After the first wave of attacks finished, everyone began to gather back to the guild to recuperate. Though Natsu wanted to continue fighting, Happy insisted that he follow Mavis' orders since they can't go on fighting without any sleep. The fire dragon slayer didn't want to admit it, but he was definitely feeling sleep overtake his body and reluctantly agreed to his partner's suggestion. They survived the night, after a good night's rest they can fight more when daylight comes.
Once everyone arrived back to the guild, glad that they were able to ward off the first wave of attacks, Wendy began going around healing any injuries with the help of Carla, Mira, Levy and Lisanna. Everyone didn't seem to have many serious injuries and it didn't take much magic energy to heal, the only one who seemed to be in bad shape was Erza. It was to be expected as she was the one who faced off with one of the Spriggan 12.
Speaking of the Spriggan 12, Mavis was silently worried about them. During the first wave, Warren had mentioned he detected three of the Spriggan 12 within Magnolia. One was Ajeel, whom Erza defeated and Wall, whose copy was defeated by the Thunder Legion. However, the third one remains a mystery and it seems that no one had encountered them during the battle. It was as if the third was no longer present or perhaps had decided to flee upon their comrades' defeat. But Mavis believed that to be highly unlikely.
Luckily, she didn't have to worry any further as a knock came from the front door and a familiar voice began to speak. "Wow, glad to see you guys in such high spirits! I have a delivery for you but mind if I join the fun?"
When the guild heard her voice, they all turned around with wide eyes to see Lucy standing at the guild doors while carrying an unconscious Brandish, one of the Spriggan 12, on her back. No one said a word as they stared at the blonde girl before them. She was exactly how they all remembered her, her hair tied up into a high side ponytail and wearing an outfit of her classic colours of blue and white. Natsu and Happy had to blink and rub their eyes just make sure she wasn't an illusion.
"L-Lucy!?" Many were able to choke out, causing the blonde empress to chuckle. "Y-You're here!?"
"What? Do you know any other Wizard Saint that goes by that name?" She asked in a joking manner. "Gheez, it almost sounds like none of you guys wanted me to come back. I'm kind of hurt."
Lucy stepped further into the guild hall, everyone not only staring at her but also wondering who the unconscious green haired girl was. Once she was in the centre of the guild, she gently brought Brandish down from her back so that she laid on the floor. When Makarov saw her, he instantly recognized her as one of the Spriggan 12 and stared wide eyed at Lucy, impressed that she could take on one of the twelve on her own. But then again, he should've expected it coming from her.
Team Natsu and Mest also recognized the green haired woman and remained paralyzed like their fellow guildmates. When encountering Brandish on Caracol Island, they couldn't believe the amount of magic power she had. Even if Lucy is the Dragon Empress, there was no way she couldn't have thought the same. But the blonde girl seemed indifferent with the shocked expression on Makarov's face, instead just scratching the back of her head with a sheepish smile on her face.
"You were able to capture her!? All on your own?" Makarov asked. "One of the Spriggan 12!?"
"Hehe... to say I captured her isn't quite accurate." Lucy admitted as she looked down to the unconscious girl. "I was actually on my way here when I encountered her, so I asked if she wanted to come with me!"
"You what!?" Macao and Wakaba exclaimed.
"Oh relax, you old geezers and lemme finish." She retorted, making the two zip their mouths. "She agreed and we both walked over here in silence away from all the fighting, but around halfway here, I introduced myself and she began attacking me like crazy. Naturally, I began to fight back but all of a sudden a large gust of wind came and she began sneezing because of the pollen."
"You won because pollen helped you!?" Jet and Droy exclaimed.
Lucy just shrugged as Mira began to put magic cancelling cuffs on Brandish's wrists and smiled. "Anyway, I knocked her out and here we are!" She said. "It feels like it's been forever since I've been here! I guess twenty three years in the Dragon Realm and two days in the Celestial World would do that to you."
"Twenty three!? You spent twenty three years in the Dragon Realm!?" Many asked.
"LUCY!" Erza, Wendy, Carla, Happy, Levy and Mira cried as they tackled her into a hug.
"We're sorry for not being there when you came back! We should've waited for you to return before going our separate ways!" Levy said at such a fast rate. "Gosh, I'm such a terrible best friend!"
"When the dragons took you away, we were worried that you wouldn't have been able to come back!" Mira added.
"Lucy, I grant you to hit me for not waiting for you!" Erza said.
"I don't think she would do that even if you asked, Erza." Wendy replied for the blonde.
"Aw c'mon guys you know I wouldn't hold that against you!" Lucy reassured patting each of the girls on the head while the other members of the guild just felt relieved that the blonde empress wasn't angry at them like they feared. "I'm sure you had your reasons and besides, it was my fault for taking so long to recover!"
Natsu and Happy just stared at Lucy with wide eyes. As everyone began listening to Levy's explanation on Lucy being in the Dragon Realm and Celestial World together for a total of nine months on Earthland, the duo didn't know how to approach her. The dragon slayer in particular couldn't place his finger on it, but he just felt like there was something off about Lucy. Something in his gut was just screaming at him that something was different about her, that there was more to her convenient arrival with Brandish than she let on.
He thought it had something to do with Igneel, since he did just run off with Happy to train without telling the Fire Dragon King, but even that didn't seem to be the right answer. There was a war going on and there was no way he'd ask Igneel or any of the dragons to fight his battles for him. However, Natsu's thoughts froze as he and Lucy made eye contact and the blonde girl just smiled at him the same way as he remembered. He would just have to push these conflicting thoughts away for awhile.
Lucy pulled herself from the hug, the girls separating as everyone just watched the blonde approach her best friend and his blue exceed. The smile never left her face and once she was in front of him, Lucy changed her smile to a toothy grin and tilted her head. "Long time no see, you two! Haven't seen you in awhile, how are you?"
Happy didn't care anymore and just tackled Lucy into a hug, the girl taking him in her arms as she cradled him to her chest. "Lucy! We were so worried you forgot about us! We thought we wouldn't be able to see you or the dragons ever again!"
"Silly Happy, I know you've been training for a year but who do you take me for!? Of course, I'd come back!"
The blonde empress then looked at Natsu and smiled as Happy continued to cuddle into her chest, his small body taking in her warmth. Lucy raised her fist so that he could bump his own against hers, and the dragon slayer just smirked and did just that. Their family was finally complete again and that was all that mattered. "Welcome back, Luce."
"Glad to be back, Natsu."
"You sure came back just in time, Bunny Girl." Gajeel finally spoke up. "But, the explanation is kind of long."
"Oh I don't need an explanation." Lucy reassured, waving a hand in front of her face. "I may have been stuck in the Dragon Realm and Celestial world for more than half a year here, but for the remaining three months, I have been doing my own investigation."
"Your own investigation?" Makarov asked to which Lucy nodded.
"I actually came back three days after you all left. When I did and found the guild abandoned, I found the basement underneath the rubble. I found First Master's body and began my research with Grandpa Crux and Loke's help. So I already know about Lumen Histoire and that Zeref wants it."
Lucy then began summarizing her twenty three years in the Dragon Realm, two days in the Celestial World and her three months on Earthland. After figuring out what Lumen Histoire is and returning to the Dragon Realm, the dragon slayers' dragon parents then began informing her of what had transpired after she and Igneel was rendered unconscious. That was when Kumiko and Mirai informed her of the incoming war in the nearing future with Fairy Tail, Alvarez and Acnologia being at the centre of the battle.
After hearing that, the blonde empress began her training again, this time in her dragon form. Knowing that Acnologia was going to involved in this battle, Lucy knew she had to become stronger in order to properly defeat Acnologia. The chaos dragon had lived for many centuries, she couldn't risk her dragons' safety again. Igneel passionately refused her idea, but Lucy made it very clear that she wouldn't allow the Fire Dragon King do what is her responsibility as Empress.
So instead, Igneel sighed and began warning her of what the possible purposes of the war is. It was either Zeref's final attempt at suicide by the hands of E.N.D or to take Lumen Histoire from Fairy Tail to attain power to start anew, whatever that meant Lucy did not know. At the sudden mention of E.N.D, Natsu and Gray's eyes widened more so than the rest of the guild. The fact that Lucy mentioned the unknown Etherious demon as a possible purpose for the war meant that the demon would somehow be a part of it.
"Igneel told you about E.N.D, Luce!?"
"Does that mean you know who E.N.D is!?" Gray added.
Lucy's expression became serious and unreadable at their questions, crossing her arms as she evaded eye contact from them. "Yes... I do. And... he is here... in Magnolia."
"What?" Many in the guild asked with a gasp, however, Lucy didn't give them a moment to freak out or ask any more questions.
"But I will not tell you where he is specifically or who he is."
"But Luce-"
"There is a reason Igneel wasn't able to kill E.N.D all those years ago and I completely understand that reason." She continued to say, not allowing Natsu to protest. "As such, I don't plan on helping kill E.N.D either... it isn't right."
"Lucy are you crazy!?" Gray cried. "He's a monster! A demon Zeref created! We can't just let him roam free on Earthland!"
As everyone began to protest to her decision, yelling at her to tell them who E.N.D is, Makarov noticed Lucy's conflicted yet unwavering gaze as she looked away from her nakama's eyes. As much as he too was confused with her reasoning, he knew that gaze all too well and made his fist grow as he slammed it on the ground to cause the guild floors to shake. The sudden smash causing everyone to stop and some fall to the ground. Silence filling the guild as the blonde looked to her guild master.
"That is enough out of you. This isn't the time to be bickering amongst yourselves." He said, much to the disapproval to some guild members. "If Lucy says it isn't right, then I trust her judgment. She has a reason we shall soon understand, but not now."
"Thank you for your trust, Master." Lucy said with a grateful small smile as he just bowed his head in response. "I may not be able to tell you who E.N.D is at the moment, but I can guarantee you... he is not the monster or demon you may think he is."
The guild didn't say anything in response to her statement, out of both uncertainty and shock. They knew that there was no way that Lucy would be able to say that with such conviction unless she truly believed in that statement. However, they still couldn't deny that this was Zeref's greatest demon she was talking about. The same kind of demons that ruthlessly destroyed their guild hall, killed many former magic council members and nearly took away all of Earthland's supply of magic entirely.
"But how can we believe that Lucy?" Lisanna asked in a timid voice.
The blonde empress looked at Lisanna before meeting Natsu's worried gaze and her smile widened into a grin of unwavering certainty. "Because... not once has he ever tried to hurt me, not even now... in my weakened state."
The statement made the whole guild freeze. In just that one simple sentence, Lucy revealed two crucial things: the fact that she has met E.N.D face to face before and that she is currently in a weaker state than normal. As much as the guild wanted to know how the heck Lucy met the unknown demon, Gray was especially curious due to his goal to kill the demon, they knew that they wouldn't get any more information and thus, focused on the blonde's condition.
"What do you mean 'weakened state', Lu?" Levy asked.
Lucy didn't say anything at first and looked at the time to see that it had gotten quite late and knowing that they were all going to have quite the battle in a few hours, she decided to wrap up the discussion in a few more minutes. Placing Happy down so that he could stand on one of the tables, Lucy brought her hand up and beckoned her celestial fire to her palm. However, unlike the brilliant bright glowing flame it was supposed to be, only a small ember floated above her hand.
"For certain reasons, I can't use any of my dragon slayer magic. This is all I can produce at the moment."