I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and for getting this story up to 40,000 views! Here's hoping for 50,000.

Fafarick: As interesting as that would be to see, I can't just cut out the 7-year time-skip. Sorry, but it's going to end like it did in canon.

Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, I tried to change some things up so I don't just copy and past everything from canon, or else the story would end up being too boring and predictable.

Bungster: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked this fic so much. It's good to be back.

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So to recap, by now Lucy and Cana have defeated Freed and Bickslow, and Natsu had been allowed to advance to the next round by Luke, and the first round of the S-class trial was about to come to an end. However, all was not well.

Panther Lily and Carla were using their Aera magic to fly towards Tenrou Island, with the latter worrying about how Wendy was faring in the trial. She had found Mest to be weird to a comical extent and opposed any partnership with him, but since Mest had claimed to be a disciple of Mystogan, Wendy had decided to help him out in order to repay the debt she felt she owed for everything Mystogan had done for her.

As such, Carla and Panther Lily had decided to travel to Tenrou Island in order to watch over them, since Carla was having a bad feeling about the S-class trial as a whole. Panther Lily on the other hand, he thought that there was something odd about what Mest had said, claiming that he was a disciple of Mystogan.

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Meanwhile, with Erza vs Juvia and Lisanna…

"Then what should I-?" Erza turned around, and her eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing before her 'What is this?'

A white glow had engulfed Lisanna's body, and when it disappeared it revealed her standing where she was before, but her appearance was vastly different: She had claws, gills, talons and various other attributes from other animals "Animal Soul: Chimera! I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Tell me, what do you think?"

"I think this just became a great deal more interesting." Erza dropped into a combat stance and brandished her sword, the blade being coated in water properties "I have to ask though, what would this form be? It's clearly different from any of your Animal Soul forms you've displayed up until now."

"It's something that I've been working on for the past few months, since the battle with Phantom Lord actually I haven't been able to stop thinking about how helpless I was back then, how I was left at their mercy before Elfman saved me, so I started training with Natsu in secret to perfect my control over my animal forms and increase my magic power, and since the whole ordeal in Edolas I've been working even harder to perfect my newest Animal Soul: Chimera, a form that combines the power of all of my forms into one single form."

"I see. I understand how you feel about such a situation Lisanna, I really do. You wish to do your part for the guild just as much as the rest of us, even if you did save all of us from being lost forever in that massive lacrima in Edolas. I am grateful to you and the others, and like you I can't imagine my life without my comrades here in Fairy Tail. I am your friend and comrade, but right now I am also your examiner, and as such I will do everything in my power to see that you have the power to achieve your goal, and the first step is pushing you to your very limit right here and right now. Requip!" with a flash, Erza promptly requipped into her Black Wing Armor, complete with the sword in hand.

"That's your Black Wing Armor, which allows you to summon a sword and two battle axes and increases your attack power beyond what you would be able to use normally. I have to admit, I'm getting really fired up now. Either that or I'm spending too much time around Natsu, but either way you're about to find out just how fired up I can get!" and so she promptly charged forward towards Erza, meeting her in an explosive collision and attempting to rip her apart using her claws.

Erza dodged every slash from her claws and began firing off a barrage of slashes from her sword, which resulted in the two of them trading even blows until their blades collided with a blinding flash, until she broke away "Moon Flash!" she blitzed back towards Lisanna at full speed with a barrage of energy-enhanced slashes from her sword.

Lisanna blocked and dodged almost every slash from Erza's sword, albeit while receiving a few cuts and wounds here and there in the process "Magic Claws!" she fired off a barrage of slashes from her claws at full speed.

Erza dodged and blocked every slash from those claws being aimed at her "Don't tell me that you can't manage anymore than this."

"Why don't you see for yourself Queen of the Fairies?" Lisanna blitzed behind Erza.

"Fine then, I will. Requip!" Erza whipped around and promptly requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, and she promptly dealt Lisanna a sharp slash across the chest faster than she was able to react "Now dance for me my swords! Circle Swords!" she summones a wheel of swords in mid air and hurled all of them at Lisanna simultaneojusly.

"Chimera Cannon!" Lisanna stretched out her hands and fired forward a massive golden colored blast of magic energy at Erza, easily disintegrating all of her Heaven's Wheel swords as a result.

"Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!" Erza blitzed out of the path of the attack before it was able to hit her, then she blitzed towards Lisanna while she was still recovering from the attack and dealt her a swift barrage of slashes that took on the shape of a star.

Despite taking the full force of the attack, Lisanna grabbed Erza's swords on the final stroke, her hands bleeding profusely as she did so, and slashed her clear across the front of her armor with her claws before she could get away, sending her hurtling backwards a great distance.

"Requip!" ignoring the fact that her armor was damaged, Erza requipped back into her Black Wing Armor, and then she charged at Lisanna at full speed.

Lisanna quickly shook off the barrage of slashes she took before, but not in time to avoid the incoming barrage of slashes from Erza's Moon Flash technique, which sent her tumbling backwards a great distance. Fortunately, she was able to shake that off relatively quickly and promptly pulled herself back to her feet as she spat out some blood "Alright, I doubt either of us can keep going like this for too much longer, so it's time for the two of us to end this. Come at me with your strongest armor, and in exchange I'm going to give you one of my most powerful attacks."

"I see you've taken more from Natsu than I would've realized. You don't like the idea of backing down from a challenge, now do you?"

"I suppose some things just come naturally. But enough about that, I need you to come at me with everything you've got."

"So be it, if you want my everything then you're going to have it. REQUIP!" with a mighty roar and a massive burst of magic power, Erza requipped herself in a flash of light. When the light subsided, Erza stood there clad in a certain set of pink armor with matching swords "So this is it then, this is me at my absolute full power. This is Armadura Fairy, the armor that bears the name of our guild to symbolize my pride in being a member of Fairy Tail. You have me at my absolute strongest Lisanna, and now the time has come for me to see yours. It's only common courtesy to return what's being given to you."

"If that's what you want then you're going to get it." Lisanna's claws started glowing with golden energy "I think we need to finish this already. Our strongest attacks, right here and right now."

"Agreed." Erza sent away one of her swords and gripped the other one with both hands, the blade starting to glow with green energy "For the pride of our guild! Fairy Burst!" she charged forward with her sword pointed at her opponent.

"Chimera CANNON!" Lisanna powered up another Chimera Cannon that collided with the Fairy Burst attack, resulting in a massive light and explosion that could be seen for miles around as a result.

When everything had settled down, Erza's Armadura Fairy armor was slightly burnt across the front, but that was about all the damage she took "So then I suppose we should call it?"

"Yeah… I guess so." the smoke cleared further to reveal that Lisanna was back in her normal form, and then she promptly lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Erza promptly knelt down beside her and gave a small smile "Keep pushing yourself for further heights Lisanna, and I guarantee you'll do just fine. I may not be able to pass you today, but if you keep going like this, then I have no doubts you'll have a much greater chance during the trial next year."

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During the events of the first round of the trial, Meat and Wendy ended up meeting and then battling against Loke and Gray. The two teams seemed evenly matched at first with the combined strength of Loke and Grey, Mest's advanced speed and Wendy's Dragon Slayer Magic. However, through a display of teamwork, Mest is taken down by Loke and Gray, and they then went on to eliminate Wendy from the battle by terrifying her with pickled plums, which worked pretty effectively.

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As a result of travelling down another path, Elfman and Evergreen found themselves being forced into battle against Mirajane, and even with Elfman using his Beast Form, Mira was able to use her Satan Soul to take down both of them with ease, despite being out of practice for about two years, but before she was able to give the finishing blow, Evergreen suddenly stopped her and claimed that there was something she needed to know.

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After Gray and Loke had advanced to the next round of the trials, Mest regained consciousness, only to discover that they had lost pretty badly.

After informing him of this, Wendy started crying because she thought it was her fault, but she was quickly cheered up by Mest.

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Meanwhile, with Gray and Loke…

"Oh hell yeah!" by this point, Gray and Loke were making their way through the cave in triumph after their recent victory over Wendy and Mest "Yeah you've got that right assholes, we made it through the first round!"

"Well let's just hope that the tougher guys like Natsu and Freed got knocked out during this round too." Loke pointed out "After all, with them gone, it's gonna be a walk in the park. But then again Cana is a major contender too, and she's got Lucy helping her out."

"Hey cut the bullshit man, you should know as well as I do that there's no such thing as an easy way to become an S-class wizard."

"Yeah of course I know that, but you have to admit that the two of us made beating Mest like that look pretty easy to begin with."

"Yeah no kidding, I don't remember him being as weak as that. I mean granted he was kind of at a disadvantage because of Wendy, but I think he used to be stronger than that."

"For all we know it's because you've gotten that much stronger. Weird, this is a first. I can't even remember if I've ever fought him before, and I'm the sort of guy that never forgets a fight."

"You sure this isn't some sort of case of selective memory, like he kicked your ass into the ground and now you don't want to remember?"

"Well think about it, Mest managed to get pretty far in the S-class trials last year didn't he?"

"Yeah sure he did, as far as I know that is."

"I thought so. Hey by the way, do you remember who his partner was in the last trial?"

"It's weird, but I keep drawing a blank."

"Yeah so do I, and my memory is better than that."

"Neither is mine."

"I can only remember a few things about Mest, and they're all pretty hazy."

"It's like I try to think back, but then I hit some sort of block. I can't seem to remember anything before it." the two of them made their way out through the exit of the cavern.

"Hey guys, about time you showed up." this was when Cana and Lucy attracted their attention from where they were grouped with the other passing teams, now clad in new outfits for the second round "I knew you guys wouldn't have any problems with making it past the first round of the trials. I've gotta give you credit where it's due, nice work."

"Yeah see, I told you." Levy shot a smile at Gajeel "The two of us were really lucky to get the serenity route."

"What the fuck do you mean lucky?!" Gajeel promptly rounded on Levy "I didn't get to beat the crap out of a single person!"

"My heart bleeds for you." Cana rolled her eyes at his complaining.

"So what then, we were the only ones who were able to clear the first round?" asked Gray "What about Natsu?"

"Oh he's just brooding over there." Cana jerked a thumb at where Natsu was brooding away from the rest of the group.

"He seems kind of down, what happened to him?"

"Accoridng to the cat, it's a long story, but my best guess would be Luke said or did something to him during his trial, and that probably has something to do with him using his Dragon Force a little while ago."

"Alright then." this was when Makarov showed up on the scene "I believe that all of our winners from the first round are here now."

"That's how it's looking master, now let's get this underway."

"Well in that case, let's go over the results thus far: Cana and Lucy were able to triumph over the likes of Freed and Bickslow in two on two combat. Nicely done ladies."

"It wasn't easy, but we do what we can."

"Natsu and Happy were able to surmount the obstacle of Luke standing in their path. Good job then."

'Which means that Luke probably scared the crap out of him and let him pass.'

"Levy and Gajeel chose the serenity route, and such they're quite lucky."

'And Gajeel probably thinks it's bullshit.'

"Gray and Loke were able to defeat Mest and Wendy in combat, well done boys."

"What about Lisanna and Juvia, they didn't make it past the first round?"

"Unfortunately, though they fought valiantly and forced Erza to fight with all her might, luck was simply not on their side today."

"So Lisanna lost huh?" Natsu muttered from where he was brooding "I guess that new trump card of hers wasn't enough to go up against Erza. Sucks to be her then." he received a few odd looks from the others.

"Yes, I suppose it would then."

"Elfman and Evergreen aren't here either." Cana pointed out "Which means that if they're going by process of elimination, then that means they either ran into Gildarts or…"

"Actually Gildarts chose to abstain, something about wanting to give the others a fighting chance to become S-class."

'...This has you written all over it Luke. Thank you. But without Gildarts in play, then the only other choice would be… Oh. Oh crap. I feel sort of sorry for them."

"I bet I could take her." Gajeel muttered "But those two didn't have a chance in hell."

"Even if Elfman has been training with Luke, I doubt that would've been enough for him to take on the likes of Mira, even if she is out of practice by about two years."

"Don't count us out just yet!" this was when Elfman showed up on the scene, having to be supported by Evergreen "You didn't think I had what it takes to take on my big sister now did you? Guess who's moving onto the next round."

"It only makes sense. After all, I doubt you would want Luke to see that your training with him was a waste of time. How did you pull it off though?"

"Um… a real man doesn't brag about his victory. Let's just say that we took full advantage of catching her off guard."

"I'm gonna choose not to read into that."

"Ahem." Makarov promptly got back everyone's attention "Now back to the trials themselves if I may. As it stands, there are five teams left in the trial: Natsu & Happy, Gray & Loke, Levy & Gajeel, Cana & Lucy, and Elfman & Evergreen. Let me just take a moment and congratulate all of you on passing the first round. Now that everyone has arrived, let's move onto the second round then."

With that in mind, Happy glanced over at where Natsu was brooding "Hey come on Natsu, I hate to see you so down in the dumps."

"I'm not, I'm fine." Natsu muttered "I'm just thinking about some stuff."

"You… You mean you're actually thinking?! But you never do anything like that, be careful or you might hurt yourself!"

"How little do you actually think of me?" but then he grinned "I'm gonna give it my all, just wait and see, and I'll do it for her too." so he promptly bolted onto his feet and started pointing at the others "Gray, Cana, Levy and Elfman, all of you guys listen up! Only one of us is gonna get to be an S-class wizard today, and I guarantee that's gonna be me!"

"Oh yeah right, dream on." Cana shot him a smirk "There's no way it's going to happen, none of us plan on losing to you, especially not me."

"You'd better live up to that, because I'm sure as hell fired up now."

"Why does that not surprise me in the slightest?"

"Don't worry Cana, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure that you become an S-class wizard." Lucy told her.

"You'd better be ready to back up that talk if we have to fight anyone, they're not going easy on us so we're going to return that favor."

"Oh yeah sure." Gajeel shot them a smirk "Big talk for a bunch of wimps."

"Says the guy who wasn't even selected to be part of the trial, but for the others I think that totally stands."

"What the hell did you call us-" Elfman was cut off by a sickening popping noise.

"Ouch."

"Come on Elfman, pull yourself together-" Evergreen was met with a similar cracking noise.

"I think we know who's not going to make S-class this year."

"Listen up!" Makarov now stood on top of a rock "Now if we're done with all of that, I'm about to give instructions for the second part. The next stage of the S-class trial starts now. In order to pass the next round, you must search the island and discover the location of the grave of the First Master and founder of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion."

"I forgot she was buried here." Cana muttered "Which means that we need to find out where that is."

"Correct."

"Oh come on Gramps." Natsu let out a scoff "That's almost too easy, wouldn't it kill you to make it a little bit more challenging for us?"

"How about this then: You have six hours to find the grave, or else you fail the trial, no excuses or exceptions. Is that challenging enough for you?" he received no reply "Very well then, I'll be waiting for you at the grave should you find it." and on that note, he took his leave.

"Alright are you ready?! I say we go!" and so Natsu charged off into the forest, with Happy right behind him.

"So it's a race then." Cana noted, then frowned in thought 'But still, I can't help but wonder if there's more than master is letting on.'

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After letting Wendy cry her eyes out a little bit more, Mest told her a little bit about Tenrou Island and how there was said to be a big secret somewhere on the island, and he invited her to explore it with him.

This was an offer that Wendy agreed to with delight, though she had no idea that Mest had an ulterior motive.

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At the same time, Panther Lily and Carla finally made their way to the shores of Tenrou Island, with the former expressing his doubts about Mest, how it was unlikely for Mystogan to take on an apprentice, and began to question whether or not Mest truly was a member of the guild.

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Meanwhile, with Cana and Lucy…

"Will you give it a rest?!" Cana and Lucy had quickly run into trouble during their search for the grave of Mavis, and were running through the forest while being chased by a massive, angry and hungry monster "Stop screaming about how you don't want to be eaten and pick up the freaking pace already!"

"You deal with these things your way, I'll deal with them mine, but I know damn well that I'm too cute to die!" Lucy promptly forced herself ahead of Cana.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, but the whole thing about busty blond chicks has been done to hell and back already! Either way it doesn't even matter, this is nothing but a bump in the road on my way to being S-class!"

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Of course, the other teams had run into trouble as well in the form of various monsters, some of which actually had the ability to speak, which Natsu and Happy had quickly discovered, though the former didn't seem shocked about this in the slightest.

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Meanwhile, back at the camp…

Now that the first round was completed, the S-class wizards of Fairy Tail had retreated to their camp for a little bit of downtime.

"Wait wait wait, hold on a second." Luke's expression seemed particularly thrown off by what he and the others were being told by Mira "Elfman and Evergreen just straight up blurted out that they were getting married, in the middle of a fight, and you actually fell for that?"

"I never said I was proud of that." Mira cracked her neck and rubbed the massive bruises that adorned her face "But in my defense, I was gone for two years and the thought of my own baby brother getting married, to one of Laxus' lapdogs no less, just threw me off a lot worse than I expected."

"And they used the fact that you were so thrown off by such a fake confession that you let down your guard, and then they tore into you hard enough so that they would let you pass. Looks like all of his training really paid off, even if he couldn't beat you in raw power, at least he's learned that a real man needs brains just as much as brawn."

"Well either way, knowing what Elfman is like, as he is right now, I doubt something like that could actually be true. I've never imagined the two of them of all people getting married and having babies." she shuddered at the thought.

"You just pictured it didn't you? I don't blame you personally, horrible as this might sound I have a similar idea of that in regards to Natsu and Lisanna. It's not much better."

"There's no need to be like that." Erza told him "It's actually kind of cute, depending on how you look at it at least."

"Well yeah, I mean from what I've been told, they have been spending a lot of time together since the Harvest Festival last year."

"Yeah I know, they'd make an awesome couple." Lisanna commented.

"If either of them can swallow their pride and admit how they feel, and chances are this is going to be a lot harder for Evergreen."

Juvia on the other hand, she was red in the face and focused on a certain particular point made from before "They're gonna have… babies…"

"Why am I not surprised that that's your main takeaway from this?"

"Hey speaking of which, what happened to Freed and Bickslow?" asked Lisanna.

"From what I know, Gildarts took the two of them back to the mainland after the first round of the trial ended."

"Sounds like they got pretty impatient, I mean they could've at least stayed and watched the rest of the trial."

"Well it's their choice, if they don't want to be here then it's not like we can force them."

"You are right about that, but Mest and Wendy have me more concerned. They should've been here by now." Erza pointed out.

"Don't think too much into it, my guess is they either forgot that we were all supposed to meet up here, or they just wanted to explore the island or something."

"So what about this guy Mest?" asked Mira "I don't really know too much about him, seeing how I never ran into his counterpart in Edolas, and I barely even knew the guy's name from before then."

"I don't know much about the guy either, he's been a member since X780, but he's been a real recluse since then, though he definitely has his quirks.. I'm pretty sure whatever he's said during the trial is the most I've ever heard him talk."

"It's strange, but I can't really remember much about him." Erza muttered "I do feel as if he's always been a member, but…"

"Really? It seems pretty simple to me. But in all seriousness, you're probably right about him and Wendy. We should probably go and track him down."

"Yes I agree."

"Allow me." Juvia promptly bolted to her feet "I volunteer myself to go and search for them, I'm starting to get a little bit worried."

"Very well then. Luke, you and the others stay here and guard the tent, while I go with Juvia to search."

"...Yes of course. Dammit, I wanted to ditch them and go cheer on my beloved Gray!' and yet she left with Erza quietly despite this.

"Alright, let's secure the area and-" Luke suddenly took a whiff, and then his head snapped in a certain direction 'What the hell is that? It smells similar to Natsu in some ways, but entirely different in other ways, and… it reeks of death.'

"What's the matter?" asked Mira.

"Nothing, it's just… You two wait here and keep an eye on the camp, I've got something I want to go and check on." and on that note, he promptly grabbed Raiden and strapped it to his side, and he disappeared into the thick forest.

'Luke… I've got a bad feeling about this.'

"What do you think that was about?" asked Lisanna.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it's going to be good."

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Meanwhile, with Elfman and Evergreen…

"DAMMIT THIS IS SO UNMANLY!" by this point, Elfman and Evergreen being chased by a massive creature "A real man should know never to run from his enemy!"

"Will you shut up about that?!" Evergreen promptly rounded on him "If you don't stop it with all of this nonsense about being a real man, then I swear I'm going to finish you myself!"

"Don't talk like that about manliness or anything like- GET DOWN!" Elfman quickly grabbed hold of her and rolled out of the way of a lunge by the monster chasing them, which led them to roll down a cliffside before coming to a halt "Ow… Okay, that hurt more than I thought it was going to."

"Yes, well… Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Evergreen, like any good tsundere anime character, promptly shoved Elfman off of her while blushing like crazy "Don't you dare start thinking I'm interested in you just because of what I said to Mira, I was only trying to throw her off her game and find an opening, not expressing any sort of desires to hook up with you you idiot!"

"Uh… Where the hell did that come from? I've gotta hand it to you though, that was pretty smooth of you. It's hard to believe a nice girl like you came up with such a naughty idea."

"Why did you have to make that sound so dirty?" fortunately for both of them, their sexual tension was cut short by the sound of rustling leaves nearby "What the hell?"

"There are others…" a figure stumbled his way out from within the bushes, clad in black and white robes, with black hair and black eyes "I don't understand… Why would you have come to such a desolate place…"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I was under the impression this island was uninhabited."

"Well you were wrong about that pal, you're actually trespassing. Only members of our guild are allowed to set foot here."

"So I'm trespassing then? Forgive me, I was not aware that this island was under the control of a guild."

"Well it is, our guild." Elfman started to step forward.

"No stop, stay back!" the mysterious youth held out a hand, his sudden outburst causing both of them to jump back "If you value your life, then you won't come any closer."

"Oh yeah? Well that sounds like a challenge to me."

"No it's not, I swear I have no intention of fighting you. I give you my word, I'll leave this island in peace, just please don't come near me."

'What the hell is with this guy? Whatever it is, he shouldn't be here.'

"I'm doing this so that you don't-" the youth suddenly clutched his head in agony "Oh no… Here it comes… I can't stop it… Get away from me! GET AWAY!" he let out a scream of agony, and with it a wave of black energy that killed all of the plants and grass surrounding him, but as the wave closed in on Elfman and Evergreen…

"GET DOWN!" this was when Natsu suddenly blitzed onto the scene and threw the two of them to the ground just as the wave closed in on them.

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunder Dome!" Luke suddenly blitzed in front of them and drew his sword into the ground, creating a dome of electricity that covered the four of them and shielded them from the black energy wave, and he didn't let it down until several seconds after the wave passed "Looks like I'm not the only one who noticed something was up."

"Yeah, but who the hell is this guy?"

"I have no idea, I just smelled what I thought was death and I came over here to see what it was about, and from the looks of it I got here just in time."

"You…" the youth quickly locked his gaze on Luke and Natsu, the latter in particular, with a multitude of emotions appearing to envelop him as tears started streaming down his face "I would recognize you anywhere… Natsu…"

'He knows who Natsu is?' Luke stepped forward and dropped into a stance with his sword "Tell me something, who are you?"

"And you… those eyes, and that sword… You're Luke, aren't you?"

"How do you know who we are, and again I ask, who are you?"

"Hey Natsu!" this was when Happy flew onto the scene "Did you need to use the bushes to do your business, or are we not going to the top?"

"Forget it Happy, there's definitely something that stinks here, but I'm not the one you should be blaming for it." Natsu told him.

"What do you mean by- Holy crap, how did all of the trees die?"

"Not just the trees, anything living in the range of that wave." Luke pointed out "And we have our mysterious friend up here to thank for that. He's the one who did all of this, and one thing we know about for sure is that he's no ordinary wizard. Look I don't know if you were aware of this or not, but this island happens to be sacred ground of the Fairy Tail guild."

"You've grown so much… both of you…" the youth raised his head to face them as he continued letting his tears flow "I'm missed you… Natsu… and Luke… if only he could see how strong you've become…"

'How does he know who we are?'

"Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" Natsu launched himself forward and launched a fire-enhanced fist into the youth's face, sending him hurtling towards the ground "Now tell me who the fuck you are or next time I'm not pulling my punch!"

'And leave it to him to pull a cheap shot like that, typical.'

"Start talking dammit!"

'I see… so nothing has changed after all, has it? Not at all…' the youth caught himself and rebounded on the ground 'You still can't break me… neither of you can…'

"You'd better start talking and tell me who the fuck you are buddy, I'm not gonna ask you so nicely again!"

'When is this mindless destruction finally going to end? I don't want anyone to die because of me anymore, but the one person in this world with a chance of stopping me still isn't strong enough to do so. How long do I have to wait?'

'He's crying… he looks as if he's in pain…' Luke's stanced relaxed slightly as he re-sheathed his sword "I can tell by the look in your eyes that you don't seem like a bad person, maybe we can help you somehow."

"If only you could… but you're not strong enough… neither of you are… not yet…" but then the youth froze as black energy started flaring around his body "No… not again… run… Get out of here while you still can! Run now!" he suddenly let out a scream, and with it another wave of black energy.

'Another wave of black energy like he used before, it drains the life force of anything it comes into contact with so it must be some sort of death magic! Everyone get back, get the hell out of here now!" he tried to summon another Thunder Dome, but he couldn't set it up in time, and as such he and Natsu were engulfed in the wave "Forget about us, get the hell out of here while you still can!"

"Dammit!" Elfman grabbed onto Happy as he and Evergreen took off running, with the black energy sucking the life out of everything it touched.

When the black energy subsided, Luke was kneeling on the ground, with his sword thrusted into the ground in front of him, the blade surging with electricity "That was way too close. Are you alright Natsu?"

Sure enough, Natsu pulled himself off the ground and shook it off "Well that sucked, but I'm not dead. What about him though, it looked like he lost control."

"Well it looked to me like he didn't have control over his power in the first place." Luke glanced ahead of them, only to see that the youth had disappeared "And he's gone."

"You sound disappointed by that."

"If I didn't then you sure as hell would've, especially considering what that guy went and did to your scarf down there."

"Wait what?" Natsu looked down to see that his scarf had been turned black by the energy wave, and like one would think, he was pissed "Oh he's gonna pay for this, the next time I see that bastard he's gonna get a fiery fist to the face!"

"You already gave him one and he pretty much shook it off, and he did that. Natsu got that scarf from Igneel, maybe it changed colors because it absorbed the magic from the blast. But then again, I got my sword from Kaminari, but the same thing didn't happen. Maybe it's because it has draconic properties in the blade.

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All while that was happening, the youth sat alone slumped against a tree, wondering when the world would stop rejecting him, something that didn't go unnoticed by various people around the island, most notably Mest and Makarov.

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Meanwhile, with a certain dark guild…

"In the skies above, another dark and mysterious threat is making its way to Tenrou Island, this being the dark guild known as Grimoire Heart, one of the Big Three of the sinister and overwhelmingly powerful Balam Alliance. Among its ranks happens to be an ambitious and beautiful wizard, as well as a certain Dragon Slayer, both of whom happen to be former confidants of Jellal. One of these just so happens to be the manipulative and ambitious Ultear Milkovich, and the other is the Mountain Dragon Slayer, Noah Yamamoto."

Ultear gazed into the crystal ball gliding along her arm, and then she looked up at a certain someone on the throne in front of her with a malicious smirk "Well well, it would seem that we've finally found our quarry, and he appears to be in a state of rest. I believe that the time is at last upon us Master Hades."

"So it would seem." the old man before her gave a smirk as he leaned forward, revealing his long white hair, thick moustache and beard, and the battle armor, helmets, guantlets and cape that he wore "At long last, the time has come for me to meet the man that has shown to the world the true potential of the Black Arts. His horde of demons created chaos and death tolls that were unrivaled, and catastrophe is his daily bread. In all of the history of the world of magic, he is the true champion of wickedness: the Black Wizard himself, Zeref." he then proceeded to address the others in the room with him, Noah being among them "The fated day is at last upon us, the abyss of sorcery is within our grasp! The time has come for us to get to work, we shall make sure that Tenrou Island runs red with the blood of Fairy Tail!"

'Yeah well, whatever you need to tell yourself old man.' Noah just leaned against a nearby wall and proceeded to tune out Hades' dramatic speech 'All things considered though, this isn't going to be an easy fight for any of us. You'd better be ready Thunderclap, you and the rest of your guild are going to be in for the fight of your lives.'

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Meanwhile, with the two main Dragon Slayers…

"Dammit, where the hell did he go?" Natsu clenched his newly blackened scarf and growled at the thought of the youth responsible for it "He has no idea how badly he's going to get pounded when I get my hands on him. I mean how the fuck does he expect me to go out in public wearing a black scarf with a black vest?!"

"I never thought I'd see the day where you gave a crap about how you looked, especially in regards to what other people think about how you look." Luke commented dryly "For now we have other things to worry about, like the trial for starters. Since we have a trespasser on the island, one who's using death magic for that matter, we're gonna have to put the trial on hold for the time being."

"There's no way in hell I'm ditching the trial, if I have to conquer both at the same time then I totally will! If I quit then I'd be breaking my promise to you!"

"Nowhere in my scaring the ever loving crap out of you did I say that you should charge through like a crazed bull and completely ignore any violations against the guild? My entire speech before was about teaching you to know when it's time to back off. There's a guy out there using death magic and he doesn't have any control over it, so even if he doesn't want to kill anybody or seem hostile, we've got a serious problem on our hands."

"Fuck that man, I've got a trial to conquer! Come on Happy, we're moving out!" and so on that note, Natsu promptly bolted through the forest, with Happy blindly following his lead.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Luke promptly glanced over at Elfman "I don't suppose I can at least get through to you?"

"Don't worry, a real man knows not to be that thick-headed." Elfman told him "As much as I'd love to follow in Mira's footsteps, a real man knows to have his priorities in order, and that's protecting everyone in the guild."

"Good enough for me. I'm gonna head back to camp and tell the others what's going on, but right now Erza and Juvia are out looking for Mest and Wendy. For now, just go and make sure that Natsu doesn't do anything to get all of us killed."

"I'll do what I can."

"That's all I ask."

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Meanwhile, with Grimoire Heart…

Hades continued to address his various troops, as well as his nine elites, only eight of whom were in the room with him "This is quite the momentous day indeed for us. If all goes according to plan, then we shall see the return of the Black Wizard himself, Lord Zeref. The ambitions of the Grimoire Heart will no longer be a simple fantasy, as now that we have gathered all of the necessary keys, we will awaken that which sleeps within Zeref."

"In case you hadn't noticed yet, you're overlooking some serious stuff." Noah pointed out "Keep in mind that we're going to the literal sacred ground of Fairy Tail, and there's no way in hell they're going to just stand by and do nothing. Don't forget that they had the biggest hand in bringing down the Oracion Seis a few weeks ago, and the strongest of them are gathered on the island as we speak, among them being a certain Dragon Slayer that defeated a Wizard Saint in one on one combat."

"Enough with all of the bullshit talk!" one of his comrades spat out, this one having long blonde hair and looking insane as they come "That pathetic bunch of assclowns don't deserve to call themselves a guild! I've got more power in one goddamn finger!" his body started radiating black flames "When I get my hands on them, they're gonna get turned into the kind of shit that I step on!"

"At least they know how to bathe, that's more than you can say Zancrow. In all seriousness though, underestimating your opponent never ends well for anyone."

"You speak the truth in that regard." another one told him, this one being in a short suit and tie and having the appearance of a ram "But even so Noah, I have faith that we are going to win this battle."

"That's just a more subtle way of showing off your arrogance Caprico."

"Indeed my comrades, I couldn't agree more." this one came from Rustyrose, the one with the goggles and slick gray hair spiked out in front, which was echoed by Kain, the one that looked like a big chubby Pokemon "At long last, the time has come for all of us to unleash our ultimate desires! Our war drums shall beat against their cages and cry for violence, and we shall dance the waltz of death to their rhythm." he was met with a rushed reply from Kain as a result.

"Somebody want to translate for the Pokemon?"

"Allow me." this came from Meldy, a young girl with short pink hair, as she was quick to translate for him "Kain Hikaru's statement is deciphered as follows: I feel the same way. Is that correct?" she received a nod "Rustyrose's previous statement is deciphered: desire means wants, and war drums refer to hearts."

"Thanks for providing some sanity Meldy, so you gonna be coming with the rest of us?"

"In battle? Yes."

"Works for me, just stay close."

"Excellent, so we are prepared." Hades finally pulled himself off his throne and addressed the rest of his loyal followers, and Noah "There is no one who will be able to withstand our unrivaled power, not even the likes of the Fairy Tail guild. Even their most powerful wizards will soon come to understand the power of true darkness, the eminence that lurks from within the darkest abyss. For we are Grimoire Heart, and we have all embarked on the path forged for us by the devils, and we shall force this world into the darkness. Tonight, these devils are going to bathe Tenrou Island in the blood of fairies!" he gave a dark smirk as black and purple energy started radiating from his body "I'm looking forward to the agony on Makarov's face! Our long awaited showdown against the Fairy Tail guild starts now!"

"Damn right it does. Get ready Thunderclap, they're coming for Fairy Tail, and I'm personally coming for you.'

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Meanwhile, with Lucy and Cana…

"Let's see here…" completely unaware of the approaching threat, Lucy and Cana were still struggling with the search for Mavis' grave "If I were the founding master of the guild, then where were I want to be buried?"

"Anything coming to you?" asked Cana "Anything at all?"

"I've got nothing, I mean how are we supposed to findf this thing without being given any sort of clues. I feel like my brain is going on strike here."

"I'm not convinced we haven't been given any sort of clues. Keep in mind that the old man might be a sadist with his tests, I'm pretty sure that's where Erza gets it herself, but in the four times I've been through this trial, there's never been a task that was impossible, you get what I'm saying? I get the feeling he might have subtly given us all of the clues we needed to track this thing down. Then again, I could probably be giving him way too much credit, so what do you think about it?"

"It doesn't make sense, the first round tested strength and this one must test intellect, so maybe it's some sort of riddle. What if Master told us how to find it when he was explaining the rules of the second round?"

"I don't think I follow you."

"Take the word "grave" for example. We assume it refers to a physical hole in the ground or a headstone, but it can also be used as imagery to suggest the end of someone's life."

"Yeah that's true." Cana promptly stomped on a lizard that was approaching her and threw it into a nearby bush, unaware that the lizard was now chomping on Gray's head "You think you can speed up the brainstorming a little bit? This place is starting to make me paranoid."

"Remember how he said that he would be waiting for us at the grave? What if he wants us to die and wants us to find his body?"

"That doesn't make any sense. You're over analying it, just say it like one of your Lucy-isms that you use. You know, something like how when you die, you become a shooting star."

"You've gotta be kidding me, do I really come off as the type of person who would say something so ditzy and corny?"

"Yes."

"Figures, I just hope the entire guild doesn't see me in that way." and then it hit her "Yes I've got it, it's so simple! Ditzy or not, this blonde bombshell just figured out where the grave of the First Master is hidden!"

"Are you serious?"

"You're damn right I am, now follow me!"

"Oh hell yeah, now you go girl!"

"Let's hurry up though, if I figured it out then I guarantee that Levy is already on her way there as we speak." and so they took off.

What they never noticed was that Loke and Gray were watching them from the bushes, and they had heard everything "I told you she would get it."

"No kidding, it's a good thing we ran into them." Gray noted "Now all we have to do is follow them and clear the round, I hate to do this to you Lucy, but this entire trial is about using what you've got, and I wouldn't be showing off my S-class potential if I didn't use you at least a little bit."

"Sounds like a relationship to me."

"Enough of that philosophy crap, they're getting away."

"Right behind you."

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The trials continued onwards, with various teams continuing the search for Mavis' grave, but at the same time, Erza and Juvia were travelling the island searching for Mest and Wendy, but none of them knew of the looming danger that was closing in on them.

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Meanwhile, with the Strauss sisters…

"Alright then, I think it's ready for a taste test." Lisanna was working on some stew back at the camp sight, and promptly handed Mira a small bowl "There you go."

"Don't mind if I do." Mira downed it in a few simple gulps "Not bad, not bad at all."

"You really think so?"

"I call it like I see it, I guess you've been up to a lot over the past two years."

"Yeah that's true, I've learned a few things not just about magic or fighting, but then again, having someone like Natsu around to taste test does help. I just tried to follow the example you set with that stuff." she gave a small smile "Part of me still thinks of it like it's some sort of dream, finally having you back after all this time. It's like it's some sort of miracle. Sometimes part of me is afraid I'm going to blink, and then you'll be gone again."

"Trust me, I have no intention of going anywhere again. Oh and for the record, it's a little bit on the salty side and you should work on cutting your vegetables smaller."

"You're really going to criticize me right now? I thought we were having a moment."

"We were, then it ended."

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In another area of the island, Gajeel finally got fed up with him and Levy hiding from a certain monster chasing them, and he promptly started beating the ever loving crap out of it, though that ended with Levy getting frustrated and complaining that all Gajeel ever thought about was fighting everyone else, and not of her at all.

Gajeel then thoughtlessly told her that she had to get big and strong if she wanted his attention, which only upset her even more, which led to her hitting him in the face with her bag and running away. When Levy finally stopped running, two figures suddenly attacked her and almost killed her, only for her to be saved by Gajeel at the last second.

The two mages introduced themselves as Yomazu and Kawazu, two mages that were sent ahead from Grimoire Heart and quickly declared that they were on the hunt for Fairies. Yomazu was quick to demonstrate his abilities by slashing his sword, which created a character in mid air that brought about a deafening noise.

Grimoire Heart was finally making their move against Fairy Tail.

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Meanwhile, with Juvia and Erza…

By this point, Juvia and Erza were walking through a darker part of the woods, with several shadowy figures of wolves watching them from afar "I was wondering about something Erza, do you have any idea as to what sort of magic Mest uses?"

"Oh yes I forgot, you're still somewhat new to the guild." Erza noted "But now that I think about it, I'm honestly not sure myself."

"I find that to be rather peculiar."

"Yes, well…"

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At the same time, Gajeel and Levy's battle against Yomazo and Kawazu, in which they were first confronted the intense noise created by Yomazu's magic, Orient Solid Script, which was very similar to Levy's Solid Script. Levy was quickly able to cancel out the noise through use of her own Solid Script magic and promptly started facing off against Kawazu, while Gajeel was left to face off against Yomazu.

Levy was able to use her Solid Script to burn away the eggs that Kawazu was unleashing in her direction. However, she ended up in trouble when she became overwhelmed by the amount of eggs that she was being attacked with. Gajeel found himself experiencing difficulties with the slashes Yomazu was performing with his sword, even managing to cut through his Iron Dragon Scales, due to him being weakened by the continuous attacks, and eventually, this caused him to fall.

Despite being made to fall, Gajeel quickly instructed Levy to retreat from the battle and warn the other members of the guild, something that Levy hesitated in doing, though she did, but not without leaving Gajeel with a parted gift in the form of some iron that she summoned with her Solid Script magic. Of course, as she retreated, she tripped over a branch, which, combined with her injuries and exhaustion, caused her to pass out.

Gajeel was quick to replenish his strength and heal his wounds by consuming the iron that was left behind. Yomazu and Kawazu performed numerous combination, but now that his strength has been restored, along with sheer power and determination to back it up, he was able to counter them and block Yomazu's sword with his iron.

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Meanwhile, with Levy…

"Levy! Come on Levy wake up, you still with us?"

Levy slowly opened her eyes and found Luke, Erza and Juvia kneeling over her, and she couldn't help but smile at the sight "You came… that's good…"

"Yeah, and lucky thing we did too." Luke noted "How did you get hurt so bad, and for that matter where's Gajeel?"

"We're in trouble… they came here for us… all of them are coming… he's fighting some of them right now… he needs help… You have to help him… please…"

"...Alright, I'm on it." gripping his sword tightly, Luke gently handed Levy over to Erza "You and Juvia take care of her, I'm gonna go and track down Gajeel." and so he promptly took off into the forest, following his nose 'Hang on Gajeel, I'm coming, so don't you even think about dying before we get there.'

'Luke… hurry… please…'

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The battle was reaching its climax.

"Iron Dragon Scales!" with Yomazu's blade driving deeper into his Iron Dragon Club, the club in question finally shattered, revealing Gajeel's arm to be covered in dragon scales "There's no way in hell I'm going to let myself lose, and sure as hell I won't let myself lose to pieces of scum like you! You wanna know why?! It's because I'm a wizard of Fairy Tail!" he broke off the blade of the sword and dealt Yomazu a sharp kick that sent him stumbling backwards.

"No dammit, not my katana!" Yomazu was horrified at the sight of his blade being broken, and even moreso as he saw Gajeel eat the blade "My soul is in that blade!"

"Yeah well, your soul is a little bit on the dry side." Gajeel finished consuming the blade, and green energy started flaring around his body "I've had enough of you assclowns!" he slammed his hands together and summoned a massive metal blade from his arms "Dragon Slayer Secret Art…"

"Shit!" Yomazu promptly took off running, which didn't do any good.

"Karma Demon: IRON GOD SWORD!" Gajeel brought down his massive iron sword, which proved to be more than enough to finish the likes of both Yomazu and Kawazu, leaving both of them in unconscious bloody heaps "Fairy Tail wizards… and Dragon Slayers… you don't wanna piss them off…" and then he promptly fell to one knee.

"Looks like I arrived too late to actually do anything." this was when Luke blitzed onto the scene with his sword drawn, but he quickly put it back in its sheath "And too late to stop you from looking like this, you okay?"

"Yeah… whatever…" Gajeel spat out some blood "I told the shrimp… I could handle those idiots by myself…"

"I never doubted you for a second. Anyway Levy was pretty messed up, so Erza and Juvia are taking her back to camp to recover, and then they're going to head back out and keep searching for Mest and Wendy." their conversation was cut short by the sound of chuckling.

As it turns out, that came from Yomazu, despite him being sprawled out on the ground "It doesn't matter, you fools don't stand a chance… Our main fighting force is right on our heels, even as we speak. Wizards with levels of magic power far exceeding my own, they are known as the Seven Kin of Purgatory."

"The Seven Kin of Purgatory are coming? Shit, that's not good. I've heard a little bit about them during my training with God Serena, each one of them uses a certain type of Lost Magic, and their mastery over it makes them a force to be reckoned with.'

"And what's more, we have a Dragon Slayer among our ranks second only to our master, and his power is unrivaled!"

'A Dragon Slayer in a dark guild? Oh you've gotta be kidding me, if he's talking about who I think he's talking about… If the trial wasn't already going to have to be on hold, it sure as hell is now." he promptly pulled a flare gun out of his pocket and shot it into the air for all of the island to see "For the time being, all Fairy Tail mages present and able prepare for battle! This is a condition red, we're going to intercept them right away! Grimoire Heart or not, if anyone thinks they can pick a fight with Fairy Tail and walk away unscathed, they're in for one hell of a reality check."

"You sound fired up." Gajeel noted.

"We had shit going down on the island way before these guys showed up."

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The condition red flare didn't go unnoticed by a single person across the island.

Natsu only frowned at the sight "So Luke went and used a red flare, I'll bet it has something to do with that guy that was crying earlier."

"No, I don't think that's it." Happy told him "A red flare means that an enemy is coming, but that guy was already here, so there must be somebody else on the way."

"Well whoever it is, they've got some hardcore kahones if they came looking for a fight with Fairy Tail, so I say we give them what they came here for. It'll be a good lesson as to why you don't want to screw with us!"

"Aye sir!"

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Meanwhile, with Lucy and Cana…

"What the hell?" Lucy and Cana were taken aback "Why would they shoot up a red flare during the trial?"

"That can only mean one thing." Cana told her grimly "That means enemy forces are on their way to the island."

"Oh god…"

"Dammit, of all the times for this to happen, why did it have to be now? I swore that this was going to be my last trial. I'm serious about it too, if I don't make it this year then I'm leaving the guild for good. I can't afford to give up, I swear I'm going to see this through to the very end no matter what it takes."

"Cana…"

"For crying out loud, would you take it down a notch?" this was when Loke and Gray decided to emerge from their hiding place "Everyone feels the exact same way that you do."

"Where the hell did you guys come from, and for that matter what exactly are the two of you doing here?"

"Forget about that right now." Gray slapped a hand over Loke's mouth "That's just a total coincidence, but even then it's not exactly important right now. If we're really under attack then that's what we have to focus on. For now let's get back to the camp and rendezvous with the others, we need to find out what's going on first."

"Great, as if the trail wasn't hard enough."

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Meanwhile, with Luke and Gajeel…

Now that the flare was out, Luke stowed away his flare gun "I can't think of a single good reason why anyone on the island wouldn't be able to see that."

"So what do we do from here?" asked Gajeel.

"Well like I said, Erza and Juvia are bringing Levy back to camp to treat her injuries, and then the two of them are going to head back out to search for Mest and Wendy. We have to keep in mind the possibility of them being unable to find our base camp. In the meantime though, you should head back to the camp yourself and get treated for your own injuries."

"Don't give me any of that bullshit, I don't need or want your pity."

"And I don't need or want your macho act, do you want Levy to worry about you like that?" he received no reply "I thought not." so on that note, he promptly turned to Yomazu "Alright start talking big guy, why have you and Big Bird over there come to our guild's sacred ground?"

"Oh please." Yomazu let out a scoff "Like it would do me any good to reveal that."

"It will do you even less good to stay silent, you can be sure of that."

"As if, from what I've heard about you, you're not the kind of guy to use force to get what you want."

"You're right, I'm not. Erza and Mira on the other hand, they're a different story. I have no problems with getting them involved in this. You wanna tango with the She Devil and the Queen of the Fairies?"

"...Alright fine, fuck it. We came here to seek him, the legendary Black Wizard, Lord Zeref. We know for a fact that he is here on this very island."

"I'm starting to have doubts about how sane you really are, everyone knows that Zeref lived about 400 years ago. The fact is that Zeref is long since dead, I know for a fact that a certain former member of the council build the Tower of Heaven solely for the purpose of trying to revive him."

"Jellal was a fool for many reasons, but the fact is that Zeref never died. He's actually been living for over 400 years, and according to Master Hades, he's simply sleeping and told us that he is in a comatose state that has lasted for centuries."

"I find all of your prattling ridiculously hard to believe."

"Believe what you will, but we at Grimoire Heart know the truth. Once he has been awakened from his slumber, the entire world will be cloaked in darkness."

"You're with a bunch of damn fools, you realize that the island we're on happens to be the sacred ground of the Fairy Tail guild? There's no way we'd let someone like Zeref or you stain it with your presence."

"Believe what you will, but Master Hades and the Seven Kin of Purgatory will be arriving on these shores very soon, and it would be wise of you not to take them lightly. Ultear the Time Wizard, Rustyrose, my own superior Caprico, Kain Hikaru, Zancrow of the Black Flanes, Meldy, and then there's one more member I haven't even mentioned yet, who just so happens to be on this island.

"One of yours is already here, and you guys have a Dragon Slayer? So then, is he among them? He may have helped us out in the past, but if he's laid a single finger on any of them, then I won't hold back. Who am I kidding, he wouldn't want me to hold back against him.'

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Meanwhile, with Wendy and Mest…

Wendy and Mest looked up to see the red flare in the skies above them "Hey what is that, do you know what the red signal up there is supposed to mean?"

"Well… I think it means…" and then he started comically biting down on a rock "Now I wanna know dammit, I really wanna know what it means!"

"If you forgot then it's okay, but I don't think it's going to help."

'Dammit this isn't good, I'll have to act now before the main force arrives.'

"WENDY!"

"What the-?" Wendy looked up to see Carla and Panther Lily drop down onto the scene "What are you two doing here?"

"Nevermind that now, just get away from him!" Carla promptly rounded on Mest "Alright enough is enough, why don't you drop your act and tell us who you really are already?"

"What do you…" Mest promptly started sweating bullets "What the heck do you mean by that? I was a disciple of Mystogan, don't you remember-"

"Don't you dare lie about my prince like that!" Panther Lily promptly bulked up to his battle form and slammed his fist into the side of the rock behind Mest "I find it very hard to believe that my prince would take on a pupil in this world, now you were smart enough to use someone who doesn't live here anymore in order to back up your story. But now the question is, are you going to be smart enough to tell us the truth? Who are you really, and what is it that you're trying so hard to hide from us?"

"Lily stop it!" Wendy protested "What's gotten into the two of you?"

"Just stay back Wendy, don't come any closer. Now as for you Mest, start talking. Tell me who you really are."

"What do you mean?" Mest was still faking innocence.

"It's my believe that the magic you wield allows you to manipulate the memories of others, and if I'm correct, then you've been using that magic to mascarade as a member of Fairy Tail since before the trials started. There are too many things that don't add up, among them being your claim to be a disciple of Mystogan. From what I've seen, nobody in the guild has any real connection with you, and just now you had no idea what was signified by the guild's emergency flare, and there's no chance of you talking your way out of that."

"...Dammit." and then he suddenly blitzed out of view.

'He disappeared, he must be able to use teleportation magic!'

"There's no time, get the hell down!" Mest suddenly blitzed in front of Wendy, grabbed hold of her and threw her and the others to the ground just as an explosion went off, though he was able to pull her out of the smoke.

'An attack?!' Panther Lily sprouted his wings and took Carla into his arms, but then he quickly returned to the ground "What the hell is going on here?" he was met with another explosion that nearly blew all of them away, but it failed 'So he protected her, but why?'

"Alright who are you, get out here and show yourself!"

This was when the tree on the edge of the nearby cliff suddenly sprouted a face, and it started speaking to them "Most impressive, it would seem that he was accurate to say that your sense are sharper than I had anticipated."

'So this figure is merged with that tree, and he's the one who attacked us. Come out into the open and face us! Who are you?"

"I come from the guild of Grimoire Heart, my name is Azuma, and I am the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."

'Grimoire Heart, a dark guild from this world I take it?'

"So that's what the flare was." Mest noted "Someone else on the island must have run into more of these freaks."

"You're a little bit late to worry about your comrades."

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that."

"Enough with the games." Panther Lily let out a snarl "Now what the hell is going on here? Start talking!"

"I had thought that if I was going to find any dirt on the Fairy Tail guild, then the most logical place to start looking would be here, on the sacred burial ground. But to find Zeref here, not to mention Grimoire Heart as well, talk about hitting the jackpot. This must be my lucky day."

"I said enough with the games, tell me who the hell you are!"

"Oh come on, isn't it obvious by now? I work for the Magic Council, I infiltrated your ranks to gather intel that would be enough to get your guild disbanded once and for all."

"So he's a spy then." Azuma was listening in on the entire conversation "This is proving to be very interesting."

"But now I've been able to catch a much bigger fish, to think the ever elusive Grimoire Heart would just fall into my lap out of nowhere like this. As far as I'm concerned, if I take them out then my career is as good as made. I even have the Custody Enforcemen Units of the council on standby as we speak, and once the dark guild makes landfall it's going to be game over for all of them. This is a crackdown, and this is the day in which the Devil's Heart stops beating once and for all."

"Those battleships, they look so fragile from here." Azuma further emerged from the tree with which he had been merged, and all he had to do was blink before an explosion went off in the waters surrounding the island, blowing the council ships to hell in the process.

'The ships, all of the people, in an instant… How did he…?'

"Well that was a simple matter." Azuma fully emerged from the tree "If you're finished with your conversation, I'd like to get to work on destroying everyone here right now."

"Everyone stand back!" Panther Lily quickly got in between Azuma and the others, his glare hardening furiously "There's only one way for you to get to them, and that means you'll have to go through me!"

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Meanwhile, with Makarov…

"A red flare… the signal of an enemy raid…" Makarov slowly pulled himself to his feet and looked down at the grave standing in front of him "I never thought such a thing would happen here of all places, and on my watch no less. First Master… Mavis… did you ever find yourself in this situation? Because I can only wonder, how would you have handled this? I can only imagine you're so angry with me, you're spinning inside your grave right now. I've allowed the forces of the enemy to tread upon the sacred ground of our guild, and as such I assume full responsibility for whatever happens today, and I can assure you of this, I will pay the price." he clenched his fist tightly "I only ask one thing of you this day: Please, just keep all of them safe."

A/N:

And with this chapter, we start to get into the real meet of the arc, in which we learn of the deception of Mest: He's actually a spy for the Magic Council. And worse than that, a certain dark guild has made its presence known on Tenrou Island, which means that events are about to take a turn for the worst. All the while, a certain mysterious youth is wandering around, killing everything in his path, whether he wants to or not.

So yes, like I said in the last chapter, unlike Panther Lily and Carla, Bolt will not be travelling to Tenrou Island. I know some people might think I'm shafting him, but I promise I'm going to go somewhere with this, so just be patient with me for the time being. Keep in mind that him not being on the island means that he won't be there for a certain even that takes place, if you take my meaning.

One aspect that changes from canon, if only slightly, was Lisanna and Juvia's battle against Erza. While they didn't win this time, Lisanna put up a MUCH better fight than she did in canon, thanks to a new power that I gave her: a new transformation called the Animal Soul: Chimera, combing the power of multiple forms into one single form with much greater power. I was originally going to introduce this during the Battle of Fairy Tail and have her take on Freed, but in the end I decided that it would be better-suited for here.

Like with Cana and Lucy vs Freed and Bickslow, I mostly glossed over the Gajeel and Levy vs Yomazu and Kawazu since there really wasn't any sort of change from canon that was really worth noting or writing about. It would've just been cut and paste from canon, at least except for the ending. Like I said, this is my favorite arc in all of Fairy Tail, but the one thing I didn't approve of was how little Gajeel was used in the battle against Grimoire Heart, something that I plan on changing.