This ones a doozy. 

The small group of wizards from Fairy tail were close to the castle, so close that they could see the holes in the roofs. If they didn't know better, they could have passed the castle off as abandoned. 

As of right now, they were huddled in another abandoned building, watching Lil and keeping a look out as the older woman set a small place up. 

   "Okay," Lil breathed out. "Okay, small camp is set up. We'll meet up here when you guys are done."

  "Great, can we go?" Gajeel grunted, already starting to make his way towards the castle. But an armored arm stopped him from going any further. His red eyes slowly traveled to meet Erza's unflinching gaze. 

Like she was reading his thoughts, Erza replied in a cool voice. "We need to make a plan. A real plan."

   "Storming the castle isn't a real plan?" Natsu furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. 

   "Not while dealing with Serpents." Erza answered. 

   "They're just another dark guild, aren't they?" Gray asked, arms crossed his shirtless chest. 

   "Come on guys, even I know the answer to that." Lucy sighed, closing her eyes in disappointment.

    "Do you guys at least remember the graph Mira wrote a while ago?" Levy asked. At Natsu's confused look, Gray's hand in the 'kinda' movement, and Happy's perplexed expression, she sighed as well. "Okay, well, basically Serpents are near the top of the dark guild radar. At least the fifth or fourth rank."

   "So. . .?"

   "It's means they're dangerous."

   ". . .On a scale of one to ten, how dangerous?" 

   "Juvia feels like this isn't the best moment to ask that. . ."

   "We don't have time for this!" Gajeel snarled. Daella nodded in agreement. 

   "We don't know where she is, what they're doing to her, and how many people are actually there!" Daella shrugged off Lily's paw as she started to pace. "It doesn't help that I can't do anything!"

   "Daella, you're going to stay here with Pantherlily, Happy, Carla, and Lil-"

   "Now hold on a second!"

   "I will not just let Wendy go by herself-!"

   "Are we sure that's wise?"

   "Yes," Erza interrupted their complaints. "I'm sure this is the best decision. You four need to stay out of the fight and with Lil, just in case someone shows up that isn't suppose to."

   "Like her?"

The group of fairies and there plus one whirled around to face the stranger Happy oh-so-quickly pointed out. Lucy gently pulled Lil to stand behind her, but made a point to stand behind Natsu. 

Gajeel lifted a studded brow at the appearance of the woman in front of them. Her dead eyes slowly ran over the members of the group, barely even stopping. Her skin was so grey and tight, he swore he could count every bone on her body just by glancing at her. 

All in all, she looked like complete and utter shit. 

But she looked like to have been there for a while.

   "I didn't even hear her. . ." Gajeel spoke. 

   "I didn't smell her, either," Wendy added. Natsu took a whiff of the air, before plugging his nose. His eyes watered. 

   "I smell her now!"

   "Who are you?" Erza demanded, striding forward but not too close. Lil peaked around Natsu's broad shoulder, her eyes landing on the spying figure. Her eyes narrowed before widening in shock. 

   "Rebecca?!" She gasped. 

   "You know this woman?" Gray asked slowly. 

   "Yes, well no. . .Kinda." Rebecca trailed of, her face turning slightly pink. "M-My mother was a midwife. Sometimes I would go and help her. . .It just so happened that I was there to help Rebecca give birth. . .But that's impossible. . ."

   "What's impossible?" Levy asked, pushing her hair behind her ear nervously. 

   ". . .Rebecca died from childbirth. There's no way that can really be her."

As if its was planned, Rebecca skirted forwards a little. Holding one hand up to show she wasn't going to do anything, she used her other hand to gesture. 

   "I-I think she wants us to follow her." Wendy stammered. 

   "Juvia wonders why." Juvia narrowed her eyes. "A trap?"

   "No," Gajeel shook his head with a grunt. "I don't think it's a trap. . .I think she wants to help."

Rebecca nodded vigorously. 

   "But why?" Lucy murmured. 

Erza took another step forward, this time a lot more relaxed. "Are you here to help us?"

Rebecca nodded. 

   "Are you going to take us into the castle?"

Another nod, this time with a finger in front of her mouth. Like she was shushing them. 

   "A secret?"

A nod. 

   "She must want to lead us through a secret passage to get into the castle," Levy summed up, a half smile on her face as Rebecca tapped her nose and pointed at Levy. 

   "Then what?" Gray wondered. 

   ". . .Lil, if someone that isn't us finds you, head for the forest. The Exceeds will help you."

No one dared to argue, following after Erza as Rebecca started the trail. 

The path that Rebecca led them along had to do with a long of climbing. Usually, is wouldn't be too bad to climb. But they were climbing on a stone wall that looked like it would give away at any second.

There was eight of them climbing up there. 

After a paragraph full of colorful words, they finally made it to the place where Rebecca wanted them to lay low at. It was a small space, barely big enough to fix the eight of them, but it over looked the throne room. It gave them a perfect view of what was happening. 

Rebecca put a single finger onto her lips one last time before making her way back down the crumbling path. Minutes later, just as the members of the dark guild started to shout their praises and proclamation, she reappeared by the throne. 

   "Well, what do we do now?" Levy whispered, her voice nearly drowned out by the yells. Erza narrowed her eyes, taking in the situation as the old man's croak reach their ears. 

   "My loyal subjects! As you can see, we have finally done it! With the Infinity Elixir Stone in our grasp, the machine ready to use, and our sacrifice, we will finally raise Zeref from the dead!"

The Serpent guild roared in approval as Gajeel snarled, "You better come up with a plan, quick!"

Gajeel barely even gave any of the members a look, his red eyes trained on his sister. She looked like shit, there was a serious burn on her neck that didn't look to good and she practically had a second skin of dried blood. 

His heart seem to squeeze tightly in his chest, so tight he couldn't breath for a few moments. It was the stress. The stress of it all was finally hitting him. Or has it already hit him? Was he numb for the most part?

Gabbey was starting to get dragged over to the damn machine, her mouth set in a snarl as she talked to the two men that escorted her. 

   "We have to be careful!"

   "Juvia thinks we should all just hurry!"

Not long after, a young woman with white hair took the katana from another woman's hand. 

   "We need a plan, now!" Gray's voice rose in panic. 

   "We still don't know how many members are there!"

   "Does it matter?! She's about to die!"

The katana rose into the air. 

   "Screw having plans!" Natsu roared, shoving everyone out of the way as he launched himself into the air. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"

🌹🌹🌹

The walls and floors collapsed around them, the foundation of the castle finally giving up after years of being worn down. A resounding boom sounded out as they fell a couple floors. The caves that criss-crossed beneath the castle seem to have collapsed as well, the walls burying  everything and everyone. 

Gabbey let out a grunt as she finally hit the ground, rolling out of the way as a piece of the machine almost flattened her. A sigh of relief escaped her, at least she didn't have to worry about the machine any more. 

She took the moment to glance around, seeing where she was at. Noting that the metal floor had also fallen into the giant ass hole, she snapped a chunk off to eat. The toy solider wasn't enough. 

Just as she was about to eat the very last bit of metal, something hit it. The piece went flying out of her hand and embedded into the wall behind Gabbey. Her red eyes stared at her empty hand for only a moment before she dropped her hand, turning her body to face the attacker. 

Maja stood only a few meters away, a cold glare on her face and a throwing knife in her other hand. 

   "I thought you're powers were sound manipulation."  Gabbey commented. 

   "I thought you weren't a selfish bitch?" Maja retorted. 

   "Whoa!" Gabbey tilted her head a tiny bit. "Going right for the throat, then, aren't you?"

   "If it'll take you down faster."

   "Look," Gabbey took a step forward, easily batting the thrown knife out of the air. "I know how you feel-"

   "You know nothing!" Maja spat. 

   "You weren't the only one that's been betrayed before!" Gabbey narrowed her eyes. "Believe it or not, some people can go through different betrayal scenarios, but still talk about it!"

   "Not when you were the person that betrayed me," Maja sneered, roughly yanking another throwing knife out of her pocket. "I can't talk about it, especially not to you!"

   "You-"

   "No, you!  What did you think was going to happen?! I was going to finally let this hatred go and sit down with a nice cup of tea? Sob over the fact that my other mother, your ex, is practically a zombie? No! I'm going to tear your heart from your chest!"

   "Graphic. . ." Gabbey mumbled softly. "Maja, you don't have to fight anymore! You can just. . .let it go and walk away. Start a better life, a life that isn't warped around hurt, hatred and bloodshed. Find peace with yourself."

   "Then what will I stand for?" Maja gritted her teeth. "I refuse to turn away from this. Not this time. Master Chai says -"

   "But what do you say?"

Maja's form didn't sway, but her eyes shuttered with emotions that flew by too fast. Silence, apart from the other battles, formed between the two. Gabbey didn't know if that was a good thing or not. 

Her hand tightened around her knife. 

   "I say your death is just around the corner."

With a furious yell, Maja threw the knife at top speed. Gabbey spun to the right to dodge and held her arms up to block Maja's punch. She ducked under Maja's swinging arm before kicking her foot out, hoping to knock Maja back. 

Instead, Maja jumped over and away, putting her hands up in fists. Gabbey took a deep breath. 

   "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

The whirl-wind of the roar headed straight for Maja, who didn't move. Last second, she clapped her hands together and sent the roar flying back at Gabbey. Not expecting that, the roar hit Gabbey and threw her into the wall. 

   "Shit," She wheezed. "That doesn't feel good."

   "I found out that I didn't have to scream to use my powers!" Maja took a deep breath as well. "But it feels good to yell! Banshee Cry!"

   "Metal-make; Shield!" 

The power cry hit the shield with full force, but the shield refused to break. Eventually, Maja stopped the scream and Gabbey dropped her shield. The two of them narrowed their eyes at each other. 

   "It seems we're at a stand-still." Gabbey said. 

   "Not for long." Maja snarked, pulling out yet another throwing knife. Without any other word, the two of them ran at each other to fight with their fists. 

🌹🌹🌹

   "Good going, Natsu!" Lucy cried out in aggravation. Steam was practically blow out of her ears.  "You couldn't have waited just one more second for someone to have made a plan?!"

   "U-Uh, Lucy," Levy stammered. "Natsu isn't. . .here."

   "I know that!" She snapped slightly. "I just. . .had to get that out of my system."

   "Yelling right now isn't going to get the job done." Erza started, a sword materializing in her hand. "We have company."

The two woman turned to where Erza was glowering at. In front of them stood a woman with a curling smile and a man who glanced between the three fairies. 

Levy couldn't help but noticed that Juvia was completely dominating a different Serpent member behind them. 

   "Well, well, well," The woman sneered, a sword appearing in her hand as well. "That bitch does have friends. Good! That means more play-things for me!"

   "You're getting too cocky," The man murmured from beside her. 

   "Shut up, Rui!"

   "Playthings?" Lucy echoed, her hand going to her keys on her waist. 

   "I guess she didn't have a chance to tell you," The woman tilted her head with a sadistic grin. "But I was the one who put that new guild mark on top of her old one."

   "Y-You?"

   "Mhm! Branding is just something that I recently picked up," She seem to brag. "Gabbriel just happened to be my first test subject."

   "You're disgusting!" Levy spat fiercely. 

   "I've been called worse," The woman shrugged. 

   "You amuse yourself with the pain of others?" Erza glared, her voice steely. "You dare mock Gabbriel in front of us?"

   "Didn't know I hit a nerve."

   "Gabbriel may be new to our guild, but that doesn't make her anything less than family," Erza stalked forward. "Now, you have to deal with me."

With the whine of their swords, the two women collided without remorse. There was barely a millisecond of pause in their fight as they gracefully, just dangerously, moved away from the man and two other fairies. 

   "So," The man, called Rui by his guildmate, casually turned towards Lucy and Levy. "I guess I have to fight you two now."

   "Open gate of The Lion; Loke! "

   "Solid Script: Fire!"

   "I guess so," Rui sighed, getting into a loose fighting stance. "Lets do this."

On the other side of the giant hole, Gajeel and Natsu stood there, butting their heads together. 

   "You idiot! You couldn't have waited just a little bit?! Now you got us all stuck in a hole!" Gajeel growled. 

   "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to save your sister!" Natsu growled back. "So what if we're in a hole?! That just means we got all their members in one place!"

   "We don't even know how many there are! Flame-brain!"

   "Metal-head!"

   "Numb-skull!"

   "Metal freak!"

   "Why, I oughtta-"

   "Excuse me!" At the sound of a new voice, the two Dragon Slayers whipped their heads towards it. Santino, the same woman that showed up to their guild hall, and Bryson stood not-so far away. "Yeah, you two. Are you done arguing, or are you going to fight each other for us?"

   "It would save us all the work." Bryson commented. 

   "Oh, I bet it would!" Gajeel snapped. "Where's my sister?"

   "If she knew what was good for her, gone." Santino shrugged, eyeing Gajeel with little interest. "You look like your sister."

   "Hey! You two were at our guild the other day!" Natsu pointed a finger at the two of them. The people around him sweatdropped. 

   "You have the brains of her," Santino finished lamely. 

   "Oi! Us Redfox's have more brains then this idiot over here!"

   "Who are you calling idiot?!"

   "Oh, my god," Bryson turned towards Santino. "Is it too late to try and fight that ice mage? The one with the water girl on his arm?"

   "Imogen and Parker already got them," Santino sighed. "We're stuck with them."

Gajeel and Natsu glanced at each other. They nodded.

   "You want to take Lava Girl over there?"

   "Sure, you got She-Hulk."

   "Who are you calling Lava Girl?!" Bryson fumed. 

   "She-Hulk. Sound about right," Santino nodded. 

Natsu and Gajeel stepped forward in sync, grins tugging on their lips as they got into their stances. 

   "You're going to regret ever messing with Fairy Tail." Natsu declared.

The sound of fighting surrounded Wendy as she tried to quietly walk around the new giant hole. Her back brushed against the ruined walls, her dress getting snagged a few times. 

   "This is bad. . ." Wendy whispered lowly. "I can't find Gabbey! She looked so injured! Oh, if only we came up with a faster plan!"

The blue-haired girl let out a yelp of surprise as she tripped over something and fell. A groan escaped her lips as she rolled over, rubbing her cheek.

   "Ow. . ." Two voices hisses at the same time, before realizing they weren't alone. 

In front of Wendy, sitting on the ground and holding his ankle, was a boy that wasn't much younger that Wendy herself. He stared at her with wide eyes, mimicking herself, before they both looked at each others' guild marks that shone. 

Fairy tail and Serpents.

   "Uh. . ." Wendy started lowly, eyes meeting the others' again. "Oh. . .Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trip o-over you! I-I was trying to find Gabbey, she's-"

   "Injured?" The boy finished, his cheeks flushing pink. "Y-Yeah, I know. I. . .I healed her the best I could before she arrived at the throne room. . ."

   "You healed her?"

   "Y-Yup! I gave her some metal as well, one of my toy soldiers. . ." He trailed off before perking up and holding a hand out. "U-Uh, my names JD."

   "Wendy," She replied, shaking his hand before smiling. "Thank you! For healing Gabbey while I wasn't there."

   "You can heal too?!" JD exclaimed. Wendy flinched back in shock. "S-Sorry! It's just, I haven't met someone else that could heal as well."

   "I'm not good at it," Wendy admitted. "But I can heal with small injuries."

   "It's still cool- Duck!" 

JD rushed forwards, knocking Wendy back as a piece of sharp glass hit the wall where Wendy had just stood. The two kids stared at the glass piece in shock before looking back at each other. 

   "W-We should get somewhere safe."

   "Y-Yeah. . ."

They got up, ducking down slightly as they ran out of the way of the other fight. Most of the members had already defeated the opponents and were making their way towards the now-fallen throne. The Serpents guild master, Rebecca, and another woman were standing there. 

For the last fight. 

🌹🌹🌹

    "ARG!" Maja let out a cry, filled with rage and misery, as she sent another punch towards Gabbey. The older woman let out grunt, the punch knocking her head to the side and to the ground. 

Thinking quick, Gabbey rolled out of the way just as Maja's foot hit where her head once was. She pulled herself back up, twirling around to send a kick at Maja. Her attack hit Maja right on the temple, but merely knocked the girl down before she was back up again. 

Gabbey wasn't going to lie. She wasn't putting her all into this fight. Even after all this time, she still saw Maja as a daughter. But, the look in Maja's orange eyes. . .

They reminded Gabbriel of herself. After Akemi was murdered. Before she joined the Fairy tail guild. A time when Gabbey felt she was truly lost. 

   "Maja, please," Gabbey tried again. "I don't want to do this."

   "Shut up!"

   "Please, Maja, you're only fifteen! I-"

   "I said, shut up!" Maja screamed the last word, making Gabbey throw up a quick shield. She didn't want to do it. . .But she had to. 

As soon as Maja lost her breathe, Gabbey made her move. It was the safest way for her to defeat Maja, without hurting her too bad. 

Gabbey shot forward, using a large rock to boost herself a bit, she grabbed Maja's arm and pulled it back while wrapping her legs around Maja's head. They fell to the ground with a loud thud, but Gabbey was successful. 

The triangle hold was locked in. 

   "Maja, I'm sorry," Gabbey whispered, staring at the sky far above them. Maja's form wiggled around as she clawed at Gabbey's legs. "We were going to take you away from here. . .We were going to raise you, and show you the whole world. . But Chai got to you first. . ."

As soon as Maja's arm fell to her side, Gabbey let go of the hold and crawled over Maja. Her orange eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion and defeat. 

   "Maybe we can come back from this," Gabbey whispered hopefully. 

   "I. . ." Maja rasped out, her eyes falling close. ". . .hate you." 

Gabbey watched as Maja rested, her chest rising and falling as if she only fallen asleep. Her face held no emotion but her eyes were like ruby gems glittering in the light. 

   "It's okay," Gabbey replied softly, pushing herself to stand. "You can hate me all you want. . ."

Determination shot through Gabbey as she turned to face Chai, Akemi, and Rebecca. Chai still sat on his throne, an angered expression on his face as he watched his guild members fall one-by-one. Akemi and Rebecca stood on either side of him, the metal flooring glinting in the dim light. Somehow, a large chunk of the metal flooring was still in place. 

Or, somewhat. 

   "It's over, Chai," Gabbey stated roughly, making her way over to the Serpent master. "Your machine is destroyed, your castle gone, and your members defeated."

   "I suppose some of them are," Chai mused as he watched his final member, Hughie, fall to the ground and stay there. Gabbey could feel the member in her guild surround Chai and herself. Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, Erza, and Juvia staggered around Gabbey, standing slightly in front of her for protection. Lucy, Levy, Wendy, and (strangely) JD stood scattered behind the three older Dragon Slayers, the Ice and Water mage, and the Queen of Fairies. 

    "Nonetheless, I still have my key players," Chai sneered. "Rebecca, blind them!"

Gabbey turned towards the wilting woman, half expecting her to do something, but she was pleasantly surprised. 

Rebecca shook her head in a robotic movement and stepped away from the throne, as if telling him she was done. 

   "What are you doing?!" Chai growled, staring at his daughter in disbelief. 

   "What. . .I. . .should've. . .done." Rebecca rasped out in a broken sentence. Chai's glare harden as he went into a rant. 

   "You dare betray me?! After everything I did for you! I brought you back to life, I gave you more power than you could ever dream of! I even brought your damn daughter back to life, just for you!"

   "Not. . .me," Rebecca denied. "For. . .you."

  "I'll deal with you, later!" Chai snarled, twisting his gaze back over to the fairies. They were starting to relax, the Serpents guild master was at the very edge of his reign. "You. . .You ruined everything!"

   "It's a talent," Gabbey replied sarcastically. "There's no need for this. You lost."

   "No. . ." Chai muttered frantically. "No. . .I can't lose! I refuse to lose! Akemi!" 

The said girl pulled her katana out of her sheath, waiting for a command. 

   "I can't loose. . .I won't loose. . .I'll have the last laugh. . ."  A chuckle escaped his lips, a mad laugh ringing through the air. "You shouldn't leave the weak in the open. Kill her!"

At the word kill , the front group of fairies charged forward to stop Chai and Akemi, hoping to stop anyone of them. But Akemi swiftly moved around the fairies, sword drawn as she sprinted towards her target. Gabbey lost her breath for a moment. 

The target was Levy. 

Time seem to slow down as Gabbey realized no one would be fast enough to stop Akemi. Lucy, Wendy, and JD weren't close enough to drag Levy away. Gajeel, Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Juvia seem to just realize the small group they left in the open, without proper protection. 

The metal flooring beneath Gabbey seem to shift and waver, like an earthquake seem to shake the very ground beneath them. Like it-

The metal flooring.

She acted before she completely thought it through. 

Levy's eyes clenched shut as Akemi seemingly appeared out of no where, her katana about to thrust itself through her small body. A small shriek escaped her lips as she waited for the pain to hit. 

. . .Drip.

. . .Drop.

. . .Drip.

A scream of horror escaped from someone's mouth. But, why? Levy didn't feel any pain. In fact, it was frightening to not feel pain. Was she already dead?

Opening her eyes, her thoughts were answered. 

In front of her stood Gabbey's tall figure, back facing her as a sword went through her front. 

Gabbey coughed, feeling the blood dribble down her chin as she stared down Akemi. The katana had hit her right below her sternum. The pain was unbelievable. But. . .

   "Akemi. . ." Gabbey murmured softly, raising a shaky hand to her ex's face. The woman didn't move or even flinch. The sound of a battle happened behind Akemi, but Gabbey was just focused on her. "I. . .I'm sorry."

A grunt of pain escaped her lips as Akemi shoved the katana, the blade fully going through. There wasn't an ounce of remorse in Akemi's grey eyes as she stared down someone who she thought was the enemy. 

   "Don't worry," Gabbey spit some blood out of her mouth. "I-I forgive you."

Chai's voice suddenly called Akemi's name out in a panic, clearly realizing that he was in a troubling situation. And without looking back, Akemi ripped her katana out of Gabbey's body and went to fight. 

   "Gabbey," Levy breathed out, watching as the taller woman fall to her knees. "Gabbey!" 

Gabbey huffed, shaky hands pressing down on her wound as she fell backwards. The blood was already spreading underneath her as well as on her front. Levy's panicking face appeared above her as she tried to stop the bleeding. 

   "Y-You idiot!" Levy shouted, tears filling her eyes. "W-Why did you do that?! Hey, no, keep your eyes open! Wendy!" 

   "Y-You really thought I. . .I was going to let y-you take a sword?" Gabbey laughed before it turned into a bloody cough. "N. . .Naw."

Wendy's crying face appeared over her, right before Lucy was there as well. "Gabbey!" Wendy cried. 

   "S. . .Stop your tears, you fools." Gabbey wheezed. "I'll. . .be fine."

  "She's loosing too much blood," Lucy whimpered slightly. 

   "W-We have to stop the bleeding before I can heal her!" Wendy said. 

   "We need a-a towel, or a cape, or something!" 

   "I got something!" JD's footsteps faded away. Gabbey coughed again, but a small smile was on her face. 

   "Can you try to heal her?" Lucy asked Wendy. 

   "I-I can try!" Wendy declared, hovering her hands over Gabbey's entrance wound. A soft green light surrounded Wendy's hands as she tried to do something. 

   "Levy," Gabbey whispered.

   "Yes? What is it?" Levy shuffled closer to Gabbey's head, letting Lucy hold Gabbey's wound. 

   "If. . .If I-"

   "Don't say it!" Levy snapped, glancing up. "You're going to be fine! See, JD's back with a cloak! We'll get you fixed up in no-"

   "Levy." Gabbey stopped her rambling. Her vision was already getting fuzzy. "There's too much blood."

   "We're fixing that, right now, we really are-"

   "Take care of G-Gajeel for me," Gabbey squeezed her eyes shut painfully, blinking rapidly to open them.  "P-Please. . ."

   "You're going to be able to take care of him yourself, you hear me!" 

By now, Gabbey's body was slowly going numb. She was sure that was a bad thing, but she felt nothing but relief. The pain was going away. With shaky hands, Gabbey grasped one of Levy's hands and Wendy's with her other, disrupting Wendy's process of trying to heal her. Her red eyes swept over the two of them before she smiled at Lucy, who looked like she was on the verge of a break down. 

She couldn't see them, but she knew they were there. Gajeel and Juvia, Grey, Natsu and Erza were finishing the fight she started. It was something she wish she could do herself, but it seemed like fate thought differently.

   "To be surrounded by my family is one of the best things I can wish for." Gabbey whispered, barely loud enough for the trio to hear. 

And those were the last words Gabbriel Redfox spoke, before darkness completely took over her vision.