Fairy May Cry - Devil's Retribution

by Iron117Prime

After seven years, Dante and the rest of Fairy Tail have returned from Tenrou Island. So much has changed since their absence; a guild called Sabertooth is now at the top spot, the forces of the Underworld are starting to become more active, and what's this new religious movement called the Order of the Sword? Times might have changed, but the insanity of Fairy Tail has not.

10. Journey for the Clock

Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. Last we left off, the mystery of the Order of the Sword continues to deepen as Fairy Tail, and even Nero, are becoming suspicious of their true intention. What are they after? And what does it have to do with this mysterious clock that the Heartfilia family and Sparda have a connection to? Answers will be coming soon. With all that being said, let's get started.

Journey for the Clock

"The Order is using demons?!" Macao exclaimed as Dante and everyone returned from the Heartfilia estate to relay what they've learned to the rest of their friends.

"Well, to be more accurate, it seems they've been utilizing demonic energy to bring armor to life to serve as their foot soldiers." Modeus corrected.

"So… what… these things are haunted?" Cana questioned. "Like ghosts or something?"

"Don't know." Dante shrugged. "But it didn't feel like there was a lot of demonic juice inside that. Kinda like maybe a few drops or so."

"They still packed a wallop." Gray commented. "Those things definitely know how to fight."

"Perhaps it's not the demonic energy itself, but the armor." Erza assumed.

"What do you mean by that?" Lisanna asked.

"Maybe the armor is a specialized type of weapon, with the demonic energy serving as a fuel source." Erza suggested.

"That sounds quite concerning." Juvia commented.

"Yeah, if the Order of the Sword has been developing weapons like that, it's because they're preparing for something." Levy assumed. "Something pretty big."

"Is that why they've been collecting Devil Arms?" Lady wondered. "To harvest their power for those things. Build their own army?"

"But that doesn't explain why they all smell the same." Wendy said. "Every single person, demon, or animal has a different smell to them."

"You can really tell all that just from sniffing?" Patty asked Wendy.

"She's right." Natsu replied. "Family might smell alike, but not the exact same."

"It could be due to the demonic power all coming from one source." Carla theorized.

"What about those other flying armor guys?" Happy asked, referring to the Alto Angelos. "I mean, they definitely looked different."

"Those guys smelled way different than the others, I can tell ya that." Natsu confirmed.

"With each new discovery, more questions arise." Modeus said with a concerning look on his face. "Humans using demonic energy, even if it's a small amount, can have disastrous consequences if used recklessly."

"Either these guys are idiots and have no clue what they're doing, or they actually do." Dante said with a serious expression. "I honestly don't know what's worse."

Lucy, having spent most of the time reading the 'Key of the Starry Heaven' book along with Michelle, finally stood up and spoke. "I really don't know anything about these demon-possessed armors, but I think I may have found something."

"What did you find, Lucy?" Lisanna asked as their friends gave the blonde their undivided attention.

"This book for instance." She showed then the kid's book in question. "My dad and Sparda may have followed its story to the letter."

"What do you mean?" Lady asked. "What's that book even about?"

"'The Key of the Starry Heaven' is about a little girl that goes in search of six keys, because they're said to bring happiness when they're all collected." Lucy began. "After finding the first key, she's joined by two companions, a knight and a monk. But… once they find all six keys, they end up bringing sorrow and misfortune to the rest of the world."

"That's no good. What a crappy ending." Happy said.

"Criticism won't solve this any faster, Tomcat!" Carla scolded.

"Sorry, jeez lighten up!" Happy replied.

"Some kids books do have unhappy endings, 'The Boy who Cried Wolf' is a good example." Dante said. "But that's mostly to teach kids not to lie, or steal, or stuff like that. But the end of the world? Something's telling me this isn't just a kid's book." He turned to Lucy. "How about you explain the whole thing in more detail. How does it start?"

"Well according to what it says here, the first key takes a journey." Lucy answered.

"Yeah right, keys don't take journeys." Natsu pointed out.

"Dude, it's a metaphor." Gray deadpanned. "Get with the program."

"Alright, then where in the heck did it go?!" Natsu questioned.

"Do we have to spell it out for you, dumbass?" Lady responded. "Think about it. Where did the Order strike first?"

Natsu's eyes widened in realization. "Wait… that means…!"

"That's right." Trish confirmed. "Michelle brought the clock hand to Fairy Tail to deliver to Lucy and Dante. It took a journey to get here."

"So, the first key is the clock hand?" Lisanna wondered.

"Which would mean, the remaining five keys must be the other pieces of this clock." Juvia assumed.

"How does the story continue?" Erza asked Lucy, with everyone else paying close attention.

"After finding the first key, the little girl is joined by a knight and a monk who help her in finding the other five keys." Lucy continued. "One-by-one, they find them in a variety of places. Finally, they travel to a cathedral, where the sixth key is located."

"A cathedral?" Patty asked. "You mean like that big one in town?"

"No, it's not Kardia Cathedral." Lucy answered. "In fact, it's nowhere near Magnolia."

"How do you know that?" Trish asked.

"This was my favorite story as a little girl." Lucy explained. "I used to read it over and over again. One day I realized, the places the girl, knight, and monk all traveled to were real. I even looked at an atlas in my dad's library to make sure."

"So, you think this book is really a map?" Gray asked. "And it's showing us where the rest of the clock pieces are?"

"Yeah, seems like it." Lucy replied.

"And since this clock thing is connected to my old man, it's safe to assume the knight in the story is probably him." Dante said. "Kinda like a subtle autograph."

"That does make sense." Lucy nodded. "But I just can't figure out who this monk is."

"Aren't monks those bald guys that wear dresses or something?" Natsu wondered.

"No, a monk is a man who is completely devoted to religion, sometimes they're frequently pacifists and usually devout themselves to understanding and trying to preserve life." Modeus replied.

"So, this monk-guy is a friend of Sparda's or something?" Gray asked.

"My former mentor made many friends during his long life." Modeus answered. "So, I don't know for sure who this monk in the story is."

"We can worry about that later." Lucy said. "If the 'Key of the Starry Heavens' is really a map, then the other five clock pieces must have been hidden in these real-life locations. Did my dad ever mention any of this, Michelle?"

"Um… no, sorry." Michelle replied. "Mr. Jude was very quiet before he passed away." She said with tears in her eyes, which she attempted to brush off.

Lucy gave a small sigh before getting back to the task at hand. "In any case, I have a feeling if we go to the locations mentioned in the book, we should have no trouble finding the rest of the pieces. So who's with me?"

"Hold on Lucy." Trish put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Look, I understand this is personal, we all do, but we can't just charge in without thinking. We don't even know what this clock-thing is, or what the Order wants with it."

"Isn't that all the more reason to find it though?" Lucy questioned more assertively. "If it's something dangerous, we need to keep it out of the wrong hands!"

"And we get that!" Dante stated, walking up. "But Lucy, think about it for a minute. My dad took these pieces and hid them where nobody else could find them. And the only apparent map is in your hands, in the form of a kid's book. What exactly does that say?"

"I… I'm not sure I understand." Lucy replied.

"He broke this clock-thing up and hid the pieces." Dante said. "If things thing is dangerous, and he went to that much effort, he only did for one reason: he couldn't destroy it." That took everyone by surprise. "If he could, he would have. But he didn't, just like with Temen-ni-gru. Remember what happened when someone tried to mess around with that?"

When it looked like Lucy was about to protest, Makarov, who had been sitting at the bar and had remained silent the whole time, finally spoke. "Dante is correct. A potentially dangerous relic, and a mission that relies on too much guess work, not to mention the deepening mysterious surrounding the Order of the Sword; all of that at once says that we cannot approach this lightly. However, given the potential danger, we must do everything we can to keep this chaos at bay."

With that, it was decided. There were far too many unknowns with this mission, but they still had to undertake it given the circumstances. But they also had to exercise the utmost of caution, which they all silently agreed on.

"I'll take care of assigning teams." Erza stated.

---

Fortuna – Medical Center

Kyrie held out her hands as she applied her healing magic to finish tending to the last of Mary Hughes' injuries. The faint white glow felt like a warm sun, which caused all the pain to slowly vanish. Once she was finished, Kyrie sat back in her chair.

"Alright, you should be all set."

Mary smiled as she sat up from her bed. "Tots thanks, Kyrie. I feel like a hundred percent better." She smirked. "I can't wait to deliver some payback to that lightning-bitch."

"You know I don't like it when you speak like that." Kyrie chastised.

"But it's true!" Mary protested. "That bimbo shocked me with so much lightning, my whole body went numb!" She appeared to calm down. "But I'm lucky I had a guardian angel looking out for me." She reached out to touch Kyrie's hand.

Kyrie gave a sigh with a smile. "Mary, you do know that I'm dating Nero, right?"

"Don't remind me." Mary looked to the side. "What do you see in him, anyway?"

"Why don't you ask me, yourself?"

They both turned around to see none other than Nero standing before them with a slight glare in Mary's direction. She noticed his right arm was wrapped in red bandages. Nero recognized the look in her eyes and gave one of his own to remind her to keep her mouth shut, which she accepted with reluctance, looking away.

"Credo wants you." Nero spoke to Mary. "We're moving out in just a few minutes."

"Fine." Mary stood up. "See ya latter, Kyrie." She smiled to her before walking past Nero, purposely bumping her shoulder against his, causing him to glare in the direction she walked off in.

"You know, I really wish the two of you would get along more." Kyrie told him as Mary left.

"When she stops being such a pain in the ass, I'll consider it." Nero replied.

"Mary's not perfect, I can admit that." Kyrie said. "But she's not all bad either."

"Did you know she took a kid hostage in our last mission?" Nero told her, causing Kyrie to look in surprise as Nero sat down on the medical bed across from her to speak directly to her. "We ended up fighting a guild, and when things weren't going in our favor, she just upped and grabbed this little girl. She didn't have any magic at all, but I don't think Mary cared. You say there's good in her, well I don't see much of it."

"Okay, you're right." Kyrie admitted. "That was wrong of Mary to do. Did you tell Credo?"

"I did." Nero confirmed. "He said he's gonna give her a stern talking to before we leave. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

Nero looked around to make sure they were completely alone before answering. "You know those Angelo guys that have been all over the place lately? Well, they're not really guys at all. In fact, there's nobody even in that armor."

"What…?" Kyrie looked in shock.

"I saw it myself." He told her. "Demonic energy, powering the suit like a battery. Or maybe like a ghost haunting it."

"I… how… how is that possible?" Kyrie asked. "Did you talk to Credo about this, too?"

"I haven't told anybody else about this. Only you." Nero replied.

Kyrie's shocked look became almost horrified. "Nero… you… you don't think my brother's involved in something like that, do you?! I know you and Credo don't always get along, and he takes his job very seriously, but… something like that…?!"

"I don't want to suspect him." Nero quickly said. "But the fact that it seems that our army might be demons or something… Credo is the Supreme General of the Holy Knights. There is no way he could miss something like that if he wasn't involved. Either there's somebody else and they're really good at covering their tracks, or… I know you don't want to hear it but… it makes sense."

She really didn't want to hear it. Kyrie knew her older brother, and the idea of him working behind the scenes with demonic power did not sit well with her. But at the same time, she couldn't deny the logic of Nero's thinking. All she could do was pray that Credo wasn't involved in whatever was happening.

"And it's not just that." Nero said. "This whole mission we're on doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I can't explain it, but something's going on, and I don't think it's good."

"So… what are you going to do?" Kyrie asked.

"Well… I can't do much of anything, but you can." Nero told her. "Listen, while everyone else and I are out, I want you to do some digging and find out what's going on. I know I'm asking a lot. Hell, I don't even know what you're supposed to find, but this… what the Order's doing… It just doesn't sit right with me. I don't…"

"Nero, it's okay, I get it." Kyrie assured as she put her hand on his unwrapped one. "Even when we were kids, your instincts are usually always right. If you think something's wrong, I believe you. But I'm still hopping my brother isn't involved, maybe he's being deceived to."

"Yeah, I hope so to." Nero replied.

"I'll see what I can find." She said. "I might not be much of a fighter, but I didn't spend years reading and studying magic for nothing. If there is something going on, I'll find it. Just promise me two things."

"What?"

"First, be careful." Kyrie replied. "Second, please look after all our friends. Sammy, Coco, all of them. Even Mary, I know she's… difficult. But she's not all bad."

"What about Dan?" Nero asked with a joking grin.

Kyrie comically shuddered at the mention of his name. "Yes… even Dan."

"Okay, I promise." Nero smiled sincerely, which Kyrie returned with one of her own.

"Nero!" They heard Credo's voice as he entered the room; fortunately, he did not hear their conversation. "It's time to go."

"Hang on, I'm coming." Nero stood up, but Kyrie quickly stood up as well and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck." She smiled.

"You, too." Nero smiled before walking away to join Credo as they walked outside.

Once the pair made it to the streets of Fortuna and walked toward where the rest of their comrades were waiting, Credo noticed the expression on Nero's face.

"Something on your mind?"

"I just want to know what's going on." Nero replied. "You really haven't told us a whole lot about this thing we're supposed to be looking for."

"You know what you need to know." Credo responded in a straight-forward manner.

"I'm not so sure." Nero stopped. "That first thing you had us get, that blonde named Lucy, that thing was given to her by her dad on his freaking deathbed! Poor girl was balling when I took it." Credo had his back turned, but his stoic look softened slightly. "I get the military line-up and all that crap, but I'm not talking to you as your subordinate right now, Credo. I'm talking to you as a friend. I just want to know what the hell we're supposed to be doing, because I don't like hurting people who don't deserve it."

Credo sighed slightly before responding. "I don't know how Ms. Heartfilia's father came to have that clock piece, but we can't afford to leave that power unchecked."

"What power?" Nero questioned.

The Supreme General of the Holy Knights turned around fully to speak. "I'm not permitted to tell you everything, but the relics we seek are pieces to an ancient weapon called the Infinity Clock. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic, with casualties numbering in the billions." That took Nero by surprise. "Which is why it's imperative we retrieve the pieces immediately. Zentopia has pledged it's support as well. Once we have these relics, we will seal them away for eternity to make sure nobody can use them for ill intent. Nero…" He put a hand on his shoulder. "I know this mission may be difficult, but the cause we fight for is a righteous one. We will save and protect this world, just as our Lord and Savior Sparda has done for millennia."

Though Nero tried to hide his annoyed expressions at the 'Savior shtick' that he kept hearing all the time at service, he understood what his friend was trying to say.

"Okay." Nero said simply, which seemed to be all Credo needed as he let go and they continued along their way.

'He really believes we're doing good.' Nero thought to himself. 'But he's definitely hiding something. I just hope that he's not the mastermind behind all this. If this whole thing takes a turn for the worst… I don't want to fight him.'

---

Meanwhile, Panther-Lily led the team consisting of himself, Modeus, Levy, Jet, and Droy up a mountain slope, with the overweight Droy already looking beyond exhausted.

"Excuse me, Lily?" Levy tried to speak to him. "I'm pretty sure we're going in the wrong direction."

"I know, we're not looking for the clock piece right now." Lily said.

"What? Then what are we looking for?" Jet questioned. However, before Lily could answer, Droy suddenly collapsed on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Levy asked with concern.

"Do I look okay?" Droy replied. "This stupid mountain… and this physique… don't mix…!"

Modeus walked toward him and was able to easily pick up Droy, slinging his arm over his shoulder. "If you wish, I could recommend a diet that could prove more than helpful to you. No offense Droy, but this 'physique' of yours can be detrimental in a life-or-death situation."

"Modeus is correct." Lily said. "And given the potential crisis, we need another powerful teammate with us."

"Is that why you've been leading us up here?" Jet asked.

"So, who's this powerful teammate?" Levy also asked. "I know Modeus is probably the strongest one here, but who else do you have in mind?"

Lily smirked. "A man with an iron will and equally iron head."

---

Elsewhere, Gray, Trish, and Juvia walked down a forested trail toward their intended destination. However, it seemed Gray was less than thrilled with this particular pair-up.

"Next time Erza assigns teams; I'm jumping out a window." Gray grumbled.

"What's wrong? You don't like spending time with your girlfriend?" Trish joked.

"Shut it." Gray scowled with Trish chuckling.

Juvia hung in the back as she seemed to misinterpret this exchange. 'Why is she laughing? Does she think she can seduce my beloved Gray?! No! I will not allow that!' She quickly walked in-between them as she tried to change whatever kind of subject, she thought they were talking about.

"So, what are the odds we'll run into forces of the Order here?" Juvia asked while Trish simply smirked with a knowing look, having a good idea what Juvia was trying to do.

"Knowing our luck, pretty high." Gray replied.

"I suppose it's fortunate that we're here then."

The trio was more than surprised to find not only Lyon standing in front of them, but even Sho was present as well.

"Hey guys. Been a while." Sho waved while Lyon seemed to maintain his typical stoic expression.

"Lyon!?" Gray exclaimed.

"And you must be one of Erza's friends." Trish recognized the other one. "Sho, right?"

"Yep, that's me." Sho confirmed.

"What the heck are you guys doing here?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Calm down." Lyon told him. "Your friend Erza contacted us and asked for our assistance."

"Saywhat?!" Gray was more than a little surprised.

---

Elsewhere, the team consisting of Dante, Natsu, Lucy, Romeo, Lisanna, Michelle, and Happy rode on a large boat that sailed toward their destination. And as one expected, Natsu hung his head over the railing, looking ready to puke his guts out.

"It's okay Natsu. Just take deep breaths." Lisanna patted his back to try and provide comfort.

"Why couldn't Wendy be here…?!" The sick Natsu questioned with bulging cheeks. "I could really use her magic…!"

"Because she's with Erza's team." Romeo answered as he looked away with slight disappointment.

"Bet Natsu's not the only one upset that Wendy couldn't join us." Lucy teased, causing Romeo's cheeks to turn red.

"Oooh, Romeo you liiike her." Happy sang.

"Hey! That's not it at all! Don't get the wrong idea!" Romeo exclaimed; his face redder than a tomato.

"Well, I think that it's adorable." Michelle smiled. "I'm sure you and Wendy would make great couple, Romeo."

"Oh, you… you think so…" Romeo looked down with a shy expression.

"Yep, you two would be so cute together." Lisanna smiled, even the sick Natsu gave a thumbs up.

"Good luck… kiddo…" He said before throwing up over the side.

Nearly everyone laughed, both at Romeo's expense for his not-so-secret crush, but also at Natsu's sickly status. Lucy however noticed the only one not laughing appeared to be Dante as he leaned back against the ship's mast with a contemplated expression.

Lucy got up from her seat and walked over to her cousin. "It's not like you to not tease about someone's crush. Something wrong?"

"Just thinking…" Dante said as he looked toward his own hand.

"Let me guess: Nero?" Lucy asked.

"Yep." Dante confirmed. "He's part-demon like me, he's got power similar to mine, heck he even looks like me. I just… I got no idea what that means. Do I have another cousin, or a distant relative like Michelle or what? I don't know."

"Well, if we see him again, we can ask him." Lucy said. "Out of everyone in the Order, he seemed the most willing to actually talk."

"Maybe… but I've just got an overall bad feeling about all of this." Dante said as Lucy seemed to share the concerning expression.

"Excuse me. Might you be members of Fairy Tail?" A group of individuals walked up, getting the team's attention. All of these people appeared to be archeologists, four in total; one being a tall, bearded man in middle age, with the others being much shorter and more elderly.

---

Meanwhile, Modeus and Levy's team made it to their destination: a large waterfall, with storm clouds forming just above the area.

"Whoa… that's a huge waterfall." Jet observed.

"Thank goodness…! I'm so thirsty!" Droy began to drink the water in the small pool just outside the waterfall as Lily, Levy, and Modeus looked around for the person he had been seeking.

"There he is!" Levy pointed to none other than Gajeel, who sat underneath the waterfall in a meditative stance, allowing the full force of the waterfall to wash all over his body.

"What's he doing?" Jet asked.

"Maybe he's bathing, for once." Droy assumed.

"I don't think so." Modeus said. "I think he's training."

"Gajeel!" Levy called to him.

"Get lost!" He called back, opening one single eye. "Can't you see I'm busy here?!" Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed from the storm clouds, directly toward Gajeel. He grunted as he felt the electricity pass through him, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. Lily however shuddered at the sound of thunder as he tried to cover his ears.

"Why… why did it have to be thunder…?" Lily muttered.

"He's crazy! What kind of training is that?!" Droy exclaimed.

"With that guy, who knows?" Jet responded.

"I see what he's doing." Modeus said. "He's training his body to be more resistant to lightning. Seeing how his element is iron, it makes more vulnerable to electric-based attacks. It's actually a rather clever way to train."

"Guess seeing Dante and Laxus duke it out had more of an impact than we thought, huh?" Levy said with a wincing smile.

"Hey! Didn't you guys here me?! I'm busy, so scram!" Gajeel exclaimed.

"We can't do that Gajeel!" Modeus called back as Lilly continued to shake as another lightning bolt struck. "We're facing a crisis and need your help! It could be catastrophic!"

"Another one?" The Iron Dragon Slayer groaned. He stood up before leaping all the way over to where the others were. "I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes, can I?"

Seeing how close he was, Levy got a good look at Gajeel's soaked clothes. It all stuck rather close to his chest where she could almost completely make out the six-pack abs he had underneath. She found herself staring almost mesmerizingly at them until…

"Hey, what the hell are you staring at?" Gajeel questioned, causing her to snap out of her fantasy as her face turned red.

"No… nothing! Nothing at all!" Levy exclaimed as she turned around to hide her blushing face, while covering her eyes with her hands.

"Whatever." He muttered before addressing Modeus. "So, what's this crisis we got going on?"

"We'll explain on the way, follow us." The former apprentice of Sparda answered as they began to walk away and get back on track to their mission.

---

Elsewhere, the group consisting of Erza, Lady, Wendy, Cana, Carla, and Patty walked across a large, grassy field. As they walked, Cana breathed a relaxing sigh as she took in the clear weather and fresh air.

"Now this is a mission." Cana said with a smile, relaxing her hands at the back of her head.

"Tell me about it." Patty agreed. "This weather is absolutely perfect!"

"Yeah, I feel like we're experiencing the same thing as Sparda from the story." Wendy said.

"And what makes you say that?" Carla asked.

"He went on a journey with a girl and a monk, traveling across the world." Wendy explained. "We may not have known who they were, but I'm willing to bet they must have been good friends. I imagine their journey must have been as care-free as this."

"Wendy, you are too innocent for this world." Lady said. "If that weird book is true, then we know that Sparda wasn't on a vacation. He hid the pieces of a potential doomsday device to keep them from the wrong hands. Now we're in a race to prevent some freaky demon cult from doing just that."

"Way to bring the mood down, Lady." Patty said with a comic sulk.

"Yeah, you really need to lighten up." Cana added with a groan.

"I'll lighten up when I know for certain the world isn't resting on our shoulders." Lady replied.

"She does bare an excellent point." Carla agreed. "We mustn't lose track of our goal."

"That is all true." Erza spoke up, as she came to a stop at the head of the group to address her friends. "We can't forget our mission. But at the same time…" She smiled. "I think we should also take the time to enjoy some of the little things in life, such as spending time with friends."

"Yeah… I guess so." Lady smiled apologetically. "Sorry, priorities and all."

"When someone as serious as Erza says you need to lighten up, you know someone's too serious."

The group looked on ahead to see a familiar face approach them, one that caused the aforementioned redhead to smile. "I'm glad you could make it, Milliana."

"Hi Erza!" The cat girl, current member of Mermaid Heel, and childhood friend of Erza's quickly ran up toward her and gave her a hug, which Erza was happy to return. "So good to see you again!"

"You as well." Erza replied.

"You called one of your old pals?" Cana asked in surprise.

"Given the situation we faced, I thought it would be best to contact our allies for assistance." Erza said, getting serious. "We've learned that we cannot underestimate the Order of the Sword, and we must do everything we can to keep them from getting these clock pieces."

"That does make sense." Lady nodded.

"I'm always happy to help whenever Erza asks." Milliana said before quickly running toward Carla, slightly startling her. "And I'm always happy to meet a super cute kitty-witty!" She scooped up Carla in her arms and nuzzled her cheek against hers, much to the white cat's chagrin.

"Put me down this instant! I'm not a plush toy!" Carla protested.

"But you're so cute! You even have a cute little dress on!" Milliana continued to gush while everyone else, even Erza and Lady, either chuckled or giggled at the sight.

---

Meanwhile, back with Gray's group, after Lyon and Sho gave a quick explanation as to why they were there, they continued on their destination, but Gray didn't seem all that happy. However, Juvie appeared to be coming to the wrong conclusion for Gray's current animosity.

'I feel so torn about this.' Juvia thought to herself. 'No one can steal me from my lovecicle! But… wait… making Gray jealous could intensify his feelings for me!'

"What's going on with her?" Sho asked Trish, upon seeing Juvia's love-sick expression.

"Kid, you don't wanna know what goes on inside her head." Trish responded.

"I get why Erza called her old pal here to help out, but what are you doing here, Lyon?!" Gray questioned. "You think you need to hold my hand or something?!"

"Don't be childish." Lyon stated. "I understand the situation quite well. You're looking to retrieve a series of artifacts sealed away by Sparda himself in order to keep the Order of the Sword from acquiring them. That and the fact that you don't have much of a winning streak against the Order, so you need me."

"Oh, I need you like I need snow down my pants!" Gray exclaimed.

"As I said, don't act childish." Lyon told him. "It's been seven years since you last saw me. Obviously, my Ice-Make magic has gotten much stronger, as has Sho's card magic."

"He's right, it wouldn't hurt to have some back up." Trish seemed to agree. "Given we still don't know what the Order is capable of."

Even Juvia quickly walked up to put her arm around Gray's. "My darling, I know just how strong you are, but our enemies have proven to be formidable. I think it would be best for us to allow their assistance."

Though Gray didn't like it, it did make sense to him, causing him to sigh of reluctance. "Alright, fine."

However, Lyon seemed to come to his own fantasied delusion. 'She actually wants me to join her! Yes!' His demeanor did not go unnoticed by either Trish or Sho.

"Great, now we got two lovesick idiots." Trish muttered.

"Somehow, I knew him coming here was a bad idea." Sho also muttered.

---

Elsewhere, on a path near a large cliffside, the team consisting of Mira, Bickslow, and Evergreen, all sat a table, alongside another of Erza's old friends, Wally from the Quatro Cerberus guild, as Elfman and Freed appeared to be preparing food.

"Making manly stew…" Elfman sang before humming a catchy tune.

"Thank you so much for coming to help Wally, we appreciate it." Mira smiled.

"No problem, doll." Wally smiled back. "Anything for Erza."

"Hey, do we really have time to sit down and have a meal?" Evergreen asked.

"Yeah, aren't we in a race here?" Bickslow also questioned.

"Yeah! A race! A race!" Bickslow's dolls chined in.

"We need to eat to maintain our stamina." Freed explained. "I understand the situation clearly, but our circumstances also entail for us to maintain good health so that we are ready if we come to face the enemy."

"You could have just said 'we need to eat and keep up our strength', bro." Wally pointed out.

"That's just who he is, man." Bickslow said.

"Freed is never the straight-forward type." Evergreen said.

"Stew's ready!" Elfman handed out bowls of the stew to everyone present. "Now enjoy it like a man!"

"I swear, I'm gonna kill him." Evergreen muttered before she and her friends began to eat their lunch.

---

Meanwhile, back with Dante's team, they continued on their boat-ride, with the sick Natsu still hanging over the railing, as the team became acquainted with the group of archeologists that also rode on the ship with them.

"Actually, we're members of a prestigious archeological society." The tallest man, who appeared to be the leader of the group introduced.

"Oh, so you're archeologists." Lucy acknowledged.

"Nice to meet you." Lisanna greeted friendly. "We're from Fairy Tail, but you probably already know that."

"Indeed." One of the elderly archeologists replied before he noticed Natsu's predicament. "Is your friend over there, alright?"

"Yeah, Natsu and vehicles don't mix." Dante quickly explained. "So, you guys want something from us?"

"Well, we've heard that your guild is searching for pieces of a legendary clock. Is this true?" Another one asked.

That took most of the group by surprise. "Excuse me, may I ask where you heard that?" Michelle questioned.

"Now, now, I hardly think that matters missy." The third elderly archeologist replied.

"Actually, it kinda does." Dante stated. "This thing we're looking for could be a dangerous weapon, and we already got enough trouble from this crazy overzealous cult we're fighting, we don't need anybody else!"

"We're not trying to cause you any trouble or anything like that." The lead archeologist quickly said. "Actually, we don't know where or how this rumor started. That's what we meant when we said it didn't matter, because we actually don't have a solid answer for you."

"Well, that's just great." Romeo grumbled in annoyance.

"No! It can't be! There must be a traitor in the ranks of Fairy Tail!" Michelle exclaimed dramatically.

"How do you figure that?" Happy questioned.

"The Order of the Sword is a complete mystery, hardly anybody knows anything about them! I'm sure they wouldn't let word slip out!" Michelle replied. "If that's the case, somebody inside the guild must have leaked it!"

"No way that's what happened!" Lucy quickly said.

'Well… that's not always the case.' Lisanna thought with a serious expression. 'We had a spy from the Magic Council infiltrate our guild once. Not to mention Hades used to be our second guildmaster and even one of Fairy Tail's founders! I don't want to think about it but… maybe someone did leak it… but if it's true… I'm only hopping it was an accident.'

"Look." Dante began, putting a hand on Michelle's shoulder. "Not sure how that rumor spread, but it doesn't change what we gotta do. We'll find the pieces and then look into it, one step at a time. But, personally, I don't think anybody in Fairy Tail let word slip out, at least not on purpose."

"Sorry…! I guess I just panicked!" Michelle quickly said apologetically.

"I'm dying here…!" They heard Natsu groan as he puked over the railing, but the group choose to ignore his situation as they had more important things to worry about than Natsu's stomach.

"So, anyway, what were you guys saying?" Dante turned back to the archeologists with everyone else.

"Yes, will actually, we'd very much appreciate it if you would put a halt to this little adventure of yours." The lead archeologist told them.

"What?! Why?!" Lisanna questioned.

"Geeze, quit saying 'actually'!" Happy added.

"According to the data we've gathered, the pieces have been scattered around the world in shrines, ruins, and other abandoned sites. And if I'm not mistaking, your guild is attempting to collect all of them." One of the elderly archeologists explained.

"How could you possibly know that?" Lucy asked.

"After years of studying 'The Key of the Starry Heavens' from an archeological standpoint, we know believe there is actually more to the book than it would seem." The lead archeologist said. "Understand?"

"Not really, so why don't you explain it to us." Dante suggested, getting a little bit impatient.

"But it's so simple! Let me spell it out!" The lead archeologist began. "We have come to the conclusion that the book actually pinpoints several archeological sites, such as ancient ruins and shrines which pepper the globe. You see, we have a theory that the knight-character in the story is actually the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda! And that the various places he, the girl, and monk all travel too are actually modeled after these important sites! The ultimate goal of our archeological society is to keep these sites safe from harm! They're remnants of our cultural heritage and must be respected!"

"If you and your friends go prancing around in there all willy-nilly, you could irreparably damage a piece of history!" One of the elderly archeologists added.

"Therefore, if you would be so kind as to forget about the clock, we would greatly appreciate it." Another one added. "Yes, we insist you forget."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Lucy said. "I figured all that out when I read 'The Key of the Starry Heavens' as a little kid. I can't believe it took you so long."

That caused all four of them to look in comic surprise. "Ouch." Dante chuckled. "If you figured that out faster than professionals, you're definitely smarter than you look, Lucy." He cracked.

"Always have to sneak in a jab, Dante?" Lucy replied irritably.

Those names caused the archeologists to look in genuine shock. 'Lucy? Dante?' The lead archeologist thought in surprise.

---

Meanwhile, back with Gray's team, the five of them exited the forest to find their destination only a few miles away. "This is it." Gray said. Their destination appeared to be a large pile of ruins that almost looked like it all caved in.

"Ruins." Lyon observed.

"Must be pretty old." Sho said. "Got no idea what that thing used to be."

"Either that, or it fell apart a long time ago, and nobody decided to clean it up." Trish added.

"According to Lucy, it's somewhere." Juvia said. "But if we're not careful, we could end up buried with the clock piece."

"So, how are we supposed to get in?" Gray asked.

"I'm pretty sure there's some kind of entrance." Trish stated. "Let's go." She was the first to leap down the hill and slide down the slope on her feet, with the rest of her friends and allies right behind her.

---

Back on the boat, with Dante's team…

"Listen to me! Please!" The lead archeologist exclaimed to the group, toward Lucy and Dante specifically. "It's imperative you forget about the clock!"

"We can't just forget it!" Lucy exclaimed back. "I understand the ruins are important, but we're fulfilling my father's dying wish!" None of the archeologists expected that. "My dad waited… for seven long years! He waited for me… for us!" She exclaimed, gesturing toward her cousin. "He believed that we could keep the world from plunging into chaos! He left the task to us! His family! His daughter and his nephew! And nobody else!" Tears were already in her eyes. "He believed in us till the end! That's why neither of us can't forget! We can't let him down!"

Michelle was already crying. "Lucy's so brave…" She tearfully said as Romeo, Lisanna, and Happy looked with sympathy as well. Even Natsu from his position and sickly predicament heard it all and knew exactly how that felt.

Dante, who maintained a serious expression, said nothing as he put his hand on Lucy's shoulder, silently telling them that he agreed with everything she just said. In a way, they were fulfilling the wishes of both their fathers. Sparda made the effort to keep these clock pieces from falling into the hands of evil, and they were not about to let that happen. This was an important mission for their family.

"I… I did not realize…" The lead archeologist said in a remorseful tone. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, the boat's horn sounded as both groups turned to see a landmass approaching. "Land ho." Dante observed.

---

Five minutes later, the boat docked and Natsu was predictably the first one off. "Ah yes! Land sweet land! I missed you so much!" He literally praised the ground as he was able to walk and not feel sick again.

"You'll have to get reacquainted later Natsu." Lisanna joked. "We have a mission to get to."

However, just before the team could walk off toward the desert that was only a short distance along the way… "Wait up!" They turned around to see the group of archeologists approach them. "I actually wanted to apologize earlier." He spoke to Lucy in particular. "I did not realize you were fulfilling your father's dying wish. Please go and do your best. Just be careful not to damage the sites."

"Really? You're okay with just letting us go like that?" Lucy was about as surprised as everyone else.

"Yes." The lead archeologist said without hesitation. "In fact, I actually think we might have important information to share that you might be interested in." He reached into his bag to pull out a series of photos. "The news of the new religious organization called the Order of the Sword is actually well-known by this point. But we actually have a theory that the Order isn't new at all, in fact, we think it's actually been around for hundreds of years."

To say the group was surprised was an understatement. "What?!" Dante questioned.

"Hundreds of years…?!" Romeo exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, please take a look." One of the elderly archeologists said as they were given the photos. The pictures depicted hieroglyphics and pictures on ancient papyrus of many people being led by a figure they all recognized.

"We believe that hundreds of years ago, there was an order of knights and wizards that was found and led by the Dark Knight himself." Another elderly archeologist said as the Fairy Tail group looked over each of the photos. "According to our findings, they've defended the land for many years before they suddenly vanished off the face of the world."

"Are you guys seeing this?" Lisanna asked, not quite over her surprise.

"That definitely looks like Sparda alright." Romeo said.

"But how can we be sure that this group and the Order of the Sword are one and the same?" Michelle wondered.

"See for yourself." The lead archeologist handed Dante in particular one final photo. "At each of those sights, we found that very same emblem."

Dante's eyes widened as he recognized the ancient carving that was the symbol he had seen on Nero's jacket, and on every person, they've met from the mysterious organization. "The Order…"

"No way!" Happy exclaimed.

"That's definitely the same symbol." Natsu sated.

"But… how is that possible!?" Lucy questioned.

"We're actually not one hundred percent sure." The lead archeologist attempted to explain it. "But we have two possible theories. The first is that this new organization is actually modeling themselves after the original group led by Sparda. The second, is that they're really the same, and that they didn't actually vanish but went into hiding for centuries and have only chosen to reveal themselves now." He noticed the shocked and troubled looks on all their faces, particularly Dante and Lucy. "I realize this might not give you any real answers, but I actually thought that you should know."

"Yeah, definitely more questions than answers, but thanks anyway." Dante said before he and everyone else handed the photos back. "Well, we're off." He said as he and the group turned around to venture off into the desert. "We'll try not to wreck any of the ruins, but we make no promises!" He called to them.

"You do realize that's probably not what they want to hear, right?" Lucy said with a wincing smile.

"But it's the truth, especially with flame-for-brain here." Dante gestured to the Dragon Slayer next to him.

"Get off my case, pal!" Natsu groaned in annoyance as the rest of the group shared a laugh.

As the heroes of Fairy Tail walked away, the archeologists spoke amongst themselves. "That was certainly a surprise." One of them commented.

"That girl is definitely Layla's daughter." Another spoke. "And that boy may be the son of Sparda, but he's also got the Heartfilia stubbornness in him good."

"Indeed, they do." The third agreed. "Are you sure it was wise letting them go, Jean-Luc?"

"What a curious coincidence, quite." The lead archeologist named Jean-Luc answered as he looked off in the direction the young heroes walked in with a serious expression. "However, while I'm certain that Dante and Lucy will find what they are looking for, I am hopping beyond hope that they don't."

---

It didn't take long for the group to enter the desert and begin searching, with Happy and Lisanna taking to the skies to see if they can get a bird's-eye-view. However, none of them appeared to a have a clue as to what they were looking for, so it wasn't exactly easy. However, as Lisanna flew in the sky with her Harpy Wings, she spotted a glimmer of light from the corner of her eye. Using magic to convert her eyes into that of falcon's, she got a clearer view of what she thought to be her target.

"Got ya." She smirked as she flew back toward the group. "Hey guys! I found something!"

"Ah sweet! I knew we could count you, Lisanna!" Natsu called to her.

"I guess it helps to have animal-magic, huh?" Lucy smiled.

"Well I found diddly-squat." Happy sulked.

"Would you like some fish to cheer you up, Happy?" Michelle offered a fish with a smile.

"You're the best Michelle!" The blue Exceed cheered as he immediately put the fish in his mouth.

The group quickly followed Lisanna before she set herself down in front of what she spotted. It appeared to be the pieces to a broken door that hovered in the air, almost as if they were never broken in the first place.

"What the heck is this thing?" Romeo wondered.

"I believe it may be some kind of door." Michelle theorized.

"So how do we get it open?" Happy asked.

"The same way we always do." Natsu smirked as he lit his fist on fire. "Break it down!" He immediately punched it, but the second he did, the fiery explosion was shot back at him, sending Natsu crashing back against the ground while the mysterious door didn't have so much as a scratch on it.

"What just happened?!" Romeo exclaimed.

"It's like the attack was reflected back!" Lisanna replied.

"Sorry buddy, but your attack didn't leave a mark." Happy told Natsu as Lucy helped him to his feet.

"Did you honestly think that wrecking the door was gonna help us?" She told him in a scolding fashion.

"Breaking stuff usually works for us." Natsu replied back.

Dante felt his hand along the door. "This thing has been sealed shut with magic. So I doubt anything we have is gonna break it down."

Michelle began to analyze it from the back and front before she noticed something at the center. 'Is this a keyhole?' She wondered as she felt her hand down a thin crevice in the door, it seemed too large for an ordinary keyhole. She then glanced toward Dante, to his sheathed sword specifically before her eyes widened in realization.

"Cousin Dante, I think I may have an idea!" She told him, getting everybody's attention.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Your sword might be the key!" Michelle said.

"I don't think even Rebellion's gonna break it down, but I could give it a shot if you want." Dante replied.

"No, I mean that your sword is literally the key." Michelle began to explain. "You see this?" She gestured to the crevice. "It's like a keyhole, but it seems too big for a normal key. Rebellion did originally belong to your father, and if he was the one who sealed the clock piece in the first place, maybe he used Rebellion to lock the door. In fact, it's actually rather brilliant! Nobody would ever think to use a sword as a literal key!"

Everyone looked rather stunned at Michelle's logical deduction. "Huh… now that I think about it, it is kinda brilliant." Lucy commented.

"So, are we gonna give it a try?" Lisanna asked.

Dante shrugged. "Well, we got no other options." He drew Rebellion before placing it into the so-called keyhole, finding it to be a perfect fit. As he placed the sword deeper into the hole, Happy looked on the other side to find nothing was coming out.

"Hey guys, there's nothing over here! It's like Rebellion just vanished!" Happy stated in shock.

"Maybe because this is the key." Dante realized as he turned Rebellion slightly, in a way that one would normally turn an ordinary key. Once he finished turning it, the eyes within the skull at the sword's hilt shined red, as did the magical door before it flashed with a bright flash of light, causing everyone to wince and cover their eyes until the flash subsided.

When the light faded, the group looked in shock to find the door was open, which led to a staircase that led deep underground. "Wow, it really worked!" Romeo stated.

"Ah yeah! Score one for Fairy Tail!" Natsu smirked triumphantly as he shared a high-five with both Lisanna and Happy.

"Huh, I'll be damned. Nice call, Michelle." Dante smiled toward her, who smiled ecstatically herself.

"I'm just really glad I was able to help!" She exclaimed joyously.

"Well, no time like the present." Lucy smirked. "Come on everyone, let's go!" She was the first to run down the staircase, followed by Dante, Natsu, Michelle, Lisanna, Romeo, and Happy. However, as they ran down, none of them seemed to notice a trio of shadows following them.

---

Meanwhile, the team consisting of Trish, Gray, Juvia, Lyon, and Sho had made their way toward the ruins where they had hoped to find the clock piece they sought. But so far they appeared to have found no way in getting in, until now.

"Gray my darling, look." Juvia pointed toward an odd-shaped door at the base of a rockpile.

"What is it? Did you find a way in?" Gray asked as they saw the door. "Is that a door?"

"Sure seems like it." Trish said. "We've looked all over. It's probably the only way in."

Suddenly, a bright light shinned from the top of the door. "None shall pass!" A series of rocks gathered together to take the form of a face, startling the group.

"It appears we have to get past a guardian, first!" Lyon declared as they readied for battle.

"Sorry, but we don't have time for games!" Sho stated as he drew a series of magic cards and threw them at the guardian for explosive results. However, once the dust cleared, it seemed like the guardian was undamaged. "My magic didn't even scratch it!"

"Heads up!" Trish exclaimed as a series of massive rock-fists were thrown toward them, forcing the group to scatter. Trish was next to attack, shooting a hail of electric bullets at the guardian, but it didn't seem effected by this either as it directed another rock-fist towards Trish, which she was able to avoid easily enough.

"None of our attacks appear to be having any kind of effect!" Lyon stated as he and Gray tried to erect their respective ice-shields to block the two rock-fists that were shot at them, but their defenses were shattered easily as they duo was blown back.

"Even our defensive magic is no good!" Gray exclaimed in frustration as he attempted to pull himself up.

"None shall pass under the watchful eye!" The guardian declared as he continued to attack, forcing the group to keep on their toes and avoid being crushed.

'It's nullifying our magic attacks somehow. Even Trish's power doesn't seem to be working.' Juvia thought to herself as she leapt into the air to avoid a rock-fist in her direction. However, once she was closer to its face, she got a good look at the glowing eye on the face before getting an idea. She swiped her hand to send a condensed water attack right into its eye, causing the crystal inside to shatter, and the rock-guardian to fall apart.

"Nice shot, Juvia!" Gray told her.

"How'd you know where to hit it?" Sho asked.

"He said 'under the watchful eye', so I thought it had to mean something." Juvia said as the group looked to see the doorway opening.

"The door's opened." Lyon observed. "Your brilliant plan worked, Juvey!" He praised lovingly, causing Juvia to cringe.

"Um… please don't ever call me that again…"

"Come on. Let's go." Trish said in annoyed tone of voice as she pushed both of them forward.

The group walked into what appeared to be a large cavern. Inside, a vast quantity of floating cubes hovered everywhere, with a series of hieroglyphic-arrows etched onto each side of every cube. There were also the ruins of a cathedral that appeared to be built into the cavern, but it seemed more than a little run down, as if nobody has ever set foot inside for years.

"These are the ruins of a church…" Sho observed.

"Hey guys, look." Gray pointed to a familiar symbol at the top of the church's entrance. "Isn't that the emblem for the Order of the Sword?"

"You're right, it is!" Trish looked in surprise with everyone else. "But… why is it upside down?"

It was true, the emblem for the Order of the Sword was visible to all of them, but it also appeared to be upside down, and for some reason, it also appeared to be etched into a stone circle.

"Isn't the Order a new organization?" Lyon wondered. "Why would their emblem be in a place like this?"

"Something's telling me the Order isn't as 'new' as everyone thinks. There's more to it than meets the eye." Juvia said. "But I'm also wondering about these floating rocks cubes."

"They've got these weird markings on every side of them. Almost kinda look like arrows." Trish pointed out.

"I think we're gonna have a much better chance of finding the clock piece if we split up." Gray said. "I'll take a look inside the church."

As the group split into opposite directions to try and find their target, Juvia couldn't help but ponder at the meaning of the arrows on each of the cubes before also looking toward the Order's emblem. "Hmm, could it be…?"

Meanwhile, inside the church ruins, Gray turned over pretty much every rock and broken beam, but he couldn't find anything other than more rubble, and it was starting to get annoying.

"Gray, come out here for a moment." He heard Lyon call him, causing him to walk back outside to see everyone else working with the rock-cubes, which appeared to be moving in specific directions.

"What are you guys doing?" Gray asked.

"Experimenting." Trish answered. "Look at this." She applied some of her demonic power to a rock cube, specifically the side of it that had an arrow pointing straight up, causing the whole cube to ascend. "These arrow-markings are here for a reason. It's pieces to a puzzle."

"What sort of puzzle?" Gray asked.

"Take a look at the emblem again, my love." Juvia told Gray. "Doesn't it look odd to you?"

Gray then noticed what she was referring to. "It's upside down."

"And I don't think it's unintentional." Juvia explained. "These clock pieces were sealed away by Sparda, and we know from Dante that he had a preference for elaborate puzzles. Take another look at the emblem, what else do you notice?"

He tried to look again, but Gray didn't seem to find what she was talking about. "I'm not sure."

"There are holes along the side." Sho told him. "Five holes, like points on a pentagram."

"And they're all shaped like cubes as well." Lyon added. "I believe that our goal is turn the emblem right-side-up. Well, it's what Juvey seems to think."

"Yes I… hey! I told you to never call me that again!" Juvia exclaimed shyly to Lyon, causing him to look in comic shock.

'Oh no! Perhaps my lack of formality has upset her!' He thought to himself before speaking again. "Sorry, Miss Juvey!" He apologized dramatically, but it only caused Juvia to shudder even more.

"Will you two knock it off already?! Get serious!" Gray exclaimed.

This however, only caused Juvia to blush with hearts in her eyes. 'My beloved Gray is in a jealous rage! It just shows how much he cares!'

"Hey, in case you guys all forgot, we're on a mission!" Trish also exclaimed, losing her patience as well. "You can play matchmaker later, so focus!"

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down!" Sho got in the literal middle of the group. "Let's follow Juvia's plan, because it's the only one we got right now."

This seemed to get everyone to focus on their objective as they each began to apply their magic or demonic power to the rock cubes, moving them in specific directions before each of the five holes on the circle around the emblem were filled. The visible arrows on the surfaces each seemed to be pointing counterclockwise in the same direction.

"Okay, now let's all apply our power to each of the arrows at once." Lyon said as they each focused their power on one specific arrow, causing the entire circle to turn, and the emblem in the center as well. Before long, the emblem for the Order of the Sword was now right-side-up.

"It worked!" Gray exclaimed with triumph. "And it's all thanks to you, Juvia!"

"Are you proud of me, my love?!" Juvia exclaimed with hearts in her eyes.

"Don't celebrate just yet!" Trish warned as the emblem suddenly began to glow a bright light, causing them all to shield their eyes.

"What's going on?!" Sho exclaimed.

"Is this light or magic power?!" Lyon also exclaimed.

"You mean we're still not done with this thing?" Gray said in annoyed expression as they were completely engulfed by the mysterious light.

---

Meanwhile, Dante's team had walked down the stone staircase that led them deep underground, the only light source coming from Natsu and Romeo as they each held a fire in his hands. "Geeze, how far deep are way?" Happy asked.

"No idea, but it's gotta be really deep if sunlight doesn't get down here." Lucy replied.

However, the group came to a stop once they reached what appeared to be a circular stone door. "Dead end." Dante stated.

Natsu felt his hand along the doorway and groaned in annoyance. "This one's the same as the other one. It's been sealed shut with magic."

"Maybe there's a keyhole here too?" Lisanna suggested.

Michelle tried to get a good look herself. "I'm not seeing any kind of openings."

Dante took out Rebellion again and waved his sword in front of the door, thinking it might identify the blade or something, but got no response. "Nope, looks like we're gonna have to try something different."

"Don't worry, this kind of puzzle-solving is right up my alley." Lucy said with confidence. "All we have to do is say the correct phrase, and it'll open up."

"How do you know?" Romeo asked.

"There's no doorknob, no keyhole, no other way to open it." Lucy replied. "When that's the case, it's usually because we need to say a password or something."

"You got any ideas, Lucy?" Lisanna asked.

"Let's try the obvious first. Open Sesame!" Lucy tried, but nothing happened. "No such luck, huh?"

Dante began to think for a minute before an idea came to mind. "Hang on, everyone stand back." He said as he closed his eyes and concentrated his demonic power. Suddenly, his body was engulfed in a red flash has he transformed into his Devil Trigger, much to everyone's surprise.

"Whoa! He's using his Devil Trigger?!" Happy exclaimed.

"I've seen him do it before during his fight against Laxus, but seeing it up close… he looks so amazing!" Michelle exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes like a fangirl.

"Whoa… Dante are you gonna try to break it down?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yeah! Now we're talking!" Natsu stated excitedly.

"Relax, I'm not gonna smash anything." Devil Trigger Dante stated as he looked directly toward the door. "Open Sesame."

Once that was said, the doorway slid open, much to everyone's surprise before Dante turned back to normal.

"Hey, it worked!" Lisanna smiled.

"How come it didn't open when I said it though?" Lucy questioned.

"This place was sealed by my dad." Dante explained. "Figured hearing the phrase spoken by a demon who has his kind of power would get it open."

"That does seem to make sense." Michelle nodded.

"How'd you know it be 'Open Sesame'?" Romeo asked.

"I didn't, just guessed." Dante shrugged.

"Am I the only one who finds it kinda funny that Sparda of all people used the pass phrase, 'Open Sesame?'" Happy wondered with a snicker.

"Hey, enough blabbering, we got a job to do! Let's go!" Natsu was the first to run into the doorway, followed by the rest of the group.

The next chamber they entered was rather large, which became known as torches lit along the walls almost automatically once the team entered, allowing them to see a pedestal in the center of the chamber that appeared to have a stone sword sticking out of it, the handle pointing upward. But what really got their attention, was the large emblem inscribed along each of the walls.

"Hey guys, it's the emblem of the Order of the Sword!" Lisanna pointed out.

"Looks like those archeologist guys were right." Romeo pointed out. "Maybe the Order is older than we think."

"Nice, but we're not here for sight-seeing." Dante got everyone on track as he looked around the area. "I'm not seeing any other doorways or anything."

"Maybe this stone sword in the middle of the room might be the key." Michelle suggested as she got a good look at it.

"Hey, yeah. Good idea, Michelle." Lucy said as she grabbed the hilt. "I've read a ton of adventure stories. When the heroes get stuck, they do this." She was about to turn the handle, but Lisanna quickly put her hands on Lucy's to stop her.

"I've read some of those stories too, Lucy." Lisanna told her. "And sometimes that also triggers a booby trap that almost gets the heroes killed."

"Fair point, but there isn't anything else here so…" Lucy turned it anyway. As soon as she did, all four walls on the sides opened to reveal massive stone faces of Sparda himself as the entire chamber began to shake.

"Whoa! Is that Sparda?!" Romeo exclaimed.

"Yeah! Four of them!" Lucy exclaimed.

Suddenly, the stone faces began to close in on the group. "It appears to be a trap!" Michelle exclaimed with distress.

"I tried to tell you!" Lisanna also exclaimed.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy exclaimed back.

Natsu blasted a fire breath attack at one of the faces, but he didn't even scratch it. "No good! We're gonna get crushed!"

"Oh no we're not!" Dante exclaimed as the whole group stuck closer together. "Beowulf!" Dante quipped his Devil Arm gauntlet and grieves. "Natsu! Smash the ground!"

"You got it!" Natsu cupped both his fists together, lighting them on fire as he smashed the ground, along with Dante who punched the ground at the same time. Their combined strength caused the whole floor to collapse, which led to the entire group falling into a deep abyss just as the stone faces met, the heroes narrowly avoiding being crushed.

Most of the group screamed as they fell into the pit, but Dante was the first to spring into action as he kicked from the nearest wall to propel him toward Michelle, where he quickly grabbed her and held her close with one arm, while using his other hand to draw Rebellion and drive it into the wall to stop his fall. At the same time, Happy sprouted his wings and caught Natsu, while Lisanna activated her Harpy Take Over and grabbed a hold of Lucy while Romeo coated his hands and feet in purple flame to grab and stick to the nearest wall.

"Is everyone alright?" Dante asked all around, getting responses from everyone before addressing the girl in his arms. "What about you Michelle, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She assured.

"Did you guys really have to smash the floor like that?!" Lucy questioned.

"Hey, it got us out of there, didn't it?!" Natsu argued.

"Now's not the time to argue, you guys!" Lisanna told them.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Happy asked as they all looked down the pit.

"Looks like the only way left is down." Romeo observed.

"Then let's get going." Dante stated.

---

Juvia's eyes slowly opened as she attempted to pick herself up. "Where are we, darling?" She asked Gray as he was on his hands and knees as well.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure how we ended up in this place." Gray replied. They looked around to find that they, along with Trish, Lyon, and Sho ended up in a completely different space. It seemed to stretch on in all directions infinitely like a void. The only other things besides them were a series of circular gates that formed a massive, odd-shaped loop, all across the void, along with even more several floating bricks.

"If I had to guess, I'd say we got sucked into some kind of pocket dimension." Trish assumed. "And I'm willing to bet the clock piece is somewhere here too."

"We got more of those arrow-rock-cubes." Sho observed. "Are we supposed to get through those… gate-things or something?"

"Perhaps." Lyon agreed. "And I bet our target is at the end of them." He was the first to apply his magic to the cubes.

"Maybe we can use our magic to make a path out of these rocks." Gray said as he applied his magic along with Juvia.

"It's worth a try." Juvia added as Trish and Sho did the same.

As they intended, most of the rock-cubes in front of them all came together to form a straight path that would enable them to walk through several of the circular gates ahead.

"It worked, come on let's go." Trish said as they all began to walk along their make-shift path.

Gray gave a slight groan. "No offense to Sparda, but I'd like to get my hands on him for coming up with all this elaborate nonsense."

Suddenly, the group heard a familiar Elvis-style whistle. "I don't appreciate folks who talk smack about our savior."

"Sugarboy!" Trish exclaimed, seeing the knight from the Order standing dramatically on top of one of the gates in front of them.

"You know it, the one and only." Sugarboy replied with his trademark smirk. "I knew I could get to the church on time, but let me tell ya what, getting in was a whole other story all together. But I'm not one for crying in the chapel baby! So, thanks for getting me in. You may be shabby wizards, but you sure help me out!"

"Son of a bitch! The guy used us!" Gray exclaimed in frustration.

"I take it he's the enemy?" Lyon questioned as they all leapt to several different floating cubes around him, ready for battle.

"Yes, he's with the Order of the Sword!" Juvia stated.

"We can take him!" Sho said as he drew a hand of magic cards. "Five against one!"

"Oh, come on baby, you folks don't believe I came here by myself, did ya?" Sugarboy snapped his fingers, and on cue, four more figures descended toward the group. Three Bianco Angelos and one lead Alto Angelo.

"Crap, not these things again!" Gray groaned.

"They're Angelo soldiers!" Trish exclaimed.

"That's right baby." Sugarboy sang. "I'll let you guys get acquainted while I get what I came here for. But I might was well throw in something special from me to you." He sang into his wooden microphone, sending a large clump of his green slime at the group, forcing Gray, Trish, and Sho to leap back and avoid getting caught in it; however, Lyon and Juvia weren't so lucky.

"What is this stuff?!" Lyon exclaimed as he and Juvia found themselves immobile in the substance.

"Show's over now!" Sugarboy sang as he applied his magic to the cubes behind him, further clearing the path for himself. "Sugarboy is leaving the building." He leapt down to the path of rocks and slid along them on a clump of his 'hound dogs'.

"Get back here!" Trish tried to shoot a series of electric bullets from her Umbre gun, only for the Alto Angelo to quickly fly and block the attack with a slice from its sword before it attacked her, forcing her to block and parry with the Sparda sword.

"Hang on! I'll get you guys out!" Gray tried to free Lyon and Juvia.

"My love, behind you!" Juvia warned, just in time too as Gray could only barley dodge a lance-thrust from one Bianco Angelo soldier.

"Damn it." Gray muttered. "These things are really getting on my last nerve."

"Gray, don't worry about us!" Lyon told him. "Go after him! Remember our mission, I can handle this. We trained under the same master, remember?"

Gray scowled, not liking the idea of leaving his friends behind, but he knew they could handle themselves, not to mention acquiring the clock pieces before the Order came primary. "Fine… good look." He created an ice-column under his feet to propel himself into the air, while also avoiding the thrusting lances of two Bianco Angelos that tried to stop him. He flipped over one gate, but as he was about to land, the other Bianco Angelo attempted to attack from behind, only a for a series of fire-projectiles to strike it, knocking the Bianco Angelo off its course as it diverted its attention to Sho.

"Hey! You better stay focused on me!" Sho exclaimed to the Angelo before throwing more magic cards in its direction, forcing the Angelo to block it with its winged shield before going on the attack.

"I trust you have a plan for us to escape?" Juvia asked Lyon as they were still stuck.

"Yes, I do." Lyon said as he began to release a great deal of magic power. "Brace yourself, Miss Juvey, it's about to get rather cold."

'I told you not to call me that again!' Juvia comically shuddered.

Trish and Sho came back-to-back as they each shot out their respective attacks of lightning and card-projectiles, but the attacks were blocked by two Bianco Angelos as all four Angelos surrounded the duo.

"These things are way tougher than they look." Sho stated.

"Yeah, they really gave us a headache before." Trish said as they prepared themselves. However, before the Angelos could go on the attack, a large explosion was heard, diverting everyone's attention to a blast of ice as Lyon and Juvia had broken free of their restraints to blast the Angelos with a combined attack of ice and water. Though they were able to block the attack, all four Angelos were sent flying back from the force before they stabilized themselves.

"How did you guys get out of there?" Sho questioned as Lyon and Juvia regrouped with them.

"I released more magic power than the substance could absorb, thus freezing it." Lyon answered. "Now, what exactly are we dealing with here?"

"They're artificial soldiers created by the Order." Trish explained as quickly and as best as she could. "We're not sure how, but the Order somehow brought these armors to life with demonic power."

"But they're not truly people, or even alive for that matter." Lyon stated with a small smirk as he and his comrades came to the same realization.

"And if that's the case, we don't need to hold back." Juvia said as she began to generate a powerful swirl of water around her body, with Trish channeling her lightning into the Devil Sword Sparda, Sho drawing ten cards in both his hands, and Lyon taking an Ice-Make stance as he readied his magic; all of them facing the group of Angelos that charged forward head-on.

---

Meanwhile, Sugarboy appeared to have made it rather far from the action as he glanced back to see if he had any pursuers, but it did not appear to be the case. "If those wizarding folks were gonna catch up, it's now or never."

"How about now?" He heard Gray's voice in surprise to see Gray standing in front of him, with only a gap from unmoved rock-cubes separating them.

"Hot dog, I didn't even see em coming! Man!" Sugarboy exclaimed.

"Why don't you take a look around you, pal?" Gray gestured to the ring of gates and rock-cubes, all of which seemed to have been connected together with only the gap in front of them keeping the whole thing incomplete at the moment.

"Uh-huh, so you noticed these gates form one giant loop. Impressive, Ice-boy." Sugarboy commented.

"Not exactly a perfect circle, but it's not hard to figure out if you just pay attention." Gray replied. "My friends can handle all your Angelo pals, that just leaves you and me."

"I guess if I want you off my hide, I'll just have to settle things once and for all." Sugarboy channeled his magic power into one of the two remaining rock-cubes and attempted to chuck it at Gray like a blunt weapon.

"I'm about to kick the crap out of you, just like in Edolas!" Gray declared as he mirrored his enemy's actions with the only remaining rock-cube.

However, both cubes collided with each other and fell into the gap, thus incidentally completing the ring. Once completed, the entire loop of rock-cubes began to glow along the path that formed within each of the gates. Everything glowed, which also got the attention of Trish, Lyon, Juvia, and Sho as they continued to duke it out with the Angelo soldiers.

From a bird's eye view, one could see that the loop itself took the silhouette form of a head that resembled Sparda himself, complete with the horns on the side. Once the entire loop glowed, all the light shinned toward the center of the loop to reveal the clock piece that had been sealed away, which appeared to be a giant clock engine.

"Is that it?" Gray questioned.

"Sweet Caroline…." Sugarboy said with awe.

Gray immediately threw off his shirt, getting serious now that his target was in sight. "You're not getting your hands on it, ya hear me?!"

"Hey now, whathcya stripping for?!" Sugarboy looked in surprise.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Gray exclaimed, but for some reason, Sugarboy saw him with a dreamy smile. "Because… I'm ready."

"Whoa jack! I don't know how to respond to that without things getting real weird." Sugarboy said with a blush, causing Gray to look confused. "Hot dog… now I'm all shook up!" Sugarboy said as his body began to shake slightly. "What's… this feeling…? My heart can't seem to stop… pounding…"

To say Gray was confused would be an understatement, but something inside him told him that he already knew what was going on, but he wasn't sure he liked it. "Huh….?"

---

Meanwhile, Dante's team had managed to make it to the bottom of the pit, into a massive underground chamber that had a series large and identical statue along the sides, each one looking like Sparda, only he was clad in a robe as opposed to armor, with his sword being held and pointed downward. Along the sides appeared to be a large number of coffins, from top to bottom.

The team regrouped once they reached the bottom to observe their new surroundings. "Where are we now?" Natsu asked.

"Don't know, but this place is even weirder than the last one." Happy commented.

Lisanna got a good look at one of the coffins that was closest to her. "Hey guys… I think these are coffins."

"All of them?!" Romeo exclaimed. "There must be hundreds of these things!"

"But… if that's truly the case…?" Michelle said with an uneasy tone.

"This is a tomb." Dante finished with a serious expression.

"There are so many…" Lucy looked around. "What could have happened….?"

Michelle began to think before a theory came to her. "We've seen the emblem for the Order of the Sword before coming down here, right? And we know from those archeologists that the Order may have existed in the past, even possibly founded by Sparda himself. Perhaps this place is where their remains were kept."

"That does make sense." Lisanna seemed to agree. "But still… this many people… I can't even imagine how it happened."

"You mean the fact my old man recruited so many people? Or that all these folks ended up losing their lives to something pretty nasty?" Dante questioned.

"Both." Lisanna replied.

"Hey, I get this is a tomb and we gotta be respectful and all, but we still need to find that clock piece." Natsu said.

"He's right. We don't have time to explore, let's go." Dante said as the group walked straight forward. As they walked, they took notice of just how many coffins there were, and many people within the group seemed to only be getting more questions than answers, with Dante looking to be contemplating the most, something his cousin noticed.

"Something up, Dante?" Lucy asked.

"Ya know, it's kinda funny." Dante began as the group continued to walk forward. "Every time I think I got my old man figured out, something completely unexpected pops up. First, I find out my dad's a demon, then I learn he's a demon who fought against the Underworld, then I find out he fought with freaking dragons against the Underworld, then we all learn that he's a founder of Fairy Tail… now this?"

"Yeah… kinda all seems like a lot, doesn't it?" Lucy seemed to agree.

"Well, a lot can happen in two thousand years." Michelle pointed out. "I imagine that he's done a lot of great and incredible things during that time."

"Like founding an army of followers?" Dante questioned. "I mean, look at how many of these things there are!"

"Sparda did save the world, probably a few hundred times even." Lisanna pointed out. "So, it makes sense that a lot people wanted to follow him."

"But why did it vanish?" Romeo wondered. "Those archeologists said that the Order just disappeared suddenly."

"Maybe something bad happened that made everyone quit." Happy suggested.

"I don't know about all of you, but I got a feeling that clock-thing we're looking for has got a lot to do with it." Natsu said.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna get an answer soon." Dante said. "But I don't think it's gonna be a good one." However, the group came to a stop as their path ended, revealing what appeared to be a dark chasm that laid out in front of them.

"Another dead end?" Natsu questioned.

"I can't see anything down there." Michelle said.

Lisanna got an idea. "Natsu, throw a fireball down there."

"Kay, got it." The Salamander generated a fireball in his hands, which he threw down the chasm, revealing a stone staircase that zigzagged across the sides of cliff they were standing on top of, stretching all the way down to the bottom.

"We got more stairs. And stairs usually lead somewhere." Dante said.

"And I'm willing to bet the clock piece is at the bottom." Lucy said. "Let's go." She and Dante were the first to begin walking down the stairs, followed by the rest of their friends.

---

Meanwhile, back in the pocket dimension, Trish clashed her blade against that of the Alto Angelo before leaping backwards to land on one of the hovering gates, thrusting her hand forward to blast a bolt of lightning toward her enemy, which blocked the attack with its' wing-shield before flying directly toward her and swinging its sword, forcing Trish to limbo under the strike before kicking it's armored chest, channeling her lightning into her foot to knock it back, but the Alto Angelo stood its ground before getting back up.

"Damn it." Trish muttered in frustration before going on the attack again.

"Ice-Make: Eagle!" Lyon shot a series of ice-eagles at the Bianco Angelo he was facing, but it blocked the attack with its wing shield before lunging its lance toward him, forcing Lyon to dodge and roll along the side. "It appears their shields are resistant to magic attacks. The Order seems prepared to face wizards."

"Great, so how does that help us take them down?" Sho questioned as he faced the second Bianco Angelo. "Card Magic: Ace of Flames!" He threw a trio of ace cards, which lit on fire and shot at the Bianco Angelo like a flaming-arrow, but like with the others, the attack was blocked by its wing shield.

Juvia, meanwhile, faced the third Bianco Angelo as she contemplated what her comrades just said and what she learned already of these soldiers. 'Their shields allow them to defend themselves from magic and even demonic effects, which means that the armor itself is not indestructible, from both the outside and even in.'

She stood still as she allowed the Bianco Angelo to lunge at her with its lance, but her body had turned into water, allowing the attack to pass harmlessly through her, but she wasn't done yet. Juvia actually lunged at the Bianco Angelo, her body still in its liquid-state, allowing her to enter through the armor's cracks before fully entering her body inside. The Bianco Angelo looked confused before its whole body began to rumble and quake.

"Water Nebula!" The Bianco Angelo's body exploded as two columns of water erupted outward, destroying the Bianco Angelo from the inside. "They have blind spots! Try to strike them from behind!" She told her allies.

"Yes, that makes sense. Good work Juvey!" Lyon told her as he faced his Bianco Angelo before shooting a cluster of ice toward it, forcing the Angelo to block it with its shield. But while it was focused on what was in front, it made it oblivious to Lyon himself as he leapt over and landed behind his opponent. "Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!" Lyon constructed a large ice-tiger, which lashed out with its claws from behind the Angelo, destroying it with one slice.

Sho ran towards the last Bianco Angelo, ducking underneath the lance-strike, while also sliding underneath its legs to quickly get behind. "Card Magic: Queen of Ice!" He threw three queen cards to strike at the Bianco Angelo's back, causing it to freeze solid before Sho threw out a solid kick, shattering the whole thing with one strike.

Finally, Trish had locked her Sparda sword with the blade of the Alto Angelo, holding her sword with only one hand before using her other to draw her Umbre pistol and shoot at its head, knocking it off its balance, and allowing Trish to swerve around it before slicing downward, coating her blade in lightning to deliver a vertical slice at its back. The damage was powerful enough to cause the Angelo to shatter and explode in electric fashion.

"That's the last of them." Trish commented. "Let's hope Gray got that clock piece."

---

"Go and fetch em, my doggies!" Sugarboy commanded his magic, using a massive column of his green slime to propel himself toward the clock engine that hovered in the center of the loop. "It's over, baby!"

"That's what you think! Gotcha!" Gray shot his magic directly at the slime, freezing it in place and halting Sugarboy's advance.

"Wow… now that's what I call chilly." Sugarboy commented.

"Ice-Make: Floor!" Gray than used his magic to make himself an ice-bridge straight toward the clock engine. But Sugarboy wasn't done yet.

"Watch this." Sugarboy then somehow began to superheat his slime, causing the ice around it to melt away while he also shook his knees like a certain famous musician. "I'm on fire, baby! I got a fever I can't control! You can't stop this hunk of burning love!"

Gray ran as fast as he could toward the clock engine just as Sugarboy broke free and lunged himself toward the hovering clock part as well. However, both ended up touching the engine at the same time, causing it, and both individuals to be engulfed in a flash of light before they all vanished.

This did not go unnoticed by the rest of Gray's group. "Where'd they go?!" Sho exclaimed.

"They just vanished into thin air!" Juvia stated.

"Doubtful. More likely they went back to wherever they came from" Lyon deduced.

"And that light might be our only way back too. Let's go!" Trish stated as she leapt toward the blinking light, followed by Juvia, Lyon, and Sho.

---

It was true, both Gray and Sugarboy, along with the large clock engine they held, had been transported back to just outside the ruins of the church everyone was at before, and the two appeared to be wrestling for the engine, but it seemed only Gray was taking it seriously for some reason.

"Would you just give me this damn thing already?!" Gray exclaimed.

"You really think I'm gonna hand it over to you! Please!" Sugarboy stated, only just noticing that his hand was touching Gray's. "Huh?"

"You'd better let go of it right now! Cause if you don't, I'm gonna…!" Gray began, only for Sugarboy to look into his eyes and see a delusion of Gray smiling and blushing at him. "…fall head over heels, in love."

Sugarboy's face blushed. "Oooh, ha, ha… yeah baby. I found one handsome man."

"Where'd that come from?!" Gray exclaimed, only to look mortified once he realized what Sugarboy was implying. "Hey! Just so you know, I'm not into guys!"

"Oooh, your heart is as frosty as your biceps are bulging." Sugarboy said. "In that case Ice-boy, I'll just force my feelings on you! Yeah! I'm just a hunk! A hunk of burning love!" From his chest, he unleashed a massive cluster of orange slime that completely engulfed Gray, and it seemed to be burning him as well.

"Oh man! It's so hot!" Gray shouted as he tried to escape.

"It's spicey, ain't it?" Sugarboy danced. "Just a little something I picked up from your pal, Natsu. Ya know, now that I think about it, he and that Dante-fellow seems like man's men too."

"I'll show you!" Gray exclaimed as he tried to take his titular stance, generating as much of his ice magic as he could. "This is nothing! I can bust out of here!"

"Oooh… that look… I like it." Sugarboy said with a blushing grin. "Come on Ice-boy, let's boogey!" However, he was forced back by a series of water, ice, electric, and card attacks from Gray's comrades.

"Geeze, you gonna let this guy keep playing around with you Gray?!" Trish told him. "Come on! Show him what makes you a Fairy Tail wizard!"

"While I couldn't care less for your reputation as a guild wizard, I won't let you bring shame to Ur's name!" Lyon also stated.

Suddenly, Gray exploded out of the slime prison with a massive cluster of ice. "No way in hell that's gonna happen! I won't tarnish her or Fairy Tail! Come on! Hit him with everything you got!"

"With pleasure." Trish said as she channeled a large surge of lightning into the Devil Sword Sparda. "This is what happens to people who screw with our guild!" She swung her blade to send out a large arc of lightning while the others followed suit with similar attacks.

"Water Cyclone!"

"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"

"Card Magic: Ace of Flames!"

"Ice-Make: Arrow!"

All five attacks shot right at Sugarboy, who couldn't help but stare at Gray with a dazed smile. "Oooh… hot dignity!" This however left him open for the conjoined attack to hit him with explosive results, sending him flying and crashing against the cavern wall, before sliding down in defeat, bruised and battered.

"We're done here." Gray said as he regrouped with the rest of his team and picked up the clock engine. "And I'll be taking this with me."

"Why… why…?" Sugarboy muttered. "Come on don't be cruel… Why you gotta check me into the heart-break hotel…?" He questioned before falling unconscious, leaving only Gray to shudder in comic revulsion.

---

Meanwhile, back with Dante's team, they had finally managed to make it to the bottom of the stone staircase, finding themselves in what appeared to be the ancient ruins of an old city built from and into the caverns they were traversing. Their path appeared to be lit by a series of candles that had somehow stayed lit for hundreds of years.

"Hey guys, where are we?" Romeo wondered.

"It must be the lowest level of the tomb." Michelle guessed.

"Kinda looks like a city to me." Happy pointed out.

"Maybe this was the original base for the old Order." Lisanna theorized. "Maybe this is where they lived."

"Seems big enough to hold the entire population of Magnolia and still have room to spare." Lucy commented.

"I don't know who could ever live down here." Dante stated. "There's no sunlight or anything, just all these weird candles. I'd probably go stir-crazy."

"We've gotta find a little clock piece in a huge place like this?" Natsu questioned with irritation.

"Can't you sniff it out, Natsu?" Romeo asked him.

"Nah, it's like the clock hand. For some reason, I can't really smell it." Natsu replied before sniffing the air as he caught a familiar whiff. "But I do smell something. We ain't alone down here."

Suddenly, Dante came to a stop in front of the group, much to most of their confusion, which turned into surprise as he drew Rebellion in one hand and Ivory in the other. "Heads up. We got company."

Dante glanced upward, with everyone else following his gaze toward the top of a structure, only look in shock to see three certain individuals from the Order of the Sword had also arrived: consisting of Dan Straight, Coco, and the mysterious Nero.

Done.

And so, our heroes in Fairy Tail have split up and began to search for the clock pieces, while also being joined by allies from other guilds as well. Gray and his team have already recovered one clock piece, with only four more to go, having defeated Sugarboy in the process. But, Dante, Natsu, and their team are now about to square off against Nero, Dan, and Coco for the clock piece hidden in the tomb.

We've also learned a few more things. The Order might be older than our heroes realize, and there is even evidence to suggest Sparda has found the Order. Not to mention the Archeological Society the heroes had run into may have been acquainted with Sparda and the Heartfilia family. Hopefully, we'll be getting some answers soon.

But it's not just Fairy Tail that's looking for answers; while Nero is off on his mission, he has shared his doubts of the Order with Kyrie, who has agreed to do some investigating of her own while everyone else is locating the clock pieces. For this story, I decided to expand on Kyrie's role quite a bit. In the cannon game, she didn't serve as much outside the protagonist's main love interest and typical damsel in destress; here however, she is beginning to see that not all is right with the Order, and I even gave her some magic power (you can see she has healing abilities, but she's got a lot more than that. Her magic is actually something very special, which you will learn about later in this arc).

How will our heroes fair in this race against the clock? (Pun entirely intended, LOL). Find out next time on Fairy May Cry