This is my first multi-chaptered story! I figured I would write most of it before posting, because I don't trust myself to avoid writer's block, and I know how frustrating that is for readers who are just getting into a story. I thought I would try my hand at something more serious. This story is also an AU fic – although everyone still has their magic abilities, some have different back-stories such as Lucy. She's also nineteen, like Erza. Reviews are always appreciated!

Somewhat inspired by the KoTN Oblivion plug-in, since I played it earlier and sparked the idea.

Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail.

"This is becoming quite a problem," Gran Doma stated to his Magic Council, "two large towns have been destroyed in the last month, with countless other attacks occurring."

"Even with Rune Knights stationed in them, may I add," a member chimed, "the only intelligence we have is that the enemy do not seem to be human."

"And what are the guilds doing to help?" the chairman asked, "Are they pulling their weight?"

"Yes," Org replied, cracking open one eye, "they are doing their best. They help the army fight off these... subhuman opponents. Though by the time they have finished, the town is usually reduced to nothing."

Smoke rose from the charred remains of what was once Hargeon Town. Houses had been burnt to cinders, injured citizens groaned in pain and ragged sheets covered the dead, most of whom were innocents and did not deserve their cruel end. The Fairy Tail attack regiment had been given a tip from Hibiki of Blue Pegasus that the town was in trouble, as they were the closest to it in that moment, but could not make it in time.

"Those bastards..." Natsu growled, filled with fury, fists tightly clenched by his sides.

"We were too late," Gray remarked, looking upon the scene of children crying and scrambling to find parents and people looting all they could from the pillaged town. Many had begun the journey to Magnolia for refuge and the safety of Fairy Tail's guild. Any town with a guild had a fighting chance against the enemy's army.

"There is still something we can do," Erza stated, kneeling in front of an injured man, who was sobbing loudly, "the refugees must be safely escorted to Magnolia. By themselves, they are lambs for the slaughter if Moros' footmen attack them again."

"Some of the injured won't make it to Magnolia," a blonde haired man, Laxus, chimed, "we should leave them behind, they are dead weight-"

"Quiet!" Erza commanded, rising suddenly, her sword pointed directly at his throat, "we help anyone in need. That was Fairy Tail's vow when these attacks started, and I will not abandon it."

Laxus merely scowled as she lowered her weapon, receiving many piercing glares from the other guild members.

"We should move now," Gildarts Clive said, acting as leader, "it will take a while to get to Magnolia on foot. If we get caught out at night, there'll be trouble. Split up and round up everyone you can find. Elfman, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, go with the refugees that are leaving now. Keep them safe."

Gajeel grunted in protest, slamming his fist into his palm. "I should be here kicking ass, not being an escort."

Elfman placed a hand on his shoulder. "Protecting innocent people is to be a man."

"You'll probably have more enemies out there than here," Pantherlily commented, arms crossed, "these ones only attack at night."

This seemed to soothe Gajeel somewhat, and he relented. Following the others, he blended into the pulsing crowd.

Mirajane was ordered to stay at the rendezvous point, where she would take care of any citizens that were found. The remaining group split up into pairs for extra protection and scattered through the debris. Natsu and Happy, paired with Gray, shouted out into the empty streets.

"Hey! Is anyone there!?" Natsu called through cupped hands to amplify his voice. Happy mirrored his actions, whilst Gray was contented with listening for any replies, hands in pockets.

"Maybe everyone has gone." Happy suggested, the only reply to their calls being silence.

"Maybe," Natsu agreed, "but it'd get to me if I left someone behind that I could have saved."

"There's not much else to do anyway. Until we find a way to track the Void Crusaders' movements, we're sitting ducks." Gray added.

"This is bullshit," Said Natsu in reference to the attacks that had erupted over Fiore, with some reports suggesting that they were spreading further, "these guys don't play fair. They just appear out of nowhere and escape back through their portals when I come to beat 'em up!"

"Shut up for a minute," Gray interrupted, provoking a scowl from the pink haired boy, "do you hear that?"

As Natsu listened, he could hear it too. Faint sounds of what sounded like crying came from a large pile of debris.

"Whoa! Don't worry! I'm coming!" He yelled, already beginning to throw away pieces of stone and timber from the jagged pile without a second thought, Happy moving as many small pieces as he could. Gray looked at the huge pile, which seemed to once be a hotel.

"This is gonna take too long. Whoever is in there will suffocate before we can get to them." He said, nevertheless joining in.

"Not if I can help it." Natsu growled, pace increasing until he could hear the cries loud and clear. He fell back onto the floor, panting for breath and sweating profusely.

"Just looking at Natsu makes me tired." Happy quipped, feeling inadequate with his own effort.

Gray fumbled around in the sizeable hole Natsu had made. His hands scraped against something wooden. Contorting his shoulders into an inhuman position, he pressed his ear against it. He could hear the crying clearly.

"It's coming from this!" He declared, "it sounds like a child, too. We need to pull it out."

After squirming in the hole for a minute, Gray sighed in defeat. "Natsu, give me a hand. My shoulders are stuck."

His request was met with raucous laughter from the dragon slayer, who watched as Gray's legs flailed in anger. He complied eventually, tugging on Gray's leg until he was pulled out of the gap. The ice wizard stood up and brushed himself off.

"I'm gonna plug the gap with ice and then expand it. Then we can grab onto whatever that thing is and pull it out." Gray told, already in his Ice Make stance.

Natsu watched as ice filled the hole and slowly expanded it, bits of rock falling from the pile under the strain. Suddenly the ice shattered, leaving behind a roomier hole, big enough for both Natsu and Gray to crouch side by side, shoulders touching. Both boys managed to grip on to a groove in the wood.

"On the count of three!" Happy announced, "One.. two..."

Natsu and Gray braced themselves.

"Three!"

With a strained groan, they pulled as hard as they could, resulting in a loud crack as the panel of wood came away in their hands, sending them tumbling backwards.

"Ugh..." Gray moaned, rubbing his back, gasping when he saw a little face appear where the wood had been. Natsu made his way towards the child.

"N-no!" The little girl screamed, curling into a tight ball, "don't hurt me! The wing men will get me!"

"Wing men?" Gray repeated, knowing the child was talking about the Void Crusaders, their armour adorned with two large demonic wings protruding from the shoulder blades.

"We're here to help you," Happy said, "we're from Fairy Tail!"

The little face appeared once more. Natsu slowly made his way towards her, making sure he did not startle the child. He extended a dusty hand and watched as a tiny hand reached out and clutched it. The dirty face that emerged was simply decoration to two huge, innocent blue eyes. They scanned the dragon slayer, looking for any signs of dishonesty, and upon noticing the guild mark on his shoulder, threw herself at him for any scrap of comfort.

'Another casualty of war...' Gray mused sadly, turning away from the scene, "lets get this one to Mira. We don't want her hurt in case we encounter something else."

After the remaining members of Fairy Tail had been recalled, approximately two hours before sunset, they began the walk to Magnolia. They had only been able to find a handful of survivors; the rest were either dead or had already left under the supervision of Gajeel and the others.

"Perhaps we should have someone scout ahead," Erza suggested, noticing the daylight fading faster than they were walking.

"If you're volunteering, then go ahead," Gildarts replied, carrying an injured woman in his arms.

'Classic Gildarts.' Happy thought, chuckling as he saw the risky placement of Gildarts' hands.

"Eh? What're you laughing at, Happy?" Natsu asked, carrying the little girl, Hina, on his shoulders, "I know what Hina's laughing at..."

He began to stumble around as the girl gripped onto his hair for balance, giggling wildly.

"Stop fooling around," Laxus demanded, "we could get attacked at any minute."

"Get the stick out from your ass, Laxus," Gildarts ordered, smiling, "let the kid have some fun. Her town has just been destroyed. Though you do have a point, we all should stay on our toes."

Erza took this chance to break forward from the group to check for hidden dangers, Laxus deciding to accompany her.

"They're all so happy. As if we aren't in the middle of a crisis." He commented, keeping a leisurely pace next to his fellow S-Class mage once they were quite a way ahead.

"It's our way of coping. Dwelling in negativity isn't good for the mind or body," Erza replied, armour clinking as she moved, "it seems our enemy would rather us fall into the darkness of our thoughts."

Both mages suddenly heard scuttling behind some bushes. Erza equipped her sword quickly, hacking at the plant until they entered a small clearing.

"Reveal yourself!" She commanded. Laxus swiftly attacked a tree with a bolt of lightning, a cry of pain erupting immediately afterwards.

"Oh look, a fallen angel. Well aren't you an ugly one?" Laxus noted sarcastically upon seeing the grotesque figure. Erza threw her sword, pinning a leathery wing against the burnt bark of the tree trunk. The creature simply grunted, trying to pull itself away whilst clutching at its stomach, punctured by an arrow. A stream of blood threaded through its long bony fingers fingers and down its black robes, pooling on the ground.

"Were you at Hargeon?" Erza asked, steel in her eyes.

"That's not important right now, what's done is done," Laxus interjected, "where is your base?"

The creature chuckled from beneath its grotesque helmet, a phlegmy, deep sound. It let out a scream of intense pain as Laxus drove his boot into the stomach wound.

"I'd never tell you. I live for my glorious master." It spat venomously, voice croaky and guttural, before muttering in a different, otherworldly language. Laxus and Erza assumed it was male.

"Glorious master?" Erza inquired, scanning the area for any of his comrades, "Is he around?"

"No. Lord Moros does not have time for these petty battles, he is working on his plan. His generals dictate our orders to best help our glorious master."

"How is it that you were left here? Get left behind by your glorious master?" Laxus asked, again applying pressure to the demon's wound.

"Hnng!" He uttered in pain, "My wing hurts. I can't get to the portals without both wings intact, you imbeciles."

"Looks like a clean cut," Erza said, ignoring the insult, noticing that the wing was cut in half, the other half lying a few feet away, "we should take him with us. He knows valuable information."

The demon began to laugh, but this action turned into a pathetic wheeze, "I'm not... going anywhere... with the enemy. When I die, I will join my glorious master in his halls forever. When you die, you'll live your worst nightmare."

His whole body suddenly convulsed violently, before falling limp against the tree once more. Laxus and Erza were shocked.

"Did he just kill himself?" Laxus wondered aloud, echoing Erza's own thoughts.

"Either way, we should take his body with us. It could give us some clues." She said. Laxus smirked.

"Well you're carrying him. I don't like getting shit on my hands."

Erza sighed before picking up the corpse, which was lighter than she expected considering the shoulders were covered in bulky armour.

"We have around an hour before night falls. Let's move."

The group made it back to Magnolia Town with no incidents occurring. As they settled into the guild hall, the injured of Hargeon Town safely at a hospital, they began to inspect the corpse Erza and Laxus had found.

"And you say he doesn't answer to Moros directly, but to a general?" Makarov asked, sat on the bar with his arms crossed.

"Considering the size of the Void Crusade army, this is no surprise," Erza replied, "with so many orchestrated attacks happening throughout Fiore, it's unlikely only one person would be plotting them all."

"He did mention something about Moros working on a plan, and that the attacks only help that plan." Laxus added, leaning against a pillar.

"Then the attacks aren't their main focus." Mirajane told, grimacing.

"If that ain't their main focus, I don't want to know what is," Natsu said in reply, "what could be bigger than destroying every town?"

"We need to know their aim," Makarov said, "perhaps the attacks make the land weaker, so they can invade at once and claim it. With what we've faced before though, that seems too easy. Why would they be biding their time? Are they playing with us?"

Levy removed the solid helmet from the dead soldier, her guildmates peering over in curiosity.

"Ugh!" They groaned as a vile smell hit them, along with an ugly sight. The demon had no nose and a full mouth of small jagged teeth. Its eyes were screwed up tightly, two beady, jet-black orbs barely visible.

"Definitely not human, then. I don't think magic could change a body this drastically." Freed commented, one of the members who had stayed behind to protect the guild on this particular expedition.

"Wings are not manly, just a way to be a coward." Elfman remarked.

"Somebody get this information to Hibiki so he can broadcast it to everyone." Erza ordered. Makarov nodded in agreement.

"You should be on your guard tonight," he advised, "we don't know how they will react once they find we have one of their bodies."