Laxus stood outside the door of Blue Pegasus's war room. It used to be a bar, but, given recent times, had to be converted. His arms were folded, head bowed, a concentrated expression adorned on his face.

Refugees and wizards alike milled about the place hurriedly. Word had broken from some of the scouts Blue Pegasus had on hand that the Hunters Division was wiping out guild strongholds in a pattern that had this place right at the heart. There was nowhere left to run.

Gramps was in the other room with Master Bob running all of this over with Hisui on a flimsy communication line. Hisui, to her credit, didn't lose an ounce of her composure when they heard about it. The final standing of guilds in Fiore was facing imminent destruction? Best not to plan for worst-case scenarios and anticipate at least a middling scenario.

Fried and Bickslow were with Porlyusica and Evergreen in the recovery room. Laxus had one eye on the door there. Apparently, they were supposed to get good news on the Evergreen front any day, and with the Hunters Division boring down on them, that day had to be coming up quickly. Ever would be valuable in holding off sneaky assassins and thinning their numbers to let the heavy hitters focus on the rest of the wizards.

Especially because it wasn't just some of the Hunters Division heading their way. It was everyone. Captain included.

Laxus couldn't help the slight feeling of anticipation eating away at him, to finally get to test his true, fully tapped strength against one of the five most reputable wizards in the Empire. He could stomp that Lightning God Slayer, too. Laxus wasn't going to rest until Fairy Tail could finally help the rebellion get one over on the Empire, even though, by the sounds of things, the others in the Grand Magic Games were doing a good enough job of that.

The conversation with Hisui ended. Laxus stood straight to go in and see what was going on, but the door to the healing chambers opened, revealing Evergreen. Right away, from the way she stood, sneered, and held herself, she looked like herself, the second Titania. She adjusted her glasses and calmly spoke with Bickslow and Fried.

Laxus unfolded his arms and approached. Fried snapped to attention while Evergreen calmed down a bit. Laxus smiled at her.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

They locked eyes, something he hadn't done in a while.

"Much," Evergreen said. "And I heard the Empire's on their way here?"

"It's not your fault," Laxus said, getting ahead of it.

"I know," Evergreen said. "I just wanted to make sure they were. I'm going to ruin them for what they've done to me. You boys better not get in my way."

Laxus nodded with a smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"But!"

The old voice came from the other room, barking up at them. Porlyusica clambered up the rest of the way and jabbed an accusatory finger at Evergreen.

"Don't get hasty for now, young lady. Perform your meditations like you have been. Your mind is recovering and much stronger, yes, but not fully back to what it was. If the Ethereal Witch confronts you I'm unsure what may happen to you."

"Nothing," Fried said. "We'll make sure she never touches Evergreen."

"Ah, you punks," Porlyusica said, waving her hand at them. "So impetuous. Where's that old man gone to, anyway? Both of them. I want to tell them of your progress, missy."

"I'll go with you," Laxus said. "You guys get settled in for a bit."

The Thunder Tribe nodded, allowing Laxus to follow a scurrying old lady into the war room. The two geezers were sitting in big chairs. Makarov's hands were folded in front of him while Bob had a steaming cup of tea in his hands, a warm kettle sitting off to the side. Remnants of the bar were quite evident in the room, as a few exquisite bottles lined the wall.

Porlyusica, hardly invited in, gave them the update on Evergreen. Makarov's relief was obvious and immediate. Bob, too, was happy, though not that surprised, having developed the magic and method by which to cure someone of their Brokenness.

"We must begin fortifying defenses," Makarov said. "This capability we have is critical to the success of the rebellion. We may be able to cure any other wizards that have been forcibly recruited into the Empire."

"There are a surprisingly small number of those," Porlyusica said. "After its initial storm across the country, guild wizards were volunteering in droves, if only for their own survival."

"Yet," Bob said, "that does not make up all of the Empire's numbers."

"If we can't preserve this, we may be setting them aside for an eternal servitude," Makarov said. "I can have Fried set up reinforced Justu Shikis around that room in particular. If we are going up against a legion of assassins, I'm unsure how effective that sort of magic will be, but we can still create those sorts of defenses."

Bob nodded. "I'll need to survey and take stock of what we may have on hand in terms of defenses. We were given quite a few things during the fall from old friends."

His face betrayed him. What was often a soft jovial one turned somber. Bob picked himself up.

"I'll go now," Bob said. "We've no time to waste."

Makarov nodded, and Bob excused himself out of the room, leaving only the three Fairies behind. Porlyusica took to the tea table. Laxus folded his arms and sighed.

"Nervous?" Makarov asked.

"Impatient," Laxus said. "Feels like we've done a lot of hurrying up and waiting around. Especially right now."

He wanted to suggest going out and meeting them head-on, but it was much smarter for them to be attacked. These were assassins, people who dealt in misdirection. If they were out in the open, the assassins would slip by the wizards, and wipe out the guild hall and all the refugees before coming back to attack the wizards.

"This part'll be over soon," Makarov said. "Then we can reconvene with the others, be it at the Grand Magic Games or somewhere else."

"Yeah," Laxus said. "Just…what a world. Thought it was bad enough before. Gotta figure my old man is thriving in it, right?"

Makarov gutted a laugh. "Sure. Or he's running with his tail between his legs."

"That, too. But it's the perfect place for him. Bullies. Thugs. Assassins, apparently."

Not long ago, Laxus thought, how many wizards in Fairy Tail would've thought the same thing about him? Hell, if he wasn't on Tenrou that day…what would he have done? What sort of wizard would he be? Would the Empire have catered to him, a Dragon Slayer? Or would he have fought back, out of whatever sense of justice Gramps instilled in him?

"I'm glad you were with us," Makarov said as if reading Laxus's mind. "I'm sorry you had years stolen from you, too, but…that you could be there, and now here. I need you by my side, Laxus."

"Yeah, yeah, no need to get all teary-eyed on me," Laxus said. He shrugged. "Guess it does sort of suck that I'll never get the chance to join Fairy Tail again, huh?"

Makarov snapped his attention to Laxus, indeed tears in his eyes. Laxus sighed.

"What?" Laxus asked.

"There will always be a Fairy Tail," Makarov said. "And you will always be a member, Laxus. I don't care who rules the world or whether we have a place to call home. You are a wizard of Fairy Tail. Don't you ever forget that."

Laxus blinked at Makarov, a knot in his throat tightening a bit. He nodded to Makarov, fighting back the big grin that wanted to form on his lips.


Erza and Lucy reclaimed their seats in the stands while the stadium fixes went on. Some officials were meeting in the middle of the arena, too, discussing something. Gray and Juvia were down below getting snacks.

Lucy was happy to see that Erza didn't have such a concentrated face on. She was just watching the workers go about their business, not concerned about the coming action. In truth, Juvia was the one that had to be sweating it. She had to take on Gajeel.

At least everyone was confident that Natsu would win. Nervous? Sure. Axel had lethal abilities, and how was Natsu's fire supposed to burn through diamond? But, Natsu would figure it out. He always did.

Lucy eased back in her seat. "Shame about the whole Empire thing. This is a pretty nice place, would've been good for a normal Grand Magic Games."

"I was thinking a similar thing," Erza said. "Though I have to wonder how the stadium in Crocus is going to hold up."

"You're that confident you'll go?"

"I don't mean to disrespect Wendy, but…" Erza shrugged. "Though I'd be remiss to mention that I am nervous about going. All of us being there, right in the heart of the Empire? It may be wise to remove ourselves from the tournament."

Lucy nodded. "It does feel a bit overwhelming, doesn't it? That we're already heading to the capital, all without Hisui's permission." Lucy shifted so she sat up a bit and tapped her feet together. "Hisui had to know what we'd do, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"That we'd go off and get ourselves in a mess like this. She had to know, right?"

Erza pursed her lips. "Perhaps. She did trust us to get stronger, though I'm not sure this particular avenue was what she had in mind."

Hisui seemed to be aware of Fairy Tail's old reputation, that they were troublemakers. This group in particular seemed to always be at the scene of great political consternation. Why should that change after seven years? Lucy had to imagine that they, above all else, were the talk of the Grand Magic Games around the Empire. All eyes were on them, and when they went to Crocus, not just eyes would be on them. It'd be the full weight of the Empire.

All for one fight?

Yeah, sure. As if the head honchos weren't figuring out a way to try and capture Fairy Tail, as that Ethereal Witch had done with Erza and the others.

Yet, even though that wasn't too long ago, Lucy had no doubt that everyone was much stronger, and a witch like her wouldn't stand a chance against Erza.

"I am sure," Erza said, slowly, thinking it over, "that she expected us to cause some headaches for the Empire."

"I just hope we haven't given her any headaches, you know?" Lucy asked.

"Once we're in the Capital, I'm sure that'll be unavoidable," Erza said. "Which gives us a bit more permission to do what Master said: go wild."


Yukino moved some hair out of her face as she placed a hand on the false window leering out to the rest of the stadium. Sting was behind her, discussing with some Imperial constituents about a schedule change to the games that was being propositioned. He'd been talking to them for some time, and even before that, had a distant stare, one that was surely captured with thoughts of how to capture Kagura, how to deal with a potentially rambunctious Fairy Tail.

All about the Empire. It's all he ever thought of.

Yukino still did not feel relief from their mission. Sting's new mission was weighing on her. They were supposed to be back home already, in the sanctity of their own home where they could spend their evenings cuddled together, chatting by the fire, or perhaps using their magic to create fun light shows like they used to.

She opened and closed her fist. Did Sting think she was there, by the window, trying to figure out what to do about Lucy Heartfilia? Axel already started stealing her keys.

But, Yukino was hesitant to ask him to do anymore with them. What would that get her? More keys? She was already leagues stronger than that Heartfilia girl, even if Yukino only had three keys. Zeref personally oversaw Yukino's training.

Unlike Sting, Yukino had never understood being so dedicated to a mission that it consumed her fully. She was efficient in her tasks. Get it over and done with.

Perhaps, then, she could convince Sting that the time to leave was nigh if her mission was indeed all wrapped up. Her part of it was complete, certainly, but there was a critical component, to her understanding, still under process.

"Excuse me," Yukino said, striding by Sting and the constituents. He gave her a passing glance before she stepped away. She shook her head.

Yukino navigated the arena's back corridors and hidden passages with ease, making her way down, down into its deep recesses until she found a hidden, shadow door that she eased open. It slid away with ease, despite its stony, illusory appearance.

Beyond the door was a laboratory setup, though instead of chemicals and beakers and test tubes were lacrima suspended everywhere, curse seals brimming with secreted power marking the floor, glowing at paced intervals beneath a great stone tablet. Atop the thing was Jiemma, his wound already having healed—whatever that meant in this instance-while black tendrils slithered out from it to consume his entire being. His eyes remained closed. He also, somehow, looked a little slimmer, though dying probably helped relieve some pounds.

In a medical suit, with a mask on and hair tied back, was Kiyl, the Dragon's Division expert on how to mess with a body. One would assume that the Darkness Dragon, Thomas, would be the one to deal with Curse Magic, but he wasn't the Broken wizard of the bunch. He wasn't the one taken by the Empire to learn its dark secrets among the famous Dragon Division.

"Is he ready to leave yet?" Yukino asked.

Tiny breathes escaped Jiemma at an incredibly slow rate. They'd gotten to him just in time to keep him alive and begin the process. No, not the Breaking one.

The demonizing one.

"Not yet," Kiyl said from behind his mask. He lowered a hanging lacrima and traced a seal over Jiemma's skin again. He had dozens all over his torso, one beneath either eye. "The Bane particles are still taking hold over his Ethernano. It may be another night of this, but we can mobilize him in the morning safely. I have more than enough sedatives to keep him under."

"Is he resisting the effects?"

"His body. He has a strong will, but, nothing can stand up to this, even the most stubborn wizards."

Like Fairy Tail. What was that supposed to mean?

"Good," Yukino said. "Keep it up."

"Of course."

Yukino hesitated while he did indeed continue working. Did he ever stop, ever consider what he was doing? Jiemma, while not a good man by any means, was being turned into a true demon. And there was Kiyl acting as if he were performing some rudimentary task.

"Kiyl," Yukino said, softly. "Does it ever bother you to know that you have no free will?"

There was no breaking in his actions.

"Why would I need to consider this?" Kiyl said. "It's a distraction from the Empire."

Yukino let those words hang in the air among the black lacrima surrounding them. How much of his brain was trained to respond like that? Did Kiyl, the Kiyl from before who was an incredible doctor, actually believe that?

"You'd never want to be free for your own thoughts, feelings, desires?"

"No."

She gritted her teeth. How the hell was that even possible? How could he bother living like that, knowing he was nothing more than a tool for the Empire, a servant for their every whim?

Then again…

Staring at that body, Yukino wondered how much she and Kiyl overlapped in the Empire's view of them. A doctor was good for Breaking wizards just as Yukino was reliable in stealing Celestial Keys from an unsuspecting woman, in being a bridge to the Celestial Spirit World should it ever be required.

How much of Yukino was left, anyway? Sure, she could think these things, but to act on them? To do anything with these sorts of those? The only route taking these thoughts anywhere led to was a swift death. Perhaps that was why Sting continued to work so diligently with the Empire.

A foul taste landed in Yukino's mouth, and without another word, she left the room. She tried to wipe the scowl from her face but couldn't seem to do so until she forced a calm expression on when she passed associates. That's right. Pretend you're fine. Eventually, you won't have to.

The Empire'll break everyone in time, anyway.


Mirajane turned from the hangars she'd set ablaze, eradicating their inventory as they crumbled all over the airships there. The airfield, soon, would be no more than ash.

She was alone on the airstrip, the wide countryside consuming her, though, in an instant, the world seemed to shrink to just her and the figure that'd come to join her: A man in black with hair that flowed down well past his shoulders. He had a curious look about him, mixed with a sinister pleasure in seeing Mirajane, injuries and exhaustion in all.

"Greetings," he said over the roaring flames. "My name is Mard Geer. It is good to make your acquaintance."

"Another demon?" Mirajane asked.

"Very good," Mard Geer said.

Mirajane sighed. This was the one she sensed heading for the others, who had a good headstart on him.

She surged her magic, managing to perform a Takeover right into her Satan Soul - Sitri. Power radiated off her with the rising flames. Mard Geer's expression didn't falter.

"This isn't the power that defeated Torafuzar, is it?" Mard Geer asked. "Even if it is particularly demonic. Impressive that a young woman like you would possess this strength."

"Enough with the talk," Mirajane said. "I know you came to avenge your friend. Bring it on."

"Please," Mard Geer said. "Associate is more like it. And, besides, there's nothing to avenge. As we speak, Torafuzar is healing back in our base. He'll be good as new by daybreak."

Mirajane's heart sank. "You're lying."

"Why would I lie? I have nothing to gain from it. You're going to fight me, anyway, in an attempt to save your friends. And, to be honest, I have no interest in them. You alone defeated Torafuzar, I imagine. So, I wanted to see what you can do."

"That won't be a problem," Mirajane said, and then, boosted her power. Damn did it hurt to do so, though, as she ascended to her Sitri-Kimetsu form.

Mard Geer raised an eyebrow at that and let out a little smile at the sight.

"Good," Mard Geer said. "Perhaps this will be fun, after all."

"Even if he survived," Mirajane said. "I'll defeat him, and the rest of you demons, over and over again if I have to."

"Oh? No. You won't defeat us. With this sort of strength, I think there are far greater things you are capable of."

Mirajane summoned orbs of evil energy to her hand while Mard Geer remained stoic, still. Annoyingly so. Did he think himself so strong?

With a roar, Mirajane charged, feeling the gusting wind push the warm flames of the airfield around them. She'd defeat this Mard Geer. She'd kill all the demons.

She would!

She—