The Key(s) to Victory

by dxvilcj

There was nothing Lucy could do as she stood and watched in pure horror as 10,000 Dragons entered Fiore, destroying everything in their path. She got separated from the others during the initial attack, but the lack of magic and prideful shouts that she knows Fairytail was capable of, confirmed her doubts to be true. Everyone was dead. She had to go back, to save the future.

18. Defrosting in a Pool of Red

[ Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc {3} ]

-N-D-

Natsu leaps up from the grounded with a start, eyes narrowing at the large bucket that the giant rat was carrying in its hands. When the rat throws the substance over the village, it's shiny and a gross shade of green that as Natsu frowning as he gathers his magic into both of his hands, chanting;

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

A massive fireball fires towards the green goo that seems to be falling, and it causes a massive explosion in the sky. Natsu is knocked back towards the ground, rotating in the air in order to catch his fall as he stumbles once he reaches the ground. He looked around to survey the damage and saw that he managed to protect the main area of village, but the green corrosive substance managed to destroy and dissolve the outer edges of the village.

Natsu's jaw clenched, they really could have done some serious damage to the village had he not counter the attack, somewhat.

Meanwhile Lucy's eyes widened as she leaped away from a corroding home with a yelp, when her attention was captured once more from a couple screams. She turned to see that not all of the villagers had hidden themselves, and they were on their way to running towards the forest. A large shadow casted above Lucy as she looked up in shock, noticing that two of the three passengers on the rat had already hopped off. It didn't take rocket science for Lucy to figure out the last remaining passenger's intent, considering they were flying in the same direction as the fleeing villagers.

She runs without a second thought, casting a look behind her at Gray who looked like he was itching to join in the fight. "Don't even think about it, Gray Fullbuster. Your injuries!"

Lucy continues to run though, hoping that Gray heeds her words. His natural healing hasn't kicked in yet with that bite wound, and it was deep . Deep down, she knows that the odds are leaning towards him disregarding her warning, and at the end of the day, there isn't anything that she can do about his choices when innocent people need her help more. She just hopes her team will be alright.

Oh Spirits, she already alludes Gray with Team Haluna, she realized with a exasperated chuckle. Well, Natsu might throw a fit, but it's a good thing she was leader so she can override his thoughts! Gray has no choice but to join Team Haluna, Lucy thought with an evil grin on her face, before she got serious as she reached the giant rat which had rested on the ground for a moment.

"Taurus!" Lucy called her spirit out with the corresponding key, and the bull appeared immediately, running side by side with his master.

"Young Lucy! What's the situation here? I can see you're using your calves expeditiously," Taurus cheered while Lucy pointed at the rat. She told him the plan she had in mind in order to stop their enemies from escaping, and they set out to do so immediately.

When the giant rat started to take air once more, that's when they made their move.

"Now, Taurus!"

"You got it, Lucy!" Taurus said proudly as he let the celestial spirit mage climb onto his arms, before launching her into the air using his massive strength. Once he did that, he summoned his labrys (twin-headed axe) and charged from the ground with a decent amount of speed considering his size. Lucy was piercing through the skies with a grin on her face as she grabbed her whip and launched it at the rat's leg.

Using the momentum of Taurus's throw, the moment that the whip enclosed around the rat's leg, she twisted her body with all of her might and sent it crashing into the ground, with Lucy falling once she did so. The rat and the passenger crashed into the trees off to the side, while Taurus jumped up to catch his master before taking off.

Lucy had the wind knocked out of her for a brief moment, but as she tried to regain her breath, she sent Taurus a satisfied grin, who in turn reflected it. "Good job, master."

"It takes two, Taurus!" Lucy said with pride as they made their way to their enemies. Happy appeared after a moment, surprising Lucy but welcomed him nonetheless as they charged forwards.

Meanwhile;

"You better not step foot into my fight, Ice Head." Natsu warned him, making sure that only he gets the chance to fight two people by himself. Natsu likes a good challenge, and he's not afraid to warn people to back off in an effort to showcase his strength. He smirked at his opponents, some guy who looked weirdly like a lion, while the other had massive eyebrows. It also totally wasn't because Gray was injured and Natsu didn't want him getting himself into more trouble in that state.

Definitely not.

"You don't tell me what to do," Gray hissed back at him, but winced when his injury flared. Despite being wrapped up pretty well, it was still hard to do any super extraneous movements, and that was what Gray knew. It was frustrating, seeing his friends fight the enemy that was led by someone connected to Gray's history. It should be him in the front lines at least, leading the efforts.

But for now despite the frustration, he knows that he must save his energy for Lyon.

So he refocuses his efforts in assisted stranglers in the village, as Natsu pans his attention back to the foes in front of them that looked at him with smug expressions on their face as if their numbers against him means anything. Natsu secretly loves it when they do that, the cockiness that overcomes his opponents when they think they have the upper hand.

Maybe they do have the upper hand.

Maybe they don't.

That's the thrill, isn't it? The area of unknown when it comes to battle, the rush of adrenaline and excitement that courses through his veins at a challenger. Proving his strength, satisfying his urge to fight while trying to do some good in the world.

It was just the way Natsu likes it.

It was lion-dude who attacks for, shouting out his friend's name of "Yuka" before he slashes with sharp nails in Natsu's direction. Natsu twists his body to dodge, but one of the nails graze him a little bit and a numbness started to seep into that area of his arm. He frowns looking down at the tiny wound, before glancing back at his opponent who merely smirked.

'Hmm…that's probably annoying later on' , Natsu thought briefly before turning his attention towards Yuka, who hasn't made a move yet. That was fine, Natsu didn't care about who started first. So long as there were opponents, they were going to clash regards. That's the thought that lingered in his mind as he propelled himself forwards and sent a flamed punch towards Yuka, who's eyes widened at Natsu's speed before quickly casting magic that neutralized Natsu's.

Natsu quickly took a step back to gain some distance as he thought about what to do next.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The massive beam of flames was quickly and calmly dispelled by Yuka, who had time to react in a quick manner. Well, it confirmed Natsu's suspicions of some sort of magic-sealing or neutralization and suddenly he grinned because that was pretty damn interesting! So, he can't use magic against Yuka, Natsu tilted his head as he thought.

But he couldn't neutralize physical strength, right?

Dodging another furious swipe of the lion-guy's hands, Natsu quickly pivoted and smacked Yuka in the face with a fast movement. Yuka let out a gasp of pain as his head flew pain from the impact and Natsu was quick to follow up with a spinning round house kick that sent Yuka flying into one of the villagers' homes. A quick look ensured that one of his opponents was down for the count, which caused him to turn around to whom was left.

With a charged battle cry that had renewed anger in it, Natsu watched as the lion-guy raced towards him and attempted to claw him in many directions. All Natsu did in return was almost boredly dodge his movements in a rapid pace before appearing behind him, causing the man to accidentally reach behind and slash himself at his neck.

With his neck to be paralyzed for a brief moment due to the larger cut, Natsu was quick to chop the back of it, effectively knocking the lion-guy out. He blinked as the dust settled from their fight, before pouting slightly at the lack-luster ending that he hadn't expected.

Dang, he really was hoping they'd be more of a challenge…

Wait.

Natsu's eyes narrowed as another foreign scent makes its way through his nose, looking at the direction of the temple that they had found Deliora in earlier. As far as he remembered, there were three people that were with Gray's acquaintance in the cave earlier, but what if there were more? It would explain the new scent that he smells, and that could also mean new enemies.

Pursing his lips, he yells at Gray that he'll be back in a second, before rushing back towards the pyramids to investigate further.

-L-H-

"OH MY SPIRITS!" Happy and Lucy scream as they run through the woods with Taurus right behind them, trying to escape the giant tree that suddenly came to life thanks to their opponents magic. It was a haunted looking thing, with an angry scowl that mimicked its owner, who was yelling and ordering it to attack while riding on it. Lucy knew that they couldn't run for too long, she was losing stamina rapidly as she made her way through the thick jungle.

After reaching an awkward spot, she was quick to climb on top of the rock that was before her, before turning around to face the enemy head on. With Happy on her back, ready to fly away without a moment of hesitation and Taurus taking note of her battle stance, Lucy cracked the tree beside her with her whip in anticipation.

She takes in a deep breath, and calmly lets it out as she glared at her opponent defiantly.

"Taurus!"

Taurus races forwards and slashes the tree in half, as Lucy smacks the pink-haired girl as she fell from her creation with her whip. Lucy was quick to ask Happy to fly her towards Sherry Blendy, who was groaning in pain for a moment.

It was close, she was so close to immobilizing Sherry, but the latter had casted her pink doll magic before she was able to wrap her tight. It was silent for a moment as Lucy paused, wondering what she ended up creating as it generally made a lot of noise.

What came next was an ominous crack and an axe attack that came from behind, harrowingly missing Lucy as she flinched away, turning her head around quickly in surprise at the turn of events. To her horror and dismay, it was Taurus who had attacked her. Upon further inspection, it was clear that he seemed to be under some sort of influence as his eyes glowed pink.

There was an immediate rush of anger that runs through Lucy as she stares at the reduction of her spirit. They were not puppets that moved mindlessly, it made her upset to see him unable to act upon basic wills. Sherry unravelled herself as she ordered Taurus to attack Lucy and Happy, and they meet head up for one moment.

Or they should've, if Lucy had Gray's or Natsu's strength.

Instead, his attack sends Lucy and Happy crashing across the jungle, with Lucy crashing harshly into a thick tree and the wind knocked out of her. Taurus was strong . Her lungs felt as if they were on fire as she tried to take in a breath of air, and inside her mind there was another presence that whispered something to her,

"Force the gate closure."

"Rushii…" Lucy gasped out weakly, but her nee-san's form wasn't permanent as it was before. Rushii had stepped out of the gate when she had felt Lucy's alarming burst of pain, quickly realizing that this was the moment that she had to fight against Taurus, and she was just as quick to share her wisdom about how to handle the situation.

"He'll understand, Lucy. It's for his safety and yours…because he'll be thoroughly punished if he kills you, imouto. It's against the rules."

With the familiar prickle of tears in her eyes as Taurus charges at her with crazed eyes, she braced herself and shielded Happy as the twin-headed axe came down to end her life. The sound of the cracking of the tree she had landed, grew louder as the weapon grew closer and Lucy closed her eyes as she whispered,

"Taurus, Forced Gate Closure."

Sherry gaped in disbelief at the forced gate closure that she witnessed her opponent complete, knowing that such an ability only comes from a certain caliber of trust between the master and summoned. To think that the busty blonde in front of her was more capable than she thought, Sherry commended Lucy. But ultimately, it was still a bad match up.

It doesn't matter who Lucy tries to summon, for Sherry would simply cast her magic and take control of them for an instant, Sherry grinned as she summoned her next doll, Rock Doll.

It doesn't matter who she tried to summon, since her opponent would just take control of her spirit in an instant. That is what Lucy knows as she watches her create a rock doll out of the corner, she had placed herself on top of beforehand. Mind racing, Lucy and Happy fly off through the jungle at a fast pace with the Rock Doll smashing everything in its path as it chased after it.

Weaving through the skies before she reached the shore of Galuna Island, gave Lucy the bright idea of what to do next. If Sherry will just take control of the next spirit that she summons and force it to attack her, then she'll get hit by the same blow too. There was only one spirit in her arsenal currently that had the ability of a massive all-kill attack, and Lucy grinned in triumph as she began her next stage of attack as she watches the Rock Doll come bursting out of the jungle.

"Open the Gate of the Canis Minor, Plue!"

Sherry had her magic casted already, the moment she heard her words.

Lucy smirked. 'Good.'

"What the hell?!" Sherry frowned at the uselessness of Plue as the small snowman simply danced around with the tell-tale purple eyes of her magic, and Lucy was quick to pull out another key while she was momentarily distracted. Thank the spirits for Plue and his low ethernano mana consumption.

It made this possible.

"Open the Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

Sherry was quick to recover and take control of her other spirit, Lucy had to give her props.

Unfortunately, as the two women got swept away by a massive wave from the ocean since they were battling on the shoreline, she didn't take into account what kind of spirit that she had summoned. At least Lucy knew that she could trust Aquarius to take out everybody all at once, even Lucy whenever she annoyed her. It's that thought that makes her giggle as she grows dizzy from spinning in a whirlpool by said spirit.

Sherry is beyond comprehension as she stumbles around in the aftermath of the wave, feeling incredibly nauseous. Lucy feels the same, but she calls on Happy to come down from above in order to help her get the last upper hand on Sherry, since they were both in a similar state.

That's why it was rather unfortunate that she had called that ugly rat over from earlier, yelling for "Angelica". Later on, Lucy would laugh at the name because the sight of the bright blue rat was anything but angelic, but all she could do was cringe and hope for the best as the rat jumped from the jungle, ready to attack the celestial spirit mage.

"Ah, hell." Lucy grumbled, hoping that Happy comes to save her instead of attacking Sherry, but it turned out that she didn't have to worry about that rat no longer, as a bright flash flickered through the sky before impaling itself in the airborne rat, effectively taking it down and pinning it onto the ground.

Lucy let out a startled gasp at the sight, cringing at the sudden brutal ending to Sherry's rat doll or whatever the hell it was, before turning around slowly to see who had thrown the sword that had saved her.

"Ah, hell ." Lucy let out a very nervous smile at the sight of an unamused Erza Scarlet standing in her knight armor glory, with her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed.

Happy let out a sheepish laugh as he lands next to Lucy, both of them scratching the back of their necks as Erza stormed over with another sword and rope in her hand that looked very menacing indeed.

-L-H-

"Aw shit," Gray let out a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw a figure in the distance, walking towards the village in the aftermath of Lyon's ordered attack. He thought the blood loss had finally got to him when he thought that he saw a red-head on the horizon with a tied up blonde and blue cat trailing behind her, but knowing his luck, he knew he wasn't seeing things.

If only he was well enough to run, he would've ditched a long time ago at the sight of a stern-looking rule-enforcing Erza, but he depressingly accepted his fate as he sat down on some cargo off towards the side of the village.

Being a mage meant that they healed faster than the average person, but it's only been a couple hours since his harrowing fight with Lyon. He wasn't prepared to run against a determined Erza Scarlet. Still, the deadpanned look that he gave to Lucy as she let out a half-hearted laugh at the sight of them and had the audacity to give him a sheepish wave.

"You know, the plan was to get the bad guys. Not get tied up like one, Lucy." Gray said dryly while Lucy rolled her eyes at his statement. Well, at least she knows Gray seems to be in his usual spirits if he's got time to passively snark to her.

"You're about to join us, so don't speak too soon." Lucy muttered as Erza chose that moment to step into the conversation, literally and figuratively as she made her way towards Gray.

"She's right, Fullbuster. You rule-breakers are on your way to a first-class ticket back to Fairytail right this instant. Where's the flaming idiot?" Erza demanded as she grabbed more rope, ready to string Gray along with Lucy and Happy. Gray managed to side-step her though, looking at her in slight alarm.

"How the hell did you get here, Erza?"

"I asked nicely to one of the sailors, and they agreed." Erza said flatly, while Happy, Lucy, and Gray all exchanged glances with each other and sweatdropped. God, what did "Erza asking nicely" even look like? Although this was the first time Lucy has been on the receiving end of such treatment, she has seen enough to know that Erza's tendency to resort to basic violence in order to enforce her mindset. It was enough to shiver at the thought.

Erza suddenly pauses however, taking note of her comrades' states and spending a longer time at Gray's dirty and bloodied bandages wrapped around his side. She frowns at the sight and makes eye-contact with Gray who met her gaze with a seriousness that surprised her, even though she didn't let it show on her face.

Just what the hell was really going on around here?

"I know what you were sent here to do, Erza," Gray begins quietly but strongly, "But I'm not leaving this island until we finish this mission."

A flash and there's suddenly a sword that's pointed at his chest as Erza looked at him with guarded eyes. It was tense for a moment as Lucy and Happy held their breath during the entire exchange. Gray didn't even flinch, and even grasped the sword to pull it closer to his chest.

Erza took a silent note of the unwaveringness.

"You do realize that the number of rules that you are breaking are astronomical, and the fact that you are not qualified to legally take S-Class missions, correct? That is punishable not only by Makarov as the guildmaster of Fairytail, but by the Magic Council as well if the latter reaches word of it. You could be stripped of your membership." Erza bluffed towards the end, as Makarov wouldn't have let such an event expelled the team, but they were risking serious trouble back home if they didn't return. S-Class missions are barred for regular guild members for a reason, they are dangerous .

Erza doesn't want to see her friends get hurt even more than they already seemed to be.

"I…That-That's something that can be worried about later. Right here, right now, there's something that I need to do on Galuna Island, to save everyone here. If you want me to go back to Fairytail, it'll only be after this mission is complete. These residents need our help, Erza."

Erza stayed silent for a moment as nobody moved, before her sword disappeared and Gray let out a nose exhale of relief at the look of consign on Erza's face. She was impressed a little bit, in fact. Before her was a boy that she's known since they were preteens in the guild, always looking to start trouble and was angry at the world and himself for a long time. Whatever was on Galuna Island truly was important, as Erza looks at him.

That's fine, this was an S-Class mission anyways. She was certified for them to be able to keep going, and thus she joined them. After Lucy and Happy were untied, they filled her in with what's happened so far in the village and their plans in order to stop the ritual.

"I'm glad you're helping us, Erza!" Lucy said happily as she gave the other woman a hug who flushed a bit at the unexpected physical touch but returned it nonetheless.

"Don't think I'm letting this slide after all of this dies down, you will face judgement." Erza huffs as she pats Lucy's back, but Lucy just grins at her as they stepped away from each other. Gray doesn't say anything but he does give Erza a nod of respect, causing the latter to roll her eyes before giving on of her own.

"Okay but seriously, where is Natsu?" Erza looked around curiously. Lucy and Happy had shrugged while Gray scratched his face as he pondered,

"Uh, I think he mentioned about being right back after he beat the other two guys. I don't know where he actually went, though."

-N-D & G-F-

"Crap…" Natsu sucks his teeth at the familiar sight of the Moon Drop ritual taking place once more. The sinister purple glow was back again as he made his way towards the temple, and with a really sudden thought (that could be really stupid); what if he just shifted the temple a little?

With a quick-Fire Dragon's Roar, Natsu manages to tilt the pyramid off to the side, which seems to have successfully stopped the ritual for now . Judging by the unfamiliar scents inside the temple however, he knew his work wasn't over.

Inside, there was already a masked figure that was waiting for him along with the Lyon guy who had beaten Gray the first time. There's a curl of his lip at the sight of Lyon, feeling a strong sense of irritation at the sight of the man who'd beaten his rival and temporarily broken his spirits in the process.

"You must be Natsu," Lyon said with confidence, as if he wasn't scared of the dragon slayer. Natsu just looked at him with a look of intrigued, before looking at the other masked figure. Lyon pointed at them, introducing them as Zalty.

"Zalty has informed me that you and the famous Titania has graced your presences on Galuna Island. I do ask for you to turn back and take that half-ragged disappointment with you, for there's no reason for you to be here."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "You talk a lot of shit."

"Thank you," Lyon said, pleased.

"It ain't a compliment," Natsu said mildly, "And we're not going anywhere. Releasing that demon will put a lot of innocents at risk, dude, is that what you really want?"

"I don't really care about the others, just my own goals." Lyon responded bluntly, fully intending to take on Deliora on his own to prove himself. Natsu just tsks under his breath before charging forwards as he blasts himself, starting the fight. He sent a fiery kick towards where Lyon stood, but it turned out to be an ice clone and Natsu let out a small smirk of delight in the middle of switching stances.

Good, this opponent was a bit interesting.

Lyon creates ice eagles from his real position, sending them towards Natsu's direction but the latter has learned his lesson from the first time. He has to focus, but his fire needs to be more potent if he wants to melt Lyon's ice, and he does so successfully as he blows out fire from his mouth in the eagles and Lyon's face.

Letting out a small curse, Lyon landed back down on the ground level. The ice-gorilla makes a return, as Natsu moves into a handstand position and began twisted his body as he released flames from his feet. Lyon flinches at the heat and orders the gorilla to smash the ground, effectively breaking it in order to throw Natsu off-balance.

Natsu falls through for a moment, before unstably regaining his balance as he waved his hands wildly, trying to fly for a brief moment thanks to the flames on his feet. He lets out a wild grin as he blasts himself towards Lyon, who looks at him with wide eyes before Natsu's fists connects with his face.

Since they were both airborne, Natsu quickly followed up with a Fire Dragon's Roar directly onto Lyon, who got hit with the brunt of it as he was blasted into the ruins of the floor.

Or that's what it should've been, if the floor had still been broken. Thanks to Zalty's measures, Lyon landed on the now-fully reinforced floor that he had destroyed moments prior with the help of his former ice-gorilla, and he groans as his back slams into the ground. It was better than landing on floor shards however, and he's quick to get back up to throw Zalty a nod.

"What's your magic?" Lyon asked Zalty curiously as Natsu landed back onto the ground, but Zalty simply held up a finger to their masked face, emphasizing their silence on the matter. Well, it doesn't really matter much to Lyon, considering that Zalty was on his side.

And it doesn't change the fact that Natsu, the famed Salamander, was a more annoying opponent that he had originally gave credit for. Angered at the fact that it felt as if he was losing, Lyon slammed his magic into the terrain to make it relatively ice, as Natsu just lights himself on fire as he points at Lyon,

"You're a selfish bastard, and I'm going to punish you for causing people to suffer for an ego boost."

Lyon just scowls as he's prepared to launch himself at the flamed Natsu, before an ice-make axe flew from across the room and almost impaled itself into Lyon, who leaned back in the nick of time in full-blown surprise. Natsu just grinned as he placed his hands on his hips, looking over at the stormy looking Gray who had thrown the said axe.

The cavalry had arrived, with Erza and Happy dealing with Yuka and Toby (the lion-guy) in the front of the pyramid as they had woken up from Natsu's beating. Sherry was still unconscious on the shore, considering Lucy's and Erza's combined efforts in defeating her. Lucy runs into the room soon after, only to watch in slight awe at the two battles that were happening simultaneously.

Gray vs. Lyon.

Natsu vs. some masked dude, based off of her observation.

"You know," Gray hissed as Lyon's eagles grazed him but still kept fighting, "I thought about using Iced Shell just to seal you off, for good. Sacrificing myself in order to permanently end this once and for all."

Lyon was shocked to hear that he would go through such measures in order to stop him, but wasn't that also a compliment? To be the subject of something sacrificing their life in order to stop you, doesn't that prove that you are worthy? Lyon's confidence soars at the thought, and he just scoffs at Gray's initial plan, "You're a fucking idiot, did you forget I have Moon Drip in my possession? You'd be killing yourself for nothing."

'Yeah, that's what Lucy said too after she slapped me for even thinking about that plan in the first place.' Gray thought idly as he dodged a fist and slammed his own into Lyon's stomach. His cheek still burned a little from the slap from the blonde after he spoke a little bit about his plans, who knew Lucy packed so much power in her.

"The point is that one of us is going down today, Lyon, and it'll be you."

Lyon side-stepped him, and stabbed Gray with a ice-sword after his declaration, causing him to choke of his breath as the former released the sword. Gray's mind is clouded with pain as he stumbled back, and he quickly freezes the new wound in order to continue to fight off of sheer will and determination. He won't falter and break down like he did before.

He will defeat Lyon.

Lyon was growing frustrated at the look of determination on Gray's face, not understanding how their fight could be this stagnant despite Gray's serious injuries. Was he not strong enough to defeat this almost crippled man? What the hell was going on? The anger was making him feel rather irrational as he growled at Gray, moving forwards.

Everyone began to tilt and slide off in another direction however, as the temple was set back to it's original position once more thanks to Zalty's efforts in the middle of fighting Natsu. Natsu, irritated by the fact that his opponent was half-focused on the fight in front of him, causing the latter to secretly smirk from behind their mask.

Natsu Dragneel was a powerful mage, that Zalty knew. But as he currently stands, his manner of fighting was somewhat…predictable. He was an inspiring genius when it comes to combat, and Zalty was rather impressed with his creativity during his fight with Lyon, but they were starting to understand his mindset while fighting.

Natsu enjoys the thrill of the battle, and the quickest ways to irritate and cause him to falter was to disrupt that energy.

Don't put effort into fighting, dodge and poke. That is the manner that Zalty deals with Natsu as they used their crystal ball as a weapon, smashing it and re-smashing into Natsu who was growing more frustrating at their cowardly ways. It didn't matter to Zalty, they were simply buying time now that the Moon Drip ritual was taking place again and melting Deliora. Was it the coward's way out? Sure, it was.

But there was a time and place for everything, Zalty thinks as they continued to poke Natsu at a distance as the dragon slayer grew angrier. He began to use basic attack patterns, ones that were easier to dodge and predict which made Zalty satisfied.

It was all-according to plan, you see.

Even though Zalty's magic allowed then to rewind, stop, and fast forward time on objects, to a certain extent it feels as if they are able to predict people's movements thanks to their positioning with their weapons at the time. Does Zalty's magic effect living things? No, it doesn't.

But with accurate placement and inferences, some of these skills that were taught by her boss who was an expert at such a thing, it truly feels as if she could see through time and defeat her opponents.

And that's exactly what Natsu was feeling currently as the crystal ball smashed itself into his side, again . He couldn't even get closer to Zalty, the rate at which they restored the crystal ball was fast enough to stop him before he gets the chance. It's a bit weird though, he begins to notice as he slows down.

"Why haven't you helped Lyon out more, yet? This is the first time I've seen you on the island, and yet you seemed to have known about us being here beforehand."

Zalty just chuckled, feelings rather generous. "The odds are not in Lyon's favor at all in terms of fighting Deliora, but he is still useful. Thanks to his efforts, at least I'll be able to bring the demon under my control."

Selfish bastards, was all Natsu could think about as he continues to attack Zalty. Lucy comes from behind to assist, throwing Zalty off-guard at the sight of the girl behind her as she throws her whip and catches them by the leg. Pulling with all her strength at once, Lucy throws Zalty off balance who falls onto the ground, but not before they twisted their body to point their hand to the sky, where they tried to make the ceiling fall over their two opponents.

Natsu had already blasted himself towards Lucy and threw her out of the way, before relasing a Fire Dragon's Roar to burn and destroy the debris and run straight through the chaos of it all in order to punch Zalty right in the face, with an Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

Zalty's body soars through the sky, past the heated battle between Lyon and Gray that was reaching its final conclusion. Lyon releases another ice clone of himself, and Gray destroys it while wielding a one-handed Ice-Make sword before throwing it at Lyon. It cuts the side of the ice-mage and he hisses in annoyance as he releases an ice snow tiger that roars and pounces towards Gray.

Rolling quickly off to the side and ignoring the sharp pain in his side for a moment, Gray clasps his hands together for some magic, using his quick thinking in order to seal his two adversaries at once. "Ice-Make Prison!"

Two cages of ice falls from the sky as Gray kneels down at the strenuous use of magic in his state, huffing harshly as he looks around to see that he had succeeded in inprisoning both Lyon and snow tiger in two separate cages at the same time. Racket from his right leads his eyes to his former pupil-in-arms, who was angrily shaking and blasting the cage from within but with no success.

It was quite the sight to see, in fact. Lyon had been confident the entire time they've exchanged blows on Galuna Island, and there's a certain satisfaction at seeing him crumble the same way that he had done ruthlessly to him earlier. It doesn't last long however, and it leaves Gray with a sense of pity as he looks at how unhinged Lyon looks on the other side of the bars.

His obsession of strength led him to completing a heinous ritual all in the name of egotistical fulfillment. He didn't bother to think of the consequences of his actions, he willingly knew that Ur was still technically alive, her sacrifice saving a good part of the world for years and he chose to destroy that legacy. They had grown up together for that part of their lives, Lyon had known Ur longer than even Gray had.

Did he not understand how tainted he's become, to even kill their second mother-figure?

"You're one twisted fucker, Lyon," Gray shook his head in disappointment. Lyon doesn't stop attempting to escape, he's furious as the cage shakes from the rate of his magic being unleashed. He probably won't stop unless he's put down, Gray realizes, which causes him to summon a massive cannon that's pointed at Lyon, wielding Ur's magic with two-handed pride.

"One-handed Ice molding is unbalanced, you of all people should know that. Ur taught us that fact." Gray said with deadly calmness as he finished molding the cannon. There's a small rush of emotions that threatens to erupt from seeing Lyon's frozen face of shock. What did he think was going to happen? That he was going to win?

If he couldn't even defeat Gray in his beaten glory, with one -handed magic at that, then what made Lyon think such blasphemed thoughts that he could defeat Deliora?

It's the reminder of his betrayal, that makes Gray fire the cannon at close range without much hesitation.

-G-F-

It's the roar that comes after the end of his fight with Lyon, that makes Gray freeze and shiver at the memories that came with it. With a quick slap of his cheeks however, he steels his nervous and forces himself to stalk towards the Demon that has finally been released from its prison. It's a bit of an awkward nostalgia, considering that he had stalked off to fight the demon on his own before and someone lost their life in the process.

This time, it won't be anyone else.

It was Ur, who saved countless of lives by performing Iced Shell on the demon.

And it will be Gray who performs it for the second time, for the greater good.

Fate has a funny way of operating, maybe karma had made its presence known too.

His magic was down now, focusing his energy and mana in preparing for Iced Shell. It surprises him when he hears a bit of stumbling and the sound of something crawling, as he looks to see Lyon making his way towards Deliora in a slightly delirious state. Disgusted, Gray quickly knocks Lyon out temporarily as he closed his eyes, muttering out a quiet "Sorry." towards his friends as he crossed his arms, beginning the ritual for Iced Shell.

Blue light flashes through the entire cave as Gray's life force begins to transform into a special kind of ice, as he stands before Deliora. Lucy's cry of outrage and fear is what fuels Natsu to race forwards and stop Gray from whatever he was doing. Her look of fear and pain was so vivid that Natsu just knew that Gray was doing something bad, and he shoves Gray backwards which canceled the spell immediately.

Gray was exhausted, he had used up far more mana than he'd like in his weaken state, but he was still pissed off when Natsu stopped him, as the latter stepped in front of the entire room as Deliora finally broke free.

Erza runs into the cave after hearing the loud roar, immediately standing behind Natsu with a special suit of armor casted in her body. Lucy ran over and threw herself in front of the fallen Gray, who was yelling and shouting for them to get out of the way so that he could do what had to be done.

To save his friends, he cried out, to save his family and everyone else's.

"Killing yourself is never the first option, Gray. We-We'll stop you every time. No one wants you to die ," Lucy cried out as she held Gray down who struggled against her grasp.

"We believed in you to defeat Lyon, and you did . Now it's your turn to believe in us. "

Gray freezes at her words, and that's when he understands.

He'd…tried to tackle the problem all on his own again.

He looks at the sight before him, at Lucy with tears in her eyes as she held his exhausted body against her, the third line of defense against the demon. Erza was the second as she looked at the massive figure with narrowed eyes, ready to defend those behind her at once. And at the front of it all was the wild look in Natsu's eyes, as he stood before the demon with flamed fists, ready to start the rumbling.

Believe in them, and their wills to fight.

"I-I do," Gray said quietly, and Lucy just gave him a soft, tearful smile.

"Then sit back and rest up as we protect you."

Deliora roars again, and everyone tenses up as they prepared for another fight. Natsu raises his own fist and matches it with the demon with a grin on his face, but right before they make direct contact, it freezes before beginning to crumble into pieces, much to everyone's shock. As the ice settles and the dust rises, Natsu is left blinking at the ruins of Deliora, before turning around with a sheepish scratch.

"Well…I didn't expect that. What just happened?!"

It was Lyon who answered, observing many things as he sat up against the cave walls off to the side. He had woken up shortly after Gray had knocked him out, and it was probably the fact that Gray hadn't been at full strength that he was awake so fast. "...It was already dead. Ur's ice had sapped away it's life force, leaving nothing more than a skeleton in the prison."

He seems to be thoroughly shocked by this development, which doesn't surprise Gray since he's spent a lot of time prepared for this moment. His obsession with defeating Deliora had been what kept him going for years, but it was already dead. Now what was left for Lyon to do, Gray wondered. Now what?

Judging by the lost look on his face, he didn't know either.

-L-H-

Many things have happened in the aftermath of the death of Deliora. Everyone cheered when it was over, even Gray did although he was thoroughly exhausted, but Erza had told them that it wasn't over yet, and that the village was still cursed. Lucy couldn't believe it afterwards, but that whole little arc led them to blasting the moon into pieces and wait, Bobo wasn't a ghost, and the residents were actually demons all along?!

Magic sure was crazy.

On the bright side, they managed to sail back on a more comfortable boat with some type of reward for their troubles. Erza didn't let them take the money reward, but they did manage to grab the other thing. Lucy smiled at the latest key she had in her arsenal, holding it up to the sun as it's golden color twinkle.

Sagittarius, the Gate of the Centaur or the Archer, depending on who's asking.

Natsu was already wasting away while they sailed back, laying on Lucy with a bucket next to his face as he gagged and gargled every now and then. The blonde leaned her head back as she idly rubbed Natsu's back, letting out a deep breath as she closed her eyes. The wind blew pleasantly against them, today was a nice temperature.

They ended up staying for about a day or two, helping the beginning efforts of restoring the village. It was nice for them to recover their injuries as well, as they took it easier. Gray had been fucked up before, but now all that's left was a small bandage over the sword wound and small scar on his arm.

Speaking of-

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked curiously as Gray sat across from her, relaxing in the breeze. Erza had already laid down the fact that they were going to be punished when they get back to Fairytail, and they already had their respectable reactions. She's a bit worried to be honest, but well, it's just something that'll have to be dealt with for future her.

Oh, future future her, not Rushii.

Gray let out a sigh as he crossed his arms and thought about it. It was a nice couple of days to take in the aftermath with everything that's happened. A darker part of his past was finally sedated, Deliora could no longer hurt anyone else. It'd be a lie to say that he didn't feel lighter at the revelation, even if it felt a bit surreal. He never thought that he'd get a chance to confront it, but it seemed as if their paths were simply meant to cross once more.

"I feel…lighter. I spent a large part of my life feeling responsible for what happened back then, and seeing Deliora's defeat felt as if that was a final chapter to that part of my life, if that makes sense." Gray said easily. Before, maybe it would've been harder to coax out such a reflection, but the two people before him have seen him at his worst. A little embarrassing in the aftermath of it all, sitting on a boat chilling with Team Haluna as they make their way back home.

A little embarrassing, and Gray feels as if he should regret the tears that he shedded in front of them, especially his rival Natsu. But he doesn't, and he realized that they never made him feel as if he should be embarrassed by his reactions throughout the mission. In fact, he was sure that they were mad on behalf of him at a certain point, with Lucy crying a couple times.

"Sorry for making you cry alot," Gray stated a bit stiffly, looking off to the side. Lucy just chuckled at his reaction, understanding that he was just not used to talking about these types of things out right.

"That's like the last of my concerns, who cares if I cried? I wasn't in pain-or well physcial pain at least, it really hurt my heart to see you so sad. I just…cried for you, to be honest." Lucy flushed a bit at the words. Gray just gave her a small smile, feeling a small warmth develop in his heart at the words. It's scarily easy speaking with her, and she naturally just has this ability to make everyone like her and enjoy her presence.

Like a little sister, Gray chuckled at the thought. They definitely bicker like it, at least.

"What happened to Lyon?" Lucy asked slowly, testing the waters. It was clear that they had a relationship that was a bit rocky and didn't know if Gray would get irritated at the thought of the white-haired man. Gray saw the unspoken question on her face and wave a small hand dismissively,

"It's fine, it's fine. Lyon…he's something." Gray grunted. To be honest, he's been trying to avoid thinking about the white-haired man as he recovered, sighing at the conflicting emotions that rises through him at the thought of him. On one hand, he was still disappointed and triggered at what he's chosen to do with his life, with such selfish and dangerous ideals.

But on the other, Gray couldn't help but think about what would of happened if things went differently. If the two of them had stayed together, instead of go their separate ways after Ur's death. If they had worked together to attempt to conquer Deliora, in a safer and isolated manner. Because at the end of the day, a root cause of Lyon's actions was to avenge Ur, even if it was to sacrifice her in the midst of it.

He saw it on his face every time he had mentioned Ur's name, while Lyon only referred to her as "she" and "her". He could lie to his face all he wants, but Lyon knows damn well that Ur's death had affected him more than he appeared to have made it seem. She had treated them as if they were her biological sons. That's why his betrayal hurt so much. How could you forget your roots?

They learned their magic from her, for fuck's sake.

"I..I can't forgive him yet." Gray admitted softly.

It was still too fresh.

Lucy just nodded and stayed quiet after that. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though, as everyone just enjoyed the moment. Erza was by the sailor and the boat's steering wheel, making sure that there weren't any unnecessary detours on their way back for their decree. Gray grimaced at the thought and quickly changed his thoughts back to Lyon, wondering if he had taken his advice.

Before they left the pyramid, he had told Lyon that if he was lost then perhaps finding a guild could help him find something else to fixate on in life. Fairytail was a place for lost souls, which was what Gray was all those years ago. Did Lyon have anyone with him for the past decade? Were those people the ones who stuck by him, or was he all alone, harboring all of those thoughts?

Things have gotten twisted, indeed, and Ur's probably smacking her head in despair at the sight of her pupils fighting each other from up above. He let out a small huff of amusement at the thought. It brings him back to his earlier thought though, of what would've happen if they stayed together.

They…were like estranged brothers, in a way.

Well, there isn't much use in thinking about the hypotheticals, Gray thought as he closed his eyes. What was done, was done. Whatever Lyon chooses to do with his life, Gray just hopes for the best.

And if he chooses to fall into the wrong path, Gray will be right there to stop him again.

That's the new vow he makes, in the name of Ur.

"Hope you know that you're officially apart of Team Haluna now." Lucy says matter-of-factly, and Gray lets out a loud snort but doesn't bother to open his eyes as he smirks.

"Forcing me to be around you two, are you? Don't I get to have a say in this?"

"Nope!" Lucy said popping the "p" before she sassed Gray. "And don't make it sound as if it's such a bother to be around us. We're great company, in fact. Be thankful I somewhat like you."

"That's what tyrants say, Lucy."

"You're so annoying," Lucy grumbled and Gray laughs, feeling light.

"I guess it isn't the worst idea I've heard. So, the what's the team's name now, Team Grahaluna?" Lucy just grimaced and shook her head as Gray laughs at the horrendous name. Team Haluna works just fine, and Gray isn't mad at all to be invited by the leader herself.

Just means that it'll be more adventures and fun experiences ahead of him, even if the prospect of being around Natsu a lot more sounded like a pain in the ass.

-L-H-

-L-G-

At times like this, it's maddening to think that the only thing that you can do is breathe in and out in a daze, because if you push yourself too much, think too much, you'd become more aware.

Of the pain and the agony .

So, she must focus as she steels her mind; get lost in the hundreds of stories she has read over the years, because even the worst novels she's read as been better than this moment. Better than her current reality. She takes another ragged breath and relaxes her mind, and it's getting easier, she could do this, she won't crumble-

"Do it again.", she faintly hears in the background.

Levy is quick to block her thoughts once more.

"...again?" A man with long hair and piercings galore said boredly, his arm extended into what appears to be an iron-clad beam. He wasn't alone, in the pavilion surrounding the famous Magnolia Tree. There were two others; one of them was a small, oily looking man with a monocle and a diabolical sneer on his face, the other being a woman with an umbrella with an emotionless expression on her face.

It was the oily man who had given the order, and he enthusiastically nodded. "Again, Gajeel."

Gajeel just rolled his eyes as he slammed his iron beam into the three people on the tree, looking boredly as their bodies spasmed and fidgeted against the tree at the impact. The two boys had fell unconscious a long time ago, and the girl seemed to be on her way to falling soon. He could tell from her breathing however, thanks to his sensitive ears, that she was still conscious albeit barely.

"This shit is boring. Why the fuck am I still here, Sol?" Gajeel's narrowed ruby eyes found their way towards Sol, who flinched at the sight. In the back of his mind, Gajeel let out a small snort of laughter at the sight. Sol, who was laughing the entire time of Gajeel defeating this Team Shadow something, was a twisted motherfucker. Of course he'd take pride in beating up people who were weaker than him, grinning and boasting as if he was truly strong. Gajeel's seen his magic, he's just yet another pathetic man who uses cheap tricks to obtain victory. He's this close to caving his face in, they couldn't have been anymore different.

"Jose sent us to make sure there's a message being displayed to Fairytail, of course." Sol said after a moment to collect himself. Gajeel just sneered.

"You could've done this shit yourself, they were so weak, it wasn't even a good warm-up. If this is all Fairytail has in their arsenal, then this shit ain't it."

Gajeel only wanted to fight people who were strong, he had no interest in the weak. Yeah, maybe it's not their fault that they were weak, but that doesn't mean he had to interact with them then. They're just worms who get in the way, for fuck's sake.

Where was Salamander?

"In fact…" Gajeel grinned sharply at Sol, "Even you'd be more of a challenge than those guys. Care to be my fucking warm-up, you sleazy molerat?"

Their voices were turning into a hazy mess once more as Levy flickered in and out of consciousness. She was losing the battle of staying strong-willed, the pain was seeping into her skin, her nerves were on fire as it began to hurt to even take a breath. Her body was stringed up and nailed against the back of the rough tree bark, feeling the roughness prickle into her back. Her wrists were digging against the nails, with gravity being the only thing that's weighing down on them. She was hanging limply; she didn't know what was on her face anymore.

She just knew it was wet.

Was it dirt? Tears?

Blood?

'Just make it stop' , Levy pleaded mentally. Why couldn't she just succumb to the pain already, and be put out of her misery? Why did she feel so defiant, even being pushed on the edge like this? She had broken bones, bruises all over her body. Why couldn't she just…go to sleep-

A sudden sharp and hot pain envelopes her along her stomach and her body instantly goes haywire. What was previously just a battle of constant aches have completely disappeared to the burning of her abdomen, as something is pressed against her. And despite being so tired, she still had energy to scrunch her face and scream .

It was a scream for help, for mercy, but anger was laced within it. It was a guttural cry of vengeance that came from deep within as she sobbed against her restraints, losing her mind in the agony.

Upon her stomach was the symbol of Phantom Lord, burned into her skin.

Gajeel looked down at it with acute distaste before moving on. It was Sol's idea to change the branding from a simple stamp to a burn. They were going to win through their efforts, and that'll be a reminder of their strength. Gajeel likes people knowing about his strength, and anything associated to that. There was a small question of that being necessary though, but he quickly waved it off.

He doesn't associate with weak things, and thus it doesn't matter to him.

At least that's what he tells himself when his bored eyes make eye-contact with the blue haired girl that he had just beaten up, and he was leveled with a gaze that was filled with such a strong hatred and pain that he was a bit speechless. Tortured, hanged, and branded, and she was still making a face like that to him?

She still had willpower within her to be defiant?

Gajeel just hummed as he walked away from the tree with his hands in his pocket, the other two members that had accompanied him had left earlier. This group in Fairytail was laughably weak, and it gave Gajeel no pleasure whatsoever as he beat them up thanks to Jose's direct orders. He wanted to fight Titania, Salamander, Laxus Dreyar, those who had earned a name for themselves by showcasing their magical strengths.

Team Shadow Gear was pathetic in respect to them.

And yet there is a small dose of respect that begins to blossom inside of Gajeel as he thinks about the piercing brown eyes of the petite blue girl, when she glared at one of her two torturers in open disdain.

[ Phantom Lord Arc Begins ]