GODZILLA1996: Thanks, glad to see you think so.

Justinmll1971: I write out spells based on the english dub, not japanese.

Acowles02: Ladies dragon, I'm still fairly proud of that one. But yeah, Luke already has a rep for being incredibly strong, so it makes sense a guy like Bora would want to cash in on that kind of fame. Also let me know if you remember the name of that fic, I'd be interested in reading it myself.

Cielo96: Don't expect this to just be a rehash of the main story, I do cover it but with my own twists and alterations to the plot, and dividing screentime among the characters. But it's fine, I get that my stories aren't for everyone.

Yogaratw607 (ch 57): I might allude to it, but given that it's a filler arc, I don't really have any plans to cover it.

Yogaratw607 (ch 58): Trust me, I've got a bit of Natsu and Lisanna content planned for the future of this story.

Arata7kasuga: Fair enough, though personally I don't give height much thought. You'll see what sort of team he has in mind, but know that I'm trying to do right by certain characters I thought were underutilized.

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The night was calm throughout the city of Magnolia, but not all were resting.

'There has to be something. I have to find out what it means, no matter what it takes, before it's too late.' Luke sat at the desk next to his bed in his room, searching his way through one book after another, casting a brief glance out the window 'It's been two months since the end of the Grand Magic Games and the fiasco with the Eclipse Gate, having to go to war with an evil future counterpart of Natsu… and so many people dying because of it. To say the time since then has been long and arduous is a pretty big understatement. From what I heard, they only recently finished cleaning up the wreckage done in Crocus, to say nothing of actually repairing the damage done in the battle, so it's definitely going to take a long time and a lot of work to rebuild the city. Of course this isn't going to be an easy task, given all the damage… along with all of the people that were killed in the battle. Covering up the royal family's involvement with the Eclipse Gate wasn't easy, considering the ramifications that would result from their dabbling in black magic from the Book of Zeref. That being said, not many people are thinking about that given all of the personal losses that we suffered fighting off Salamander and his forces. I think it's safe to say that nobody was spared the grief, not even us. We lost Macao and Wakaba, and Makarov even lost most of his old friends in some of the other guilds. And to think all of this was caused by a future version of someone we all know and trust… I never would've imagined Natsu could turn like that… I have to find out what caused it, and make sure that doesn't come to pass… Whatever it takes.'

"You know these late night reading sessions don't do much good for any of us."

Luke glanced over to see Cana sitting up in the bed next to his desk, her body being covered by the bedsheet "Yeah well, we've all gotta make sacrifices to get the job done. Of course I haven't gotten anywhere, so I get the irony."

"And it only took you about two months, that has to be a new record." Cana rolled her eyes, but then her gaze softened slightly "Seriously though, this can't be healthy for you, and that's coming from someon who drinks as much as I do. You gotta learn how to rest now and then, don't bother pushing yourself so hard when it doesn't do you any good."

"Believe me, I would if I could… but there's way too much riding on this for me to just pack it in now." Luke paused, then fully turned to face her "I have to figure this out, or else we're all good as dead."

"...You're thinking about Salamander again aren't you?"

"Yeah… I still haven't forgotten the last thing he said to me. He said to beware the Demon Slayer."

"I'm all for being weary of cryptic warnings, but we don't even know what that is, and you don't know any more than you did when you started. If you want to find this, what you're doing now clearly isn't going to work."

"I've learned that pretty clearly by now. But this is… personal, you know. I saw you die by his hand, Cana. Your future self literally died right in my arms, and after that I saw red until the fight was over. By the hand of Natsu of all people. He wouldn't hurt a fly in a serious way, but this Demon Slayer pushd him off the deep end. If there's even a way to prevent that from happening again… I have to find it."

"I get it, I really do. That night sucked for just about everyone." Cana flinched at the memories of the war with Salamander, then her gaze softened further "But that's not on you. You're not the one that made him like that. If you wanna find a way to help him then I know you will, at some point, but if you don't give yourself a break you'll run yourself into the ground and burn out, and then you won't be no use to anyone."

"...Going for the real talk huh? That's how I know you're serious." Luke paused and lookd over at the clock on his desk, reading 3:12 a.m., and he let out a sigh "But yeah, I do take your point on this. I'm guessing that's also your way of telling me to come back to bed?"

"I like to think I can multitask."

"Fair enough." Luke gave a small smile as he slipped his way back into bed, laying back on the mattress and cradling Cana close to his chest 'Though I will admit that not all of it has been dark and depressing. Knowing that the fighting was over after all of that, not to mention the end of the threat of death by draconic apocalypse, filled everyone else with a pretty big sense of relief, at least for the most part. Even without that, the end of the Grand Magic Games meant that Fairy Tail is back to being the number one guild in the kingdom, so we got back our old guild hall and the jobs have been rolling in, along with money for all of us. And on a more personal note, the end of the chaos meant that I finally got to tell Cana how I felt, and she felt the same way, and we've been making the most of it. Plus Bolt finally got his own room, so that's a definite plus for him. Yeah, things have been good… at least in certain areas.' his face fell slightly as he pulled Cana closer to him 'Still though, to say the transition back to the norm has been a tough one is a pretty big understatement. A lot of people are still struggling with it one way or another.'

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And now to go into some of those struggles…

'How did I get here…?' Lucy found herself wandering aimlessly along the road, until she caught sight of something in the distance: the city of Crocus, still largely in smoking ruins created by the battle, and she immediately recoiled at the sight "No, there is no way… I'm out of-"

Then there was a flash.

'What?!' then Lucy found herself in the city, being forced against her to will look around at the carnage surrounding her 'No…'

And this included the wreckage and debris.

'No!'

As well as the dead bodies of so many people, civilians, wizards and Rune Knights alike.

'NOOOO!'

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And now back to reality…

"NO!" Lucy bolted upright and found herself in her bed, panting heavily with sweat cascading down her face 'It… It was just a dream… I hope…' it was then that a yelp drew her attention, and she looked over to see Levy sprawled out on the floor "Oh, hey Levy… I didn't startle you or anything did I?"

"Actually you did, by screaming." Levy picked herself up and rubbed the new bruise formed on her head "At that point I was pretty sure you were gonna give me a heart attack."

"Oh, I… I guess I was louder than I thought it'd be. I… I'm sorry…"

"It's okay." Levy's face softened as she sat down next to Lucy on her bed "Having another bad dream about… you know?"

"Yeah. I don't really want to talk about it."

"It might help if you did."

"Maybe, or it'll end up giving you nightmares along with me, and I won't let that happen."

"Uh huh. Lucy I'm telling you this as a friend… that's kind of stupid."

"...Not where I thought you were gonna go with that. I was expecting a little more tact if nothing else."

"You don't need tact right now Lucy, what you need is help. If not from me, then you have to get it from someone."

"Like who?"

"I was thinking go talk to the master, he's got experience with stuff like this." Levy pulled out a book and opened it up to a specific page "One thing a lot of guild members don't know is that a big part of becoming a guild master includes getting certification as professional counselors, so I think it'd be a lot of help to talk to him about that."

"That does make sense but… I don't know…"

"What do you think is the worst that can happen?"

"Nothing changes."

"Trust me Lucy, when you go through that kind of pain, talking about it does help, even if it's only a little bit… take it from a voice of experience." Levy looked down at that last part.

"Alright… I get what you're saying." Lucy let out a long sigh "And you're right. I'll go and talk to the master."

"Good idea."

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A little while later, at the guild hall…

"I see…" Makarov sat down the mug in his hand and looked over at Lucy and Lvy "Given everything that happened, it's only natural to have nightmares about such things."

"That was only the beginning of it." Lucy shuddered at the memories "They only got worse after I heard how many people were confirmed as dead after the attack. 264. 264 people, mages and Rune Knights, that got slaughtered in a single night. Including Macao and Wakaba."

"And I take it you feel guilty about that?"

"Honeslty, yeah. I mean, I have to wonder if I could've saved at least some of those people if I had known something, or just been a little bit stronger… or anything. But I didn't, I wasn't, and that's what's so frustrating about it. If I had just done more, been a little stronger…" she gripped her fists tightly, prompting Makarot to put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her.

"Trust me when I tell you this Lucy, when it comes to these kinds of… situations, it doesn't do any good to think about what might have happened. Perhaps you would've been able to save at least some of the others, or maybe the dragons would be more attracted to your magic power and ended up killing you instead. You may not have been able to save those 264 people, but we did manage to save so many more from being killed alongside them." Makarov gave a small smile "I think that's something to be proud of, don't you?"

"Yeah, that… that does make some sense." Lucy tried to force a smile, but it quickly fell away as she let out a sigh "Doesn't really make it easier though."

"There are very few things that could in this case. But in any case, I would recommend being willing to talk to the others about it. I'm sure that they would be willing to offer their support in the matter."

"Yeah… that's a good idea. Thank you master."

"Anytime my dear, it's our responsibility to look out for each other."

"I'll remember that." Lucy gave one more small smile, then stood up and took her leave of the bar without another word, her thoughts drifting as she did so 'Well that helped at least a little, but I think I have an idea of what to do from here.'

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And that led to this…

"Are you certain?" Capricorn stowed away the book in his hand and looked over to see Lucy's hardened gaze locked on him "I applaud the newly rekindled fire in your eyes Lady Lucy, but this decision is not one to be made lightly."

"I know. But I have to do this." Lucy held up one of her Zodiac keys, Capricorn's key to be more specific "We lost so many while we were away on Tenrou Island, now even more people died in the fight against the dragons. I know what Master said was right, but I still can't help feeling that I could've done something to help them."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of Milady. You went into that nightmarish battle with all of the strength at your disposal. No one could ask any more of you."

"But that's the problem. It's pretty clear that everything I have wasn't enough. I can't undo what happened, but I want to make sure that it doesn't happen again. So please… will you train me, to help me unlock another Star Dress? Luke spent more than a year pushing himself to the brink to get strong enough to protect everyone. I think it's time for me to do the same."

"I understand that quite well, but are you certain that you wish for me to assist you with this endeavor? My teachings may prove to be strenuous for you."

"I know, and I thought about asking Luke but he's busy doing some kind of research, and Erza went off to do something with Wendy a little while ago."

"I see. You know there was a time when your mother, Lady Layla, asked me to assist with her training in such a manner as well." Capricorn gave a small smile "It's also in times such as these that you remind me so much of her. Very well, I will oblige your request. But know that this will not be an easy task for you to undertake. You had best prepare yourself for the great strain you will have to endure."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. And thank you Capricorn, really."

"I'm merely fulfilly my duty to you milady." and yet Capricorn's smile widened a bit "Now then, shall we get started?"

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Now to show the next miniature story arc…

"Hey Gajeel, do you have a minute?"

"Huh?" Gajeel looked up from where he was writing in a notebook and saw Levy standing in front of him "That depends, you wanna give some ideas for new song lyrics?"

"Maybe a little later, but I actually do need your help with something." Levy took a breath, and then looked Gajeel square in the eye "I want you to help me train."

"Say what now?" now Gajeel was fully focused on her, his gaze hardening slightly "What the hell brought this on? Look if this is about the whole dragon thing-"

"It's not. I mean it is, but… I'm a member of Fairy Tail too, you know? I just don't want to end up holding the rest of you back." Levy's face fell slightly, but she hardened gaze "Plus I didn't forget what you said to me before the S-class trials. You said that you were going to make me stronger."

"...You're really serious about wanting this, ain't ya?" Gajeel gave a smirk as he pulled himself to his feet "Alright fine, I'll train with ya. Where do you wanna start?"

"Right here." she held up a job request to him "This one is pretty routine, just about subduing a group of Vulcans over in the Great Plains to the North."

"Fine by me, let's see how it goes. Come on, let's get moving."

"Sounds good. Just hold on a few minutes, I have stop by my dorm in Fairy Hills on the way out from town and help Luke with something."

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A few moments later, in Fairy Hills…

"You know I feel like I shouldn't be surprised by this." Luke glanced up at the massive series of shelves housing a supposedly endless number of books "And yet here we are."

"I'm gonna guess that's a compliment." Levy shot a raised eyebrow at Luke from where she sat atop a ladder while digging through.

"In this case yeah, pretty sure it's exactly what I'm looking for. Seriously though, it looks like you made your own private library in here."

"I like to think of it as more of a practical thing than anything else. So you said you wanted to see if I had a specific book you were looking for?"

"Not so much a specific book, so much as anything that covers a specific topic. I don't want to get into too much detail about this, but not long ago I heard about something called a Demon Slayer, but I haven't been able to find anything on it."

"Demon Slayer as in a person, or some obscure type of magic?"

"That's just it, I have absolutely no idea. I've spent weeks searching through the guild's library, alon with every book store and library in Magnolia, and I haven't found anything mentioning a Demon Slayer. I'm running out of options here."

"So you thought that if you were going to go anywhere to find information on something that no else has heard of and probably no one else cares about, it would be with me." Levy shot a raised eyebrow at Luke, then let out a chuckle "You've come to the right place."

"So you've heard of it?"

"Personally no, but there are plenty of books that I haven't even gotten the chance to look over since we got back from Tenrou Island, so there's bound to be something in there you could use to find it." Levy pulled out a small stack of books from one of the shelves and promptly dropped them down to Luke "That oughta be a good place to start, and if you can't find what you need in any of those give me a heads up, I've got loads others to search through."

"This is perfect, thanks."

"No problem. Well I'm going to head out on a job with Gajeel, let me know how it goes when I get back." and so Levy turned on her heel and made her way out of her dorm room, the door shutting behind her.

'Well at least I've got some new research materials.' Luke grabbed hold of the stack of books, opened up a window and leapt out of it, then began making his way back in the direction of his apartment building 'This has to be where I find what I need. I've spent weeks searching through everything I can find. If Levy's collection doesn't tell me something about this Demon Slayer, then nothing will.'

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Meanwhile, with the bookworm in question and her new training partner…

"There it is." Levy and Gajeel made their way through the grassy landscape of the Great Plains until they came across their targets "Alright we came to the spot the client mentioned, so where do we find the Vulcans they talked about?"

"Give me a second." Gajeel paused and took a quick sniff of the air "They ain't gonna be too far from here, I think they're heading our way too."

"You think they know we're here?"

"Pretty sure they know you're here, and that's why they're probably charging our way like a pack of crazed animals… which they are."

"What do you- Oh right, Vulcans."

"Yep, those fuckers are probably heading our way as we speak." Gajeel took another sniff and cast a glance in a particular direction "Case and point, here they come."

Sure enough it was at this moment that a large group of Vulcan monsters were charging towards the two of them at full speed, though their gaze was mostly set on Levy "You, woman, you come with us and be with us and stuff!"

"Even a dumbass like Salamander knows that those things run after women harder than the dirty old men in anime. And they like strawberries, so that means they're pining after you even harder cause of that new shampoo you're using. I could smell it from like a mile away."

"You uh… you noticed, huh?" Levy started blushing slightly at that "What did you think?"

"Smells a lot better than most of the crappy stenches I pick up around town." Gajeel gave a small smirk, but then he turned back to the Vulcans "Only downside is the stenches coming off those sons of bitches is rotting it out, so hit them with everything you've got. And remember to keep them in your sights."

"Got it." Levy raised two fingers into the air to prepare a Solid Script spell as the Vulcans came charging at them "I can do this."

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Meanwhile, with another duo…

"Excuse me Erza, do you have a moment?"

"Hm?" Erza looked up from where she was examining a sword in her hand and found Wendy and Carla standing before her "Of course Wendy, is something the matter?"

"There isn't anything wrong, but…" Wendy looked down in apparent embarrassment "There is a place that I would like to go with you, if you don't mind."

"Really, where is it?"

"Over to… the Worth Woodsea."

"The Worth Woodsea?" Erza raised an eyebrow, but then her gaze softened into an expression of solemn understanding "Oh, I see. But are you sure that you want me to go there with you? That place is special to you isn't it?"

"Yeah it is, but I wanted to go with a dear friend from my guild. My current one I mean. I wanted to ask Lucy or Gray, but both of them are on jobs or busy with other stuff."

"What about Natsu? He was the one that invited you to join Fairy Tail in the first place."

"He was, but he…" Wendy's face fell "He hasn't really been around much lately. Besides, you are one of the ones I feel the most comfortable around."

"I see." Erza gave a small smile "If that's what you want, then I would be more than happy to come with you."

"Really? Thank you so much." Wendy's face lit up with joy.

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Meanwhile, with the Vulcan hunters…

"Solid Script: FIRE!" amidst numerous battles with Vulcans, Levy went after what was meant to be the last one as she worte "FIRE" in mid air and sent it hurtling forward, leaving the last one visibly scorched and twitching on the ground, after which she was left panting heavily "I think that's… the last one…"

"Looks like it. Kind of a pain though." Gajeel let out a sigh of annoyance "You took care of all of them on your own."

"Isn't that… what we wanted…?"

"Yeah, but I wanted the chance to beat the shit out of something."

"Sorry to… disappoint you…" Levy took a moment to catch her breath and pulled herself back upright "I think that's all of them, so let's-"

"HELP!" came the panicked scream of another source.

"Or not, I think it came from over there!" Levy quickly took off running towards the source of the scream.

"Son of a bitch, will you wait up Shrimp?!" Gajeel was quick to chase after her.

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Meanwhile, in the Worth Woodsea…

"This is it." it didn't take very long for Wendy and Carla, along with Erza, to make their way to the outskirts of the Wood Worthsea, where a familiar cat-like building sat abandoned, yet the former gave a small fond smile at the sight "This is the place where the Cait Shelter guild used to be."

"Yes, this definitely takes me back." Erza looked on with her own sense of fondness "The entire guild was created by the Master Roubaul just for you."

"I still remember it so clearly, even though it was so long ago. Mystogan left me here, and then the Master created this guild and everyone in it… for me. But they weren't just illusions or fake people, at least not to me. Back when I was in the guild, and even now really… Magna, Basque and the Master, and everyone else… I still hold all of them dear to me. You and the others told me when we left, that having good people with you will ease the pain of saying goodbye to the ones we love most. They were all people that I cared about, that I still do care about. So I can keep those thoughts in mind, and still be happy."

"Wendy…"

"Then again Natsu was one of the people who said it." Carla pointed out dryly "I doubt any of them really put that much thought into it."

"I'm going to assume you're referring to Natsu specifically when you say that. But there was a lot happening at the time, and it was all fairly emotional."

"Yes… you had to part ways with Jellal back then." Wendy's face fell at the memory "I did see you crying after that."

"That was… a painful time for me, to say the least. But the sentiment rings true. Whether they were phantoms, illusions or anything else, they were your friends." Erza gave a small smile "You won't forget them, and now you're in a place where you can make even more friends to help you move forward."

"Erza… I don't remember if I ever thanked you and the others for allowing me to be part of Fairy Tail."

"No thanks are necessary Wendy, because honestly, Fairy Tail is better having you be a part of it with us." Erza's smile widened a bit "Now then, we came to give our regards to your friends, did we not? Let's go, it wouldn't be right to keep them waiting."

"Right." so with that in mind, Wendy took a breath and made her way over to the former guild hall of Cait Shelter, a smile spreading across her face "Master… everyone… it really has been a long time, hasn't it? Longer than I meant for it to be, so I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. On the bright side, I've been doing well since I joined Fairy Tail. So much has happened since then. I got to reunite with other people that helped me, fight alongside them against an army of dragons, and even travel to another world. But best of all, I got to make lots of really good friends, people that I can trust and count on. But all of that, getting to meet so many new people and do so many amazing things… I wouldn't have been able to do it without all of you, and Cait Shelter as a whole, who helped make me who I needed to be. So thank you. It's thanks to all of you, that I got to be so happy now."

"Allow me to have a moment with them child." Carla took a step forward, her gaze turning soft as it fell upon the Cait Shelter building "I promised you long ago that I would protect Wendy, and I don't intend to break my word. So you can all rest peacefully with that knowledge."

"And I promise, no matter what happens, I'll never forget any of you, and I promise to come back and visit you soon. So goodbye. For now anyway." having said her piece, Wendy turned on her heel and walked back over to Erza, with Carla following close behind her

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Meanwhile, with the Vulcan hunters…

'There it is!' it didn't take long for Levy to find what she was searching for, only to have to stop in her tracks at the sight of it 'Oh boy…'

"Woman!" as it turns out, the source of the commotion came in the form of a particularly large and hungry-looking Vulcan backing a civilian woman into a corner "Me want woman, so don't shy away from me!"

'Another one of them? It looks pretty big too, and I'm already exhausted as it is… But I can't just sit around and do nothing! On the plus side, I should have just enough magic power to try out that new spell I've been developing. Solid Script: Fire! Water!" so Levy charged towards the Vulcan, writing out Fire and Water in mid-air and sending them hurtling forward, leaving them to collide with the Vulcan and send it hurtling to the ground, before subsequenling being enveloped in a powerful burst of steam, during which Levy quickly shot a look at the woman "Hurry and run, now!"

"R-Right!" the woman wasted no time in taking off running.

'That went well. I guess combining Fire and Water to make a Steam Explosion spell worked out better than-' Levy's thoughts were cut short when a shadow began looming over her, and she whipped around just in time to see the Vulcan, heavily scorched but back on its feet and mad as hell, bringing one of its giant arms down on her, until…

"Iron Dragon CLUB!" an iron club slammed into the side of the Vulcan's head, sending it crashing to the ground in a heap, courtesy of Gajeel as he leapt onto the scene "Golden rule of getting into a fight Shrimp, never let your opponent out of your sight or else you're just asking to get your ass beaten into the ground harder than Salamander."

"Gajeel, I… I'm sorry…" Levy's face fell, prompting Gajeel's expression to soften as he let out a loud sigh.

"Fuck it, just don't bite off more than you can chew, okay?"

"Okay." Levy glanced over at Gajeel as her expression lightened a bit "But thank you for saving me from that monster."

"Don't read too much into that, alright? You asked me to help you get stronger, and I'd be pretty shitty if I let you get beaten down by one of those fucking Furries. Besides, even without all of that you're… important to me, you know?" he blushed slightly, but it apparently went unnoticed for the most part.

"I guess… I guess I still have a long way to go, don't I?"

"Yep, you're still pretty weak all things considered." Gajeel cringed slightly when he noticed the annoyed look he was getting from Levy.

"Did you have to come right out and say it like that?"

"Hey I never said it's a bad thing, it's just why I'm gonna keep helping you with training and crap."

"Wait, really?" Levy's face lit up with joy "You really mean it?"

"I made you a promise back then, didn't I? Don't freak out over it Half pint, I'll keep on helping you out until you get bigger."

"Gajeel, I… thank you." Levy gave him a bright smile "Maybe we should head back to the guild, get to work on that? Or maybe something to eat?"

"You had me at food." Gajeel gave a smirk as he began following her back in the direction of Magnolia, during which he gave a small smirk to himself 'She put herself up against a giant beast like that for some total stranger, and she didn't even flinch. She might not be able to see it yet, but she's already plenty strong. Guess she's gotta keep moving forward before she can see it for herself…'

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And speaking of moving forward…

"I didn't think you'd be the one I'd see with their nose buried in a book."

Luke (looking slightly disheveled and with bags under his eyes) glanced up from the book he was reading to see Bolt staring down at him "You're still more likely to see that than me getting into a bar fight for no good reason."

"No arguments there." Bolt then gave a smirk as he sat down in front of him "Doesn't mean we ain't gonna see you get drunk off your ass to defend your lady love."

"You won't hear me object to that. Well as fun as the witty banter can be, I'd better get back to my research."

"Yeah I actually came over looking for some kind of progress update. I'm guessing you haven't made much?"

"Not as much as I would've liked. I've gone through every book in the stack Levy gave me last week, and literally only one of them has given me anything to work with."

"What do you have so far?"

"Based on this one book from Levy's archives, Idiot's Guide to Lost Magic, Demon Slayer is the term given to users of Demon Slayer magic. Also they go by Exorcist Mages, so I'm gonna take a look at that next. Anyway, Demon Slayer magic more or less falls into the same ballpark as the likes of Dragon Slayers or God Slayers, only with demons. They fall into various elemental categories, can eat their own element and use it to restore their strength."

"So they basically fall into Lost Magic and Slayer categories."

"But with a twist. The text says that Demon Slayer Magic grants the users incredible power, but at the gradual cost of their sanity. There were a few reports of Demon Slayers in the Second Trade War, but they didn't last long because they either died in battle or were driven mad by their own magic."

"Shit." Bolt let out a low whistle, then a sigh "Well either way you might wanna take a breather after all of that. You'll feel better for it, trust me."

"I can take care of myself just fine."

"Really?" Boltgave a look of skepticism "When was the last time you slept? And I don't mean with Cana."

"Um… not in a few days. But it doesn't matter." Luke rubbed his eyes and shook his head to clear it a bit "I have to figure this out Bolt. This isn't just some run of the mill dark mage trying to blow up a house or something. We're talking about someone who pushed Natsu of all people over the edge. I have to find him and stop him or, or do something, or else it's going to mean the literal end of the world. Everything we know and love, going up in flames. I have to find this guy and stop him. Whatever it takes."

"...This is a lot to take in for a Monday." Bolt idly patted Luke on the shoulder, but then his gaze turned sincere "Look man I get it, you want to protect everyone. And you still feel guilty about what happened to Cana's future self."

"How do you-"

"I know you better than almost anyone here. But be real, come on, at this point you're basically turning this into that year and a half training trip we took across Ishgar. Only without so much bleeding and crying."

"I had problems. I still do really."

"Name one person in this guild that doesn't. Seriously though, if there's one thing I had to learn the hard way while you and the others were gone for seven years, it's that whether you want to accept it or not, you're gonna lose people in life. It sucks but you have to learn to deal with it, and to move forward. But running yourself into the ground isn't gonna make things better, and if you don't give yourself a break then you'll burn out or hurt yourself, and you've done plenty of that as it is. Then you're not gonna be able to do anything for anyone."

"...You know being the voice of reason isn't really a good look for you." Luke let out a chuckle, but then he sighed "Okay, I get it. I'll put off doing more research on Demon Slayer stuff until tomorrow."

"Call it a hunch, but I doubt you'll have to wait."

Luke glanced over to see God Serena perched in a tree above them "For what exactly?"

"What else? The Demon Slayer you're searching for." God Serena landed on the ground in front of Luke in his typical dramatic fashion "You have questions, and I have… ANSWERS!" and he did a pose.

"So… you going to tell us what they are?"

"Of course." God Serena paused and composed himself "I have a good idea of what you've been up to since the Grand Magic Games ended. You're trying to figure out the whole deal with this Demon Slayer Magic issue, and you're keeping it to yourself, save for a few others, to keep the general populace from flipping out like something out of the Purge."

"That's… the short version of it, yeah."

"Calm down, I won't say anything to the others. But I will nee some details on what all of this is about."

"...Fine." so Luke made his way out of the guild hall, with Laxus and Bolt following behind him, and they came to a stop outside the gates "Alright look, the short version is that I learned a few things from the Dragon Slayer from the future."

"The future version of Natsu Dragneel you mean."

"No. Natsu will never turn into him." Luke's expression darkened, but it quickly subsided as he composed himself "Anyway he said the thing that sent him over the deep end was a Demon Slayer, so I've been doing research in trying to figure that out."

"And all you have so far is general information on the kind of magic."

"That's about the sum of it. Frankly I'm no closer to figuring out who I'm looking for than when I started."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." God Serena's gaze hardened "From what I've heard, the grandson of Makarov had to fight his own father during the games?"

"Yeah?"

"My understanding is that the type of magic he used is a variant of what you're looking for, called Lightning Demon Slayer magic."

"I remember it all too well." Bolt's gaze hardened at the thought "It's what he used when I had to fight him a few years back, from the freaky markings to eating lightning."

"That's a potential target then."

"So he's a possibility. Gotta admit, him being the one wouldn't surprise me… but I can't just assume anything either." Luke frowned in thought "If nothing else, maybe we should put a quick word in to Doranbolt, have him get the Magic Council to keep an eye on Ivan and any other potential Demon Slayers out there. If you ask me, this is to high risk to take chances."

"And I would be willing to use my connections as a Wizard Saint to keep an eye out for any other potential targets as well.

"Good call. If you ask me, this is too high risk to take chances."

"It raises another question though." God Serena crossed his arms and glanced at Luke "What are you gonna do about it?"

"What else? I'm going to make sure that he doesn't do anything to Natsu, or to anyone else in the guild. Whatever happens, I'll make sure that bad future doesn't come to pass."

"Yeah that's noble and all, but it doesn't address the big question. Are you up to kill them if you have to?" he was met with silence "You said it yourself, you wanna hunt this Demon Slayer down to make sure he doesn't drive Natsu over the edge. But you haven't told me what you're plannin to do when you find him." he was met with more silence "If you're going to commit to this, you have to be willing to give it 100%. With the fate of the world at stake, the only thing that matters is that you prevent that future from coming to pass, by any means necessary. As much as it might be hated, you may have to be willing to sacrifice one life for the sake of saving countless others. So I'll ask you again: In the even that you manage to find the one that you're looking for, what are you planning to do?"

Luke said nothing. He just shared a look with Bolt, then turned away.

"That's about what I expected. Take my advice. If you're going to take a break from researching Demon Slayer magic, then take the chance to think about just what you want to accomplish, and what you're willing to do to make that happen." on that note, God Serna patted Luke on the shoulder, then disappeared in a flash of teleportation magic.

'What I'm willing to do huh?' Luke shared another look with Bolt 'To be honest, I've been so focused on figuring out this whole Demon Slayer thing, I never really did think about what I would do to this Demon Slayer if I found them… so what will I do? What can I do?'

"Sup?"

Luke glanced over to see Laxus approaching them "You need something?"

"The old man just wanted me to give you the heads up, once everyone gets back to the guild from whatever they're doing, probably in the next day or two, we're gonna have to settle a bit of unfinished business from the Games."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough. Just remember to hang back, shut up and leave it to me." Laxus gave a confident smirk "This is gonna be fun."

"...That makes me feel somewhat nauseous." Luke then glanced over to see Natsu stalking his way out of the guild hall, a job request in hand as he made his way past them without uttering a single word 'But that just makes me feel unsettled. Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling that's going to have to be dealt with.'

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Another day came, and the sun was rising over Magnolia the parties in question were gathered in the guild hall.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." from where he sat on the bar, Makarov looked at the members of each group (Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy and Elfman on one side, with Luke, Cana, Mira, Juvia, Laxus and Gajeel on the other side) gathered in front of him "The reason why I asked you all to meet me here is because the time has finally come for us to clarify the rankings of Team A and Team B from the Grand Magic Games. From sunrise to sunset, the members of the team that wins the following tiebreaker will get to do whatever they want to the losing team for one entire day."

"Sounds like a punishment game you don't wanna lose. Count me in." Laxus gave a smirk and cracked his knuckles as he took a step forward "This is gonna be good."

"And I was right, I already feel kind of nauseous." Luke muttered.

"You had the chance to volunteer for this and you blew it."

"When was that?"

"You should've been at the meeting?"

"What meeting?!"

"Whatever meeting you may have been excluded from is irrelevant." Erza was quick to step forward, her eyes burning with determination "This battle is one that you were never going to win, with or without me as your opponent."

"Works for me, I say go and kick his ass." Gray gave a smirk of approval, but it faded when he looked over to see Natsu just brooding by a table "And you're not even listening. You know if we lose this we're bascially gonna be their footstools for today, right?"

"Yeah I know, I don't really give a crap either way." Natsu told him flatly without looking at him or anyone else, and then he noticed the concerned and/or unsettled looks he was getting from the others, causing his anger to flare along with his flames "What? If you got something you wanna say to me, spit it out already." he was met with silence, prompting him to get up from his feet and walk away from the group "Fuck it, I'm not in the mood for this."

"Hey don't brush us off, you want me to kick your ass into next week?" Gray was the first one to round on Natsu, landing a kick to his head that sent him crashing to the ground … and then Gray himself got a heel to the face that sent him crashing into a wall.

"I said I'm not in the fucking mood. If you want a fight then go look for it from someone else, cause I'm not dealing with it." and then Natsu stormed out of the guild hall, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Gray my darling!" Juvia was quick to rush over to his side "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I'm not the one with the gigantic stick up his ass." Gray looked in the direction that Natsu left "He's been acting like that for weeks. What the hell is his deal?"

"I've got a few ideas." Luke spoke up, drawing attention from the others "I'm not gonna go into any detail yet, but regardless of how this goes, he and I are gonna have a good long talk about some… sensitive stuff later."

"Huh. Okay then, you do you." Laxus gave a shrug, then turned back to Erza as he stuck out a hand "Alright time to look alive Red, I'm about to get some new human lap dogs."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Erza stuck out a hand of her own… only to end up doing scissors to his rock 'Oh no…'

"Yep, rock beats scissors. We win." Laxus's smirk only grew wider as he drew a fist bump from the other members of the B-team "This is gonna be fun."

"This is going to be amazing…" Juvia on the other hand had hearts in her eyes, and was left literally melting in anticipation "At last I have the opportunity to be alone with my dear Gray and do with him as I please!"

"Sucks to be that bastard right now."

"You know I'm standing right here." Gray pointed out dryly from where he was standing with the other members of the A-team, looking downright horrified.

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Well you reap what you sow for making such a foolish bet." Carla gave a shrug from where she stood off to the side with Happy "Though I do feel a bit bad that Wendy had to get dragged into your childish squabbles."

"She isn't the only one either." Panter Lily made his way over to Happy and Carla with a smirk spreading across his face "Perhaps you weren't made aware, but the Exceed partners of each member of each team will have to participate in the punishment as well."

"What?! Who's the wretched buffoon who came up with that idea?!"

"I thought it would be fun." now Wendy was sulking in a corner.

"...Oh dear lord, this day is going to be unbearable for so many reasons."

"Time for us to divide and conquer then. This is where the fun starts." Laxus's smirk only grew wider "I'm gonna go ahead and take Elfman for myself."

"Seriously?" Elfman looked more than a little bit nonplussed "What the hell are you going to do with a real man like me?"

"I got a couple of ideas."

"I'll be taking my beloved Gray for myself!" Juvia popped up in front of Gray with the hearts in her eyes growing ever larger "This is going to be one of the greatest days of my life!"

"Oh god…" Gray cast a glance over at Luke "Now I get the whole nauseous feeling you had going earlier. I feel like I'm gonna hurl."

"Erza is gonna be all mine, I call dibs." Mira gave a smirk full of triumph, and then she and Erza began having an intense staredown "I've been waiting years for the chance to finally get one more over on you."

"I'm taking blondie for myself." Gajeel wasted no time in slinging Lucy over his shoulder "You better be ready to shake it like there's no tomorrow."

"Why does this have to happen to me?" Lucy was less than thrilled "I get the feeling that this is going to be the first one."

"Considering you could be caught in the crossfire of Erza and Mira getting at each other's throats again, you should count yourself lucky." Luke gave a shrug, then glanced over at Cana "I think I'm gonna go ahead and take Natsu for myself. Once I find him I mean."

"So by process of elimination, Wendy is all mine." Cana gave a smirk as she wrapped one arm around Wendy and pulled her in close, much to her terror "You don't have to worry about this, you can be sure I'll take really good care of you."

"I… I don't feel good about this." Wendy muttered quietly.

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It didn't take long for the groups to split up and go about their plans for the day.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." Laxus gave a smirk from where he was lounging in a hot tub, along with the rest of the Thunder Legion "Told you this was a good buy."

"I have to say Laxus, I truly am grateful to you for inviting us here." Freed glanced at Laxus with a bit more enthusiasm than he probably should've "I'd be happy to scrub your back to repay you later on."

"Tone it down a few notches dude." Laxus then glanced over at Elfman "As for you, I want you to head out into town and grab some bread and milk for us. And do it in less than 5 minutes or I'll fry your ass."

"Dammit, using a real man like me as a freaking gopher!" Elfman let out a snarl, but took off running regardles "Something small like this is nothing for a real man!"

A few moments later…

"Not what I was talking about." Laxus chucked the loaf of bread to Bickslow and let one of his dolls devour it "Go again."

"You… You can't be serious…" Elfman looked up from where he was panting on the floor "But I got-"

"The wrong kind. I heard there's a carnival visiting Magnolia to celebrate the end of the Grand Magic Games, and they're most famous for the concessions, it's the good shit you can only get on rare occasions."

"Then why the hell didn't you tell me that before?!"

"Becuase you're my slave until nightfall and I wanna watch you squirm, why else?"

That was enough to leave Elfman seething, but he chose to comply regardless and let out a primal roar as he ran out of the room.

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In an isolated room, Gray was left sitting in a stunned silence as Juvia fawned over him, until she checked his temperature under the pretense he might have a fever and ended up getting lost in one of her fantasies. This eventually led to feeding him shaved ice but accitdentally shoving it down his throat, and so she tried to make it up to him by offering him water… which came out of one of her breast, something he was quick to refuse.

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Meanwhile, with another less than ideal (depending on who you ask) pairing…

"I don't know Cana, this seems… a little bit much…" Wendy was practically red in the face as she stood in front of a mirror trying on different outfits at Cana's behest "Why did you want me to wear this again?"

"Okay in all honesty, sticking you in a wedding dress was just to screw with you." Cana gave a shrug "I figured the old man wouldn't like it too much."

"Old man? I mean I don't even have a boyfriend, so it might be a bit soon."

"Sure that's the problem, not even mentioning the fact that you're technically 12." Cana rolled her eyes, then gave a smirk as she pulled out another outfit, in the form of a skimpy cheerleader uniform "Now you gotta try on this one."

So Wendy did, blushing heavily as she came out "I have to be honest, it's surprising how little this one suits me."

"Next is this one." Cana shoved her back into the changing room, until Wendy came out wearing a yellow cocktail dress with her hair done up.

"I don't think this one suits me very well either."

"Next."

After that Wendy ended up in a pink nurse uniform "Um… I don't know about this."

"Yeah I figured, he ain't gonna like this one. Next!"

And then Wendy wound up in a very revealing black leather outfit, leaving her face even redder than Erza's hair "Not this one, anything but this one!"

"Alright alright, you don't have to freak out so hard." so Cana shoved Wendy back into the changing room one more time.

"So um… Why exactly are you having me dress up in these clothes in the first place? And who is this old man you mentioned? Are we going to see Gildarts?"

"Nope, I don't have a clue where he is right now. I'm gonna take you to meet an old man that's more into this stuff than he should be."

"Wh-What's that supposed to mean?! I have a bad feeling about this!'

"I don't have too much of a sense when it comes to picking out clothes, frankly the only time I really think about it is Luke tries to get me something for my birthday or Christmas, or Erza just drags me to one of these places for some stupid reason. Anyway your normal clothes oughta be fine for this, so go get changed." Cana received no response, and looked up to see Wendy trying to make a beeline for the door "And she's running away." so she let out a sigh and moved to chase after her, taking only a moment to catch her "Seriously, you tried to run?"

"I don't want to be sold to an old man!"

"Who said anything about selling you? Then again, that probably would do a lot to pay off my tab at the bar…" Cana frowned in thought, then shook that thought away "Nope, not gonna go there. Anyway we got awhile before we gotta be there so… Wanna grab some lunch? It's my treat."

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Meanwhile, with the pair of Dragon Slayers…

"Hey."

Natsu looked up from where he sat in front of a fishing pole bobbing in out of the river, and cast a glance back to see Luke walking up next to him "What?"

"You didn't stick around to see how the tiebreaker played out."

"I don't really care, it ain't my problem. Go ahead and do whatever you want, I don't really give enough of a shit to order you around."

"Yeah, funny thing about that. Erza lost the tiebreaker, so that means your team has to do what my team says for today."

"Fuck." Natsu just laid back on the ground and glanced at Luke "Fine whatever, just tell me what you want me to do."

"Just be glad you're stuck with me. Elfman got stuck with Laxus as his errand boy, Juvia got to take Gray and Mira got Erza, so you can imagine how those are gonna work out. Plus Gajeel took Lucy."

"So what, Cana's got Wendy? You ain't worried about her?"

"Not really, I've got a pretty good idea about what she's gonna do with her. Anyway that by the process of elimination, that leaves me with you."

"You still haven't told me what you want me to do."

"I've got one idea of what I want you to do, but this isn't a good spot for it. For now, just walk with me and let's see where we go from there."

"Whatever." so Natsu pulled himself to his feet and started following Luke along the trail through the forest "So where are we going?"

"I've got a few ideas." then there was the sound of ringing, and Luke pulled a small object out of his pants pocket "Huh, good for Elfman, survived the loop and got a free loaf of bread."

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Turns out while we were sealed on Tenrou Island, Warren's been making his own handheld portable communication lacrimas, so good for him. They're basically the same as cell phones, but magic. Now I'm checking Instagram with it, and it turns out Elfman got sent on a grocery run to that carnival by Laxus. Huh, you know maybe I oughta take Cana there while the place is in town. You think about bringing Lisanna?"

"She's on a job with Romeo."

"Oh. You know where they went?"

"I dunno, somewhere helping out a farmer a few miles South. Why?"

"Just curious." Luke was quick to pull something else up on his phone 'Text to Bolt, Lisanna is over at some farmer a few miles South of Magnolia. Tell you where to bring her later.'

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Throughout Magnolia, other members of the B-team were enjoying the benefits of putting the A-team through their respective punishments.

On one end, Mira was doing her best to put Erza through the wringer, from having her dress in a skimpy maid uniform to tying her up and spanking her repeatedly in an attempt to get her to refer to Mira as master, outside the guild hall for all of Magnolia to see, much to the male population's obvious and/or lecherous delight.

On another end, Gajeel was enjoying his own day, taking the chance to set up a concert for him to perform, with Lucy and Levy joining as his bunny girl dancers, though the latter was still a bit unclear as to how she got involved. It only got worse for her when the embarassment got the best of her in regards to the difference in size between her chest and that of Lucy, which eventually led to her running away from the scene. Gajeel was quick to chase after her, but the downside of this was that he directed Lucy to be in the care of Mira.

At the same time, Panther Lily was forcing Happy and Carly to fly him around, complete with him being in his larger humanoid form to make it harder for them.

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Meanwhile, with the female punishment pairing…

'Well on the one hand, these are pretty good.' Wendy was still fidgeting as she followed Cana down the streets, the two of them munching on soft pretzels 'But it feels like this punishment game is going to be the death of me. What's going to happen to me?"

"I got a couple of ideas. Chances are you're gonna end up being touched all over by a bunch of different people." Cana gave a nonchalant shrug, but then smirked when she saw how downright terrified Wendy looked 'Okay, I think I've done enough teasing her.'

'I… I have to do this! I'm going!' so as she solidified her resolve, Wendy turned on her heel and ran… or at least tried to.

"Nope." Cana grabbed Wendy by the head and stopped her in her tracks without even having to turn around "You can stop freaking out, we're already here."

"And where is here…?" Wendy slowly turned around and found… an old church sitting in front of them.

"You wanted to take me to a church?"

"Something like that. Give it a minute, it'll probably start making sense to you once the old man gets here."

"Hey!" it was then that a short stout man in priest clothing came to greet them, and was quick to round on Cana "How many times do I have to tell that the house of God doesn't- Oh, you uh… I see you don't have alcohol this time. I had a whole speech prepared."

"Good to see you too Father Brock, it's been a long time though."

"Honestly, even now you prove to be so disreputable. I even tried to get through to you so many times when you were growing up. Here I thought that young man you spent so much time with would be able to prevent you from turning into such a ruffian."

"Hey don't lump Luke in with me, he's got his own stuff and I've got mine."

"Evidently. I did say that you would end up a hooligan like all of the others if you kept at your ways."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I say just be glad I didn't end up in jail. Frankly in my eyes, that's a win in itself. Anyway enough nagging about my life choices, I brought some company."

"Company?" Brock turned his gave over to where Wendy stood by the gate, and he was quick to compose himself "Ah, you must be Wendy."

"Y-Yes sir." Wendy bowed slightly as she followed Brock and Cana through the grounds of the church "It's nice to meet you."

"It's an honor to have you hear child, please follow me. I'm sure the children will be thrilled to have a new visitor." so Brock ushered Wendy in front of him as the group made their way to the grounds behind the church "Attention everyone, we have guests."

"Guests?" the group of kids playing in the yard broke off from whatever game they were playing, and their faces lit up when they saw Cana standing before them "Cana!"

"Hey guys, I brought a new little playmate for you." Cana hoisted Wendy over her shoulder and promptly set her back down in front of the kids, letting them surround her "Here's Wendy, go nuts and have some fun with her!"

"You brought Wendy here?!" that was enough to excite the kids to the point where they all began swarming around Wendy and bombarding her with questions.

"We saw you fighting in the Grand Magic Games!"

"You're like the same age as us but you're so strong, that's awesome!"

"Please don't push." Wendy was growing more flustered as she cast a glance through the crowd and saw Cana smirking at her "Cana, why did you bring me here? What's this about?"

"Remember when I said that you were gonna get touched all over by a bunch of people? This is what I was talking about, the lack of details was just me trying to screw with you." Cana's smirk only grew wider "Just keep them company them for awhile, you're basically a huge celebrity in their eyes."

"I am?"

"Yeah, you're awesome!" and then the kids began bombarding her with more questions.

"What was it like fighting in the Grand Magic Games?"

"How about Sherria, was she really strong?"

"What's it like meeting everybody from other guilds like Sabertooth? I bet they're all really cool and strong!"

"Yep, they're soaking her up like a bunch of preteen sponges." Cana let out a chuckle as she leaned back against a nearby cart "I figured they'd like this."

"If nothing else, the girl has better manners than you." Brock looked over at Cana "But her sense of dress is still a bit lacking."

"I figured you were gonna say something along those lines, so I tried dressing her up before I brought her here. Then again I don't really know what to think about you."

"The same can be said for you turning into a drunken hooligan despite my attempts to turn you away from such a path."

"Hey the way I see it, I turned out just fine. I don't steal, I don't hurt people, so you might as well let me have my thing. The same goes for the rest of Fairy Tail."

"Hm. I suppose I can't argue with that. Just don't do it on the church grounds." Brock's gaze softened slightly "But if you do plan to bring more guests here, make sure they leave their bad habits outside as well."

"I'll pass on the message. At least with Luke you don't have to worry about that."

"Honestly, he's one of the few I haven't had any complaints about." Cana looked over and took notice of Wendy slowly beginning to loosen up around the kids 'Yeah, I think this is gonna be good for her. Maybe I will bring Luke with me next time. I wonder how he's doing, being stuck with Natsu for the day.'

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Meanwhile, with the Dragon Slayer duo…

"It's getting late." Natsu looked over and saw the sun setting in the distance "We gonna keep walking all day or actually do something?"

"I just wanted to make sure we were far enough that what happens next isn't gonna cause any big property damage." Luke paused and glanced around at their surroundings "But in hindsight, going all the way to Mount Ivor might have been a little bit overkill on my part. Oh well, as long as it serves its purpose."

"I guess. So what's the deal, why'd you drag me out here on some nature hike?"

"Well first off, I really just wanted a place for us to talk in private." Luke took a breath and then turned to face Natsu "You remember how it was when we first came to Fairy Tail? Makarov had found us around the same time."

"Yeah."

"We both had the same problem. Still grieving over our dragons disappearing on us out of pretty much nowhere, and the fact that nobody even believed we had them didn't help. We both wound up pushing people away in one aspect or another, even though we did manage to find a few that we could connect with. You found Happy and Lisanna, I found Bolt and Cana."

"Yeah, I remember all of it. Where are you going with this?"

"My point is that we might have our differences, but we still understand each other on a level that most others can't. We are fellow Dragon Slayers after all. Over the years I watched you go into one situation after another, your resolve couldn't be shaken. Until now. Ever since the fight with the dragons in Crocus." he glanced back to see Natsu tense up considerably "Anyone who knows you can see you haven't been the same since then. It's like that fire in your eyes went and got snuffed out."

"...So what if it is true?"

"You didn't deny it, so I'm going to assume that means I'm right. You let the fire in you get snuffed out, so I'm going to reignite it."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. For years you've kept asking me for something that I never really wanted to give you, but now you're finally getting your wish. You and I are going to fight, right here and right now."

"...Seriously? You brought me all the way out here on some bullshit nature walk just to try and give me some life lesson and make us fight? We could've done this in the guild hall or something without a long as fuck hike."

"I talked to God Serena about my plan and he told me to take it away from any big populated areas, just so the Magic Council doesn't get on our backs about property damage again. As far as the walk goes, I had hoped you'd actually open up a little bit. So much for that. Now we have to do this the hard way."

"...So we're gonna fight, and you're making me do it because of the bet, and you think it's gonna make me pour my heart out to you? You're living in a dream if you think that's gonna happen, but if it's a fight you want then fine." Natsu's gaze hardened with unreadable emotions as his body was engulfed in a thick wave of flames "But if you even think about holding back on me then I'll burn your head to a fucking crisp."

"If you want me to use my full power then you have to earn it, come at me with everything you have and force me to bring it out."

"Trust me, if there's one thing you don't have to worry about with me, it's that I never hold back in a fight. Fire Dragon SWORD HORN! GRIP STRIKE!" Natsu unleashed a burst of flames and launched himself towards Luke, grabbing him by the wrist with one hand and unleashing a powerful wave of flames from the other.

Luke burst backwards to escape the flames, the only damaged he receiving having been his shirt being slightly singed "You know stuff like that shows your biggest problem, you've got tons of power but you don't think about how to use it best in a fight."

"And you're always thinking way too much, so just shut the fuck up and FIGHT! Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu launched himself upwards

"So now you're getting into the spirit of it, about time too." Luke braced himself and spun on his heel to avoid Natsu's oncoming charge, until…

"Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu held out both hands directly to Luke's face and unleashed a powerful wave of flames, hitting Luke straight on and engulfing him point blank in the explosion that followed.

"Oh yeah, that's real nice." the smoke soon cleared to reveal Luke, a few light burns covering his body as he coughed up a fair amount of soot and wiped some off his face "First you spend the day brooding like a bad guy from Naruto, now the second I say I wanna fight you try to melt my face off."

"Shut up! Fire Dragon WING ATTACK!" Natsu burst forward and unleashed two waves of fire from his hands, taking on the silhouette of wings.

"Seriously? You couldn't even let me finish my sentence?" Luke blitzed out of the way of the flames and landed on the ground a short distance away.

"Even now you're acting so fucking smug." Natsu let out a snarl "You've always had this feeling to you like you're so damn superior, even when we were kids. I always got stuck behind you, I kept trying to chase after you, but whenever I thought I closed that gap, you pushed away and shot ahead! Fire Dragon TALON!" he coated a leg in flames and brought it down, rupturing the ground around him, but not fast enough to prevent Luke from dodging it "Stop fucking running from me! GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT!"

"That's what I was expecting to see all along. Now you've got that fire in your belly that's just raging to get out." Luke just dusted himself off and braced himself for Natsu's next attack.

"We're both Dragon Slayers, so why?! Fire Dragon IRON FIST! CRUSHING FANG!" with a roar, Natsu launched himself forward and tried to strike Luke in the face with a blazing fist, only for it to be caught in Luke's hand and snuffed out with a surge of electricity, but that didn't do much to stop Natsu from striking Luke across the cheek with his fingertips, leaving a streak of flames behind and sending him staggering back a short distance "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE YOU?! Fire Dragon Brilliant FLA-"

"Lightning Dragon TALON! SURGE!" Luke finally made his own move, coating one of his legs with electricity and kicking Natsu in the face hard enough to cancel out his attack, then unleashed a surge of electricity at nearly point blank range, sending Natsu crashing to the ground in a scorched heap. After this, he let out a breath as he knelt down in front of Natsu and held out a hand to him "Come on and-"

"Don't you fucking pity me!" Natsu smacked his hand away and quickly pulled himself back to his feet, but it was clear his emotions were starting to break through "Just attack me, fight back already! Why won't you fight back?"

"It's like I told you before, if you want me to fight you like I mean it then you'll have to force it out of me."

"If you want me to use my full power then you have to earn it, come at me with everything you have and force me to bring it out."

"It's not even just that… Why…?" Natsu's voice grew hoarse "Why did I have to be the one that's so fucking weak that I can't even do anything?! You're the one that keeps pushing himself through all the hard stuff, you never let anything shake you! You're so fucking strong, you can do anything, but I… I killed all of them!"

"Natsu what do you-"

"Don't act like you don't fucking know!" Natsu's furious gaze finally snapped up to meet Luke's eyes, revealing the tears streaming down his face "You got to be the hero and save everyone, but I… I'm the one that turned into some fucking monster and butchered everyone! It's all because of me! If I had been stronger, if I didn't let myself be so fucking weak… then maybe I could've protected Happy and Lisanna in that future, not turned into a fucking monster… and then all of those people, like Macao and Wakaba… they wouldn't be dead! I can see it in your eyes, in the eyes of everyone in Fairy Tail! The blood is on my hands, they all know it, even if they haven't said a damn thing! They all know that I'm the one to blame, they have to!"

"Natsu…"

"I can't get it out of my head! It's like it's playing on loop in front of my eyes over and fucking over again! SO WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!"

'That's it… That's what I was expecting…' Luke didn't give any verbal response, but his gaze did soften and gain a more sympathetic edge to it 'If anyone would know that at a glance, it would be me… The feeling of a crushing guilt weighing you down, carrying it inside until it practically rips you apart. The feeling of blaming yourself for the suffering of others, to the point where you obsess over it. But that's why I'm the best one to do this… The one who can save Natsu from his own inner demons… Whether he wants to admit it or not, right now if there's one person in this world who understands how Natsu feels, it would be me.' so he braced himself as Natsu charged at him all over again

"Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu coated his body in flames hot enough to evaporate his tears, and launched himself forward.

"Lightning Dragon TALON!" Luke coated his leg in electricity, dealing Natsu a sharp kick that threw him to the ground with a loud crash "I said you'd have to force me to bring out my full power against you, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be pulling my punches either. If you want to get anywhere with this, then come at me like you mean to kill me. I know what you need, to let out all of the negative emotions you've been keeping bottled up all this time, and fighting is the best way you know how. I'm not going to turn my back on you, nobody in Fairy Tail would do that either, I'm sure you know that. Especially not after everything we've gone through over the years. We're both Dragon Slayers, we're both wizards of Fairy Tail, and yet we've never had a real talk about our true feelings, aside from a few small instances. Well it's like the old saying goes, there's no time like the present.'

"Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu leapt into the air, using both hands to generate an enormous ball of flames.

'Getting faster huh?' Luke blitzed into the air to avoid the fireball at the last second, only for the smoke to clear to reveal Natsu entering another stance 'Is he going to-'

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Flame Lotus: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" Natsu waved both of his arms and unleashed a massive spiralling torrent of flames as he launched himself into the air.

'Trying to get me before I have the chance to land, not a bad move.' Luke carefully weaved his way around the Exploding Flame Blade, quickly drawing his sword from its sheath and moving to slash at Natsu with it… only for him to disappear in a burst of flames and electricity, and he snapped his gaze around to find Natsu standing on the ground behind him 'How did-'

"Lightning Flame Dragon ROAR!" Natsu let out a roar, and with it an immense blast of both fire and lightning, engulfing Luke at nearly point blank range and decimating everything the path of the blast.

When the blast finally subsided and the smoke had cleared away, Luke was revealed to have survived without extensive damage, though his body was covered in minor burns and his clothes having been mostly burnt off, his body surrounded by a thick electrical aura "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to break out the Dual Element Mode on me. Then again I did say fight like you meant to kill me, so I guess I brought that on myself. But seriously, if I hadn't activated Dragon Force when I did, I'd probably be in pretty bad shape after that. Gotta admit Natsu, you really have gotten stronger. So what's your next move?'

"Lightning Flame Dragon FIRING HAMMER!" Natsu engulfed one arm in a mix of fire and lightning, then blitzed towards Luke and let the fist fly forward… only for the fist in question to be caught by Luke and subsequently snuffed out by a surge of electricity "What the-"

"My turn. Lightning Dragon IRON HAMMER!" Luke gathered a sizable amount of electrical energy in his fist and slammed it into the ground, engulfing Natsu in a torrent of lightning and blowing him backwards across the damaged landscape. Then he blitzed over to Natsu, caught him by the arm and threw him into the air "Lightning Dragon ROAR!" he let out a roar, and with it a powerful stream of lightning, engulfing Natsu in an explosion 'He's trying to hit me hard and fast, he's trying not to give me the chance to attack him. Luckily for me I've learned how to react in an instant to whatever my opponent is trying to do. But just from taking a few of those attacks, I can tell Natsu's gotten a lot stronger.' he gave a small smirk to himself.

"What the hell are you smiling about?! Lightning Flame Dragon IRON FIST!" Natsu burst forth from within the smoke and let a fist coated in flames and lightning fly forward "You told me you weren't gonna pull any of your punches!"

"And believe me, I'm not. But I think you've earned the right to see the newest technique I've been working on." Luke drew his sword from his sheath, the blade reflecting the light coming from Natsu's next attack and leaving him blinded for a few seconds… long enough for Luke to make his next move.

"Son of a-"

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunder Swarm!" Luke waved his sword, surrounding Natsu with waves of lightning arched from multiple directions, all of them hitting Natsu simultaneously, the ensuing explosion sending him hurtling high into the air "This is the Natsu I want to see. The one that keeps charging into the fray head first, whether he has a plan or not. The one who no matter how many times he gets beaten down, keeps getting right back up and forging ahead. You've always had that spirit with you, ever since we were kids."

"SHUT UP!" Natsu let out a snarl as he rebounded and landed on the ground, covered in burn marks across his body, his Dual Element Mode flickering out of existence "You think you're better than me don't you? You always did, even when we were kids! But if you think I'm gonna back down against you for whatever reason, no matter how strong you might be or whatever fancy spells you've got up your sleeve, you're living in a fucking dreamworld!"

"Cut the crap Natsu, we both know what this is really about." Luke looked Natsu square in the eye, but then his gaze quickly softened "I know how you feel you know."

"Don't even try giving me that bullshit." Natsu's tears began flowing once more "Macao and the others, they died cause it was my future self that killed them, cause I was too weak to stop that from happening… Cause I couldn't save them."

"I know exactly how you feel better than almost anyone else. It was the guilt of those feelings and experiences that led me to notice things I hadn't before. I almost gave into the despair of it all plenty of times, but I managed to find the strength to keep pushing forward. People opened the doors for me to move forward, now I'm going to do the same for you, whether you want it or not! Thunder Drive!" with a gold flash, Luke activated his Thunder Drive and blitzed forward faster than could be seen.

'He's so fast, the power he's putting out-'

"Lightning Dragon DEMOLITION FIST!" Luke unleashed a large blast of lightning that took on the shape of a fist, with Natsu being forced to raise his guard to defend himself as the blast struck him, engulfing him in the fiery explosion that followed.

The smoky was cleared nearly instantly however, and revealed Natsu consuming the residual flames of the blast, resulting in his face and torso being covered in crimson dragon scales, a golden aura of flames enveloping his body "Didn't see that coming did you?"

"You used the flames generated by the explosion to recharge yourself, and give yourself the boost you needed to enter Dragon Force. Not a bad strategy. But is it going to be enough to give you an edge?"

"How about you come and find out?!" Natsu let out a roar as he launched himself forward in a literal blaze, with Luke meeting his charge in the middle "Fire Dragon…"

"Lightning Dragon…"

"IRON FIST!" the two attacks collided, fire meeting lightning and resulting in a blinding explosion that could be seen for miles.

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Meanwhile, with one of the other duos…

"Sounds to me like that went pretty well, all things considered." by this point, Cana and Wendy had completed their visit to the church and had relocated to the apartment, sitting on the couch in the living room "Not a bad way to deal with a punishment game, right?"

"It actually turned out to be a lot more fun than I was expecting." Wendy gave a small smile, then glanced up at Cana "So do you go to visit them a lot?"

"About once a week or so since we got back from Tenrou Island. The church there takes care of orphaned kids they find around the area. I actually used to live there too awhile ago."

"You did?" Wendy's eyes went wide "I had no idea…"

"I don't really like going around telling my life story." Cana let out a sigh "I was about the same age as Asuka when my mom died. She didn't talk about my dad a lot, just said that she left him before I was born because he was a workaholic who couldn't stay in one place or commit for long enough. It's why I came to Fairy Tail, so I could find him, and you know how that whole thing turned out. Anyway, during all that time I was too young to go on jobs so I couldn't get any money or a place to stay, until Father Brock found me and took me in. I send money from some of the jobs I go on to help them out and pay him back. Luke even got in on it too when he found out about it, and Bolt did while we were on the island."

"That's nice of them."

"That's just the way Luke is, and Bolt is, well Bolt, but he's got a good heart. But getting back to the orphanage, I told the kids there about you before the Grand Magic Games and promised that once we won, I'd bring you to meet them."

"Really? Why me?"

"Why not? You're basically a child star to them, you know minus all the dark parts of being big shot actors and all that crap. But seriously, you're a celebrity to them, like you set a standard of what they can do for themselves if they put their minds to it. Plus, I figured it would do some good for you."

"How so?"

"Growing up in the guild, I had a bunch of people in my age group like Luke, Mira, Erza, Gray, Natsu and the others. It definitely ate away at me that I couldn't meet my dad and tell him who I was, but having them around made it bearable. You're only still a kid yourself, but you've seen a lot of stuff over the years, good and bad. Am I right?"

"Well… I mean…" Wendy looked away shyly, only to suddenly be pulled in by Cana wrapping an arm around her.

"I know what you're thinking, it doesn't really matter because you've got a big extended family in the guild that has your back, don't you? When you've got them around, you don't have to worry about being alone. But you still need people your own age you can talk to, the same with those kids."

"Oh. I see…" Wendy gave a small smile as she leaned into Cana's shoulder, letting her eyes close as she did so "To be honest, this wasn't a bad punishment game at all."

"Yep, I figured I was right gonna make the right call picking you. But try to go and visit them once in awhile, alright?"

"Okay…"

"Great. You're definitely gonna be good for them… even if your lacking in the chest department compared to how I was at your age." Cana was met with silence, and she looked down only to see Wendy fast asleep against her shoulder, to which she gave a small smile and laid her down on the couch 'Looks like someone had a pretty good day after all.' it was then that she glanced out the window and saw

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At the same time, Gajeel had managed to track down Levy, much to her annoyance in that he kept following her. She eventually admitted that she didn't want him to judge her by the size of her buts (in comparison to literally every woman in this world except for Wendy), but Gajeel was quick to make it clear he didn't care about that. It was around then that a group of men showed up on the scene and began fawning over Levy and cat calling her, leading to Gajeel picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder before telling them to get lost. Levy was touched by what he did, but also flustered by one particular comment he made.

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Meanwhile, with the emotional grudge match between Dragon Slayers…

"You bastard…" as the smoke cleared away and the rumbling subsided, Natsu was revealed to have been covered in a substantial amount of burns with blood pouring out of one arm, but his eyes were still blazing with a mix of anger and determination "If you think… that's gonna be enough to take me down…"

"I never would've expected anything less." Luke discarded what was left of his shirt and spat out some blood to the side "So come at me."

"Gladly! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu let out a roar, and with it a golden-colored stream of flames that hurtled forward.

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Flash!" Luke tightened his grip on his sword, and in an instant he blitzed through Natsu's stream of flames and slashed through Natsu himself, leaving a large bloody gash in the side of his torso, before slashing him across the chest and engulfing him in a powerful surge of electricity.

"Fire Dragon… GRIP STRIKE!" despite the searing pain of his wounds and the bleeding that accompanied them, Natsu managed to grab onto Luke's forearm with one hand and use his other to release an explosive blast of flames, sending both of them hurtling backwards, but neither of their spirits were diminished.

"Clever move, but…" Luke wiped away some blood from his face "Is that all the power you've got?"

"Not… by a fucking long shot! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Hidden Fire Form: Flame Lotus: PHOENIX SWORD!" with his Dragon Force blazing ever higher, Natus engulfed his body with golden flames and launched himself forward at maximum speed, leaving a trail of golden flames in his wake.

'You know, I'd never really said it to your face before, but the truth is that when I get myself really worked up, another part of me takes over. Even I get excited by the prospect of a challenge in a fight, so I guess we are fairly alike in that regard. I guess it's a trait that all Dragon Slayers share in one respect or another, but you embody that more than anyone else I know. You refuse to lose, you refuse to give up, no matter what happens you keep forging ahead. But you lost sight of that, so it's up to me to remind you… And that's why… I refuse to lose ! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: ROARING THUNDER!" in an instant, Luke sheathed his sword and gripped one arm, using his other to release an enormous arching burst of lightning from his fist, colliding with Natsu in the middle of his Phoenix Sword and leaving both of them to be engulfed in the absolutely massive explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, Natsu lay on the ground, his Dragon Force having evaporated and his body covered in wounds, being pinned to the ground by Luke holding a knee down on his stomach and keeping him in an arm lock "D-Dammit…"

"Let it go Natsu, this fight is over. And you lost." Luke tightened his grip on Natsu's arm, but only slightly " You put up one hell of a fight. For whatever it's worth, I think Igneel would be proud of you."

"But I lost… I fought so hard, gave it everything I had… and I lost… Great, you got what you wanted… You beat me…"

"Come on Natsu, you know as well as I do this wasn't about me beating you into the ground. If I wanted that to happen I would've let Laxus or Gajeel have their way with you. I had some things I needed to say, that you needed to hear, and I knew this was probably the best way to get you to listen."

"Whatever you wanna say… it doesn't matter… It's too late…" Natsu just looked down at the ground beneath him, and tears began flowing once more "Why? Why did have to happen? Why was it my future self that got sent over the edge? Why did Macao and the others have to die? I don't get it… Why… Why did it have to be my fault…?"

"I know how you feel Natsu, believe me." Luke's gaze softened "I know how it feels to keep asking those kinds of questions, to feel them playing in your mind over and over again, torturing you day in and day out."

"No you don't…" Natsu glared up at him "It wasn't your hands that killed him. You're the big hero that beat my future self and saved the world."

"I never really saw myself as some big hero. But seriously, I know how you feel, and I know it's not your fault."

"You don't get to say that!"

"Yes I do. Because if there's anyone who feels guilty for allowing somebody they care about to die, it's me." that shut Natsu up, and so Luke carried on "You have a point, I don't know how it feels to have my own future self, essentially me, go on a fiery rampage and kill hundreds of people for god only knows whatever reason. But I do know what guilt feels like. The feelings of shame, the embarassment, the horrifying sensation of knowing what you caused, whether it was direct, intentional or anything else. You spend one night after another asking yourself all sorts of questions like "What could I have done differently?" or "Why did things turn out like this?" and drive yourself mad trying to come up with answers. And even when you find them, they still don't satisfy you. I'm right, aren't I?"

"...Yeah. You are." Natsu's voice was hoarse and barely audible "Did you… How did you ever get over it?"

"Honestly? I didn't. Even after Mira came back from Edolas, the whole thing still haunts me a little bit. At this point I've mostly just learned to live with it, thanks to a makeshift support group I'd made for myself."

"That… That gives you one over me I guess… Not like I've got that or anything."

"Actually you do, even if you don't let yourself see it."

Natsu glanced ahead to see two figures standing before him, one of which left him stunned in shock "L-Lisanna…?"

Sure enough, Lisanna stood before him, with Bolt a short distance behind her, and she stepped forward and knelt down in front of Natsu as Luke released his hold on him "Bolt told me what you two were doing out here and brought me. I heard everything you said too. I'm sorry that I didn't notice this before, I definitely should've."

Natsu said nothing, he just turned his head away from her… but he also didn't object or fight back when Lisanna gently wrapped her arms around his head and cradled his wounded body in her lap.

"I also should've said what everyone is thinking… What happened isn't your fault Natsu. There isn't a single person in the guild who thinks that. You are not the Salamander from the future that did all of those horrible things. Whatever you did or are doing in the present, that proves it for a fact. And the difference is that you actually feel bad about what happened, and you care about everyone involved. But you don't have to shoulder this pain alone. We all have wounds from that battle that need to heal, even if some are worse than others." she was met with silence, and so she began gently stroking his head "Don't you remember what I always say? If you're feeling sad, then that's when you need to smile the most. But if you can't, then I can always smile for you, until you're ready."

All the while, Bolt and Luke watched the tender exchange from a short distance away as the former helped the latter back onto his feet "Huh. Looks like the internet was right. Whoever said violence never solves anything sure as hell hasn't tried it."

"That's one way to look at it." Luke wiped some blood from his face and let out a chuckle "But truth be told, that might actually be sending out a bad message now that I think about it."

"Probably, but better a bad message than death." Bolt gave a shrug, but then his gaze hardened as he glanced over at Luke "Speaking of which, that does remind me of one big question you have to answer: When you find this Demon Slayer you're looking for, what are you going to do?"

Luke said nothing, he just turned away without a word.

A/N:

The Grand Magic Games might have come to an end, but now comes the aftermath, and some of the emotional baggage that comes with it. But the people of Fairy Tail know that they have to keep moving forward, and so they try to do that. Though some need a bit more help with it than others.

One example in particular of this would have to be Natsu. I know what at least some of you are thinking, that he comes off as out of character, but I have good reason for portraying him the way I did in this chapter. Think about this: How would you react if your future self came back in time, tried to destroy the world, and killed a bunch of your friends? Plus keep in mind that unlike in the canon version, people actually died in the dragon invasion, so that would definitely way heavily on a person's mind after all was said and done.