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Harry read Zeref's letter twice before the dire situation was processed in his head. He spun on his heels and bolted to Makarov, who sipped beer while sitting on the bar counter.

"Master!" Harry urgently shouted while thrusting the letter into the man's wrinkled face. "You need to read this."

Silence filled the guild as everyone turned curious and concerned eyes toward the pair. Makarov raised an eyebrow in wonder before gently taking the slip of paper. Wise eyes scanned the written words and narrowed.

"Master?" Erza asked, stepping closer.

Makarov hummed and rubbed his chin. "This is worrisome," he muttered softly, so soft Harry was sure he would have missed it if he wasn't so close. The master stood up to face his guild with narrowed, serious eyes. "The letter Harry handed me contains a warning of the dark guild, Tartaros, attacking us soon. We don't have much time, so I want all of you to prepare for battle and a team to evacuate the town," he ordered, earning "Yes, sir!" from everyone.

"Who will evacuate the townsfolk?" asked Mira.

"I want you, Harry, Fawkes, Elfman, and Hermione to get everyone out. Return to the guild once finished and get ready." Mira nodded as she turned to lock eyes with Harry, who nodded in return. The two followed Elfman and Hermione out the door with Fawkes on Harry's shoulder.

Elfman turned side to side, scratching his head. "How are we going to get everyone out?"

"Harry, use the amplifying charm to warn everyone while we guide everyone toward the forest," said Hermione.

"I'll watch for any stragglers," said Mira, turning into her she-devil form with wings and tail.

{I'll join her,} said Fawkes, who flapped his red and gold wings, taking to the sky. Mira followed the Phoenix and hovered, waiting for Harry to announce the evacuation.

Harry took out his wand and held it at his throat. "Sonorus," he cast. "People of Magnolia! A powerful dark guild is about to attack our town. I need you all to evacuate your homes and head to the forest," the wizard said calmly but kept a firm tone. One by one, people left their homes. They all wore worried and scared faces, but Elfman and Hermione did great at keeping the townsfolk calm enough to prevent panic.

Harry joined them in guiding the people to the forest. Fawkes would tell him about someone falling behind, so Harry would turn and collect them.

It took 28 minutes to get everyone out and return to the guild, but not before Hermione set up a ward to protect the evacuees and summon food and drinks.

Harry searched the room, seeing only a handful of people. Natsu stood beside Lucy and Levy, the three leaning over a book. Hermione jogged over to see what they were reading. Harry followed, wondering why they would be reading at a time like this.

"What are you reading?" Hermione asked, looking down at the open pages.

"We're studying Zeref's demons," said Levy. "We wanted to know what we're up against."

Harry stood at the end of the table, listening to them. "That's not a bad idea. What did you learn so far?" he asked.

"Well, Zeref had sealed his demons 400 years ago, but dark mages released them throughout the years. The number of them is currently unknown," said Lucy.

"That's odd," said Harry, projecting a thoughtful expression. He didn't want his friends to know he already knew this information. "Why would he seal his demons? Why would dark mages need to release them if he was alive to do it himself?"

Levy hummed, "Maybe…Zeref didn't want people to know he was alive, so he ordered dark mages to bring back his demons?"

"That still doesn't make sense," said Makarov, causing everyone to look startled at him. "Why seal his demon if he was just going to bring them back in the first place? Besides, those mages didn't know he was alive. If you read here, it says they were continuing his work, but its words indicate that he's dead."

"Kind of like the R-System," said Harry, earning a sharp look from Erza, who stood behind him.

"How so?" she asked.

"If he wasn't dead, why build the R-System? Those slavers didn't know anything about Zeref. They thought he made the blueprints so he could be brought back, but Zeref never died and knew he wouldn't. This means he made those prints for another reason, one he scrapped," explained Harry.

"There's also the Eclipse gate," Natsu pointed out. "The princess had built that to kill Zeref before he was immortal."

"But the gate doesn't work like that," said Makarov. "You need two gates from different times to pass through. I've heard Zeref built a gate after he was immortal."

"Did he pass through it?" asked Erza.

"No, he sent something else through," said Harry. "Think about it. Natsu and Gajeel couldn't get through Freed's age enchantment, and they were both raised by dragons, which are extinct."

"Wait, are you saying Zeref sent us through the gate?" asked Natsu.

Harry nodded. "Not just you two, but Wendy, Sting, and Rouge. All five of you were raised by dragons, and they all went missing the same day."

The guild was full of silence as Harry's words processed. "I never thought about that," said Natsu, getting hums of agreement from their friends.

"Guys, this man needs help!" Harry snapped his head around when he heard Castor's urgent voice. His son and Romeo were carrying a man in his mid to late 30s with dark hair reaching the tips of his ears. He was covered in gashes and bleeding from the head.

"No…get away…please!" the man said breathlessly and fearfully. It didn't help Harry's concern.

'Why does his life force feel like a fully stretched rubberband that's about to snap?' the master of death questioned.

"Oh, I'll help you get to the infirmary," Mira said as she jogged over to help the two young boys with the older man. "Can one of you tell me what happened?"

"We found him outside while we were training. He was lying by the lake already looking like this," Castor said. His face was losing color, and his skin leaked with sweat. It made Harry approach, wanting to comfort his child. As he moved, he saw the rest of his guildmates enter the building slowly.

"No, get away from me!" the man said again. His eyes were wide and spinning wildly, like a zooming cat. His breath was labored, and his teeth chattered, but it wasn't cold in the guild last Harry checked.

The rubberband-like life force snapped, and at the same time, Fawkes screeched in warning. Harry's body moved in sync with Fawkes's cry, fear gripping his heart as he saw a blinding light shoot out of the injured man's pores.

"Death's Sheild!" The barrier with the deathly hollow mark formed around everyone in the guild, separating them and the human bomb that detonated at the same time.

TBC

I think we all know who was responsible for the human bomb. I couldn't do that to Elfman again, so I had some random, unnamed OC take his place.

Harry: Did that guy die? D:

Enj/Dark: Yes, that poor OC is dead.

Zeref: You only created him to be a bomb. That is messed up.

Voldy: Messed up. I thought that was brilliant! Why haven't I thought of that?

Natsu: Because you are not nearly as creative as you believe yourself to be.

Enj/Dark: I agree; I rarely see you cast more than a handful of spells. Your go-to spell is the killing curse when you want someone dead. You could use any magic to do that.

Harry: Burn! XD

Enj/Dark: Please review! ^-^