Ultear stood proudly with the old dark aura she had long left behind 7 years ago. Her eyes showed no remorse to the Jellal standing before her; Meredy, however, was a different story. Even when the woman was evil, Meredy always had a special place in her heart, and she wanted Meredy to join her on the path to darkness once more. Ultear held her hand out to Meredy, speaking softly. "Come, Meredy…join me…"

"U-Ul…" Meredy couldn't help the tears flowing down her eyes; she never wanted to see this side of Ultear again, and she knew that Ultear was forced to act this way. "Y-You don't have to act like this…this isn't you, Ultear…!"

"Oh, don't even bother trying to talk to her…" Jikan said with an amused smile. "Your words won't get through to her." Though, Jikan was quickly proven wrong for a split second as Ultear closed one eye, black sparks dancing around her body as she almost withdrew her hand.

"You sure about that…Master?" Horoki asked.

"Hm…perhaps there need to be modifications to this…or perhaps Meredy can join?" Jikan asked, looking over towards Ultear.

"N-No…L-Leave Meredy…" It was clear Ultear was still struggling to resist the effects of the dark lacrima in her body, but it was a battle she was losing. But with Meredy in possible danger, she had to keep fighting.

"She's fighting it, Master…" Veronica said while tapping her foot.

"I can see that, Veronica…" Jikan said with a somewhat annoyed tone. "Alright, since you won't join…Byron, get rid of them."

Byron grinned, a heavenly light surrounding his hands as his Exploding Hammer manifested out of nowhere. "Aye, sir!" Byron kicked Jellal over to Meredy, and then held the hammer like a golf club. "FOUR!" Byron swung the Exploding Hammer forward, causing a large explosion that destroyed part of the building and sent Jellal and Meredy flying.

"You're fixing that," Aloysius said.

"Dammit that's the sixth time…" Byron groaned.

.

.

Skye was sleeping peacefully in her bed; it was the middle of the night, and not a soul was awake. She then shot awake, but without a sound. She sat up, in a sort of trance-like state, and then hopped off her bed, and dug into her drawer for something. She pulled out an assassin's uniform, and slipped it on without a word. She then snuck out her window, and went down the snowy mountain trail, now even leaving a footstep behind her. She went to Magnolia, though she crept silently, not making a word or sound with her movements, and she made sure to stay out of sight, in case a passerby happened to spot her. She hopped up onto a roof, and then spotted a person sleeping in an open window. With precision timing, she jumped from the roof, and into the open window. Still remaining silent, she held her hands out as two short blades appeared. These blades made no sound as they cut through the air, and Skye did the unthinkable. She raised her blades, and brought them down on the sleeping person…

.

.

Tenoru Island, the home of the ghost of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion, was quite a peaceful place, especially after the war between Fairy Tail, Grimore Heart, and Zeref took place seven years ago, and when the most powerful dragon attacked the island, seemingly leaving it for nothing. Though it was supposed to remain in the dark after the Tenoru team was found, that didn't remain for long. A portal opened up, and Rugal stepped out of it, a smirk on his face. "So…this is the famous Tenorujima Island…" Rugal said to himself as he looked around. "I cannot lie; it is a nice place…"

The spirit of Mavis, who was sitting on a tree branch, felt the malevolent force intrude on her island, causing her to perk up, looking around frantically. "W-What…?" Mavis hopped down, noticing Rugal walking around the island. "W-Who are you!? How did you get here!?" Mavis shouted; but she then remembered that only members of Fairy Tail could see or hear her, barring a few exceptions. "What is he doing…?" Mavis followed Rugal around curiously, hoping that he wouldn't do anything to the island.

"According to the information, Zancrow was killed by Zeref in on this part of the island after his defeat to Natsu Dragneel…" Rugal said to himself as he continued walk around.

"He's looking for Grimore Heart…?" Mavis said quietly to herself, watching Rugal carefully. "Why would he be doing such a thing…?"

After a while of walking around, Rugal found the slightly decayed body of the Flame God Slayer, Zancrow. "Ah, this must be him…The seven year stop must have prevented his body from decaying completely…" Rugal nodded to himself then snapped his fingers, creating a portal that sucked in Zancrow's body. The portal then shrunk into the size of a marble, to which Rugal placed in his pocket. "Alright, that's one…" Rugal then looked towards the giant tree that stood tall in the center of the island. "And that is where Azuma's body should be…"

.

.

Cynthia held a smooth, black colored oval shape metal in her hand. She examined the metal, tilting her head every so often to get a better view. "Hm…I don't see what's so special about this metal…"

"Metal?" Gajeel said, drawn over to the word, now leaning over Cynthia's shoulder to see what she was doing. "What'cha got there, kid?"

"Gah!" Cynthia jumped at Gajeel's voice, turning around and hiding the metal behind her back. "N-Nothing!"

"Tch, don't lie, kid. I saw it, and I can smell it…smells kinda weird…" Gajeel said while crossing his arms.

"…It's mine, get your own." Cynthia said while crossing her arms.

"Well aren't we grumpy today? Gihehe…" Gajeel smirked slightly at Cynthia's grumpy attitude.

"No one's supposed to know I have it…!" Cynthia flailed her arms around.

"What IS it?" Gajeel asked once again, his patience beginning to run thin.

"Ugh…fine…it's this new element called Exerion…" Cynthia nodded slowly, deciding to stick with just that part of the story. "I found it while I was on the job with Wendy on the others!"

"Was that so bad?" Gajeel asked.

"Yes…now…if you'll excuse me…!" Cynthia shoved the Exerion in her pocket, and quickly hopped out the guild doors. She didn't know where she was going, but she decided that she would pay Lucy a visit, just to say hello. As Cynthia walked, she noticed a group of Councilmen surrounding a house, and her curiosity got the better of her, so she decided to check it out. "What happened here…?" Cynthia mumbled to herself.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, walking up with Natsu while carrying some groceries.

"Oh! Lucy, Natsu!" Cynthia waved to her two fellow guild mates, ushering them to come over.

Councilmen Correll and Lahar walked from the house, shaking their heads in disappointment. "That's the sixth murder this month…" Lahar said to Correl, giving a sigh.

"This is starting to irritate me," Correll said while punching the air a few times. "The criminal who thinks they can get away with murder in this country every other week has another thing coming."

"T-There was a murder here?!" Lucy said aloud, alerting Correll and Lahar of her presence.

"Oi, Fairy Tail…" Correll sighed slightly, deciding to walk on over to the wizards, using his hand to shoo them away. "Run along, nothing to see here."

"You just said there was a murder here!" Cynthia flailed her arms around.

"Nothing to see that concerns you," Correll corrected himself. "Now get outta here before I arrest you three for disturbing the peace."

"W-What!? But we haven't done anything!" Lucy shouted. "Also, I live just a few doors down!"

"Then hurry on home." Correll spat.

"Well, actually," Lahar started. "It may concern them, Correll."

"Oh? How so?" Correll turned his head to look at Lahar, raising a brow.

"They live in the area, do they not? The assassin may come to them," Lahar said with a stern nod.

"Assassin…?" Natsu raised a brow. "What's this about an assassin? Who's ass do I have to kick!?"

"Calm down, Dragneel, and listen for once," Correll said in a demanding, yet mocking tone, knowing if Natsu tried anything against him he could have the rambunctious dragon slayer arrested.

"TCH…" Natsu crossed his arms, and then looked away.

"You see," Lahar started. "Recently, there have been a string of murders occurring within this very town; Correll and I have deduced that it is in fact the very same person committing these murders."

"How do you figure that?" Cynthia asked while raising a brow.

"The assassin has left a particular mark on all of their victims; the markings on each victim are exactly the same, barring the location on their body," Lahar continued.

"What kind of mark?" Lucy asked, nervously.

"An X. Not just a normal x, but it's a symbol of some kind." Lahae said while adjusting his glasses. "We've been looking into what the symbol could mean, but so far we don't have any guesses or information just yet."

"How do we protect ourselves from this assassin…?" Lucy asked as her heart sank somewhat, feeling that she could very well be next.

"The attacks are random, always at night, and the people who are attacked don't hold any significance we know about," Correll explained. "In short, it's impossible to tell when, where, or who is next."

"Isn't that wonderful…" Lucy sighed.

"Don't worry; no assassin will be getting anyone from Fairy Tail…" Natsu said.

"Don't be so sure about that, Dragneel," Correll said with a large before he and Lahar went back to investigating.

"An assassin, huh…?" Lucy looked up to the sky. "I hope no one else gets killed…"

.

.

Skye was fast asleep on her bed, in her normal attire. She sneezed, causing her to wake up, but in a mostly sleepy state. "That was weird…" Skye groaned slightly before falling back asleep.