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(Fairy Tail)

It had been a few days since the defeat of Phantom Lord and the ending of the guild war. Phantom Lord was disbanded, and majority of the members arrested such as Jose, while others were free to leave though now without a guild. And while Fairy Tail was also guilty of retaliating against Phantom Lord, they had merely did it out of self-defense. Along with the fact that they saved an entire town form Phantom Lord's Jupiter Cannon, Abyssal Break and finally defeated a Demon of Zeref also helped save them from the Magic Council's wrath.

For the past few days, the members of Fairy Tail had been hard at work repairing their destroyed guild. Already they had gotten at it, with some members working on construction, while others set out on jobs to raise jewels to buy more supplies. Other members were offering up some of their own jewels to order the material needed to build their new guild building.

"With Phantom Lord now defeated, we can all rest at ease." Makarov announced to the gathered guild members. He was wearing a construction uniform including a hard hat. "But first, we must rebuild our beloved guild! So, get moving or are you going to have an old man do all the work?" Makarov said as he got larger. He then lifted several long blocks of wood and started working. The rest of the guild cheered and joined their master. Many of them followed Makarov's example and were using their magic to quicken the reconstruction process.

Gray later let out a grunt as he put down a block of wood. "Ugh, this is hard work." The ice mage muttered as he unconsciously took off his shirt, revealing his sweat covered chest. Unknown to him, a certain water mage, formerly from Phantom Lord, was watching this from the shadows shamelessly.

"A true man doesn't stop for breaks!" Elfman roared in his full Beast Soul mode. He was passing blocks of wood to other members to hammer down while holding them in place.

"Gray!" Erza shouted, causing Gray to let out a yelp. She was also clothed in construction uniform and holding a long block of wood over her shoulder. "Quit slacking off and get back to work!" She ordered.

"I-I wasn't slacking off, I swear!" Gray stuttered as he immediately stood up and picked up the piece of wood he was carrying before.

From a bench to the side, Lucy was watching the progress with happiness that everything had turn out okay. She had bandages on her from the beating she received from Gajeel, and Mirajane had insisted that she take it easy. Thus, here she was, watching the rest of her guild mates hard at work.

"It's great to see everyone so happy, despite everything that has happened so far." Mirajane said as she walked up towards Lucy, a tray of food and drinks for the blonde. Sitting beside her was Cana.

"Yeah, I was worried that Fairy Tail would get in trouble. But we got off pretty easily." Lucy commented as she gratefully too the food.

"Well, Phantom Lord did try to kill us and the innocent townsfolk of Magnolia. Not to mention that Jose had a Demon of Zeref, which also almost destroyed us. I guess we were lucky that Natsu managed to defeat it." Mirajane added.

"Speaking of Natsu, where is he?" Lucy questioned as she looked around for the Fire Dragon Slayer. The whole day there had been no sign of the pinkette, even though Happy was here, helping the others.

"Happy said that he saw Natsu speaking with that Stein fellow." Cana said, then taking a chug of beer.

Mirajane frowned. "The one who had allied with Phantom Lord, right?"

"Yes, and I'm sure he was the same one who was controlling us like puppets back when we assaulted Phantom Lord's base." Cana added.

"Do you really think it was safe to let him stay here?" Mirajane asked, concerned.

"Well, he was not really affiliated with Phantom Lord. And Natsu apparently trusts him." Lucy replied as their thoughts went towards the residential Dragon Slayer.

Natsu, he had become an even bigger mystery. Ever since he defeated that demon in Phantom Lord's guild building, Natsu has been reclusive, rarely coming to the guild. The only times he came was to make sure everything was okay, along with that Lucy was alright, much to the blonde's embarrassment as the others would tease them in the background. Mirajane reacted the most, obviously delighted that one of her favorite pairings might come true. But back to Natsu, he would converse a lot with Stein, and the two would talk in private, not even letting Happy listen in, something that upset the blue cat. Whatever it was though, must have been quite serious since Natsu always wore a grim expression on his face whenever the guild saw him.

"I'm curious at what those two are always talking about." Cana muttered.

"Well good luck finding them. If Happy can't find Natsu, then I don't think you could." Mirajane said as she gave Lucy some tea.

"Try saying that again!" Shouted Erza. The girls turned to see what was going on. On another bench was Laxus, his head back as he laughed out loud. Standing in front of him was Erza, a furious look on her face as she glared at the blonde. With his legs crossed, Laxus had a smug smirk on his face, something that none of the guild members liked.

"What, have you gone deaf now?" Laxus asked mockingly, eliciting a growl from Erza. The smug smirk on the blonde's face did not go away. "Fine, I'll say it again, we don't need weaklings in the guild! Especially those three!" Laxus sneered, pointing at Team Shadow Gear. Said trio had just been let out of the hospital recently, after the battle with Phantom Lord. They could move around now but were banned from doing any work until their wounds fully healed. Upon hearing Laxus' words, the trio looked down in shame as Laxus continued to insult them. "I can't believe you even had the fucking balls to come back here! And that goes for the rest of you, getting your asses kicked by Phantom Lord!"

"Shut your mouth, Laxus!" Erza roared, close to summoning a sword. A lot of other guild members looked ready to attack the arrogant Lightning mage. None of them made any movements to do so, knowing that they stood no chance against Laxus, and that there had already been enough fighting.

"Not to mention it's also that weak bitch's fault too!" Laxus exclaimed, steering his menacing gaze towards Lucy. Said blonde flinched a little at his glare, though she was also angry at the weakling comment, even if it was true at how helpless she had been during the whole battle.

"Don't blame Lucy for this, Laxus! She had no say in what her father did." Erza said, defending her friend.

"Yeah, and you're not one to talk! You didn't even fight!" Gray added his own voice.

"That's right! That had nothing to do with me! However, I can't stand these weaklings around here! Especially that Bitch!" Laxus shouted in anger. He glared at Lucy as he charged up lightning around his hand. Lucy and everyone else looked on in shock as they realized that he planned to do.

"Laxus, stop it!" Mirajane cried. She never expected this from Laxus. He was never fond of many members in the guild, but she never expected this from Laxus.

"Damn it!" Erza cursed as she requiped a sword in hand. Gray was getting into a stance to cast his magic. However, several beads of sweat ran down their faces as they realized that they wouldn't make it in time.

"Go to hell, weakling!" Laxus declared as he fired a powerful bolt of lightning at the Celestial Mage. Lucy was completely frozen in her spot, not able to dodge it in time.

Before it could even reach her, flames appeared between Lucy and the lightning. The wall of fire covered over the lightning and wrapped around it, as if eating it. Laxus's eyes widened as his attack was burned away into nothing. Once its task was done, the flames also disappeared.

"Isn't this going a little too far?" A familiar voice asked.

With a growl, Laxus spun his head to see Natsu calmly walking up to them. His right arm was raised as sparks danced around his fingertips. Following behind him was Stein. The latter was keeping a close eye on the Lightning Mage.

Laxus seemed angry at first but managed to compose himself. Reverting to his cocky self again, he sneered at Natsu. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the great hero. Where you'd been 'hero'? Stuffing your face with meat as usual?" Laxus taunted.

"More or less. Though I was also speaking with others too. Something you can't seem to be able to do without pissing everyone off." Natsu mocked back.

His words earn sniggers from everyone. Laxus looked even more pissed then before. He looked like he was going to attack but felt something lightly brushing against his neck. Shifting his eyes, Laxus saw it was a thin wire. Following it, he saw that the thread was coming from Stein's fingertip. The blue haired person had a glare in his eyes that was directed towards Laxus.

Seeing how the current situation was, Laxus let out an annoyed sound. "I'll remember this when I inherit the guild. And once I'm in charge, there won't be a single weakling!" He declared before disappearing in a bolt of lightning. The rest of the guild let out a collective sigh in relief. Who knows what kind of damage might have been wrought if Laxus and Natsu duked it out here.

Lucy finally calmed down before letting out a huff. "Who does that jerk think he is?! And what does he mean by inherit anyway? What kind of nonsense is that?" Lucy asked Mirajane.

"It's not nonsense, Lucy." Mirajane said, surprising the blonde. "Laxus is the Master's grandson."

"Eh?!" Lucy exclaimed. She couldn't believe that someone like that was related to that kind, though perverted, Master. It just didn't add up.

"Yes. That means if the Master retires, there's a high chance that Laxus will inherit the position as Guild Master." Added Mirajane. She had a small frown on her face, clearly not too keen on the idea herself.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Laxus is the highest choice for the position." Erza said as she walked up to the two. Gray right behind her. "There are not many here who could run the guild as well as Master can."

"B-but what about you, Erza? You'd make a good Guild Master." Lucy stated to the redhead.

The S-Class mage shook her head. "As much as I appreciate the compliment Lucy, I'm afraid I don't know much about running a guild." Erza replied.

"In that case, I can see a lot of people looking for new guilds." Commented Natsu. He approached the four, with Stein walking behind him. Happy had taken his place on Natsu's head.

"It's about time you joined us, Flame Brain." Gray said. He cast a suspicious glance at Stein. "And why is he still here?" The ice mage's question got some curious looks from the other guild members.

Stein bowed his head. "I'm a friend of Natsu's. We met during one of his jobs awhile back." He lied perfectly.

Erza frowned a bit. She took in what he said but something was still bothering her. "If that's so, then why were you helping Phantom Lord?" She asked.

"I'm an independent mage who sometimes takes jobs for the Council. I had heard that a Legal Guild had a demon of Zeref in their position." Stein explained, once more lying as Natsu ordered. "As I'm sure you all guessed, said guild was Phantom Lord. To find the book, I had to agree in aligning with them for the time being. I do apologize for my part in the fight."

The others did not seem thoroughly convinced. But they could not fault the logic in Stein's words and had no choice but to accept them. Besides, the fight was now over, and he did save Natsu from Morbus' explosion. That was enough for Makarov to allow Stein to stay with them for a while.

"Stein said he'll be staying for a little bit. He even said he'll help with the beginning of the guild hall's rebuilding." Said Natsu.

As the others converse, Lucy took note of Natsu's current attitude. The past few weeks he had been acting serious and distant. Ever since Lullaby it had been like that. But now he seemed more relaxed and cheerful. It wasn't close to how he used to be, but it was an improvement. Either way Lucy was happy he was interacting with his friends again. Something must've happened to get Natsu out of his funk or whatever was resting on his shoulders.

(Era)

"And so, Jose Porla lost his ranking as a Wizard Saint." Ultear said as she sat on Siegrain's desk. The two were in Siegrain's private office at the moment.

"Hmm, well it's to be expected. He did start a guild war, tried to destroy an entire town with Abyssal Break and released that demon." Siegrain commented.

"I have to admit, the part with the demon of Zeref surprised me." Said Ultear.

Siegrain shrugged. "Who knows. Most likely through some dark guild contacts. The investigation showed that the man had contacts in the underworld." The blue haired man turned his chair as he looked out the window. "Still, we were able to see more of Natsu's abilities."

"Indeed, we were…" Ultear murmured as she recalled the sight. Using her crystal ball, she was able to record the entire fight. She immediately took notice the difference in the flames from Natsu's normal ones. They were a much darker red and seemed almost malicious appearance wise. The sensation they gave was similar to the magic that belonged to Demons, especially those created by Zeref. It was something worth informing Master Hades of. If they were truly related to Zeref, then the path towards the Ultimate World of Magic would be even closer.

(Magnolia, The Next Day)

"Lu-chan!" Levy shouted as she ran up to said blonde. She weaved past people carrying building supplies, her teammates behind her. Construction on the new guild building was moving surprisingly fast. It was still a long way until it was completed. Those who weren't helping with the building process were taking requests to earn some money. Having fully healed Levy and her team had been eagered to get back to work. The busty blonde was at a table with Ezra, Gray, Natsu and Happy. The group was enjoying some food Mirajane had whipped up.

Stein had left that night after talking to Natsu. He had told the pinkette that he had gotten wind of a hidden community of Etherious somewhere in Ishgar and wanted to learn more. Stein would make sure to keep Natsu inform of any new events.

"What's up, Levi-chan?" Lucy asked her friend.

"Check out this request I found!" Levy exclaimed as she literally pushed the paper into her friend's face.

Taking the form, Lucy read it out loud. "Mages needed for security for archeological crew in ruins. Reward: 200,000 jewels!" Lucy shouted the last part.

"Yeah! It's being funded by several prominent groups. We can even help with the dig and any treasure we find is ours!" Added Levy. "The request says they need at least seven mages and having an S-Class like Ezra would be really helpful!"

"Hmm, digging up ruins of an ancient civilization does sound interesting." Ezra commented. "I think it would be a good job. Let's try it."

"I'm in." Gray added.

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed.

Natsu merely nodded, to busy drinking a mug of beer.

"Well I guess that settles it. We're all aboard, Levy-chan." Lucy said. "By the way, what kind of ruins are they searching through?"

Levy thought for a moment as she tried to recall the name. "According to the request, it's the capital city of a nation that fell over a hundred years ago. It was called the Rengoku Empire."

Natsu did the perfect spit take at that!

The beginning of a new arc is happening. Please be sure to leave a review or ask any questions! I'm also working on another Fairy Tail story.

Curses:

Purgatory Curse: Creates and control demonic flames that can burn anything, even magic and conceptual targets. Can also generate ash, heat, smoke and magma too. The flames are also sentient and have other properties too, such as healing

Electro Silver: Allows the user to control electromagnetism, magnetism and metal, the latter with metal dust particles. That also includes a form of electricity too. The user can form different types of metal that are also in a liquid state and cannot even be eaten by metal-type slayers.