Back faster? Couldn't be me. Anyways, I'll be doing my best to get through this arc quick! Contrary to what you may think, it won't end as you think. Trust me on that.

Enjoy!

It wasn't often that the Demon Lord's names were spoken aloud. It was usually it hushed whispers by those who knew of their existence, or in muffled cries by those who had been hurt by them.

It could be argued this place counted as both.

It was far away from any place that had a recognisable name, even more so from the fighting taking place in an underground cavern between two Demon Lords and Fairy Tail. A place so ancient and powerful it's name had been long forgotten by the average person. Their goal was only known to those in their ranks, and said goal was approaching faster by the day.

"Sweet Mother," a voice said, breaking the silence in the chamber. The chamber, just like all the others, was decorated in the ancient tongue. The symbols hummed white with power, and a pyre was burning in the center of the room. In front of that pyre was a huddled figure in a white cloak, mumbling mantra's to herself. This figure was 'Mother'.

"Yes, my sweet?" The Mother asked, her voice reverberating through the room. The acolyte who had been sent to fetch her trembled at her voice, so monotone yet powerful.

"The battle fast approaches," he said, "Azazel makes his preparations." The Mother's voice hummed again, and the symbols seemed to hum along with her.

"Indeed," she said. "Azazel moves fast. He moves to resurrect the unholy Father within a months time." The acolyte choked on his own spit.

"A month?!" He asked, "Mother, have you had visions?! Do you know of this?!"

"He moves closer to his goal as we speak," Mother replied. "Even now, the halves of the creature spawned from Zeref's evil are being put back together. When they are, Azazel will have everything he needs."

"Then we must hurry!" The acolyte insisted, "we cannot allow the unholy Father to come back to life! If we do not act-"

"We will act in the ways dictated to us since ancient times," The Mother replied. "We will do what we must, and no more."

"Why?!"

"Are you in a hurry to meet our fate, young one?" The Mother asked. Her tone was sweet, yet dangerous. She was testing the acolyte. "Would you have us intervene before it us our time?"

"...N-No, but-"

"Mezevera's prophecy is coming to pass," The Mother continued. "This is the time of waking. There is no preventing it. We can only assist when the time is right. No sooner, and no later. Do you understand my young one?"

"No, Mother, I do not." The Acolyte replied.

"Then know only that it is too late," The Mother replied. The Acolyte's eyes widened under his hood.

"Mother, surely you don't mean-!"

"I do," she said. "Zomrus' chains are weakening. He will awaken in a months time. And the world will know again what it means to obey a God."

Drake had seen a lot in his life, so it wasn't shocking to see Natsu and Gray face off against themselves. Then again, it was shocking enough to make him pause.

He knew it already, but Zoka and Ruli's handiwork was spot on. If the two copies stood with the original, he wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Same face, hair, clothes, everything. The two other copies opened their eyes, and they were the same too.

"Over here, you two!" Zoe shouted. The copies turned to her and knelt.

"What is thy will, Lord Ruli?" Natsu's double asked. Zoe giggled.

"I need you both to take care of your originals over there!" She said, pointing to the original pair.

"Yes," Ben continued, "we'll need a diversion to escape."

"Escape?!" Zoe demanded, "we fight!"

"Fight?!" Ben demanded back, "Zoe, we'll die! Hades said it's not our time yet!" This struck a chord with Drake.

"What did he mean by that?" He shouted over, making the bickering siblings turn.

"Wouldn't you like to know?!" Zoe asked as she stuck her tongue out. "Tough luck, pretty boy! I won't tell you anything! And I sure as shit won't be turning your girlfriends back into one person!" Drake grit his teeth at this. Apparently she was smarter than she looked.

"Do you really think these copies can distract us?" Gray demanded. "We know all about how your power works. They probably aren't very strong, huh?"

"That's not necessarily true," Ben said. "Perhaps a true, living, breathing copy takes time. But one that only needs to last so long? Not hard at all. It's important to mention these two copies are more than powerful enough to hold you off. It's not something you need fret about."

"Because I was worried about that," Natsu grumbled.

"Now!" Zoe exclaimed, "It's time we make our move!" Drake spared a thought to see Ben was annoyed by this, but we didn't have time to ask.

That was because Zoe had appeared in front of him.

He tried to move, but the girl was quick. She planted a hand on his chest, a dark circle of glyphs appearing there. Zoe quickly got the spell off on Michael and Steph as well, marking all three of them. Then the pain started.

Drake had a top three when it came to pain. Number one was the torture inflicted on him by Apocalypse. Number two was Nashi's throwing him off the peak of Mt. Olympus. Number three was Ultear opening his Second Origin.

He was pretty sure this overtook Ul's record.

Drake felt like he was being ripped in half. He could barely scream, as his body couldn't process the request as his nerves were sending too many pain signals. It felt like every cell in his being was being torched.

Then, it ended. Drake was still doubled over from the pain, but he could hear Zoe laughing.

"Would you look at them!" She said. "Pretty good for only using a snippet of your power, eh brother?"

"Sure," Ben mumbled. Drake finally managed to stomach strength to look up, seeing what he feared he would.

Standing before him, Michael and Steph was, well, themselves. Just like Natsu and Gray, Zoe had created copies of them. Drake stared up into his own eyes, and he hoped to God this wasn't how other people saw him. The dark glint in his purple eyes was very unnerving.

"Say hello to yourselves!" Zoe said, "Now I should mention these two are probably less powerful than those other two, what with me doing more of the work without my useless brother. But! Seeing as I'm the Demon Lord of Corruption, they'll be much more evil!" As if on cue, Drake's other self coated his fist in poison and tried to bring it down on Drake's skull. Moving quickly, he dodged out of the way and stumbled to his feet, still in front of Nashi and Luna. Great, now he had to fight himself too.

"Ben!" Zoe shouted, "Hurry up!" Drake didn't know what she meant, but Ben disappeared from view. His ears picked it up too late. He turned and sent a blast of poison out, but Ben had already scooped up Nashi and Luna and flew away with them.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted angrily, followed up by an explosion. Turning, Drake saw that Natsu's double had tackled him and prevented him from getting at Ben. Despite being told the Shade wasn't very strong, it seemed to hold Natsu down easily enough.

"Come brother!" Zoe said from the other side of the room. "Let us continue our work uninterrupted!" Ben did as he was told, and Drake grit his teeth.

"We need to stop them!" He shouted to Michael and Steph. "Before they keep the ritual going!"

"Good luck with that," Drake's voice said. He turned just in time to block an attack from himself, catching glimpses of Steph and Michael's Shades jumping at them. "I'll hold you off," his Shade said. "I'll make sure you do not interrupt the Lord's work."

"Get a grip, man," Drake hissed, "This isn't like us!"

"It is exactly like me," The Shade said. "Isn't it, Drake? We would do anything for those we care about? Even die for them. I will die before I let you stop them." Drake growled at this.

"Typical of me," he muttered. Activating his Sound Magic, Drake sent off an explosive sound wave. His Shade jumped back and countered him with his own, creating a small explosion between them. Drake jumped at the Shade and began to fight with it, but he soon realised this would be easier said than done. His Shade had Sound Magic too, and so the two kept up with each others moves like clockwork. No matter what he tried, it was blocked. It went the same way for the Shade. Neither could get the upper hand. Drake dodged a right hook and bent down, aiming upwards.

"Poison Dragon's Roar!" Poison spewed from his mouth, engulfing his Shade in it. The Shade backed up in annoyance, the poison taking a sludge-like form, clinging to his clothes and face. He flicked if out of his eyes, grinning at him.

"I hope you weren't waiting for a better effect," he said, "After all, our own poison can't hurt us." Drake had hoped that wouldn't be the case, but it seemed it was. His poison wasn't having any adverse effects of the Shade. That meant it was down to fisticuffs, and that wasn't going to be easy. He spared a glance over the Shade's shoulder, trying to find out if Zoe and Ben were making too much headway. He couldn't tell.

"Focused on others again, hmm?" The Shade asked. His voice was like Drake's, but it sounded like a hiss too. Like a snake's. "Shouldn't you be more focused on yourself, Drake?"

"I'm not that worried about you," Drake spat back.

"That's not what I meant," the Shade said. "I meant your own little problem."

Drake's heart stopped.

"Did you think the Lords wouldn't copy that?" The Shade mocked him, "I can feel it just like you can. The heightening of our senses. The roar in our stomach. The scales growing on the back of our hand-"

"Shut up!" Drake shouted, panic enveloping him. He didn't want to hear about this, not now. "I won't let you distract me with talk! Get over here!" Drake launched himself at the Shade, tackling him to the ground. He sent our a roar of Sound Magic, deafening himself and the Shade as they traded blows. It seemed they both got emotional too, as many blows managed to get through their defences this time. The Shade tried to punch him in the stomach, but Drake caught his hand and twisted his wrist in a nasty direction. He heard the bone snapping, but he didn't care. He reared back, slamming his head into the Shade's. This barely seemed to phase his copy, but Drake felt dazed.

"You won't get them back," The copy warned. "We'll kill them before we let them happen."

"Just try," Drake hissed, "I'll kill you." The Shade just laughed, then coughed up a cloud of poison. It didn't hurt, but some got in Drake's eyes and made him grimace, instinctively letting go of the Shade to clear his eyes. That was his mistake. The Shade punched him in the head, forcing him back off of him. Unable to see for a few seconds, Drake used his ears and heard the Shade coming. He dodged an attack by rolling out of the way, before coming up into a sweeping kick on the Shade as it recovered from the jump forward. He grappled it back down to the ground, trying to come up with a plan. but Drake couldn't think, he had no energy. The blood was still roaring in his ears, trying to block out the panic the Shade had nearly set on him. Not now. He could focus on it later. Now he had to focus on saving Nashi and Luna.

Thankfully, he wasn't the only one focused on that.

An explosion went off behind him, so he spared a glance. He watched as Natsu sent his boot through the skull of his Shade, causing it to crumble into dust. He barely even looked tired. He spared a glance over it Drake's direction, a sour expression on his face.

"Drake!" He shouted, "Get under the Shade!" Drake didn't understand, but he did as he was told. He grappled with the Shade and managed to get underneath it, letting the Shade think he had the upper hand. His own hands were around his neck, beginning to squeeze.

That was before an explosive wave of heat exploded around him, causing his Shade's eyes to widen. It roared in pain as it backed away from him, squirming from the heat. Drake saw it's entire back was burnt badly, enough to kill a normal person. Looking over, he saw that Michael and Steph's were encountering the same fate. All three soon collapsed face-down, unmoving. Drake wondered why they didn't disappear, but he had no time to care. He had others things to worry about.

"Get the girls!" He shouted, everyone else already on it. Ben was the first to notice what was wrong, and he clicked his teeth, backing off of the girls with Zoe.

"This is ridiculous," he grumbled, "Why did they have to send so many strong people?"

"Because we're strong!" Zoe said, "we can take 'em!" Ben didn't respond to his sister, probably for any number of reasons. Drake noticed as Nashi and Luna retreated to them that there had been a fight. Nashi and Luna had been resisting them this time, which meant neither of them got what they wanted to do done. That was good.

"Now," Gray said as he pointed the tip of an icy sword at the siblings. "Can we ask you both again to turn our girls here back into one person?" Zoe grimaced.

"Not a chance!" She said with an evil grin, "I'd rather kill them!"

"Zoe, shut up," Ben said, "let me think."

"You never have good plans!"

"You guys are just kids," Steph said, "why is Hades using you like this?"

"Using?" Zoe demanded, "we're doing what he asked of us! He wants more of the girls power, he'll get it!" Nashi stumbled back at this weakly.

"M-More?" She squeaked, "why does he want more? He already took so much from me!"

"How the hell would I know?!" Zoe demanded, "All I know is that he wants it! But he probably won't get it now, huh? Too bad. I guess we'll just have to kill the girls then, right Ben?"

"Would you stop?" Ben demanded, "We need to think of a way out of this!"

"I know a way out of this!" Zoe insisted, "we need to kill the girls!"

"Why do you keep doing that like-!" Ben stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening. "Zoe, what are you doing?! Stop-!"

A sickening impact, followed by the gurgle of blood and bile. Drake was almost too scared to look, but he did. He looked right weakly, knowing what he would see.

Nashi was wavering, attempting to stay upright. She was having trouble though, blood leaking from her mouth.

It might have had to do with the fist covered in poison protruding from her stomach. Drake looked behind her blankly, seeing his Shade standing there. The charred corpse grimaced at him.

"All for the Lords," he said weakly, collapsing and turning into dust as he did so. Nashi only lasted a few more seconds on her feet, before falling. Luna caught her, her eyes rimmed with tears.

"Nashi!" She cried weakly, holding her sisters hands in hers. "Nashi!"

No.

"Hahahaha!" Zoe shouted, "Look at that! You came all this way, and she's going to die! Must suck for you, huh?!"

Not after all of this.

Not after coming this far.

Drake realised too late scales were growing all over his body. His rage peaked. His arms bulged, his hands turning into claws. He could even feel his teeth growing, but it was all inconsequential. Especially right now.

He let out a feral roar, before launching himself at the siblings who'd made him feel this pain again.

Luna didn't know what to do.

Was there even anything she could do?

There was she, vaguely listening to the sounds of battle as Drake, Natsu and Gray launched all over the place, fighting Zoka and Ruli. Nashi was cold in her arms, her breathing ragged.

"Nashi, please hang on!" She said, "Once they beat them, we can heal by being put back together again! We'll be okay then, remember?! We can be whole again!"

"Whole..." Nashi murmured, blood still dripping from her mouth. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused which wasn't a good sign. She was fading.

"Nashi!" It was Michael, who was kneeling next to her. He looked like he was about to cry, but restraining himself as hard as he could. "You can't die yet, you know. You've still got to make it up to me for dying the last time! Don't think I've let you off the hook for that!"

"Michael..." Nashi said weakly, her head turning in his direction. "I...I'm sorry for pushing you away...I wasn't thinking about your feelings."

"You can make it up to me later," Michael insisted as he took one of her hands in his. "After you survive this and reunite with Luna, okay? Just focus on surviving this."

Luna didn't know what to do.

She couldn't do anything.

Just like with the battle with The Olympians, she could do nothing. She could only hold her sister as she died slowly in her arms, the others fighting her battles for her. If she got out of this whole, she was going to be useful after this. She wouldn't let anyone fight her battles after this. Not again. But what could she do now? There had to be something.

So she did the only thing that came to mind. Squeezing Nashi's hand tighter, she focused on sending healthy and happy thought to her sister. She was assaulted by pain, weakness and the feeling of her throat swelling up. She fought them away, now was not the time. Nashi wasn't going to overwhelm her, she couldn't let it happens. She did her best to share her vitality with her sister, but if it was actually working she couldn't tell. Nashi's eyes seemed less hazy, but other than that it wasn't having much of an effect.

"They have to hurry," Steph said weakly from above her. "Or else we'll...We'll..." Luna knew what she meant.

If the others didn't hurry and beat them into submission, Nashi was going to die. Again.

Few little twisty-poo's in this chapter, hm? Like I said, arc isn't very long. I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!