Welp, it's over. Fairy Tail, anyway. You know, as bad as I felt the last arc was, I'll go ahead and say the ending made me happy. Could have been better, but it was well done. Too bad the arc wasn't the same.

Anyway, don't worry about this story. We've got a way to go before we're done. This chapter may be a tad short, but it's all good, don't worry.

Enjoy!

"What's the matter, Natsu?" Natsu made a face and looked over at Lucy as she said this.

"Hm?" He asked. She just smiled at him.

"You're spaced out," She replied. "Is something bothering you?" Natsu sighed and sat up straight, thinking back to what had been bothering him.

"Were the kids acting weird when they left?" He asked. Lucy raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Natsu shrugged.

"I don't really know," he replied. "It just felt like they were being weird when they left on that job." Lucy hummed as she thought, holding Luke close to her.

"I honestly can't recall," she said. "Maybe it was their nerves? It was a big job after all." Natsu knew that, but he didn't feel like that was the problem.

"They were acting stiff," he said. "And they also told us they loved us out of nowhere too."

"Do you you think something was going on?" She asked. Natsu shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "But I'm sure they're fine."

As Damien and Steph moved for the exit ahead of them, Damien spared a thought to wonder just how much time they had left before the bomb was supposed to go off. It had been at least five minutes, most of which he and his sister had spent blowing through every wall in their way in order to find a way out. They had, finally, he just hoped the others had found one as well.

Moving down towards the docks, Damien saw some of the others standing near the ship they'd been brought in on, and looked up as they approached.

"You guys got out," Ultear said with a smile. "Good, we're just waiting for Nashi and Drake, then."

"They not here yet?" Steph asked, looking around.

"No," Elise replied. "They're still inside the mountain." Damien made a face and turned back to Mount Olympus, staring up at the peak. Nashi and Drake were still somewhere inside, and this made him uncomfortable, especially given what Xisplate had told him.

"How much time until the bomb goes off?" He asked.

"Seven minutes," Simon replied, also looking uncomfortable. "I'm giving them two more minutes before I go in to find them."

"Are you sure you should?" Damien asked. "What if you all get caught up in the explosion?"

"Then we all get caught up in the explosion," Simon replied. "I'm not going to leave them in there, and I'm not going to fight you guys about this."

"No one suggested we leave them too die," Ultear said, frowning at Simon's vicious response. "Calm down."

"Calm is for when we get the hell out of here," Simon replied, eyes glued to the mountain behind them. "Keep an eye out for them, they might show up." Damien looked over his shoulder back at the mountain, waiting for the other two to get out of there.

He hoped they came fast, but knowing those two, it might be a while yet.

Nashi sprinted as fast as she down down the hallways of Mount Olympus, Drake close behind.

"Are we close?" Nashi asked as they rounded a corner.

"Just up ahead," Drake replied. "To our left." Nashi focused ahead of them and watched their left as a pair of double doors appeared. The pair slowed to a stop as they came up to it, and watched the doors warily.

"Ready?" Nashi asked.

"When you are," Drake replied. "Time is of the essence." Nodding, Nashi reared back and delivered a punch to the door. They gave way easily, allowing the two of them to rush in. Once the debris from the door had settled, Nashi was given a clear view of the room. The room was rather large, but basically empty right up to the desk at the back. A circular window behind the desk allowed one to look out over the water, and behind the desk was Zeus himself. He smiled as they watched him.

"So you've made it too me," he said, standing up and raising his arms up. "I admire your determination, especially given the announcement your friend made a few minutes ago."

"It's time to end this," Nashi replied, steeling herself. "The bomb isn't the most of my worries right now."

"You both made a grave error coming up here," he said. "Leaving was likely your best option."

"So you could drop a magic blast on Magnolia?" Drake asked. "Don't think we forgot about that threat." Zeus smiled at this.

"Yes," he said. "It's almost as though this was what we planned." Nashi felt her stomach turn at this. He'd planned to trap them in a corner from the beginning. A good plan. "So, what is it you plan to do?"

"Defeat you, and then get out." Nashi replied. Zeus laughed as she said this.

"You plan to do so in seven minutes?" He asked. "You're very full of yourself, aren't you Nashi Dragneel?"

"Don't have a choice," Nashi replied. "As you said, you planned this." Zeus chuckled.

"I see you have given it some thought." He replied. "Well then, if you plan to stop me, go ahead. It makes no difference how hard you try." Nashi shifted as Zeus crossed his arms, and waited for them to make a move. She concentrated on Zeus' magic power, still confused as to why his magic power felt so off. She couldn't place the feeling, but she knew it was the same feeling she'd gotten from Dionysus.

"Ready?" Drake asked. "We attack together."

"Of course," she replied. "Follow my lead." Of course, Nashi had one more person to ask.

END?

"Yes?"

Are you ready? I may need your help?

"I will stand ready. Don't worry, I am here."

Nashi smiled, and launched herself forward. She reached Zeus in the blink of an eye and delivered a fiery punch to his face, sending him veering off towards the side of the room. Zeus barely had time to recover before Drake was on top of him, and engaged him in hand to hand combat. Nashi joined him and together they landed hit after hit on Zeus, who seemed to be too slow to stop them. The two thew him around the room before he slid to a stop near his desk, laughing.

"You two sure hit hard," he said, rubbing his jaw. "Perhaps that is why you feel so confident." Despite what Zeus continued to say, Nashi didn't feel so much confident as she was nervous. How much time had passed since Simon had made his announcement? She felt like it had been way longer than twelve minutes. "Bit it doesn't matter, so go ahead and be confident."

"Shut your mouth and fight," Drake hissed. "We didn't come up here for a conversation."

"Of course you didn't. Although perhaps you ought to talk, so that your last moments are filled with silence."

The two minutes had passed, and just as Simon had said he would, he'd taken off back into Mount Olympus. The girls had gone with him, but Damien decided staying back was for the best. He'd only slow them down due to his injuries, so there was no point in him tagging along.

Looking at the mountain, Damien couldn't sense any sort of magical power to indicate that a bomb was about to blow. Then again, that was probably part of the plan so that they wouldn't know anything was wrong. He wouldn't put it past The Olympians to do something like that.

"Seems quiet," Xisplate said, leaning up against the railing of the ship.

"You shut up," Damien hissed. "I'm already stressed out enough about this fucking mess."

"All I said was that it was quiet."

"Did you hear what I said?" Damien demanded. The two locked eyes, but Xisplate didn't speak up again. "Seriously, if your death prediction was to come true at any point, it'd be now. So stop taunting me."

"Which is why you're back here when is anyone were to die, they'd do so in the mountain."

"How am I supposed to help?" Damien demanded, looking down at his shaky hand. "I'm still weak from the fight with the Skylance Demon Hunters. I can't help the others even if I wanted too."

"I see. And if one of them dies?"

"..."

"Damien?"

"...I don't know, but I pray they will be okay."

"We've been down that way already!" Steph shouted, watching as Elise nearly ran down a hallway to their left.

"Well I can't tell!" She shouted back, veering back to them. "I'm too busy looking for those two morons!" Steph couldn't blame her. They'd been running around as fast as they could, looking for any indication of where their friends might be. Sadly, they still hadn't found them, and time was ticking down.

"We don't have a lot of time, keep moving!" Simon shouted from up ahead. Steph did her best to keep up with him, but Simon was moving far faster than anyone else.

"Simon we don't even know where we're going!" Ultear shouted. "How're we supposed to find them?!"

"We have too!" Simon shouted back. "No one's getting left behind, not now!" Steph made a face as she ran. She didn't want to leave Nashi and Drake here, but Simon was pushing extremely hard to find them. Granted she had no idea why.

The group stumbled as an explosion rocked the mountain around them.

"That doesn't sound good," Elise said as they regained their balance.

"That can't have been the bomb," Ultear said. "So what was it?"

"Nashi or Drake, I bet." Simon said, still looking ahead of them. "Come on, we must be close!"

Nashi landed lightly on the peak of Mount Olympus, having jumped up the hole she'd created in the roof when her fist had connected with Zeus. They now stood at the very top of the mountain, in the open air high up in the sky. Drake landed next to her, and together the two watched the smokescreen where Zeus had landed.

"Well well well," He said, slowly appearing from the smoke. He was still very beaten up, but still got to his feet. "You two certainly pack quite the punch. But will it be enough?"

"He hasn't attacked us yet," Drake noted. "Why?"

"I don't know," Nashi replied, wiping her bangs out of her face. "He must be waiting for the bomb to go off."

"Then we take him out before then."

"Agreed." The two didn't wait for Zeus to continue speaking before they began to assault him again, landing hit after hit. Zeus still never attempted to hit them back, and took every hit they gave him. Nashi backed up as Drake bent down. His right hand glowed dark red, and he uppercut Zeus high up into the air. Nashi blasted off towards him, fire bursting to life in her hands.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" She shouted, delivering the massive fireball directly into Zeus' face. The man flew back down towards the mountain and landed hard, causing it to shudder upon impact. Nashi landed and watched the smoke, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing happened.

The smoke cleared, and Zeus was spread eagle on the ground. He didn't move at all, even as the pair approached him cautiously.

"...Is that it?" Drake asked.

"Can't be," Nashi muttered. "He's their leader, right?" Even as the two reached him, he didn't move. Staring down at Zeus, Nashi jumped as his body began to shudder.

"I...Am...Zeus..." He hissed as he shuddered. "I...You...Fairy Tail...Die..." With this, he gave one more massive shake, and then he laid still.

"What the hell just happened?" Nashi asked, her spine tingling.

"I don't know," Drake replied. "Does it matter? Let's get the hell out of here before we run out of time." Nashi knew he was right, so together they both turned to return down the hole they'd created in the floor.

As least they wanted too until alarms sounded from within the mountain. Looking down, Nashi watched as both the window and door were locked down with heavy doors, alarms blaring.

"Hahaha," Nashi heard someone laugh, so she whirled back to Zeus' corpse.

He still lay still, but a screen had being projected from his chest.

And on it, was Zeus.

"Hello Nashi Dragneel," He said. "Drake."

"What the hell is going on?" Nashi demanded. "I thought we just took you down!"

"Why yes, it would appear you did," Zeus replied, looking down at his own corpse. "Quite quickly, too. Impressive."

"Could you explain what's going on, asshole?" Drake asked. Zeus chuckled.

"I suppose I could," he replied. "Besides, you deserve to know before the end." Zeus crossed his arms and looked up at the pair. "Everything you've experienced in the past few days has been a ruse." Nashi's felt her heart drop into her stomach as Zeus said this.

"What?" She demanded.

"Everything," Zeus said. "From the docks and Triton too the Zeus you defeated mere moments ago. None of it was real, all designed to lull you into the idea that it was reality."

"It's all...fake?" Drake asked. This whole base?"

"All of it," Zeus answered.

"The Olympians we met?" Nashi asked.

"Elaborate duplicates crafted by Hephaestus." Zeus replied, looking down at his own duplicate. "Check for yourself." Nashi looked down at the Zeus laying on the ground, and approached it. She knelt down and swiftly punched it in the chest. Her eyes widened as her fist went right through his chest, and came into contact with metal. Looking into the hole she'd created gave her a clear view of melted cogs and gears, lining all throughout his chest.

"It's...An automaton." She whispered.

"Indeed," Zeus said. "As was Dionysus, Apollo, Demeter, and every other being you encountered in this mountain."

"...Why?" Drake asked. "Why would you go through all of this trouble?" Zeus chuckled.

"As I said," he replied. "Too give you the sense of security. Too ensure our own victory."

"By having us run through automatons?" Drake demanded.

"Too have you stay at the mountain too long," Zeus replied. "So that we may kill you."

"We've still got time to kill before the bomb goes off," Drake said. "We can escape." Zeus raised an eyebrow.

"You hear me say everything in this mountain was an elaborate ruse," he said. "And yet you trust intel we planted for your friend to find?" Drake didn't respond to this, and a quick look at him told Nashi he hadn't thought of that. Glowering, she looked back at Zeus.

"So what's your plan then, asshole?" She demanded. Zeus smiled.

"The bomb was a ruse," he said. "Designed in the hopes that it's discovery would only have a few escape, and it did it's job. Now, the real end can commence." With these words, Nashi felt a massive magical power emanate from above her. Slowly looking up, she watched as a wide white glow from above, right above the mountain, began to grow bigger.

"What is that?" She asked.

"That would be our satellite cannon." Zeus said. "In about five minutes, it's payload will drop right on top of Mount Olympus, with enough Godly fire to burn half of Fiore to ashes." Nashi paled as she watched the glow grow bigger and bigger, hearing Zeus laugh. "This whole time, you thought you had the upper hand. In reality, this whole encounter played out in the palm of our hands. And just like puppets, you did just as we wanted. This will be the last we see of each other, do either of you have anything you'd like to say?"

Neither said anything. They really didn't have anything they could say. They'd been baited. Fooled into a situation they could not escape. And they were paying for it.

"No? Nothing? So be it. I bid you farewell, Nashi and Drake. Perhaps things could have been different, had you played your cards better. Goodbye." With this the screen disappeared, leaving the automaton Zeus quiet.

Drake and Nashi sat in silence, neither could say anything, neither knew what to do.

"...Come on," Drake said. "There's...There's got to be a way out of here." Nashi didn't move, she just stayed where w=she was, kneeling near automaton Zeus. "Nashi?"

"...I killed all of us."

Not as short as I thought it'd be, but that's fine. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 279: Those I Love