Gildarts with Erza, Juvia, and also Meredy were walking in the forest as they are heading to the Fairy Tail base camp where they know other members would be gathered there.
"um…" muttered Meredy with a frown as she felt that she shouldn't be following the group because she is a Grimoire Heart member and that means that she is an enemy.
"it's fine" said Juvia, knowing what Meredy is going to talk about. "enemy or not, Fairy Tail never lets anyone injured and in harm"
Meredy looks at Juvia as the rain mage smiles with a nod that made the pink haired girl smile too.
"Gildarts" Erza called out to the Crash Mage who is carrying Natsu by his shoulder, the salmon haired age unconscious. "was it really wise to just leave Chitetsu behind? That katana always appear the moment Natsu needed itself and both of them are inseparable"
"yeah, either that choice but none of us can even touch the damn thing, remember?" said Gildarts, knowing how Chitetsu would drain any other mage besides Natsu of their magic till they even faint.
"just how can a cursed weapon do such a thing?" asked Juvia, not understanding fully how Chitetsu can drain a mage of their own magic at a fast rate.
"I don't know the principle and all, but Chitetsu isn't something that you should be able to find in Fiore or even on the continent itself" said Gildarts before hoisting up Natsu as the man was slipping his hold. "Natsu once told me that he wasn't raised up on the continent of Ishgar"
"are you saying that he once came from a different continent?" asked Erza as Gildarts nodded.
"he told me and all about the place he was raised at during his time as a kid, but never told me on where it is" said Gildarts before glancing at Natsu's unconscious face. "for all I can tell, he and Ikaruga came from the same place and that place gives them some bad memories"
"Ikaruga and Natsu originated from somewhere?" said Erza with an intrigued look before the group soon arrives at the base camp where they find remnants of destruction everywhere.
"Gildarts! Everyone!" exclaimed Levy as she is kneeling by a makeshift tent where Gajeel, and Mira are laying down on beds while bandaged up. Lisanna is nearby as she is watching over the two injured people.
"yo" greeted Gildarts to the group before everyone made their way to the tent.
Natsu is laid down on a bed as Lisanna placed a wet towel on the man's forehead before she gets the medkit to patch up some wounds Natsu has from his fight with the now deceased Zancrow.
"just how strong is Grimoire Heart that they could take out Natsu too?" said Levy, thinking that Natsu got done by the dark guild.
"nope, Natsu didn't lose..rather" said Gildarts before glancing at Meredy who sat beside Juvia, both are getting medical attention by Erza. "…someone else made it problematic for him"
"I see…" said Levy while nodding in understanding before looking back at Gildarts. "then..if you're back does that mean Bickslow and Freed too?"
"yeah, the two went on ahead to find Evergreen and anyone else they could find" said Gildarts before looking around. "and seems like Cana or any of the others have come here yet"
Before long, everyone heard a loud explosion coming from a far the camp as the explosion was so big that the smoke from it was flying large in the air.
"what was that?!" said Lisanna after feeling the tremor of the explosion.
"Bluenote" muttered Meredy while having quivering eyes.
"must be one of her pals" said Gildarts before he started walking in the direction of where the smoke of the explosion is coming from. "stay here and protect the wounded! A weakened warrior is easy prey to enemies!"
"are you going there alone?!" said Erza while standing up.
"yeah!" replied Gildarts "my gut tells me that Cana might be there with Lucy and the others!"
"be careful! Grimoire Heart's 7 Kins are strong individually!" said Juvia, warning Gildarts of how she could have barely defeat Meredy and get her to wake up in her senses.
"got it!" exclaimed Gildarts before he took off running to the site of the explosion.
"I hope whoever Gildars has to face there…let's hope that he can win" said Erza as Levy and Lisanna nodded, knowing just how strong the Crash Mage is.
Natsu laid on his bed before black vein marks started spreading from down his neck and up to his cheeks, his eyelids slowly opens to reveal pure black eyes that are void of pupils.
Meanwhile, with Gray, the Ice Make Mage is hiding behind a large rock as he holds his bleeding right side that is the result of his encounter with Ultear who had tried to deceive him upon their encounter.
"damnit.." grunted Gray as he gritted his teeth hard and holds in the pain because of Ultear's magic that is somehow powerful than his own Ice magic.
Right now, Gray is hiding from Ultear as he needed time to recuperate and think of a way to defeat her fast because time isn't his ally in both metamorphically and reality.
"Hiding like a dog? How unlike you, Gray." Ultear's voice rang out as Gray turns and sees the boulder that he was using as cover became dust and revealed him Ultear who stands a few feet away from him while having a smirk. "I guess she was as bad of a teacher as she was of a mother. A failure through and through. To raise a coward as her own son...truly unsightly."
Gray gritted his teeth as he can't use his magic fully against Ultear's magic nor will he win in close quarter combat as his wounded side is the result of when he tried to do it.
"you….you're really like Ur, aren't you?" said Gray as Ultear raised an eyebrow in hearing his statement. "both mother and daughter are god damn taunting women, and both are god damn stinking people who have foul mouth to guys"
Gray lifted his right hand up as cold air started seeping out before ice started to form.
"Going with ice again?" said Ultear with a scoff. "I thought we established it – ice does not work on me. I can turn it into water or steam, rendering it useless. There is no way ice will reach me ever again. Molding Magic itself is powerless against me."
"oh It will." declared Gray as the ice upon his hand started to turn red before forming a sharp ice spike on his right hand and left elbow. "I shall defeat you with Ur's magic, magic I trust with my life."
"the ice…turned red?" thought Ultear with a frown as she has no idea what Gray is thinking of doing.
'your darkness….i wil seal it away'
hearing Ur's words in his mind, Gray glared at Ultear with pure steel hard resolve.
"Your darkness! I will!" shouted Gray before he charges towards Ultear. "Seal it!"
Ultear smirks as she raise her hand to turn Gray's ice into water or steam but her eyes widen because Gray's ice won't turn into anything even with her magic.
"What..." gasped Ultear before Gray swung his right hand's ice blade at her face, causing the Time Mage to gasp in pain before the ice blade on Gray's left elbow hits her next.
"You cannot use your magic on living things such as humans, right?!" proclaimed Gray as he continues to strike his ice blades at Ultear in a spinning motion.
'red ice…that means…he froze his own blood and made it into a weapon!?' thought Ultear in shock as Gray spins around as fast as he could while striking down his ice blades at her.
"Hyoujin! Nanarenbut!" shouted Gray as he sends Ultear flying to a large rock boulder, his ice blades on his limbs shattering upon finishing his move.
Ultear crashed against the wall as she gasped in pain before falling to the ground.
"y-you…are you…mad!?" grunted Ultear, shocked to see that Gray would use his own blood as a weapon. She quickly got up as she got into a stance with her hands in a pose that Gray is very familiar with.
"that pose…it can't be!" said Gray in shock as he sees magic building up in Ultear's hands.
"Ice Make! Rosen Krone!" exclaimed Ultear as she creates a large garden of ice roses that sends Gray flying into the air.
"the same ice creation…..as Ur!?" thought Gray in shock before he drops to the ground and grunted in pain because Ultear's Ice-Make creation dealt some damage to him.
The roses started to crumble, with wounded Ultear panting heavily. Gray slowly stood up and smiled sadly. "I should have expected this...You do have her blood, after all."
"Shut up!" shouted Ultear as she swung her hands forward, forming ice spikes that are heading towards Gray who jumped and shattered her ice before lunging right at Ultear.
Gray grabs Ultear by her shoulder and drag her to the ground before both started rolling down a cliff as the dirt started to cover their bodies.
"Why have you turned out like this?!" exclaimed Gray at Ultear while both are rolling down the cliff. "Why are you doing this?!"
"As if someone like you could understand!" exclaimed Ultear before both falls off the cliff and into the ocean water below.
Gray and Ultear sank to the nearly bottom of the ocean as both continued their battle inside. both got into a hand stance as they unleash a blast of ice against one another, only for their attacks to collide and cancel each other out.
Ultear was about to unleash another attack when she heard a voice in her head.
"a voice?..who was that?" thought Ultear before she got a punch to the face by Gray who got a kick in return from her.
Ultear keeps hearing the voice over and over before she started seeing images in her mind, images of her younger self with her own mother.
'are those….my mother's memories? Am I nearby my mother's remains that had fallen into the ocean?' Ultear started seeing everything from the moment her mother asked for help with her overflowing magic power that caused her to burn up in a fever to the moment Ur broke down in tears to hear that herself is presumed to be dead.
'This...This is not what I remember…' thought Ultear with wide eyes. 'This is...'
Ultear soon felt a rising magical power bellow her as she looks down and sees Gray with his hands in a stance as magic power rises up to the limits.
"Ice Make! Gungnir!" Gray unleashes his attack as Ultear got trapped in ice that formed the tip of the spear that sends her body rising out of the surface of the water.
Ultear limply hung out of the ice, her eyes glued to the cloudy sky while Gray swam up to the surface as well and took a deep breath. He drifted in one place, his eyes stuck on Ultear.
"I don't know what happened between you and Ur." Said Gray to Ultear "But she once told me a story, she only told me once but I remember it"
'when that girl was born, I felt a light shining into my heart and I dreamed of a future full of hope for her. I was so happy back then, beginning from this tiny little body in the future that holds infinite possibilities. The power of life. She was my tears. My Ultear'
The ice Ultear is in shatters as the Time Mage started to fall back into the ocean while crying in tears.
'All I ever wanted….was to be with my mother just one more time….' Ultear cried in her mind as her only wish is to be back with her own mother before all her tragedy came to her.
Before long, Gray brought Ultear back to shore as the man tied up his discarded shirt around his bleeding side and tied it tight to stop his bleeding.
"my battle is over.." muttered Ultear while leaning against a rock.
"yours is, but mine is far from over" replied Gray as he took a deep breath and exhaled.
"you can't win against Hades." Said Ultear, warning Gray of the Grimoire Heart's Master's power.
"I know" said Gray as he wheezes a bit before he started walking. "it'd be impossible to do it by myself"
At the location where Chitetsu remained, the cursed katana laid in its place, the blade pierced the ground and its handle pointing up to the sky.
"This might be a rather pleasant meeting," said Chitetsu as a demonic skeletal shadow appeared on the cursed katana's blade and it was cackling. "I've met hundreds of nameless souls with those who wielded me before Natsu, but this might be the first time I've met one with a very famous name"
Several footsteps are heard as it started to mix with water splashing. Chitetsu's demonic skeletal shadow widen its right eye while shrinking its left eye while having a big sinister smirk.
"to what pleasure I have to be meeting you?" said Chitetsu as Zeref appeared from the bushes, his eyes shadowed, and his clothes were wet. "Black Mage of Death, Zeref?"
Zeref slowly raises his head as his eyes glows red.
"Acnologia….is coming" said Zeref as thunder rang from the clouds above.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye