Hola mi amigos! It's been a while, hasn't it? But all good things come in due time and all that jazz, so here's another chapter that'll hopefully get you through the week.

Disclaimer: I'm stuck on Tenrō Jima while the real FT gang are actually everywhere else – I don't own them or this land.

Warning: FIGHTING! YEAH! SWEARING AND VIOLENCE! LUCY KICKING ASS! POOR ATTEMPTS AT NALU!

3RD P.O.V.

By the time that Lucy and the others of the attack team finally stood in front of Hades there was already a singing through her veins of adrenaline, and a slight shudder of her hands that made her clench her gloves in anticipation.

She was scared, sure, but there was also a thrill that made her entire body tense and ready, her eyesight sharper and her nose able to smell everything – from the odd medicine scent of Erza's body wraps to the whiff of smoke that she associated with Natsu.

So, when she looked into Hades' one eye beside some of her closest nakama, Lucy smiled, because there was no way that she was going to lose; not when she had her nakama beside her, pushing her towards victory.

"Look at this," Hades boomed out in a voice that may have once been smooth and cultured, but was now much rougher with age and darkness. "A bunch of little fairies dancing in front of me; how quaint."

"It won't be so quaint when we pull your frilly knickers over your head and strangle you with them," Cana snapped at him, eyes sparking with anger. Beside her Gildarts looked on with pride; Lucy could've sworn there were tears in his eyes. Crap, her nakama were fucked up in the head.

Hades scowled at Cana's response, his dark eye flickering with some sort of unholy light. "All of you Fairy brats are so rude; back in my day, we—"

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu interrupted hotly, "you're old; we get it. Now, are you going to shut up and fight us, or are you too scared to?" There was a wolfish grin on Natsu's face as he spoke, like fighting Hades would give him an unreasonable amount of joy; and he called Lucy weird.

Rather than going off into another tirade about his wicked plans like so many of their previous enemies, Hades merely nodded curtly, a hint of cruel amusement curling up his thin lips. "Indeed."

At that one word all of the gathered Fairies tensed up – Erza's sword rattled slightly in her clenched fists – prepared for anything that would come their way. But what they didn't expect was for Hades to stand there, arms folded neatly behind his back as he gazed at them calmly.

Lucy counted at least two stuttered heartbeats before Hades plucked up one thin arched brow. "Well, are you going to come at me, or am I having to go to you?"

A loud snarl came from Lucy's right, signalling the beginning of the battle as Natsu threw himself forwards. His hands were aflame, and his dark eyes sparked dangerously. Those fists came in swinging as he sprinted at Hades, but the older male barely seemed fazed as he ducked Natsu's attempt at knocking him out.

A dance of limbs began then; Natsu darting in and out of Hades's range with legs and hands of fire as Hades cleanly dodged every attack, his beard swaying back and forth as he did so.

It would almost be comical – Natsu's stumbles as he overextended and Hades's bored façade – if only it wasn't for the fact that this was a highly dangerous battle between one of her friends and an S-ranked mage that was powerful enough to knock down Master Makarov.

Luckily Fairy Tail had two of their own S-classed mages in the room, and another who had been proclaimed to be S-class at her previous guild. They also had a bucket full of rage and determination to win that helped put the ball back in their court.

So when Natsu was sent tumbling back across the polished floor of the ship by an almost casual backhand courtesy of Hades, Lucy took the opportunity to dart forwards alongside Cana and Erza.

As they ran, Lucy crossed over to flank Erza's right as Cana took up guard on Erza's other side. It was almost funny, how they clicked so well, even after a month or two of being apart. Lucy felt like moving beside Cana and Erza was as easy as breathing; everything flowed smoothly, without a hitch, and almost instinctively, like there was a thread tying her to the other two girls.

When Erza drew her sword up to swipe at Hades's smug face, Lucy dropped back, prepared to help out wherever she could.

The redhead took charge of the battle, her sword swinging in an unpredictable pattern that was merely dodged by Hades. Her face was twisted in anger and frustration as she continued to press onwards to the Grimore Heart master, her pale skin shining almost as brightly as her sword with sweat.

Abruptly, Hades's hand snapped out to grab at Erza's throat. The girl's eyes went wide as she bent back to avoid it. They snapped back into focus quickly, though, and she barked out an order to her left. "Cana! Point!"

The brunette in question bared her teeth in answer as she rushed forwards to take over Erza's position, hands already digging into her side bag for a card that would help her out.

But Hades wasn't so eager to let Erza go, and he demonstrated his first piece of magic of the fight as his hands glowed a sickening black – like the darkness of a never-ending black hole. Glowing chains whipped out from his hands, groping blindly for Erza; to main her, cut her to shreds, and destroy her and her entire existence.

Lips pressed together in concentration, Erza leapt erratically from side to side, swaying on her bare feet to miss each shot at her body.

Lucy took this opportunity to step up, her gloved hands coming together as she called Erza's name desperately.

The older girl gave no sign that she heard the plea of her name, but instead danced between Hades's attacks and Cana's explosive cards with a grace that showcased her name Titania, Queen of Fairies perfectly. After a few precious seconds of doing this, Erza suddenly took several leaps backwards, right towards where Lucy was waiting.

Much to Natsu, Gildarts, Gray, Juvia and Wendy's shock, Erza didn't even look as she leapt backwards to alight on Lucy's waiting cupped hands. With a show of strength that none watching could have guessed, Lucy threw her arms up, sending Erza back flipping over her head to land safely beside them.

Almost instantly, Lucy's hands shot to her key pouch, drawing a golden key that swiped up to cut through one of Hades's chains before slamming back down towards the ground to open a gate by Lucy's beckoning.

Cancer arrived in a golden flash, barely having time to assess the situation before he was slicing through the links of magic that Hades threw at him. Lucy joined him shortly, her belt unlatching with a chink.

"Damn…" Gray muttered as he watched the flash of gold that was previously Lucy's accessory go wiping around the room, fending off Hades's magic in a dance of light verses darkness. "I didn't know that Lucy was so…"

"Yeah…" Natsu replied breathily, his dark eyes locked on Lucy's lithe form as she danced around Cana and her spirit to lash out at Hades. He blinked suddenly, his eyes lightening up with his usual bright spark of determination. "But what are we standing around here for? Let's go and help!"

Gildarts led the charge this time. "I'll help you, my sweet Cana!"

"Oh my God!" Cana managed to moan in embarrassment as she flung several shuriken cards at Hades, each one just missing. "Just stop!"

A laugh escaped Gildarts mouth as he stopped beside Cana, his coat fluttering around his boots. "Never, Cana-chan." He gave her a saucy wink before turning to Hades, his normally jolly face freezing. "As for you; you tried to hurt my guild, and therefore, my daughter; I'm going to kick your ass."

"I'm sure," Hades drawled, amusement crinkling his lone eye. "But I'd prefer for this talking to stop and the battle to commence." The elderly man seemed to take a moment to assess Gildarts, lips pursed. "If your name does not proceed you, I shall have to take this seriously."

Almost instantly a dark glow enveloped him, spreading out like ink into the air. It brought a taste of terror to Gildarts lips, and the ginger frowned at the barely known sensation.

Juvia stuttered to a stop beside Gray, having prepared to rush Hades beside her beloved. "W-What the hell is this feeling?" She choked on her words, pupils dilated in her deep ocean orbs as she stared in horror at Hades. "T-This…"

Beside her, Gray froze as his heart hammered in his chest, face flushing with the sensation of terror. 'I haven't felt like this since…since Deliora."

Surveying the Fairies who had begun to tremble before him, Hades let out a small smirk before upping the amount of magical power he was leaking out.

With a sharp squeak, Wendy dropped to her knees, thin arms going around her legs as if to protect herself. Erza wished to go to her to comfort her, but she was too busy trying to keep a hold on her swords that trembled and wavered in her hands. The redhead desperately bit her lip, hoping that the pain would snap her out of her fear-filled haze.

It did her justly, and she managed to turn her head to see Gildarts begin to battle Hades; both were clearly just testing each other, but Erza knew from experience that any battle Gildarts was in would get out of hand very easily.

Those that were able to shake off the cold, gripping sensation of Hades magic latched on to whoever was near them and dragged them back out of the way of the upcoming battle – Juvia didn't make a sound as Gray latched onto her wrist and dragged her back, nor did Wendy when Erza scooped her up and herded Cana away, but Lucy let out a short, sharp sound when Natsu swept her off her feet. It didn't last very long as she slid out of his grasp at her earlier convenience, huffing as she shuffled aside to stand by Cancer and dismiss him with a nod of thanks.

Natsu shot her a look she couldn't comprehend, making her turn her head to watch Gildarts fight so that she didn't have to look into his pitch green eyes, even though she could still feel them burning into the side of her head.

A sudden shockwave brought Natsu's attention forwards, and he settled in to wait alongside the others for an advantage in the fight of Gildarts and Hades.

And, oh, what a fight it was.

Gildarts unimaginable power was being thrown around with a savage force that none of the Fairy Tail mages had ever seen before. The ground cracked and caved behind him as he launched into powerful kicks and punches that let out tremendous thunderclaps when they impacted with Hades's unmovable arms and legs.

They two continued to trade blows, moving swiftly throughout the room with faint glows outlining their forms; Gildarts in a pale gold and Hades in a fathomless black. Each stomp of the ground from Gildarts resulted in the very ground quaking and the Fairy Tail members scrambling to get an anchor so that they could stay upright – Juvia was very happy to clutch to Gray for her anchor.

A fist managed to make its way through Hades guard and he was sent stumbling back from the blow. Gray took advantage of this and swiftly slammed his hands against the ground. Ice spread from beneath his fingers, crawling across the floor to slide under Hades's feet and send him slipping for a precious few seconds.

Natsu capitalised this moment and burst forwards in a flare of flames. Fire enshrouded his fists and he let out a primal roar before punching Hades square in the face. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The Grimore Heart master made a sharp gurgling sound as he was launched back. His cloak tangled around him as he slid on his back against the ice Gray had formed, and he couldn't stop himself from smashing into the wall of his guild.

Seeing a brief break in Hades's guard, Juvia stepped up to the challenge, her arms swiping upwards to flick arcs of water at his downed form. "Water Slicer!"

The attacks hit with a dull crash, but Hades seemed to brush it aside as he staggered back to his feet. His eye glared balefully from beneath his bushy brow and he contemptuously swiped some dust from his shoulders before focusing back on the Fairy Tail mages. "Is that the best that Fairy Tail has to offer? After all these years I had hoped—"

"Crash!" Gildarts snapped out, raising one hand to blast out a web of gold that rocketed towards Hades.

The older male laughed scornfully before batting the magic aside with glowing fists to impact against a wall. The wall that cracked and caved under Gildarts' attack, falling down in a great rumble to reveal the rainy skies outside.

"Foolish little Fairies," Hades laughed out, his boots clicking as he walked forwards. "You really think that—"

A sloshing sound cut him off, and Hades looked at Juvia in vague surprise as she raised her arms up, a look of concentration fixated on her face. The rain outside was now pouring in at an impossible angle, the drops splattering against the Fairy Tail mages. Soon, though, they began to swirl and condense above Juvia's raised arms, much to the shock of the people in the room.

"What is this…?" Lucy managed to breathe out before she was ducking her head alongside everyone else to dodge the wall of rainwater that Juvia proceeded to toss at Hades. "Water Nebula!"

"Holy fuck," Cana said eloquently as she watched the water go ramming into Hades, sending him sprawling back against the wall. "That's our Juvia."

Smirking at the sight of a sopping wet Hades on the ground, Gray clasped his hands together before slamming it on the ground once more. The water on the floor quickly began to freeze, and then condense around Hades.

The man struggled as the ice crept up his leg and arms, but it wasn't long until his whole body was frozen in a block of ice; his eye glaring out through the element all the while.

The Fairy Tail mages all stood there for a moment, unsure of what just happened.

"D-Did we win?" Wendy asked hesitantly, her big eyes staring at Lucy and Erza in askance. She got a shrug in answer from Lucy, while Erza looked at Hades thoughtfully.

"Well that wasn't so hard," Natsu said uncaringly, ruffling his spiky hair. "I mean, I didn't—"

The ice surrounding Hades shattered, and the Fairies let out loud sounds of surprise as they were blown back by the force of the explosion of magic. They all went skidding across the ground, each having various degrees of success in standing up.

All of a sudden the flare of magic died down, and Hades was revealed. He was smirking, not a single scratch on him and not a hair out of place as he stepped forwards. It was only the slightly tattered look that his cloak now held that gave away the fact that he had just been in a battle. "Did you really think it would be that easy, little Fairies? I am Hades, the strongest of Grimore Heart and the one who has been chosen to find Zeref; I will not be beaten so easily."

A dark aura began to surround Hades once more, and Lucy found herself choking on air as the pressure pressed down upon her. It was ten times worse than what Hades had unleashed before, and through eyes made hazy by fear, Lucy could see her nakama slumping around her, completely overwhelmed by the malicious presence that was Hades.

Only Gildarts had managed to stay standing, holding Cana up with one arm, but even he was stumbling in his steps. He had faced down Aconologia and came out alive, but right here, right now it felt like he was going to die. Hades had a presence that demanded fear and respect, and the focus he had with his dark magic only made this worse; it felt like he'd never see the sun shine again, nor would he be able to live and breathe without fearing of dropping dead. It was an awful feeling of hopelessness and despair, and Hades revelled in it as he approached the trembling Fairies collapsed on the ground.

"Pathetic," he sneered before kicking out at Erza. The redhead tumbled back head over heels with a sharp cry of pain, having been unable to block the kick that smashed under her chin.

"Weak," Hades continued, picking up a shivering Wendy by the scruff of her neck before tossing her aside to crash into Erza.

"Useless." Gray was backhanded without a single thought, head snapping to the side with a cough filled with blood. He lay on the floor, blood slowly trickling out his bitten mouth, dark eyes barely focusing on the form of Hades as he approached Juvia.

"You hurt Gray-sama!" the blue-haired girl managed to cry out weakly. Her legs wobbled as she attempted to stand upright. "How dare you!"

"No," Hades rumbled out as he stared down at the pathetic female at his feet, "how dare you think that you could defeat me. It makes me sad to say this to the members of a great guild like Fairy Tail, but the likes of you will never amount to anything, so don't even bother to try and get up; you will never succeed."

He reached down to pick Juvia by her throat, intending on snapping her neck to cow the Fairies into silence, but was interrupted by a choked out laugh.

Hades turned to see the stupid blonde girl, on her hands and knees trembling, but with a smirk on her face, glaring up at him. "What is it, you foolish little girl?"

"Never succeed?" Lucy asked him, hysteria making her voice jump several pitches. "Never succeed my ass! If I counted the amount of times someone's told me that I would never amount to anything, that I was too weak and stupid to succeed at life…there wouldn't be enough fingers in this room to count on. But if I had to count the amount of times I stopped because of their words, because I thought I'd never succeed. Well, I can do that on one hand."

Lucy laughed again as she raised a shaking hand to show him her middle finger. "Jokes on you, asshole."

"Ha ha!" another laugh echoed out from the other side of the room. Cana grinned at Hades from where she was slumped against Gildarts, both their arms around each other to help them stand upright. "Lucy's right, old geezer; you can go fuck yourself, because we are Fairy Tail mages, and we never ever give up!"

"We never back down from a challenge," Natsu added with a growl as he stood up on shaky limbs. "That's not how Fairy Tail mages live! We won't give up until whatever's in our way is demolished and our nakama are safe!" The Dragon Slayer glowered at Hades, their eyes locking onto each other. "So, asshole, are you going to move out of our way, or are you going to stand there and get demolished?"

Much to Natsu's, and everyone else's surprise, Hades began to laugh at that. A full on laugh that only ended when he wiped the tears from his eyes and turned something that could loosely be called a proud smile onto them. "I'm glad to see such spirit, especially in Makarov's kids."

"How do you know Master?" Natsu demanded.

"Because I met him when he was a young boy, still a mere member of Fairy Tail," Hades replied with a nostalgic look in his eye. "The last I saw of him was when I appointed him Third Master, and he wasn't so much of a young boy then, but he still had the mind of one."

"W-Why would you appoint him Master?" Cana asked, a terrible suspicion slinking into her mind. "The only person who could do that was…"

"The previous Master?" Hades asked with a chuckle. "Well, it was good luck that I was the Second Master, wasn't it?"

There was various sounds of disbelief from the gathered Fairy Tail members, all shocked that a man this dark could ever be part of their beloved guild.

Natsu was the most vocal once again, stepping forwards to yell angrily at Hades. "You're lying! Fairy Tail mages are good, and you're an evil asshole; there's no way you could ever be part of Fairy Tail!"

It was obvious that Natsu was about to work himself up into a rage, and he was only stopped from continuing when Gildarts said his name quietly, but firmly.

The ginger male didn't look at Natsu when he spoke his name, all of his attention was focused on Hades, who stared back in dark amusement. Gildarts narrowed his eyes slightly before frowning deeply. "You're Purehito, aren't you?"

A dark grin stretched Hades face. "Why, yes I am. I'm glad that someone at least knows their history."

"Purehito?" Wendy asked. "Who is that?"

Gildarts spared the girl a look, one heavy with unspoken horrors. "He was the Second Master of Fairy Tail; he's speaking the truth, guys, he was the Second Master of Fairy Tail."

Loud exclamations of disbelief were thrown around once again, and it wasn't until Juvia stood up and spoke did they stop.

"It doesn't who Hades used to be, and it doesn't matter who Hades is now. Hades is an enemy of Fairy Tail, and Juvia thinks that Gray-sama and the others shouldn't be thinking about the past right now as it doesn't matter. Juvia thinks that right here and now matters, and Juvia wants the others to see that." The blue-haired girl glared at Hades as she said this, determination making her clench her hands by her side. "Juvia is going to fight Hades, no matter who he used to be as Hades is hurting Fairy Tail right now, and that's unforgivable."

At her words the rest of the Fairy Tail mages began to rally, each helping each other up to go and stand in a group.

Erza had her hand clasped in Wendy's as her other held her sword, giving her strength to stand proudly against Hades. Next to them Juvia had a soothing hand on Gray's shoulder, glaring at Hades all the while for daring to make her Gray-sama spill his blood. Behind them stood Gildarts and Cana, both with the exact same angered expression on their face as they took comfort in each other. And over to the side Lucy dragged herself upright, ignoring the hand that Natsu offered her.

"I can help myself," she muttered as she brushed by him to stand behind Wendy, one hand going on the girl's shoulder.

Natsu looked after her with a desponded expression for a moment, his hand still reaching for hers before he dropped it with a scowl and turned where he was to address it towards Hades. "We don't care who you used to be. You're an asshole right now, so that means we're going to kick your ass for being one and hurting our nakama."

In answer, Hades lifted his hand up in a classic gun shape and shot a bullet of pure magic through one of his fingers. It hit Natsu's leg with a loud thwacking noise, making the boy stumble back out of surprise and pain.

"Hm," Hades mused over the shocked cries of the other Fairy Tail mages, "durable one, isn't he." Almost absently the ex-Fairy Tail Master shot more bullets of magic towards Natsu, some missing as Natsu sluggishly weaved back and forth, while others pierced him at various intervals.

"Stop it!" Wendy cried out, horrified by the proceedings. "Stop!" The girl rushed forwards much to everyone's shock, her arms crossing in front of her as she gazed at Natsu desperately. "Vernier X Armour X Arms!"

Both she and Natsu glowed a soft blue, and Hades raised a brow in amusement and curiosity as he realised that the bullets weren't piercing Natsu's skin so much anymore and that the boy was a lot quicker now. "A support magic, eh? That's something you don't see too often; I guess I'll have to make my magic dance more."

The bullets that Hades had been constantly shooting at Natsu began to pick up in speed and abundance, and it was obvious to everyone that he was having trouble staying upright.

"Damn it!" Lucy cursed just before she threw herself forwards, ignoring her friend's pleas. She entered the rain of magical bullets as quickly as she could, wincing every second as another bullet dug into her flesh. But one of her gloved hands managed to latch around the severely weakened Natsu's arm. Using the strength she had been building up for the past few months, Lucy clenched her muscles and swung Natsu around to go flying out of the hail of bullets where he was safely caught by Gray.

After seeing Natsu safe, Lucy allowed herself to refocus on the pain that she was feeling; every bullet was like a knife going into her skin. The pain didn't last long, but there was more than enough bullets to make up for it. She held up her arms to ward off the ones that were aiming for her face, but that proved to be a mistake.

Lucy couldn't help but let out some muffled screams as a bullet dug into the tender flesh of her right hand, the effect of the magic burrowing its way through her gloves to set her nerves on fire with pain.

But when she did so, the bullets stopped raining down on her.

Lowering her arms, expecting for someone to have knocked Hades away and therefore breaking his concentration, Lucy was shocked when she looked straight up into the eyes of Hades, who was standing uncomfortably close to the blonde.

"You have spirit, child," Hades said in his gravelly voice, sending shudders up Lucy's spine. "It's a pity that I must do this to you."

Before Lucy could ask 'What the hell are you going to do to me?' Hades was tossing her across the room. She only managed to get a glimpse of a bright glow engulfing Hades fist before it was suddenly in her face and her arms were raising up to block whatever the hell it was. Almost instantly, agony exploded through her senses, originating from her arms and crawling its way up to her shoulders to the slide down her spine to seep into every part of her body.

Lucy was sure she was screaming, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of the explosion happening around her. Flames engulfed her, holding her in burning hot embrace until darkness took over, dragging her down…down…down…

But Lucy didn't want to go down into the depths again. She had already been knocked unconscious so many times in her life and once, just once, she would like to fight back; to struggle upwards to the light where her nakama were waiting for her.

She would not be a burden. She would not be useless. SHE WAS NOT WEAK!

With a great wrench of effort Lucy pulled herself from the abyss of unconsciousness to go hurtling right into the bright burn of pain and consciousness.

The first thing she realised was that her arms were on fire. Perhaps not literally, but they felt like they were slowly being eaten away by a great inferno. It was more a bruising pain filled with sharp stabs that felt like fires had been lit on her limbs, but Lucy felt so distorted that she could safely say that she wasn't even sure if it was her arms she was feeling, and maybe not her legs; her head was swimming in progressive circles, she really needed to focus.

The second thing she realised was that it was dark and that she should really open her eyes now.

And she did so with a huge amount of effort, tearing her thoughts away from the pain and just trying to focus on breathing.

The third thing that Lucy realised was that someone was calling her name.

When she opened her eyes, blinking the haze out of them, Lucy was met with the sight of a familiar boy running towards her.

"Shit," Natsu muttered desperately as he slid to a stop beside the feebly stirring Lucy. "You're okay, Luce. It's all good. It's fine. You're okay."

But she wasn't.

When Natsu had seen Lucy go flying backwards from the explosion that Hades had tossed at her face he's nearly felt his heart stop. There was a great scream of pain from the blonde before she had been swallowed up by flames, and that was more than enough to break away from his nakama, leaving them to deal with Hades as he ran to Lucy.

"Your arms," Natsu growled out, "damn it."

Hehad seen her arms go up to block the attack, so he wasn't too surprised to see that they were the most injured part of her battered and singed body. But what was bad was that her gloves – the gloves that represented how far Lucy had come from that fight in her apartment, the gloves that mocked Natsu every time she wore them, about how they had stolen Lucy's innocence – they were on fire.

Natsu allowed himself another quick curse before leaning down towards Lucy, opening his mouth to suck in the flames that were threatening to burn up Lucy's arms.

When he had sucked up and eaten every last flicker of flames from Lucy's arms – feeling significantly more refreshed because of it – Natsu took the time to study Lucy's arms, to see how extensive the injuries were.

Much to his surprise the gloves that Lucy adored so much were crumbling and peeling off her skin, fluttering to the floor in tiny red scraps that reeked of her blood. The skin underneath the gloves were red and slightly raw looking, but a hundred times better than what they would've been had they not had the gloves extra protection.

But the thing that shocked Natsu so much was the scars that Lucy had on her right arm.

There were obviously from the mission she had gone off on for so long, the one that she had when she had returned to the guild and he had apologised, but they were still so red and obvious, even after over a month of healing.

The three red scars curved across Lucy's skin – the skin that wasn't so pale and soft as he remembered – and one of them…One of them went straight through her beloved guild mark, making the elegant fairy ripple oddly.

A whisper of his name had Natsu turning from the terrible scars to focus on Lucy's face.

Her brown eyes were slightly hazy in pain, but it was obvious that she conscious of what was going on. She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head to clear out the cobwebs and attempting to stand up.

Natsu wanted to protest against her moving, but he understood that they were in a battle and that nowhere was safe. And judging by the sounds of the battle behind him, they needed everyone they could get.

"Damn that hurt," Lucy gasped as she heaved herself upright with Natsu's guiding hands. "Never again am I getting hit by an explosion; bad idea."

Despite everything, Natsu couldn't help but break out into a grin at that. "Once a weirdo, always a weirdo."

Lucy shot him a look as she brushed off his hands, but there was a small smile playing around her lips. "Funny, Natsu. We're in the middle of a battle and you're still cracking jokes at my expense." The blonde's eyes suddenly widened dramatically and she pushed past Natsu to look at the battle still unfolding. "Shit! Right. We're still fighting against Hades. There's no time to waste; we have to go and help!"

She leapt forwards to charge into the battle again, but Natsu was quick to grab her shoulders and tug her to a halt. "Careful, Luce, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not a damsel-in-distress anymore," the blonde replied over her shoulder as she tore free and ran ahead. "Remember that, Natsu!"

"Aye," he replied sullenly before perking up at the thought of beating Hades. "Wait for me!"

Lucy didn't bother to reply as she went crashing into the melee of magic that Hades and her nakama were throwing around. Her hands went to her key pouch, and she painfully pulled a key out to summon some help.

Taurus arrived in a flash and a loud moo. Already having been made aware of the situation by Virgo and Cancer, the spirit wasted no time before charging alongside Erza to swipe at Hades with his axe.

When Erza and Taurus were forced to retreat by several chains swinging at them, Wendy took over and spat out a massive roar of air that sent Hades tumbling back to where Gray was waiting patiently.

The Ice mage already had a sword of ice in his hands, ready to go by the time Hades stumbled into his range. The Grimore Heart Master barely had a chance to catch his breath before he was fending off Gray's attack' each swing of his sword threatening to chop off Hades's body parts. But Hades prevailed and shattered Gray's sword with a few well-placed bullets.

Gray dropped back without a fuss, though and allowed Gildarts to step up to send a wave of magic crashing into Hades. It sent him back a fair few paces, right to where Cana had set up a trap created from selected magic tarot cards.

Arcs of lightening exploded from the cards, charging Hades with explosive energy that had him smoking slightly afterwards and cursing Cana out.

Then, for the dramatic last piece, Juvia came in swinging with a cane of water, smashing Hades right into the path of Natsu's Sword Horn.

A ragged exhausted cheer came from the Fairy Tail members as Hades went crashing into another wall, copious amounts of smoking unfurling from around him to smother him in a screen of impenetrable darkness.

"'M Sure that's got him," Cana wheezed out, really feeling the toll of having used so much magic today. "If not, we're fucked."

"We're all out of magic," Erza panted, leaning heavily on her sword. "There's no way we can keep this up any longer. The only one who could keep going is Gildarts."

Said man grimaced slightly, clearly not pleased in being singled out. "My Crash magic isn't suited to this battle; whatever I throw at him he can deflect or nullify. We'll be in stalemate until the person with more magical energy wins, and I'm pretty sure I'd lose that battle."

A chuckle drifted out from the cloud of smoke that covered Hades, and the Fairy tail members felt their heart sink at the sound. A convenient breeze blew away the lingering smoke, and Hades was revealed, tattered and slightly bruised, but better-off than the Fairies.

Hades sent the collected group a smirk. "You're very right. If we continue this the way it's going, you cannot win. No matter how many of you there are, or how strong you are, you will lose here because you do not follow the right path of magic. You all believe that light magic is where true power lies, but I'm here to tell you that true power only lies with Zeref! You can only—"

"Shut up!" Natsu barked out, anger evident in his eyes and stance as he stood beside his nakama. "You don't know anything! You're so old and lost that you can't even see what's in front of you! You claim that you're the most powerful and yet you live like you're already dead, like you've got nothing to lose!" Natsu flung his hands out to gesture at his comrades, fire blazing in his eyes. "But true power comes from living with your life on the line, risking everything to save those that are precious to you; that's true strength!"

"You're a foolish brat," Hades remarked right before he raised his hands up to point them at Natsu. "I'm going to enjoy wiping your life from existence." His hands glowed with the beginnings of Amaterasu, but they were diminished in the bright flash that was a lightning bolt streaking through a hole in the roof – created by Gildarts getting thrown up there – to strike Hades.

Much to the Fairy Tail member's joy and Hades shock and dismay, Laxus Dreyar appeared in another flash of lightning to punch Hades in the face with a fist full of his element.

And thus began an ass kicking of the degree Lucy had never seen in her life.

She had been unable to see the fight of Gajeel and Natsu against Laxus all those months ago, and had never seen him fight because of his exile, so it was a shock to see just how powerful he was. It was more evident than Gildarts own legendary strength as Laxus held himself in a way that was deadly; a snake ready to strike. And he showed no mercy as he fought against Hades, flashes of lightning and chains the only thing that was breaking up the flurry of fists and feet.

Then, all of a sudden Laxus was speaking words of wisdom and strength to them, right before he blocked an attack that was heading for Natsu and was flung from the ship.

A scream of surprise and worry worked its way through many of the Fairies throats as they looked towards where Laxus had disappeared, but Lucy's focus was on Natsu.

Natsu, who was beginning to spark with electricity, who was looking dangerous and, dare she say it…intriguing. This was a side of Natsu she had barely seen before; all heated eyes and words, and focused thoughts of winning for his nakama's sake. For her sake as well.

And so Lucy couldn't help but cheer when Natsu, sparking with electricity and flames attacked Hades with renewed ferocity, each punch exploding fantastically against Hades and each kick and elbow sending small shockwaves throughout the ship.

Of course their luck had to end after a particularly powerful lightning and flame roar from Natsu hit Hades and he still got up.

Obviously Cana was thinking the same thing as Lucy was as she shook her fist angrily at Hades, spitting out several curse words. "Just fucking pass out, you old git! We're all going to get old before your wrinkly ass humps its way to the grave the way this is going! Have some courtesy and fucking die already, asshat!"

"Cana-chan!" Gildarts shouted, sounding scandalised. "Who taught you such language? I shall—"

"As much as this amuses me," Hades said in his deep, gravelly voice as he dusted off the rubble that had landed on him from being launched into yet another wall by Natsu's last attack. "I believe that we need to stop kidding around and start getting real. This is the most exercise I've done in a decade and I wish to finish stretching my limbs."

His hands went up to the eye patch he wore over his left eye, grinning slightly. "I'm going to show you the Abyss of Magic! Demon's Eye!"

The eye patch was removed to reveal a swirling vacuum of red, so horribly disgusting that Lucy had to turn away for a moment.

Erza caught Lucy's eye for a second, the smallest traces of panic in the redhead's expression. 'Are you okay?' Erza mouthed at Lucy, who nodded queasily in response. She could sense Hades' magic building once more and dread made her stomach roll; she was scared for what was about to happen.

"Behold," Hades continued, spreading his arms out to convey something glorious. "The power I hold at my fingertips!"

The mountains of rubble that was lying around the room, having been created over the course of the fight began to tremble slightly before almost dissolving into piles of goo. They then began to stretch and elongate, darkening and twisting to create demons with red, soulless eyes that snarled and screeched at the Fairy Tail members.

The dread in Lucy's stomach started to fight with the fear trickling through her veins, becoming a clashing whirl of distress that fought its way up her throat and made it hard for her to breathe. She could feel her knees weakening again, and her arms went out to catch herself before she could hit the ground.

White-hot pain laced up her arms, and that was more than enough to clear her visions of the shadows that had been creeping up on her. She blinked once or twice to get rid of any residue before turning her gaze to her guildmates who were all in various stages of fear.

Lucy could spot Juvia huddled up to Gray and Wendy literally weeping in fear, but the others were lost to her through the dark shimmering forms of the demons that were swarming in on them.

Suddenly, a flash of pink caught her eye, and Lucy swivelled to see Natsu, beaten and lifeless wavering on the edge of a chasm in the floor that had been created by one of Gildarts more explosive kicks.

Without realising it, Lucy was already up and scrambling through the demons on the floor, hands reaching out for Natsu as he fell back. He was graceful as he arched backwards, hands limb by his side as he did so, and Lucy lunged forwards to clasp one of them in her own before he could fall away from her forever.

Natsu's weight pulled painfully on her arms, but Lucy bit her lips to stop herself from crying out, digging her booted feet into a crack in the ground to stop herself from falling in beside Natsu, who was looking up at Natsu with heavily lidded eyes and a tired expression.

"Come on, Natsu," Lucy said thickly, feeling the presence of demons closing in behind her. "We have to keep fighting. Come on, please. We need up here to fight beside us."

It was clear that Natsu was barely holding onto consciousness, having used up so much magical power that day, but Lucy could only hope that he was able to scrape up some more power from tomorrow so that he could keep going. He was their light in the dark, the one who pushed them forwards with his words and actions; they couldn't do it without him.

"Natsu…" The name come out in the form of a sob as Lucy attempted to pull the heavy boy up with her damaged arms. "Please, Natsu. We can't do this without you. We need you." Lucy let out a small wail of anguish as she felt a demon latch onto her leg with cold, clawed hands. "Damn it! I NEED YOU!"

But it was too late; Natsu's eyes had closed and he was completely unconscious. There was nothing he could do.

Lucy let out a small terrified scream as the demon yanked her upwards, her arms straining with the effort of holding into Natsu. And to make matters worse she could see his scarf slipping from around his neck, unravelling and threatening to flutter off into the chasm to never return.

Lucy couldn't let that happen; that scarf was the only thing besides his abilities that Natsu had to remember Igneel, his father. She couldn't let it disappear, Natsu would be absolutely destroyed.

So with a super human effort, Lucy held onto Natsu's hand with one of her own as the other whipped out to snatch up the scarf before it could blow away. Her fingers just managed to close around the fabric before she was thrown violently to the ground by the demon holding her, Natsu's unconscious body being flung up to land beside her with a thud.

Quickly winding the scarf around her neck so that she wouldn't lose it – ignoring the comforting scent of campfire and pine that Natsu always had around him – Lucy staggered upright to see Hades smirking at her, his small army of demons already holding her friends captive.

"Quite a feisty thing, aren't you?" Hades asked rhetorically as he studied Lucy's tense form lying on the ground. "You managed to break free of my magic and save your friend; commendable, but worthless in the whole run. You're all going to die here anyway."

As Hades continued to talk, Lucy clutched at the scarf around her neck. Hundreds of thoughts and plans were whizzing through her head, being discarded one after another as it was too foolish, or it wouldn't work at all. Then, a plan crept into her mind. One so simple that it could work without too many hitches; granted that the demons didn't stop her first, or Hades, that she could do it with such a low supply of magic, and without Gemini or someone to amplify her magic.

There was no time for second guessing, though as Hades was already winding down his speech – he sure did love his speeches – and Lucy was running out of time. She had to do it.

With one last look at Natsu and a tug on his scarf to give herself strength, Lucy rolled away from the demon hovering above her. She then had to duck and weave as several attempted to grab her, all the while dodging cracks in the ground from the previous battles, but at last she was in the clear and free.

"Going to run away, are you?" Hades called after the blonde who was currently running towards the opening of the ship created by one of Gildarts' attacks. "Not something I would expect a Fairy Tail mage to do, but how could I know; they've all seemed to have changed drastically over the years. Fairy Tail's just a mere shadow of itself; weak and insubstantial."

At those words Lucy stopped and whirled around, glaring at Hades through the large gap of demons. Her brown eyes were fierce and her stance strong as she stood her ground. "Fairy Tail is not weak! They have never been and never will be! You are the one who is a shadow! So caught up in your hatred and despair that you have turned into a dark twisted memory of what you once had been, Purehito!"

"Insolent brat," Hades muttered to himself before flicking his hands uncaringly at his demon constructs. "Kill her. Kill her now."

The demons began to close in on Lucy, but the girl continued to stand her ground even as her nakama screamed for her to run away from the clutches of the demons.

"I will never run!" Lucy said, chin set proudly as she raised her arms up. "Because I'm a Fairy Tail mage!" An invisible wind swept into the room suddenly, raising her tangled hair up around her ears and creating an eerie effect. It was only amplified as Lucy began to glow softly, eyes screwed shut in concentration, ignoring the demons prowling towards her.

Elsewhere, on the waters just outside the island, Ultear was crying softly as she used her magic to raise up the Tenrō and restore Fairy Tail's magic.

"I hope this makes up for a little of my sins," she sighed, "Gray…"

Back in Grimore Heart's guild, Lucy's eyes snapped open to reveal golden glowing orbs that made Cana and Erza's heart leap with anticipation.

"She's doing it!" Cana said happily. "She's really going to do it!"

Lucy's head flung back and words began to spew from her mouth, echoing eerily throughout the room.

"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...
All the stars, far and wide...
Show me thy appearance...
With such shine."

"What are you doing, girl?" Hades howled out as his guild faded away, only to be replaced by an abyss of space. Lucy was the only light in the darkness, glowing a golden colour that shone as bright as a star. That was until softly glowing planets of all colours began to appear around Hades, all of them drifting towards Lucy to collect in a massive group.

"Oh Tetrabiblos...
I am the ruler of the stars...
Aspect become complete...
Open thy malevolent gate.
Oh 88 Stars of the heaven... "

"Stop!" Hades screamed out, panic beginning to set in as he realised the heavenly magic that was being invoked. "Stop it!"

It was too late.

"Shine!
Urano Metria!"

To the Fairy Tail mages watching all they saw was Lucy glowing softly as she droned out the spell, Hades becoming more and more agitated as his demons failed to get close to the pure magic. Then Hades began to scream and scream at Lucy, demanding her to stop to no avail.

Finally, everyone had to avert their eyes as a great flash of light washed over them, comforting and cleansing in its aura. The grips that the demons had on them were torn away in the haze of light and when the Fairies opened their eyes the demons were all gone.

Hades stood ramrod straight in the centre of the room, still facing Lucy. He let out a moan before collapsing backwards, his body steaming slightly.

Lucy followed not long after, her legs looking like they had been cut from underneath her she dropped so fast.

"Shit," Gray cursed before getting up to sprint towards Lucy. "She's used too much magical power."

"Haven't we all?" Erza asked wryly as she vaulted over the chasm that stretched across the floor. "Our luck is pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Aye," Gray agreed quietly as he slid to a stop with Erza beside Lucy, Wendy and Juvia following closely behind as Gildarts and Cana pulled up the rear, Natsu draped in between them.

Wendy instantly knelt down beside Lucy, passing glowing hands over the blonde. "She's alright; depleted of magic, but that will pass shortly and some burns on her arm which I'll heal right now."

"I'm damn glad you're here, Wendy," Cana said with a sigh as she shrugged Natsu's arm off her shoulder and let Gildarts pick him up. "We all just need some TLC from the likes of you and we're good for life."

Wendy blushed slightly from the compliment, but didn't turn her head from Lucy. "Thank you, Cana."

"No problem, kiddo."

When Wendy sat back after a few more seconds of healing, she was proud to announce that Lucy was fine and would wake up shortly. Gray and Erza hefted the blonde up and dragged her outside of the destroyed guild and into the sunshine that was emerging from behind the rainclouds with the guidance of Juvia as Gildarts, Wendy and Cana followed after, Natsu safely wrapped up in Gildarts' arms.

"Juvia is glad that's over," the woman said with a sigh as she sat down beside Gray on the ground, uncaring that her torn dress was getting wet from the damp ground. "Juvia was scared that Juvia and the rest of Fairy Tail wouldn't make it."

"Ah," Gildarts chuckled as he sat down on a rock, Natsu leaning against, "that's the thing, beautiful; Fairy Tail mages always make it through."

"Ew, Dad," Cana whined, thwacking Gildarts on the leg as she sat down with Erza, Lucy's head quickly being situated into the redhead's lap. "Stop flirting with my nakama."

Gildarts simply laughed again, not sounding apologetic at all. "Sorry, my little love pea."

"DAD!"

The rest of the battle group couldn't but crack tired grins and laugh slightly alongside Gildarts at Cana's mortification.

That was how the rest of Fairy Tail found them; sprawled out in the sun in front of a ruined husk of what used to be a state-of-the-art ship, laughing with two unconscious people in their midst.

"You brats," Makarov sighed with a proud tone in his voice as he marched alongside the rest of his children to greet the victors, having just scared off lesser members of Grimore Heart and collected Happy, Carla and Pantherlily along the way. "You're all going to give me a heart attack someday."

Beside him Laxus smiled softly, having been picked up and forgiven by his grandfather along the way. "Hopefully not too soon, old man; we still need a guiding hand to help us."

"That you do," Makarov agreed as he walked closer to his brats. "But you are finding your way now, and I couldn't be prouder." The tiny man looked up at Laxus, a smile fixed on his wrinkled face. "I'm proud of you, Laxus."

The smile on Laxus's face bloomed and he fought back the tears that threatened to come to his eyes. "Thank you, jiji."

"Now," Makarov said snappily, breaking the moment. "To scream at some brats for nearly scaring me half to death!"

Lucy P.O.V.

When I woke up, it was to a blue sky above my head and a blanket beneath me, cushioning the hard stone ground.

Taking a few deep breaths, I allowed myself to let out a few tears. We'd won. We'd actually won! I had won! I'd seen Hades go down before I'd lost consciousness, and that meant I'd done it! I wasn't weak anymore; I could face anything in my path and overcome it. I was strong, confident and nothing and no one could ever bring me down! I was—

"Luce?"

An undignified squeak erupted from my lips as I rolled over to see Natsu's face right beside me, the rest of his body laid out on a bedroll of his own. Bandages covered his face here and there, and his eyes drilled into my own still watery ones, but his lips were downturned and his brow furrowed, like he was trying to puzzle something out.

Trying to discreetly shift back to gain some room without him noticing, I offered Natsu a hesitant smile. "H-Hey! You're okay. That's good. I was hoping that you were okay. I mean, I did have to leave you for a while and—"

"Was this while I was unconscious?" Natsu asked bluntly, a stupid expression replacing his quizzical one from before. "'Cause I don't remember much after attacking Hades and him getting back up to summon those demon-thingies." He looked at me hopefully, his face looking very young at that moment. "But we won, didn't we? That's why we're here and, you know…"

"Not dead," I finished for him bluntly. "Yeah, I'm guessing we won. I passed out not too long after you, though."

"I heard about that," Natsu muttered, rolling until he was propped up on one elbow to peer down at me, his shaggy hair curling around his ears. "What happened after I passed out? I heard from Gray that you saved me from falling to my doom or something."

I laughed nervously, raising my hand – wow was it bandaged heavily – to tug nervously on my hair as I looked back up at the blue sky overhead. "I wouldn't say it was that drastic or anything…"

"Lucy, look at me." Natsu's massive hands engulfed my own as he tugged them to make me turn, but he was careful in doing so, conscious of my wounds.

I was hesitant to look in his eyes because of all of the strong emotions that I could find there – a constant swirl that I couldn't help but get lost in – but I eventually did and found myself pinned in place by his (excuse the pun) burning gaze.

"Luce," Natsu repeated, "you saved my life. If it wasn't for you, I would've fallen down that chasm and died."

"Hey," I said softly, blanching at such a thought, "don't say that. You're Natsu Dragneel; the most indestructible idiot in Fiore, there's no way you could've died."

A wry grin curled up Natsu's lips, making my gaze flicker to them for a moment before I wrenched them back up to meet his eyes – what the hell was happening to me.

"Even so," said Natsu, "you looked out for me and saved me, even after all I did to you."

Swallowing slightly at those heavy words, I bit my lip as I thought over how I would respond. It was such a serious statement that was basically asking for my forgiveness. And looking into Natsu's surprisingly fragile eyes, I found the answer there.

"It's okay, Natsu," I said firmly, "nakama forgive their nakama, even if they're an idiot who needs to think before he speaks."

Natsu's trademark grin spread across his face, flashing every single one of his white teeth and I couldn't help but respond in kind.

"You're the best, Luce!" Natsu cried out before flinging himself down on me to give me a hug.

I struggled against it, face flaming as Natsu draped himself all over me, arms wrapping around to give me a tight bear hug, but I found myself giving up pretty quickly; there was no getting out of this.

"Ara, ara," a familiar voice spoke up from out of my vision, sending waves of icy cold panic through my veins. "What do we have here? Some cute babies being made, I hope."

"Mira!" I wailed out, struggling out of Natsu's grasp to stand up and glare at the white-haired girl who was giggling nearby. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"No," the older girl agreed, "it's adorable."

Heat bloomed across my cheeks as she continued to laugh, and my temperature only spiked higher as Natsu stood up to throw an arm across my shoulder, his naked and bandaged chest pressing against my back.

Mirajane's amused laughter rung in my ears as I struggled to get away from Natsu once again, but I couldn't help but laugh too; everything was okay and I had my partner back. What could go wrong in the world?

A lot apparently, in only a few minutes.

Another roar made the ground beneath me rumble, and I could only stare in horror as Acnologia batted away any attempt of an attack my nakama threw at it.

The great dragon had arrived in a howl of thunderous cries and wingbeat, making the ground shake beneath us. I wasn't quite sure who had put a name to the beast, but suddenly we were all crying its name in fear and despair.

We had just survived Grimore Heart and now this? This was awful. This was painful. This was life-ruining.

And even though Master had told us to run and live, we had all come back because if we died, we'd sure as hell die together, fighting to the last.

But I had no magic to give and my whip wasn't making a single scratch against the dragon's hide' I was once again worthless, useless and weak. I was insignificant to this one creature, and that helped me realise and remember how small I was in the cosmos of the universe.

But such thoughts had to wait for another time, perhaps

(if there ever was going to be one)

because I needed to focus on here and now with my nakama.

And that the fact that Acnologia was rising into the sky, shaking off any attempt to hold it down and preparing to breathe out the mightiest dragon roar I will ever experience in my life.

"Oh Mavis," I muttered to myself as despair wrapped its icy hand around my heart, "please have mercy on our souls."

And then Natsu was suddenly beside me, wiping off my tears with one of his warm hands as the other clutched at my right. "C'mon, Lucy, we're all in this together; until the very end."

I managed to give him a pained smile, keeping my mouth shut in fear of what would come spilling out of I did dare open it. Natsu returned it was a much more watered-down version of his usual grin, tugging me over so that I could grab hands with sweet little Wendy, who was much too young to die.

The blue-haired girl that I'd come to love offered me a tear-streaked smile as she clutched at Carla's paw, small sniffles wracking her tiny frame.

"I'm sorry, Wendy," I whispered to her as I squeezed her hand softly. "I love you, sweetheart."

Wendy's face was filled with shock for a moment, before her hand clung to mine with a fierce determination and her eyes softened to a soft chocolate colour. "I love you too, Lucy."

We both looked forwards, locking gazes with the people that we'd grown to love over the past year.

Cana offered me a smirk from where she was standing beside her father, but there was no usual confidence in her dark eyes. Instead, they glimmered slightly, reflecting the light that managed to pass Acnologia's giant girth as it hovered above us.

Nearby Erza smiled softly, seeming at peace with what was going to happen; I imagined that this experience was something that wasn't new to her, and that made my heart wrench.

My eyes blurred over the Strauss siblings, tears clouding the vision of them leaning against each other, whispering words of love and comfort to one another. Then it was passing Levy and Gajeel, my little bookworm's hand dwarfed by the ex-Phantom Lord mage, who had proved his worth over and over, and had made so many amends.

I made eye contact with Gajeel and mouthed to him 'Protect her in the next life for me, okay?'

Rather than brushing it off or scowling in reply, Gajeel offered me a courteous nod before turning back to Levy; we both understood each other, there was nothing else to say.

I caught a snatch of Laxus and Master side-by-side, happily reunited for a few bittersweet moments before the end came. And Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow were right beside their leader, looking strong and proud to be with him once more.

Gray and Juvia were both quiet, holding hands tightly despite the fact that Gray hated physical contact. It showed both that Gray was accepting of Juvia, which was good, but also that he feared what was to come and wished to seek comfort, which was tragic. But I flashed Gray a quick smile that he returned, and I felt a little bit better that he could do so at a time like this.

There was a squeeze at my right hand and I managed to look up to see Natsu smiling a smile I'd never seen on him before at me right before everything was engulfed in a flash of light.

Then there was darkness.

Gfuiehtf,WM1X R EFHWEO

I'M DYING THIS WAS SO BAD! I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG AND WAS SO SHITTY WITH ITS TERRIBLE FIGHT SCENE AND ITS CRAPPY ATTEMPTS AT ROMANCE BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME OKAY GOODBYE!