FUCK I MISSED THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY.

Well, happy birthday to 2nd Generation, I guess. She's a big girl now, in the double digits. How long have you guys been here?

Enjoy!

"Nashi," Elise said, making Nashi look over at her as they ran. "Are you sure we should have left Ultear behind back there?" She pressed her mouth into a thin line and returned her gaze to the path they were on, sprinting towards the fighting on the shoreline.

"No," Nashi admitted. "But I think no one else should deal with that."

"What was it, anyway?" Elise asked. "Why do you know but no one else does?" Nashi thought for a moment whether or not she should spill the beans on this, but finally decided she should say something.

"Do you remember that mission Ul took years ago?" She asked, "that one involving Zindo?"

"Zindo?" Elise asked. "Blast from the past, but yeah, I do."

"That's the little girl he killed." Nashi looked over to see Elise's eyes were wide, seemingly barely able to believe her. After a while, she grimaced and looked ahead.

"Fuck," she said succinctly.

"Mm," Nashi hummed.

"Do we really leave this to her?"

"You want to get in her way right now?"

"Good point."

"Ul?" Ultear blinked, realizing she had been spacing out.

"Sorry," she said with a smile, looking down at Keiko. The two of them were at the family home, and she was braiding the little girls hair. "I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I asked if it was possible for a kid like me to join Fairy Tail!" She exclaimed, making her laugh.

"Of course," she replied as she slipped the hair tie into the girls braid. "Anyone is welcome to join Fairy Tail."

"Cool!" Keiko said, "that means when I get big and strong, I'm gonna join your guild!"

"Oh yeah?" Ultear asked, playfully pulling on the girls hair. "Are you gonna be a big hero?"

"Yep!" The little girl replied. "I'm gonna learn magic like yours too!" Ultear felt her face warm up at this, smiling.

"Maybe if your parents say so, I can teach you some basic forms," she said, making Keiko whirl to face her.

"For real?!" She asked.

"Of course," Ultear said. "But only if your parents give me the okay. I wouldn't want to step on any toes during my stay here."

"Don't worry about it," Keiko replied, Ultear turning her back around so she could keep braiding her hair. "My Mom and Dad think your the best."

"Sure that isn't you speaking for them?" Ultear asked, making Keiko hum.

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "But they do like you! You've been a big help around the house whenever you have time off."

"It's only right I help out," Ultear said as she tied off on of the braids. "I am staying in your home, after all."

"Why do you even gotta pretend to be my sister anyway?" Keiko asked, clearly thinking very hard given her expression.

"So I have a backstory and excuse for being here," she said, thinking back on the plan. "I'm hiding in plain sight, and making sure no one gets a good look at me when I'm out working. For now, anyway."

"Are you gonna beat up all those stupid guys?" Keiko asked.

"Of course," she replied. "I'm here to do just that."

"Are you gonna leave when you're done?" Ultear frowned at this, pausing for a moment as she thought up an appropriate response.

"I will have to go home sometime," she said. "I've got a family of my own back in Magnolia. I miss them a lot."

"Do you have a brother or sister?" Keiko asked.

"Nope, I'm an only child," Ultear replied. "I have friends that are like my siblings anyways."

"Do you?"

"Mm hm."

"Like who?" Ultear took a deep breath as she thought back on the friends she had back at the guild.

"Well," she started. "There's Nashi and Drake, who are around the most. Nashi is a shy girl, but she's got a good heart. Drake is very much not shy, and he's sort of been playing as Nashi's protector for a while since she can't use magic."

"She can't?" Keiko asked, "then how is she in a guild?"

"Well she was born into it," Ultear said. "Her Mom and Dad are apart of the guild so she is too."

"So I could join without magic?" The girl pondered.

"You could," Ultear confirmed, "but then you'd have to stay home while I do all the cool saving." Keiko made an irritated face at this.

"No, I wanna help out," she said, making her laugh. She quietly returned her mind back home, wondering is she even classified this other person as a friend these days.

"Elise is another girl I grew up with," she said, "but lately she's been very mean and frankly unpleasant to be around. I hope it's just a phase, she was such a cute kid."

"Do you still like her?" Keiko asked.

"Of course," Ultear said, "but I don't know how long that'll persist if she keeps being a bully. There's Simon, another friend of mine. I haven't seen much of him in recent years, our work has kept us away from home a lot."

"Is he cool?" Keiko wondered, "he's got a cool name. Like a knight from my books."

"He's the coolest," Ultear confirmed with a smile as she thought about Simon. "Growing up we followed him around like puppies, and he seemed to like leading us around as we got into trouble. Which is funny, because he wasn't even the oldest kid."

"Who is the oldest?" Ultear's smile faltered a little.

"Damien," she said. "He's got a few years on Simon and I. But I haven't seen him in...I don't know, over a year I think? He stays away a lot."

"Why's that?" Keiko wondered, "doesn't he get homesick?"

"Sometimes I think being home makes him sick," Ultear said quietly. "Damien...had an incident when we were younger. He's never been the same."

"What happened?"

"Nothing a little girl like you should be worried about," Ultear replied, ruffling the girls hair and making her squeal. "That's grown up talk, for grown ups."

"I'm grown!" Keiko complained.

"You're a sprout, at best," she replied, tickling the little girls sides, making her laugh and fall back into her.

"You forgot a friend," Keiko said after she gathered her breath.

"I did?"

"Yeah!" She said, "me! We're friends, aren't we?"

"Well technically I'm your sister right now," Ultear said. "But yes, you're my friend Keiko."

"I prefer being sisters," Keiko said. "So we're sisters for real now, okay? Cause I said so!"

"Is that how that works?" She asked, amused by the blatantly untrue statement.

"Yep!" She said, turning to face her with a proud expression as she stood up straight. "You already agreed to be my fake sister, so be my real sister too!" With this, the little girl held out her hand for Ultear to shake, as if this was some sort of contractual agreement. Snorting and shaking her head, Ultear took the girls hand and shook it.

"Sisters," she said.

"What's the matter, Big Sis Ul?!" Keiko shouted as Ultear darted between the trees of the frozen wonderland she had created. "Why're you running from me?! I'm just a little girl!"

Despite her stature, Keiko had clearly been imbued with an immense amount of power. Even using all of her tricks the child was keeping up with her, which was thoroughly annoying. At least, that's what Ultear said to herself to excuse the fact that she was struggling to land a kill shot, and not for lack of ways to do so. Despite how big she'd talked, hurting the little girl was hurting her too, just emotionally.

It's like, ever since that day Zindo wounded me, I'm been trapped in hell, unable to escape.

The wound that would never fully heal on her leg was pounding, as if she had to be reminded of the failure she'd experienced that day. Why could she just not escape? Why did it always have to come back around? She knew she had failed! Why did the world have to keep reminding her?!

Ultear dodged out of the way as a massive black blast tore through the tree line, skidding to a stop under a small cliff.

She really had never been the same since that day. Zindo wounding her so badly and then massacring the town had robbed her of her innocence, of her joy. She had been there to stop that from happening, and she'd failed. She'd gotten Keiko and her family, the town, killed. Because she was weak.

The weakest.

She'd always been the weakest, even before Nashi could use magic. She had no crazy powers or ridiculous lineage, she was just a girl. Three Dragons Slayers, The descendant of a Dragon, and a Demon Lord takeover wizard? What was she, compared to all of that? She was just some girl, trying her hardest to keep up. Trying, and failing.

She dodged another blast as it tore down the tree above her, sliding to the left behind a brush. Once, after Nashi had 'died' and they'd killed Zindo, Simon had told her that the key to continuing on was finding something to fight for. That focusing too much on what you'd lost was not the way. And she'd tried, she really had. She'd tried to keep fighting for what she had, and keep it safe. She had found her drive, and was determined to keep it safe.

And then Damien died.

And then the world ended.

And then she spent months wandering around in the wilderness. Cold, hungry, tired, and thoroughly demoralized. She had totally and utterly failed to protect what she cared about. Because she was weak, because they were weak. She'd been trying so desperately to ignore this feeling of hopelessness since, distracting herself by looking after the others in the group and not looking inward.

But now, faced with Keiko and her past failures again, Ultear looked inward. And all she saw was the ruins of who she thought she was. She wasn't strong, she wasn't capable, she wasn't enough. She never had been, not ever. She'd tried and tried to keep up with everyone, but time and again she faltered. Time and again her efforts went up in smoke. She was so damn tired of it all.

But the more she thought about it, the more rage flooded her veins.

She was so fucking done. Done with losing everything, and everyone. She was done with having her life messed with by people so far away and out of her reach. She was so damn tired of losing people. She was so fucking tired of losing!

Dodging another blast from Keiko and rolled behind a nearby boulder, Ultear tried to keep her rage in check, so she didn't run out and get a face full of dark magic.

"Running won't stop me, Big Sis!" Keiko called, causing fury to flush her face. "You'll have to kill me! Again!"

The absolute rage that flooded Ultear was so unlike her it was almost scary. She was so angry she couldn't even think straight, nor could she ponder where this was coming from. All she knew was that whatever string she'd been dangling from for the past little while had finally snapped, and dropped her into the abyss she'd been trying to stay out of. She didn't care if she wasn't strong enough. She didn't care if she had to kill Keiko, or if she had to expend all her power to do it. She was going to get Zomrus back for this. For all of it.

Her magic flowed outward, freezing the area around her in ice. She stepped out from behind the boulder, seeing Keiko standing far back in the clearing she'd attacked them in. Before the girl could even utter a single word, ice flew up her legs from the ground and incased her in a shell, freezing her solid. It wouldn't be enough to hold her down for long, but it would give Ultear the second she needed.

Ultear brought her hands together, dark tattoos flying across her body in wavy patterns.

"Ice Devil Slayer Secret Art," she said, her voice cold and venomous. "Sub-Zero Weapon Garden."

An advanced form of the spell she had used in her fight against Mezevera, endless tendrils of icy magic erupted from the ground around her, floating ominously in the air. After a brief second, they all formed into countless weapons and flew at Keiko's frozen body. Before her attack could hit it's target Keiko's cocoon was cracked open and she fled into the air, the weapons sinking back into the icy ground.

"That's a new one," Keiko noted from the air. 'And I get a bad feeling from it."

Ultear offered the girl no response. She was done talking, done lamenting. It was time for action, and time to let Keiko rest. She would be the first to feel her wrath.

The ice that covered the ground started crawling up her legs, forming armor on it's way up. Her entire body was quickly coated in a slim suit of armor, a visor flying over her eyes. Icy tendrils shot out of her back and hovered beside her, ready to form weapons at a moments notice.

"Ice Devil Slayer Armor Master." A combination of Weapon Garden and armor, Ultear's spell was the ultimate form of her ability to use Ice Devil Slayer Magic. A form that represented all forms of magic she was capable of.

Ultear braced her legs before erupting into the air, flying at Keiko. The tendrils on her left side formed into spears and shot out towards the girl, who dodged them and flew higher into the air. The spears gave chase, flying after her and trying to run her through. The tendrils from the right side formed into crossbows and began firing volley after volley of icy arrows, which made it even harder for Keiko to dodge. Good, she wanted the girl to run, to flee in fear of her.

"You've grown so much stronger, Big Sis!" Keiko called as she flew all over the sky. "I wish I met this version of you before!" Turning, the little girl fired a blast of dark magic at her, which destroyed the arrows in it's path and flew for her. She wasn't interested in the ravings of a dead girl. All she was wanted in that moment was to rend the flesh from that corpse.

Ultear raised her arm, and the icy gauntlet on her hand flexed and became a massive shield, blocking the blast as they hit one another. The shield instantaneously morphed back into her gauntlet after the attack failed, the tendrils from her back collapsing down on Keiko. Each tendrils sprouted a dozen different weapons from the 'vine' connecting it to Ultear, all of them descending onto the girls head. Keiko was forced to fly off to the left to avoid it, and the tendrils gave chase as Ultear did as well.

"Run all you want," she said in an icy tone, the helmet on her head causing her voice to echo. "You'll just die tired." The ground below, still under the effect of Weapon Garden, also spawned weapons that flew up at Keiko. Swords, spears, halberds all flew at her as cannons fired and guns shot at her. Any weapon Ultear had ever faced morphed from the Garden and attacked the girl she was after. More and more, an endless barrage of blades and projectiles. Keiko could not defend against it, and was pierced countless time by the whips of icy magic. The weapons that struck her did not move, instead freezing and keeping the girl stuck in the air as Ultear approached her.

"Ice Devil Slayer Destruction Sword," she said, her voice echoing as the blade morphed to reality in her hand, fused to her suit of armor. She raised it high above her head, Keiko staring at it in abject horror. Indifferent to what a husk thought about dying, Ultear brought the blade down on the little girl who refused to stay in the past. Keiko flinched away from the attack, her face coated in fear.

Fear of her. Good. She wanted her to be afraid. All of her enemies should be, because she wasn't going to rest until she killed all of-

"You forgot a friend."

"I did?"

"Yeah! Me! We're friends, aren't we?"

Ultear stopped the sword a hair away from the top of Keiko's head, the darkened weapon shuddering as Ultear's mind cleared quickly. What was she doing? Why was she so angry? Looking down at the weapon, Ultear's eyes widened as she saw the dark, angry markings of Ice Devil Slayer Magic swirling just underneath the armors surface.

"This magic wasn't made for humans, Ul, and it's obvious the more you use it."

Her father's words echoed in her mind, reminding her of the dangers of Ice Devil Slayer Magic. Was this what he was talking about back then? Was she being consumed by the magic?

When she looked inward, Ultear saw an angry black mass swirling inside her heart. She could sense the rage it was giving off, pumping her body full of anger. It was as thought it had a will of it's own, angrily screaming at her to annihilate her enemies and take revenge on those who had ruined her life, even if it cost her everything. Was that her own thoughts? Or was it the magic affecting her, making her angrier than she should have been?

Who cares?! Kill her! She deserves to die for trying to kill us! Show Zomrus we aren't this easily killed!

It scared Ultear that it was her own voice that said this to her. She wasn't like this. It wasn't her. Still though, the voice was right. Keiko had to die. Not because she wanted to kill her, but because it was right. Ultear shook her head to clear it, deciding she'd focus on this later. For now, she needed to-

"You hesitated."

Ultear looked down as Keiko spoke, seeing the girl was glowing with dark magic. Realizing what was coming, she tried to back up and fly out of the way, but couldn't in time.

Keiko exploded with dark magic, the blast blowing away all the weapons holding her down and destroying every tree nearby.

Nashi did her best to ignore the explosions from behind her, but it was pretty difficult to do. They were too close to the beach now, they had to keep doing.

Exiting the tree line, Nashi slid down a small hill with everyone else and ran for the shore, where the battle was still raging. Once she got close, her eyes widened in horror.

Standing above a writhing Katsuchi was a man. A man she had thought long dead after the events in a city called Silverridge. A man Nashi had thought she'd killed with her own two hands.

"N-Nashi," Elise said weakly. "I-Is that...?" Elise did not get to finish her question before the person before them turned, smiling.

"Ah," Apocalypse, former jailer of Phantom Dove said. "The rest of you are here. Good."