A/N: Episode 264.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE: DROPS OF FLAME

Kagura used her sword as support when she collapsed to the ground. "You... not budging in the least... Is the Magic already gone?" She wondered.

Millianna was breathing rapidly. "I can't move... That's it..." She muttered before glancing up. "Kagura-chan! Look! Something's coming! What is it?"

"That's..."

Grandeeney charged forward, destroying the Faces.

"...Grandeeney!" Wendy exclaimed.

"With just one blow!"

"What was that?!" Millianna questioned. "A huge kitty-cat?"

"No. It may have been... a dragon!" Kagura responded.

Jura was standing in front of the Faces along with Lamia Scale. "None of my Magic has any effect on it?! My uselessness is pathetic!" Jura exclaimed.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Gajeel asked himself.

Metallicana flew through the Faces, destroying them.

"Is this a dream... or reality?!" Jura questioned. "What might! What destructive force! A dragon is our savior?!"

Natsu and Sebastian both turned around and gasped.

Weisslogia flew in the sky, making Sting's eyes widen.

"I sense it..." Sting muttered as Weisslogia destroyed the Faces. "Weisslogia..."

The Garou Knights and the royal guards were glancing up at the sky.

"What is it?!"

"Something's approaching!"

Skiadrum charged forward.

"It's a dragon!"

"Now there's even a dragon overhead?!"

"It's all over!"

"Retreat! Run!"

"Skiadrum..." Rogue muttered.

Skiadrum destroyed the Faces in Crocus before letting out a roar.

"The dragon..."

"...destroyed that thing!"

"What the hell is going on here?!"

In Bridgehollow, the Black Sun Mages were all trying to regain their breathing as they glanced up at the multiple Faces in front of them.

"No matter what we do, they just won't come down." Nox stated.

"Damn it... I'm starting to get pissed." Daegon claimed, scowling as he did so.

Aster spotted something coming from a distance. "Hey! Something's coming!" He warned.

Jade widened her eyes as she felt something familiar.

Lockhardt came flying by as she destroyed the Faces, causing the debris to crash onto the ground.

"Lockhardt..." Jade muttered, seeing her dragon mother flying through the sky.

"Lockhardt? Your dragon mother?" Helena asked her.

"Yeah..." Jade nodded.

Multiple red X's appeared on the screen rapidly. "Um... What does this mean?" Happy asked in confusion.

"What's going on outside?!" Lily wondered.

Christina was able to fly back into the sky.

"Ichiya-san! Christina's Magic is being replenished!"

"How about communications?" Ichiya questioned.

"Messages are coming in from guilds all over!" Hibiki responded, turning around. "'A dragon came flying in, and is destroying Face!'"

This made Ichiya widen his eyes. "What does it mean?" He wondered.

Franmalth was looking at the screen. "Unbelievable! The Face units are going down, one after another! How much will this loss be?! How much?!" He asked himself.

The dragons resumed destroying all of the Faces.

"Whoa..." Natsu muttered as both Igneel and Atlas Flame roared.

'Face ON' changed from 'Face Signal Lost' when Face was finally destroyed.

"Yes! All of the Faces are gone!" Lector cheered.

"How?" Frosch questioned.

"I have no idea." Lector shrugged.

"Neither does Fro!"

"Anyway..." Lily started to say.

"Yes. Now Magic... won't disappear from the world." Mira finished.

"The dragons..." Wendy started to say.

"...destroyed those Face things across the continent." Gajeel finished.

"I feel it! The Magic is back!" Millianna cheered.

"Then it's over. But... the power of human wizards... is still so small." Kagura claimed.

"Dragons!" Millianna exclaimed.

"I never dreamed that dragons would save the continent." Jura commented.

"We prevented END's resurrection. We won." Atlas Flame announced, making everyone cheer in victory.

"This is bad! Without the return of Master END, what's the probability of my survival? How much?" Franmalth asked before scurrying away.

"Defeat..." Mard Geer muttered.

The Book of END was still on the ground, grabbing Gray's attention.

"Weisslogia was... alive all this time?!" Sting questioned in shock.

"Skiadrum, Metallicana, Lockhardt, and Grandeeney, too... All of us were inside the Dragon Slayers' bodies. Or to be more precise, we were lying dormant inside your bodies through a Secret Art." Igneel explained.

"And when I felt that pulsating... that was you rising up inside of me?" Rogue questioned.

"That's right! Come to think of it, I didn't ask about that." Natsu added. "Why the hell were you inside my body?! I don't remember eatin' you!"

"There are two reasons for that. The first is him. It was to prevent Dragon Slayers from turning into dragons, like Acnologia." Igneel answered.

"You know, this other dragon, Zirconis, said something similar to that." Sebastian recalled.

"He was once human, huh?" Natsu asked.

"Yes." Igneel replied. "The other reason..."

However, before he could finish his sentence, Acnologia sat up from underneath Igneel and Atlas Flame as the three dragons flew back into the sky.

"Igneel!" Natsu called out.

"I'll tell you after we deal with him!" Igneel shouted. "Get that book!"

"Igneel!" Natsu shouted once more.

"What did he just say?" Rogue asked.

"Book?" Sting repeated.

"This book, right?" Gray questioned, holding up the Book of END. "The Book of END."

"Gray..." Sebastian muttered.

"I made a promise... to defeat END without fail." Gray stated.

"Jackass..." Natsu cursed.

Igneel, Atlas Flame, and Acnologia continued battling. "To keep Dragon Slayers from transforming into dragons... you inhabited their bodies?" Acnologia asked.

"What is your aim?! You feared END and now he is gone." Atlas Flame said as him and Acnologia slammed their heads together. "Leave the humans alone!"

"Feared? The likes of a demon from the Books of Zeref? Nonsense. I am Acnologia, King of the Dragons!" Acnologia claimed.

"You were once human, too! We won't let you make Natsu and the others like you!" Igneel argued.

"My desire is the destruction of everything. Destruction! Destruction!" Acnologia exclaimed as he clashed with Igneel and Atlas Flame once more.

Gray, Natsu, and Sebastian stared at one another. "Natsu-san, Gray-san, Sebastian, the three of you, stop it!" Sting tells them.

"This is why Fairy Tail is..." Rogue trailed off.

The Book of END soon disappeared from Gray's hand. "It's gone!" Gray said.

"Gray!" Natsu shouted.

"It wasn't me!" Gray yelled back.

"This is my book."

A new voice grabbed everyone's attention as they widened their eyes upon seeing who arrived.

"I'm taking it back."

The newcomer was soon revealed to be Zeref. "It's an important book." He claimed.

"Zeref!" Natsu exclaimed.

"That's..." Sting started to say as both Rogue and Sebastian were lost for words.

Zeref walked forward. "Mard Geer... You did well. You were one step away from reviving END. Now you can sleep." He said.

Mard Geer struggled to raise his arm. "Mard Geer... can bring about... whatever you desire..." He claimed.

"No. You can't." Zeref told him before snapping his fingers and turning Mard Geer back into a book, making everyone widen their eyes.

The book soon turned into ash. "You! You created that demon yourself!" Gray protested as Zeref turned around.

"True. But I had no more need of it." Zeref stated, making Sting grit his teeth. "I came here to settle things once and for all between us."

"Huh?"

"But Acnologia got in the way. Will he end history once again? Or will a miracle happen? I don't know." Zeref said, looking at the sky as Acnologia, Igneel, and Atlas Flame continued their battle.

"What are you talkin' about?" Natsu questioned as him and Zeref stared at one another.

"If you can survive these hopeless circumstances... then..." Zeref paused as his eyes glowed red. "...I will give you even more despair."

Zeref soon walked away as the wind blew. When the dust cleared, Zeref was gone.

"That bastard... He took the book!" Gray growled as Sting, Rogue, and Sebastian were all silent.

"Zeref..." Natsu muttered.

In the sky, Igneel and Atlas Flame continued their battle with Acnologia as Igneel and Atlas Flame both got knocked to the ground and Acnologia stomped on them.

"Destruction... Destruction! Is this all the power you possess, King of the Fire Dragons and Hellfire Dragon?" Acnologia questioned.

Igneel grinned. "Well, both of us were asleep for a long time." He responded before Acnologia crushed the two Fire Dragons further into the ground while Natsu widened his eyes.

"Natsu..."

"Igneel!" Natsu exclaimed.

"There is something I need to tell you while I have the chance." Igneel said, grabbing Natsu's attention. "There were two reasons we dragons lived inside the bodies of you Dragon Slayers. The first was as I said, to prevent you from turning into dragons by creating antibodies. Owning to that, there is almost no chance you will ever become dragons."

Natsu took off, grabbing Gray and Sebastian's attention. "Natsu!" Gray shouted.

"Where are you goin'?" Sebastian called out.

"I never showed myself before under any circumstances because I was busy making these antibodies. And the other reason was to defeat our negative legacy, Acnologia, ourselves. We were waiting for an opportunity." Igneel continued.

"You can tell me all that later! Wait, Igneel!" Natsu shouted. "I'm comin' to help you!"

"You must stay away! Acnologia is stronger than I expected. You don't want to get involved in this." Igneel warned.

"Sure I do!" Natsu argued. "You an' me together, we'll be invincible!"

"Atlas and I were waiting for this moment." Igneel said as him and Atlas Flame sat up. "The moment we could kill Acnologia with our own claws!"

Acnologia, Igneel, and Atlas Flame flew into the sky again. Igneel bites off Acnologia's arm while Atlas Flame bites off his leg. Acnologia managed to strike at Igneel while Natsu watches the scene with horror in his eyes.

"Igneel!" Atlas Flame called out as Igneel soon falls towards the ground.

"Natsu..." Igneel said.

"Natsu!"

"Dad, I got it!" A younger Natsu was dragging a pig behind him.

"All right! Now get cooking." Igneel told him.

"You'll provide the fire, right?" Natsu asked.

"What are you talking about? You can do that yourself!" Igneel replied.

"Tch! What, again?" Natsu turned around and crosses his arms.

"It's what you have to do if you wish to eat. So go ahead!" Igneel commanded as Natsu huffed in annoyance.

Natsu was writing on the sand.

"I did it! How's that?! Perfect, right?" Natsu questioned.

Igneel sweat dropped. "All of the words are spelled wrong. Start over!" He ordered.

"What, again?!" Natsu said in irritation.

"Quit griping and just do it!" Igneel said.

"Darn it! Fine, watch this! I'll get it perfect this time!" Natsu told him.

Igneel continues down towards the ground in front of Natsu.

A younger Natsu was riding on Igneel's back. "This feels great!" He exclaimed.

"Hold on tight!" Igneel said as he moves towards the ground before flying back into the sky.

"Dad, don't go crazy!" Natsu exclaimed.

"You're crying over a little height? Here we go!" Igneel said as Natsu held on tight.

Igneel dived beneath the water. "I... I didn't fall off! How was that?!" Natsu asked.

"We're not done!"

"I'm still not gonna fall off!"

Natsu trembled.

Igneel and Natsu were now on top of a mountain. "Watch this, Dad! Here I go!" He exclaimed. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

A small burst of fire appeared from Natsu's mouth. "How was that?!" He asked.

"You call that a roar? It wouldn't even cook a meal." Igneel teased.

"What's that?!" Natsu said.

"Watch." Igneel told him. "Fire Dragon's... Roar!"

Igneel lets out a blast of flames, destroying a whole mountain as Natsu sweat dropped.

Natsu turned to Igneel. "You shouldn't cut down mountains, Dad." He said.

"I guess that was a bit too much." Igneel laughed.

Natsu grinned. "Awesome!" He exclaimed. "All right, I can do that, too!"

"Accumulate as much power as you can in your belly. Then do it again and again." Igneel instructed.

"Leave it to me!" Natsu said.

Later, Natsu eventually woke up and looked at Igneel who was also sleeping. He crawled up Igneel's claw, moving closer to him and cuddling next to him.

"Natsu... I've been watching you grow up all this time. You've gotten... so big." Igneel said.

Acnologia prepared a blue blast, aiming straight at Igneel. "The days I spent with you were the happiest ones of my life." Igneel claimed.

The blue blast eventually struck Igneel, making an explosion as Natsu watched.

"You gave me the power to love." Igneel finished.

Natsu trembled as his face was etched with horror.

"Igneel!" Natsu screamed out.

A/N: No matter how many times I rewatch Fairy Tail, Igneel's death scene will always shatter me.

If you're wondering why Atlas Flame didn't prevent it, Igneel told him not to get involved, which will be revealed in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.