The Demon Eyes of Fairy Tail

by Michael Shadow

Itachi is given a second chance at life for an unknown reason. He is sent to Earthland where he ends up in the tower of heaven, meeting a certain little red haired girl that becomes his little sister. Join them on their adventures with the Fairy Tail guild. Rated M just in case. I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

35. The Sun Village!

Chapter 34: The Sun Village!

Most had returned to the guildhall after having completed their jobs, they were in a festive mood, celebrating with booze. The only one whom looked a little grumpy was Natsu Dragneel, whom was frowning and next to him was a nervous Lucy and Happy. "Natsu, stop making that face… There is no way we could have known." Lucy tried to clam down Natsu whom was frowning like a little child.

"Itachi, Erza and Mira taking Wendy and Carla on an S-class job… It's not fair." Natsu pouted out of jealousy over not being able to go on an S-class job like Wendy.

"Well, we weren't here when they went so what can we do?" Happy said while feasting on a fish. "I wonder if Carla is lonely without me?"

"If anything she is probably glad…" Lucy muttered.

"Well, we weren't here either." Gray commented as he and Juvia sat together not too far away from Natsu and Lucy. "And you're not hearin' me complain."

"By the way, where did you two love birds run off to?" Cana walked up to Gray with a smug expression, ready to tease the hell out of him. To this comment Juvia blushed and Gray just raised a brow.

"Huh?" Gray questioned when Cana suddenly placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Man, you sure have grown a pair, taking cute little Juvia out on a date? So, where did you two go?" Cana teased to which Gray blushed slightly and instantly stood up pushing Cana's hands from his shoulders.

"I-It wasn't like that! I just had some business and-"

"Gray took Juvia with him to an island… and we shared a meal together." Juvia beamed with a smile while thinking back on the fond memories, with slight alterations of Gray feeding her.

"Oh, you dog, way to go ice boy." Cana snickered at Gray's reaction, as his blush grew and he started to tremble.

"I-I said it wasn't like that!" Gray protested.

"Aw, your so shy… You might break Juvia's heart if you keep saying stuff like that." Cana snickered even more while Gray felt defeated as it didn't matter what he said at this point.

"Oy, Cana." Laxus called out to the guilds drunk, whom diverted her attention from the embarrassed ice maker wizard to the lightning dragon slayer. "Have you seen the old man?" Laxus asked about his grandfather Makarov whom seemed absent.

"Huh? Master? Hmm, last I saw him he went down to the guilds library." Cana looked towards the doorway leading to the guild library.

"I see." Laxus was about to walk towards the doorway to the guild library, but stopped when he heard the loud sound of the doors being slammed open from the main entrance to the guild.

Everyone looked over to the main door, and saw Erza, Mirajane, Wendy, Carla and an angry looking Itachi up front. Everyone looked shocked when they saw the look on Itachi's face, for sure he was angry but that anger wasn't directed at anyone in the guild. This made everyone wonder what could possibly have made him angry?

"Oy Itachi! What's the deal?! Going on an S-class job without us?!" Natsu instantly marched over to Itachi but froze once he saw the look on Itachi's face. "H-Hey, what's wrong man? You okay?"

"Move." Itachi spoke in a cold tone as he instantly walked towards the guild library, seeing as the master wasn't by the bar, and considering what he told him at the party at the royal palace he would be in the library.

"Rival, what's wrong?" Laxus asked but Itachi just walked right past him and entered the guild library leaving everyone confused.

"The truth is, our job was cancelled." Mirajane said and everyone looked even more confused, why would that make Itachi angry? The confusion was only cleared up by what Mira would say next. "Our job was to take down dark guild branches from Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart, but when we got to the location, everyone was dead. And from the looks of it, it was the work of that Sasori of the Akatsuki from Itachi's old world."

"That puppet guy?" Laxus remembered how Itachi viewed the puppet master from seeing Itachi's memories, just like everyone else.

"No wonder he was pissed." Gray commented sweating a little from seeing that look on Itachi's face, he then remembered the conversation he had with Moka the village demon elder from Galuna Island.

"What's more, it seems Sasori is working with Tartaros, we found the guild emblem at the scene." Erza added to the explanation and everyone went silent, the last major dark guild in the country that hasn't been captured, and the most mysterious out of the Balam Alliance.

"Heh, if they come our way, we'll waste 'em! Just like the others!" Natsu declared as it seemed he has grown overconfident after having defeated Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and won the Grand Magic Games.

"It might not be that easy, remember Hades?" Lucy reminded Natsu of their battle with Grimoire Heart's master, despite their best efforts they were no match for him. It wasn't until Itachi used stage 1 of those black marks that Hades was defeated. "For all we know, Tartaros could have even stronger members, and an even stronger master."

"True, and that Sasori might not be the only one from Itachi's world working with that guild. For all we know that Madara guy could be with them as well, and from what Itachi has told us even he is not match for Madara." Gray pointed out.

"Itachi is just being paranoid, if he and some of us team up we can waste that Madara!" Natsu declared looking excited to fight.

"As much as I want to believe that Natsu, I think it might be impossible." Laxus said while only staring at the door leading to the guild library. Should he go in after Itachi? Should he wait until he and gramps were done talking and ask the old man what's going on then? "For now, let's just wait and see what happens. There isn't much else we can do."

"I can't believe you Laxus! Just put me in a room with that Sasori guy and I will waste him no problem!" Natsu declared, but then with his enhanced dragon senses he heard someone trembling. He looked behind him and saw a horrified looking Wendy, on the verge of tears. "Wendy?" And just like that everyone's attention were directed at little Wendy.

"Wendy…" Mira's gaze softened upon the little dragon slayer and embraced her in a hug. "198, Sasori killed a total of 198 dark guild wizards. And from the looks of the scene it wasn't much of a struggle, he killed them with ease, including each of the dark guilds' masters, and without alerting the knights stationed around the area. He even had spies within the royal army giving him intel."

"Don't tell me, Wendy saw…" Lucy looked horrified over seeing the traumatized little Wendy.

"From the looks of it, those dark guild wizards had been dead for a whole day. Some of them were so torn up that their guts were spilled out on the floor. And that foul scent of death… for Wendy it must have been unbearable with her enhanced dragon slayer nose." Erza said with a look of sympathy at Wendy, as she herself remembered smelling the smell of death when she was a child in the Tower of Heaven. "We should never have brought her with us…" Erza clenched her fist out of guilt, and she knew Itachi felt the same way and that this was a part of why he was angry. Wendy hadn't said a word on their whole trip back to the guild, despite their best efforts. Carla in particular was worried for her best friend.

Natsu clenched his fists out of frustration and anger. "Alright then, just tell me when Itachi is ready to track that bastard down… I will make sure he pays!" Natsu declared as flames flared around his body.

"I'm in, tell me when we're heading out." Gray was letting out a cold breeze from his body, also ready to beat down someone whom made Wendy look so traumatized.

"We won't, onii-san ordered so." Erza said to which Natsu, Gray and several others looked outraged.

"What?! Why not?!" Laxus was the one to ask the question.

"Believe me when I say I would like nothing more than to track down Sasori… But, according to onii-san Sasori is an expert on covering his tracks. And that it might be almost impossible to track him down. He said it would be nothing more than a waste of time." Erza explained although that didn't help people calm down.

"Just bring me and Salamander, we'll use our dragon noses to track him down." Gajeel declared also looking to be letting out some frustration over seeing Wendy like this.

"Sasori has the body of a puppet, right? I doubt you could track him down. Besides, Itachi said that it's wiser to wait until our paths cross with Sasori. He knows him better than us, and from seeing his memories of the guy… I can't help but agree that this is the best option." Mira said to which they calmed down somewhat at hearing this.

"Argh! I can't take this… I'm going on a job, let's go Happy!" Natsu declared and grabbed the most difficult job on the normal quest board.

"I'm coming to." Gray declared feeling the need to let out some aggression at something. Natsu, Happy and Gray quickly left after having confirmed with Mira that they were taking the job.

"I'm goin' too, Lily let's go." Gajeel grabbed a job request himself and Pantherlily followed, and for some reason so did Jet and Droy followed as well.

"Wendy, why don't you just come with me and I will make you some sweets?" Mira tried to comfort the little dragon slayer, whom only looked down while giving a small nod. Mira gently grabbed a hold of Wendy's hand and lead her to the bar counter, and Carla followed after them.

Meanwhile, down in the guild library, Itachi had explained the situation to Makarov. "I see, poor Wendy, having to see that at her age. Are you planning on finding those two former comrades of yours?" Makarov asked, and behind him was a pile of books, he had borrowed Levy's glasses to read quickly through the books and find anything about "demon marks" so far, he hadn't found anything.

"I would, but I don't think there will be a point to it. If they are aligned with Tartaros, finding them will be even more difficult. From what Lahar has told me, no one, not even the ones in the black market knows where Tartaros has their headquarters. The whole guild is a mystery, all we know about them is that they tend to do demonic rituals, or worship Zeref. Besides, knowing my former Akatsuki "comrades" they will cross paths with us eventually. The only question, is when?" Itachi replied, he looked at the pile of books and then at the dwarf master. "I take it you haven't found anything yet."

"Nope, not a thing. Just a few things about the demons of the book of Zeref, nothing else. I will keep searching, you try and find more info on that Sasori, Kakuzu and Kisame's location."

"Very well." Itachi gave a small bow while heading out, he stopped before he reached the door. "Master, you will tell me if you find something, right? Regardless?"

"Of course, no matter how hard the news might be of what I find, I will tell you, regardless." Makarov replied and went back to searching through the next book, and Itachi then left. "And no matter what you say, your family in Fairy Tail will help you with it, I promise." Makarov whispered to himself while he kept browsing through the book, he found nothing and threw it to the side and picked up the next one.

For a few days now, Itachi had pretty much gone around the black market to see if he could hear anything about Tartaros. He had not heard anything new, in fact the major rumor about Tartaros now is that they are starting to take over Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart's territories. Makarov still had nothing on the term "Demon Marks" and was still searching.

On his way back to the guild he ran into Erza, Lucy, Carla and Wendy whom the later looked like she was hiding behind Erza. "Onii-san." Erza was surprised over suddenly running into Itachi.

"What's going on?" Itachi asked.

"Natsu and Gray haven't come back from their job yet, so we decided to go and take a look." Erza replied and then beamed with a smile and grabbed Itachi by his wrist. "You can come with us!" Erza declared and before Itachi could say anything he was dragged along with them.

They walked into a forest where Natsu and Gray supposedly went for the job, and instantly they found a dead giant pig monster. "It's huge!" Lucy stared at the dead beast.

"That is the monster from their request…" Wendy uttered while holding her hands over her nose, so that she wouldn't smell the dead creature as the scent would only remind her of all those dead corpses. She actually flinched just from thinking about that awful smell.

"Looks like they finished the job a few days ago…" Carla said and sent a worried glance over at Wendy.

"Where is Natsu and Gray then?" Erza looked around but there was no sign of the two mages or Happy.

"Hn, someone is coming this way." Itachi turned around and saw a pale looking Happy supporting himself on a stick.

"Happy?!" Carla flew towards the blue pale Exceed.

"Carla, help me…" Happy fell over and they all rushed to his aid. They then had Wendy heal the unconscious Happy whom slowly started to open his eyes.

"What happened?" Erza asked the blue cat.

"He isn't injured, but he is completely exhausted." Wendy said while she kept sending more energy into Happy.

While Wendy was helping Happy, Itachi took the opportunity to ask something. "Why did you bring Wendy? I would think she would rather want to stay at guild after what happened last time."

Erza let out a sigh and sent a look of concern at the little dragon slayer. "The truth is, I tried to stop her. But she insisted on coming, saying that she needed to pay her rent and that she couldn't just sit around and mope all day. I offered to go on a job for her to get her the money, but she instantly turned me down saying she wanted to earn it herself. That she is not just an ordinary child, and that she can handle it." Erza replied to which Itachi at least understood the reason, it's not like they can force Wendy to stand by at the guild.

"Happy, where are Natsu and Gray? I thought you were together." Lucy started to look concerned at the lack of the presence of Natsu and Gray.

"It's awful… Natsu and Gray are…" Happy uttered.

"I can detect their energy, they seem exhausted." Itachi spotted the energy signature of Gray and Natsu and they all instantly rushed over and found a crater.

Natsu crawled out from some rubble. "You bastard…" Natsu growled at the panting Gray in front of him.

"Jackass… I've had enough out of you, hothead!" Both Gray and Natsu's faces were swollen from fighting against each other.

"That's my line, pervert!" Natsu retorted and they instantly started trading blows with each other.

"This is your fault for you always just charging in without thinking!"

"That's cause you were dragging your heels!"

"What?!"

"The usual huh?" Itachi and the other sweat dropped at the scene.

"So, they have been going on for three days?" Carla snickered while looking at the exhausted Happy.

"Only stopping to eat and sleep." Happy replied.

"Oh my. That's a cute fight." Carla commented.

"All right, boys. How about wrapping it up? Let's go home and have some sweets…" Erza walked up to the boys only to get punched by both of them in the face.

""Shut up!"" They both shouted without any idea of who they just punched.

Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla all looked horrified knowing what was coming next, and Itachi just sweat dropped while laughing nervously. Erza got up and the two boys gained questioning gazes and started to pale when they saw the murderous look on Erza's face. "Well…" Erza glared at them and they started shaking in their boots.

"Erza!" Gray almost choked while speaking her name.

"What are you doing here?!" Natsu questioned completely horrified as Erza summoned forth a sword, and was about to attack but stopped once Itachi grabbed her wrist.

"Now, now, no need to kill the poor fools." Itachi said to which Erza frowned not finding it fair.

""Itachi!"" Both Gray and Natsu looked like they were looking at their savior.

"A punch to the face for each of them should suffice." Itachi added to which Erza smirked and cracked her knuckles, and the two boys paled even more and were instantly knocked down by one punch from Erza.

They later brought the two unconscious boys back to the guild, and everyone burst out laughing when they heard what happened. "Honestly, those two… They can't even handle a simple monster hunt?" Makarov uttered looking unamused.

"Well they got energy to spare." Laxus commented finding it amusing unlike his grandfather. "They probably learned it from you."

"Hn, even though I try and teach them the importance of teamwork, they still end up fighting each other." Itachi sighed at seeing the sulking Gray and Natsu.

"Master, we've got an emergency quest." Mira handed over a bunch of quests to Makarov for him to look over.

"Again?" Laxus questioned.

"Since the Grand Magic Games, we've gotten a lot of request for specific wizards. Everyone's popular now." Mira beamed with a smile.

"Itachi, Natsu, Gray! I've got a special request here for you three." Makarov called over Natsu and Gray whom widened their eyes that Itachi was also requested to go with them.

"I can go with Itachi, but there is no way I'm taking the striper here!" Natsu glared at Gray and they butted heads together.

"That's my line you damn hotheaded freak!"

"So, I have to deal with those two?" Itachi looked like this was going to be a pain. "I don't assume I can skip out on this one?" Itachi looked over to Makarov and widened his eyes slightly when he saw the shocked look on Makarov's face.

"This is…! You all have to go, an no matter what make sure to be on your best behavior. Itachi I'm counting on you to make sure those two act polite." Makarov looked at Itachi with a pleading look, to which Itachi sighed as he couldn't refuse but he was curious why Makarov looked so nervous.

"Okay, who's the client?" Itachi accepted.

"The client is Warrod Sequen. He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, the 4th ranked one, and he's known as one of the Four Gods of Ishgar." Everyone in the guild instantly stopped with what they were doing, looking shocked that such a big shot wanted Natsu and Gray for a job. To them, Itachi getting requested wasn't that shocking, kind of expected with him now being the strongest mage in the guild.

"Warrod Sequen?" Itachi raised his brow, where had he heard that name before? And why was Makarov nervous? Even if he is one of the top ranked amongst the 10 Wizard Saints, Makarov wouldn't normally look that nervous about someone like that. Considering Makarov was also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and was probably strong enough to be the 5th ranked one. "Come on you two, get a move on." Itachi ordered the two rivals whom looked like they were about to tear each other's throats out.

""Why does he have to come?!"" They both complained in unison while pointing at each other. ""Don't speak at the same time as me, it's creepy!""

"Enough!" Erza roared and the two instantly froze. "Geez, you two! If you are not able to take this seriously, then guess I have to come along to, so that onii-san doesn't need to deal with you two morons by himself!"

"Bring the whole team, the request doesn't say anything about bringing others. Just as long as we three are amongst the group it should be fine." Itachi figured there was no point in splitting up the group for this one. Besides for all he knows some of their talents may come in use.

After a long train ride, with Natsu and Wendy looking pale through the whole trip because of their motion sickness. They arrived at their station, a station in the middle of nowhere. It was a quiet place surrounded by nature and mountains, although the whole walk there mostly consisted of Natsu and Gray bickering in the background. Itachi walked up front a little far away from the others, while he was walking he was thinking. 'Warrod Sequen… one of the 10 Wizard Saints… as well as one of the 4 Gods of Ishgar… One of the mightiest wizards in the country. What could he possibly need help with? Whatever issue he is having, shouldn't he be able to resolve it himself? Or is the situation something that requires my, Natsu and Gray's abilities?'

"There's a house!" Wendy brought Itachi out from his train of thought as he looked at a lonely house on the top of a hill. They walked up to the house and knocked but didn't get a response. Erza then opened the door and it was dark.

"We're from the magic guild, Fairy Tail." Erza called out while everyone got a good look around. The house mostly consisted of plants, and even had a tree growing through it.

"Hello?!" Lucy called out although was met by a hush coming from a figure standing over some potted plants. "Is that a person?" Lucy questioned considering the looks of the figure, it looked a little off to say the least.

"Quietly." A deep voice spoke and everyone looked towards the figure, whom had sunlight from the windows shining upon him now, and over the plants he was watering. "Plants like silence. If you can understand that, keep your damned mouths shut." The voice whom everyone guessed was Warrod, made both Lucy and Wendy cover their mouths to not utter a single peep. "Gotcha." Warrod's tone changed and the light from the windows shined all around the room and all the flowers bloomed. "Kidding! Only kidding!" Warrod turned around and to everyone's surprise he looked like a tree. A tree with the face of an old human man. He was dressed in elegant robes with the symbol of the Ten Wizard Saints on the back. "Actually, plants and flowers love human voices!"

Everyone started blankly at the laughing tree man. "Tree?" Lucy uttered.

"What's with this old man?" Natsu questioned.

"Is he really some big shot?" Gray questioned.

'His magic power… It's stronger than Master Makarov's to be sure…' Itachi thought, seeing the amount of magic emitting from this old tree man. 'And also… he looks familiar…' Itachi narrowed his gaze at the Wizard Saint.

"Thank you for coming, Fairy Tail wizards. Which of you are Itachi-kun, Natsu-kun and Gray-kun?" Warrod asked and the three in question stepped forward, although Warrod then picked up Happy and Carla. "What's this? You're more feline than I imagined, and there is only two of you." Natsu, Gray and Itachi sweat dropped at the old man's behavior. "Kidding! Only kidding!" Warrod laughed at his own joke that went in bad taste for the Fairy Tail wizards.

"This old man is on the hyper side, huh?" Lucy sweat dropped to which Erza hummed in agreement.

Everyone stared in disbelief as Warrod was still laughing. "He is still laughing at his own joke…" Gray uttered.

"Should we interrupt?" Natsu was unsure of what to do here.

"Excuse me, you are Warrod Sequen of the 10 Wizard Saints, correct?" Itachi asked, not having time for these jokes.

"Indeed. I am Warrod Sequen." The old man looked like he was about to make another joke, although seeing that serious look in Itachi's eyes prevented him from doing so. 'Oh, this young man seems to be quite the serious one and strong… Yet his eyes are filled with worry.' Warrod smiled a little and then guided his guests outside. "Ever since I retired. I've been puttering around with my plants out here in the desert." Warrod sat them down.

"Retired? You were with a guild, Warrod-sama?" Erza asked to which Warrod let out an amused laughter at remembering the past. "It was a good guild. And now I halt spreading desertification with my Green Magic." Warrod said as a flower grew from his hand. "Some people call it a charitable activity, but it's just a hobby to me. Because of that, I've traveled to many deserts here and there over the years. Last time, I came across a peculiar village."

"Peculiar? In what regard?" Itachi asked.

"According to the literature, it's called Sun Village. It's a village that worshiped eternally burning flames as a guardian deity." This peaked the fire dragon slayer's interest.

"Eternally burning flames?"

"That's right. But the village was frozen." And this peaked the ice wizard's interest. "Wheter it was due to a natural disaster or brought on by humans, all the people, animals, plants, buildings, and a lake too… Everything, even the eternal flames that guarded the village, was frozen. I don't know what happened in that village. But the villagers were alive inside that ice." This brought a look of shock to them.

"They are alive in the ice?" Happy questioned.

"The villagers are encased in ice but alive. I can't just forget about it. I want you to save them. That's my request. That is why I asked for you three, a fire dragon slayer, an ice wizard, and a powerful wizard shown to have skills with flames." Warrod finished explaining about the details of the job.

"I see! That's simple! I'll melt all the ice with my flames!" Natsu declared.

"If it was that simple, he wouldn't have asked for Gray to come." Itachi pointed out to which Warrod nodded.

"Indeed, this is no normal ice. Your abilities are needed as well." Warrod said while looking at Gray.

"Warrod-sama… Why did you ask for help? I'm sure a wizard of your stature could have solved this matter." Erza pointed out seeing as he was one of the mightiest wizards in the country.

"You all seem to have the wrong idea about me. Although I'm one of the Ten Wizard Saints I am not omnipotent. I am one of the ten that the council chose without consulting them. Although, I heard one of you turned the offer down regardless, wish I had backbone to go against the council like that." Warrod smirked while sending a glance at Itachi, whom barely showed a reaction. "There are a great number of wizards on this continent whom are more powerful than me, not to mention around the world. My existence is insignificant. I hardly even know any offensive magic. If I engaged in battle with a youngster, I have no confidence that I would win."

"But…" Erza was about to try and boast up Warrod's reputation.

"Everyone has things they're good at and things they aren't. Our comrades make up for those deficiencies, and we theirs. And that leads us to guild, yes?" Warrod smiled at the youngsters whom all gained a smile themselves at the inspiring words of the elder.

"We accept your request." Itachi gave a polite bow.

""Yeah!"" Natsu and Gray bumped fists.

"We will do our best!" Lucy declared and Wendy nodded in agreement.

"By the way, where is the village?" Wendy questioned.

"About 2,000 km south of here." Warrod replied to which Natsu gulped over the fear of having to take a train or carriage.

"That's pretty far." Carla commented.

"Oh, I can at least help you on that regard. Here, gather over there and don't forget your belongings." They all complied to Warrod's request, got their things and went over to the spot he pointed at. "Well, shall we begin?" Warrod said much to everyone's confusion and before anyone could say anything. "I am counting on you, Fairy Tail young'uns. I'm sure you will be true to yourselves as you overcome any obstacles that stands in your way." Warrod raised his hand.

"Wah?" Itachi widened his eyes as a giant tree grew from the ground beneath them, and lifted them up, flying them across the land as it kept growing in incredible length. Everyone laughed in amazement at the wind blowing in their faces.

"Amazing!" Gray grinned looking down on the land beneath them.

"He is modest, but still an amazing wizard…" Erza smiled, looking in the direction of Warrod's house that vanished in the distance.

Itachi couldn't help but agree with that statement, although he could swear that Warrod seemed familiar, Itachi felt like he should know him for something besides being a Wizard Saint. Yet he couldn't seem to recall what it was. Oh well, for now he had a job to focus on.

Meanwhile, Fairy Tail guildhall

Makarov had gone back to search through the guilds library to find anything on the term "demon marks", he was also bothered by the thought on how Natsu and Gray would act in the presence of Warrod. Although he then sees an unexpected duo walking down to the library. "Laxus… and Juvia? Is there something the two of you need?" Makarov turned to the two.

"Well, I'm not sure what she wants… but I came here to tell you somethin' I heard during the dragon attack. Gramps, it's about Itachi." Laxus spoke to which Juvia seemed to know what it was about and decided to remain silent until Laxus finished.

"Oh, what?" Makarov put the current book he was looking through down, and put his full attention on Laxus.

"When Itachi went on that rampage of his… I heard one of the Dragons compare him to something. Whatever it is, he called it Ancient Demons." Laxus informed to which Makarov raised a brow.

"Ancient Demons? That's a new one…" Makarov considered this a hint to further his investigation. "Thank you, Laxus. And now Juvia, what did you come for?" Makarov turned his attention towards Juvia, wondering if she had something like that to help his investigation, or if it involved following Gray on his newest job.

"The truth is, Juvia and Gray-sama went to Galuna Island the day we came back to the guild." Juvia said to which both grandfather and grandson paid closer attention, wondering what that had to do with the situation. "Gray-sama thought he could find some answers on the term Ancient Demons… And Gray-sama told Juvia to give this information to you Master, before he left." Juvia then began explaining every single last detail, they had learned about the term Ancient Demons on Galuna Island, and to say Makarov and Laxus looked shocked was putting it mildly.

"Seriously? Some old demons are connected to that power in Itachi?" Laxus questioned, and then he noticed Makarov quickly returning to his search, grabbing a new book.

"Thank you, you two. This information will really help." Makarov spoke with appreciation as the list of books he had to go through had shortened thanks to Juvia and Laxus' information. 'Please… don't let this be as dangerous as I think…' Makarov thought as he browsed through book after book. Having given the info both Laxus and Juvia left the master to continue his search.

Back with Itachi and co

As they were flying on the giant tree that kept on growing, they eventually noticed a village beneath them, although it was reflecting light from the sun seeing as the whole thing was frozen in ice. The tree then started going downwards, and stopped at the proper height for them to jump down from. "That was quick…" Gray commented as he took a good look around.

"Thanks to Warrod-sama, we got here in no time at all." Erza praised the skill of the Wizard Saint.

Wendy whom was standing close to Erza while staying a little out of sight, peeked around and smiled. "That's amazing magic."

"He's not one of the Ten Wizard Saints for nothing." Carla added.

Itachi walked right away over to the light purple like iced over rocks, he gently touched the ice leading his hand across it. "It doesn't seem to be ordinary ice…" Itachi commented and Gray looked astonished as he also investigated this strange ice. Itachi flinched a little as he cut his index finger on an ice crystal, he looked at the cut and saw a trail of his red blood run down from his finger. 'What's this strange feeling?' Itachi narrowed his gaze at the cut, he put his finger in his mouth cleaning the cut, and spitted some blood to the side.

"Sun Village lies just ahead." Erza said looking into the frozen valley leading to what appeared to be frozen buildings in the distance. They wasted no time and walked in the solid frozen village.

Everyone looked amazed at the giant village that was completely frozen over, in fact giant was the right word to describe the village. The houses, the gate, the towers, Itachi and his group looked like mere ants in comparison. "Everything really is frozen over…" Lucy looked around in amazement that something, or someone had the power to do this.

"There were supposed to be frozen villagers as well. Although I don't see any." Erza commented as she looked around to see if she could find anyone. They then all stopped when they saw a giant of a frozen warrior looking man.

""Their huge!"" Natsu and Happy screamed in surprise as they saw multiple frozen giants of barbarian looking men.

"Giants?" Itachi blinked in amazement as he looked around, a village of giants, he was once again surprised what this world had to offer. If such things as dragons existed, why not giants as well? Itachi thought, and then he cast a glance over at Gray whom looked to be troubled.

"Is something wrong?" Lucy asked the ice wizard.

"When I see something gigantic frozen in ice like this, I can't help but thinking about…" Gray clenched his fist while shaking slightly.

"Deliora…" Lucy uttered remembering their mission on Galuna Island. Itachi knowing of Gray's past with his master from before, looked away and back at the frozen village. While he wasn't looking, Gray looked over at Itachi remembering what he learned at Galuna Island, and for a second Itachi's image was replaced with him having black demonic claws for his arms. Gray shook his head and put his focus on the job in front of him.

"This is a surprise. I didn't think humans this big existed." Erza looked amazed at the frozen giants.

"Anyway, we gotta save these people. I'll melt the ice with my flames!" Natsu put his fiery hands onto the feet of one of the giants, and started generating waves of fire trying to melt the ice. Yet not a single drop fell from the frozen giant.

"Forget it Natsu, it won't work." Itachi said to which Natsu stopped and looked over at Itachi for an answer.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Natsu asked.

"Hmm, I could use my Amaterasu… although it will be difficult to deactivate the flames without hurting the giants once they are unfrozen. We need to find another solution. Gray, do you have any suggestions?" Itachi looked over at Gray whom put his hand on the ice, trying to see if he could find out how strong the ice is.

"Well, I don't think Natsu at full power could melt the ice. Maybe he could free one villager before he runs out of magic power. And your Amaterasu might work, although like you said it's too risky to use. Whoever did this… I've never seen ice like this or felt magic like this. It is different somehow…" Gray analyzed the ice and frowned wondering who could possibly possess such power.

"Hn, someone's here." Itachi picked up a presence as three figures stepped up, on top of a building.

"What's this? Someone beat us to it?" One of the figures spoke.

"And you three are?" Itachi raised his brow at these three figures.

"We're the treasure hunter guild…" A man with silver hair and a bandana with a marksman symbol on it, dressed in a black shirt, said while looking at them with an overconfident smirk.

"… Sylph Labyrinth!" The middle figure with black hair with two spikes sticking out on each side, dressed in a white coat with a sword on his back. And the third figure grunted, he was the most muscular of the bunch and had a hammer at the shape of a fist on his back.

"Okay then, and I assume you are here for some kind of treasure?" Itachi asked the obvious question, most in treasure hunter guilds tended to be very greedy.

"Yeah, we're here for the Eternal Flame! For us treasure hunters it is an S-class treasure." They stupidly replied to which Itachi rolled his eyes.

"And how do you plan on melting the ice to get to the flame?" Itachi asked to which the middle one smirked.

"Hah! We'll melt it with this Moon Drip from Galuna Island!" He held out a bottle containing some blue liquid.

"Hey, that's what Lyon and his old group used to melt the ice around Deliora! It can dispel any form of magic, even powerful ice!" Lucy pointed out.

"Okay then, I see." Itachi vanished in a flash and appeared behind the middle treasure hunter, karate chopping him in the neck knocking him out, and grabbed the bottle.

"Wha?!" The big one grabbed onto the hilt of his hammer, although Itachi just kicked him in the chin knocking him out. Itachi knelt down and delivered an upper cut to the last treasure hunter knocking him out as well. Itachi knocked down the three treasure hunters in less than a second and got the Moon Drip.

"Okay then, let's use this to save the village." Itachi walked back over to his comrades with the bottle in hand. They all looked at him with a sweat drop at how quickly he handled the situation.

"You sure don't waste anytime, do you?" Gray uttered with a nervous smile.

"That's onii-san for you…" Erza unlike the others had a look of admiration for her brother.

"Although, I wonder if this amount is enough to defrost the entire village…" Itachi looked at the liquid in the bottle, and there wasn't really much of it.

"That's true, I think that is only enough to melt a single thing." Gray pointed out looking at the Moon Drip.

"Yeah, like a certain treasure…" Itachi looked over at the unconscious treasure hunters. "The Eternal Flames is supposed to be burning for all eternity correct? It must possess some powerful heat, perhaps enough to melt the ice around the village." Itachi suggested and everyone seemed to follow his train of thought. "So, all we need to do is split up, and find the Eternal Flame, regroup and defrost it. I suggest we split up in groups of two, I will go with Erza. Natsu and Gray you are group number two. Lucy and Wendy are group number three. And Happy and Carla, you two will scout the sky and report to all of us if you find the Eternal Flame." Itachi instructed and all besides two nodded.

""I'm not going with him!"" Both Natsu and Gray whined and pointed at each other.

"Go!" Erza commanded in a strict tone, and both not wanting to feel Erza's wrath rushed away at full speed to a random direction in the village.

""Ay!"" They could both be heard screaming as they ran.

"Well, let's go Wendy." Lucy gently grabbed onto Wendy's hand, although the little dragon slayer looked at the unconscious treasure hunters. And in her mind, they were amongst the bodies of all those dark guild wizards. Just the thought of it made her sick to the stomach. "Wendy, are you sure your alright?" Lucy gently asked and Wendy responded with a nod and they walked in the opposite direction from Natsu and Gray. Happy and Carla flew up into the sky to scout over the village.

"Now then, let's go and see what we can find." Itachi and Erza walked towards to what seemed to be the center of the village. However, unknown to them a single figure looked at them from a distance with a hateful glare and a wicked smirk.

"Onii-san, something's been bothering me with these giants…" Erza pointed out and they both took a closer look at the closest of the frozen villagers. What they all shared in common were two things. One, they all had their weapons ready. Two, they were all facing the same direction.

"… Looks like they are ready to protect something. Whatever happened here, must have involved the Eternal Flame. Seeing as it is their sacred guardian, if someone was to mess with it everyone would most likely go on the defensive. They must be on their way to protect the Eternal Flame." Itachi concluded and they both rushed towards the direction the giants were facing. They followed the direction all the giants were facing until they arrived at a mountain of ice.

"Maybe there is some shrine on that mountain with the Eternal Flame!" Erza figured and they rushed towards the mountain, although something bothered Itachi about that mountain. It looked too small to be considered a mountain for the giants, and it was within the village's boarder, and the shape of the frozen rocks looked strange. Then it hit him, and Itachi stopped running and stared in awe at the so-called frozen mountain. Erza also stopped running, looking back with a confused look at her brother.

"Erza… that is no mountain." Itachi said, to which Erza looked at the pile of ice with a raised brow, and then widened her ice seeing it as well. "I think we found the Eternal Flame…" Itachi then looked even more surprised at the sound of his voice, it sounded lighter than normal, and as he tried to take a step he tripped.

"O-Onii-san… what happened to you?" Erza looked in confusion at her brother, although then her armor and skirt fell off, leaving her in her black shirt that looked like a dress on her now. She shrank, she looked like a little kid. And not only her, so did Itachi. "Wh-What's going on?!" Erza questioned as she got a good look at herself.

"Wh-What the?" Itachi looked at himself seeing his baggy clothes, and his jacket fell off. He looked into his reflection in the ice, and he looked like he was eight years old, although his hair remained the same so it looked a little long on him. "We turned into kids?" Itachi questioned as both he and Erza looked like they were eight years old again.

"More importantly, we need to-" Erza tried to take a step but her boot was too big for her now, and she tripped and rolled down into the valley of the village.

Itachi jumped after Erza whom was picking herself back up. "You okay?" Itachi asked to which Erza gave a small nod. What happened to them? Was there some kind of magic barrier designed to shrink them when they got close to the Eternal Flame?

As these thoughts went through Itachi's mind, Erza looked like she was freaking out over something as she screamed. "What's wrong with you?" Itachi blinked in confusion at the sudden scream.

"Wh-What if Jellal was to see me like this?! He would leave me on the spot!" Erza looked like she was about to cry.

"I-I don't think that is anything to worry about…" Itachi uttered with a blank expression.

"Oh yeah, and what if Mirajane was to see you like this?!" Erza retorted.

"Huh? If Mira were to see me like this?" Itachi brought his hand up to his chin and started imagining it. "My how cute!" He imagined Mira saying, and suddenly her lifting him up in her arms like an infant, treating him like a child. "Need onee-chan to wash every corner of your body?" He then imagined Mira taking him with her to the baths. "… Okay, priority one, find a way to turn back to normal."

"I wonder what you imagined just now?" Erza uttered with a genuine curious expression.Itachi tried to focus on activating his sharingan, his powers worked as normal as he analyzed the area with his eyes."Can you find anything?" Erza asked knowing her brother well enough that he would investigate the area to see what was going on.

"Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary… There isn't any kind of barrier around us that could have done this." Itachi then picked up on something and instantly turned to three different locations. "I'm picking up two unknown energy signatures, and another one that looks familiar… one in the sky, one in the west of the village and one close to us…"

"Is it those treasure hunters from earlier?" Erza questioned.

"No, whoever they are… they are much stronger than those treasure hunters. In fact… one of them feels an awful lot like…" Itachi instantly jumped to the side as the ground beneath him exploded, he turned around to face the culprit. "Sabertooth's… Minerva." Itachi glared at the previous ace of the Sabertooth guild, whom mysteriously vanished after the Grand Magic Games.

Meanwhile, with Gray and Natsu. "Why am I stuck with you?!" Natsu was heard shouting.

"That's my line flamebrain!" Gray was also heard shouting as they were running while butting heads.

"What was that?! You damn stripper!" Natsu retorted although they both suddenly tripped as they shrank. "Wh-What the?"

"M-My body?" Gray looked at their sudden baggy like clothes as their bodies had shrunken making them look eight years old.

"Return, return to a time before…" A giant of a man mumbled as he walked towards them, he had black hair that was tied into a bun, and red piercing slanted eyes. He also had a cloth on his face covering the lower half. "Disposing of you as children will make my job much easier." The man cracked his knuckles.

"Who the hell is this?" Natsu questioned as despite his child like form he got ready for a fight.

"I don't know…" Gray also got ready for a fight despite his current state. "Did you do this?" Gray glared at the man.

"Indeed. My name is Doriate. I'm a member of the guild called Succubus Eye."

Back with Itachi and Erza, "It has been awhile, Demon Eyes, and Titania." Minerva smirked at how pitiful they looked.

"Why are you here? You disappeared after the Grand Magic Games, I was worried about you." Erza stated, seems she doesn't consider Minerva an enemy now that the Games are over.

"Worried? About me?" Minerva questioned while glaring mockingly at Erza.

"It's not just me. I hear the Sabertooth wizards are worried about you, too. They thought maybe you lost your life in that battle with the dragons. Where have you been and what have you been doing all this time, Minerva?"

"I changed guilds. In fact, this is my first assignment." Minerva replied trying to hide her malice from Erza to catch her off guard, although Itachi noticed and remained on guard as he noticed something Erza hadn't, Minerva had the emblem of the dark guild "Succubus Eye" on her lower waist.

"You changed guilds?" Erza questioned.

"Yes. But I had no idea we would cross paths." Minerva smirked and Erza finally noticed the emblem and went on guard summoning forth a sword.

"Erza, stand back, I will deal with her." Itachi stepped in between Erza and Minerva, whom the later couldn't stop laughing at that statement.

"In our current states we've been weakened! There is no way we can beat her as we are now!" Erza warned yet Itachi didn't seem worried.

"Trust me, I can deal with her as I am now." Itachi smiled to which Minerva stopped laughing and glared at him feeling insulted at that statement. "Even though my physical abilities have been reduced, and my stamina is a lot lower now. I still have my powers, and my experience." Itachi glared at her with his sharingan. "The weakness and risks of this magic, although you reduce our bodies back to the state of children, you don't take away the powers we have grown over the years although it will be difficult to focus ones power in a younger body, and I don't nearly have enough stamina or energy to use those abilities for long. And even though I can't fight for as long as I normally could, I don't need that much time to defeat the likes of you." Itachi used his black t-shirt like a belt to keep his pants up, tying it up tightly, and folding up his pants legs.

"You, insolent bastard…" Minerva hissed at him with anger.

"I don't want to hear that from a coward, who is too scared to face Erza at full power by reducing us to this state. Although I'm pretty sure this is the spell of one of your new comrades? Very well, once I have dealt with you, I will defeat him next." Itachi probably couldn't fight for more than 5 minutes at this rate, his body was making him use up a lot of his power. "I will end this in one minuet."

"It shall last one minuet alright, I will kill you both." Minerva formed spheres of energy into her palms and charged at Itachi. Itachi widened his eyes at Minerva looking into her eyes. "I won't fall for that trick again!" Minerva declared and swung her sphere at Itachi whom tilted his body to the side, he then grabbed onto Minerva's wrist and threw her over his shoulder.

"As a kid, I had enough power to shatter a boulder with a mere enhanced punch. I started my training from the age of 4, at the age of 8 I was already stronger than most adults. And I can feel… I'm way stronger than I was at that age in this state now." Itachi declared at the stunned Minerva whom laid on the ground looking bewildered, and then her body started trembling in anger.

"Don't you mock me!" Minerva in rage attacked by sending a sphere flying at Itachi, Itachi avoided the sphere by jumping and delivered a chakra enhanced spin kick to Minerva's chin sending her skidding back. She fumed with rage as a trail of blood dripped from her lips from that kick. Minerva stretched her arms out to the side, forming a magic circle beneath Itachi.

Itachi reacted by pressing on his already cut fingertip from the ice earlier, drawing blood and wiped the blood off on his palm. And then magic circle exploded in a pillar of energy. "Onii-san!" Erza widened her eyes in horror, and the shockwave from the explosion blew her back. Minerva grinned maliciously thinking she had killed him, although she then heard a shriek from the sky.

"Wh-What?!" Minerva widened her eyes seeing a giant crow in the sky, and down from the crows back fell Itachi right towards Minerva. "How did he do that?!" Minerva questioned as she didn't know of Itachi's summoning abilities. Itachi at lightning speed formed a set of hand seals.

Fire Style: Fireball!

Itachi spitted out a gigantic ball of fire towards Minerva, whom looked stunned that despite being in his child like form, Itachi had this much power. Minerva countered the fireball with a magical wave creating an explosion in midair, and a smokescreen for Itachi to hide in as his crow swooped into the smokescreen. "I will admit you are strong despite your form, but my power still outmatches yours!" Minerva declared.

"I won't deny that. However, power and strength are not the only ways to win in a fight." Itachi's voice came from all around the smokescreen, and out from the smokescreen came five Itachi's jumping out.

"Clones?" Minerva widened her eyes as she was surrounded by the clones. "Heh, what a joke!" Minerva sent a blast around her cutting all the Itachi's.

"They aren't ordinary clones." Itachi's voice came from the smokescreen, the crow gave on good flap with its wings blowing the smokescreen away revealing Itachi standing on top of it. "Boom." Itachi smiled as his clones lighted up, Minerva looked around and widened her eyes as the clones all exploded. "I'm surprised you didn't remember this from seeing my little match against Erza during the Games."

The dust around Minerva cleared, revealing her with her clothes slightly torn and her body covered in bruises. "You…! Lucky shot…!" Minerva hissed.

"I view this more like having experience in fighting." Itachi said as he also vanished in a puff of smoke along with his summoning. Minerva looked confused, and then suddenly the sensation of cold steel was felt on Minerva's neck. Itachi had latched himself onto her back like a monkey, while holding a kunai to her throat. "You've lost." Itachi declared as Minerva managed to look from the corner of her eye, into Itachi's cold calculative red glowing sharingan eyes.

"H-How?" Was all Minerva could utter, from feeling the chilling sensation around Itachi.

"You only assumed I made five clones, and were so focused on them and the fact that they themselves were a trap. That you didn't bother seeing your surroundings to look for other traps such as this one. You let your thirst for vengeance blind you, therefor you lost." Itachi tightened his grip around Minerva and held the kunai closer to her throat.

"A-Are you going to kill me?" Minerva asked with a hint of fear.

"I would, although… There is a certain someone here I don't wish for seeing another dead body." Itachi said as he thought of Wendy, Minerva gained a smirk as she still looked at Itachi from the corner of her eye.

"That thinking… makes you weak…" Minerva snickered.

"And your overconfidence makes you foolish and weak." Itachi looked into her eyes with the sharingan that morphed into Mangekyou Sharingan. "For now, enjoy your nightmares… and reflect upon your life choices."

Mangekyou Sharingan!

"N-No!" Minerva looked stricken with fear as the space around her changed, and in front of her stood her father, and she turned into a little whimpering child version of herself.

"You are weak!" Jiemma glared at Minerva to which she screamed.

Back in reality, Itachi held his hand over Minerva's eyes, as she was trembling and saliva ran down from her lips and sweat ran down her face. It wasn't the Tsukuyomi, but she should still be knocked out for about an hour. Itachi deactivated the sharingan to save up on energy and pulled the kunai back, and jumped off her as Minerva fell to the ground.

"Is she going to be okay?" Erza asked as she wanted to return Minerva to Sabertooth if possible.

"She will be out for a bit, but she should regain consciousness in about an hour. For now, let's focus on saving the village and getting back to normal." Itachi replied and turned around to walk away from the unconscious Minerva, and Erza peeked at the form of Minerva for a few seconds before following Itachi.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Wendy were sneaking around in the frozen forest area looking for the eternal flame. And Wendy struggled not falling from the slippery ice constantly. "You okay, Wendy?" Lucy tried to support up Wendy, the little girl gave a small nod.

"I'm fine, Lucy-san. Thank you." Wendy gave Lucy a small smile, although Wendy's nose then twitched picking up the scent of gun powder. "Look out!" Wendy pushed Lucy to the side as bullets grazed the icy ground where Lucy once stood. And then out from the forest came two figures, one wielding a sword and the other a hammer. Wendy blocked the hammer strike with her foot. It was the three treasure hunters, having woken up after being knocked out by Itachi.

Lucy rolled to the side as the one with the sword smashed his blade into the ground next to her. "Oy, ladies. Where is that friend of yours that stole the moon drip?"

"Not these guys again." Lucy looked annoyed and reached out for one of her keys.

"Hey those keys look valuable. Boom." The one with the hammer pointed out as he jumped away from Wendy.

"Yeah, if we can't get the eternal flame, we'll settle for those keys of yours." The one with sword snickered and aimed to grab Lucy's zodiac keys. Just as he got close to Lucy a whirlwind crashed into him from the side, as Wendy had unleashed a breath attack.

"Get away from her!" Wendy glared at the treasure hunters.

"Don't get in our way. Boom." The big one with the hammer appeared behind Wendy with the hammer fist raised. Wendy jumped over the hammer once it swung down, she landed on top of the hammer and jumped towards the man delivering a kick to his face.

"Why you little brat… shot her! Drake!" The one with the sword shouted at the silver haired sniper in the distant, although nothing happened. "Drake!" He called out once more, although then he felt the sensation of not being able to move as he was lifted up into the air by… red hair?

"Nobody messes with blondie, except for me." A small snicker came from the woods, and more hair flew out at the last treasure hunter, wrapping up around him as well.

"Boom?" The last treasure hunter looked confused as he saw their third comrade Drake, knocked out while also tied up by this red hair.

"Now… get out from my village." The female voice hissed as flames started to erupt from the hair burning them slightly, making even the unconscious Drake to wake up and scream. The red hair gathered the three treasure hunters together, swung them around like ragdolls and threw them away far into the distance as they vanished with a flash in the sky. "Are you okay, blondie?" The figure came to view and it was Flare, formerly of Raven Tail.

"Flare?!" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise at seeing the redhead again.

"What are you doing here?" Wendy questioned in confusion, and looked uneasy remembering how Flare tortured Lucy during their match in the games.

"…" Flare was fidgeting with a faint blush as she kept looking in Lucy's direction. "Umm, well… since I left Raven Tail… I had nowhere to go… and… well umm, I decided to go back to my home village… so here I am." Flare revealed to which the two Fairy Tail girls looked dumbfounded.

""Huh?"" Both of them questioned looking dumbfound and agape at this revelation.

"Wh-What did you say just now?" Lucy asked to make sure she heard right.

"Huh? Umm, I decided to return to my home village… so that is why I am here, the Sun Village is my home." Flare replied with a slight confused look as to why that would be so strange to believe. "The giants found me and raised me when I was young…"

"Really… then…" Lucy looked up at one of the frozen giants whom Flare also looked at with a saddened gaze.

"When I came back, the villagers… My family…" Flare started to tremble at seeing the villagers like this.

"Don't worry, we'll save the villagers. I promise." Lucy put her hand on Flare, giving her a friendly smile. Flare widened her eyes in surprise that Lucy would act so friendly with her after the games, she looked away in shame remembering what she did.

"I-I never got a chance to say… I-I'm sorry…" Flare uttered, to which Lucy just gave her a light pat on the back.

"Don't worry about that, by the way thanks for saving me during the dragon attack." Lucy smiled at Flare knowing she most likely was manipulated and forced by Ivan to do those things.

"… Blondie." Flare returned the smile, and then looked down with a saddened look once again. "The villagers here… even though I'm not one of them… they were kind to me. But I hated being different from everyone, so I left. Before then, I'd never seen humans the same size as me. That actually scared me." Flare told her story.

"And let me guess, it was then you joined up with Raven?" Lucy asked to which Flare merely gave a weak nod.

"I didn't know how to make money. I didn't know anything when I joined Raven Tail. That guild hated Fairy Tail. They always badmouthed it. But I didn't know any better so I took their word for it. And things turned out as they have…" Flare looked as she was about to start crying over the feeling of guilt.

"Don't worry about that. I don't really hold a grudge against you at all." Lucy replied since without Flare she wouldn't be alive, and would most likely have died during the dragons attack on the capital.

"Let's patch things up." Wendy suggested, if Lucy had forgiven Flare, and Wendy being the kind of person she is always welcomes second chances to some people.

"Yeah… and once again, sorry. Please help me, the Eternal Flame should melt all the ice surrounding them. Follow me and I will take you there." Flare said and started running towards the frozen fire shaped mountain. But they halted for a second as they heard two voices calling out to them.

"Lucy!"

"Wendy!" They turned around to see the two Exceeds Happy and Carla fleeing from a giant one-eyed winged monster looking to eat them.

""Help us!"" The two Exceed's called out for help as they flew towards the three girls with the monster closely following them.

"What the heck is that?!" Lucy questioned in disgust at the creature, as it was unlike any monster they had seen before.

"That's the bird creature that those two other mages came in with." Flare replied having spotted Doriate and Minerva flying into the village earlier, yet she didn't really know who those two were as she couldn't get a good view on them earlier.

Meanwhile, the now child versions of Natsu and Gray avoided a strike from Doriate. "Are you that much of a coward that you need to weaken your opponents to fight?!" Gray questioned to which Doriate growled and threw another punch towards the ice wizard. Gray grabbed onto his fist and froze it in ice.

"Cold!" Doriate flinched in surprise at his sudden frozen hand, he shook it off breaking the ice off from his hand.

"You're just a punk after all!" Natsu charged up as much fire as he could in his current state and threw a punch, although it didn't seem to affect Doriate in the slightest. "Damn it!" Natsu jumped back to avoid Doriate's punch.

"Damn it!" Gray focused his maker magic to make a wall of ice to block the rampaging Doriate, although he couldn't use that much magic power seeing as his supply has dropped significantly in his child state he needed to conserve as much power as possible.

"Got ya!" Natsu used this opportunity to jump onto this bulky man, wrapping his tiny arms around Doriate's head.

"Get lost, damn brat!" Doriate grabbed Natsu by the head and threw him away, although as Natsu was thrown away he had managed to pull off the cloth on Doriate's face, and what they saw was surprising to say the least. Doriate's mouth looked deformed, he had demonic like fangs sticking out from every corner of his mouth.

"Wh-What's the deal with his mouth?" Gray questioned as memories of Deliora came to mind, being surrounded by so many things that only reminded him of his past. Not to mention the vibe Doriate was giving off, it felt off.

"You two brats have done it now… I'm angry." Doriate snarled at the two young wizards, when suddenly his skin turned purple, his muscles and body grew in size and his fangs grew as well. He looked like demon on steroids, and his appearance only further reminded Gray of Deliora. "I will devour you…!" The young Gray started shaking and screaming as images of his dead parents, his home town destroyed, Ur giving her life to protect Gray and defeat Deliora. "Oh, that happens sometimes. When I reduce your age, you tend to get some flashbacks here and there. You poor little thing… not that I care!" Doriate laughed manically and swung his fist down.

"Gray!" Natsu shouted trying to bring Gray out of it, but to no avail, it appeared as if Gray would get squashed like a bug by this demon hybrid monster. Although at the very last minuet, a fireball came blasting into Doriate sending him skidding back into the sharp frozen ice bushes.

"Argh!" Doriate screamed in pain from being stabbed by the ice.

"What are you spacing out for, Gray." Child versions of Itachi and Erza arrived, Erza instantly went to assist Gray whom was still shaken up.

"Gray! Gray!" Erza called out although Gray didn't respond, to which Erza slapped him. "Snap out of it!" Gray looked still a little afraid, as he was trembling and slowly looked over at Erza.

"E-Erza…" Gray uttered weakly to which Erza smiled.

"Seems you finally came back, come on now, let's finish this job." Erza held her hand out, which Gray accepted and pulled him back up.

"Sorry, but… this guy just reminded me so much of… Deliora… I just couldn't move." Gray shook of his fears and glared at Doriate whom crawled back up.

"You? I thought Minerva was supposed to kill you two!" Doriate expressed his confusion on Minerva's absence, to this Natsu and Gray flinched at hearing that name.

"Minerva? The one from Saber?" Natsu questioned.

"I've already defeated her, now I'm here for you." Itachi replied as he activated his sharingan, although truth be told he could probably only fight for two more minutes in his current state.

"Even though I lowered your abilities… you still defeated her? Impossible, I lowered your power to be weaker than her! She should have annihilated you!" Doriate started to shake a little over the potential power in Itachi.

"Like I told Minerva, power isn't all it takes to win a battle. Although I doubt a mere brute as yourself can understand." Itachi wasted no time and leaped towards Doriate while forming hand seals.

Fire Style: Grand Fireball!

Itachi yet again spitted out a ball of fire, although this one was twice as big as the last one. Doriate widened his eyes in disbelief and brought his arms in an x-formation to block the incoming blast. The fireball blew right up in his face sending him skidding back, dragging up some of the ice. Itachi narrowed his gaze at the ice crystals, he grabbed one that looked sharp and threw it at Doriate. Doriate tilted his head to the side, yet the ice crystal although barely grazed him gave him quite the cut on his face.

'I see… so that's how it is.' Itachi narrowed his gaze at Doriate and jumped back to the others. "Gray, do you think you can use this ice somehow to attack him?" Itachi questioned while panting a little which didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Are you okay man?" Gray asked looking concerned and put his hand on Itachi's shoulder whom slapped Gray's hand away.

"I will be fine… but answer the question." Itachi could probably only keep this fight going for one more minuet before he was done.

"Maybe, I think so. Why do you ask?" Gray questioned and looked over at Doriate and noticed the cut on his cheek. "Ah! You don't mean that…"

"For some reason this ice is his weakness… so use it, I will keep him occupied as long as I can. Erza, Natsu you two back me up." Itachi instructed and Erza gave a nod and readied her sword, while Natsu gathered as much flames as he could into his fists.

"Let's go!" Itachi charged up front, snatching some more ice crystals from the ground. He threw them like they were shurikens and Doriate flinched as he got various cuts on his body.

Erza exploited this and stabbed her sword into one of the cuts, expanding the wound. "Argh!" Doriate screamed and tried to smack Erza, Erza reacted quickly and ducked, she then pulled her blade out and rolled away from Doriate. Doriate was about to go after her and stomp her, but Natsu entered the fray and jumped onto his back while smacking his fiery fist as many times as he could into Doriate's head. "Annoying little insect!"

As Doriate was reaching for Natsu, Erza jumped back in delivering as many cuts with her sword as she could. Doriate once again targeted Erza whom jumped away once she had gotten her hits in, and so did Natsu. Doriate, was then dropped kicked on the top of his head from a chakra enhanced kick from Itachi. Itachi landed onto the ground, and delivered a chakra enhanced punch right Doriate's jaw.

"How… is this brat so strong?" Doriate uttered as he took a few steps feeling the after effects from that punch, it stung like getting punched by a full-grown warrior, not a mere child! It was unbelievable to the demon's eyes how could this kid be this strong? It didn't make sense, his magic should have lowered Itachi's physical abilities to match his appearance. "You… don't tell me even as a child…!" Doriate growled at Itachi.

"My father was very strict with training, I started training with him from the young age of 4. By the age of 5 I was able to smash a boulder into pieces with an enhanced punch." Itachi said to which Doriate widened his eyes in anger.

"There is no way… that you are human!" Doriate growled and charged at Itachi like a wild beast.

"Itachi! It's ready!" Gray had his hand placed on the ice, gathering up a chill purple aura around him.

"Good… I've reached my limits…" Itachi panted as his sharingan faded, he barely had any energy to jump backwards to gain some distance.

"Gray, I'll help you!" Erza jumped to Gray's side holding out her sword, Gray understood what Erza was thinking and nodded. With Erza he grabbed onto the hilt of the sword sending the energy from the ice into the blade. "Now!" They both let out a war cry as they charged at Doriate whom widened his eyes in horror at the incoming sword merged with the power of the ice.

"No!" Doriate tried to move out of the way, but then Natsu jumped him and started punching him again.

"Do it! Erza! Gray!" Natsu shouted with a smirk as he kept on punching Doriate with his child like fists.

"Thanks, Natsu!" Gray smirked as he and Erza stabbed the blade right through Doriate's heart. The demon hybrid like creature that was Doriate, widened his eyes and vomited out a puddle of blood as his heart was destroyed.

"N-No way… even though they are a bunch of brats… I lost…" Doriate uttered as he reverted back to his human form and fell over.

Itachi, Natsu, Erza, and Gray all panted, and then their bodies grew back to normal. "We're back to normal…" Erza pointed out with a smile, while Natsu and Gray stared agape at Erza, both blushing faintly, while Itachi stared with a deadpan expression.

"E-Erza…" Natsu uttered.

"W-Wow…" Gray uttered, while the two of them stood there agape Itachi pointed towards Erza's lower half.

"Huh? What?" Erza looked down on herself seeing that since her body had grown back to normal, her shirt which looked like a dress on her child like self, now was only a shirt once again, and she was wearing nothing on her lower half. "Oh." Erza didn't seem bothered and merely requiped into her standard armor.

"Seriously, show a bit more of a reaction." Itachi sweat dropped and untied the black t-shirt around his waist and put it back on.

Doriate then let out a laughter as he was slowly dying. "You fools… you have opened it… the gates of hell… there is no stopping it now, such an act cannot be undone…" Doriate uttered his final words of warning while laughing weakly, eventually he stopped as he bleed out and died on the spot.

"Gates of hell?" Erza questioned.

"…" Itachi narrowed his gaze at the dead Doriate. 'Was he perhaps talking about Tartaros?' Itachi thought, although he was brought out from his train of thought when they heard a loud noise. They all turned to a certain direction where they heard what sounded like fighting. "That's the direction where Lucy and Wendy went…" Once Itachi said that they all rushed towards the source of the sound to help their comrades in need.

Meanwhile, Lucy summoned forth Loke whom used his Regulus Impact to hold the bird monster at bay. While Wendy unleashed a mighty breath attack at the creature knocking it back. And while flare tried to wrap it with her hair and burn it, but the creature kept breaking free. "What the heck is this thing made off? It keeps coming back no matter what we throw at it!" Lucy also summed forth Taurus to hold of the beast with his superior strength, yet the bird creature was able to push through. And it was aiming for Lucy looking ready to devour her.

Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!

Natsu arrived and slammed his fiery fist right into the creature's eye, they had come in riding on Itachi's giant crow summoning. The creature shook of Natsu's attack and tried to attack again, but this time Itachi's giant crow charged into it. Itachi and the others jumped off from the crow, as it flew into the sky leading the bird monster creature away with it. "You guys okay-" Itachi stopped right up as he spotted Flare.

"What's she doing here?!" Gray questioned not having forgotten what she did to Lucy at the games, and neither had Erza.

"Wait! She helped us! She's not our enemy!" Lucy spoke in Flare's defense.

Itachi narrowed his gaze at Flare, thinking back on how he killed the rest of Raven Tail during the dragon attack. And what's worse of all, he felt this sudden urge to finish what he started by killing Flare. Or at least something within him gave him that feeling, he shook it off. "Doesn't matter, we have a job to do, to save the village." Itachi's statement shocked Gray a little, although Erza seemed to agree with Itachi and if Lucy swore, she wasn't an enemy she would take her word for it.

"Anyway, Flare is actually from this village! The giants raised her! She wants to help us save her home and family." Lucy explained to which they all eyed the shy looking Flare.

"… Very well, let's move on to the Eternal Flame. My crow will only be able to distract that creature for so long before it vanishes. Once we have saved the village, we can take care of that bird should it attack again." Itachi declared and they all moved onto the Eternal Flame.

They gathered in front of the frozen mountain tall fire, and Itachi brought out the moon drip he stole from those treasure hunters. He looked at the bottle and back at the frozen fire. "I don't think this will be enough to unfreeze the entire fire, but it should at least make an opening. Maybe the heat from the flames can get to the rest of the ice with just a little air." Itachi poured down every last bit of moon drip onto the frozen fire. Everyone waited in anticipation, as the moon drip melted through a small part of the ice creating a fist sized hole. They waited with hopeful looks, yet nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Gray questioned and Itachi went to take a peek inside the hole. He then stepped back with his eyes closed, and a trail of blood dripped down from his right eye.

Amaterasu!

Itachi opened his eyes and his mangekyou sharingan flared up in a bright red flash, as the mountain pile of ice covering the supposed Eternal Flame flared up in a blazing black fire. Everyone backed up a bit from the heat besides Itachi and Natsu, they stared in awe at the black flames burning brightly making it look like the Eternal Flame turned black.

"Black flames…?" Flared questioned with a look of awe.

"What did you do that for?" Lucy questioned as she like the others were a little confused.

Itachi focused on the black flames and then they vanished, and the mountain of ice was gone, revealing nothing but a hole that was the decorative alter around the Eternal Flame. "The flames were so low that there wasn't a need to be careful with the Amaterasu." Itachi fell to his knees holding his hand over his eye while panting. "That took a lot out of me… after everything we've been through today." Itachi uttered having used up so much of his power when he was in his child state, he used up everything he had left for that Amaterasu. "My summoning is gone now as well, it's only a matter of time before that bird creature comes back."

"No, it's too weak…" Flare was shaking at seeing the little of the flames that was still burning brightly, it looked so weak that it could get snuffed out at any minuet.

"Huh? I'm hearin' a voice coming from there…" Natsu uttered as he looked at the altar and the tiny flame. "It sounds familiar…"

"A voice?" Happy questioned in confusion, as Natsu inspected the altar with the flame.

"Natsu, what are you talking about? A voice?" Lucy questioned as everyone looked confused at Natsu's statement.

Natsu widened his eyes as he remembered the voice, he then inhaled his breath and unleashed as much of his flames as he could in one breath attack into the altar. "I'm not done yet!" Natsu unleashed a fury barrage of fire attacks into the altar, and the flames burst back to life, exploding with a mighty glow that shined across the village.

"The flames… are alight." Flare shed tears, tears of joy over seeing the guardian deity still burning as brightly as she remembered.

Natsu leaped down to Happy, smiling over hearing the voice. "Happy, take me over to the Eternal Flame." Natsu looked down at his confused partner.

"Eh? Why?" Happy questioned and Natsu responded by giving him a look, and Happy didn't argue he brought out his wings and grabbed onto Natsu flying him up to the flames.

"Wendy." Natsu called out to the younger dragon slayer whom nodded, went on her knees and let out a green light and the flames started moving wildly and taking shape.

"The voice I heard… it was you." Natsu smiled as the flames gained a face, the face of a dragon, Atlas Flame.

"It has been 400 years, son of Igneel." Atlas Flame greeted Natsu, and everyone else besides Wendy and Natsu widened their eyes in disbelief.

"He's one of the dragons that came out of Eclipse." Lucy uttered staring at the dragon in awe.

"Atlas Flame…" Itachi uttered, and instantly he knew what he had to do.

"400 years. I've been burning for 400 years."

"So, you've been alive all this time, uncle?" Natsu beamed with glee over being reunited with someone he now considered family.

"Alive? No. Not quite."

"My magic, Milky Way, shaped his soul into this form." Wendy explained.

"Yes. I remember, I'm dead. And it happened long ago."

"Umm, I'm from this village… could you tell me what happened here?" Flare asked the dragon her people considered their guardian deity.

"It was the work of one man. He mistook me for some kind of demon, and trying to dispose of me, he turned my whole world to ice." Atlas Flame explained to which everyone looked surprised that a single ice wizard was able to freeze the entire village alone. "He was a wizard who hunts for demons… A Devil Slayer."

Everyone widened their eyes at hearing of the third form for slaying magic, Devil Slayer magic. "Magic designed to slay demons…?" Gray questioned as it now made sense why the ice in this village affected Doriate. "An Ice Devil Slayer…"

"Please… Save the village…shine your light on this village once more!" Flare went on her knees before Atlas Flame and begged. "Please… Guardian Deity."

"Flare…" Lucy uttered feeling sorry for the young lady.

"… I am Atlas Flame, also the Eternal Flame, the creator of this village. My village's woes are my pain. My village's sadness are my tears. With the last lingering scent of my soul and the son of Igneel's flames… I shall save this village!"

Atlas Flame unleashed what he had left of power to set the village free. "His soul is starting to disappear." Wendy uttered.

"Wait!" Itachi shouted as he walked up to Atlas Flame whom looked down on him. "I need to talk to you!"

"You? Ah yes, the human whom possesses demon marks." Atlas Flame recognized Itachi, and everyone looked over at Itachi with confusion, at hearing the term demon marks.

"Demon marks? Is he talking about those black marks?" Erza questioned, she remembered Itachi during his rampage against the dragons, and looked worried for her brother.

"Tell me, what are demon marks?!" Itachi asked his question to which Atlas Flame narrowed his gaze at Itachi.

"Ah yes, I didn't have time to tell you back then…" Atlas Flame was about to begin his explanation on the term, and Itachi waited in anticipation.

Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tail guild's library. A horrified looking Makarov dropped a book he was holding, his body trembling at what he had discovered. "No… it's impossible… it can't be! Itachi…" Makarov uttered with sweat running down his forehead.

Back with the others in Sun Village. "Demon marks, is a technique used by what is known as the Ancient Demons. It is used to amplify a demon's physical abilities. They use it by focusing on their darkness magic ability that surges through their body making black flame like markings appear on their body as a result. It is also said that only High-level demons have the ability of manipulating darkness to that level." Atlas Flame explained to which everyone looked confused as to why Itachi could use it then. "400 years ago, Zeref tricked the Ancient Demons top 13 elite fighters and sealed them away. However, it is rumored that he stole some of their DNA and powers before sealing them away. Using their powers to amplify abilities of his followers, and using their DNA for creating those vile Demons of the Book of Zeref."

"So, Zeref must have used the power of darkness in an attempt to make Itachi his follower?" Gray questioned as they all looked at Itachi, while Flare was confused by all of this new information.

"That I do not know… only the black wizard himself can give you that answer. What I do know is that he used the DNA to create demons such as E.N.D… Said to be the leader amongst all of Zeref's demons. A demon so powerful, even Igneel couldn't destroy it." Atlas Flame revealed to which Natsu flinched, a being Igneel couldn't defeat? It was unthinkable to him.

"E.N.D?" Natsu growled at uttering that name.

"But before E.N.D came to be… he created one more foul beast." Atlas Flame revealed to which they all payed close attention to learn more. "The Demon of Extinction, the very first demon Zeref created and the strongest, named E for short. The one responsible for my death… a demon with the appearance of a mere human child wielding immense power. I never stood a chance against that demon, and I was killed on this spot yet my body kept burning for all these years."

Flashback: 400 years ago

Atlas Flame stood before the black wizard Zeref whom smiled emotionlessly at him. "A dragon? A perfect test for my precious E… " Zeref declared as he held out a book, and out from it came a shadowy figure of a mere child.

"You are, Zeref? And a human child? No, this feels like, a demon…" Atlas Flame uttered.

"Attack." Zeref ordered and the child leaped towards Atlas Flame, his eyes glowing a glint of purple.

After a long-fought battle, the terrain around Atlas Flame's village was completely changed that the maps would need to be redrawn. A beaten Atlas Flame was growling on the ground, not even able to stand. "The Demon of Extinction… E… what power…" Atlas Flame uttered before the child figure blasted him with wave of power ending his life.

Flashback end

Atlas Flame's spirit started to fade away completely, but before he faded, he spotted the bird creature approaching them. "Perish, demonic bird." Atlas Flame growled at the bird burning it to ashes in almost an instant with his Hellfire. "Farewell, son of Igneel… Natsu Dragneel." Atlas Flame's soul vanished and all that was left was the flaming remains of his corpse.

The flames cleared away the ice, defrosting everyone and the entire village. "Uncle…" Natsu uttered while looking at the flames.

Flare shed tears of joy as she smiled. "It's so warm."

"Atlas Flame used what was left of his soul to save the village. His soul is gone now." Wendy ended the Milky Way spell and paid respects for the dragon along with everyone else.

"E.N.D, a demon not even Igneel could destroy… That's the first I've heard of it." Natsu uttered while he thought back on his missing foster father dragon.

'An ice devil slayer…' Gray's thoughts were stuck on that subject for now.

Erza looked over at Itachi with a worried look, trying to reach out and say something, but stops when she sees that look on Itachi's face. His fists clenched, his eyes filled with worry, and looking to be in deep thought. 'The power of darkness… Ancient Demons… the Demons of the Book of Zeref… E.N.D… and the Demon of Extinction, E. I see… so that's how it is…' Itachi looked up at the burning Eternal Flame, giving the remains of Atlas Flame a thankful look, and prayed that his soul finally gets some well-deserved rest.

Their train of thought were interrupted from the stomping of the giants, looking down upon them with questioning glances. They explained the situation to the giants, and before they knew it a party was arranged in their honor. During the celebration they drank and ate, well Itachi and co got way smaller portions of the giant food.

While the celebration went on, Itachi, Erza and Gray had a subtle discussion involving those gates of hell Doriate mentioned before he died. "So, we can assume this ice devil slayer is a member of Tartaros… Along with some of my former Akatsuki comrades." Itachi went over the information they had gained.

"Yeah, but still… what do we do about it?" Gray questioned.

"… I would have liked to get more information on Tartaros from Minerva. However, when I went to recover her, she was gone. She most likely regained consciousness and escaped while she had the chance." Erza let out a sigh that Minerva kept walking the path of darkness as it would seem.

"This is the second time we have come across something to do with Tartaros. Given time I'm sure our paths will cross once more. For now, we'll head back to the guild." Itachi crossed his arms while thinking over what the best solution might be for when that time comes.

Meanwhile, in the corner Lucy had found Flare hiding behind a tree. "Hey, Flare." Lucy spoke up and instantly all the giants rose up.

"Flare, you say?! Is she over there?!" They instantly gathered where Lucy was whom tried to pull the nervous Flare out of hiding.

"Come on Flare, why are you hiding?" Lucy asked.

"I abandoned this village. I ran off on my own. So…" Flare uttered seeming a little nervous for a family reunion.

"It's okay! They aren't angry…" Lucy looked up at the giants and stopped seeing the looks on their faces. "Maybe…"

The giants looked down on Flare like fathers whom hadn't seen their daughter in a long time. "Are you really Flare?"

"It's been a long time…"

"You've gotten bigger, but you're still tiny to us."

"…" Flare could only stand there while standing before the giants, she wasn't able to utter a single word.

"How was the outside world?" They asked while still looking down on her increasing the already high tension in the air.

"Th-There are many fun things, as well as many painful things." Flare nervously replied to which all the giants gained a smile.

"That's the same everywhere. As long as you're alive anyway." One of the giants knelt down to get a little closer to eye level with Flare. "Whether you leave or come back, this village is your home."

"You're free to do as you please."

"Well… Except… There is one thing we'd better tell you."

Flare started to look nervous and was shaking a little, expecting to be scolded, yet all the giants gathered around her with a smile. ""Welcome back, our daughter!"" They all welcomed her back instead with open arms.

"I… I'm home…" Flare looked down as the tears wouldn't stop streaming down her eyes. The party kept on going all night, for a moment everyone besides Itachi seemed to have forgotten the ominous feeling in the air left by what they had learned. Of Zeref's demons, of Itachi, of Tartaros.

The very next day, they headed back to Warrod's place to give him an update on their successful mission, and to collect their reward. It was a long walk, but they finally got there. Warrod greeted them with a smile and a laughter as he seemed satisfied with the results. "That's great, I was right to entrust this to you! Yes sir, you did me proud!"

"It was a piece of cake!" Natsu declared with a big grin on his face.

"We're relieved that we successfully fulfilled your request, Warrod-sama." Erza said.

"Still, there is a surprise that Tartaros was involved." Itachi pointed out.

"Yes, you can leave that investigation to the Council. More importantly, I need to give you your reward." Warrod reached into his pocket, and most looked excited to see what kind of handsome reward they would get, and everyone fell silent when he pulled out a potato. "Here you go! A potato from my own field." He then let out a laughter at the deadpan faces of the Fairy Tail wizards. "Just kidding!"

"O-Of course…" Natsu and Gray both had nervous smiles and let out a nervous laughter.

"The truth is, it's a potato I bought from the next village over." Warrod said this time with a serious expression to which Natsu and Gray looked annoyed.

"That's the same thing!" Natsu shouted.

"Give us money dammit!" Gray shouted.

During the night they were allowed to soak in a local hot spring, and they had a barbecue. "Ah, it's good to stay out like this, eating and having drinks with your comrades under the stars." Warrod's statement brought confusion upon the group.

"Wh-When did you become one of our comrades?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, you haven't been told?" Warrod smirked and pulled up his sleeve revealing a Fairy Tail emblem on his arm. "I'm one of the founding members of Fairy Tail, along with Mavis. I'm a grand senpai to you guys!" Warrod declared and everyone looked taken aback.

'I knew I recognized him from somewhere! He's one of the founders in the photo of the guild's history book!' Itachi widened his eyes finally recognizing the Wizard Saint from a book he read the very first week he joined Fairy Tail. He felt like a fool for not realizing it before. "That would explain why Makarov was nervous, despite it being about a fellow Saint."

Warrod expressed his joy in how the new generation still embodies the ideals of Mavis within Fairy Tail. To which everyone looked kind of proud to hear that, from hearing this from one of the very first members, and founders of Fairy Tail. Warrod looked happy at remembering his time with Mavis, he looked like he truly treasured the first master and her ideals.

"Wait, does that mean you are older than gramps?!" Natsu asked and was instantly pulled back by Erza whom was ready to scold him.

"Natsu! That's rude!" Erza said, but Natsu pulled away from Erza giving an apologetic look.

"… I was thinkin' maybe he knows somethin' about that demon, E.N.D. Since he's lived for so long." Natsu said to which Warrod looked intrigued.

"E.N.D… as in the end." Warrod uttered.

"He's a demon from the books of Zeref." Natsu added to which Warrod sighed.

"The Books of Zeref. I wish I hadn't heard those words again." Warrod walked over to the edge of the hill while looking at the stars.

"I was thinking if I could find out more about what this E.N.D is… it'd give me a hint about Igneel's whereabouts." Natsu was still clinging onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his father figure.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that. But when you mentioned Tartaros this afternoon, it made me recall something. No one really knows anything about them except that they're a creepy guild. Their locations, members, and numbers are all unknown. But I have heard eyewitness accounts of their gatherings. Those witnesses all say the same thing. Their meetings are demonic rituals. This is only a conjecture from one of the four Gods of Ishgar… but it's possible they possess a powerful demon from the Books of Zeref." Warrod gave every detail of what he knew.

"Then could that demon be E.N.D?!" Happy questioned.

"Or perhaps that demon of Extinction?" Carla questioned to which Warrod flinched.

"The Demon of Extinction… E. A truly malicious demon indeed… history has that E is responsible for taking down entire armies by itself, even destroyed several cities for its master, Zeref. You heard about this from the spirit of that dragon?" Warrod asked to which they gave a nod. "I see… All I know about E is that his last sighting was in year X381, back then it destroyed an entire city along with all of the population. And I know that witnesses reported back then, that E merely looked like an innocent little human child." Warrod gave an explanation on the demon of Extinction.

"I see! If you don't know where they are, then what are we supposed to do?! Dammit! If we find 'em, I'll beat on 'em 'til they talk!" Natsu kept pounding on something to which everyone sweat dropped, and besides Itachi and Warrod everyone gaped out of fear.

"Hey, Natsu…" Gray called out to which Natsu looked down, and saw that he was beating on Erza. He started sweating bullets and paled as Erza glared daggers at him, the next moment Natsu's scream of horror echoed through the mountains.

While Wendy was healing the beaten censored pile that was Natsu, Itachi looked out at the starry sky. 'Tartaros… huh? Sasori… Kisame… Kakuzu. Seems our reunion draws near. I hope Madara is not with you… But know that regardless of what you have planned, and if you try to harm my guildmates, I will stop you.' Itachi thought while his gaze narrowed at the night sky, his sharingan letting out a red glow from the darkness of the night.

Meanwhile, at a castle, twelve figures walked out while looking out at the night sky. In front of these figures were Kisame, Sasori and Kakuzu. "Itachi… I hope you and your guild are ready… we and the Nine Demon gates of Tartaros, are coming for you soon enough." Sasori declared with a small smirk on his lips as he, Kisame and Kakuzu were dressed in coats that resembled their Akatsuki cloaks, just without the clouds instead they had the Tartaros emblem on the back.

That's the end for now!

Now, what I myself have to say about this chapter. The Sun Village is not one of my favorite arcs so to say… so I decided to put most of the focus of this chapter on the hype for the Tartaros arc. So, what do you guys think?

New mysteries are revealed, who is the Demon of Extinction? What did Makarov find on Itachi's power? Was there more to it besides what Atlas Flame revealed? I'm certain that it is at least XD! Is the Demon of Extinction an OC? Or is it perhaps… Madara?! Wait and see! As the nine demon gates, and the former Akatsuki members make their move, the Tartaros arc approaches where more questions will be answered, and more revelations will be made as the mystery keeps unfolding more and more.

Anyway, leave a review!

-Later!

(Responds to reviews):

Shadow Joestar: Thanks! And trouble seems to be brewing in Fairy Tail's future.

Anime Lovers Indonesia: Thanks, and since the Celestial arc was filler, I'm skipping it. And I have my own plans for how the Alvarez arc will go down, I'm going to have to change a lot of things on that one… and I mean a lot! I will keep somethings, but I will have to make changes regardless. After that I'm planning on continuing in the sequel 100 Years Quest.

Ultimatrix bearer: As you can see in this chapter, Wendy has some trauma from that experience.

andresskorskiruiz: Thanks!

AkumaNisshoku: Thanks! And Japan was great. And a little bit, yes.

wrex123: Thanks! And wait and see, I have something special planned for the upcoming Akatsuki reunion.

Nikkless: It's your opinion, thanks for giving the story a chance at least.

Mr. Haziq: Sometimes Sasori might bribe people, although he did use mind control on Kabuto if I'm not mistaken. So, sometimes he might need to result in using mind control to get informants.

guest: Thanks!

keybladelight: There might be chance of something similar to that, yes, wait and see.

Fog: You are welcome!