"How are you still alive?" Gray asked in utter confusion as he looked towards Ur, his teacher.

"Still alive?" Ur merely shrugged at the question. "I think you mean how are alive," Ur replied while snickering slightly. "A very kind soul thought it nice to revive me from the ocean."

"Do you know who it was?" Lyon asked while shaking off the shock, but still had utter disbelief on his features.

"Hm, I'm afraid not…" Ur replied, though she was lying, there was no way for the three mages to tell. Ur then looked to her daughter, a softened smile on her face. "Ultear."

Ultear stared at Ur; it was the first time in years she had actually seen her own mother, and after learning how much she cared for her, she had no idea how to react or respond. "Y-You…"

"Yes, it's me, Ultear," Ur nodded, giving a sweet smile to her daughter.

"You…You're her daughter that went missing…" Lyon snapped his fingers, remembering it all now.

"This is all a dream…" Ultear convinced herself, unable to find the correct words she wanted to say.

.

.

Melody skipped around the city, looking around for a potentially open shop. She knew Kagura was upset with what happened earlier in the day, so the silver make mage felt as though she had to do at least the smallest gesture to help make her feel better. But, after a while of searching, she was unable to find anything, so with a sigh, she turned around, and started her way back to the hotel. "Ah…man…I couldn't find anything…"

"Psssh…" A voice whispered over to Melody.

"Huh…?" Melody turned around, looking in every direction to see where the voice came from.

"Over here, Melody," Veronica waved slightly as she appeared from the shadows.

"Huh…?" Melody blinked a few times, looking to Veronica with a look of confusion. "Have we…met before…you seem…awfully familiar…"

Melody's comment struck Veronica right in the heart, but the dark mage shook it off as best she could. Veronica was one who truly had no emotion when it comes to others, but she did state before that Melody was a different story, and she would have to play around Melody's memory loss until she regained it. "Oi...Yes, we have. My name is Veronica."

"...That sounds vaguely familiar..." Melody thought it over for a few seconds before shrugging. "Well, is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, there's something I want to help YOU with," Veronica responded.

"Eh? What's that?" Melody blinked a few times.

"I noticed you haven't been making use of your lightning magic...it would've worked really well with your tactics in today's event," Veronica replied.

"Lightning...magic?" Melody tilted her head in confusion. "I only know Silver Make Magic!"

"Oh?" Veronica raised a brow, then took a few steps back, gesturing for Melody to attack. "Zap me."

"...What!?" Melody's eyes widened at the odd request, so she shook her head a few times. "That's crazy! I'm not gonna zap you! I can't even zap you!"

"Zap me, Melody Silver," Veronica replied while narrowing her eyes.

"But I can't!" Melody replied, though her refusal to do so ended up causing a small yellow magic circle to appear under her feet, sending an electrical shock through her own body. "AGHAGAIBAFBOANGFOANG"

"...Or you can zap yourself...that...works too..." Veronica said while blinking a few times.

.

.

"Don't worry sweet heart! We'll make this quick!" Byron shouted as he swung his mechanical scythe at Lucy, the reach of the scythe surprised Lucy as it came dangerously close to decapitating the girl, but she reacted fast enough to evade the swipe, and only a few hairs were cut form from her head.

"This isn't good…!" Lucy said aloud as she hit the wall, using her non bleeding hand to pull another key from her pouch. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" A magic circle appeared, and the cosplaying horse spirit appeared, his bow and arrows at the ready.

"How can I assist you, moshi-moshi?" Sagittarius asked.

"Take them out!" Lucy shouted as she pointed towards the two dark mages.

"As you wish moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius nodded, and then strung several arrows on his bow, releasing them in rapid succession towards Ruika and Byron.

"Oh?" Byron merely raised a brow at the incoming arrows, and his scythe changed into a gun bow. Since Byron's eyes were excellent to the point where he could easily keep up with Erza in her Flight Armor once, he aimed his gun bow at the incoming arrows, firing off rounds of pure magic energy, taking out most of the arrows that came in. "How about you, lil' lady?"

"Don't call me that," Ruik replied to Byron while rolling her eyes, using her own reflexes to evade what was left of the arrows with relative ease. It was at this time Lucy wrapped her whip around Ruika's waist, pulling her in with her uninjured hand, then pulled her injure hand back, clenching it tightly into a fist. Though injured, she swung her fist at Ruka's check, aiming for any kind of hit, but Ruika put her arm up, blocking Lucy's attempt of a punch with ease. Ruika then swung her leg at Lucy's arm, causing her to release Ruika. Using this opportunity, Ruika swung her leg at Lucy's side, causing Lucy to stagger over in that direction.

"No!" Sagittarius noticed Lucy was in danger, and immediately unleashed a rapid flurry of arrows upon the opposing spirit mage, but the arrows that he fired were all quickly shot down by Byron and his gun bow.

"Tobias said you enjoyed being an annoying pest in battles," Ruika said while dusting herself off.

"My spirits don't fight alone…" Lucy replied as she stood next to Sagittarius, pulling out her fourth key for the battle. "Gate of the Goat, I open thee! Capricorn!" Another magic seal appeared from the tip of Lucy's key, revealing the humble spirit, Capricorn/

"How much longer do we have to keep this up…" Bryon groaned, but before he could actually make a move, Capricorn flew in with an elbow to Bryon's nose, sending the requip mage stumbling back. Capricorn followed up with a powerful kick to Byron's side, sending him into the nearby wall.

"Don't lose your focus…you're almost as bad as Tobias…" Ruika shook her head as she pulled out two other keys. "Gate of the Twin Bears, I open thee. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor!" From Ruika's keys, two spirits appeared, one a large bear with an axe, similar to Taurus in stature, and a smaller ninja-like bear with two ninja swords in hand appeared.

"Four vs. three? Easy." Byron said with a smirk as a heavenly glow appeared around his hands. His gun bow vanishing, replacing the bow with power gloves and boots, increasing Byron's physical prowess by fifty percent."

"She won't last much longer," Ruika stated, and to Lucy, that was one of her greatest fears with this encounter.

"I'll show you!" Lucy shouted as she pointed her hand forward.

"Not so fast, little miss!" Byron lunged forward, beating the horse cosplayer to the punch, slamming his power glove fist into Sagittarius's face, sending the spirit crashing into the wall behind Lucy.

"Sattitarius!" Lucy's eyes widened as the spirit faded back to the spirit world. Before Lucy could do anything else, Ursa Major swung its axe down towards her, but Capricorn jumped forward, grabbing Lucy, and successfully leaping out of the way, the axe splitting the ground it traveled across.

"Careful, Lucy-sama," Capricorn nodded before setting Lucy down, only to be assaulted by Bryon seconds later, whose powerful fist landed on the goat's chin, sending him spiraling into the air before landing on his back.

"Capricorn!" Lucy shouted, preparing to move again, but before she could, Ursa Minor aimed multiple slashes at her with his blades, but Lucy somehow managed to avoid being sliced, minus a slash cutting across her side, and reared her leg back, landing her infamous Lucy Kick on the spirit, causing it to stumble back.

Byron used his knee to pin Capricorn to the ground, raising his fist high. "KNOCKOUT PUNCH!" Bryon exclaimed, mainly just for fun, however, as he slammed his fist into Capricorn's skull; the impact cratering the ground the spirit once was, but he now returned to the spirit world.

"T-This isn't good…" Lucy held her now bleeding side, breathing heavily from magic usage and exhausting.

"I think we're just about done here," Ruika said with a smirk as her two spirits stood beside her, which she sent back, figuring the battle was now over.

"She put up a longer fight than I would've thought," Byron shrugged as he took a few times forward, rearing his fist back. "Don't worry and just sleep tight, because once you close your eyes, they won't open ever again. Byron swung his fist towards Lucy, but before contact was made, a different fist struck Byron; a flaming one. The impact caused a noticeable burn mark on Byron's cheek as he slid back, obviously enraged at the surprise attack. "Who the hell!?"

"Natsu…!" Lucy's eyes widened with delight at the sight of her companion.

"How did he get past the runes?!" Ruika shouted, angrily stomping her foot on the ground.

"You have me to thank for that," Freed said as he walked around the corner, his sword out.

"And me!" Happy said while grinning. "Natsu asked me to follow Lucy just in case something happened, and I, Happy, found the source of the problem!"

"Of course…Freed Justine…" Ruika let out a low groan of annoyance. "Peasants…"

"Oh, I get it now…" Bryon said while using his knuckle to shake off the impact of Natsu's fist. "The pink haired dunce comes to the rescue of the blonde princess! It all makes sense now!"

"Shut the hell up," Natsu replied as his hair shaded his eyes in a way that his eyes appeared a blazing red. "You think you can just attack Lucy and get away with it…"

Ruika yawned while Natsu spoke, completely uninterested in what he was saying. "Whatever, Salamander…"

"RAH!" Natsu lunged forward, mainly towards Ruika with his fist pulled back, his fire dragon slayer magic swirling around his fist as he threw it forward, but he completely forgot about the other mage standing by.

"Natsu, look out!" Freed shouted.

But it was too late, Byron slammed his fist into Natsu's cheek, sending the dragon slayer into the brick wall nearby, but he held in any sounds of pain, and immediately sprang from the wall, his fist still ignited as he now charged Byron. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

"Nice try, kid!" Byron shouted, catching Natsu's fist before he could through it. But, before Byron could throw his own fist, Freed landing a spinning roundhouse to Byron's face, causing Byron to stumble back. "Gah!"

"Freed…Natsu…" Lucy let out a relaxed sigh, but she then remembered that Ruika still had one of her keys, which caused her to start panicking once again. "N-Natsu! Freed! She stole one of my keys!"

"She did WHAT?!" Natsu growled, clenching his fist tightly as he started to inhale…and that was Natsu's mistake right there. A poisonous bomb hit the ground right in front of the Salamander, causing a cloud of purple, poisonous smoke to appear, though it didn't last long as Natsu accidentally inhaled the poisonous fumes, his eyes widening as he started to cough immensely, his skin starting to turn a ghostly pale color.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy ran over to Natsu, who fell to his knees, grasping his neck with both of his hands as he desperately gasped for clean air.

"Who!?" Freed looked up, only to see a ninja-like male sitting on the rooftop above. It was Horoki in one of his Warrior Takeovers.

"Ah, Horoki! When did you get here?" Byron asked with a slight grin.

"I don't remember inviting him…" Ruika let out another sigh.

"Oh, I just was just passing through when I noticed Salamander taking a deep breath, so I decided to fill his lungs with a little poison, you know?"

Natsu's eyes rolled into the back of his head, his breathing cut short as he fell on his stomach. "N-NATSU!" Lucy picked up Natsu, despite her injuries, and then looked towards the three dark mages.

"We could finish them off right here…" Byron said with a nod.

"That wasn't apart of my plan," Ruika replied. "We're leaving now that I've gotten what I wanted."

"You heard her," Horoki nodded. "It was fun, Fairy Tail, but it's time for us to take our leave." With a nod, Horoki threw a smoke bomb towards the three mages, creating a large cloud of gray smoke. When the smoke cleared, the mages were gone.

"They escaped…" Freed mumbled with a slight growl.

"That's not important right now!" Lucy shouted as her voice gained an edge of desperation. "We have to find Wendy! N-Natsu…he's not breathing…!"

"What!?" Freed's eyes widened as he rushed over to Natsu, using his sword to write some runes on Natsu's body. "This will stop the spread of poison throughout his body. Now, let's hurry to the hotel, I don't think she's asleep yet!"

"Natsu..." Happy's usual cheerful expression turned into a heavy frown at the sight of his partner down.

"R-Right!" Lucy nodded, picking up the fire dragon slayer with whatever strength she had left, and rushed over to the hotel with Freed. Freed's assumption was correct, as Wendy and Cynthia were both preparing to go to bed just like everyone else when Lucy ran into the room. "W-Wait!"

"L-Lucy-san!?" Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of her and Natsu.

"Whoa, what's going on here?!" Cynthia said as she hopped out of bed, dressed in PJs.

"Natsu's been poisoned!" Lucy replied as she set Natsu down on the nearby bed.

"I'll take care of it!" Wendy nodded, immediately running to Natsu, and placed her hands over him, a sea-green light emitting from her palms. Natsu's skin returned to normal from Wendy's treatment, and he regained consciousness slowly.

"Ugh...What the hell happened..." Natsu groaned.

"That's what I was coming in here for," Erza said as she and Mirajane walked inside the room. "Natsu, what happened to you...?"

"I was jumped..." Lucy replied, looking down as Wendy began her treatment on her as well.

"Jumped!? By who?" Mirajane's usual sweet expression replaced with a dark glare a thin purple aura appearing around her body.

"I think it was that Silent Sanctum guild...from last year, remember?" Lucy replied. "One of them...she took one of my keys..."

"Tch..." Erza growled somewhat after hearing Lucy's story.

"Luckily, Natsu and I were able to arrive on the scene before anything else happened to her," Freed nodded. "And of course, thanks to Happy scouting out the place."

"Thank you, Freed, Happy, and Natsu..." Lucy said with a nod.

"We know nothing about that guild in the first place..." Erza sighed.

"Perhaps I can shed some light on Silent Sanctum..." Jellal said as he appeared in the doorway, with Meredy of course.

"Jellal!?" Erza's eyes widened from surprise at the sight of Jellal. "I've been looking for you."

"I know," Jellal replied. "I know you have some questions, and I should start with Silent Sanctum."

"You know about that guild?" Mirajane asked while turning to face Jellal.

"They ambushed us awhile back while we were investigating..." Meredy replied.

"Their mages are powerful, not to mention they must have some sort of motive. But, they are the reason Ultear has returned, now to us after the Grimoire Heart incident, and they are also the reason Siegrain is back in power," Jellal explained.

"Can't you just get rid of him?" Erza asked while crossing her arms.

Jellal shook his head to the question. "I wish it was that simple, but I know if I were to do something such as that, they would react in a way I don't want to imagine. Their master's name is Jikan, but I don't remember the last name. He works with time magic."

"I remember..." Erza nodded. "We dealt with some of their members a few months ago..."

Upon the discussion of Fiore's End, Cynthia merely averted her gaze to the ground. "It was pretty huge, wasn't it..."

"Do you know anything else?" Erza asked, but Jellal shook his head once again.

"No, I'm afraid not," Jellal replied.

"I see...well, thank you Jellal." Erza gave a nod of appreciation to the bluenette, then turned to Natsu, who was still groaning somewhat. "Are you planning on assisting us once again in the Grand Magic Games...?"

"I wish I could," Jellal started. "But, the council is all over this place, so Meredy, Ultear, and I are lying low."

"I see...we need a replacement for Natsu for the time being..." Erza sighed. "We also need someone to watch him just in case he gets ANY ideas..."

"What are you talking about!? I'm FI-" Before Natsu could finish, he started having a violent cough attack.

"He's not gonna last a second in the next day without keeling over..." Cynthia said aloud, but then an idea hit her. "OH! Erza, Erza, pick me!"

"Huh?" Freed looked over to Cynthia, feeling slightly robbed of the chance because he was going to ask.

"Cynthia? You want to participate?" Erza asked once more, just wanting to see if the young girl was serious about this.

"That's right!" Cynthia nodded a few times. "B Team wasn't so successful, and I want to do my best as a member of Fairy Tail to make up for it! Pleassssse!"

"Alright, you can replace Natsu for the time being," Erza said with a soft smile and a nod.

"I'll watch Natsu," Lucy nodded. "It's the least I can do for his help today."

"I'll help you, Lucy," Mirajane said with a nod. "We can at least bring him to the infirmary at the stadium. I know he wouldn't be too happy if he missed a single thing that happens tomorrow."

"I'll assist as well." Freed interjected. "I'll create a rune barrier just in case."

"So...who's going to replace Mira-san?" Wendy asked.

"Gieheh..." Gajeel walked into the room, a confident smirk on his face. "I'll take the spot."

.

.

"Tomorrow will be another landslide victory for us." Magnus told his team.

"That's what I want to hear." Karma chuckled. "I was very impressed with you today, Daryan. You defeated a rather strong opponent."

"Isn't she powerful?" Daryan said with comical hearts flowing around his body. "I can't believe I landed a date with such a hot and strong woman! She's the one, I just know it!"

"The one?" Gaia lifted a brow. "You say this every time a woman hits you hard enough to feel something."

"It's different this time!" Daryan insisted. "I really felt it. I can't explain it, but the second she hit me, my heart just...felt so much."

"That was probably the trauma of the impact." Yakuza stated flatly.

"I'm rooting for you, Daryan!" Hiruka said with a wide grin. "Tomorrow, we'll fight just as hard!"

"Yeah!" Alex said with a nod. "I hope I get to fight tomorrow."

"You will. And you'll..." Magnus began, but Alex shook her head.

"Don't tell me!" Alex replied. "I want to experience it for myself. If you tell me I win, I won't take it seriously, and if you say I lose, I'll feel annoyed!"

"I suppose that's fair." Magnus simply crossed his arms. Even if he could tell the future, not everyone wanted to hear what was ahead of them. "But I can assure you this: I see a future where we win."

"That's what I want to hear." Karma said with a faint chuckle. "You all know to do whatever it takes for victory. Fiore may have some strength, but they're nothing compared to all of you. Do not be afraid to remind them of this."

"I won't." Gaia said firmly.

"I'm gonna turn in now. I want to get plenty of rest for tomorrow." Alex smiled and went ahead. It was late and she didn't want to oversleep! So she went to her room. All was quiet, but something felt off. She went to the balcony, and while she didn't see anything, she sensed it. "I know you're here."

From the shadows, a man with a mask, tuxedo, and a top hat appeared before her. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he meant no harm. "...I'm impressed you spotted me. What a splendid actor you are! Your potential for the upcoming performance is just as vast as I expected."

"...?" Alex tilted her head. But upon closer inspection, she...actually believed she noticed this strange individual. "Wait a sec. I think I remember you. Aren't you Dad's...?"

.

.

Inside Tartaros Castle, Ruika and Byron were in the castle's library, and Ruika was frantically searching around for books to use, while Byron just stood there, watching the mage. "Uh...what are ya even lookin' for?" Byron asked while scratching his head.

"I'm looking for a book that will allow me to use Leo's key despite his contract with Lucy," Ruika replied.

"We were gunnin' for Leo? Huh, I knew my aim was good, but I didn't think it was THAT good!" Byron exclaimed while smirking to himself. Byron then looked over at the table where Ruika placed the key and picked it up, examining it. "Interesting key we got here, eh?"

"Don't touch it!" Ruika replied while snatching the key from Byron. "You'll get it dirty."

"Oh, well excuse me...It's not like I got the key for you in the first place..." Byron said while rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," Ruika merely said while examining the key, her eyes widening with shock and anger after. "YOU IDIOT!"

"What did I do?!" Byron scoffed, completely taken aback by Ruika's outburst.

"You got the wrong key!" Ruika shouted.

"No I didn't!" Byron replied rather defensively.

"Yes you did!" Ruika shoved the key in Byron's face, a highly irritated expression on her features at this point. "Does this LOOK like Leo's key to you?"

After a short pause, Byron finally answered. "Yes..."

"...Ugh." Ruika just groaned, pointing the key forward. "Who's key even is this?" The tip of the key shimmered a golden light before releasing one of Lucy's spirits; Aries. "...You can't be serious."

The nervous spirit looked around, bringing her hands to her face. "I-I'm sorry!"

"...PFFFT AHAHAHA!" Byron fell to the floor laughing at the sight. "OH, THAT'S RICH!"

"You're the one who brought this one!" Ruika shouted, quickly losing what was left of her temper.

"WAH!" Aries, obviously frightened by the environment, let loose a Wool Bomb, which covered Byron completely, though he had no complaints due to the softness of the pink wool.

"Whoa...this shit is really comfy..." Byron let out a content sigh as he closed his eyes.

"...I am so done..." Ruika let out a heavy sigh as she turned around, looking through the books once again. "I'm sure I can make this work for whatever it's worth..."