Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.

I do own the Original Characters –OCs- that appear through the story and the idea for the story.

Knowing it from the beginning.

(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)

Epilogue

Chapter 16: Start the fire.

A week after the Brammingmont incident.

(Era; Capital of the Magic World.

Magic Council's Headquarters, Trial Room.)

Standing in front of the 9 sages in charge of the ruling body of the magic world was not something Natsu found all too pleasing, or short of likable, especially when he knew that many of the people there with him–especially the chairman- hated him and his guild for their way of doing things; now then, add to that that our friend was arrested because of treason to that equation and you will get why he isn't all too jumpy to be there.

The 9 wizards stared at the young dragon-slayer, scrutinizing his emotions and actions to see if he had any that could validate their suspicions about him; thing that was unnecessary, since the young mage stated his actions and motives to them as if he was planning to do that. Troublesome indeed. Was it good to believe him? Or was it another ruse like the one Jellal did many years ago? Time would tell, but if he spoke the truth, then time was something against them right now.

"So," Started the chairman while his fellows argue about what they heard from the dragon-slayer. "You want us to believe that, there's a 'dark one' coming to kill us all and that, only you and those of your kind can fight against him to save us all?"

Natsu nodded.

"Ridiculous!" Guran yelled, standing from his seat in anger. "If that story were to be true, then the old archives would say something about it! You're a liar and a traitor, Dragneel! Why would we believe your words when you have caused nothing but destruction in your path?"

"I believe he made that clear, Doma-dono." Councilman Reteo spoke with a cautious voice. "He said what we believe his actions were from the beginning; he was distracting us to attack our sacred ground and free Jellal Fernandes to do what he afterwards told us."

"Yes, he spoke truthfully; shouldn't we be reasonable when having this in front of us?" Councilwoman Ifridea followed, her narrowed eyes staring at the calm and expecting pink-haired. "What he says sounds believable enough, many dangerous and unknown threats fill our world, it wouldn't be surprising to have one of which the archives doesn't have anything about."

"And may I remember you, Doma-dono, that, our reputation is as stake with our decisions?" Org, having convinced the other council members on time, added with closed eyes. "I know that many wanted us to find the one causing all the chaos around Fiore, but, if we jail Dragneel and his collaborators, and later face with this 'dark one' of which he warned us about… wouldn't our authority falter even more?"

"More importantly, would there be any people to question our authority if his words are true?" Sefaly questioned out loud what many of them were thinking, making the Chairman take a sit back and listen to what the others spoke.

"Doma-dono, we all know and believe that this man needs to be punish for his actions, but what news he brings should be listen to; I think we should jail him but with some conditions." All of the sages nodded to Pryer's solution. "If his words are true, then we'll free him to help us with the menace, but, if he's lying we'll keep him in jail; as we want to."

"Hmm." Guran thought about the words he received, looking over them with a careful eye before standing to give his final decision. "Natsu Dragneel, you're to be imprisoned for your crimes for life, but, if your words are true, we'll disregard your previous actions and let you free to help the Council deal with the menace of which you spoke of."

Natsu nodded again, feeling happy to know that trying was worth it.

"Until the time comes, the year and a half that you said, you'll remain in the Council's prison chambers; under maximum security with chance to receive a visit once a month. Knights. Take him away." The guards guarding the dragon-slayer nodded and motioned Natsu to follow them, dragging him out of the court room before the Chairman could take a seat again. He saw the nods sent his way by the other council members and gave a nod of his own before hitting the ground with his staff, calling the attention of the guards standing close to the door from which the criminals came in. "Bring the next ones."

Another nod and the guards opened the doors to reveal the pink-haired's collaborators, walking inside the room in a straight line to stand in the middle of the room facing the 9 sages; different expressions held while they waited for the trial to start.

"Fran West, Hyde Drawbore, Pierre Marlier, Asis Suna, Literio Éclair;" He called for them by their names, making them look at him, stating the crimes they committed before going to interview each one of them and their reasons to do such actions. "West."

"I just felt like helping the guy, he said some very reasonable things… besides, he's a good friend of mine."

"Drawbore."

"Natsu-san's motives are well-intentioned; he's trying to save the world, even if his actions might label him as a dark mage."

"Marlier."

"I believe in Natsu-san's words and proof." This caught the attention of many inside the room.

"Proof? What proof?" Org asked.

"The one the Farseer retains."

"Who's this 'Farseer'?" Guran asked next, getting the feeling that with each question they asked, there would be another one expecting to be voice.

"I'm not allowed to say his name without his consent." Pierre stated shortly, earning some expressions of question and puzzlement from the sages, that, when getting the hint that the man was not going to tell much else of the subject, passed on to the next mage.

"Suna."

"He's a friend of mine, he helped me in my time of need and I'm going to return the favor, even if it costs me my life."

"And, Éclair?"

"I travelled with him for 3 years, we fought together on all kind of situations and discovered together this 'dark one' issue, if I were to desert him now, I would be disloyal to our friendship."

"Good to know that you're all close friends of that criminal, but, we need to know more of this 'dark one' before reaching conclusions about the subject." Guran said sternly, waiting for an answer.

"Farseer show us, and Natsu, proof regarding the 'dark one'; but if you're expecting us to show it to you, don't waste your time, because we'll not divulge about it." Hyde said parsimoniously to them, avoiding the idea of the Council knowing about Asa or his abilities… his old-banned abilities.

"Very good then, let's move to your own personal actions," Continued the old chairman with his hand clutching tightly on his staff. "You have all committed crimes that deserve punishment, some even with the penalty of life prison or death, but we received some letters earlier today that clears all of you."

The mages looked up in confusion, not understanding the last he said.

"West, Drawbore and Suna, your guilds have negated any kind of relation with you all, so that makes you wandering mages as Éclair; Marlier, Bosco's Royal Family has stated that the moment you left the kingdom you were retired from your position, so you're a wandering mage too."

All of them looked in shock at the Chairman and his news, Literio just feeling sympathetic towards his partners while Pierre nodded in acknowledgement, surely expecting that to happen from the moment he left his home at the palace.

"And since you're all governed by the wandering mages rules; you will be all set free." The mages felt another wave of shock hitting them.

"What?" Asis asked clearly confused, Guran coughed on his fist before getting comfortable on his chair to explain the Council's actions.

"You're all wandering mages, mercenaries, you do what your employer asks of you; so, the crimes you committed are charged to your contractor and you're all set free." A double-edge rule, but they didn't say anything about it, Natsu left clear that he wanted them to be free, regardless of the reason. "We would send you with your leader, but you have no criminal records before being ordered around by Dragneel; so, you are free to leave after a day sentence in prison."

Okay, it wasn't such a dumb double-edge rule, but it was surprising nonetheless; the Council was about to set them free after all the things they've done.

(Era; prison cells of the Magic Council.)

Grey brick walls, wooden reinforced doors with just a little space to look outside, and humidity dripping from the roof to the floor through the joints of the bricks. The place was like any other normal medieval-like prison, and, even if Natsu had no trouble with the gloomy atmosphere, he was seriously troubled by the humidity and coldness that governed the place.

"Enjoy your new room, scum, and get use to it," The guard smirked deviously at him, having heard of the fighting that took place and hurt many of his comrades while trying to capture him. "You're going to be here a loooong time!"

Walking away after saying that, the guard left Natsu alone to adjust to the new place that was going to be his home from now on; sitting on the ground with cross-legs, the dragon-slayer eyed his surroundings until he heard a voice calling to him.

"Who's there?" He asked, itched by the familiarity of the voice.

"Natsu? It's you? It's me! Jellal!" The pink-haired felt surprised by the coincidence, of all the cells in which he could have ended; he ended up in the one next to the man he was trying to set free. "What're you doing here?"

"Well, making a plan to attack the Council can get you in jail; you surely know that better than me." He replied mockingly to the azure-haired man, hearing him growl before talking again.

"Very funny, why are you here? Didn't you have a plan of sorts to get me out?"

"Yeah, I did, but our mutual love talked me out of it…" He said sarcastically to the other man, imagining narrowing his eyes at the 'our mutual love' part.

"I knew Erza would set your mind straight, it was just a question of time…"

"Yeah, pretty bad she failed to do the same with you, tower of heaven…" Another growl.

"I was brain-washed at the time, and it was a long time ago!"

"Sure, then what about Nirvana? If you care about her then why didn't you take the chance to run away when we created a diversion?"

"She interfered before I could do anything!"

"Excuses, excuses…" Natsu said with a shook of his head, an amused smile working his way out when he heard another growl.

"Stop it, Natsu! Focus on the present! Why were you trying to free me?" Jellal asked, pushing aside his irritation and anger towards his new jail mate in hopes of hearing his side of the story.

The dragon-slayer sighed, he was avoiding this but if the man seriously wanted to know, then he couldn't do anything to keep it quiet, he needed to know who he was. "You're a part of my plan or the second part of it, I was gathering an army of dragon-slayers and mages to help me fight against a menace that is looking to end the world… and you're one of those dragon-slayers…"

"I'm what?" Jellal felt confused and troubled, a headache coming to him with some disrupted images flashing before his eyes, the most recent being his encounter with that messenger on his dreams and how he glowed a golden light before giving him a jab with the same power he didn't knew he had. "…"

"Good to know you both are getting along…" Said a voice outside their cells with amusement at every word he spoke, Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"You? Again? What do you want?" The voice from outside let out an amused chuckle.

"You know that I cannot tell you, Salamander, my boss won't like that…" The voice said avoiding being watched when Natsu and Jellal tried to take a peek through the cell door windows. "Don't cheat!"

"Another mysterious character, what is going on here?" Jellal yelled annoyed at the secrecy surrounding him.

"Believe me when I tell you that I'm as clueless as you, tower…" The dragon-slayer replied mockingly, still enjoying himself at the man's reaction for what he did in the past.

"It was a long time ago!"

"Hey, listen you two; I'm not here to listen to your endless blatter! I don't have time for that now, so, listen." The voice from outside made a pause, the following silence being signal that the guys were listening to him; he gave a short nod. "My boss wants you both free by the end of the month."

"What?" Natsu asked.

"Not again…" Jellal moaned annoyed.

There was no end to this, right?

"Reasons will remain hidden, but, I can tell you that we're willing to help, Dragneel, if you let us take Fernandez to help us with something." The pink-haired did a double take back at that, hiting the walls of his cells in anger before stating his answer.

"No fucking way!" The voice outside sighed; he knew that the man wouldn't want to agree to their terms, even if it meant his freedom. "We know nothing of you and you want me to let you take Jellal? The others won't like it, not even if it's with good reasons!"

"Natsu is right, surprisingly, why would I go with you when I know nothing of your intentions?" And the two were in agreement, for once, Jellal didn't want to help someone blindly; he was less than eager when the man outside chuckled at their words.

"Look, we're not a dark guild, not by a long shot; we're an organization, just like yours, Dragneel. We came all the way from the north looking for you after learning why were you gathering mages and dragon-slayers, eager to talk with you about this 'dark one' that you want to fight." He made a pause, letting the words sink in before continuing. "We bring news to you about 'him' and some advices; we want you to triumph, not die, so, listen carefully…"

"That 'dark one' is now in the continent to the west, across the vast sea, and his victorious campaigns against the kingdoms there made us re-evaluate the situation. Because he was victorious against the union of three of those countries' great armies which were filled with mages mostly is why we want to free you and Fernandez; his armies are enormous, his soldiers strong, and with every city he destroyed, he gained more followers. Now, his armies could easily beat whatever opposition the kingdoms of this continent might take against him, even if they unite, we fear that it might not be enough."

"But why? Why do you need to take me with you?" Jellal was the first to ask, having digested the information quickly.

"Because… I told you I cannot say it… not yet." Natsu stood up from the ground, getting close to the door with his eyes closed and leaning against one of the sides; he thought about what he heard, his mind processing the information before reaching a conclusion. But he still needed to hear something else.

"And what advices do you bring?" The voice clicked its tongue at the question, scolding himself for forgetting about it.

"My Master said: Tell Dragneel that we know of the dragons whereabouts, and that they have the solution for this trouble." Natsu opened his eyes wide at the news, shaking his head in denial as he knew that the dragons couldn't interfere with the business of the 'dark one'. "Dragons might not intervene, physically, but they can help their children with counsel."

"Okay, then you want Natsu out so he can talk to his father…" The azure-haired man said, hearing another chuckle from the voice outside.

"No, that's your job, Fernandez."

"What? Why?" The fire dragon-slayer asked aloud, not believing that his chance to see his father again was being denied.

"Because we need someone with Council knowledge for this task, as the path towards the dragons hideout is dangerous and full of troubles that Fernandez will be more qualify to face. Besides, you need to do something else, Dragneel."

"And what's that?"

"Kill the Farseer."

"…!"

(In Asa's communication space.)

"Everything is in order, my Lord, Natsu is incapacitated and won't be able to do anything until it is too late." Asa said in a kneeling position to a white formless being in human shape that stood in front of him, the figure cackling madly at the news before clapping his hands in approval for the Farseer.

"You did well, Farseer, you did incredibly well." He leaned forward to pat the man's head, receiving an appreciation nod from the man. Returning to his original position, the figure started to walk around the place, grinning wickedly at whatever he was thinking. "Oh, Farseer, you were a hard bone but, at the end, the control seal finally got to you! It's incredible to see that the dragon-slayers didn't notice the strange change of your scent."

"In this space, they cannot use their abilities unless I say so, my magic governs this place." The white being cackled again, nodding to the man before turning around to leave the place.

"Let me know if anything from the future changes, and keep deceiving those fools, I want to see their broken faces when they finally know that you were on my side!"

"Yes, my Lord."

A day after the trials.

(Era; outside the Magic Council's building.)

"Uh…? So what do we do now?" A blonde man asked to the people around him, watching the Knights close the door leading inside the government building of the Council, not getting an immediate answer from them. A red scarlet-haired man in black armor answered.

"Guild." It was a simple word, but the others understood what he meant; though, that didn't mean that they agree with him. A woman with black long hair tied in two ponytails running down her chest was first to protest.

"No way in seven hells that I'm joining a guild again!" A man with slicked back hair with one side black and the other white followed her lead.

"Asis is right! We don't need any guild's help to survive!" And they started to walk down the road with their head high, before being stopped by a more than convincing fact that the last one of their group made; he had long light blue hair tied down in a ponytail that rested over his left shoulder.

"How much money do we have?"

"…" The two departing figures froze at the question, remembering that they didn't have enough money to even buy food for the end of that day.

"I see." The man gave two steps forward and turned to face both his partners in front and those behind him, closing his eyes in meditation before opening them a few minutes later with a decision made. "We'll do what Pierre suggested and join a guild, we need to wait for Natsu-san, and we cannot do so without money."

"Hey! Who got in jail and made you leader, Hyde?" The mismatched-haired man asked annoyed, his question full of irony.

"Shut up, Fran! We need money and wait for the moron, so, we're joining a guild!" The blonde that started the talk said in support of the other two guys, before being yelled at by the woman of the group.

"Oh! Then tell us, Literio, which guild would take in those that were aiming to destroy them?" Silence made itself present after the question, all the mages knew that it was true, no guild –from Fiore- would want them to join them after what they did… unless… there's always a small chance that…

"Fairy Tail." Pierre said to the others, starting to walk down the road with his mind set; Hyde and Literio following him after hearing and complying with his suggestion while the other two remained behind, not liking the idea but following to see if they had any luck. It was better to try than die of starvation.

"To that moron's guild, then!"

(Magnolia Town; Fairy Tail's main hall.)

After the incident at Brammingmont, the remnants of Team Natsu –plus two kids- returned to the guild in a quiet trip back home to inform their Master about what transpired during the ordeal. Their minds busy and down after what happened, some more than others, but all of them feeling the same depressing feeling of having lost their friend when he revealed everything to them and… well, the last part is reserved to the new leader of the team, since it was of personal interest.

On their return, they saw that the Master was already aware of their findings and Natsu's betrayal, having heard of it from the Iron Dragon-slayer –Gajeel- and one of the pink-haired's collaborators –Garreth- that joined the guild shortly after Team Natsu left.

"So, where's he?" Gray asked to Mira, not seeing any new faces around the place, sitting on a stool close to the bar while his eyes scanned for someone that could match the description the others gave of the new mage. The white-haired woman chuckled at the question, calling the ice-mage's eyes to see her.

"Oh, he's out on a mission, he's been doing them non-stop after we discovered that he joined us on a ruse." The barkeeper then passed to explain how the man explained Natsu's plan to everyone before bowing to apologize to everyone for his actions, telling them that he will do a hundred missions without pay for the trouble he cause. Gray sweatdropped at the story; his mind picturing a scarlet-haired woman in armor doing the same thing instead of accepting the others words telling her that there was no need to be so exaggerated.

And talking about Scarlet; she was sitting on a table of the second floor, her unexpressive face looking through the window to the town of Magnolia and the people walking through the streets with their normal activities in mind. She didn't say a word since the Knights took Natsu and the others away, except for the necessary, like answering Gildartz questions or the other members questions about her state; her team mates were the only ones to hear more than three words from her, having been there with her when the pink-haired was taken to Era.

'Natsu…' She repeated his name for the umpteenth time that day, her mind replaying the occurrences of that day with the intention of checking if there was something that the man told her that was contradictory. Finding nothing.

"Mom…?" A voice called for her, a clanking sound followed by boots' steps making her turn her head around to see the approaching figure of a much younger self looking at her with worried eyes. She smiled at the girl, extending a hand and motioning her to take the free seat in front of her. "How are you…? How are you fairing?"

"I will survive, if that is what you want to know." The girl looked troubled at the words, catching the subtle pain behind the strong voice of her mother. She wanted to do something to get her out of her depressed state but couldn't think of something that would be fitting; she wanted to know more of her and her father but the moment was not the right one to ask such question, so, she offered something else.

"Can…? Can you train me?" Erza looked at the girl in shock, shaking her head to snap out of it before answering.

"Train you? Nova, you're strong, you don't need me to train you." Nova shook her head at the compliment, remembering her fight with her father a week ago; she knew that she wasn't strong enough, at least, not strong enough to help him when the time comes.

"I'm not strong, not enough, I need to train and get better." She said to the older woman, her mind avoiding saying her reasons to believe that. But Erza knew why she was saying that, smiling appreciatively at the girl; she stood up from her seat and extended a hand out for the girl to take.

"Then, let's go, you can invite your friend if you want." Nova looked at her mother for a second, her eyes going to see the hiding dragon-slayer leaning behind a pillar shaking his head to her before hiding completely when the Titania turned around to check at what was the girl looking; finding the place deserted she returned her smiling face to the girl, expecting her to take her hand.

"No, he's… busy… let's go." The younger red-haired said with a smile of her own, taking her mother's hand and following her lead when she did so, outside the guild and towards the forest; where no one would disturb them and they could train without worry of harming someone.

"Great for you… Nova…" Kaki whispered from behind the pillar, smiling at the retreating figures of mother and daughter hand-in-hand, not noticing a figure standing next to him.

"What are you doing?" He jumped to the column and hugged it for his dear life while letting out a girly scream, calling the attention of everyone that on sight with the situation started to laugh at him, embarrassing and making him look at the person responsible of it. It was the celestial spirit mage, chuckling madly at his expense.

"T-that wasn't funny!" He yelled to her, blushing madly because of the embarrassment; the blonde waved away his scream, recomposing herself before asking him something with a smile.

"Want to go on a mission with Gray and me?" The boy turned to look at the ice mage sitting at the bar with a big grin directed at him for what happened before, nodding to him when Kaki pointed a finger to the blonde next to him; the dark-haired boy smiled at them both.

"Okay! I'll go with you guys!"

Standing at the top floor, where his office was, Gildartz Clive smiled at the situations on the lower floors feeling content with the fact that the guild remained the same after learning of Natsu's deception and his imprisonment at the hands of the Council. His team was devastated –Erza more than Gray or Lucy- but they went through things like that before, and where dealing with the sadness better that what he expected; whatever Natsu tell them when he was being taken away must have been something touching for them to be this well.

He laughed heartedly; no one from the team told him what the slayer's parting words were, deeming them something that was better kept in secret for the members of the team than to be told to everyone. Though, after seeing the younger scarlet mage with them, he had a few guesses.

"Damn, Natsu, you really know how to pick them." He laughed again, turning around and marching to his office, opening the door with a kick and closing it behind to start his paperwork without interruptions. He saw the huge piles of letters from the Council and face faulted, grabbing one from the top and reading the opening title to see what the old mans from Era wanted this time…

His eyes widened, a vein appeared at the side of his left eye and his hand clutched the piece of paper until it was nothing but a small ball; he exited the office and ran to the railing that give view of the lower floors, giving a mighty roar to express his anger.

"Natsu! You damn asshole!"

Everyone understood the reason behind the roar, all of the members laughing at poor Gildartz expense, the man going back to his office with an angered face and closing the door loudly behind him, wanting to cover the sounds of laughter coming from down stairs.

He wasn't there, but with all the paperwork he left behind, the Master was sure to remember the stupid dragon-slayer until the day they meet again…

…and he has a chance to give him a piece of his mind.

The End.

Finally, the Epilogue. I don't know if it fits the characteristics of one, but, hey! I did my best!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the story, I know that more times that I wanted, I made a mess of things and it was confusing... but that's 'cause this story is my training ground; what improvements I had, I tried them in other stories like 'Move on' or 'Eavesdropping' or any other one-shot I wrote.

So... again, I hope you enjoyed it and can forgive me.

Let's wait for me to end MC and my other projects, and I'll bring you the sequel.

Until then!

Saludos and best wishes from Kuroyagi!

PS: 123 stories! The NaZa archive sure looks different now, don't you think? Hahaha! Thanks to those that wrote stories of the couple -and those that wrote humor stories too with Erza and Natsu as main characters-, it is nice to see that 1 page turned to 5 -close to 6- in less than a year! ^^