The camp outside of Mount Keji was just as dismal as it had been before Simon left, however, after his leaving, there was an even more depressing feeling in the camp. The night was late and everyone was trying to get some semblance of sleep, except for Storm who had offered to take first watch. The older boy watched the mountain coldly and sat in the still silence, his eyes dancing from the ominous shadowed mountain to the golden-red rune cage around it that flickered lightly like starlight.

Emma had passed out and was snoring, Tug snuggled next to her, occasionally kicking out with a claw but seemingly content next to the girl. Victoria was out like a light, recuperating from her hellish day and sleeping soundly. Kakumi was next to Victoria, sleeping lightly and waking up now and again, unable to find rest through his anxious mind. Ame and Silver were snuggled up together by the fire, near Storm's feet, sleeping soundly. Igneel had been sleeping but Storm noticed the boy was thrashing about and whimpering some words. With a steady hand that had calmed many of Ame's and Silver's nightmares, Storm stook Igneel gently and awakened the boy who lay a few feet away.

"NASHI!" Igneel cried as he awoke. He looked around wildly for a moment before his eyes rested on Storm and he deflated, biting his lip and staring at the ground in shame. "Sorry."

Storm didn't have anything to console the boy with as he was just as distraught, so he gave the boy a disheartened ruffle of his mess of blonde hair and resumed his watch.

Igneel sighed and rolled over, trying to fall back to sleep but found that task near impossible. The longer he lay, the more his mind wandered and found things to bother him and keep him awake. The stone in his side, the branch under his ankle, the sound of insects buzzing in his ears, an ant exploring his forearm... and then the prodding of Capricorn's key in his side.

Capricorn!

Igneel jumped to his feet and pulled out the golden key the glimmering in the firelight. If anyone could help or tell him what he should do, it was Capricorn! 

"I gotta go!" Igneel hissed to Storm.

"Where?" Storm asked.

"I'll be right back, I've just got to talk to Capricorn!" Igneel explained quickly before he tiptoed past the slumbering Fullbuster twins and slipped into the forest. He walked until he was certain he was far enough away from the camp, but not to far away as to not make out the fire's light aways behind him. He held out the golden key and recited the words his mother had taught him verbatim.

"Open! Gate of the Seagoat: Capricorn!" Igneel called. The sound of a doorbell filled his ears and a flash of golden light blinded him. When his senses returned to him, the familiar well-dressed goat was standing there, his sunglasses glinting in the moonlight.

"Master Igneel! Where have you been!? You're mother's been worried sick and has every celestial spirit ordered to - "Capricorn's lecture died out when he saw Igneel's expression. "What happened?"

Igneel swallowed a lump in his throat and looked to Capricorn nervously, "Promise you won't be mad?"

"I think I'm much more concerned over what you're mother is going to do to you when you return home, but no, Master Igneel, I am not mad per se, merely worried and in this instance I will refrain from scolding you."

Igneel took a large breath and told Capricorn about everything that had happened. About how he went off with Emma, Tug, Simon, Ame, and Silver to find his sister, about how they'd walked into a trap, about how Nashi and the other dragon slayers had been taken away, about his nightmares, about his worries. Capricorn did as Capricorn had always done and listened intently until Igneel was finished before nodding and sitting down across from the boy. Igneel did the same, getting into a quick criss-cross applesauce position and leaning forward, eager for advice.

"What should I do, Capricorn?" Igneel pleaded. "What if Nashi's in a lot of trouble?"

"From the sounds of it, it seems that both you and Nashi have been in a lot of trouble," Capricorn explained. "You are not well-equipped to handle a rescue mission, Igneel. Whoever is responsible for all of this is clever and therefore dangerous. The best advice I could give you is to stay safe until I can inform your mother of this and send for help."

"But what about Nashi! What if she's in real trouble! What if she's gonna die?" Igneel cried desperately.

"Is running in and getting yourself killed going to help her?" Capricorn asked.

"I can't leave her, Capricorn!! I can't, I can't!!" Igneel argued. He knew he was acting like a child but it was all too frustrating. He wanted to scream and kick and fight back, if Nashi was in his place, she wouldn't have hesitated and would've just marched through the rune cage and beaten up whoever was in her way.

Capricorn put his hand on Igneel's shoulder and sighed.

"Miss Nashi is a very strong girl, but the situation does concern me," Capricorn admitted.

"Should I try and rescue her?" Igneel asked earnestly.

"Does it truly matter what I say, you're going to try anyway, isn't that right young Igneel?" Capricorn asked knowingly.

Igneel shifted on his feet and fiddled with the scarf around his neck. "I... I wouldn't go if you ordered me not too... If you thought it was stupid and childish and super bad. But if you thought that maybe I can do it, if maybe I'm strong enough, then I... then I wouldn't want to risk Nashi's getting hurt!"

Capricorn nodded. 

"I can't explicitly tell you that I don't think you can do it," Capricorn weighed his options carefully. "You're a very gifted mage and you are able to do things now that your mother couldn't accomplish years into her training. You are... and I know I shouldn't inform you of this, but you are more fit to fight foes than your mother was when she took on the Master of Grimoire Heart."

"Really!?" Igneel cried in amazement.

"You can summon two spirits at once, right?" Capricorn's question hung in the air like a cloud.

"I... I can," Igneel nodded. "But... but I'm not too good at fighting."

"You're not mature enough here," Capricorn pointed to Igneel's head, "Or strong enough physically. You're still unsure of your methods and you're only just learning to master the art of celestial magic and the strategy necessary to wield it. That is why your mother ordered me to be your spirit and not a heavy hitter such as Tauros. You want to face every problem head-on, like your father, but spirits aren't meant to be shields or tanks."

"I know that!" Igneel argued.

"But do you know what to do instead?" Capricorn asked.

Igneel huffed, "No."

"Your commands come too late, you're easily overwhelmed in battle, you don't yet understand how to use spirits to build off each other or your strategy, you hardly strategize at all, Master Igneel. You would do poorly with inexperienced spirits," Capricorn explained. "You wouldn't stand a chance."

Igneel blinked furiously to try and not cry.

"That being said... You have unmatched potential. Your magic power is amazing and it feeds off of your emotions," Capricorn elaborated. "The rest will come with time, but for now, with two strong spirits by your side who know how to build off one another and make up for your inexperience, yes... I do believe that there is a chance of success, as long as we fight on our terms."

Igneel absorbed every word from the spirit's mouth eagerly.

"Two?" Igneel asked, enthralled.

Capricorn pulled a familiar golden key from his suit pocket and handed it to Igneel. "Your mother asked Crux to bring this to me in the hopes that you would summon me. It is Leo's key."

"Loke," Igneel murmured in awe as he looked at the key his mother wielded so often.

"Yup, and you are going to give your mother a heart attack," a new voice sounded out, sending Igneel jumping out of his skin and whirling around to find Loke standing behind him.

"You're - Oh WOW!" Igneel gawked. "I didn't even have to SUMMON you!"

"Nope," Loke sighed. "But you're mother is going to get several grey hairs and wrinkles because of you and that's going to be a shame because it's going to really ruin her jaw-dropping sexiness."

"Do you have the hots for my mom?" Igneel asked, slightly put-off by that statement.

"Oh, everyone has the hots for your mom," Loke smirked with a wink.

"That's gross," Igneel scrunched up his nose and grimaced.

"Anyway, I hear we're doing something stupid, right Capricorn?" Loke asked the goat. "Sorry, was totally eavesdropping on the conversation the whole time through my key."

"You can DO THAT!?" Igneel's jaw dropped.

"Yes, although I suspect Mistress Lucy won't be too happy with us if we proceed as it will put you Master Igneel in danger," Capricorn reminded Loke, ignoring the stunned child. "We must consider our moves carefully, Leo."

"Alright, alright. But little Nashi is in trouble, right? We're not just going to sit here while we can do something about that," Loke chuckled.

"But doing something would put Igneel in harm's way," Capricorn reminded Loke.

"Alright, so we play it smart. The kid's got enough magic energy to sustain us for a while and I've got plenty of magic energy left in me so if the kid does get hurt, I can rush him out before even having to worry about being unsummoned," Loke smiled.

Capricorn considered this and nodded, he then looked to Igneel. "I can serve as your strategist and Leo as your powerhouse. We're both skilled and know enough about each other to build off one another without you having to worry about something. That being said," - Capricorn held up a finger and looked sternly to Igneel - "You must listen to us. Must. There is no room for argument. We are the more experienced here and have both yours and your sister's best intentions at heart. I will not sit by and let young Nashi suffer while I can do something, I owe your mother that much, but I also will not endanger you needlessly in a pointless rescue mission? Do I make myself clear?" Capricorn demanded.

Igneel nodded wordlessly.

"Great, now that that's settled, let's run back to the spirit world real fast, tell someone to go get Lucy and bring her here... Where is here?" Loke directed the question to Igneel.

"Oh.. uh... Mount keji!" Igneel offered.

"We'll have reinforcements on the way and can mount a rescue mission knowing that there's a backup plan coming in a few hours if it all heads south. We can strategize a bit and then pop back here," Loke grinned.

"It would be better to strategize here, as time moves much faster here than it does in the celestial spirit world," Capricorn reminded Loke.

"Oh dang, alright, we'll be back in a moment. I think I know of someone who can help us. We probably need more than just us, though perhaps my dazzling looks could take a few extra out," Loke smiled, adjusting his glasses as little sparkles appeared around him.

"How does he do that?" Igneel asked Capricorn.

"Best not to question the laws of reality when it comes to celestial spirits," Capricorn murmured. 

"What?" Storm asked, perhaps a bit more dangerous than he meant to sound.

"I'm going to rescue Nashi with Loke and Capricorn," Igneel announced, keeping his voice down as he looked around at the other sleeping figures.

"Igneel... you can't just - do you - you mean... Igneel I can't just let you do that," Storm hissed.

"Then come with me!" Igneel chirped. "You're big and strong and Nashi likes you."

"I - what did you say?" Whatever Storm was about to say was cut off by Igneel's final announcement.

"Come on, please, please, please," Igneel pleaded. "What if she's really hurt? What if they're gonna sacrifice her to a cult or something!"

"You don't sacrifice someone to a cult, a cult sacrifices you to something," Emma corrected angrily as she sat up.

"Emma! What are you doing! You're supposed to be asleep!" Igneel argued.

"If you're going after Nashi, I'm going after Lance," Emma stated crossly. "And if you try and leave me behind, I'll kill you."

"See, this is what I'm afraid of!" Storm hissed, gesturing to the young Redfox. "We go after one person, we'll have to rescue all of them! Even if we get Nashi out, she's going to run right back in to save everyone else. We have no chance and besides, she'll kill me if you get hurt!"

"Capricorn's getting help and Simon is too!" Igneel objected. "If we go now, there'll be help here soon."

"Then why go at all?" Storm argued, secretly wishing wholeheartedly to do exactly what this kid was proposing but knowing he had to be the voice of reason in this conversation.

"Cause what if it's too late by the time they get here?" Kakumi's voice murmured and they all looked over to the boy who was still laying on the ground, facing away from them. "What if they get here and they were just a few moments too late and we lose our family forever? What if... what if they die because we didn't do anything?"

"Do something is what got us into this mess in the first place. If we had just... listened maybe... maybe we could've just saved everyone," Storm murmured regretfully.

"Bro, you can't fix a bad thing you did by not doing anything," Ame announced, sitting up.

"Okay, is this entire camp secretly awake and just pretending to sleep?!" Storm demanded.

"No, Victoria is asleep for real," Kakumi corrected softly, sitting up and looking at the older girl who was sleeping like a rock.

"Silver is too," Ame shrugged. She then poked her twin's closed eye which made him shout and jump awake.

"WHAT THE HEL - " Silver began, holding his hurt eye. Ame slammed a hand over his mouth and looked to Storm.

"He's awake now," Ame grinned.

"You jerk," Silver hissed after he pushed Ame's hand away from his mouth. "What's going on?"

"We're gonna go save our friends," Ame grinned.

"No! No, we're not," Storm denied.

Everyone deadpanned and looked to him.

"You were all about rushing in a saving Nashi a few hours ago," Ame reminded him.

"Yeah, but not with kids!" Storm hissed.

"You're a kid too," Emma snapped. Tug sat up and yawned, rubbing his eyes and tilting his head puzzledly.

"And we're strong kids!" Silver pointed out. "Ame can make someone drown in a dessert."

"One time, that was one time, and we swore never to speak of it again," Ame shot Silver a death glare. "And the poor guy didn't die, for the record!" she informed everyone.

"I... I don't want to know," Storm sighed. "We're not doing this, it's way too dangerous!"

"Bro. When we do something bad, we can't just sit back and wait for someone else to fix it," Ame scowled.

"We're not waiting for someone else to fix it, we're keeping ourselves safe!" Storm. "We're keeping you guys safe."

"So... if we weren't here, you'd go save Nashi and Nova?" Kakumi asked.

"I... I don't know, Kakumi, okay!?" Storm hissed, holding his head as frustration poured off of him.

"Well... I'm going," Kakumi announced.

"What?" Storm demanded.

"I'm in," Ame nodded.

"I second that," Silver smirked.

"HELL YEAH!" Emma cheered

"Wait... wait, what about Victoria?" Storm demanded, gesturing to the sleeping girl who was still out cold. "She'll never agree to this!"

Everyone thought for a moment.

"I got this," Ame smiled raising her hands.

A torrent of water hit Victoria in the face and she woke up sputtering.

"Wha-WHO'S THERE!? DIE YOU BASTARDS!" she yelled holding up her broken high-heel shoe.

"Victoria, it's us!" Kakumi assured her.

Victoria wiped the water out of her eyes and groaned.

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"We're rescuing Nashi and the others," Igneel announced. "Capricorn and Leo are gonna help us."

"WHAT!?" Victoria demanded.

"We're going," Kakumi reiterated. "We have to, Victoria... I've got to..."

Victoria rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and peered at Kakumi. She looked him over once and groaned.

"I... I can hardly walk..." she admitted. "My ankle is twisted pretty fiercely and I've got like... three busted ribs. I'm also drained of magic power..."

"Then you can stay here and send for help when they arrive, and they'll be here soon, we're just gonna be the first wave!" Ame grinned, "Literally, in my case."

"If there's help coming, why go in at all? It's dangerous and stupid and is going to get you all in trouble or grounded," Victoria sighed.

"We've been over this," Silver announced. "We can't waste time. People may be in danger and we've got to go. We have backup if we need it but we need to move."

"STRONGLY AGREE!" Emma grinned, stars in her eyes.

"You just want to kick ass," Storm deadpanned.

"HELL YEAH!" Emma smiled dangerously.

"I... I don't like this," Victoria grimaced. "I'd rather go in with you, especially you," - she looked to Kakumi - "Nova wouldn't want you to - "

"But Nova would," Kakumi breathed. "She'd go in after me... So I'm going in after her."

Victoria looked to the ground and relented.

"Alright... alright, I won't stop you... but..." she grimaced as she studied her ankle.

"We'll be careful," Kakumi promised.

"I'll keep them safe!" Tug promised, jumping up and down, his tail wagging.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm sure you will," Victoria nodded, clearly unconvinced.

"HEY! Don't underestimate the little man!" Emma defended, grabbing Tug and holding him to her chest like a puppy. Tug definitely played the part as he grinned and wagged his metal tail.

"Alright... let's go do something stupid... again," Storm hissed as he cursed himself.

This was beyond stupid. This was pointless and dumb, they stood no chance...

But there weren't just going to sit and wait for help!!

Kakumi stood up and looked to the mountain.

"Everyone, grab my arms," he instructed, his voice shaking in fear even though his eyes were gleaming in the starlight. They all did and with a few strong steps they passed through the rune cage.

"Let's go kick some ass," Emma grinned.

"Let's go save our family," Ame snickered, cracking her neck. "We're so grounded."

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be awesome when Dad catches up to us," Silver chuckled.

"We're so dead," Storm sighed.

But on they went anyway, to the mountain that was outlined in the early-morning light.

The dragon kings woke up a few hours before dawn. The guild had contacted everyone from Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, and Crime Sorcier, telling them the good news, the dragon kings were back.

Natsu woke up first, because of course he did.

His eyes opened slowly and winced in the light as he looked up in confusion. He could smell Lucy and Happy... Gildarts too, 

Was he in a hospital bed?

Was he in the medical room of the guild?

He was in the guild!?

"Uh... what happened?" Natsu asked in utter confusion.

'Oh, look who finally woke up, sleeping beauty,' E.N.D's voice hissed in his head.

"Shut up you, what's going on?" Natsu moaned.

'I've been stuck in your unconscious body for an eternity. It was literally hell.'

"Screw you man. Not my fault! What happened?"

'You want my guess. We were owned. Walked right into a trap that sent you to some dimension. You were stuck in some crystal lacrima. I tried to take over your body to break us out but it was impossible. Like I said. Literal Hell.'

"NATSUUUUUUUU!" Happy cried as he launched himself into the dragon slayer's arms, pulling his thoughts away from his demonic self. "WE WERE SO SCARED! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE FOREVER!!"

"HEyyyy! He's awake!" Gildarts laughed, peeking into the room before running out and calling all the guild over.

"Forever? I don't... what happened?" Natsu demanded. He sat up and looked around. Laying in a neat little line were the beds of his brothers who all slept soundly. 

"Natsu, you're awake," Natsu looked to the door and saw Zeref smiling in relief.

"Zeref!? What are you doing here!? HOW DID I GET HERE!?" Natsu demanded.

"What the hell do you want?" E.N.D demanded through Natsu's body.

"HEY! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT POSSESSION YOU BASTARD!" Natsu shouted at himself.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! I'VE BEEN STUCK IN YOUR DUMB MIND FOR EVER!" E.N.D shouted.

"Oi! Salamander! Shut your demon up! I'm trying to sleep!" Gajeel yelled as he awoke.

"GAJEEL!" Levy and Pantherlily cried in relief as they flooded to his side, Kurui and Kuri in their mother's arms, beaming.

"What? Oh... hi... wait," Gajell did a double take as he tried to hug them back. "This ain't our house..."

"Whatwasthat? Shiro go back to bed," Sting muttered tiredly as he stirred.

"Sting... Sting it's time to wake up," Yukino soothed gently as she prodded him with a finger.

"nuuu... totired," Sting whined, "Five more minutes."

"You've been gone for weeks," Yukino hissed.

"mmmokay, two more minutes," Sting decided.

"This little brat," Yukino deadpanned.

"That's Sting," Lector shrugged.

Rogue stirred a tiny bit in the bed next to Sting and that was all Kagura needed.

"ROGUE CHENEY, YOU ARE TO WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!" Kagura yelled as she glared down at the dragon slayer who flew out of bed and looked around ready for a fight.

"Kagura!? What's going on?" He demanded as he tried to get a sense of his surroundings.

"You've been missing for weeks, we've been worried sick. Things have happened and Shido is gone," Kagura explained.

"What do you mean Shido's gone? WEEKS!?" Rogue cried in shock.

"ROGGGGUUUUUUEEE!" Frosch cried as they crashed into Rogue's chest. "I'M SORRY, I WASN'T A GOOD ANGEL, SHIDO RAN AWAYYYYY!"

"What is going on?" Rogue cried.

"Shido what now?" Laxus groaned as he sat up and help his head.

"Oh thank Mavis," Mira sighed from where she stood.

"Hmm? What did I do?" Mavis asked as she entered the room.

"They're up," Zeref explained.

"Oh, thank Zeref," Mavis breathed.

"You're welcome," Zeref nodded with a deadpan expression, quite done with the sayings.

Erik took a while to sit up once he awoke, he held his head as he listened to the cacophony around him, struggling to take it all in.

"I feel like I haven't moved in weeks," Natsu complained as he moved his stiff muscles.

"You idiot. What did I just tell you?" E.N.D demanded.

"Shut up," Natsu moaned. E.N.D hadn't been this active in years and the demon was giving the dragon slayer a worse headache.

"It feels like what happened in our last life," Gajeel recalled.

"What happened in our last life?" Sting asked, still groggy.

"When we were in that crystal stuff in the bonds of time when Uncle wasn't... ya know, Uncle and was, ya know, scary," Gajeel explained.

"Oh... you know, I think you're right," Laxus since as he sat up. "Sure feels like I've been encased in crystal for a while."

"That would explain the blue crystal shards we found around you," Mavis nodded.

"Oh... sorry how long have we been gone and what happened?" Rogue demanded.

"Kina what!?" Erik cried, looking to Kinana who was sitting beside his bed. "We've been gone how long!? She's been gone how long!? August what!?" He directed the last question to Zeref.

"What's happening in August?" Sting asked.

"He's been kidnapped," Yukino explained.

"Huh... that's weird... how do you kidnap a month?" Sting wondered tiredly.

"Wake up," Rogue deadpanned as he threw a nearby pitcher of water into Sting's face. The dragon slayer sputtered as he woke up.

"I'M UP!" he cried, rubbing his eyes.

"Someone kidnapped August!" Natsu cried, jumping to his feet. "No no no, we're not having that, not my little nephew. Hell no!"

"How the hell did someone steal that brat away from his helicopter parents?" E.N.D chuckled in Natsu's head.

"Natsu," Lucy urged, grabbing his wrists. "Nashi and Igneel are gone too."

That made Natsu freeze. E.N.D did too.

"What?" both he and E.N.D asked in unison.

"Nashi and Igneel are gone. They ran off and... and I think something bad happened to them," Lucy's voice shook as she said it.

"All of them are gone," Mavis explained.

Laxus looked to Mira, "Nova and Kakumi?" he asked breathlessly. Mira nodded her head solumnely.

"We've got to go, we've got to - " Laxus urged standing up and almost falling.

"Hold on, weeks, we've been gone that long!?" Gajeel demanded. "What about Wendy!?"

"Oh Acnologia, what about Wendy, is she alright!?" Sting cried.

"She's fine, Amenista has been protecting her but things are happening and I am very glad to have you back so we can share with you what we know," Levy explained firmly.

"Well... no time like the present, what the hell is going on!?" Laxus hissed.

It took a good thirty minutes to explain everything that had happened, mixed in with the guild's mini-celebration that they had least gotten some of their members back to where they belong. About half-way through the explanations, Lisanna ran in accompanied by Freed and Mest.

"Lucy! Levy! We figured it out!" Lisanna cried. She smile to see the dragon slayers up. "Good, you guys need to hear this too."

"Late last night, something was stolen from the magic council," Mest explained, putting a report on the table. "My sources tell me it had to do with soul magic, some sort of entrapped soul that they've been studying."

"Okay?" Sting asked, confused.

"So, we looked for any spells requiring soul magic, since that's what the guy who broke into my house said he was looking for, some connection from the spirit world to this one," Lisanna continued.

"Someone broke into your house?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, but my babies almost ripped their soul out!" Bickslow cackled from across the guild, hoisting up his triplets proudly. "AND I MEAN MY REAL BABIES, Not my dolls... BUT MY DOLLS ARE MY BABIES TOO!"

"YEAH!" Bickslow's dolls cried in support.

"Oookay, what did you find?" Lucy asked, ignoring Bickslow.

"This," Freed explained, slamming a book on the table and flipping it to a certain page. Cana came over and peered over his should, sipping booze.

"A ressurection spell?" Cana asked as she downed a tankard of beer.

Zeref visibly stiffened.

"That sounds bad," Grey sighed.

"It's always bad," Lyon deadpanned.

"Five jewel it's some idiot trying to resurrect Zeref again!" Wakaba called.

"I'm almost sure I've illimenated all of those cults," Zeref hissed, "But maybe..."

"No... I mean... maybe, but I've been talking with Amenista and thinking about that vision you told me about, Lucy... and... I think I know what these guys are doing," Lisanna sighed.

"What?" both Erza and Kagura asked in unison.

"This spell can resurrect someone with a massive amount of magic energy and enslave them to whoever summons them. It's a spell that's only been in theory since no one's been able to actually complete it," Lisanna explained.

"It requires a huge amount of untapped, potential magic energy... ancient magic energy, which would be usually hard to find," Freed explained darkly, "Unless you have access to dragons who are naturally huge reservoirs of ancient magic."

"The missing dragon eggs," Gajeel reasoned.

"Then... it needs a connection from this dimension to the afterlife," Lisanna continued.

"Hence this object stolen from the Magic council," Mest interjected.

"And the attempted kidnapping of Poppu," Lisanna added.

"Attempted! Attempted!" Poppu yelled as he floated about.

"Okay... and what else?" Zeref asked darkly.

"A focus point, something that is highly concentrated magic from whatever powerful entity you're trying to resurrect. It can be an object that they created purely of magic or someone  -" Lisanna murmured.

"Someone who's entire life was re-started by that entity," Zeref came to a stunning relevation as he spoke.

"They're trying to resurrect Acnologia and enslave him," Mavis came to the same conclusion.

"That's why they needed August," Zeref realized. "He was... he was basically brought to life by Acnologia, his entire chance of a new life happened because of Acnologia's spell!"

"And finally," Lisanna interjected, "There's a requirement of a huge amount of magic power drained from blood relatives of the resurrected entity."

"Blood relatives?" Rogue questioned.

"But Acno didn't have... any... blood relatives," Sting offered. "Right?"

"Actually..." Mavis murmured. "I think... you all count."

"Us?" Laxus asked.

"How? That makes no sense," Sting objected. 

"I cannot explain it..." Zeref murmured. "But... I have realized through the years that you and your children who are dragon slayers carry a very similar aura to Acnologia."

"Also... blood magic connects you to Acnologia," Mavis pointed out.

Everyone looked to her.

"How... do you know that?" Sting asked nervously.

"I experiment... I just did it now," Mavis explained with a smile.

The dragon slayers shifted uncomfortable in their seats.

"What?" Gajeel asked.

"She casted a spell that would've made the blood rush to our heads if we weren't related to Acnologia... since we're all still conscious, her argument it true," Erik explained curtly. "So somehow, in someway, Uncle is really our Uncle and the brats of ours with dragon slaying magic were probably taken to help ressurect him."

Sting looked like he wanted to object to what could've happened if Mavis's blood magic spell had worked but was cut off by Kinana.

"It's just like Amenista's vision," Kinana realized.

"*input word*," Laxus hissed, holding his head.

"We've got to find them. We've got to stop this. We've got to - " Sting stammered.

Erik stood up sharply, his eyes wide as he listened intently. "Wendy..." he breathed.

"What!? What is it!?" Natsu demanded, jumping to his feet, the air growing warm around him.

'What else can go wrong!?' E.N.D demanded internally.

"No... she's..." Erik stumbled for words, but Kinana read his face.

"It's the baby, isn't it?" she asked.

Erik shook his head in affirmation.

"Porlyusica should be with her," Erza cried.

"She is!" Erik snapped. "She's with her, so's Romeo, but it's happening."

"I'm going there now!" Macao shouted in panic as he ran out of guild. "GRANDPA'S COMING BABY!"

"HEY WAIT FOR ME!" Wakaba yelled. "I practically raised your son!"

"SHUT UP!" Macao yelled.

"We've got to go!" Sting cried.

"What about the kids! We've got to - " Rogue argued.

Erik's head turned to the guildoors as he tried to decipher all of the information coming at him.

Then, a lacrima rang. Laxus looked down at his coat and dug around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out an old communication lacrima.

"The hell?" Laxus wondered.

"What? What is it now!?" Natsu demanded.

"It's... it's my old man," Laxus murmured.

"What!?" Makarov snapped from where he sat on the bar.

Laxus looked to Mira in confusion and she bit her lip.

"Answer it," she assured him after a moment.

Laxus did so and leaned back.

"Laxus!? Laxus, you're back, thank Zeref," Ivan's voice came through.

"What do you want?" Laxus demanded coldly.

"I didn't know who else to call. I'd heard rumors that you were missing but luckily it seems those rumors were false and - "

"Cut to the chase old-timer, what's going on?" 

"A day or so back, your kids dropped by," Ivan explained, there was no hiding the absolute shock in Laxus's face. "Nova, I think it was, and your little boy. There were three other young ladies with them and they were off trying to find their friends or something like that. They were heading to Mount keji.... that was yesterday... Two of those young ladies just showed up on my doorstep beat to hell and looking like they dragged themselves here, you're kids aren't with them."

"What?" Laxus asked in a low voice.

"I know you have no reason to trust me Laxus, but I have a young Scarlet here with her White-haired friend, both beaten and bloodied, passed out in my bar. They need help and I think my grandk- your kids need it too."

"What happened?"

"Don't know, the two are delirous and must've walked here. They've been walking for hours, Laxus, dragged themselves here from the train station just hoping that I could contact you and send help. The last thing they said to me was 'get Fairy Tail' and then they just collapsed."

Erza was looking anxious, as was Jellal who was with the rest of Crime Sorciere sitting at one of the tables. Lyon and Meredy looked no better, guessing full well who the white-haired girl was.

"Alright old-time, we're coming... thanks..." Laxus muttered. He hung up and sat back.

"So... that's a trap right?" Natsu asked.

"It... it didn't sound like it," Erik muttered uncertainly.

"It's Ivan. It's a trap!" Sting yelled.

"We have to go," Erza demanded.

"I'm not saying we're not but Wendy's in labor and Ivan f*cking Dreyar just called us out of the blue, this isn't a coincidence!" Sting cried.

"Simon?" Erik asked himself as he looked to the guild doors again.

"Simon?" Jellal asked, standing up.

"It's Simon! Scarlet! Jellal! He's hurt," Erik yelled running out the door, the two he had called were on his heels along with the other occupants of the guild. They had taken a few steps when a familiar meteor spell landed in front of them and Jellal ran forward to catch the exhausted boy who collapsed into his arms.

"Simon... Simon," Jellal breathed in fear as the boy fell in his arms.

"Dad," Simon greeted in a raspy voice, absolutely drained. Bags were under his eyes and his body was shaking from the magic energy he'd used.

"Simon!" Erza cried, running up and kneeling next to Jellal so she could get a good look at her son.

"Mom, Dad... there was a trap," Simon wheezed, grabbing his father's sleeve. "These... these people at... at Mount Keji. They caught Nashi and Lance and all of the dragon slayers, 'cept Kakumi. They're the ones who locked the dragon slayers away in some dimension. There's a rune cage up that only allows dragon slayers through and... and I don't know what happened to Rosemary.

Simon shuddered and Jellal held him closer.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked gently.

"Victoria said she was hurt real bad and... and we couldn't find her after the attack ended. I had to run back and... and get help... but I don't know what happened to her..." Simon was crying now.

"Rosemary is safe, we just got a call, we know where she is and we know she's alright," Erza soothed him.

"You meteored here from Mount Keji?" Jellal asked. "Simon... that's... that's hundreds of miles away... how did you - "

"I had to..." Simon croaked. "We need help."

"You did good, little man, you ran super fast and speedy," Sawyer assured him coming up to Jellal's side.

"An act of love, no doubt," Richard nodded.

"Let's get you inside," Erza cooed softly, lifting the boy out of Jellal's arms and carrying him into the guild. Her eyes were burning with a familiar fire but Simon, relieved that he had done his duty, fell asleep in her arms and felt nothing as his mother tucked him into one of the medical beds and kissed him on his forehead.

Everyone in the guild, and those visiting, took one look at Erza's face when she walked out and everyone knew - 

Someone was going to die. Painfully.

The dragon slayer's expressions said the same thing.

"Mount Keji?" Sting growled.

"Mount Keji," Erik affirmed.

"Let's go do this," Natsu snarled.

'Not our brats. No way in purgatory.' E.N.D hissed in Natsu's mind. Under different circumstances, Natsu would've laughed at the strange show of affection the demon was giving, but not this time. No this time he agreed with E.N.D's urge to commit murder.

No one touched his kids.