A/N: Episode 165.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT: NIGHTFALL

Reaching up to her neck, Yukino undid the clasp of her white cape, letting it fall to the ground and removed the rest of her clothing. "Yukino..." Frosch muttered.

"Please be quiet, Frosch." Lector said.

Yukino's blue Sabertooth emblem was located on her left waist. "Erase your guild emblem." Jiemma ordered.

"Yes, sir." Yukino spoke quietly, trying to keep herself from sobbing. "I wasn't here long, but thank you for everything."

"Get out of my sight, trash." Jiemma demanded, dismissing her thank you.

Sting, Rogue, Arlo, and their Exceeds were walking in the hallways. "Our master sure does go to extremes, y'know?" Sting said.

"It couldn't be helped. This is why we're the strongest guild." Arlo commented with his arms crossed.

"Fro is sad..." Frosch mumbled.

Hearing his Exceed's words, Rogue stopped in his tracks. "Is this what a 'guild' is?" He questioned, causing Sting turn around and Arlo to side glance him. "Yukino was a comrade."

"She's gone 'cause she's weak. The strongest guild didn't need her, right?" Sting claimed before he continued walking.

"Besides, it's not like we could do anything about it. You know if we speak out against the master, we'll get the same treatment." Arlo reminded as he followed Sting with Videel right behind him.

"Come to think of it, I hear the lady is replacing Yukino-san." Lector informed.

"Oh! Now that's what I call the strongest five members!" Sting exclaimed.

"Rogue..." Frosch's voice brings the attention of Rogue. "Fro is weak. Is Fro gonna disappear too?"

"You're not going to disappear, Frosch." Rogue promised as he smiled. "Because I'm with you."

Frosch nodded. "Right! Fro's not gonna disappear!"

Aira was leaning on a balcony, looking down at the buildings below and enjoying the peace that the nightfall brought him.

"What are you doing out here, Aira?"

Aira turned, seeing his best friend had joined him. "Oh, Gray..." He muttered before turning back around. "Just enjoying the night. Why are you out here alone?"

"Until now, I was in the middle of some tug-of-war between Lyon and Juvia, and I have no idea what it was about." Gray replied.

"You have no idea what it was about? I wasn't there, but even I have a pretty good idea of what the deal was." Aira claimed as Gray just gave him a look. "You must realize by now how Juvia feels about you. Why not give her a clear-cut response?"

Gray didn't respond as he rested his head on the palm of his hand. "Women like her don't wait around forever, you know. Soon enough, she'll get tired of chasing you and find a guy like Lyon who would treat her right." Aira continued as Gray had an irritated look on his face at the mention of Lyon.

"You should follow your own advice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and Satsuki may act like you despise each other, but even I can see that you both have some sort of mutual feelings for one another. Why not act on it?" Gray questioned.

"...I'll feel like I'm betraying Ryoko. I know she's long gone, and she didn't even know my feelings for her. I was just a fourteen year old brat after all." Aira glanced down. "Maybe I don't want to act on how I feel because I'm scared to lose Satsuki like I lost her."

The two stayed silent for a moment until Aira finally released a sigh. "It's late. I better head back to the inn." He informed as Gray soon followed him.

Somewhere else...

In a lit room, Arcadios was in front of a desk. "One girl has ten keys, another girl has two keys... I'll get all 12 keys! Eclipse will work perfectly!" He said to himself.

"Zeref! Zeref! Zeref! Zeref!"

His laugh then echoed throughout the darkened hallway.

Crocus Garden...

Two consectutive blasts were heard, causing Sting to jolt up in alarm. "What the...?!" He questioned as Lector rubbed his eyes.

Rogue and Arlo barged into his room. "Intruder!" Rogue announced as Frosch and Videel flew in behind their partners.

"Lector, wake up!" Frosch said.

Sting stood up. "Intruder?! All of the members of Sabertooth are stayin' at this inn!" He exclaimed before he followed Rogue and Arlo down the hallway. "Who the hell is it?!"

"We don't know... but they must not be expecting to leave here alive!" Arlo responded.

A member flew into the hallway before crashing in front of the three Dragon Slayers. More members got thrown back by flames as the intruder was revealed to be Natsu.

"Where's..." He started to say. "...your master?!"

Natsu kicked a member up in the air with his flames, shocking Sting, Rogue, and Arlo.

"Where is he?!"

"You have business with me, kid?" Jiemma questioned, appearing behind a guild member who quickly moved out of the way.

"Are you the master here? I hear you kicked someone out for losin' once?" Natsu chuckled. "That gets me all fired up!"

"Huh?"

"In that case," Natsu punches his fists together, causing flames to appear. "if you lose to me, you're outta this guild!"

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter. I probably should've added the beginning of Episode 166, but I decided against it.

Yes, I changed Gray and Erza's talk to Gray and Aira. In case you haven't realized, this fanfic is a slowburn. Aira and Satsuki won't get together until the end of the Tartaros Arc for the... plans I had in mind :)

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.