AUTHOR'S NOTE: So as you may notice, Kai has a sort of resentment for Natsu. The reason for this will come in time. You'll get a full understanding to that in later chapters. Just know this that it does have something to do with the spell, but there is something else to it.

Chapter 3: The Herculean Mission

"Argh! They're taking too long," Natsu said as he watched Makarov and the boy talking in the infirmary. Even with his dragon hearing, he couldn't hear anything. Freed and Levy's silencing spell must really be holding and it looks like the other slayers were bothered by it too.

Everyone who was standing outside of the infirmary watched Makarov's expression and it worried them. Whoever this boy was made their master fill with worry or surprise or something shocking.

"Do you think master will tell us what's going on with him?" Gray asked.

"Probably," Erza kept her eye on the pair in the infirmary, "Whatever the boy is telling him seems like something serious if we just go by Master's expressions."

"I'm sure Master Makarov will tell us," Lucy assured them, "I mean if it's something serious then I'm sure he'd want to keep us in the loop of it all. We should just trust master in getting the information from Kai."

Everyone around her agreed, but the two older dragon slayers still seem on edge. Gajeel seemed grumpier than usual and Natsu looked like he was just agitated. The boy's scent was really bothering him. The familiarity of it was keeping him on edge. He couldn't pinpoint the scent and it was really getting to him.

"Natsu, stop pacing," Erza said getting annoyed by the pink dragon slayer being on edge.

Natsu stopped and looked at Erza. "I don't know how you aren't on edge. This boy just fell out of the sky. He doesn't smell like he's from Edolas, so he's from somewhere we don't know."

"We'll just have to wait for Master's orders." Erza nodded her head towards the infirmary.

Natsu looked and saw that the Master and the boy were walking towards the crowd. They walked out of the infirmary and Makarov sighed. "I think everyone needs to go downstairs. It'll be easier down there and less crowded."

"What's going on, Master?" Erza asked.

"I will tell you all when we get to the bottom. Come, Kai," Makarov said after noticing Kai's stiff form around the dragon slayers. The young man nodded before walking with Makarov down to the bar.

Everyone made their way slowly to the bottom and sat around to wait for Makarov's speech. Kai stood stiffly by the bar where Makarov was standing.

"Now all of you must be wondering what is going on and who this young man is," Makarov began and everyone nodded, "His name is Kai, he is a member of Fairy Tail."

A round of shock went around the guild. Makarov looked at Kai and the boy removed his vest to show proof that he was, in fact, a member of Fairy Tail. "However, the Fairy Tail he knows only consists of only ten members."

"What?!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Master?!"

"Is something going to happen to Fairy Tail?!"

"Who is that boy?"

"Why is there only ten of them?"

"Oh god! Are we in danger again?"

"SILENCE!" Makarov shouted immediately shutting everyone up. "I know all of you are wondering how that is possible, but it is possible. Kai here is from a Fairy Tail that is in the future. Yes, we have yet again another person who came through a time jump."

"What's going on, Master?" Gray asked.

"In the future that Kai was born into, the entire magical community is destroyed as well as the rest of Fiore. Something happens in the future that destroys everything. Only a few survivors were in Fiore until Kai came to us."

"What happened?" Gajeel asked.

"In a few years' time, something is going to spread all throughout the kingdom of Fiore. Some sort of dark magic that no wizard in Fiore has ever heard of. This dark magic will only affect one sort of wizard," Makarov looked at everyone before looking at the three dragon slayers. "Anyone with dragon slayer magic will be affected by this magic. All generations of dragon slayers will be affected."

"What kind of magic is it?"

Makarov looked at Kai who sighed before standing up straighter than he was. "My mother called it Plague Magic. It was a new form of old magic that dark guilds were studying after the fall of Zeref. It's believed that the Plague Magic that you seem to be familiar with at this time is different from the one that was cast all over Fiore in my time. We were able to find a way to prevent it or halt it for the time being, but it didn't hold out long enough. A lot of the magic was lost when the council was destroyed," Kai explained.

"A lot of the magic we were able to use were reserved magic that everyone learned to keep in their bodies. We couldn't use magic, because the dragons could've detected us after as we hid."

"Wait you said dragons, I thought you said dragon slayers?" Erza asked.

"The dragon slayers turned into dragons," Kai frowned, "Not in the way Acnologia became a dragon. No, they were forced to become dragons by this Plague Magic. The basic name for the spell is Plague Magic, but Levy," the sound of Levy's name had the blue-haired pixie perked up, "Called it Graisha Namoro. It is dragon language for 'Dragon Death' or 'Death of Dragons.' My mother sent me back in time because I was the only strongest dragon slayer in my time that was still alive."

"If this affects dragon slayers, why didn't it affect you?" Natsu asked.

"We never understood why it didn't affect me," Kai frowned, "Master Makarov had a theory that it had something to do with my mother's form of magic. It might've acted as a shield to me from getting affected by the spell."

"Do we know when this spell is supposed to happen?" someone asked from the crowd.

"Three years," Kai answered, "Levy believed that the source of the magic came from the north of Fiore in the small kingdom of Seven, but there's a problem with that. She reminded me that the small kingdom is surrounded by a barrier that keeps anyone from entering. No one is allowed in that kingdom without the acceptance of the chief."

"It's possible that we can have the king request an audience with the chief of Seven," Makarov pondered, "But that could take awhile."

"As long as we can get it, Master," Kai looked at him. Kai took the pen that he showed Master Makarov and showed everyone. "This pen has a letter that was written by Levy that will help us figure out what we need to do. However, the mission will be dangerous. Extremely dangerous as we go into this foreign land."

"Ha!" Natsu laughed, "We can do it!"

"If Seven is the same as the Seven I knew in my time, it won't be easy to gain access. Not only is it guarded by a barrier but the trip to the village where the Chief resides is far more dangerous than any of the trips here in Fiore."

"That won't be a problem," Erza smiled at him, "We'll take a small group of people."

"Team Natsu has this!" Natsu laughed.

"I wanna go too!" Levy said.

"If it means we get to beat some people, I'm in too," Gajeel smirked.

Makarov looked at Kai and he nodded. "Very well, Natsu, you along with the others will be leaving to Crocus to get granted permission from the king. Kai, you will follow along with them."

"Kai, I want you to show the group what Levy provided you."

Kai nodded, Makarov looked at the rest of the guild. "Right now with the information that Kai has given us, I want those who can research as much about the Plague Magic we know of and find any information if it can be manipulated in any way. Freed, I want you to lead that research team since Levy will be going with the others."

"Yes, sir!" Freed exclaimed.

"As for the rest of you, just relax. We will have this figured out in no time. I want you all to yes be prepared for the worst, but right now just relax. Mira, I need you to contact Laxus and let him know that I need him back at the guild immediately. Cana, I need you to do the same with Gildarts. This is high alert, we need everyone in the know of this."

"What about the dragon slayers from Sabertooth, Master?" Erza asked.

"You will be passing through there as you head to Crocus, so one or two of you need to go there and inform them of this find. Do not let them know where you got the information, just let them know that they need to be prepared. If they don't believe you, have them contact me and I will tell them everything Kai has told us."

Erza nodded as Kai walked up to the group. "We'll all meet at the train station in four hours, that should be enough time for everyone to pack. If we do get permission from the king to pass through Seven's barrier, we will have a long journey ahead of us," she spoke.

"How exactly do we get to Seven? There are no trains that go all the way north," Gray said.

"After we get to the edge of Fiore to a small mining town called Januk, we'll have to rent a carriage.

Magic mobiles are not allowed in Seven, so we have to deal with a carriage." Gajeel explained, "I have a few contacts up that way that can help us get those magic mobiles and keep us from looking suspicious."

Everyone who was going nodded.

"Master with your permission, I would prefer to show the group going up to Seven the letter in a private room," Kai turned to Master Makarov.

Makarov nodded and gestured back upstairs, "We'll see the letter in my office," he turned back to everyone that had worried expressions on their faces, "I know this may be something that is making you all worry but don't worry my children, if there is anything that I know of our guild is that we will find a way to stop any form of danger from falling upon us and the rest of Fiore. So for now, let's all just relax until we are ready for this upcoming disaster."

Everyone didn't say anything but just nodded. The few who needed to do things for the mission went into hyper mode and started moving. The group that will head up to Seven followed the Master and Kai upstairs to find out what the letter was going to say.

Kai was on edge, he knew that his scent would make the dragon slayers question who he was, but he had to do this.

Save the future. Save his family. That was the only thing that was running through his mind.

Once they were in Master Makarov's office, Gajeel closed the door and Kai walked towards the Master's desk with Makarov. Makarov jumped onto his desk and waited.

Kai pulled out the pen that Levy immediately recognized.

"That's my personal pen," she said.

Kai nodded, "It may a bit wore down and scratched up, but it was the one thing that kept Aunt Levy sane," he said with a smile before handing her the pen.

Levy looked at him confused but took the pen from him. Once it touched her hands, something flew out of the pen. Everyone gasped as a projection came from the pen. It was of Levy, but older.

Her hair wasn't short, it was long and reached down to her waist. Her eyes had bags underneath them and were red as if she was crying. The most noticeable thing about her was that she was missing a leg and was sitting with a worn looking Pantherlily huddled next to her.

"My dear Kai," the older Levy's voice echoed around the room with a sadness, "If this form of mine has come out of the pen means that your mother succeeded. I always knew that she was strong enough to be able to send you back to the time before our greatest loss, but I know the cost. I'm sure you knew it too."

Tears started forming in Kai's eyes as he watched his godmother's form pet Pantherlily gently. He missed her. He missed them all.

"If this is projecting and I am talking to the Fairy Tail before the destruction, please all of you listen closely." Older Levy wiped dried tears and looked serious, "As you may already know, in three years, there will be a danger that will plague all over Fiore. Graisha Namoro, simply known as Plague Magic, will spread all throughout the country. It is unstoppable once it's started, but there is a way to stop it before it begins."

Everyone just continued to watch the projecting. Levy's heart was falling looking at how worn they looked. They looked exactly like how a soldier looked when at war. This was no joke.

This was truly and terrifyingly war.

"Just north of Fiore is a small kingdom. A very well protected kingdom called Seven. You all will be familiar with it, but what you weren't familiar with is who is their ruler. Chief Kranos Davanort. He isn't an evil man, just a man that is easily pressured to do anything. His right-hand man is who you need to be wary of. Eltain Cratye is a wizard. Not just any wizard, a dark wizard."

Makarov's ears perked at the name. He knew that name. He was familiar with that name. He hadn't heard that name in ages.

"This dark wizard specialized in a certain magic. I'm sure you all will guess it. Yes, Cratye specializes in Plague Magic. The one thing that makes this man dangerous is his dabbling with mixing magic together. Experimenting. Cratye isn't just a skilled wizard. He is also a skilled alchemist. That alone makes him the most dangerous man in all the world just behind Zeref."

The projection started getting distorted and Kai's heart was breaking. He knew what was happening. An ear-splitting roar echoed around the room. So loud to have the dragon slayers cover their ears tightly.

The older Levy's eyes widen and Pantherlily jumped up immediately. She looked back at everyone with eyes of worry.

"Find Cratye, stop him before he can continue his experiment on Plague Magic. Find his laboratory and end it. There is one thing I need you to make sure to do," the elder version of Levy pulled the pen closer to her, "Keep Lucy far away from him. Whatever you, do not let him get to Lucy."

Natsu gripped his fists tightly and his jaw clenched hearing that last sentence.

"She is the key to the activation of the Plague Magic. Lucy, I know you're probably there with everyone listening to this, please be careful when you go to Seven. When you were nearly taken by E.N.D's book made your blood strong enough to create this darkness. Although you are filled with light and protected by your celestial spirits, Cratye can break you."

"LEVY! LET'S GO! WE HAVE TO GO!"

A familiar voice shouted. Natsu knew that voice. It sounded older, but there was no mistaking it, it was hers.

Lucy's.

Lucy watched the projection just enough to see an older version of herself running to them. She immediately grabbed Pantherlily and held him tight to her. The thing that was different with Lucy was that there was a bundle with her. A child.

Older Levy nodded with tears in her eyes as the projection continued to be shaky. She looked back at her pen.

"I know I will not survive this attack, but I slipped this into Kai's small backpack and made Pantherlily promise to give it to him," older Levy was crying even more now, "Please protect Lucy and stop this. Just one small drop of her blood spilled by Cratye will be the end of our country and possibly the world. Lucy, I know you are just as reckless as Natsu, but please, heed my warning. Cratye is not a man to mess with. If he wants something, he will get it. Celestial Magic mixed with whatever was cursed into your body by the book will be the key. Keep away from Cratye."

Lucy's heart was pounding watching the projection. She was the key to the end. She watched as the projection start getting even grainier. It was clear enough for them to see older Levy running next to the older Lucy. The child in Lucy's arm was crying while Lucy held tightly on both the child and Pantherlily who looked too weak that he couldn't transform to his battle form.

"I love you all and I know you can all do this," older Levy said to the pen, "And Kai, my dear boy, I know you're probably terrified being somewhere that you aren't familiar with, but you're with family. Fairy Tail," the projection slowly starting to disappear, "I love you my boy and your mom loves you too. I know you going back in time was a success, but at a price, and I know you will do it for us. Good luck to all of you, I wish all of you all the be—"

The projection ended so abruptly.

Everyone in the room was silent after that. Kai wiped the tears that fell. That was the last he was ever going to see of the family he was familiar with. The people around him was them but weren't really them. He knew he had to be strong, but he needed to cry.

Makarov put a hand on his shoulder and Kai looked at him. "It's okay my boy," the master said softly before Kai fell down to his knees slowly.

The tears fell nonstop and he hiccupped as he cried. His mission. He must complete it. For them.

For Fairy Tail.

The others in the room looked at each other. Levy was shaking from looking at her older self in that projection. The signs of war were there. Not just on her or Pantherlily, but all around them. War was coming and they needed to stop it.

"I… it's my fault," Lucy broke the silence as she fell to her knees. Natsu knelt next to her with a worried look on his face. "My fault."

Wendy shook her head, "It isn't your fault, Lucy. Levy said that we just have to make sure that you don't get caught by that wizard. If we do that then there's hope."

Erza didn't like the look on Master Makarov's face as he comforted the boy. "Master, do you know this Cratye?"

Makarov nodded with a sigh. He looked at his children in front of him. "Cratye was once a good friend of mine and one of the wizard saints of Fiore."

Levy's eyebrows furrowed, "But if he was one of the wizard saints wouldn't his name be written in books?"

"It was once written many years ago, but was removed once Cratye betrayed the laws of magic."

"How do you betray the laws of magic?" Happy asked.

"Cratye was a man of many talents. As you know from Levy in Kai's future, he was a man talented in Alchemy. Many aren't familiar with the form of Alchemy when they become familiar with magic, but Cratye was a man ready to conquer both. During his mission to conquer both magic and alchemy, he lost his humanity along the way."

Makarov walked over to one of the many bookshelves in his office and pulled out a rather large book that looked as if it was collecting dust. He placed it on top of his desk and Levy walked over to have a closer look.

"The Untold History of the Fall of Magic," Levy read aloud, "what is this book, Master?"

"This is a book that Warren wrote many years ago during the fall of one of the greatest wizards of the time. It is an unpublished book, because of the darkness that is told in the book," Makarov explained.

"Does this book have anything to do with Cratye?" Erza asked.

Makarov nodded, "Alchemy and magic do not dwell together. It is a form of taboo in the world. It is one of the many rules of magic that is ancient way before the start of Fairy Tail or any of the guilds."

Levy pulled out her gale-force reading glasses and started skimming through the book quickly. Once she was done, she immediately dropped the book. She covered her mouth as if she was about to throw up.

"Levy?" Lucy looked up at her friend, "What… what did you read?"

"Master," Levy looked at the crestfallen face of Master Makarov, "He couldn't…. he shouldn't…. why?"

Makarov sighed, "The reason why Alchemy and magic do not dwell together is that something truly evil can come out of the mix. Cratye knew the consequences, but he still went on to do his experimenting."

Levy turned to everyone. Gajeel walked up to her and rubbed her back. She leaned into him and tried her best to keep herself from throwing up.

"What happened in the book, Levy?" Natsu asked helping Lucy up from the ground.

"The reason why Magic and Alchemy does not mix together is that they can create something so horrible, grotesque, and just plain evil."

"Levy, what happened?" Gray asked as his heart pounded.

"The reason why Cratye was stripped from any of our history books is that he took his experiment too far. He used real humans to test his experiments of Alchemy and Magic. The way the humans looked after the experiments weren't normal. There was no familiarity in their bodies. They were turned into a form that no longer exists in this world."

"Levy, please… just say what happened," Wendy was already getting scared as Levy explained.

"Cratye turned humans into sprites," Makarov was the one to answer, "Or what many of those who knew about the experiments call them. Mutts."

"What did he do to the humans to make them turn into that, Master?" Charle asked.

Levy was the one to speak out, "He used their blood to transform them into sprites. He used alchemy to pull out a sample of their magic and mutate them with different types of types of blood. The blood ranged from animal to demons. Even dragons."

"Wait so you're telling us that this crazy man transformed people into beasts?" Gray asked freaking out.

"Not beasts. Mutations. The mix of alchemy and magic is called transmutation," Levy explained after being able to hold back whatever remains of food she had in her, "It is an old practice. The practice was first made during the time of Zeref's first disappearance to the world."

"And Cratye is the only wizard in any of the countries to have perfected transmutation," Makarov said with an angered expression, "He broke the laws of magic to play with humankind. He broke it saying that he wanted to perfect the human population. His words have been engraved into my head and many of the elder wizards' heads to this day."

Kai watched as the Master moved to his chair and sat down. He only knew of transmutation from Aunt Levy who found this same exact book during his time. It was the only way she knew of how to stop the disaster forthcoming.

"The world of mankind is too rough and too impure. We as wizard saints must purify the world and its people by creating a new species of mankind. A stronger one," Makarov repeated the words he remembered, "My children will be the next species and with them, we'll come to power. The world will fear the power of Fiore's armies and wizards."

Everyone in the room shook as the master said those words.

"Unfortunately for Cratye, something was missing in his mutations," Makarov looked at his children, "A vital thing that he couldn't figure out. The perfection he created soon started exploding one by one. The horrible thing about what happened those years ago was that his laboratory was underneath the castle. The explosions toppled the ground above and many lives were lost. Thousands of people that resided in the walls of the Crocus were lost in that massive explosion."

"What happened to Cratye after that?" Erza asked.

"He was stripped of his title as wizard saint and was sentenced to death, but on the day of his execution, Cratye vanished from his jail cell. All the guilds at the time were ordered to do a full search of Fiore to find him, but we were all unsuccessful."

"So now he resides in Seven as the right-hand man of the chief. Does the king know of this?"

Makarov shook his head, "You all know as much as I that the small kingdom of Seven is very private about the lives of their people. The king has only met with the chief once during his reign as king and that was to strike a deal for Fiore to set up a border patrol between the two kingdoms. The High Chief was ecstatic about it because it meant that no one from Fiore would be allowed into his kingdom without proper permission and it meant that his people would not venture towards Fiore as well."

Erza tapped her chin as she thought of a plan to get into Seven if the king did give them permission. "Master, what do you need us to do?"

"For now, I must write a letter to the King to request a meeting with him to talk about granting permission into Seven. It will be difficult, but if I explain the situation to the king then maybe we might sway the High Chief to accept us into his kingdom as visitors."

"And what about me, master?" Lucy asked with a frown.

Makarov sighed, "My child, I would suggest you stay put here in the guild to keep you safe from that evil man's grasp, but I know you too well," he smiled at her, "As long as I know that the rest of this bunch will protect you then I will not stop you from tagging along if we are granted access into Seven."

"Don't worry Gramps, I won't let anything happen to her," Natsu said with a smirk.

"As for you," Makarov turned to Kai who stopped crying and was now standing, "I know you will want to go with them."

Kai nodded.

"But you must be careful. For now, we will have to lie about who you are. I know of your last name, but for the sake of your existence, I will not speak it aloud. However, we do need to give you a different name."

"How about Kaito Hoshi?" Kai suggested.

Makarov smiled and nodded, "Very fitting for you, my boy." The master looked at the small group in front of him, "I know all of you are worried about what is ahead of us, but you all know why we must do this."

"To save our future," Lucy said.

"This is going to be a long road ahead of us, but we do have three years to get through this. I do want this done before the time it is meant to happen, so we do this right with no mess up." Makarov looked at Gajeel, Natsu, and Gray.

"Watchu lookin' at me for, old man?" Gajeel said.

"I know how the three of you can be," Makarov said sternly, "No fighting during this mission. This is a very important mission. Consider this a Herculean mission."

"Right," the group said in unison.

"Levy, I want you to keep this book," Makarov pushed the book towards her, "As much as I know how sickening the book may be, it could be of use to you on this mission. It may contain some information that could help you if Cratye did complete his mutts."

Levy nodded and took the book.

Makarov looked at his children in front of him. These few will have the most dangerous job of all his children, but he knew they can do it.

They had just finished going through a war, but it seems the call to war has summoned them once again.

Only this time, it was far more personal.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to greatly apologize to everyone that has been waiting on this chapter for a year now. I have been struggling with personal issues and I had to step away from everything. I have refreshed myself and have finally posted another chapter. Again I am very sorry for having you wait this long for a new chapter.

LONG AWAITED ANSWERS TO REVIEWS (again I am so sorry for the wait)

Crimsonlink310: Yes his mother did beat it into his head, but there's a very huge reason why Kai resents his father. Further down the line of the story, you'll see what happened for this resentment.

moeruhoshi:Yeah I know, I've been doing my best to not try to clump things together lol. As for the whole Gajeel growling to Kai, it's because of the familiarity he seems to feel around the boy. It keeps him and the other slayers on edge about him. And thank you for the suggestion, I will probably try that.

EchizenRyoma: I can't tell you just yet if they're going to have a happily ever after :P

Stavroula99: I know I haven't posted in so long! I am so so sorry about that. I am glad that you've enjoyed the story so far!