I feel this chapter will somehow out hype the last. Don't quote me though. Enjoy!

It had been a race between Drake's hearing and his nose to see which one of them found Luna first. The whole time he raced through the forest he both listened and inhaled, trying to find any trace of her that he could.

And he soon did.

His ears found her first. He heard her and Elise fighting Hades. He saw them get wiped out. He followed Hades with his magic and sprinted as fast as he could, ignoring the cries from Terra and Winter to slow down. He wasn't going to slow down. He couldn't. They had her. Slowing down meant losing her. And he couldn't do that again. He made a beeline towards what he heard, increasing his speed as he heard a portal open. They were trying to leave. He couldn't let that happen. He'd fight all twelve at once if he had too. Not again. Never again!

Finally, after what felt like forever, he made it there. He ignored the unconscious forms of his friends lying all over the place, noting Damien and Tetsu, wherever he'd come from, lying on the ground. He didn't have time to check on them. Winter could help them out once this situation was resolved.

"Drake," Zeus said as the two met each others eyes. "It's been a year." He was interested in small talk. Not in the slightest.

"I beat your copies ass," he replied. "And I'll beat yours." Zeus let out a small chuckle.

"I wonder about that," he said. For a moment, nobody spoke. The three Olympians faced off against Drake and the girls, staring at each other.

"Drake, should I help the others?" Winter asked from his right. Drake weighed whether or not that was a good idea, not totally sure. On one hand, he definitely needed her to help him fight. At the same time, it was clear the others were hurt. They needed help too.

"You may as well," Zeus said. "We won't be fighting you."

"What?" Drake demanded.

"You heard me," Zeus replied. "I won't fight you, Drake. This fight has been decided."

"Like hell it has!" Drake replied. "I'm still standing! We took down Hermes! This fight is no where near over!"

"Don't be foolish," Zeus said flatly. "My allies have taken down all of the backup you requested. The Mermaids, The Pegasus, Lamia's, Cerberus, they're all down. You are, quite literally, the one trio still standing." Drake refused to believe this. No, there had to be someone else out there. Someone who escaped.

"The redheaded swordsman was quite the fighter," Hades said with a laugh, Luna still hanging over his shoulder. "Him and those two girls with him were brave, but they're down. And if you really tracked us here, you must have seen the midget go down too."

"I-I don't believe you..." Drake hissed.

"Ultear Fullbuster is right over there," Poseidon said, gesturing behind Drake. "Damien Dreyar as well."

"Stephanie Dreyar might have a new scar on her face," Hades smirked. "I slashed her up good. She was oh so terrified of me."

"Shut up...!"

"This battle has been decided," Zeus repeated. "You and yours fought valiantly, Drake." But it's over. You won many battles, but overall we are victorious."

"Shut up!" Drake shouted, his magic exploding outwards. Scales grew all over his body, coating up his arms and legs and across his torso. "I'll defeat you on my own! I'll kill you all if I have too!"

"Drake, maybe we should-" Terra started. Drake whirled on her, glaring at her.

"If we don't fight, they take her." he said. "I can't...I won't let them."

"Drake, there's no way we can..." Winter started, making him glare at her as well. "I mean, look around. They were outnumbered before and still did this to everyone. What are we supposed to do?"

"We should give em a chance, boss man." Drake turned as Hades spoke, seeing the man looking at Zeus. "It ain't fair to have em come all the way here just to tell them to go away. Give them a chance."

"Why?" Zeus demanded. "So you can let loose more and disobey me?"

"I am hurt," Hades replied. "I cannot believe you would accuse me of disobeying you! I've never!"

"Uh huh," Zeus replied.

"Perhaps he is right, Zeus." Poseidon said. "They will fight us no matter what. If we were to deal with them here, it would prevent a chase." Zeus frowned at this, seemingly considering what Poseidon had said. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he sighed.

"Both of you can fight them," he said. "I don't want to fight."

"As you say, big boss!" Hades said, throwing Luna to the ground. The action made Drake livid, and the man took an offensive stance. "You want your friend back, kid? Come and take her!"

Drake took him up on that offer.

Exploding forward, Drake reared his fist back and aimed at Hades' skull.

"Poison Dragon Cobra Strike!" He shouted, jabbing his first forward lightning quick. Despite the speed the attack was easily blocked, and Hades laughed at him.

"Is that seriously all you could manage even with Dragon Force?" He asked. "This is a waste of time already." Drake grit his teeth at this, anger flowing through him. Jumping back, he prepared both his hands again and flew at Hades. The man easily dodged all of his strikes, even blocking some with one hand.

"Why aren't you listening kid?" He asked. "I know you can use Sound Magic. Are you too angry to even think straight? Or are you maybe afraid of what you'll hear?" Drake growled at this.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He said. "Poison Dragon Cobra Spit!" Filling his mouth full of poison, Drake spat it directly it's Hades' face, who growled as he pushed Drake away and wiped at his eyes.

"That hurt, brat." He said, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of the spittle in his eyes. "Gah, what is this?! I can't see!"

"That's the point, moron!" Drake shouted as he rushed him again, gathering his magic in his feet as he jumped up. Fully prepared to kick the blinded man in the face, Drake descended rapidly and got oh so close to kicking him.

Until skeletons rose out of the ground.

Making a face, Drake veered off at the last second and turned back, watching as at least two dozen skeletons rose out of the ground and made their way right for him. He wasn't going to let them stand in his way. He easily dispatched the lot that came after him and boosted over the remaining few with his magic, aiming right for the back of Hades head.

Until a massive skeletal structure burst out of the ground, nearly impaling him. Drake rolled off to the side and grit his teeth. He wasn't going to be able to do anything unless he used his sound magic, which meant he was going to have to listen in on Hades. And to do that, he needed to relax a little and think clearly something that was not easily done given the circumstances, but he had no choice.

Taking a deep breath, Drake honed in on Hades' mind.

There you are.

Drake recoiled with a gasp. Hades laughed.

"What?" He asked, still wiping at his eyes. "Did you see something gross?"

"W-What the..." Drake hissed, holding his head with one hand. "What kind of things have you done? Who are you?" Hades let out a bone chilling laugh at this. Despite the poison still stuck to his eyes, Drake could see the mans maniacal glare.

"I'm the one least interested in holding back, boy." he said. "So sorry if you saw something less that pretty. Or maybe you don't want to look again?" Drake knew he was right, no matter how much he was goading. He needed to listen, or else there was no way he could win.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He shouted, activating his Sound Magic and making it explode outwards. Hades covered his ears, and Drake went on the offensive. Diving right in he assaulted Hades as hard as he could, doing his best to focus solely on the thoughts the man had about the battle.

He couldn't. His mind flooded with what Hades had done.

He watched as Simon, Mami and Nami were taken out without even trying. He watched as Mami's pinky finger was sliced off as a warning for Steph. He saw Steph's face being slashed open. He had to watch as Neptu was destroyed in combat, and he saw what he did to them after that. He watched him smash Elise under his boots, Luna doing nothing but watching feebly from the ground. Drake's thoughts began to get drowned out by the rage coursing through him. He had to kill this man. Right here, and right now. He was an animal, too dangerous to be kept alive. If he were allowed to escape, more people would suffer. He had to die.

"What did you do?!" He shouted angrily, pushing at Hades to get in his face. "Why did you do all that?! What did they do to deserve it?!" Hades laughed. It was a dark, maniacal one. He pushed right back and got in Drake's face, his dark eyes regarding him like a piece of meat.

"Because they stood in my way!" He shouted. "Zeus is too much of a pansy, so I get shit done around here! They stood in my way, so I taught them a lesson! Speaking of lessons, here's a good one for you boy! Don't let your anger distract you in combat!"

Drake didn't have time to ask what that meant, as dozens of skeletal arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed him. He tried to free himself, but the arms were far too strong for him to break. He was stuck. Hades let out another long crazy laugh, getting in Drake's face again.

"I want you to watch!" He shouted at Drake, a chill going down his spine. "I want you to watch as we pummel your friends! Watch! Look what your insolence did!" As if on cue for what Hades said, an explosion sounded off nearby. Drake looked on instinct, watching as Terra stumbled through the trees and collapsed to her knees. In the blink of an eye Poseidon came flying through the treeline, trident poised to strike Terra down. The woman rolled onto her back, earth shooting out to stop Poseidon's arms before he could pierce her throat. The two struggled against one another, the earth slowly crumbling as the weakened Terra couldn't fight him off.

"Stop it!" Drake shouted, struggling against the skeletal arms holding him. "Leave her alone!"

"Ah ah ah!" Hades shouted, more arms sprouting from the ground and holding Drake's head to make him look forward. "No looking away! I want you to see this! You might learn a thing or two!" Immobilised, Drake could do nothing but watch as Poseidon crumbled more and more of the earth protecting Terra, Poseidon pushing with all his might.

"Get back here!" Winter shouted, finally reemerging from the forest with her arms over her head. She looked soaked from head to toe, but her face was livid. "Sky God's Secret Art! Boreas' Cyclone!" Drake was only kept in place by the skeletons as the wind in the clearing responded to Winter's cry. In the span of a few seconds the entire area became encompassed by a cyclone. Trees were ripped out of the ground, debris flew everywhere, and yet Hades stayed standing next to Drake.

"Wow would ya look at that!" The man shouted, his voice somehow audible over the intense winds. "She's something that girl!"

"Winter!" Drake shouted. "Be careful!"

The air began to condense. The cyclone became smaller and smaller, and before long Drake saw that it had shrunk inside of Winter's hands, compressed to the size of a baseball. The girl glared angrily at Poseidon, who looked dishevelled by the winds.

"Disappear!" She shouted. "Sky God Secret Art! Infinitus Tempestas!" With the force only a God could manage the cyclone erupted from within Winter's hands, flying horizontally straight at Poseidon. Terra had connected herself to the dirt, safe from the winds. Poseidon was completely engulfed by the winds, trees and debris still flying through the winds as it blasted a massive crater straight through the woods and dug into the ground. There was absolutely no way Poseidon had avoided getting hit.

"Urk!" Eyes widened, Drake's eyes darted back over to Winter. His stomach dropped.

Emerging from the center of the cyclone was Poseidon.

He'd driven his trident straight into her stomach. Blood spurted out of Winter's mouth as she collapsed, the strongest attack Drake had ever seen her cast completely nullified.

"A very powerful attack," Poseidon said as he pulled the trident out of Winter, the girl collapsing to the ground. "But you were foolish to use such an attack on me. I am the God the Sea. Storms fall under my domain, and everyone knows that the center of a cyclone, the eye, is the calmest area. All I needed to do was go right through it to finish you."

"Winter!" Terra shouted, Drake too shocked to speak. In one swift movement Poseidon whacked her over the head with the trident, and Terra fell silent.

He was alone.

"Hahaha!" Hades laughed. "That was crazy dangerous, Poseidon! You nearly got shredded!"

"Yes," Poseidon agreed as he walked over and past them. "If I had been anyone else, she would have eviscerated me in one blow."

"W-Winter..." Drake managed weakly. "T-Terra..."

"Do you see now boy?" Hades asked, getting in Drake's face again. Normally such a smug smile would irritate Drake, but he was too stunned to speak. "We're above you. You stood no chance, and you still opted to get those girls hurt. How could you? They trusted you."

Drake had no words. These two, and Zeus, were a level above anything that Hermes had showed him. It had been a complete and utter shit show. What could he do? It was over. They'd take her.

"Let's go," Zeus called from the portal. "We have work to do. Leave the boy until we leave. Surely he was no fight left in him."

"Yessir," Hades said, waltzing away from Drake, but the hands forced him to keep his eyes on Winter and Terra. Both of them taken down like children. What could he hope to do on his own.

It's over...I can't fight them. They're going to take her. We...We lost.

Drake felt himself spiralling. How could they win? Neither Hades or Poseidon had even shown that much magic and they'd been overpowered. Now what? Was it over? Were they really going to lose her? What did they even want? Would he ever know? Would he ever even see Luna again?

Tears began to fall from his eyes. There was just no way. The three of them were a league above anything the others had shown them. Hades himself had fought off Dragon Force like it was nothing. How could he stand up to that? Could the others? Would it even matter if it was twenty-something against one?

"Which is why, I hope one day, you'll forgive me."

Time slowed down for Drake. He remembered how Nashi had smiled at him seconds before sacrificing herself for him. How she'd looked so okay with dying for him. The words she'd spoken to him. He knew, deep down, he wasn't mad at her. How could he be? But still, at that moment, a fire erupted in his heart, and he opened his mouth wide as he heard The Olympians walking away.

"I'll find you!" He shouted, voice hoarse from all his prior shouting. "I don't care where you run, where you hide! I'll bring her home! I'll bring Nashi home! I'll cross any ocean and take on an army! I'll find her! Because I need to look her in the eyes to forgive her!"

His words cast silence over the clearing. Drake could still hear the portal humming quietly, so he could only hope they hadn't left.

"Zeus?" Poseidon asked. Drake heard a staff rhythmically tabbing the ground, coming closer to him. Before long Zeus rounded to face him, watching him with face not unlike the way a Grandpa might look at his screaming grandchildren.

"I feel your rage, Drake." He said softly, Drake making a face. What the hell was this old fart doing? "I know that what we've done had left irreparable scars on you. And I will live with that as long as I live. Please know, though. We mean no ill will. We want to do the right thing."

Drake didn't know what he was even saying. His mind was so muddled by rage and grief and sadness that he could barely compute the words to respond.

"Why?" He finally breathed, voice still crackly and hoarse. "Why are you doing this to us?" Zeus' face contorted as if these words hurt his feelings, and his eyes fell to the ground.

"We've waited for so long," he said. "Done things we're not proud of to succeed. I will be the first to admit that. But Drake, we have waited too long. Done to much. If we do not take her and move forward, our actions will have been for nothing. We will have failed not only the world, but ourselves. Forgive us."

Drake had no words. After all of this, after everything that had been said and done, he wanted forgiveness? No way in hell.

"I'll find her," He hissed, voice even hoarser than before. "I don't care where you take her. I'll get her back. I swear to you." Zeus regarded him for a moment, not saying a word. Finally, he sighed.

"You will not," he repeated. "We will be ready. As we have been for over twenty years now. Do you have any idea why you have walked this path Drake? It is because we have willed it."

"I don't care," Drake hissed. "I don't care how confident you are. I'll take her back!"

"You fail to understand," Zeus said. "Perhaps I should tell you. After all, if my words can dissuade you from hurting more people, than I'll do it." Drake made a face at this, tears still streaming down his face.

"What do you mean?" He demanded. Zeus took a deep breath and placed both hands around his staff.

"Did you think this path of yours was merely a coincidence?" He asked. "That time after time you encountered us and our associates by mere chance? Surely you knew that wasn't true. After all, I didn't need to pay the mayor of that town much to get him to ask for you, Elise and Nashi to look for Phantom Dove. A small, lump sum was all it took to set our encounters into motion."

...

...

"What...?" Drake asked, his world falling around him.

"Hm," Zeus replied. Despite what he'd just said, he somehow looked sad. "Yes, you heard me. Your encounter with Phantom Dove was planned. We willed it, and it happened. The torture, as much as I hate to admit it, was also planned. We needed to know how much abuse Nashi could take before END came out. So we allowed it. We went to far, but it was for a good cause. Though I will admit employing an old enemy of yours in Jose was a bad idea."

Drake thought of the cell. Apocalypse. What they'd done to Elise.

"Y-You..."

"I do admit though, your Edolas adventure was not something we had planned. It was more of an aftereffect from what we had Jose do for us anyway. After you returned, we sent you all on a quest to that old cavern where you were tested for access to old scrolls. The scrolls were not out objective, but rather if the tests were able to draw out END's power. It failed though, so we moved forward. We had Devil Advocate attack your guild as a shot at you for taking down Jose and Phantom Dove. It was Athena who deduced that you, Nashi specifically, would come for us, as you felt some level of responsibility for that. And we were right. It was Katsuchi's job to test her that time, but he failed. We were going to authorise Taisho anyway, but he beat us to the punch. But that was somehow not enough either."

Drake thought of the Crime Sociere airship. How it had plummeted from the sky and nearly killed everyone. How Damien had been pushed to the edge to protect them from Taisho.

"After that, we decided we'd had enough. We had one last plan. We ordered Apocalypse and the remnants of Phantom Dove to travel to Silverridge, where the Counsel was making weapons. He was to fire the Etherion Cannon of Magnolia. Granted it was supposed to be a small blast meant only to awake END, but he betrayed us still. He was never meant to contact you and yours for a job and draw you away. And yet, the bungling idiot managed to do his job anyway. By forcing Nashi Dragneel into that vat of pure magic, END woke up."

He saw the crater that remained of Silverridge. He remembered seeing Nashi in the center. How she'd looked when he saw her first.

"After that, the Grand Magic Games started and we ordered Blake Hunt, our inside man, to test END's strength. He planted bombs at your hotel and pushed Nashi as far as he could, but she did not awaken. Despite this failure, we got a good measure of her power. She wasn't powerful enough. So, before the Games ended, we moved Kronos in to attack. "

Drake remembered the hotel. How he'd been trapped in the rubble and freed by Michael.

"I will admit that we bungled Kronos' mission." Zeus said, stroking his beard. "We forgot to calculate in Ultear Milkovich and her use of Last Ages in the city. Due to this you and your friends had an odd experience. I won't ask for details though."

The time jump. Drake remembered how hurt their families were when they'd come back over twenty years later. He remembered looking at Steph's little face as Damien aimed to murder her in cold blood because of a failed takeover.

"After that, we decided to call you in in a fake attempt at peace. Our aim was to use our Godly Fire satellite to power Nashi and END up to the level she needed to be at for our plans. But alas, we failed that as well. Nashi wasn't strong enough to take in all that magic, and she died on the spot."

"Tell my parents I'm sorry."

"And well, I'm sure you know a little about the resurrection." Zeus said. "Demon Lords are powerful beings. Granted, her body was fragile when she first came back. She needed to be looked after in a calming environment. Even still, I sensed the power inside her. It would take more time, but we would have her. Until..." Zeus trailed off, looking back up at Drake.

"Until you found her," he said. "When you did that...I grew impatient. I chose to fire the satellite on Magnolia. I chose to do these things to you and your friends. Now that I said all that, I realise how impossible your forgiveness is too ask. And yet, as an old and foolish man, I want to ask all the same."

Drake barely even heard him. From the start, the very beginning of this twisted tale, The Olympians had been in control of everything. They had instigated and began every little thing that went wrong. Even when he and the others thought they won, in the end they'd lost. Elise was raped because of them. They'd all nearly died to Taisho and Kronos because of them. Silverridge had been destroyed and lives were lost because of them. Nashi had gone through all of that and more.

Because of them.

How do you fight an enemy that has such a horrific advantage? You can't. Even when you think you are, it's apart of their plan. Things that they wanted. Drake thought all this time they had been defying them, but they hadn't. They'd played right into their hands.

Slowly he hung his head. There was no way they could win. It was over. After all of this their plan had come to fruition. They won.

"I imagine this is weighing heavily on you," Zeus said, putting a hand on Drake's shoulder. He didn't even feel it. "It must feel terrible to think you had a chance, but realise it was all the plan from the start. But this is why I implore you to not chase us. We'll be ready if you do. Don't cause anymore harm. Leave us to our work."

With this, Zeus walked away. He left Drake wrapped up in the skeletal arms, walking back to the open portal. He heard Hades yelling something mockingly at him, but he didn't hear it. He heard him pick Luna up, but was powerless to stop it. What could he do?

The portal closed. Silence came over the clearing.

Drake let himself collapse to the ground as the skeletal arms disappeared. He stayed there, face down. He didn't know how long he stayed there, and he didn't care. The only thing he knew was this:

You win.

I actually did indeed reference that shitty little arc about getting scrolls in a cave that happened before Devil Advocate. HARD TO BELIEVE IT SERVED A PURPOSE, EH? For anyone curious, that wasn't just a random addition. If you go back to that arc's beginning, the Dragon Slayers smell someone...familiar on the job request. Heheh.

I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 338: It's Over