.

Glancing from the corner of his eyes, a familiar figure stood in the distance before vanishing into the flames. "U-Ul….tear...?" Gray wheezed out her name, deducing that his inexplicable survival had something to do with her.

Violently coughing, Gray slowly pulled himself from the brink, starting by moving his fingers before slowly but painfully forcing the rest of his broken body to cooperate as he willed himself to rise from the earth. Through sheer force of will, Gray dragged his body up from the dirt and rose to his feet, but what he saw, sent him back to being the scared little boy he was more than seventeen years ago.

The skies had turned pitch black and even more of those strange red cubes began forming from chunks of the land and floating up to the sky, all the while leaving enormous craters in their wake over what was once Fiore. And these craters kept bigger and bigger like they were devouring the very earth itself until nothing remained.

"This..can't be.." Gray limped around, looking for any signs of life amidst the wreckage. Never had he felt as weak and as insignificant as he did now, at least not since that particular incident in his life. What he was seeing now felt like a reenactment of the nightmare he suffered long ago when Deliora killed his family, destroyed his home, and caused his master to give up her life. But the nightmare was not yet over. As he continued trudging through the burning ruins, what lay before him completely shattered his heart.

In front of him were the remains of his some of his comrades, those whose remains weren't completely eradicated that is. "Macao, Wakaba" he looked to his left "Alzac" and gazed towards his right "Lucy?" he mumbled, his breath getting shorter and each name he could identify causing his heart to beat faster. But there was one figure that caught his eye. With tears running down his cheeks, Gray limped hopelessly, even stumbling and pathetically falling as he got up quickly and continued hobbling towards that figure; a hand that stuck out amidst one of the rubbles.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" he repeated, his cries getting more hopeless by the second. Clawing his way through the burning wood and brimstone, Gray ignored the searing pain as he cleared away the rubble, which revealed a lying body of a young woman. Her skin was mirred with burns, cuts, and bruises, her blue hair messy as her outfit was torn in places, and her eyes were closed as not a single breath escaped her mouth.

"Juvia, wake up!" Gray shook her body, in a futile attempt to bring her back to life, a fruitless desire against the inevitable. "Please Juvia, open your eyes!" he cried out for her to respond once more, but Juvia's lifeless body remained still. "Juvia…..Juvia.." the tears in his eyes began flowing freely, as he gritted his teeth and cradled the body, hugging her close to him. "Please…please don't leave me….Juvia. I'm so sorry Juvia" he bawled like he had never before, but she would not answer; the light in her eyes was gone, the spark of life within her body having left long before he woke up.

But the true end had yet to come as Gray would discover. Little sparks of light began to emit from Juvia's body as she slowly began to become transparent. Gray's eyes widened as he reeled back and looked around, only to discover that the others were slowly dissipating as well. "No…this isn't real…this can't be happening" he rambled, trying hopelessly to cling onto Juvia "No, no, no, not you too Juvia". Sadly, this was something he could not stop as Juvia's entire being slowly disappeared before his very eyes until he was hugging nothing but thin air.

Like fireflies lighting up the night sky, what remained of those he cared about ascended to the stars above, hidden by the dark clouds. His feet were on the ground and with nothing else left, Gray pounded the ground and howled at the top of his lungs.

He was truly alone.

Cold and numb, with no one to keep him company, Gray continued to slam his fists to the ground, the tears dropping into the damp soil. Everything he wanted to feel was gone; anger, hatred, sadness. There was only despair, a feeling of emptiness.

Yet, this was not where his life ended. The ground beneath Gray began to shake as the earth split and pieces of it flew upwards. But as they did so, Gray unwittingly became a passenger, being carried over by some unknown force towards the sky, moving faster by the minute. It would seem fate had other plans for him.

Gray yelled as he held on to whatever piece of rock and soil he could until he was high enough to see the true devastation that had been wrought. It wasn't just Fiore that had been decimated, everywhere he looked, he could see that the rest of Earthland was being ravaged as well. However, that revelation matter little in the current situation that he was in. As he was getting nearer to the sky, he would feel the force of the pull from the white vortex. With one final howl, the void consumed him and spat him out into a world he had never seen before. As his body spun out of control, Gray felt like he was falling through a strange tunnel; one composed of different colors. From this bright, colorful yet transparent 'tunnel' he could see the world he resided in from one end, slowly being torn to pieces as large chunks of it became hollowed out, while the sun and the rest of the stars from the side remained as oblivious as ever. However, he was being pulled in the direction that would take him further and further away from the world he spent his entire life in.

All of this was witnessed within seconds, as Gray was being dragged across with such speed that he was passing through millions upon billions of stars within minutes. By the end of this trail, another white light appeared at the end and sucked him in, followed by another blinding flash.

Once he had come back to his senses, Gray was hit by a very strong sensation; strong wind on his face blowing against him, the feeling of having his stomach bounce around, and his legs felt like they were about snap off. As he opened his eyes, Gray realized that he was in the sky once more, albeit a clearer one, and instead of ascending, he was now descending.

He gasped with a look of disbelief. He was severely injured. If he touched the ground at this speed, it would possibly be the end for him.

Rather than try to cushion his fall, Gray closed his eyes and hoped for a quick and painless end. He didn't see the need to fight back and try to live. There didn't seem to be any point in trying to continue living anymore. He had lost everything he held dear. Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Lyon, and everyone else he cared about were gone. Juvia would no longer smile and pester him; he could no longer bicker with Natsu nor would Erza come to break them up with a terrifying expression. Those days felt like a long-forgotten dream; a dream he longed to go back to.

Somehow and much to his disappointment, it was not to be. Through some unknown miracle, Gray's fall was cushioned by the enormous trees that halted his momentum as he crashed through them, with each hit letting out a yell from him until he was sent flying to a clearing and right into a raging river. Falling into the water with a thunderous splash, the raging waters dragged him across the channel as he helplessly flailed about while painfully colliding with every rock standing in its way. As the raging torrents continued pushing him on, they finally led him to a dead end with no clear path in sight except toward a downward fall.

Whether he liked it or not, Gray was sent on a dive as his lifeless body flailed across the edge of the waterfall and crashed with another violent splatter into the deep waters below.

As Gray's body sank into the depths of the water, he neither had the energy nor the desire to even try to swim up to the surface for air. Where he was or how he got there or what he should do next matter little to him. Nothing mattered anymore. There was nothing left to live for anymore. It was all over him and the only thing he desired right now was for death to claim him.

But even that was still denied to him, as eventually, Gray felt his body being pulled from the waters and dragged through the muddy shores before finally being dropped into solid earth. His vision was blurry but he could make out a few humanoid figures curiously looking over him as he closed his eyes once more.

It seemed fate truly wanted him to suffer more.