~*****~

My legs struggled to keep myself upright. My nose kept twitching as I followed after Zeref's scent. Whoever they are, they cannot bring him to the dark side. Not the Black Wizard. I don't care if he was the baddest guy in his time, he wants to be good. He wants to live in peace, and I'll be damned if someone takes that from him. Although, tumbling down a hill doesn't exactly help my position.

My body protests as I manage to get to my feet. I stumble and slam my fist against the tree I'm fall into. "Come on, stupid legs--" I growl. "Work damn you--"

"Aria--" I hear a familiar voice gasp. My gaze flinches up and I feel my stomach quiver for a moment.

"Natsu..." I murmur delicately as I try to move to him. My body stumbles and I collapse.

"Whoa, hey-- man, you were beat up good..." Natsu commented with a strangely shaky tone. "What happened?"

I groan as I pull myself upwards with the use of his help. "The-- The crying guy--"

"He did this to you?!" Natsu growled.

I shake my head, grasping his face with one hand. "No... Natsu, you have to save him... Our enemies-- they're after him! They want his power! Natsu please, he just wants to live in peace!"

"Listen, I can't just leave you hear while you're hurt like this!" Natsu complained. "So just lean on me and we'll--"

I grasp his face and smash my mouth to his. Natsu flinches in surprise and stares in absolute confusion. "Got your attention, Natsu? Good. Do this for me. I can't fight until I've regained a little bit of strength. You're the only one who can do this! If he turns out to be a bad guy, then I'll take the blame, but I want him to have his chance to do better!"

Natsu nods after a moment before hoisting me upwards and starts running. I complain loudly, but he just snaps. "I ain't leavin' you. And that's final. I'll do everything in my power to save that crybaby. Don't you worry about that!" I stare at him thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Natsu..." I murmur as I lean against his chest. Just as I manage to relax, Natsu's body slips from under me, and we're both going over another cliff. "CAN'T YOU GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING DUMB?!" I bark at Natsu.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--" Natsu cried as I started smacking at his face feebly before we're both taken out by motion sickness from sliding down on a leaf. We hit the bottom and I can't get the energy to move. "That didn't hurt one bit--" I hear Natsu whine. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry--" Natsu pleads again and helps me sit up. "Man, you sure are unlucky today." Natsu mentions as I stare at the tree in front of us.

"Crybaby--" I gasp as I stumble forward.

"NATSU! ARIA! WATCH OUT! BELOW YOU!" Happy cries as he swoops down towards us.

Natsu yelps in surprise before tugging me close and leaping out of the way. "It's her--" I grimace as I lean against Natsu.

"There was a sprouting seed hidden deep within the soil beneath you." The woman from earlier coos. "The Arc of Time guided it into the future to become this tree. Where do you think your future will guide you? I wonder. Well, Natsu Dragneel?"

"So, you're the creep from before." Natsu comments. "No doubt about it, I never forget a smell."

"The guy who used Lyon's group on Galuna Island?" Happy asked.

"SINCE WHEN DID YOU START DRESSING LIKE A GIRL?" Natsu asked angrily.

"Whoa, you're a cross dresser?" Happy chirped.

"No, actually, this is my real form," The woman retorts irritably. "I'm a member of the Grimoire Heart Guild. And leader of the Seven Kin. You may call me Ultear Milkovich." Ultear explains.

"Ultimate Milk Sandwich?" Natsu echoed.

I palmed my face irritably. "That's not even close." I comment dryly.

"Don't tell me your guild has sent you after Zeref as well?" Ultear hummed.

Natsu flinched, gazed down at me for a moment before shouting. "Wait-- the crybaby is Zeref?!" Natsu exclaims. "The same guy who created Lullaby, Deliora, and other bad stuff? For real?!"

"He can't be! No way! Zeref lived a long time ago!" Happy cried.

"He is..." I murmured as my body began to shake at the remembrance. "This man... this man is indeed Zeref... and he's just as powerful as we've been told..."

"Just so you know, I won't let you have him." Ultear hummed as I peered over at him. "The Black Wizard Zeref belongs to only me."

"Fine! I don't want him!" Natsu barked loudly. "I just want to get my hands on your guild! It's payback time for hurting my friends!"

"Oh? Well, if that's the case, then I do believe I owe you one." Ultear hums. "And this time, I mean business." She snaps as a large orb appears from her arm.

I give a sharp cry of pain as I slump to my knees. "Hey, take it easy, come on," Happy chirped delicately as I kept a tight grasp on Natsu's hand.

"Please--" I say desperately. "We'll get them back for hurting our friends... But they cannot make this man return to his former ways!" I plead. "Natsu, you once told me that your past doesn't define you, that everyone deserves a second chance. You can't let creeps like the Grimoire Heart be the reason the Black Wizard Zeref destroys the world."

"We're through arguing about this, Aria." Natsu snaps lowly. "The one thing about you that's probably my favorite is that heart of yours. But right now, I fight for our family. I fight for Fairy Tail and anyone who hurts them is my enemy."

I sink lower and whimper, my hands still tightly clasped onto his. I don't respond and slump to the ground, my palms digging into the earth. "You're bleeding pretty bad..." Happy mentions softly as he tugs at my bloody overcoat. "Is there anything I can do?"

I hum and palm his head. "My ice diamonds... Ballad has them... Do you know where she's at?"

Happy nods. "Yeah, she was helpin' Wendy tend to the Master... He got hurt pretty bad."

I wince and wrap my arm around my waist. "Natsu... please be careful. She's the one who got me pretty good." I comment after I feel the pain ebb a little less harshly.

Natsu glances down at me, his eyes suddenly sharper. "All right, I've had enough outta you, lady." Natsu snaps. "You know, if you and your friends hadn't interrupted our trails, I would already be a freaking S-Class wizard by now!" Natsu shouts as he scales up the tree.

I purse my lips as Happy stares up at me. I totally do not wanna say that I found the grave and Makarov in it. "Are you positive that's what your future holds?" Ultear coos. That damned orb of hers begins to pelt Natsu every which way until he breaks it. It simply spreads out into nearly a hundred crystal balls. "Each one of these crystal balls contains a different possible future for you. Parallel worlds. I have the ability to create an infinite number of futures. And then compress them into a single future." The orbs sail towards Natsu, slamming down onto him in rapid succession. "Flash Forward!" Ultear shouts. "We haven't even gotten to teh fun part yet, and you're knocked out cold." Ultear cooed.

"Natsu--" I try to move towards him, only to collapse on the ground. "Happy, go! I'll be behind you!" I exclaim.

I feel a tug on my overcoat, and I'm being lugged up and into the air. "No way! Natsu will be upset if you got hurt any worse!" Happy exclaimed. He continued to fight with Ultear, getting battered around like a ragdoll.

A familiar yelp echoes out as a body slaps onto the ground in front of us. And just as Natsu sails forward to attack Ultear. "What the--" Natsu gasped.

"Natsu! Aria!" Lucy cried.

I stumble towards her, slapping my arm across my ribs before holding out a hand to her. "You all right? What the heck are you doing here? And my goodness, cover it up! You hate being so exposed!"

"It's not like I had a choice in the matter," Lucy mentions as I tug my over coat off and toss it to her.

"Hey, I don't need any help takin' her down!" Natsu complained.

"I'm not offering..." Lucy muttered. "But thanks for getting the marshmallow off my back."

"I can't believe you didn't see her get a face full of dirt." Happy commented. "It was priceless!"

"You're gettin' a face full of my fist if you don't shut up!" Lucy snaps. I smile and feel a chuckle work its way through my throat, but it's stopped by my ribs protesting the movement. "You pretty hurt... Is she really that strong?"

I grimace and sigh out once the pain softens. "I was protectin' someone when I got hit... Took the brunt of the attack, and it still knocked out the other guy." I explain.

"Kain. Care to tell me what you're doing here?" Ultear hums irritably to the fat man besides her.

"Oh, yeah, sorry..." Kain grumbled. "I was fightin' that girl and I almost finished her off."

"Looks like she's been giving you a hard time, too." Lucy mentions.

"I saw her first... hands off!" Natsu snapped.

"Technically, I did, but I'm so not in the best condition." I mutter. "She's all yours."

"Yeah, you have fun with that." Lucy drones.

"Natsu hasn't landed a single hit!" Happy exclaims. "There's no way he can beat her!"

"I can, too! I was just biding my time, ya know?" Natsu retorted.

"In that case, I guess you can handle the two of 'em on your own." Happy commented.

Natsu snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I could, but since Lucy's here, I'll throw her a bone. Now, don't get me wrong, we're still rivals when it comes to completing the S-Class trial. But... I don't mind calling a truce for now."

They both flinch as frost begins to billow from my body. My teeth grind as I speak through them. "I get-- That you wanna be an S-Class wizard, too... But you probably shoulda thought that from the start. CAUSE IF YOU FORGOT, THE GRIMOIRE HEARTS ATTACKED US!" I shout at him. "Now pay attention! Everyone still on the island will have to band together to defeat these guys. The Oracion Seis are a cake walk compared to these guys."

Natsu hummed. "I'll pay attention better if you do that thing you did earlier!" Natsu chirped.

Lucy giggled as I began sucking in the frost covering my body. "Boy, teamin' up with you guys sure brings back memories." Lucy mentions.

"Kinda reminds me of our first adventure in Hargeon." Happy hums.

"Like destroying half the town?" I chirp as my skin ripples with the icy scales I'd managed to make.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu cheers. "I'm all fired up now! You ready, guys?"

"You know it, Natsu!" Lucy cheers.

"Just don't hog all the fun, I may be injured, but I ain't out." I chirp.

"Don't forget about me!" Happy called out.

"QUIT ACTIN' ALL BUDDY-BUDDY!" Kain growled. "IT'S DRIVIN' ME CRAZY!" We all just stare at one another before tubby shouts. "That does it! I'll take care of these bratty kids; just leave 'em to me! First I'm gonna filet those three, and then... I'll barbeque their little blue dog!"

"Forget it, Buddha Belly! We're stickin' with two-on-two!" Natsu declared.

"Uh, actually, I wouldn't mind taking 'em on one at a time," Lucy suggested.

"Where's the fun in that?" I ask.

"I'm not a dog, but at least someone acknowledged me," Happy muttered.

"Very well, I'll leave them to you... Destroy them." Ultear hummed. "I will take Zeref to Master Hades so we can continue our plans."

"That's great news, I didn't realize you'd found him yet!" Kain clapped.

"Oh no... We have to stop her!" Lucy gasps. "If she gets away with him, we're all screwed!"

I gesture my hands to her. "See?!" I bark.

"Natsu, they wanna bring about some Grand Magic World and kill all non-wizards!" Lucy explains.

"That sorry sack of tears still has to pay for messin' with my scarf... He's not going anywhere until I get my revenge!" Natsu retorted. "Let's get this party started!"

I expect Natsu to be able to move around the fat blob, but he's quicker than we anticipated. "Dodoskoi!" He exclaims, slamming his palm into Natsu's face.

We all shout in surprise. "Kill them quickly... we've no time to waste." Ultear ordered. "Show them the full fury of the Seven Kin. Head back to the ship as soon as your done decorating the forest with their entrails."

"No way! I have a stomach to fill and the main course just got served... There won't be any leftovers to decorate with."

"Bring it on! I've got the porker, you guys!" Natsu calls back as Kain attacks.

"Guess that means we've got Ultear," I say to Lucy. We try to go after Ultear. Unfortunately, Kain is making sure none of us are gonna be able to.

"Ka-Shing!" Kain bellows. I slam into Lucy's back, my nose throbbing with the brunt of it smashing against her head.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" I ask as I rub at my nose. "Do you really wanna fight this goon?!"

"Look, I'm trying to move, but I can't seem to budge!" Lucy whined as I stepped around her.

Kain held up a creepy looking doll with a lone strand of blonde hair attached to it. "I snagged one of your bristles while I was chasing you." Kain hummed.

"But-- how did you--" Lucy gasped.

"Now that you and Mr. Cursy are connected, it's time for me to serve up your just desserts." Kain explained.

"Curse dolls work?" I ask curiously.

"They sure do," Kain chittered childishly before stretching the doll up by its arms. Lucy's body mimicked its movements. "What was the first thing you did to me? Oh yeah!" Her body flew upside down and her legs spread open in a strange position before she began contorting in several different positions. "Show us those funky moves!"

"Do you have any idea what's goin' on here?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Just looks like a couple of friends bustin' a move." Happy hummed.

"Oh, we've passed the friends stage at this point, doggie," Kain mentioned.

"Scandalous," I coo in a teasing manner, my hand over my mouth in astonishment.

"KEEP DREAMIN' BRISTLE BUTT!" Lucy shouted.

"Awe, don't be so shy, you love to dance... and pose for me, don't you? Yes." Kain chittered as he continued to make Lucy do very spicy poses. "It looks like you're enjoying it, if you ask me."

"No, it's all in your head!" Lucy cried.

"For some reason, every time that diaper man does something to that doll, it happens to Lucy, too!" Happy exclaimed.

"Whoa... that's cool!" Natsu gushed.

I hum delicately. "So... is that some cursed object?" I ask aloud. Kain, surprisingly enough, nodded and continued to play with it. "So that means, it might be lethal if in the wrong hands."

"That means we're screwed!" Happy cried.

"That's not cool!" Natsu shouted.

"Hippity Hoppity widdle wabbit!" Kain cheered as Lucy bounced around like an actual rabbit.

"C'mon, knock it off!" Lucy cried.

"Make it tickle herself silly!" Natsu shouted out.

"HEY! DO YOU WANNA DIE?!" Lucy barked.

"I think that's exactly what he should do!" Kain exclaim as he held up the doll.

He slung the doll forward, causing Lucy to skid towards us. "NATSU! ARIA! OUT OF THE WAY!" Lucy screamed. I leapt to the side as Kain literally made her a kung-fu goddess.

"Wow, she's manhandling Natsu like Edolas Lucy..." Happy hummed. "And she wasn't nearly that hardcore!"

"What the heck are ya doin', Lucy?!" Natsu cried.

"It's not me; it's that creepy doll!" Lucy whined.

She slugged Natsu in the face wildly as I just stared, slightly amused. "Okay, this isn't as fun as it looked." Natsu complained.

"I think it's pretty funny to me." I mention.

"I said fun, not funny!" Natsu barked. He pulled her into a grapple hold and held her. "Would you just stay still?! Jeez, when did you get so strong? Either you've been doing extra push ups or that doll thing is giving you a major boost."

"DON'T YOU TWO HAVE ANY DECENCY?! QUIT BEING CUDDLY AND KISSY IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD!" Kain barked, clearly jealous.

"We're not doing either of those, you perv!" Lucy and Natsu bark.

"Whatever, they're totally in love," Happy and I chirp.

"QUIT IT!" Lucy barked at us.

"Now you got me steamed! Fine! You wanna get all handsy in front of me?! Take this!" Kain barked as he managed to make Lucy slip through Natsu's grapple. He made Lucy hug Natsu as tight as she could. "I'LL MAKE YOU HUG YOUR BOYFRIEND SO HARD HIS SPINE TURNS TO JELLY!" He began making Lucy use various different fighting techniques on Natsu. Happy and I stared at one another before we slunk towards him, taking advantage of the fact that he was busy being jealous, and stole the doll from right under his nose. "This is just a taste of the power of Witching Hour Curse Magic... Your future is looking very dark indeed. MR. CURSY!?" He bellows when he notices he doesn't have it anymore. "Why does everything I love always run away from me?!" Happy flew above me as I stared down at the doll in obvious curiosity.

"We managed to snag the doll away, what do you guys want us to do with it?" I call out.

"THAT STUPID BLUE DOG CAN FLY?!" Kain barked.

"Nice goin', guys!" Natsu cheered.

"Awesome!" Lucy cried. I hum delicately as I stare down at the doll, stare at Lucy, then up at Happy. "Don't you dare--" I made Lucy begin tickling herself wildly. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" She bellowed through her laughter.

"Good one, Aria!" Natsu cheered.

"THAT'S MY DOLL!" I hear Kain bellow, and I'm being knocked out of the sky.

"Shit--" I yelp as the doll goes flying. Along with poor Lucy. I land on the ground and start retching at the pain suddenly hitting my ribs again. I groaned and flopped onto my front and pushed up to help Natsu fight this guy, all the while trying to keep the doll away from him.

"How's this guy so strong?!" Natsu asked wildly.

"These Grimoire Heart creeps are super strong!" Happy exclaimed. "I never would've thought diaper man could overpower Natsu!"

"Did you honestly thing a wimpy official guild could go toe to toe with the likes of us?! Dodoskoi!" Kain exclaimed with a vicious palm strike against Natsu's face, sending him into a cliff side.

"Natsu!" We call out as he tries getting up.

"I'm stuck! It's no good! I can't get out!" Natsu calls.

"I'll summon Virgo to help set you free!" Lucy shouts, she staggers against me. "No... not now... this is not the time... to run out of power..."

I'll apologize later. I grasp a handful of her hair, wincing at the shriek of pain she sends out as I literally toss her out of harms way. My claws sink into Kain's hand as I feel my knees buckle under his strength. "Leave her alone!" Natsu shouts as he lifts his hand and tries again, sending me crashing into the ground harder, my knees burying into the ground as I raise my arms to block my head from being crushed.

"Relax, little guy. You've got a front row seat to tonight's execution." Kain mentions.

"Aria--" Lucy whimpers.

"STAY BACK!" I shout at her, my scales dripping from my face. I give a shout of pain as he slams his palm down again.

"Let her go!" Happy shouts. He starts pounding his little paws against Kain's face as hard as he can, but the little cat is no match for him.

"You'll join this one on the grill soon enough." Kain snapped. He merely bats Happy away with a fist and the poor cat slams into a tree.

"I gave it a shot, but he's too strong..." Happy whimpered as he slid down.

"Happy..." Lucy whimpered.

"Get out of here, you guys--" Natsu cried. "You've gotta chase down that broad or we'll lose her." Natsu pleaded. "Don't worry about me, just keep running and don't look back!"

"Just shut up already!" I bark at him, my voice shaking from exertion. I raise my arms just in time to block the kick he tries to crush my ribs with. "I'm not-- I'm not leaving you behind. I won't leave any of you behind. If you're going down, I'm going down with you." I say loudly. I give a grunt as he grasps my head, his pudgy fingers squeezing into my skull.

"I guess that's one way of saying goodbye..." Kain hums. "I can't wait to pop that cut little head of yours off."

"LET GO OF HER!" Natsu shouted loudly. I can vaguely hear Lucy sobbing somewhere.

"Careful. You'll break my concentration." Kain tittered. "I might not squeeze enough the first time."

Just as he starts squeezing, he gets kicked away from me by something. "ARIA, CATCH!" I hear a familiar voice. My mouth flies open and I feel the familiar chill of an ice diamond plop onto my tongue. With a harsh crunch, I barely feel my wounds as I kick off the ground, my wings spreading wide and launching me hard against Kain's already stumbling body.

"Hell yeah! GET HIM, ARIA! DOUBLE TEAM!" I hear Natsu shout as it literally becomes a volley between Lucy and I. The poor girl. I might have to scold Natsu for this later. "LET'S GO, MAX SPEED!" Natsu shouted. I shoot into the air and cocked my leg upwards before sailing down towards Kain, moving faster and faster until we crash into Kain's face. "Special Unison Raid! Lucy and Aria Combo!"

Kain hit the ground, groaning loudly. "Thanks... I've had enough... I'm full now..."

"Way to go, Aria! I'm glad I got here in time!" Ballad chirps as she swoops down to hug my head.

I spit on the ground before turning on my heel and peering down at Natsu with a stern look. "That was totally reckless, you coulda seriously hurt Lucy." I comment. "Thank goodness Ballad showed up with my ice diamonds. Did you have to as far to combine your fire with the doll?"

"Yeah, but he's down for the count, ain't he?" Natsu asked, as he propped his head on his hand.

"AYE SIR!" Happy chirped.

"We did it!" Lucy beamed.

"Now it's time for..." Happy started.

"Victor--" I snatched the doll and plucked the hair off of it. "Awe, come on, you're no fun!" Natsu cried as Lucy literally started sobbing and hugging me tightly.

"I suppose we should destroy this thing." I mention as I toss it up and down. "It's way too dangerous to have around."

"D'you think it'll have some kinda backlash if we did that?" Ballad asked nervously as she peered at the doll.

I hum delicately and encase it in a block of ice. "I suppose we'll have to ask Master to dispose of it once he's able to." I explain. "Destroying it with fire might cause it to react badly. Plus, it didn't seem affected by your fire at all, did it?"

Natsu hummed and crossed his arms. "Not really... Hey, you guys gonna get me outta here or what?"

I gaze at the pile of rocks for a moment. "Yeah, sorry." I say as I shove my foot against one of the rocks and push, allowing him leeway to squirm free. "I'm sorry for tugging your hair, Lucy, but I didn't want to cut you with my claws."

Lucy rubs at her head and smiles. "It's fine. Although, I might need to summon cancer, cause I think a good chunk of hair got ripped out."

Natsu stared at her for a moment before humming. "Why would that be a problem?"

I roll my eyes as Lucy glares at him. "Let's go. Ultear might've already taken Zeref."

"Oh, crap! That's right!" Natsu barked and ran off. We all sighed and ran after him.