Fairy Tail had finally reached Mount Keji where they met up with other guilds and a very happy Victoria.

"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" she cried waving her heels around like certified weapons.

"THOSE ARE MY HEELS!" Evergreen yelled.

"YOU SNUCK OUT YOUNG LADY! NOT MANLY!" Elfman cried.

It was then Victoria realized her mistake.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh~" Victoria deadpanned.

A few minutes later, Victoria was being coddled by her parents as they fussed over her hurt leg and scolded her for being so stubborn and rebellious, to which she replied proudly that she almost killed a man with her heels. Evergreen was very proud. Elfman was loudly announcing that his daughter was the manliest woman he knew (to which both mother and daughter threatened him with their heels).

The women of Mermaid Heel, led by Kagura, were banging on the rune cage. Shelia from Lamia Scale was standing with her guild impatiently, her thoughts on Wendy and Romeo who were many miles away. Bacchus and his guild of Quatro Cerberus were yelling drunk war-cries at the mountain, to be fair, they were absolutely joined by some rowdy Fairy Tail members. Sabertooth members were intermingled with the Fairy Tail members and it was near impossible to tell the two groups apart, though Minerva was devising strategies with Mavis who had already composed a rather solid rundown of the attack phase, it was always entertaining to watch those two women scheme. Blue Pegasus was going to be late to the party, that is if the guilds managed to open the rune cage.

"Levy, Freed, get this thing open," Laxus growled as he glared at the mountain.

"In a MINUTE!" Levy yelled angrily as she sorted through the runes appearing around her.

"This isn't easy," Freed muttered.

"Hmm, if my memory serves me right, perhaps we should attempt to breach that subdivision of runes first, as it is the most flimsy," Rufus offered as he peered over Freed's shoulder.

"It would appear that way, but they are surprisingly supported well by the defense runes. It's rather impressive and if we weren't pressed for time I would love to break these layers down and study them, it's absolutely fascinating - " Freed began to explain eagerly. 

Then Zeref came over and placed a hand on the enchantment.

"Destruction runes won't work!" Levy chided the dark wizard.

"I know, but this is going too slow for me," Zeref answered darkly. A large black rune spread out under his hand. Like a virus, the rune melded into the complex rune cage and infecting other runes.

"A chaos rune, are you KIDDING!?" Levy cried. "That's uncontrollable!"

"It's efficient," Zeref answered.

"It's RANDOM! We don't know what that could do to this enchantment or the inhabitant inside - " Levy began to reprimand him angrily, stomping her feet and waving her arms. It wasn't hard to imagine bits of steam spewing from her ears.

"Chill out squirt, you'll give yourself an aneurysm!" Gajeel tried to calm her.

"Levy, the rune is messing with the defense runes. We can bring this wall to its knees," Freed cried, pulling Levy to his side as the two of them eagerly ripped the defenses apart. Within the next few moments, the rune cage went from a steadfast defense structure to a glitching, flickering frail thing that was easily ripped wide open by the sharp minds of Levy and Freed.

"Teams Mermaid and Lamia, take the doors on the upper third of the mountain!" Mavis ordered.

"Let's do this!" Beth cried eagerly as she led the charge.

"We'll take these fools down and strangle them with this web they've made!" Ariana scowled as they ran up the mountain.

Kagura watched her guild go before she looked over to Rogue. The two of their eyes met and they gave each other a firm nod before going their separate ways.

Divide and conquer. Find Shido.

"Cerberus! Keep perimeter and await Blue Pegasus!" Mavis ordered.

"FOUR!!" the group responded.

"Sabertooth, Fairy Tail, into the belly of the beast!" Mavis pointed her finger at the mountain and like a tidal wave crashing on a beach, the guilds descended.

Almost immediately the dragon slayers led the charge, following their noses down random hallways seeking the familiar scents of their kids. The other guild members battled with the various enemy mages they happened upon.

The strangest thing, though, was the magic circles that appeared beneath the dragon slayer's feet that seemed to channel their dragon-slaying magic into the earth below them, seeping down and charging up the spell laid out before Riki who could feel his heart hammering in his chest.

They were here. They had escaped and they were here.

A long breath pulled him back into reality and he looked over his grand plan as thousands of magic circles illuminated the area around him. All was not lost. With the arrival of the Kings came a surge of magic power that he could harvest to feed his spell. He just needed three more minutes.

Three minutes more...

Reality would shift, time would bend to his will, life would be right again. Just a few more minutes...

Shiro was basically dragging Shido down a hallway, the younger boy's feet dragging on the floor as he was pulled along.

"Come on... come on Shido, we can make it. Just a little farther," Shiro panted as he pulled Shido along, one of his arms draped over his shoulders.

"O - okay," Shido rasped, a bit of blood dripping down his lips. He could feel his lungs filling with blood and every step sent another wave of agony up his side. He had no more magic power to slip into the shadows to save himself or protect himself should anything else happen and the edges of his vision were growing dark.

"STAY! Stay AWAKE!" Shiro's next yell jerked Shido out from his brief slip into darkness and with another pained step they carried up.

Erik whizzed passed the Mermaid Heel mages who were bringing hurt to the cultists within. His ears strained to make out the familiar souls hidden deep in the mountain over the cacophony of the battle. He didn't hear Kinana but he did here two familiar voices.

"Kagura!" Erik shouted at the mage who was using her gravity magic to bring a few enemy mages to their knees. "Shido's this way!" Erik urged as he and Kinana charged down a hallway. They ran for a few minutes with Kagura following silently, quick to strike down any enemies. The trio raced into a room where Rogue, Sting, and Yukino were all battling enemies. It was then that Erik thought he heard a glimmer of Kina's voice.

"ROGUE! YOUR BRAT'S DOWN THERE! STING! YOURS TOO!" Erik yelled pointing down a hallway as he and Kinana charged forward through the maze of tunnels, searching for their daughter.

"THANKS!" Sting yelled after his brother. He looked down another tunnel and saw a few more armed cultists racing towards them.

"You go get Shiro! We got these clowns!" Lector yelled as he and Frosch charged forward, barreling into the cultists like flying bowling balls.

"Right," Rogue nodded fiercely.

Rogue turned on his heel and went to race down the tunnel Erik had pointed out but found that Kagura was already flying down the tunnel, Sting on her heels. Yukino and Libra were right behind Rogue as they raced down the hallway yelling their son's names.

Erik shot past Lamia Scale mages who had charged in and waited a minute to tag Sherria and tell her about Shido who would need her help before charging blindly back into the fray.

"SHIRO!" Shiro's head shot up as the familiar voice of his mother pierced his ears like the song of angels.

"MOM!?" Shiro almost sobbed looking down the hallway. Shido was a limp weight on his shoulders and as soon as Kagura and his father came into view as they rounded the corner, the weight of worlds lifted from Shiro's shoulders and he collapsed, exhausted and drained.

Kagura fell to her knees as she pulled her unconscious son into her arms and was visibly shaken to see him so pale with blood staining his skin.

"Shido," she pleaded as she cradled him. "Shido, hear me... hear me..."

Shido, likely stirred by a familiar voice, wince and opened his eyes.

"Mom?" he croaked out, his eyes distant.

"Shido," Rogue breathed as he ran to his wife's side and looked over her shoulder at their son.

"Shiro, oh Shiro, are you okay?" Yukino cried as she fussed with her little boy who was covered in bruises and possibly would be sporting a black eye soon. Sting was in a similar predicament as he looked the boy all over for critical injuries.

"I'm okay," Shiro nodded, "Shido's hurt though..."

"Broken rib," Shido managed to spit out. "Busted lung..."

"*Input word*," Rogue hissed as he realized what that meant.

"HEY! I was to there were - ah, there are the injured children," Sherria rounded the corner and ran up to the group.

"Sherria," Kagura recognized.

"Hey, Erik sent me... I don't have much magic power in me but I've been working at it, what's up?" the pinkette asked eagerly.

"He's pierced his lung," Rogue explained urgently.

Sherria seemed to recoil at that and slowly kneeled before Shido, placing a gloved hand on his chest. Her eyebrows furrowed and she nodded. Her fight with a god all those years ago wasn't easily forgotten and her magic power was still a fraction of what it once was, but she knew in her heart that she could save this boy.

"It may hurt a little bit," Sherria instructed gently.

Shido only nodded and with a few mutterings, a magic circle, and the snap of a rib, Shido gasped and then laughed in relief.

"How do you feel?" Sherria asked.

"I'm not dying," Shido laughed weakly. "And we're not dead."

To that, Shiro threw back his head and laughed, tears springing from his eyes. "We're NOT DEAD!"

Soon the two boys were both laughing which made all five adults sigh.

Yukino threw Sting a glare as if to say 'I blame you for this attitude' and Sting only shrugged.

"You scared us," Kagura reminded her son.

"Sorry," Shido grimaced.

"Yeah - WAIT! DAD'S HERE!???" Shiro realized as he pointed at his father.

"Yeah, hey Sunshine," Sting chuckled.

"YOU GOT OUT OF THE THING!?" Shiro gawked.

"Yeah," Sting nodded.

"Good... we were worried," Shido managed before leaned into his mother's chest and falling asleep.

"Clearly," Rogue chuckled as he brushed some hair out of his son's face.

"B-BUT RIKI WAS ALL LIKE 'THEY CAN'T GET OUT'! How did you do it?" Shiro asked his father vehemently.

"Shiro, I'm a Dragon King, I'm awesome," Sting smirked.

"Zeref and Mavis helped," Yukino explained.

"OH, THEY KIDNAPPED AUGUST TOO!" Shiro cried.

"We know that too," Kagura assured the boy.

"DO YOU GUYS JUST KNOW EVERYTHING!?" Shiro cried.

"Yes, it comes with being a parent," Yukino giggled.

"Well... I guess we didn't have to run off and try and rescue Dad then, huh?" Shiro sighed embarrassedly.

"No, you didn't," both Yukino and Kagura answered with death glares.

"B-But we're okay now! A-and Shido and I finally did it!!" Shiro tried to announce with glee.

"Did what?" Rogue asked.

"WE UNISON RAIDED!... Unisons raid? Unisons raided? We did a Unison Raid!" Shiro explained finally.

That made Sting's and Rogue's jaw dropped.

"You what!?" Sting cried.

"Yeah! There was this evil guy and he was all like 'I'm gonna kill everybody' and he just YEETED Kina over the side of a cliff and then I and Shido were all like: Oh no, what are we gonna do? and the guy summoned all these ghosts and was like 'now you'll be devoured by darkness' and we were like: Ha, you thought! AND THEN WE TOASTED HIM LIKE A PRETZEL!!" Shiro explained eagerly.

"A pretzel?" Sherria asked Libra in the background. Libra only shrugged in response.

"That's AWESOME!" Sting cried.

"We are not encouraging this," Yukino snapped in horror.

"It is impressive," Rogue admitted.

"Don't start," Kagura threatened.

Lance, Emma, Tug, Ame, and Silver were still trapped in that underground cavern and as Ame continued to heal Silver's slit throat they heard a loud banging sound, as if someone was breaking their way into the cavern.

"WHAT NOW!?" Emma yelled as she tried to patch up Lance with her solid script bandages.

Tug perked up a bit and his tail began wagging furiously. The weak little dragon began smiling from his perch on Emma's head.

"He's coming," Tug chirped weakly.

"WHO!?" Ame, Lance, and Emma yelled while Silver only glared at the dragon.

Suddenly the wall was burst open and all of the kids screamed.

"WHO HURT MY CHILDREN!?" Gajeel demanded as he broke through the wall with his metal fists and charging into the room and seeing the pale, petrified faces of four startled children and one happy dragon.

"IT'S DAD'S GHOST!!" Emma screamed in horror.

The rock debris settled on Gajeel did indeed make him appear to be some specter.

"WE DIED!??" Lance cried in shock. "DAD DIED!?"

"F*CK!" Emma announced. "I'M TOO YOUNG!"

"Excuse me, young lady, what did you just say?" Levy demanded as she poked her head out from behind Gajeel.

"MOM DIED TOO!?" Emma cried.

"I'm NOT DEAD!" Gajeel yelled.

"BULLSHIT!" Emma announced.

"WATCH YOU *INPUT WORD* LANGUAGE!"

"It's Lord Gajeel," Tug squeaked from Emma's hair. He tried to sit up as straight as a poor injured dragon could and puffed his chest out.

"Soooo, if Dad's not dead," Emma reasoned.

"I'm NOT!" Gajeel yelled.

"Then you escaped the dimension thing!" Ame smiled.

"Yeah... why's your brother on the floor?" Levy asked.

"Oh, his throat was cut," Ame answered pleasantly.

"His what was what now?" Levy asked.

"LANCE WAS STABBED!" Emma pointed out. "THREE TIMES!"

"Actually - " Lance began.

"You were STABBED!?" Levy demanded.

"With a magic dagger, Tug and I saved the day," Emma announced proudly. Tug seemed to sit even straight at that announcement.

"Uhhh, right, and who's Tug?" Gajeel asked.

"This guy!" Emma explained as she pointed to the small dragon on her head. "He saved my life, he's the best."

"She did the cool magic," Tug smiled, and if a little metal dragon could blush, he would've been scarlet.

"Alright... is anyone going to immediately die in the next few minutes!?" Levy demanded fearfully.

"Nah, though it got close though," Silver grinned as he gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, Silver you're with me because you look like sh*t. You too Loose Screw." With those words, Gajeel picked up Lance and hauled him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, the same with Silver.

"DAD! I CAN *INPUT WORD* WALK!" Lance yelled angrily. 

"Don't you yell at your father young man, you're in so much trouble!" Levy scolded Lance sternly as she shook her finger while they walked.

Emma, Tug, and Ame followed, Emma smirking as Lance continued to get scolded.

"I got stabbed and your yelling at ME!?" Lance cried.

"I'm very glad you're alright, dear," Levy smiled. "But this wouldn't have happened had you listened," her aura grew dark and her eyes almost glowed angrily.

"Sorry ma'am," Lance chirped.

Emma snickered and stuck her tongue out at Lance.

"AND YOU YOUNG LADY!" Levy cried turning around sharply to face Emma who squeaked in tandem with Tug. "What were you thinking? Being so reckless!?"

"Well, I'm not sorry!" Emma cried quickly as she scowled.

"She's very sorry!" Tug corrected eagerly.

"No. I'm not. We were trying to help Dad and save Lance and the others. We did really well! Lance and I beat up a bad guy and I did this awesome thing with dragon blood. I'm not sorry. I did what I thought was good. I did good," Emma announced this loudly and crossed her arms as she stalked after her father and mother.

Her mother sighed and glared at Gajeel's back as he walked.

"That's all you," she announced. "That's your side of the family."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, that is completely something you'd say," Gajeel retorted over his shoulder.

"Gajeel!?" the voice of Juvia broke the familial argument. "Is that you!?"

"Rain Woman! I have your brats!" Gajeel yelled down the hall, picking up the pace.

"MOM!" the twins cheered.

Juvia turned a corner into the hallway and began charging the group.

"Mom?" Ame and Silver asked, their excitement quickly turned into horror.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN!" Silver cried as he tried to wiggle out of Gajeel's grasp to escape his rageful mother. Ame turned to run but was grabbed by Levy and could only look in fear as their mother came upon them like a tsunami.

She grabbed Silver off of Gajeel's shoulder and Ame, hugging them close, crying, and scolding them all at once.

"Juvia was so worried about you two! Stupid! That was so stupid! You two could've gotten seriously hurt! You worry Juvia too much!" Juvia cried as she kissed their foreheads again.

Levy smiled at the exchange and picked Emma up. Emma was still scowling and refused to look at her mother.

"Emma," Levy spoke softly so as not to disturb the Fullbuster reunion.

"What," Emma pouted. Tug was in her hair and was speering down curiously at Levy.

"You scared me," Levy explained gently. "I was... terrified about what could've happened to you or your brother. I'm upset that you didn't listen to me, but don't ever think I'm not proud of you."

That seemed to brighten Emma's spirit a bit as she looked at her mother in the eyes.

"I'm not quite sure what happened, but I'm proud that you did what you thought was right and that you kept yourself and your brother fairly safe. I'm proud of you. You did what you thought was right and while it wasn't, I am still happy that you had the drive to do it. Just don't ever do anything like this again." Levy finished her speech with a serious expression that made Emma giggle.

"Well... okay," Emma smiled. "I'll try not to run off and fight a cult again, but I can't make promises."

"Oh, no promises, huh?" Levy challenged.

"I would not want to fight a cult again!" Tug exclaimed.

"Well at least one of your friends has some sense," Levy chuckled. Tug seemed rather proud of that statement.

"Juvia!?" Gray called down the hall.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called back. "Juvia has our twins! They're okay!"

Gray turned the corner, and he looked ready for murder. "SILVER! AME!" he yelled angrily.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT! DAD! WE CAN EXPLAIN!" the twins cried in unison.

Kakumi and Nova were starting to get back on their feet when more cultists jumped from above and landed around them.

"*input word*. Are you kidding me?" Nova groaned as she leaned on Kakumi for support.

A little bit away from them, Vixt's finger twitched.

"What do ya say that I take the five on our left, you take the five to our right?" Nova asked Kakumi.

Kakumi looked fearfully at the mages, knowing he didn't have much more magic energy in him.

"O-okay," he managed.

"Surrender. Now!" one of the mages ordered.

"F*ck off," Nova growled.

Vixt stirred, his face contorting as he came back to consciousness... this time... Kakumi heard him. The boy slowly looked towards the body of the fifth-generation dragon slayer and his eyes widened.

"I said surrender!" the mage ordered.

"AND I SAID *INPUT WORD*, YOU CAN DIE ALONE IN A HOLE!" Nova yelled back.

"Nova," Kakumi breathed fearfully as Vixt rolled over.

"What?" Nova snapped as she looked to her brother who was looking fearfully over his shoulder. She followed his gaze and watched a feral-eyes Vixt slowly turn his head to glare at them.

"*Input word*, here we go again," Nova deadpanned.

"DIE!" Vixt rasped as he tried to scream, letting loose a bolt of energy towards Nova and Kakumi. Kakumi snarled and somehow, managed to catch the bolt in his teeth and crunch down on it, devouring the attack.

"Damn, that was awesome bro," Nova laughed after Kakumi let out a long breath.

"I don't know how I did that," Kakumi managed.

"I think that's your mantra for the day," Nova nodded.

The mages around them readied their spells and Vixt shakily stood taller.

"SURRENDER!" the mage yelled for the third time. "WE WILL NOT ASK AGAIN!"

There was a sudden blast from above as a familiar golden lightning bolt broke through the ceiling, forming another hole as Laxus slammed into the mages. 

"DAD!!" Nova and Kakumi cried in relief. Vixt looked horrified.

There was a demonic screech as Mirajane descended and decimated the other cultists.

"MOM!!" the two cried again.

Vixt could feel the panic set in as the brat's cavalry arrived. In a few more seconds, he'd be dead... all of his ambitions, wasted. All of his vengeance squandered.

His eyes sharpened as he set his gaze on Kakumi and a growl rose in his throat.

No... no there was still time for vengeance.

Vixt let out a roar as he charged Kakumi, taking advantage of Laxus's and Mira's distracted state with the other cultists. His hands formed into claws as he reached out, intending to rip the brat's throat out, but suddenly, the boy was pushed aside and Nova was there.

Nova hadn't even had time to think, she'd only acted and now... drained of magic... she had a chance. She'd tried to do this earlier, but apparently, Vixt's dragon soul hadn't been so readily available.

See, for Nova to absorb the soul of a dragon, the dragon either had to offer it to her, or the dragon had to be bearing it's innermost desire while Nova's body craved magic. The last time Nova has received a dragon soul (her storm dragon form) it had been from a dying storm dragon who desired her power passed on. Nova had never actually stolen another dragon's soul, she'd never really wanted to. She knew that, in theory, it was possible, and she had certainly tried with Vixt, but she had never truly wanted to hurt a dragon slayer this bad until now.

Nova was heavily drained of magic power, so every cell in her body yearned for some dragon soul to devour, and Vixt was wearing his soul on his sleeve. He was at his base instincts and desires; vengeance and power, that was all he ever wanted, and Nova would take both from him.

She hadn't been able to protect Kakumi before, but she was going to do it now! She'd destroy this bastard.

She shot her hands out and grabbed Vixt's face screaming some ancient language and glaring at him as she ripped his dragon soul from his body.

There is no way to describe the agony Vixt felt as his dragon soul was suddenly pulled from him and transferred to the girl. Every base draconic instinct and desire was pulled right from his chest and once it was gone, he felt empty, a shell... a corpse.

"What... what did you do?" Vixt choked as she released him. He felt so... afraid. So weak. So pitiful.

Nova clenched her fists and grinned as blue lightning flashed around her knuckles.

"I took your freaking soul," Nova grinned maniacally, "And man, I don't regret it."

"Nor should you," a cold voice answered and Nova turned to see Mira walking up to them.

"MOM!" Kakumi cried in relief as he ran into Mirajane's demonic form and hugged her.

Mira knelt and hugged Kakumi closely. "Oh Kumi, I was so worried."

"Mom! Mom! Kakumi blasted the hell out of Vixt!" Nova bragged proudly as she left Vixt to his own devices and ran over to her mother. "You should've seen him! Fast as hell and roaring like a real dragon!"

Vixt tried to scramble away but was stopped by Laxus who practically appeared in front of Vixt and punched him in his face.

"Mast-" Vixt began as he stumbled back.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you," Laxus threatened menacingly as his entire aura flickered with rage.

Tears flooded to Vixt's eyes as he flung himself to his knees and prostrated himself before the dragon king.

"PLEASE!" he wailed. "PLEASE SPARE ME!"

"Spare you?" Laxus growled as his lightning magic yearned to turn this ex-dragon slayer to dust. "I want to leave you a stain on the floor."

"Leave him, Dad," Nova's voice broke the tension and Laxus looked over at his daughter; his daughter covered in bruises inflicted by this sick bastard and saw the utter disgust in her eyes as she looked to Vixt. "He's not worth the dirt on your boots. He's a sick sorry bastard who'll spend the rest of his sorry life wishing he'd made better choices."

Laxus knew that look in Nova's eyes which was the only reason he relented. Laxus was many things but he could be anything but merciful when it came to his family.

Still, he gave Vixt a good snarl as he passed the ex-dragon slayer, scaring the blue-haired man out of his witts.

Walking swiftly, he came over and knelt to better examine Kakumi's and Nova's wounds.

"Are you two alright?" he asked urgently.

"We're okay," both of them answered, their upbeat tone not matching their battered forms. Nova looked like she'd been hit with a freight train and Kakumi looked like he had fought a thunderstorm and was ready to pass out at any moment.

"How'd you get back?" Kakumi asked weakly from his mother's embrace (from which she hadn't released him). "I thought you were gonna be gone... that's why we went to rescue you."

Laxus smiled and ruffled Kakumi's hair.

"I'll always make my way back to you guys," Laxus vowed.

"Ug, yuck, cut the sappy crap and let's get out of here," Nova moaned as she stuck out her tongue, still, her eyes were glimmering with joy.

"I think that's a very good idea," Mira agreed. "We still don't know what those do," he pointed at the magic circles under Laxus's and Kakumi's feet.

"They're draining our magic to resurrect Acnologia," Kakumi answered woozily.

"I suspected as much, but we should get you out of here quickly then, you don't have much more magic to drain," Mira murmured as she picked her son up and raised her bat-like wings, flying the tired boy back up the mountain.

Laxus looked to Nova and she sighed before jumping onto his back and looking up at the hole in the ceiling her mother had just gone through.

"You should've seen him, dad," Nova murmured. "I was half-unconscious, but I could've sworn his lightning turned red when he beat Vixt into a pulp."

Laxus took a moment to register that, his mind going blank in shock and awe. Kakumi had mastered their bloodline magic that young? Was that even possible?

"Hey! Dad, are we getting out of here or what!?" Nova demanded.

"Right," Laxus nodded as he pushed off and blasted into the air like a lightning bolt. "By the way, young lady, you're grounded," he chided.

"Figured," Nova deadpanned.

"KINA!?" Erik yelled desperately as he tried to navigate the confounding amount of tunnels in the lower area of the mountain.

"KINA! LOVE? ANSWER US!!" Kinana cried, her voice echoing through the tunnels. "Erik, can you hear her?"

"Yes... but she's... she's hard to make out. She's not thinking clearly or she's unconscious and it's infuriating with thousands of other voices duking it out upstairs," Erik growled, gesturing to the roof.

"KINA!?" Kinana tried again. No answer. "Tongue of the air and eyes of the night; Traskiz, I summon thee," Kinana recited as a black translucent snake appeared beside her. "Try to track her now," she ordered the snake.

The magic beast slithered off down the tunnels, following its silver tongue. Erik and Kinana took a different route. After a few more minutes of wandering, Erik placed a hand on a wall and listened intently.

"She's maybe two hundred feet this way, but the rock around here is all threatening to collapse nearby tunnels," Erik growled. 

"Maybe one of my snakes could burrow through?" Kina offered.

"Maybe," Erik hissed. "But I don't want to risk bringing the ceiling down on her."

"We could - " Kinana began to offer before a familiar black snake appeared in the air beside her and hissed.

"Traskiz!" she recognized as the snake fell to the floor and began to slither away. "He found a way to her! Come on!"

The two of them followed the snake eagerly, weaving through tunnels and ducking under stalactites until, finally, a familiar voice answered their calls.

"Dad!?" Kina's weak voice pierced Erik's consciousness like a knife and he practically flew forward until he found his daughter, half-dead, dragging herself through the tunnels and just barely staying on her own two feet by leaning on the walls.

"Kina," Erik breathed as he pulled her into an embrace.

Gods, she was afraid, he could hear the pain and fear that had consumed her being over the past few hours. It was like a scar in her usually fearless soul. He pulled her close and let out a long breath. 

When she was born, he promised himself that he would never let her feel the pain that he had suffered in his early years, and yet, here she was, battered and bruises, every part of her body aching in agony and her mind not yet ready to release the fear that had clutched it.

"I'm okay..." Kina assured him, hearing his thoughts. "I promise... I'm alright... It's not your fault."

Kina came over and silently pulled both of them into her embrace, not failing to notice how her husband's eyes were watering.

"H-how are you out -  Oh, makes sense, wait... Zeref and Mavis are here too? Good, I don't think August was doing too well last I heard," Kina murmured as she heard Erik's and Kina's thoughts.

"It doesn't matter anymore, we're getting you out," Erik sword.

"WAIT! No, not yet, I heard something," Kina cried urgently, her voice still weak. "There's a dragon close by, she's scared and... Riki has something planned."

"Riki?" Kinana asked.

"The bastard behind all of this. He wants to resurrect Acnologia to - " Kina began.

"Turn back time," Erik and Kina finished in unison as Erik heard it all.

"Please, we can't leave yet. We have to find that dragon and help her. I think she has the eggs and  - "

"It's okay," Kinana assured Kina. "We'll do it."

All Erik wanted to do was get his daughter home safe, everyone else is damned. Kina saw that plainly on his face.

"You take her out, I'll go find this dragon and help her," Kinana assured him.

"Are you sure?" Erik asked.

"Yes," Kinana nodded.

"No, I don't need help, I can make it. I'm not useless yet - " Kina managed before Erik picked her up bridal style and looked to his wife.

"Be careful," he ordered.

"You're one to talk," Kinana retorted, raising an eyebrow. "Now get our girl out of here."

Erik gave a firm nod and looked down at Kina before racing back the way he had come.

"You are never useless," Erik told her quietly.

"This all wouldn't have happened had I just stayed at the guild," Kina murmured weakly, her soul heavy with guilt.

"This is not your fault," Erik assured her. "Acno knows I couldn't stay at the guild for the love of peace. I ran head-first into a dark guild to save my old friends, solo, might I add."

"But you didn't get others hurt," Kina choked.

"I did, and I got blasted in the back, but don't for a second think that I was in the right. Things happen and the only thing you can do is what you think is the best thing to do. You did your best and I am just happy you're alright," Erik told her warmly.

Kina smiled weakly at him and finally relaxed and fell asleep in his arms, exhausted from the experience.

Lucy was sprinting alongside Ares and Gemini,  following Gemini's knack for sensing fellow celestial spirits to try and find Igneel, and therefore, hopefully, Nashi. As they turned a corner, the three nearly bumped into Natsu and Happy.

Natsu was decimating some cultists...

No, not Natsu, judging by those cackles, E.N.D was having some fun.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried.

"SALAMANDER! YOUR WIFE'S HERE!" E.N.D yelled as he grabbed a cultist by the neck and looked back at Lucy.

"Hey, Luce!" Natsu grinned, reclaiming his body and putting on a goofy grin.

"Lucyy!" Happy cheered as he flew over to her.

"Have you found them!?" Lucy demanded.

"Not yet, but I'm following my nose and I think they're that way!" Natsu smiled as he pointed down the hall.

"We were just cleaning up some messes, sweetheart," E.N.D grinned.

"We sense celestial magic that way too!" Gemini cheered as they pointed the same way Natsu had.

"I hope they're okay," Ares muttered.

"Come on!" Lucy urged as she charged forward, Natsu behind her.

"Nashiiiii!??" Happy called.

"Happy!?" a familiar voice demanded and low and behold, Nashi poked her head out of a tunnel.

"NASHI!" Lucy and Natsu smiled.

"Dad!?" Igneel cried as he emerged, piggybacking on Storm's back.

"Natsu!?" Storm gawked.

"YOU'RE OKAY!" Happy cried as he barreled into Nashi and hugged her.

Lucy ran over and took Igneel from Storm. Natsu ran up as well, trying to ignore E.N.D who was practically screaming in his mind.

'LOOK AT OUR BRATS! Is-is that a BLACK EYE? Who TOUCHED THE KIDS! WHO ARE WE KILLING!?? MURDER MUST HAPPEN! SOMEONE WILL PAYYYYYY!!'

"Mom! Mom! Mom! I did this cool thing with this weird star-outfit and it was like Aquarius stuff and it was SUPER COOL!" Igneel bragged.

"You're both SO grounded!" Lucy announced as she looked over their wounds. "Wait. What did you say - "

"Dad!" Nashi cried. "You're back!"

"Well duh," Natsu smirked.

"Igneel, what did you say about Aquarius?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, she was like in my head. Then I got all these cool water powers. It was SICK!" Igneel laughed.

Lucy took a moment to process that.

"It was pretty cool," Storm agreed. Ares then noticed his shoulder.

"Ohhh, dear. Let me... that hurts, let me... help," Ares bleated as she came over and wrapped Storm's wound with her fleece.

"Dad! I saw God Serena!" Nashi cried urgently.

Natsu did a double-take. "He's alive?"

"No. He's dead. He was a ghost and it was super weird," Nashi muttered.

"The kid's hallucinating Dragneel," E.N.D muttered aloud, mentally plotting mass genocide.

"He did a cartwheel," Nashi offered.

"Nope. That sounds like him," Natsu deadpanned.

"We've got to find Riki and stop his spell from being completed before he says Acnologia's name!" Nashi cried.

"It's always some stupid ritual," E.N.D muttered. "Some cult cheesy bull to resurrect someone."

"Yeah... but if we find the ritual... we find the guy who did all this," Natsu realized as he smiled.

"Dad, you're talking to yourself again," Igneel deadpanned.

"Hush child, father is planning murder," E.N.D shushed with a sinister smirk on his face as he contemplated Riki's inevitable murder.

"Can I go with you?" Nashi demanded.

"What?" Natsu, E.N.D, Lucy, and Happy asked all together.

"To stop the ritual, can I go?" Nashi asked.

"No!" E.N.D cried. "You look like you've walked into a toaster!"

"I was asking DAD!" Nashi yelled at her possessed father figure.

"NO!" Natsu cried. "YOU LOOK LIKE YOU WALKED INTO A TOASTER!"

"Oh for the love of - " Nashi threw her arms in the air.

"She's not too bad. Most of those singe marks were self-inflicted,"  Storm pointed out. "She incinerated a bunch of people back there."

"THAT'S MY GIRL!" E.N.D cackled. 

"She's MY girl," Natsu reprimanded.

"Hush, let a demon get some joy in his life," E.N.D shot back.

"Alright, back into my subconscious you go," Natsu deadpanned.

"You bastard." E.N.D managed before he was shut out and pouted like a child in the back of Natsu's mind.

"No. You're grounded. You're going with your mother and getting the hell out of this mountain like your mother would want - " Natsu began.

"It's fine," Lucy shrugged.

"WHAT!?" E.N.D's shock fed into Natsu's.

"She's literally you, Natsu. She's going with you no matter what you or I do. Besides, if a ghost appeared to her, just bring her with you. Storm and Igneel are hurt enough and it'll be easy to defend two kids rather than three," Lucy explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Happy cried.

"You're going with them, cat, keep them safe!" Lucy ordered.

"Thank you, Mom!" Nashi smirked, sending it towards her father.

"You're grounded for the rest of your life when we get back to the guild," Lucy explained simply.

"Wh-what?" Nashi asked fearfully.

Lucy met her gaze cooly. "You're. Grounded. For. Life."

"Ahhh," Nashi nodded.

'As far as I'm concerned, she's grounded in the afterlife too,' E.N.D growled in Natsu's head.

'Ah, hush, you were just worried about her,' Natsu thought back.

'She's TINY, what am I supposed to do? LET HER RUN INTO DANGER WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE!'

Natsu sighed.

He was going to have a headache by the end of this.

(AYYYYYE, here I am, a week late with a useless chapter and I'm sorryyyyyy. This was originally going to be a much longer chapter but once I breached 6000 words I lost motivation so I cut it a bit short but don't worry because next chapter, we'll have Mavis + Zeref rescuing their sassy boy, Kinana mothering, Natsu saving the day (as always) and an old face that we haven't seen since the last book...

ACNOLOGIA HIMSELF!!

Anyway, hope y'all liked it. Have a great day/night and I'm sorryyyy it's late!!!)