Chapter 57

Crime Sorciré

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

"Did you hear the news?" A blue cloaked girl asked as she approached a small cave. "Everyone from Tenrou Island came back! It's like they never even left!"

Four others walked out, the one in the back more slowly than the others. "You feeling okay?" A hooded man asked, placing his hand on the shoulder.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." He replied.

"Should we visit them?" Another male asked, making the other female reach over and hold his hand.

"I think we should." The female holding the man's hand said. "They're probably planing on entering the games. And they'll need our help."

"How do ya figure?" The first female asked.

"Because the spirits will want to welcome them back, neglecting to mention the time difference between worlds." The man said, pulling the second female in closer. "So let's go pay them a visit. You guys stay here." He turned around and four others walked back into the cave.

Three Months Later

Akane Resort

True to prediction, the group of wizards were all hanging their heads in shame. "I guess we have no choice but to let the others compete this year." Levy sighed.

"We can still make it!" Erza declared, an angry red aura glowing around her. "We're gonna have a five day crash training from hell! Every single one of you better get ready! There won't even be enough time to sleep!"

A single pigeon landed on her head, peaking at it's feet. "Hey, there's a note on it." Gray said, pulling it off the foot. "...The hell kind of language is this? Levy?"

He handed the note to the book worm, and even she sweat dropped. "I think this is just really, REALLY bad handwriting." She replied, squinting her eyes. "Something about a suspension bridge in the west woods."

"Should we go there?" Lucy asked.

A scent caught Wendy's attention and she suddenly sat up before racing into the woods. "Wendy! Wait!" Gray shouted before the others raced after her.

They soon caught up to her at the broken bridge and it began shaking. Broken chunks of wood rose from the abyss and reattached themselves to the ropes. "It fixed itself?" Levy asked. "This really does feel like a trap."

"We don't have a choice." Wendy said before walking onto the bridge. The others followed behind and continued to walk through the woods.

A group of five hooded figures walked forward, their faces obscured by hair and cloth. "Be on your guard..." Erza mumbled as the others readied for a fight.

The cloaked figures stopped in front of them before four reached up for their hoods. "Thank you for coming, Fairy Tail." A female voice said, shocking the group as Ultear, Meredy, Sora and Zancrow showed their faces and outfits.

Ultear's outfit now consists of little more than a tabard-like garment that exposes her back and the scar along it. The attire is open on both sides of her body except for a small attachment at her waist, and she dons long black boots that leave her upper thighs bare.

Meredy had grown older, taller, and has a more curvaceous body. Her hair reaches down to the middle of her back, is a quite wavy ponytail, and is accompanied by a dark brown set of earmuffs. Her outfit after consists of a red dress with a golden trim around a deep neckline that exposes a large amount of her now ample cleavage with a short skirt and a belt with a yellow ribbon tied around her waist and black colored stockings and brown boots.

Sora now wore a black jacket with grey pockets and a stripe of the same color on each sleeve. The hood, sleeves and jacket have a red lining, and six buttons can be seen on the front. Underneath, Sora wears a black tanktop with a V-neck style collar and a white lining. His gloves are replaced with gauntlets with a similar color scheme to his jacket. The gauntlets have red linings and grey circles on the backs, with yellow buckled straps wrapped around Sora's wrists. The palms of his hands are exposed.

Sora's shorts are black, and are roughly the same length as they are in his legs with several grey pockets. A red band wraps around each pant leg.

Zancrow had his hair in a long ponytail as his eyes maintained that psychotic look. He wore a black glove over his hand as he a simple black and yellow shirt under his cloack. His pants were less puffy and made of the armor he once wore as black combat boots covered his feet.

"Grimoire Heart!?" Levy asked in shock.

"Don't worry, Levy!" Jet shouted as he and Droy jumped in front of her. "We'll keep you safe."

"You weren't picked for the trials seven years ago." The remaining hooded man said, his voice shocking the whole group. "And you spent the last three months sleeping and eating instead of training." He reached up and grabbed his hood. "If we wanted you dead, you would be."

He pushed his cloth back and everyone stared at the mop of pink hair spilling out. "N-natsu!" Happy cheered before flying forward, tackling his old friend.

"How ya been, little buddy?" The dragon slayer chuckled. Natsu's hair had grown slightly longer and he donned a simple one sleeve jacket and matching black and gold-trimmed pants. What was really shocking was that he was missing his scarf.

"Y-you're supposed to be in jail!" Erza shouted.

"I was, and ready to accept whatever fate the Council would give me." He replied before pointing to his left. "Until these two broke me out."

"Like we were gonna let ya rot in jail, buddy." Zancrow chuckled.

"And it was Ultear's idea." Meredy added before smiling at Juvia.

"So you escaped?" Lucy asked.

"And now you want payback?" Erza asked, readying for a fight.

"That's not it." Gray said, stepping forward. "Like they said, if they wanted us dead we would be."

"He's right." Ultear nodded. "The sins I've committed throughout my life... Even if I spent my entire life atoning, it wouldn't be enough. So, we decided to save as many people as we can until we die. We created a guild that's not dark or light, but independent of the council and its rules. We are Crime Sorcière."

"Wait, Crime Sorcière was you guys!?" Jet asked, earning a nod from Natsu. "Holy crap! You guys have destroyed like a hundred dark guilds in the last few years!"

"It's the only reason we fight." Sora spoke up, holding Meredy's hand.

"Our guild is here to drive away the darkness brought into this world by Zeref and his evil." Natsu said. "So no other wizard will fall to darkness like we did."

"Why did you call us?" Erza asked, not interested in their good will story.

"Same old, same old, eh red?" Zancrow chuckled. "Natsu here predicted that you guys would be joining the games. He was wondering if you could do us a favor. Nothing major."

"Ever since the games started, we've felt a strange magical force. One just as dark as Zeref." The Dragon Slayer spoke up. "We want to identify it, but we can't set foot near the arena. We were hoping you could help."

"And we'll be cheering for you from the sides." Meredy added.

"It sounds like you're on a wild goose chase, but we'll help you." Erza said.

"Did I mention we'll pay you up front?" Ultear added, exciting Lucy. "No, not money. I'm talking about making up for lost time. My Arc of Time has improved over the years. With it, I can increase your body's natural container for magic. This way you can use it for longer and use more powerful spells."

"Sounds like a deal to me!" Gray cheered as the others nodded.

"But you'll have to endure the worst pain you can imagine." Ultear added, scaring Levy and Wendy.

Hours Later

Jet and Droy were in the sand and writhing in pain as red marks covered their bodies. Lucy and Gray were in shock of the treatment as Erza sat next to the now humble God Slayer. "I... I think don't think they can handle it." Gray mumbled.

"Should we be worried about this?" Lucy asked.

"Don't worry." Ultear said as Sora walked up. "Once this is all done, Sora will soothe your muscles... as best he can."

"You sure it's okay?" Lucy asked.

"Just how painful is it?" Gray added.

"Wanna try a sense link?" Meredy offered, scaring the man.

'Oh, Meredy. You've loosened up a bit.' Juvia joyfully thought.

"Do... do we have to go through that, too?" Levy asked.

"I wanna cry." Wendy said amidst tears.

"Hey, where did Natsu and Lucy go?" Happy asked.

"They left to be alone for a bit." Carla answered. "Though I'm a bit worried he might pull something."

"He's not a psychopath, kitty cat." Zancrow spoke up.

With Natsu and Lucy

The two former friends sat at a cliff as they stared out at the ocean. "Lucy... Did Lisanna ever tell you why I brought you into Fairy Tail in the first place?" Natsu asked as he sat on a log.

"Yeah..." She nodded sitting down next to him. "About a week after we came back from Tenrou. Something about bringing her back to life. You must have really loved her."

"She was the only member of Fairy Tail who ever believed me in Igneel." He replied. "When she died, it was like I did too. So I talked to Hades and he told me a way to bring her back. But then, after Tenrou I found out that the spell was made up. I would have killed you for nothing, and betrayed all of the guild doing so.

"When I founded Crime Sorcière, I thought it was actually doing some good. Hell, even Zancrow calmed down because I asked him to. But then... I realized something. This was all just to fool myself. I've lied to everyone who ever trusted me, killed people who were just living their lives. And no matter how many Dark Guilds we took out, another just popped up.

"Sometimes... sometimes I feel like I should just kill myself. Put everyone I've hurt out of their misery."

"You can't do that!" Lucy shouted. "You have to make up for everything you've done!"

The two stared at each other before Natsu suddenly chuckled. "That sounds like something Erza would say." He stopped laughing and dusted himself off before standing up. "Well, let's get back. It should be time for your treatment."

"Wait, can't we stay a bit longer..." Lucy asked, fiddling with her fingers.

"Lucy, I appreciate the offer." Natsu confessed. "But there's something you should know about me." He moved his left hand out from under his cloak. "I'm married."

The simple gold ring was on display for all to see, shocking the blonde. "...Oh, of-of course!" She replied, scratching her chin. "After all it's been seven years." Natsu chuckled a bit more before walking back to the camp.

Hours Later

The rest of the trainees were on the ground inside of a hut. Erza alone was standing outside the building as the five independent wizards chuckled. "How are you not even wobbly?" Ultear asked.

"She is Erza, after all." Natsu chuckled, grabbing his hood. "We have to keep moving because of our guilds nature. So this is goodbye for now."

"If you have any new information on the magic power, let us know by carrier bird." Meredy said.

"Keep an eye on Gray for me, will you?" Ultear requested.

"We'll be around to watch the tournament." Sora said, standing next to Meredy.

"I'll see ya later, red." Zancrow waved goodbye before the five walked away. Erza watch them vanish into the woods as a small smile crossed her face.

A mile away from the hut, the five wizards set up and sat around a fire. "Zancrow, you dog." Natsu chuckled. "Looks like you finally worked up the nerve to talk to Erza."

"Seven years is far enough time to wait." The blonde replied.

"Speaking of talking blondes, what did Lucy want to talk about?" Sora asked.

"Yes, what took you so long?" Ultear asked.

"Nothing happened." Natsu said. "I would never betray you, Ultear." He reached out and grabbed her hand and the two rings on their hands touched. "After all, you saved me."

Seven Years Ago

Council Prison

"Is this the guy?"

"Hard to believe he's the big traitor from Grimoire Heart."

"He hasn't eaten in a week, and he barely drinks anything. Is he trying to kill himself?"

"Who knows and who cares. If he dies, it's one less prisoner we have to take care of."

Even in is delusional state, Natsu could still make out the guards talking about him. The three walked away leaving Natsu alone once again. Frantic footsteps soon caught his attention as he saw three figures reached his clear cage.

Zancrow punched the cage and the wall in front of him shattered. "Let's go, pal!" He said, only for the pinkette to just turn his head. "What did they do to you?"

"We have to go, now!" Meredy shouted as an alarm started ringing.

"We can't just leave him!" Ultear shouted before dragging him out. "Wake up, Natsu! We need you! I NEED YOU!" He glanced up at the girl just as she leaned in and kissed him. His eyes finally opened up a bit more and stared at her.

"Ul... tear?" He asked, making her smile.

"You can't die like this! You have so much more to live for!" She said, placing him on his shoulder. "We're gonna get you out of here, and we're gonna do some good in this life." Weakly, Natsu nodded and the four quickly ran out of the prison the same way they came in: a giant hole made by Zancrow.

"Wait... wait..." Natsu spoke up for the first time. "There are others... like us..." He turned back into the prison and stared at some cages. "We... need to help them."

Present

Strauss Training Camp

"Is Lisanna feeling any better?" Elfman asked.

"No, she's still a bit sick." Mirajane said. "I don't understand what happened. One month she as fine as possible, but now she's sick as a dog."

"Do you think she started drinking with Cana?" Elfman asked.

"Hey, don't blame me for this." Cana shouted, enjoying some morning booze. "Though I did find something weird in the trash."

Before the siblings could ask, Lisanna emerged from the woods. Nervously chuckling, she held up a plastic tube with a little blue line through it. "...I'm pregnant."

Welcome back to this story.

Now some of you might not like this route I'm taking with it, but I never said this wouldn't be a redemption story. Besides, this was bound to happen since you guys wanted to keep the story going. But with Jellal K.I.A., this will be very interesting. Add in the upcoming drama and I hope you all enjoy this.

Expect inconsistent updates for a bit. See ya next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang