Hey all! This is my first ever Fairy Tail story. Introducing... a tough, confident version of Lucy Heartfilia!

Credit for story image goes to pl. fairytail. wikia. com and to whoever posted it there.

STORY NEWS: I have updated! Rejoice, readers, for I have chosen to make progress! Gaze in awe at my writing splendor!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!

"I'm glad I switched over to the the ex-chairman's guard..."

"Erza..." Mira sighed. "Jellal most likely became a target as well."

"Even I don't know where Jellal is." Erza waved that off. "But even if I'm not there, he'll be able to protect himself. That aside, we must protect the ex-chairman!"

Mira nodded, scanning the area. "Yeah... this'll be the magical world's large fortress."

A large, well-decorated building loomed in the distance.

"I started growing herbs after my retirement." The ex-chairman began, pouring his two guests tea. "And these are my homegrown chamomiles."

Mira smiled. "I'll be having some then!"

Erza lifted her cup. "It's got a nice perf- smell, doesn't it?"

"It's been called the apple of the earth, you see..." Ex-chairman Crawford Seam studied his visitors. "So what's wrong? These might be rather direct questions to ask guests, but... how did you get this address?"

"This might sound awfully rude..." Mira hesitated. "But in this time of emergency... please forgive our use of the guild's intelligence."

The round man sighed, but gave a smile. "To find me by using my supposedly secret address... that's something to be scared of."

Erza nodded solemnly."I apologize."

"No, don't. I'm already retired, after all. It's no longer my business to find fault in you." He eyed Erza with clear nostalgia. "I remember much about you."

His thoughts drifted momentarily to when he had presided over Erza trial after the Eisenwald incident.

Erza grimaced. "I can only be embarrassed."

"Oh, those times..." Crawford mused. "It's already been seven years since then... what with you lot getting displaced from this world and all..."

"Mr Crawford." Mira decided to get to the point. "Without further delay..."

"Ah, right, right." Crawford agreed. "It's about Face, isn't it? I, too, have been hurt by the sad news regarding my comrades. And now, in a time when the Magic Council is no longer needed, it brings me much joy to know that guilds like yours with a strong sense of justice remain."

"We were thinking of destroying Face first, in order to stop Tartaros." Erza explained. "Would it be possible for you to tell us where it is being kept?"

"Unfortunately, I myself do not know." Crawford hung his head in shame.

"Huh?"

"Chairman..."

"It's not that I'm hiding it from you because it's secret information." Crawford said quickly. "I might have been the chairman before, but that doesn't mean I know everything."

"Getting information that even the ex-chairman doesn't know..." Erza looked worried. "How did they do it?"

"Indeed, it's a mystery..."

"In that case..." Mira spoke up. "Would it be possible for you to use the Body-Link magic to ask the other three ex-councilmen that were in charge of guarding Face?"

"We'll protect it at all costs." Erza added.

Crawford hesitated. "You see, I don't have clearance for that either..."

"That can't be..."

"Face... is actually an abandoned weapon." Crawford told them. "Its very existence is something that cannot be made public. A forbidden weapon, you could say... and that is why the councilmen who are the keys to the seal, have no idea themselves that they are who they are. It is protected by an extreme level of concealment."

"They themselves don't know..."

"So that means Tartaros really did slaughter the ex-councilmen..."

Both women suddenly stiffened, before shooting away from the table.

"What is it?"

Mira eyed the walls. "It looks like we've got company."

"They've surrounded the house." Erza grit her teeth. "Footsteps... about twenty people."

"Please go the the back room, Chairman!"

The man panicked. "Is it Tartaros?"

Erza's eyes narrowed. "They're here, Mira!"

As if in cue, several armored forms burst in through the windows and charged at the two mages. With a single sword swing and a blast of demonic power, most of them found themselves pushed right back out.

"You're not getting anywhere near the Chairman." Erza announced, now clad in her Purgatory Armor and standing next to Demon Mirajane. Then, to everyone's surprise, she chuckled. "This is a first... being in a team with you, Mira..."

Demon Mirajane smirked. "I'll show you the power of Fairy Tail."

"Dammit!" Elfman wailed, still squeezing his now fainted sister's neck. "Stop it! Stop using my body like that!"

Seira closed her eyes and sat down, ignoring him.

"Lisanna! Snap out of it! Lisanna!"

He got no response.

"I beg you!" He screamed. "Please stop!"

"Please?" The demon's eyes snapped open as she regarded Elfman carefully. "When a human asks a demon for something... it means they're selling their soul."

Elfman stared at her, pale and sweating in fear.

Seira leaned closer. "Are you selling your soul to me?"

Doranbolt stared at Cobra's empty cell, deep in thought.

"Tartaros is going after a weapon called Face." Cobra told him. "It's a magic pulse bomb. A weapon that could make all the wizards on the continent lose their magic."

There is no going back. The scarred man told himself resolutely. I will destroy Tartaros.

"Heeeee... the air here in Shaba is the best!" Cobra stretched and grinned widely. "Ain't it?"

Tares gave an amused sigh. "Now that was lame..."

Racer smirked. "Ah... our prayers have been answered, haven't they?"

Hot-Eye nodded. "It's great to be free."

"You've done well, Cobra." Brain observed smugly. "I never thought you had it in you. And here, the Oracion Seis retu-"

Cobra shot past him, tearing out a huge chunk of the man's side.

"No complaints there, Midnight?" He turned to regard the bleeding man. "This guy ain't our dad. He only thought of us as pawns... that's all I heard."

"Yeah." Midnight nodded. "If that's what you heard... it must be true."

"Dad... you should just go to sleep." He glanced at Brain. "We'll be moving on."

Racer smirked. "All right then, what are we gonna do first?"

Tares swept some dust off himself. "I feel like taking a shower."

"I'll be looking for my brother." Hot-Eye chimed in.

"Wait." Cobra shushed them. His grin widened. "Our first job just arrived."

Doranbolt pushed a wooden cross into the last dirt mound and straightened up. I'm leaving it to you, Jellal.

"I don't owe you anything, Doranbolt." Jellal smirked as he, Angel, and Sorano faced down Oracion Seis. "Leave this to me."

Natsu shot up in bed, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong? Getting up so suddenly..."

"You have to lie down!"

Natsu ignored Wendy and Lucy, grabbing Mikelo and dragging the terrified man close. "Where's the ex-chairman's house?"

"Eh... ah..." The cat-like man eventually spat it out.

"We gotta hurry, Happy!" Natsu shouted, already being flown out of there.

"Aye!"

Heaven's Wheel Erza and Demon Mirajane looked around the clearing, full of defeated troops.

"You done yet?"

"As expected of Erza..."

"But... somehow, it's odd." Erza observed as she powered down. "Sending troops will almost no power after someone as important as the ex-chairman... no matter how you look at it, they're just soldiers."

"What's wrong, Natsu?"

"Shit! How didn't I notice?" Natsu grit his teeth. "For something that even the councilors weren't supposed to know, like the ex-chairman's address and face... how did Tartaros find out?"

"Erza..." Mira began, her eyes slowly closing. "I..."

But Erza didn't answer, because she was also falling asleep.

"Somebody must have leaked the information to Tartaros!" Natsu told Happy. "I don't know who, but it has to be someone that has information about the councilors, someone high up. I hope I'm wrong, but... hurry! Erza's group is in danger!"

"This is Crawford." The ex-chairman grinned. "I've obtained two subjects. Change of plans."

As expected of the ex-chairman. Kyouka's voice came over on the telepathic link. Please return to the guild at once.

"Happy, over there!"

"Aye!"

Natsu landed in the destroyed clearing next to Crawford's house. "Someone fought here..."

"Erza!" He shot over to a hole in the house's wall. "Mira!"

Happy looked around, wary. "No one's here."

"No... I can sense their smell a little." Natsu grit his teeth. "What happened here?"

Happy covered up his nose. "There's a strong herbal smell here..."

"This smell..." Natsu ran over to a fallen cup and sniffed it. "It's a sleeping drug."

"Maybe someone made them fall asleep?"

"SHIT!" Natsu slammed his fist into the floor. Flames shot out of it and blew the house completely apart.

"Natsu!" Happy panicked. "That's too much! You destroyed the ex-chairman's house!"

"He's allied with Tartaros." Natsu ground out. "That's why Tartaros knew where Face is and where the other ex-councilmen lived!"

"Were Erza and Mira captured?"

"I'll definitely find them!" Natsu lowered his head to the ground, looking remarkably like a police hound. "Don't underestimate a dragon's nose!"

"Did you wake up?"

Erza stirred... then her eyes shot open when she realized she was shackled by her wrists and ankles... and also completely naked. "This is-"

Kyouka smiled. "Welcome to Tartaros."

"This is Tartaros?" Erza demanded. "Where's Mira? And the ex-chairman?"

"The ex-chairman is our ally. After our plan is carried out he will become the new chairman." Kyouka explained. "You fell into his trap and we captured you."

"No way!" Erza paled, tugging at her shackles. "The ex-chairman can't be a traitor!"

"Stop resisting." Kyouka advised her. "Those shackles are made from magic-sealing metal. As long as you're bound, you can't use magic."

"Where's Mira?" Erza shouted at her. "The woman who was with me... where is she?"

"I didn't kill her." Kyouka smirked. "I am going to remodel her body... and make her my slave."

"Stop!"

"Quit whining." Kyouka leaned in and lifted up Erza's chin. "There's something I want to ask you. Tell me where Jellal is."

"Sorano, Angel." Jellal stepped forward. "Leave this to me."

"You sure you can handle all five, Jellal-kun?"

"I'll be enough."

Racer frowned. "You're underestimating us quite a bit."

Tares nodded, confident despite the stump where his arm once was.

"I see..." Cobra connected the dots. "Doranbolt sent you after us."

Midnight sighed. "Do you want to put us back in jail?"

"Do you think a prison escapee would do that?" Jellal scoffed. "Sounds like a bad joke."

"We won't let anyone take away our freedom." Racer and Cobra prepared to fight. "We'll kill you, Jellal."

"Um..." Hot-Eye raised his hands. "I swore that for the sake of love that I would rather not fight."

"Hot-Eye..." Tares used his only hand to face-palm. "Are you still under Nirvana's effect?"

"No, this is the real me." The huge angular man gave a sparkling smile. "Love is me. I'll obey Jellal-san."

"Hot-Eye, you bastard!"

"It's fine by me." Midnight cut off protests, patting Hot-Eye's shoulder. "We are finally free. Same goes for Richard here. Anyone is free to make their own choices."

"My name is Macbeth." He turned to face Jellal. "I'll destroy anything that gets in the way of my freedom."

Jellal made an inviting gesture. "Come."

"I'm here already." Raced grunted, blurring in behind him. "I got tired of waiting."

"You're fast indeed, Sawyer." Jellal conceded, easily dodging his attacks.

"Don't call me by name!"

Cobra slid into position, preparing an attack. "I can hear your movements."

"I can hear yours too." Jellal blocked the glowing fist with a palm. "Eric."

With that, he flung Cobra into Racer and the pair collapsed in a heap.

"Angels, guard Jellal!" A swarm of white round creatures with no features other than mouths sped towards the man. "Make sure no attacks reach him!"

Jellal looked past the horde of creatures at her, surprised. "Did you learn a new magic, Sorano... Tanaka... Angel... damn, this is confusing."

Angel nodded. "Edolas has no Ethernano to power magic, but it's not like it stops people from reading books about how types of magic work. I memorized all the theory and this here now..." She gestured to the 'angels', which were blocking Cobra and Racer from reaching Jellal. "This is a test run."

Midnight smirked. "We'll have more fun than seven years ago."

Jellal glared back at him.

"I know you two have a close relationship." Kyouka observed. "Tell me where he is."

She pressed a point on Erza's stomach and the woman screamed in pain.

"My curse can change people's sensations." Kyouka explained. "I'm making your sense of pain as acute as possible."

Her smile widened. "Tell me."

"I don't... know..."

One of Kyouka's claws stretched out and lashed out at Erza's midsection. The woman gave another scream before falling limp, still held by the shackles.

"We were going to kill all the ex-councilmen to remove Face's seal." Kyouka informed her. "However... we finally found out the names of the three members that are sealing it. Two of them are already dead. And the last one..."

Erza forced her eyes to open. "You mean..."

Jellal grit his teeth as Racer and Cobra got past the angel guards and attacked him.

"If Jellal dies, Face's seal will be broken."

"That's..."

"Oops, maybe I spoke too much. Now you'll never tell me."

"I don't know!" Erza protested. "I really don't know where he is!"

"Fine then. Let's try this." Kyouka's smile widened even more. "If you tell me where Jellal is, I will free Mirajane. If you don't..."

Another claw whip sliced across Erza's back.

"Both you and Mirajane will die."

"I... really... don't know..." Erza panted. "Please... spare... Mira's life..."

"I see." Kyouka looked undeterred. "Will you let me have some more fun?"

"My house was destroyed!"

"Calm down, ex-chairman."

"I wasted all of my councilor pension on this project!"

"But, well..." Franmalth chuckled. "I'm sure how much gold you'll get when the plan is successful. Gehehehe..."

Crawford grinned. "I guess I can stand my house being destroyed to make it look like you kidnapped me. And what happened to Erza's team?"

"Kyouka-sama is torturing them." Franmalth told him. "I'm sure they'll die a horrible death."

"Kill them!" Crawford snapped. "If they get back alive, someone will suspect me!"

"Don't worry." Franmalth calmed him down. "No one will ever find them here, anyway."

Crawford looked past him and out a window at a tiny speck in the distant sky. "What's that?"

"Hm?"

His jaw dropped when the thing grew larger. "It's coming here! Franmalth-kun, you said no one would find this place!"

"I found you!" Natsu screamed, slamming a fist into his face with enough force to knock his artificial jaw loose.

Franmalth stared at him in terrified confusion.

"Where are Erza and Mira?"

"An intruder?" Franmalth found his voice. "An intruder in Tartaros? How much will it cost to repair the broken ceiling?"

"How noisy..." Kyouka sighed. "Yagdoriga."

A huge frog demon with tentacles dropped down from the ceiling behind Erza.

"Keep watch over this woman." Kyouka instructed it. "I'm going to check what's happening there. But don't touch her... I don't want to lose the fun of torturing her."

"Give back Erza and Mira!" Natsu shouted at Franmalth.

"Oh, so you're a friend of the humans we caught? Are you from Fairy Tail?" Franmalth chuckled. "How did you find this place? Were you tailing the ex-chairman? Do you know what a huge loss this mistake caused?"

With that, he swung a fist at Natsu.

"Just shut up!" Natsu snarled, knocking him flying.

"Let's go back to the guild." Gray decided as he and Juvia sped down a rocky path on a horse. "It seems they found a few more addresses while we were gone."

"Gray-sama..." Juvia leaned into his back. "For some reason... Juvia has a very bad feeling."

"We're fighting against people who could do that to a town." Gray recalled the strange black markings on buildings all over the desolate town they just left. "I can understand if you feel down."

"No..." Juvia shook her head. "It's a different feeling."

Gray reached out and grasped her hand. "I'm with you. We'll win once again. Definitely."

"You just hit me." Franmalth popped up from the floor, still grinning. "Do you know how big your offense is?"

His armor crumbled off him and spikes grew on his back as he flung a fist at Natsu and his arm stretched out. "A thousand of your souls!"

"His body is growing!" Happy exclaimed, astonished.

Natsu dodged the fist, only for it to loop around him. Several smaller hands grew out of the stretchy arm and clasped him.

Franmalth smirked. "Connected."

Natsu screamed as he felt his magic get wrenched out of him. "What's this? I'm losing power..."

Happy jumped up and bit into the long arm, distracting Franmalth long enough for Natsu to shake himself free. "Thanks, Happy!"

"That hurt, you asshole!" Franmalth roared, flinging Happy away. Natsu used the chance to speed past several hasty punches and grab Franmalth's face with a clawed hand. "Fire Dragon's Gripping Hit!"

Fire shot out of Natsu's hand, blasting Franmalth back.

Franmalth groaned as he picked himself up again. "It just went up to two thousand souls, you idiot!"

"Franmalth." A calm voice came from behind him. "Stop it. Let me handle this. You take away the chairman."

Franmalth lit up. "Silver-sama..."

"I'll leave this to you then." He decided, grabbing Crawford and starting to drag him away. "We need him to start those procedures as soon as possible."

"Don't say too much."

Natsu watched Silver warily. "The temperature dropped..."

Happy shivered. "I-it's c-cold, Natsu..."

The two men faced each other. "Is it you, the one who melted the ice of the Sun Village?"

"Is it you who froze it?"

"Oh, I must thank you for that! It was quite an embarrassing mistake!" Silver chuckled, rubbing his head sheepishly. "It looks like I froze it due to a misunderstanding."

"You..." Natsu's eyes widened in shock. "You smell like someone I know..."

Silver raised an eyebrow, equally curious and amused.

"Gray..."

Silver's smile faded and the man waved his hand, instantly encasing Natsu in ice. "Don't speak that disgusting name."

Natsu grunted in pain as he landed face-first on the stone floor.

"Stay here for a while." A soldier told him, before he and his partner marched away.

"Wha- my clothes! Actually, I don't really need my clothes! But my scarf – gimme my scarf!" Natsu yelled after them. "Oi, dumbasses, you listening to me? Gimme back my scarf!"

"Hm?" A voice from behind him mused tiredly. "Natsu?"

Natsu turned and his jaw dropped when he noticed the woman who over the years grew into a mirror image of Mira. "Lisanna? Wait... your clothes!"

There was a period of silence as she stared down at her nude body, then with an annoyed sigh, she swung her hair around to cover her private parts.

Natsu frowned. "You got captured too, huh?"

"Yeah." Lisanna was huddled up, using her knees to keep her hair from moving. "But I don't remember a thing."

"Erza and Mira should be here too." Natsu growled, pulling at his shackles. "I've gotta get them outta here... one way or another."

"Erza and Mira-nee too?" Lisanna paled at the news. "What should I do... Elf-niichan is probably captured too. For us to get beaten like this... one after another... this time our enemies are like nothing we've seen before."

"No, they're not gonna come out on top. I promise." Natsu told her with certainty. "But first we've gotta get out of here."

Lisanna smiled. "Natsu..."

She tugged at her chains and sighed. "I can't use magic... what should I do?"

"Have you discovered the three who activated the seal?"

"Yes." Kyouka nodded, sitting on a lavish sofa. "I must admit, the ex-chairman's Super Archive magic is quite something."

Seira relaxed. "Then I take it there will be no further need for useless killings?"

"Yes. Two of the sealers were among those we already killed." Kyouka told her. "The last one is Jellal. If we find and kill him, Face will activate."

"Face... the magic pulse bomb." Seira mused. "Quite fearsome. Truly a fitting weapon for the end of days."

"It's something we have need of."

"I understand..." Seira nodded. "Will you find Jellal soon?"

Kyouka smirked. "Erza will spit it out soon enough."

"I see..." Seira sounded amused. "Kyouka-sama is quite good at getting people to open their mouths, after all."

"Your curse could do the same, but there's no fun in that." Kyouka shot back. "More importantly, I do not wish Fairy Tail to interfere in our plans any further."

"I shall see to that." Seira decided. "I am preparing a story befitting those fairies' last days."

Kyouka looked her over, nodding. "Come, Seira. It has been a while since I took care of you."

"Kyouka-sama..."

Angel panicked when a kick knocked Jellal down. "Jellal!"

"Easy." Sorano held her back. "It's something he can handle and more importantly... it's something he has to do himself."

"I won't let you mess with our freedom!" Cobra shouted as he and Racer attacked again. "I won't let anybody!"

"The chains that bound us once are no more!" Tares added, flashing through one-handed signs and causing tennis-ball-sized hail to pelt Jellal.

"Our paths began in a dark tower." Midnight mused as the other trio fought Jellal. "We believed we had been saved by Brain. But that was a false freedom. Torn from each other, cursing the world, we were nothing more than pawns meant to seal Zero. Now, finally, true freedom lies before us. We-"

"I shall free you!" Jellal shouted, activating Meteor and landing a fist in Racer's face, before slamming the man into the ground with a loud crash. "Your freedom... is still just a lie!"

He blurred past Cobra, knocking the man down as he went. "And so it will stay, as long as you remain taken by darkness!"

Behind Oracion Seis, unnoticed by anyone, Brain's skin paled and a single red eye popped open.

"I'm sorry." Charle sighed. "We went to the ex-chairman's house, but..."

Lucy looked furious. "Erza, Mira, Natsu, and Happy were nowhere to be found... damn Tartaros! I'll kill them all!"

Wendy looked down. "And my nose ain't good enough to to track them yet..."

Gray scowled. "What the hell is going on?"

"I hope they're all right." Juvia added, watching Gray sadly.

Levy frowned in thought. "If only we knew where Tartaros was, we could launch a counter-attack..."

"Gajeel..." Lily turned to the man. "Can't you go the ex-chairman's house and find their scent?"

Gajeel planted a hand on Wendy's head. "If the speedster here couldn't do it, neither can I."

"Speedster?"

"Besides, a person's scent doesn't linger that long anyway." Gajeel added.

Cana slammed her mug down. "I'm also worried about Lisanna and Elfman. We haven't been able to reach them at all!"

"And the guys who went after the other ex-councilmen?"

"Nothing..."

"What about Sorano's group?"

"I doubt they even know what's going on." Laxus grunted. "Sorano only knows about the wind guy, and Jellal and Angel don't even have that."

"Tartaros." Makarov narrowed his eyes. "Is there really nothing we can do to get information on their headquarters?"

"I found it!" Happy flew in, his movements loopy from exhaustion. "I found their headquarters!"

"Happy!"

The cat's wings faded and he fell to the floor, before shooting up. "Erza and Mira got captured and the ex-chairman is a traitor and Natsu and I and-"

Charle slapped him. "Breathe."

"Aye!"

"I can't believe it... the ex-chairman is aligned with Tartaros..."

"How'd Erza and Mira even get captured?"

"Shit..."

"Also..." Happy glanced at Gray, recalling Silver's reaction to hearing about him, and shook his head. "N-nothing! Natsu also got captured... I wanted to save him, but... by myself... I didn't think I could. I'm sorry..."

"Happy, don't blame yourself." Lily advised him. "Just tell us where their hideout is."

"Aye." Happy cleared his throat. "Their base moves around. It's on this weird square island-type thing..."

"Moves around?"

"Does that mean we can't pinpoint their true location?"

"Happy..." Levy leaned in. "Do you know its approximate location or where it's heading?"

"I... we came from behind here... and it was going this way..."

This somehow made sense to Levy. "Leave it to me! I'll calculate their course of travel!" She exclaimed, shooting up. "I promise you I'll find out where they are!"

"Hurry, Levy!"

"Everyone else, get ready to invade!"

"Hell yeah!"

Happy watched the others, before tearing up. "I... I left Natsu behind..."

Meledy smiled, before picking him up and hugging him. "That's not true. You did your best to save everyone. Isn't that right?"

Happy relaxed and sniffled loudly. "Aye..."

The group preparations were halted when a large figure shambled into the guild hall.

"Elfman!"

"You're ok after all!"

"Where's Lisanna?"

Elfman gazed back at them, his eyes unfocused.

Seira chuckled. "Fairies should be broken from the inside out, shouldn't you agree?"

"Elfman! What happened to Lisanna?"

"Why didn't you contact us?"

"Lisanna got captured..." Elfman mumbled. "We were also too late to save old Yuri..."

"I..." He looked away. "Even though I was there..."

Gray sighed. "It's not your fault."

"Levy's calculating the location of their base right now." Lily added. "Don't worry about Lisanna. We'll get her back, you can be sure of that."

"Pathetic." Cana sneered. "Your sister gets captured and you crawl back here without even going after those responsible?"

"Cana-san!" Wendy protested.

"I-I lost sight of them..."

"Lost sight?" Cana repeated. "The people who captured Lisanna managed to evade you even though you can turn into a beast?"

"That's enough, Cana!"

"But..."

"I'm sorry..." Elfman began to move away. "I just need to... get a bit of rest..."

Charle watched the entire scene play out. "Everyone's really on edge, huh..."

"Your job will be simple." Seira told Elfman, holding Lisanna in her arms. "Return to the guild and install this lacryma there."

Elfman looked down at the glass orb. "What... what is it?"

"An ultra-concentrated ether light sphere." Seira explained. "Its power is about five hundred times that of Jupiter. Your guild will be instantly vaporized."

Elfman's jaw dropped. "There's no way- I can't-"

"You can and you will." Seira cut him off. "My curse, 'Macro', is absolute."

"Aah..." Now in an empty room, Elfman pulled out the lacryma. "To get you to give me back Lisanna... I will obliterate Fairy Tail."

He gasped when a sword slid straight through him and came out his front. "That's treasonous talk, Elfman."

"It figures it would be you..." Elfman chuckled weakly, despite the situation. "Just like I would do anything to save my family, so would you. And right now, both us us are threatening the other's families."

"And yet, in the end you were a better person than me." His assailant sounded regretful. "Fairy Tail will forgive you for this. They will never forgive me."

The sword shook, letting Elfman know that the holder was crying.

"Why... why did you have to do this?" The voice wept. "I hate leaving Lisanna at the mercy of Tartaros as much as you do... but I love you too, just like I love all of Fairy Tail. Why did you have to make me choose?"

"Maybe it was just fate..." Elfman gasped as the sword slid out of him and he rolled over to face his attacker. "You... what's happening?"

The figure clutched at their Fairy Tail mark, which began to glow and sear itself into skin, leaving an ugly burnt scar in its' shape. "Punishment... what I've done to you is betrayal. I willingly attacked another member of the guild with intent to kill... the guild mark's magic is reacting to that."

"This shall be my punishment." The person gave a mirthless chuckle. "Fairy Tail will never again welcome me among them. Farewell, Elfman."

"Nnngh..."

"Keep going, Lisanna!"

"Don't turn around! I'm in a strange position here..."

"If you can just get these cuffs off..."

"I can't... Lisanna relaxed her toes' grip on Natsu's cuffs. "They seem too tough for a mere human to break them."

"Lemme have a go."

"I told you not to turn this way!"

A striped towel suddenly fell into their cell.

Natsu glared at Silver. "You!"

Silver smirked. "I'm afraid I can't let you escape, but I also can't allow my little princess over there to stay like that much longer. It'd get quite embarrassing."

"Th-thank you..." Lisanna muttered, using her teeth to pull the towel over herself.

"Wait a minute!" Natsu shouted after the departing man. "Just who the hell are you?"

Silver merely gave him a mocking wave.

"Natsu..."

"That guy..." Natsu frowned. "His stench is just like Gray's..."

Still within earshot, Silver scowled. "It had to be Natsu of all people..."

"Ex-chairman." Franmalth watched the man work, chuckling. "It appears you will soon find Jellal, no?"

"Shut up!" Crawford snapped. "I'm trying to concentrate! My Super Archive's real-time link is in the middle of searching through the continent's mages."

"If we can just kill Jellal, we'll be able to activate Face!" Franmalth was giddy with anticipation. "How much will that power cost? How much?"

Crawford grinned. "I will definitely find him for you."

"Do it."

Electricity arced down Yagdoriga's tentacles and into Erza, causing her to scream in agony.

"Now stop." She regarded the fallen redhead passively. "Where is Jellal?"

"Mira... Erza rasped. "Return Mira..."

"Continue, Yagdoriga."

She lifted Erza's head up be her hair. "Let's double your sensitivity to pain once more."

Who should I target? The brat's responsible for ruining my plans... then there's the traitor to the guild... and a clone? No... they're two different people. The traitor's sister, then?

Got it... now that the betrayer has found family, let's rip her out of her happy life! I'll get her first!

"You'll free us?" Midnight repeated Jellal's words. "What can you possibly do?"

"I can defeat you." Jellal slid into a different stance. "Where you stand, all of you... disappear!"

"You will be the ones disappearing, Jellal!" Zero shot up, sending a Dark Capriccio at him.

"Zero?"

"When did the seal..."

"That bastard survived?"

The attack sped right past Jellal... and crashed into Angel, tearing through her and leaving a large hole in her midriff. The woman gave a weak whimper, before collapsing in a spray of blood.

"Aah... ghhh..." Angel pushed her fingers against the gaping wound frantically. "Impossible..."

Sorano surged towards her. "Angel!"

"Get back..." Angel told her. "Please..."

"But... you're basically me!" Sorano protested. "I can't just-"

Zero came out of nowhere, smashing a glowing fist into Angel.

"That's the icing on the cake!" He cackled insanely. "Ahahahaha!"

Franmalth glanced at Crawford, who after a minute of frantic clicking, sat back and gave a relaxed sigh.

"Did you find Jellal?"

"It seems I've done more than just find him."

Jellal stared at the crater where Angel once was in shock. "Sorano..."

Zero gave a smug grin as a small white feather drifted past him, all that remained of the woman. His smile, however, quickly faded when Angel's remaining angel constructs attacked all of the Oracion Seis members except Hot-Eye.

Only Jellal noticed a gray aura slowly flickering into existence around Sorano as she screamed in anguish. "Wait, isn't gray... shit, this is bad."

Deciding to cut his losses, he activated Meteor, grabbed Hot-Eye and sped away, unnoticed by anyone.

The rest of Oracion Seis was not so lucky. Assaulted and distracted by the angels, none of them noticed when Sorano's magic exploded outward and engulfed them.

When Jellal returned a few minutes later, all that he found was Sorano in the middle of a perfectly round and flat barren clearing, clutching the white feather which had miraculously survived.

"Sorano..."

"Don't say anything." The woman stood up shakily. "It's my fault. I wanted her to help out and dragged her over from Edolas... and now she's dead. It sounds like a bad joke..."

"She's dead!" She screamed at Jellal. "I killed her! I called her over to help me and now she's dead! If I left her alone in Edolas, this never would have happened!"

"She's gone..." Sorano collapsed to all fours and stared at her hands uncomprehendingly. "It's my fault... why did I call her here... I could have handled this myself... I thought I'd be smart and now my friend is dead..."

Still watching, Jellal wondered how he could possibly fix things. He didn't come up with anything, though, so he stayed silent as Sorano's wails once more split the air.

"So what did you do?"

"I've successfully completed the transfer of the key!" Crawford boasted. "Thanks to my Super Archive's power!"

"Huh?"

"That is, Jellal's key has become mine!" Crawford explained. "And by using the same idea, we can transfer the seal to some random person. If we then kill them, the seal will be unlocked."

"And who would this random person be?"

"Whoever!" Crawford waved a dismissive hand. "One of those captured fairies will do."

"Wait a minute..." Franmalth frowned in thought. "Are you saying that you, the ex-chairman, have just become the last key?"

"I've been saying that this whole time!" Crawford raised his voice. "That this method even exists... it's all thanks to my Super Archive's spectacular power! With this, the seal on Face is released! The world is ours!"

Franmalth looked excited. "It's difficult to believe that such a securely hidden key can be so easily transferred."

Crawford gave a smug smile. "That's what the power and authority of an ex-chairman can do."

Franmalth's eyes narrowed. "Is it now..."

A long sharp claw pierced straight through Crawford's heart from behind.

"So..." Kyouka watched the man collapse. "It's safe to say the seal is now broken?"

"Oh my..." Franmalth looked around as the entire island began to shake. "Even our Cube is reacting."

Kyouka nodded. "The seal on Face has been released."

"Lisanna..." Once again alone, pressing both hands against his sluggishly bleeding wound, and staring at the lacryma as it began to shine, Elfman teared up and grit his teeth. "I love you..."

In a remote underground location, a white face-like construct turned skyward slowly began to emerge from the ground, surrounded by four thin pillars.

Lisanna's eyes widened. "Natsu, look!"

Natsu instantly turned towards her.

"Not at me, you idiot!" She snapped, gesturing with her toe. "Over there!"

"A sword!"

Lisanna smiled. "We can probably use it to cut those chains!"

Kyouka looked down at the shaking floor. "This is quite the reaction..."

"There's no mistaking it!" Franmalth crowed, holding on to a pillar to stay in place. "The seal on Face has been broken!"

"And the coordinates?"

Franmalth glanced at a navigation device. "It appears to be rather far from the expected emergence point."

"No matter." Kyouka decided. "Activate it."

"About that..." Franmalth paused when the shaking stopped, then continued. "It can't be done from here."

"What do you mean?"

"Remote control access is impossible." Franmalth explained. "Face can only be activated manually. Well, the ex-chairman could have activated it remotely, but..."

He glanced at the corpse. "Gehehehe... it appears I may have been a little hasty."

"It cannot be helped." Kyouka told him. "Send someone to see to it. And I do hope those Fairy Tail brats don't stick their noses where they don't belong."

"Do not worry about such things." Seira cut in, appearing in the doorway. "It is only a matter of time. Before long, the end to the fairies' story will be spun."

A short woman in a thick coat and a mark saying '1/16' on her tie was dancing around what seemed to be a laboratory. "What should I do? What if they're born because of the shaking? Oh, what should I do~"

"Just kidding!" She spun around. "Worry is unnecessary! Cause they've all already been reborn~"

"So this is my body, is it..." A dark-skinned man examined a clawed hand.

"That's right, Tempester-kun~"

"Tempester..." The man muttered. "So that is my name..."

"Hey hey, you're so cool~" The short woman moved in front of him and started cooing. "Cause I made you look like a hunk! Woo~"

"My appearance is unimportant."

"What's this, Lamy?" A new voice cut in. "Tempester's getting all the attention... pretty unfair, ain't it?"

"But, but... you've always been super cute, Jackal-kun~"

"Fuckin' gross." Jackal pushed Lamy off his shoulder. "Get off me."

"Jackal-kun?"

"Oi..." Jackal snarled. "Don't ya remember me, Tempester?"

"Every time Tempester-kun is revived, he unfortunately loses his memories..." Lamy sniffed. "Is it a side effect of the sin particles? Such a pity for him... but a blessing for me!"

"I ain't gonna forgive that blond bitch and that blue cat." Jackal grit his teeth angrily. "I'm gonna fuck them up real good."

"Your angry face is so cute~" Lamy swooned. "I think I'm going to get pregnant~"

"Screw you!"

Tempester glanced to one side. "And who is that?"

"Hm?" Jackal followed his gaze. "Who the hell are you?"

"Ah, I almost forgot!" Lamy perked up.

"So this is what it means to be a demon..." The newcomer observed, strange black skin covering her right eye as she examined her gloved and clawed hands. "My power is overflowing..."

"Some human that Kyouka-nee captured or something. I think her name was Minerva." Lamy shrugged. "Anyway, I couldn't really care less about women, so..."

"Minerva..."

"A new comrade, eh?"

"Oh well..." Lamy leaned in close to another container. "Even though I don't really care about girls, I guess I might as well modify this one too... Mira or something, was it?"

"Look at her, with that fuckin' pretty face." Lamy sneered at the unconscious woman. "You're gonna be the world's ugliest caterpillar by the time I'm done with you, ya bitch."

Elfman stared in pain and regret at the activated lacryma, heedless of the blood slowly staining his pants and pooling on the floor around him.

"Elfman..." Cana wondered in. "Something really is... off about you..."

Her eyes widened as she beheld the scene. "Wait... what on Earth happened to you?"

"Get back!" Elfman leapt at her, ignoring his wound. "Don't get in my way! Don't you dare get in my way!"

Struggling to throw him off, Cana glanced at the lacryma, which was giving off rays of light. "A bomb?"

"Perish." Elfman ground out. "Perish, Fairy Tail!"

Cana's eyes narrowed. Is he being controlled? At this rate...

"I've pinpointed the location of the enemy!" Levy threw down her pen. "We've found them!"

The guild burst into cheers.

"Well done!"

"So where are they?"

Levy pointed up. "Right above us?"

"What the..."

"What the hell?"

"Those bastards are right above us?"

"There's no mistaking it! When they escaped, they were near our border with Bosco!" Levy explained. "Judging from their speed and direction of travel, right now they're above Magnolia."

Gajeel frowned. "Looks like they came to us."

"Let's save Natsu and everyone else!"

"Aye!"

"Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Then the guild building exploded.

Angel groaned and slowly opened her eyes. "Ugh... what happened?"

She sat up slowly. "Oh yeah, I died... so this is where people go after death? It's so pretty... everything here is golden."

"Sister."

Angel's eyes widened and she spun around to see a white-haired girl about seven years old smiling up at her. "You're early, Sister."

Angel teared up. "Yukino..."

Yukino Tanaka's smile widened. "I watched you all this time, you know. The life you lived, the people you met... your life was so exciting, Sister! I wish I could have been there alongside you!"

"Yukino..." Angel was too choked up to say anything other than her sister's name.

"Now let's go, Sister!" Yukino grabbed her hand and began pulling her along. "Mum and Dad are waiting for us!"

Angel brushed her tears away and a small smile spread across her face. "Yeah... that sounds nice."

NOTE: The upcoming chapters are as follows:

Hell Unleashed – Tartaros arc part 1 (done).

Horribly Wrong – Tartaros arc part 2 (done).

Exactly Right – Tartaros arc part 3.

Title Unknown – Tartaros arc part 4.

Title Unknown – Tartaros arc part 5.

Title Unknown – Tartaros arc part 6.

NEXT TIME: Exactly Right.

Next chapter will be out soon. Probably within a week or so.

Thanks for reading!