"It's getting out of control down there…" A male with a husky voice said in a darkened room. The only way the one's inside could identify each other were through voices.

"I agree…something must be done about the chaos going on," A female voice said.

"The filth down there creating darkness…unbearable…" A gruff voice replied, clearly upset about the current events.

"Our orders are to wait and see how things play out," A deep voice ordered. "Lord Yggdrasil's orders. If things get too out of hand, we will intervene…do I make myself clear? This is not something that he or Micheal should be dealing with."

"Yes, sir…" The other voices in the room replied.

.

.

Takeru's room in his tower was in shambles. Everything was either knocked over, or broken in some way. The Shadow Dragon slayer held his head while a voice spoke to him. Not just any voice, but it was his own shadow. "C'mon, Tenebrae, let me have some fun!" The Shadow spoke with a sadistic tone, trying to fight its way through Takeru's resistance, but it wasn't having any luck.

"D-Dammit…" Takeru groaned to himself as he barely managed to keep his Shadow from taking control of his body. This was the reason he wasn't out in Magnolia assisting his other guild mates in battle. His Shadow could probably sneak in and take control of his body, putting them, especially Selene, in danger.

"You're no fun…" The Shadow said with a slightly upset tone, pulling back on its efforts to take control of Takeru for now. "I'll get you one day, Tenebrae…"

"I won't let that happen…" Takeru replied as he stood up straight, shaking his head.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Tak?" Jaxon and Waiston asked in unison. "Everything okay in there?"

"U-Uh…yeah!" Takeru replied as he walked over the door, opening it just enough so he could poke his head through. "Everything's fine…!"

"Alright…we heard some noise and just wanted to make sure…" Jaxon stated as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah…I'm fine…(for now at least)." Takeru then gave a tiny smile to his two guild mates, hoping it would lessen their concern, and hopefully not badger him. "So, uh…how are things with the others?"

"They're on their way back now," Waiston replied. "It looks like everything has been taken care of."

.

.

[400 Years ago.]

A young Gaia was seated at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea from the high perch. She sighed heavily. "Why am I so weak...?"

"Is something the matter?" A white dragon approached her. This was a male dragon, with silver scales.

"Oh, Eizen..." Gaia looked up at him with a frown. "...I'm weak, aren't I? It's why I was told to come here, to this Island, as opposed to fighting the war down below."

"There are dragons on this island because they did not wish to fight. Humans, dragons, that war is terrible. It is best that as many dragons remain up here and stay out of human conflict." Eizen replied with a nod. "Your strength is not a factor. And you are still a dragon. If you were to go down below, you would easily crush those humans. But that's not the kind of Dragon you are, is it?"

"No." Gaia shook her head. "I don't want to be strong to beat people up. I want to be strong because I want to protect people I care about. But when everyone is stronger than me, it doesn't feel like I can do that very well..."

Eizen could understand Gaia's plight. "...When the war settles, if everything turns out okay...you should go out and see the world. I can tell that being on this island is no good for you. You like humans. You like dragons...maybe you'll find something you're looking for down there. Something worth growing stronger for."

Gaia's eyes lit up. "Do you think so?"

"You're stronger than you think, Gaia. You are attuned to the earth itself." Another voice spoke. This was the Earth Dragon, Stalagmus. He was bigger than Eizen.

"Stalagmus..." Gaia looked up to this dragon.

"One day, you'll be more attuned to the earth than I am." Stalagmus said. "And if things proceed as planned...perhaps you can be the one to look after my progeny. She has incredible power. So much so than even she realizes. I believe you would be the perfect one to teach her how to properly use it. She's still in training, she's still young, but I believe she has the potential to do great things."

"What's her name?" Gaia asked.

"Evanee."

[End flashback.]

"Why are you here?" Evanee asked as she took Gaia's hand, hoisting herself up with it.

"I've noticed all the chaos going around lately, Ev," Gaia replied with a serious tone, looking over at Daityas, who just raised a brow in interest. "I've heard about the Council, what's happening in Magnolia, and what happened to your guild mate."

Evanee remained silent when Gaia brought up Flynn, but she just nodded her head slowly, turning her attention back to Daityas. "He's the one behind all of this…he has to be…"

"Heh…" Daityas chuckled slightly, somewhat amused by Evanee's deduction. "Funny, is that what everyone thinks? Well, it doesn't take a genius to come up with a plan such as this, but I'll have to tell you that you're wrong when you say it was me who thought of this."

"What?" Gaia blinked a few times. "You're telling us this isn't your doing?"

"Nope, one of my guild members created the plan, "Daityas replied. "I was just on my way back when this one," he gestured to Evanee as he spoke. "Decided to get in my way…"

"Is that so…?" Gaia raised a brow, motioning her hand to tell Evanee to step back. Evanee raised a brow, but she took a step back after, curious to see what Gaia was ready to do. "Ev, just in case things get bad, I suggest you start running."

"What are you…" Evanee started.

"Oh…yeah, by the way…" Gaia started as a genuine smile appeared on her face; the first one she ever gave to the stone dragon slayer. "I…apologize…" With that, Gaia turned to face Daityas as a magic circle appeared around her body. Gaia's body began to shake, and the ground began to tremble. Gaia's body started to expand, her arms gaining brown scales before turning into literal dragon arms. Her legs followed suit as she began to tower into the sky, her body bulking up some. Brown wings sprouted from her back, expanding the size of a football field and then some, her long tail extended from her backside, and her head being the last to transform. Gaia had transformed into her true self, the Earth Dragon, noting this by giving off a loud, eardrum shattering roar that nearly shook the entire country of Fiore.

"Hm…" Was the only thing Daityas had to say to Gaia's transformation. "Funny…for a second there I thought this was going to be a slight challenge…but you don't even hold a candle to Mithril…" Daityas grinned widely, now ignoring Gaia as he made his way to Evanee.

"Excuse you!" Gaia roared, stones covering her tail as she swung it violently towards Daityas, but he placed his hand out, catching the tail before it hit him. He did slide back a few yards however, but he held his ground nonetheless. "He caught it!?"

"Like I said…" Daityas then allowed Hell's Flames to cover his hand, instantly burning through the rock, and began to burn through Gaia's tail, causing the dragon to let out a pained roar, unable to escape the grasp. Her wings flapped, but Daityas was incredibly strong, especially since he was in his Demon Drive form; Gaia wasn't going anywhere.

Evanee ran forward, feeling slightly bad for using Gaia as a distraction after she swallowed her pride to apologize. Evanee reared her fist back, allowing stones to cover it, but before she could swing, an unfamiliar, yet familiar scent entered her nose, causing her to go on even higher alert. "What…?" Just then a bolt of red lightning appeared before it; the mage was none other than Mithril himself, and he slammed a red lightning infused punch into Evanee's jaw, causing her to spiral back from the power. She caught herself, swaying from side to side slightly because of the power from the hit. Evanee then got a good look at the "man" before her, her eyes narrowing before widening somewhat. "Another one…?"

"Evanee!" Gaia roared, finally freeing her now severely burnt tail from Daityas' grasp, turning to face the two Tartaros mages. "Get out of here NOW!"

Evanee was slightly taken aback; Gaia's tone of voice actually had some…concern to it. "You're going to fight then by yourself? I don't think so."

"Nope, I'm not dealing with this…" Gaia groaned.

"Can I have some fun…? She's a virgin dragon, Dait…" Mithril said as he licked his lips, a predatory grin forming on his lips.

"Knock yourself out…" Daityas said while taking a few steps back.

And just like that, Mithril's body underwent the same transformation as Gaia's though he appeared as a larger, vicious dragon, looking down at Gaia with a grin. "Virgin dragons…my favorite…"

"Shit…" Gaia's oval eyes narrowed. She knew what the result of this was going to be, and she didn't have many options left. She couldn't run, and it didn't look like she would be convincing Evanee to run any time soon, so she got an idea. "Evanee, come here…I have a plan…"

"Hm…" Evanee walked over to Gaia, nodding. "What is it?"

"…Again…I'm sorry," Gaia said.

"Huh?" Evanee blinked a few times, now unsure why Gaia was yet again apologizing.

"If you see Alex…" Gaia started. "Tell her I said to carry on. And remember. You have so much more strength than you think you do. Your dragon told me that himself." With that, Gaia turned, slamming her tail harshly into Evanee's side, sending the stone dragon slayer soaring into the air.

"GAIA?!" Evanee shouted, a mixture of anger and surprise escaping her lips.

"Alright..." Gaia then turned to Mithril and Daityas, giving off a loud, pride filled roar. "LET'S DO THIS!"

"HAHA!" Daityas cackled at Gaia's tenacity. "Okay then, Dragon! Let's see what you can d-!" Before Daityas could finish, Gaia slammed her tail onto him again, but this time, she had much more power than before. It crushed Daiyas into the ground, much to his own surprise. He went to grab her burnt tail once again, but as he did, several stalagmites rose up and knocked him into the air.

"DRAGON CLAW!" Gaia then slammed her claw into Daityas, causing him to hit the ground and cause a miniature crater as a result. The King of Hell didn't look very pleased with all the bruises appearing on his body. He thought Gaia was a joke, but this lesser being actually managed to make him...bleed? He looked at his chest where Gaia's claw struck him. "...Mithril."

"HA!" Mithril laughed and inhaled, firing off a Lightning Breath in Gaia's direction. She brought up one of her wings, which protected her from the attack. She then lunged forward, diving onto Mithril and tackling him to the ground, surprising him as well. "What!? You're a weak Dragon!? How can you have this strength!?" Mithril roared out in pain as Gaia bit down on Mithril's chest, drawing blood from him as well.

"I may be weak..." Gaia said while pushing off Mithril. "But I have things I want to protect! So if I have to defeat you both to do that, then I will! I already let my guild down once, but I know these humans have the potential to be something great! So I will protect that potential, and you will see what they are capable of!"

"Don't make me laugh with that sentimental bullshit." Daityas said while snapping his fingers, a pillar of hell flames erupting around Gaia's body, causing her to roar in pain.

Mithril followed up by drawing his fist back, red lightning surging around it. He slammed this fist into Gaia's face, crushing her into the ground in the process. "Lightning Knuckle!"

Gaia's body showed signs of heavy damage. A dragon and a powerful demon. Even for her, this wasn't a good matchup...but she didn't care about that. Gaia picked herself up slowly and started to fly. "I know how to end this."

"Where do you think you're going?" Mithril thought she was attempting to escape and prepared to fly after her, but he found that he couldn't. The ground itself trapped both him and Daityas, preventing them from being able to move. "What?"

"Is this?" Daityas quirked a brow.

"This, is the pride of the Earth Dragon!" Gaia said while inhaling, gathering plenty of magic within her mouth. At the same time, the ground began to shine brightly around Mithril and Daityas, surging and swelling with magic power. "EARTH'S END!" She exclaimed, using her mouth to release and Earth Roar, while the ground exploded with earth magic from blow. It was an assault from ground and sky, resulting in a widespread explosion that could be seen for miles on end. The ground violently shook along with the sky, and when the dust settled, both Mithril and Daityas were...down on their backs, unmoving. Gaia slammed her hands down on them to keep them pinned to the ground, letting out victorious roar as a result.

"Did she do it...?" Evanee questioned. It was hard to say...Although, it didn't last very long. As Evanee flew off into the distance, she saw Mithril get back up, overpowering Gaia, right into the ground. A loud roar of pain echoed through the area, but a tower of Hell flames easily brought the pained roar to a halt...