The airship hummed softly as it cut through the sky, the once-tense atmosphere now eerily calm. I leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, staring out the window as the landscape blurred beneath us.
Ur and Ultear. Together at last.
Ur refused to leave her daughter's side, as if afraid that Ultear would vanish if she so much as blinked. Made sense. She'd spent years mourning a child she thought was dead. And Ultear? She'd spent just as long believing her mother had thrown her away like trash.
Now that they'd found each other again, neither was willing to let go.
I'd given Ur a senzu bean earlier to heal the wounds Ultear had inflicted during their fight. She'd taken it without hesitation, probably more out of necessity than anything else. The injuries had been bad, and while I knew she was stubborn enough to power through the pain, I wasn't about to let her play the hero.
"Your daughter needs you whole," I'd told her. "Not bleeding out."
She hadn't argued.
Gildarts was out cold in another cabin. The man was tough as nails, but even he had limits. The fights, the stress, the weight of everything that had happened, it had drained him more than he'd ever admit. After making sure his wounds weren't life-threatening, I'd tossed him a senzu bean and let him rest.
That just left me.
And the remains of Grimoire Heart.
Or more accurately, what used to be Grimoire Heart.
The ship? Gone. Precht's so-called paradise of darkness? Gone.
The moment our fight ended, I destroyed everything. Not a single stone left unturned.
The ship was reduced to rubble. The Devil's Heart? Erased. Whatever twisted connection Precht had to that abomination was severed, and I made damn sure nothing remained.
As for the rest of them?
Some died fighting. Some tried to flee. Some begged for their lives.
It didn't matter.
I left nothing behind.
No going back now, is there?
Grimoire Heart was gone. Precht was dead. The Seven Kin were erased. Their ship was nothing but scattered wreckage.
I had made sure of it.
And yet, as I sat in the quiet hum of the airship, staring at the vast horizon stretching endlessly before me, I couldn't help but wonder, what happens next?
Canon was already shattered beyond recognition. My presence alone had changed everything. Laxus was a freaking powerhouse with both Dragon God Slayer magic and a Devil Fruit. Gildarts knew about Cana years before he should have. Ur never died fighting Deliora.
And now?
Now, Grimoire Heart, the biggest dark guild of this era, was wiped out years before it should have even made its move.
Would Zeref even care?
Would someone take Precht's place?
Would another threat rise in their absence?
And then there was the Magic Council. They had barely been able to handle Grimoire Heart in the original timeline. Now, with a power vacuum left behind, would they see me as the bigger problem?
I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck.
The Magic Council is gonna lose their fucking minds over this.
Grimoire Heart was a nightmare to deal with even at their peak. The fact that an independent force, me, had taken it upon myself to erase them from existence? That would send shock waves through every governing body in Fiore.
The Council liked to pretend they were in control. That they had power.
But the reality?
They only ever reacted.
And this? This was too big to ignore.
Would they come after me? Probably. Not immediately, though. They'd want to understand what happened first. Investigate. Figure out if I was a problem they could control... or one they couldn't.
And if they decided I was a threat?
Well.
They'd learn the hard way.
As for the power vacuum left behind, someone was going to take advantage of it. That was just how these things worked. Maybe one of the lesser dark guilds would rise up. Maybe a new faction would emerge entirely.
Or maybe...
Tartaros.
I frowned at the thought. They had always been in the background, biding their time, waiting for their moment. If they sensed weakness, they might accelerate their plans.
Either way, it didn't change what I had to do.
Fairy Tail comes first.
Everything else?
It didn't matter.
I wasn't about to lose sleep over it.
I'll deal with it when the time comes.
"So," Makarov exhaled, leaning back in his chair, his usual jolly expression nowhere to be found. "Grimoire Heart is gone?"
Gildarts nodded beside me. "Completely wiped out. Their ship, their base, their leadership, Aiden made sure of that."
Makarov's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to me. "And Precht?"
I met his gaze without hesitation. "Dead. I severed his connection to the Devil's Heart. He didn't last long after that."
Makarov let out a slow breath, sinking deeper into his chair like the weight of the world had just been dumped on his shoulders.
Precht.
The second master of Fairy Tail.
A man who once held the same position Makarov did now. A man they all thought had just... vanished one day.
He had been one of them.
And yet, he was the one who had nearly led the world into darkness.
Gildarts folded his arms with a heavy sigh. "We saw it with our own eyes, old man. He fell deep. Really deep."
Makarov remained silent for a long moment. His age showed in times like this. Not because he was weak, but because he carried so much.
"I knew he had left Fairy Tail to seek knowledge," Makarov finally admitted, his voice low. "But I never imagined... this." He shook his head. "He was once a great man. One of the strongest we ever had."
Gildarts grunted. "Doesn't change what he became."
Makarov looked up, his gaze settling on me.
"You knew, didn't you?"
I didn't answer immediately. I always knew. But admitting that? It wouldn't do any good.
"...I had my suspicions," I said instead.
Makarov sighed. "If only things had been different."
Gildarts scoffed. "No use thinking like that. We deal with the world as it is, not how we want it to be."
Makarov chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "Spoken like a man who's seen too much."
I leaned back against the wall, crossing my arms. "So... what happens now?"
Makarov closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, there was something sharp in his gaze. Something knowing.
"Now? Now we prepare for whatever comes next."
The Magic Council – Era
The council chamber was eerily silent. The usual arguments, the bickering, the pompous speeches, all of it had been silenced.
Gran Doma, the Chairman of the Magic Council, sat forward in his ornate chair, fingers tapping against the polished table as he exhaled slowly, his face a mask of forced calm.
"Confirm it again," he ordered.
The Rune Knight standing before them hesitated before nodding. "Yes, sir. Grimoire Heart has been completely annihilated. Their flagship, their forces, their leader, everything has been wiped out."
A murmur rippled through the council members. Some in shock, others deep in thought.
"By whom?" one of the older councilors pressed.
The Rune Knight hesitated. "We... we believe it was Fairy Tail."
Another wave of murmurs.
Gran Doma's fingers stopped tapping. His eyes darkened. "Fairy Tail. Again."
An elderly councilor with a long mustache scowled. "First, they cause destruction everywhere they go. Now they're eliminating dark guilds on their own? What are they, vigilantes?"
Another council member scoffed. "And yet, if we had acted sooner, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
A younger councilor, one who had been silent until now, leaned forward. "With Grimoire Heart gone, a massive power vacuum has opened up. The underworld won't take this lying down."
Gran Doma clenched his jaw. "And neither will we. Fairy Tail cannot be allowed to act without consequences."
The murmurs grew louder.
The council knew one thing for certain, this was only the beginning.
A low, amused chuckle echoed through the dimly lit chamber.
"So..." A deep, almost inhuman voice mused, "Grimoire Heart is no more."
Dark figures loomed around the room, their crimson eyes glowing in the shadows.
Sitting on a throne of blackened bone, Mard Geer rested his chin on his hand, a smirk playing at his lips. "I can't say I'm surprised. Precht was always so obsessed with Zeref, so desperate to grasp power beyond his reach."
"Pathetic," one of the other demons muttered.
Another voice, cold and smooth, chimed in. "And yet, their destruction changes things. The balance of power has shifted."
Mard Geer's smirk widened. "Yes. Yes, it has." He leaned forward, his eyes glinting with interest. "Fairy Tail... what an interesting little guild. I wonder... will they be our next amusement?"
A dark, eerie chuckle filled the chamber.
Tartaros would be watching.
Brain sat alone in a dimly lit room, fingers interlocked, his expression unreadable as a single boot tapped against the stone floor, slow and deliberate.
"Grimoire Heart is gone." His voice was quiet, yet it carried a weight that filled the empty space around him. "The old fool fell, just as I knew he would."
He leaned back in his chair, exhaling through his nose.
"The Balam Alliance is broken."
A chuckle rumbled low in his throat.
"Chaos is coming."
Slowly, a smirk curled at his lips.
"And chaos... is an opportunity."
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