Date: XX/XX/0791

Time: 1815 Approximately

Location: CLASSIFIED…Magic Council Headquarters

Mest stayed quiet as End tapped his boot against the metal table, a weird look on his face as he tried to understand the story that he and Lahar were just told, "That's…did that all really happen? You were the one responsible for the damage done to Hargeon all those years ago?"

End rolled his glowing eyes at the question, "No, weren't you listening? Lucy was the one who summoned the tidal wave and destroyed the port. The only destruction I caused was the various buildings that blew up…as well as the bell tower's bell melting…"

Lahar wrote something down on his notepad rather quickly before looking back at the demon in front of him with calculating eyes, "More importantly, that knife, you said that it's the cause, the catalyst? Something so miniscule…it's hard to believe something like that could have caused all this."

End scratched behind his ear before giving a shrug, "Hey, sometimes the most miniscule of things can have the biggest impacts Lahar. I'm sure any woman you've ever been with knows this better than most." Mest had to physically hold himself to stop from laughing, as Lahar simply furrowed his brow at the insult. End let out a soft chuckle before giving a sigh, "I don't know how, if that's what you're asking. It's not like I took the time to study the runes on the thing before I turned it into slag. It just did. Besides, even though it formed the cracks into what I'd become, it wasn't what made me into this. That happened both a lot later on in the story, as well as a lot earlier."

Mest quirked an eyebrow at the statement, "But…you said that you started at the beginning. How could the event that made you into this happen earlier than the beginning?"

"As well as much later?" Lahar added, his hand scribbling as fast as it could to write something down in his notepad.

End cackled at the questions, "Patience! I just got started telling the tale. In time things will begin to grow clearer…"

Mest didn't like this, how long would they have to wait to get any concrete answers? They knew about the knife, great! But even the demon in front of him told them that it was just the catalyst, the starting point. From the way he talked about it, it seemed that it wasn't just one thing that made the Natsu he knew into a demon in the most literal sense. Though…there was one thing that stayed on his mind, "Whatever happened to Bora of Prominence? You said he had started this little cult in Hargeon, right? So surely that means after he was apprehended the cult went along with him."

Lahar gave him a look, it was a quick one, one that said Lahar knew exactly the answer to the question but didn't want to say it out loud. Luckily, End was more than happy to, "I don't know what happened to not-Igneel after the whole Hargeon fiasco…I assumed you guys just threw him into the slammer after I sent him across town with my magic. As for him being a cult leader…" End tried to hold his composure as best he could, but was unsuccessful in that endeavor, bursting out in a fit of laughter, "That idiot!? Bora of Preposterous!? That fool couldn't lead a dehydrated horse to water even if he was standing in a stream!"

Lahar stopped his scribbling for a second, "Then…who was, or should I say is, the leader of the cult?"

End's hint of a grin grew into a full blown smile at the question, but refused to answer. Instead choosing to simply chuckle and stare as a response. Mest was sure that if he could see the smile through the shadows End cloaked himself in, he'd see the too-big teeth stretching far past what was feasible, just like before.

Mest cleared his throat, it was obvious that they weren't going to get anywhere with him on that topic just yet, "Well then…what happened next? You said you were taking Lucy to Fairy Tail in order to add her to the guild. Could you tell us a little more about that?"

End clicked his tongue before leaning back farther in his chair as he recalled the memories, "Hmmm, let me see…well, it was just a normal everyday morning in the bustling city of Magnolia…"

Lahar and Mest leaned in closer to pay attention to End's continuation of the story.

Natsu made sure to tighten his backpacks straps to his body before taking a deep breath, the streets of Magnolia had just started filling with people getting ready for work and setting off to do early morning chores. Though for Natsu and his two companions, today was a very special day. Today was the day Fairy Tail was getting a new member of their family, Lucy…something…

Natsu's grin faltered as he tried to remember Lucy's last name, surely she had said it when they had first met, right? Hmmm…nope, nadda. Looks like she just went by Lucy. Then again Natsu wasn't the best when it came to remembering the more important details of things…so it's possible that he just forgot. Yesterday was pretty crazy even for a Fairy Tail mage.

"Soooo…is there going to be like an entrance test or something? I'm sure that having you vouch for me is great and all, but if there's something more that I've gotta do to get in, do you think you could give me a heads up?" Lucy fidgeted slightly as they walked together, she was obviously nervous, and it was clear to Natsu that she really wanted to make a good first impression.

Happy popped his big blue head out of Natsu's backpack before giving a cheeky grin, "Wow, for someone who went on and on at the restaurant about how much you knew about Fairy Tail, you sure are clueless, aren't you Lucy?"

Lucy's face contorted into rage at the insult before she tried swiping at the snickering feline, "I'm gonna kill you cat!"

Natsu pursed his lips at the outburst. It looks like their newest member was very quick to anger…like to an unnatural extent. Suddenly the Dragon Slayer's face went wide with a happy grin. She's going to fit right in at Fairy Tail! Natsu walked up to the guild hall with a content look on his face. It'd been a little longer than he'd hoped, but finally, he was home…

Natsu heaved a sandal in the air before slamming into the wooden doors of the guild hall with enough force to almost tear them off their hinges, "Hey assholes! We're back!"

As soon as the doors flew open, a few events happened almost instantly. Firstly, Natsu's face was completely destroyed as a chair buried itself a mach speeds into his skull, sending him flying across the guild. Secondly, a person with sandy hair shaped in a semi-bowl cut sighed before pulling out a board with the name 'Natsu' and the word 'chair' written on it before marking a tally underneath the latter option. From what Lucy could see from a glance, apparently Natsu had quite the weakness to that particular furniture, if the literal hundreds of tally marks were any indication. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, the entire guild hall was in the middle of a full on brawl!

Lucy had to duck underneath more than a few beer glasses as she made her way inside. The Celestial Spirit Mage decided to stick a little closer to the corner of the hall after a quick analysis showed that it was probably the safest place in the guild at that moment.

Natsu ripped the chair from his face before instantly turning it into ash with his fire, "Alright, which one of you good for nothing drunks threw that!? Because your warranty on your life just ran out, and I'm here to fucking collect!"

"Hey, Flame Breath!" A deep, and slightly cold voice spoke up, drawing the fire mages attention towards a raven haired man who wore nothing, but a necklace, baggy pants, and an icy glare on his face, "If you're looking for the culprit…" The Fairy Tail mage jammed a thumb into his right pectoral, right over his navy blue guild mark, "…then you've found him!"

Natsu gave a dark grin at the newcomer, "Gray Fullbuster, or should I say Popsicle Princess!?" Natsu's mouth started expelling tiny embers as he spoke, the fire in his eyes intensifying as the two mages marched towards each other, a chill frost enveloping the area around Gray in a similar fashion, "Today is the day we finally settle our lifetime of petty squabbles! Today I'll show you the true power of a Dragon Slay-!" Suddenly Natsu quit talking mid sentence before turning away completely from Gray with an annoyed look on his face, "Gray, for the love of all that is holy! Where is your underwear!?"

Gray looked confused for a second, before looking down, "Oh crap! Where did they go!?"

As Gray ran around the guild completely naked except for the necklace he wore, Natsu did the best he could to avoid looking below his waist with an angry expression on his face, "Gray! I told you that the next time you pulled your tallywacker out in front of me again, that I was burning it off!" Natsu stomped his foot into the ground as a tick mark appeared on his forehead, "I don't swing that way, goddamnit! It's gotten to the point where I've seen your naked ass more than my own! And I don't know about you, but I'm not okay with having that kind of rivalry with you, you Exhibitionist Refrigerator!"

Gray grew his own tick mark at the insults being hurled his way, "Do you think I get off on this, Lizard Princess!? You know I can't control when they come off, it just happens, I swear!"

Suddenly, Gray's line of sight landed on Lucy off in the corner of the guild. The newbie mage's face was blushing like crazy as a really handsome, and really naked man walked up to her with a stoic look on his face, "I-I…uhm…" Lucy had heard of him before, Fairy Tail's resident ice mage, the famous Gray Fullbuster. Seeing him in person, even like this, was a dream come true for the novice mage, not just because of his reputation and notoriety, but also because of just how cute he was-!

"Excuse me madam, but it seems that I've misplaced my undergarments and am unable to locate them. Do you think you could part with your own until I find them?"

"Get lost you creep!" Lucy yelled, before kicking him with all her might back into the middle of the guild hall.

As Gray's naked body turned the table he landed on into splinters from the force, causing the absolute mountain of a man that was sitting there to stand up with an angry expression on his features, the scar under his right eye twisting with his frown, "Gray! What the hell!? You know I don't like dealing with your bullshit this early in the morning! If you wanted a fight, then you should've just asked me like a man!"

A hiccup caught the giant's attention as a beautiful young lady who had seemingly forgotten her top that morning, but not a giant barrel full of booze, spoke in a slurred tone to chastise her fellow mage, "Elfman you idiot, Gray isn't challenging you to a fight! He was kicked across the guild by the cheerleader over in the corner!"

Elfman looked over to where the lush was pointing, before his gaze inevitably landed on Lucy. The Celestial Spirit mage was more than a little intimidated by the large, white haired man, so it was quite a surprise when he gave her a big smile and a thumbs up as a response, "Nice kick there! It's like I always say, a real man never skips leg day!"

Lucy was happy for the compliment, but wasn't as glad for that last part, "But…I'm a woman…"

Though it seemed to fall on deaf ears as Elfman completely ignored her in order to pull the very dizzy form of Gray out of the rubble that was once the table, "Well, since you're here, I guess I'll just have to beat your ass! Like a real man!"

"Hold it right there Strauss!" Suddenly Natsu's rocketing form slammed into the side of Elfman with a wild grin on his face, "Icicle Prick's mine!"

Before he was backhanded in retaliation, "No way Natsu, I saw him first!"

Natsu laughed like a maniac as he was planted firmly into the wall right next to Lucy, face first. Natsu's muffled laughter could still be heard even before he managed to pry himself from the crater he made, "So…" Natsu drawled to Lucy, "How are you liking the guild so far?"

Lucy didn't quite know what to say…Fairy Tail certainly wasn't what she was expecting. Then again, seeing as someone like Natsu called this place home, it wasn't too surprising. She was just expecting, you know, a guild hall. It seems that she got a rowdy bar instead, "It's…" Lucy struggled for a second to find the right words, "It's very…homely."

Natsu's grin seemed to grow even wider as he pried himself from the crater his body made in the wall, "I'm so happy to hear that! Trust me Luce, you're gonna fit in just fine!"

"Naaatsuuu!" Like a bat out of hell, Happy came flying with tears streaming down his face as he slammed his face into Natsu's chest, "Natsu! Gray showed me his tallywacker again!"

Natsu's face contorted into that of rage before pointing towards the still very naked form of Gray that was being swung around by Elfman, "Gray! This is your final warning! Put on some pants in front of my adopted, flying, cat son, or I'm going to slow cook your ass, and feed it to you on a silver platter!" Almost on a dime, Natsu's rage filled expression was replaced with his normal smiling self, "That sentence taken out of context is crazy, right buddy?"

On que, Happy popped out from behind Natsu's back with no sign that he had ever been crying, "Aye sir!"

Lucy would've slowly shifted away from the laughing idiots if she could, but unfortunately, it was their impressively thick skulls that shielded her from the debris that was flying everywhere.

"Things tend to get a little hectic around here, sorry about that."

Lucy turned to see who had addressed her, only to gasp at the friendly face in front of her, "Oh my goodness! You're Mirajane Strauss!"

Lucy almost didn't recognise the S-class mage, she had only ever seen the pictures of the ivory haired woman within the modeling section of the Weekly Sorcerer's magazines, and while she had seen her in them hundreds of times before, it had always been in swimsuits or other such attire. Seeing her in a barmaid's outfit, carrying a tray of alcoholic drinks, was quite the shock.

Mirajane gave a bright smile at the novice mage's reaction, grateful for the recognition she was receiving, "Oh, you recognize me? I'm surprised, I haven't gone on any missions lately…"

Lucy grew sparkles in her eyes as she capitalized on Mira's bashful reaction, "Of course! I've collected every one of the magazines you've been featured in! You're the very face of femininity in Fairy Tail! You were sometimes the only look into Fairy Tail that I had!"

Mira's cheeks flushed slightly from the praise, "Oh, those photoshoots? I was under the impression that they were for a more, male-centric, audience…" Lucy suddenly lost the sparkles in her eyes as she suddenly realized what she had been taking inspiration from this entire time. That being essentially softcore-

"Still!" Mira added, clearly seeing the embarrassment that was creeping up on Lucy's face, "It's very nice to know that not only men find those silly pictures appealing. It's nice to meet you…"

"Lucy, her name's Lucy!" Natsu chimed in as he picked up a broken piece of the floor and tossed it at the back of an orange haired man who wore a puffy green jacket who was just hanging out with two attractive women. Natsu swiftly turned around and whistled like nothing happened as the agitated man adjusted the rings on his hand and joined the brawl.

"Lucy." Mira parroted, completely ignoring Natsu's escalation of the brawl with a smile on her face, "It's nice to meet you Lucy. What sort of business do you have with Fairy Tail? Are you wanting to put up a job request?"

Lucy immediately shook her head at the question, "Oh no, nothing like that. I was just wondering, if by some chance, that it'd be okay if I joined the guild?"

Suddenly Mirajane's grin grew even wider, "Of course! We are always looking for new faces to add to our ever growing family!" Mirajane gave a twirl of her dress before motioning to the rest of the guild, "The family of Fai-!" Mira was cut off as a beer bottle was thrown harshly into her head before the spot that was struck started gushing blood, "Fa-Fairy Tail…"

Both Lucy and Natsu looked on in horror as the friendly barmaid and the tray she was holding fell to the ground harshly, a wobbly smile still on her face even as she lost an enormous amount of blood. Natsu immediately started cradling Mira's head as fear filled his usually bright, cheerful eyes, "Mira? Mira!? Don't go into the light! You have so much to live for! Who's gonna tell Happy bedtime stories when he can't sleep at night!? You still have to finish the story about the birds and the bees, and explain why the bee faction is so pissed off with the avian faction! You still haven't given me a straight answer on why the last season of Game of Thrones sucked so freaking much!?" Natsu let streams of dramatic tears fall down his cheeks as he held the very pale head of Mirajane Strauss to his chest and screamed out into the void. That's when the tears stopped and Natsu's tearfilled eyes were replaced with that of burning rage.

Happy grew a nervous look on his face as he swiftly hid behind Lucy, "H-hey Natsu, it's fine! No need to escalate this friendly brawl into a full blown fight, right!?" Natsu didn't respond as violent flames erupted from the Dragon Slayer's clenched fists. Happy grew even more concerned at the action, "Natsu's she's fine! See, she just moved a little bit!"

Happy pointed to the still unmoving form of Mirajane with a hopeful expression, before it quickly turned back to fear as Natsu marched his way towards the center of the brawl, "You fucks hurt Mira! Time for all of you to die!"

Gray, who had miraculously found his underwear, looked at Natsu's flaming fists with a slight smirk, "So we're playing by those rules now? Alright, I'm game!" Summoning icy mist as he got in position to cast a spell.

Elfman let go of the two men he was manhandling before his right arm transformed into a beastly black one in the blink of an eye, "Alright! Now it's time to fight like real men!"

Cana gave a sigh and pulled out a deck of bright blue cards from her back pocket, "You boys are always so rambunctious, though it wouldn't be Fairy Tail any other way!" As the cards in her hand took on various different properties from one another.

The orange haired man from before adjusted his glasses as a bright glow radiated from his rings in preparation, "Guys, can we settle this quickly? I've got another date in about five minutes, and I'm sure you guys don't want to keep such a lovely lady away from the world famous Loke for too long, do you?

The guild grew quiet for a split second, before every mage threw their respected spells at each other. It had been so long since the guild had its last magic brawl, almost a week by Natsu's counting, and it was about time they let loose and completely trash the guild!

"Like hell you are!"

Without warning, a ginormous gust of wind blew away all the spells that were just cast, sending them flying out the guild's doors almost instantly. Lucy was a little confused on what had just happened, but was utterly terrified when a colossal figure appeared from upstairs with a murderous aura, and an even more murderous glare on his face.

Surprisingly, as if she hadn't just lost most of her blood from a head wound, Mirajane popped right back up with that same cheerful smile on her face, "Oh, hello master Makarov. Are you finished with your paperwork?"

Lucy looked at Mira like she was insane, "That's the guild master!? He's massive!"

The giant looked down at Mira with a less intense glare, "Mirajane, good. Could you fetch me a glass of our finest ale? I'm gonna need it for the headache all of you have given me…" Suddenly the giant started to shrink, and shrink…and shrink, until he was almost a third of the size of an average man. He gained a much more happy look after seeing Lucy behind Mira though, "Hmm? And who might you be? A new member of the guild?"

Lucy stumbled a bit, still utterly awestruck by a massive beast of a man turning into a nice elderly man who wore a…was that a jester's hat on his head? Lucy shook her head out of its shock, "Uh, yes! I mean, hopefully! I mean, with your permission of course, sir…"

The old short man stroked his spiky white mustache in thought at the response, "I don't know…are you certain you're Fairy Tail material? I'd hate to have you go through our rigorous entrance test, only to find out you're not." Makarov's expression grew darker, a stark contrast to the happy orange and white outfit he had on, "So, are you Fairy Tail material?"

Lucy felt sweat drip from her brow as she gave a strong look of determination, "Absolutely."

Makarov stroked his mustache again in thought, "Well then, I guess that just leaves the test…"

Lucy took a deep breath and sharpened her resolve, "I'm ready."

That's when she felt something groping her ass…

Makarov gave a few more squeezes with his elongated arm before a fierce blush and a pervy grin stretched across his face, "Oh yeah, that's Fairy Tail material all right."

"Stop that, you pervy old creep!" Lucy, for the second time that day, kicked a man who got a little too comfortable in her personal space across the guild. The master of Fairy Tail slamming his head on the ceiling before plopping down on the second floor with a thud.

Makarov jumped to his feet, dusting his clothes and pulling a thick stack of papers from inside his orange hoodie. He gave a quick clear of his throat before reading over the documents with a quick glance, "Alright Fairy Tail! I've got our weekly stack of complaints from the Magic Council-!" Makarov was cut off by the collective groans of the guild, "Yeah, yeah, shut up! If you don't like it then stop causing the guild so much damn trouble! Elfman!"

The beefy white haired mage stood at attention with an apparent look of dread on his features, "Y-yes master!?"

Makarov huffed as he flipped a single page from the stack, "It appears you accepted a mission to bodyguard a wealthy relative to the Magic Council, and you succeeded in the mission with flying colors!" Elfman breathed a sigh of relief, but was instantly thrown into dread once more as Makarov continued, "That's what I would've said, if you hadn't tried to assault the very man you were paid to protect!"

Elfman looked off to the side in embarrassment, "He said real men seek higher forms of education to overcome obstacles in a clever way…instead of brute forcing a solution. I don't know what came over me, I swear, it was as if every fiber of my being turned hostile at the statement."

Makarov gave a disapproving glance before moving his gaze to their resident ice mage, "Gray!" Gray stood at attention just like Elfman did, but kept his lips sealed in silent panic, "You took a mission to exterminate some low level water elementals near the coast, which you had completed in almost half the expected time, even earning yourself extra reward for a job well done!" Gray turned his head to the side and braced himself, he knew what was coming next, "Then on your way back to the guild, you stripped completely naked, ran around town traumatizing the townsfolk, before eventually stealing a pair of briefs from a clothesline!"

Gray sank low in his seat at the complaints levied at him, "Well…what did they want me to do? Continue to run around naked?"

One look from Makarov shut that line of thinking from Gray right up, "Loke!" Loke slightly jumped from the shout as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head, "You were sent to mediate negotiations between the Magic Council and the royal family…but halfway through you decided to go play pattycake with a Council member's daughter! Why would you ever do something so impossibly stupid!?"

Loke's sweating increased a hundredfold as he tried to keep his boyish charm plastered on his face in a weird act of stoicism, "Oh you know me, always on the lookout for…people to…play pattycake with?"

Loke's sure demeanor slowly lost its composure the longer Makarov glared at him with disapproving eyes, causing a slightly sloshed Cana to giggle at the playboy's reaction, immediately grabbing the master's attention, "Don't think you're off the hook little miss alcoholic! You were in charge of transporting an entire town's worth of alcohol across half of Fiore, but when they got their liquor, they noticed that over half a dozen barrels were missing!"

Cana made an embarrassed hiss at the information, "Oh, they found out, huh?"

Makarov massaged his head before flipping to the last few pages, before his face contorted in anger, "Natsu Dragneel! Oh, I've been saving you for last!" Natsu squeaked in fear at the threatening aura the master exuded, "What I've got here is a list of all the severe property damage you've caused this week alone! A barn you accidentally set on fire, three buildings that were destroyed when you dropped a monster on them, an entire town decimated by you melting the very stone that made up the architecture-!" Makarov looked at paperwork with an incredulous expression on his face, "It says here you tried to start a cult in Hargeon before destroying its port as well as its bell tower!? Wha-how the-! Why, of all things, did you destroy Hargeon's port!? They're a port town, it's all they do! That's not even mentioning the dozen or so other occasions where you've spontaneously set things on fire, for what can only appear to be no goddamn reason!"

Natsu raised his hands in the air as a sign of surrender, "Woah there gramps, there's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this." Natsu cleared his throat before continuing, Makarov growing angrily impatient as Natsu explained himself, "You see, there was this imposter Salamander that took my moniker and used it to try and recruit people into his weird cult thing…" Natsu looked lost in thought for a second before a sly grin appeared on his face, "He was also responsible for all the other stuff that happened. He just used my likeness to get away with completely random, and totally pointless acts of violence." The Dragon Slayer paused again before pointing towards Lucy, "Except the destruction of the port, that was all her."

Lucy gained a look of betrayal at being thrown under the bus so easily, "You absolute prick! I did that to save your sorry ass you know!"

Makarov massaged his temples as a major headache started to settle in his mind, "Ah…fuck it." Natsu was slightly taken off guard when the master of Fairy Tail ignited the complaints before throwing them into his mouth, but it only took him a second to slurp down the flames before giving a hearty belch as thanks. Makarov directed himself towards the rest of the guild with a big smile on his face, "The Council has been on my ass for quite a while now, saying how they want to limit the jobs that certain mages can take, as well as the forms of magic that are used on said jobs. But I say screw them! Ever since I first became the master of this guild, so long ago, I've held one ideal above all others!" Makarov placed his hands on his hips in a triumphant pose, "And that ideal is that guilds should be filled with good people that wish to use their magic to create true freedom for the rest of the world! If the Magic Council wants to control this wacky world filled with magic, they have every right to do so! But for as long as I remain master, they can try all they want to change my family, but they'll never succeed!" The entire guild erupted in agreement, "Magic within my guild isn't something to be controlled, in Fairy Tail magic is something that makes our very dreams a reality! So as long as you try to stay out of too much trouble, feel free to shape your dreams into reality all you want!"

Lucy felt a flutter in her heart at the speech. A family, a true family, one with a father to look after his rowdy children, to discipline them when they got out of line, but one that also allowed them to grow to even higher heights. That was what Fairy Tail was, a family, a weird one…but still a family.

She was so happy to be a member of it as well!

"The master always had a way with words." Mira said, a slightly more genuine smile on her face. The barmaid grabbed Lucy's hands unexpectedly before pulling the young woman to the bar and pulled out a weird stamp-like object from underneath, "Alright! All we need to do is figure out the color, and the placement of the guild mark!"

Lucy couldn't help but grin like an idiot at the news, before stretching out her right hand, "Pink, and on the back please!" And with a gentle stamp on the back of her hand, it was done.

"Welcome to the guild Luce! Any reason you chose pink?" Natsu asked, before gulping down an entire liter of beer that had seemingly materialized in his hand once he sat down at the bar.

Lucy looked slightly embarrassed at the question, "Well…it's because you took my hand back in Hargeon. You pulled me, figuratively, and literally, into my new life. So this pink guild mark will always remind me of that day…"

Natsu's expression was neutral as Lucy gave an increasingly embarrassed smile. Before a look of anger marred his features, "Dammit, hair is salmon, not pink!"

Lucy sweatdropped a little at Natsu's childish outburst, as well as ruining the touching moment she had tried to have with him, "Hey, Flaming Nimrod!" Natsu swerved to see a still almost naked Gray flip him off, "It's pink!"

Natsu slammed a flaming fist onto the bar, scorching the wood in the process, "The hell it is Frost Ball's!"

It looked as though another fight would break out, before Happy flew in with a sly smile on his face, "Aye sir! Natsu's hair is undeniably pink!"

Natsu's face portrayed the betrayal he felt in his heart as the flying cat sided with his mortal rival, "Happy…how could you…" The guild broke out in laughter at the interaction as Natsu simply slumped his head on the bar in defeat.

Laughter at his expense echoed into Natsu's ears, piercing, irritating, infuriating laughter… but then…something strange happened. Natsu's left eye twitched slightly to the side for a split second, causing the Dragon Slayer to shoot up in surprise and confusion. Though, it seemed no one noticed Natsu's weird behavior. But you see, there was actually a really good reason for Natsu's reaction to his eye twitching unnaturally. Because, for that split second Natsu lost control of his eye, he could have sworn he saw…well he wasn't sure what he saw. It flickered by too quickly for him to make out details, but if he had to summarize the molten rock caverns, and monstrosity-filled plains of flame that he saw in one word…he'd have to say it looked like…Hell…

Date: N/A

Time Left: N/A

Location: N/A

Kyoka was in a far more happy mood than usual, and that was because of a very simple reason, because Mard Geer was happy. No, to say that Mard Geer was happy was an understatement, the temporary master to the dark guild Tartaros was ecstatic. She wasn't sure why, the Underworld King almost never showed any emotion, negative or positive. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that no demon had seen their master for six years at this point. He made it absolutely clear that unsealing their true master within the pits of the guild, was far more important than anything else, usually sending her to act as master in his place…which just seemed convoluted in her opinion.

The temporary master, making her active master in all but title while he worked on unsealing a tome he had tried to unseal for literal centuries at this point. She wanted the king free just as much as the other Etherious, but at this point, trying to break the seals on that book the conventional way has been met with nothing but failure. She had been able to convince Mard Geer to put more energy into alternative magical research, to find another way of breaking the impossibly complex seals put on the tome… but all of them have ended in failure as well.

Kyoka flexed her gauntlets as an irritated feeling crept its way into her mind. The lack of any progress had caused Mard Geer to grow even more distant than before. Now the Underworld King rarely ever left his pit within Tartaros. Everytime he was disturbed by anything less than good news on E.N.D's situation, he made sure to show his disdain very explicitly. That was…until after six long years of silence, he had personally ordered every demon to the throne room where he resided, a move so out of character, Kyoka couldn't help but think that something terrible must have happened.

Suddenly she didn't feel so happy anymore, Kyoka felt her helmet grow heavier and heavier the closer she got towards Mard Geer's chambers, her avian talons clacking harder on the stone floor as if the very gravity around her had gotten stronger. She always hated going to meet with Mard Geer, whenever the guild faced a threat that they needed his wisdom and strength to deal with…she'd have to interrupt his solitude…Kyoka shuddered as the memories of torture from his Thorns curse flooded her mind…safe to say Mard Geer hated to have his solitude interrupted.

The demoness let out a heavy breath from her nose, the only reason she had even joined Tartaros was because of their true master, the demon above all other demons, the undisputed Demon King himself…E.N.D…Kyoka smiled fondly at the name, she had never actually seen the Demon King in person, and as far as she knew, no other Etherious had, not even Mard Geer himself. It was only due to her closest friend and fellow Etherious Seilah that she even understood the story behind the being.

Seilah had always been a little bookworm, ever since they first met four hundred years ago. Apparently, from the texts that Seilah was able to cobble together, E.N.D was the very first Etherious ever created. Created by the hands of the Black Wizard Zeref, just as all Etherious were. Though, E.N.D was different from the rest of his brethren for some reason. Kyoka didn't know how, no historical text ever clarified how he differed other than the sheer power he wielded. It was only because of E.N.D that curses even exist, the overwhelming, raw negativity that E.N.D held towards all life focused itself into the very first curse, the Infernal curse.

The actual legends of E.N.D are…sparse, not only because of the short time he was actually present to scorch the world, but also because Tartaros' true master was such a destructive force of unbridled evil, that only a select few ever survived his campaign of chaos. Most likely due to sheer dumb luck if she had to guess.

All we know about the infamous Demon King, is that he was the first of their kind ever created, he made curses through his sheer hatred for all life, before going on a cataclysmic campaign to, as the author of a particular piece of text put it, burn the world to ash and cinders. Kyoka reached the tall stone doors that led directly into the throne room and just stared at them in slight dread. Mard Geer was happy, she could tell by the slight edge to his tone when he summoned them all here, even still, too many bad memories of torment caused her to second guess herself.

Kyoka steeled her resolve before moving to open the doors with a determined look on her face. There was actually one last known fact about the Demon King E.N.D that she forgot to mention. You see, even though there aren't many people who even know of the demon's existence, there is a common conception among the ones who do, that says that E.N.D was either killed in some way or was banished to the depths of hell by a powerful mage…both are wrong. The truth is, long ago, Zeref looked at the creature he had created and despaired, for he had created a being of raw hate, of pure evil given form, and knew that this being would one day be his defeat, his death. Zeref couldn't have that, so he sealed the Demon King away, transforming his being into a book, the original form for all Etherious, before leaving it to rot.

Except, it didn't rot. Because after the sealing of E.N.D, Zeref created more Etherious, much more Etherious. Mard Geer was one of the very first, she was born shortly after, and after their creation, they found him, they found their king within the prison that was his book. Now they wait…wait for their true masters return. Mard Geer said that their lord would return, and when he did, he would lead them towards Zeref, and eventually, the promised land.

Kyoka took a knee right beside Seilah, near the middle of the semi circle the Nine Demon Gates had formed around their current master. Mard Geer's neutral expression was betrayed by the almost unnoticeable smirk that pulled his lips ever so slightly up, the same tome he always carried clasped tightly in his grasp, "You're all here, good." None of the demon's dared to move or speak. The usually boisterous personality of Jackal, non-existent in this moment, the loud-mouthed nature of Ezel, remarkably silent. Mard Geer let out a lax sigh before standing from his throne, "My fellow Etherious, children of the Black Wizard Zeref! I bring magnificent news!" Mard Geer lifted up the tome in his hands, displaying it proudly to all in attendance, "The Demon King, our lord and true master, E.N.D will soon be unsealed once more!"

The demon's present didn't know how to react to the statement. Had Mard Geer lost his mind? The last they had heard about the actual status of the seal breaking was that it wasn't even a quarter complete…and they had been working on it for just under four hundred years.

"Are you certain? Is our lord truly returning after all this time?" Tempester was the first to speak, his lion-esque appearance hidden by the black cloak he always wore.

Mard Geer gave a cruel smile, the only smile he knew how to give, before opening the tome of E.N.D in front of them. Instantly hundreds if not thousands of magic runes and ancient text exploded out from the pages. The Demon Gates looked on in awe as the powerful magic swirled around like a tornado. Mard Geer waited patiently as the pages of the tome flipped rapidly, before jabbing a finger onto one page in particular, stopping the impressive light show in its tracks and waited for his guild members to realize…

"A crack?" The melodious tone of Seilah's voice asked. That's when they noticed it, in the middle of a rune circle, almost invisible to the naked eye, was a tiny splinter of a fracture. Every demon gasped in shock. A crack, a small crack, a barely noticeable crack, but a crack nonetheless. The seal, they had been hacking away at for the past four hundred years, was vulnerable.

"When did this happen!? How did this happen!?" A confused Torafuzar , the usually very serious Etherious utterly baffled by this turn of events.

Mard Geer stroked the pages of the book lovingly as he responded, "Just last night. Our lord has graciously granted us the tools needed to finally free him from this prison, he has heard our prayers, our cries for his return, and our king has answered!" The demon's couldn't help but bow heavily at the words, almost as if compelled by an outside force to do so. Their king, the most powerful being in all the world, was about to be freed at long last.

"What should we do now?" Jackal asked, his sharp teeth twisting into a smile.

Mard Geer chuckled at the question, "What else? Prepare! Prepare for his arrival! He will no doubt need our help after all these years within the tome to regain his strength. Keyes!" The Black Archbishop stood at attention, "How has our little religious recruitment been doing so far?"

Keyes' skeletal features visibly struggled against the threads that closed his mouth shut, but eventually the Etherious opened his mouth enough to speak, "Recruitment has been…acceptable…most of our followers…are seen as little more…than cults…at the moment…by the Council…and local government's…but soon we will have…enough of those…filthy creatures…to make an army…as long as they don't…bring attention to themselves…that is…"

Mard Geer nodded at the report, "Excellent, make sure to plant the seeds of our lord's teachings all across Ishgar. Soon those filthy vermin will see the glorious light of the Demon King, and praise him even as he burns them to ash." Keyes gave a deep bow at the order, "The rest of you, continue with your regular duties until told otherwise! Kyoka!" The demoness' head shot up, "I'll be tripling my efforts to break the seals on our lord, I don't want to be disturbed, understood?"

Kyoka bowed her head once more, "Understood, Mard Geer." Even though she had been doing just that for the past four hundred years at this point

The Underworld King gave a small smile, "Then you are all dismissed!" Before shutting the tome close, the impressive magic dissipated as he did so.

"Yes, Mard Geer!" All the demons replied with enthusiasm. The Etherious then scurried out of the throne room, the giant stone doors slowly shutting behind them as Mard Geer sat back down on his throne with a content look on his face.

"He's coming, our one true King is finally arriving!" Seilah cried out, a look of absolute glee on her face, "What a beautiful start to Tartaros' newest chapter!"

Jackal cackled out loud at the statement, "Hell yeah! With E.N.D at our side, nothing will be able to defeat Tartaros!"

Torafuzar hummed at the comment, "Our lord's return is imminent, let us try and make it as dignified as possible. Anything less would be an insult to the very guild."

"Right." Kyoka turned towards the snickering form of Franmalth, "Franmalth, I need you to gather as much information as you can from our little mole within the Magic Council. I want to find out how much they know about our movements for the foreseeable future."

Franmalth chuckled before raising his bendy arm to give a salute over his giant armored eye, "Can do, can do! How much will that traitors info cost, I wonder? Hopefully not too much!"

The Etherious started going their separate ways, though Keyes stayed behind, along with Silver. The Black Archbishop had noticed his puppet's unusual silence throughout the whole ordeal. And while Silver usually kept his thoughts to himself around the Etherious, it was still…interesting that he was so quiet, "Silver…"

Immediately, the Absolute Zero snapped out of whatever daze he was in and gave his full attention towards Keyes, "Yeah Keyes?"

The demon didn't bother turning towards the Devil Slayer, his skeletal mouth shuttering against its threads as he spoke, "Our lord…is returning at last…aren't you excited?"

Silver was silent for a second before letting out a laugh, "Of course I am Keyes! What's with the weird tone? This is what we've been striving towards all along, right? Seriously, you need to spend some time away from all those corpses and interact with some real people."

Keyes returned with silence of his own, "…if you say so…Silver…" Before turning just enough to stare into Silver's gaze, "Just remember…all it will take…is a simple thought…and you will…" Keyes paused for a moment, before his body started to dissolve into thick black particles, "Well…you know…" And just like that, he was gone.

Silver let the smile fall from his face, and allowed light purple frost to surround him as a look of pure anger cascaded onto his armored form. E.N.D, the ultimate Etherious, the Demon King, his revival grew near. Silver let out a breath of cold air from his mouth, before he began his trek down the corridors of Tartaros with a slight edge to his gait. Fine then…if the Demon King really was returning at long last, that was just fine with him, a cruel smile etched itself on the exorcist's face. Because if E.N.D did return, he'd kill that monster once and for all.