A/N: This arc is insanely long, so I have to split it into three parts. For this entire Alvarez arc, there are some parts that don't make sense to me/annoy me/simply don't fit with the flow of the chapters so I have to change them up a little bit. So if there are some details you see that don't match precisely with canon, do note that they are intentional on my part.

Sorry in advance for the lack of Erlu interaction in this chapter. This part mostly lays out the groundwork for the rest of the arc.

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Lucy's former landlord had other properties in Magnolia, among which was a two-story house, much like the house they had for themselves in Crocus and so Erza and Lucy moved into it in just a few days later. The landlord was grumpy as usual upon talking with Lucy again, but the redhead could see how secretly pleased she was to see the girl return, otherwise she could just have said no when the blonde asked about available places in town and never had anything to do with Lucy again. She claimed it was because she didn't want any other landlord to have to deal with the burden that was the Celestial mage's tendency to be late in her rent payments, but Erza knew better.

The battle with Tartaros nearly destroyed the whole town a year ago. And yet, the citizens warmly accepted them back, perhaps because of the strong bond of mutual trust that had existed between the town and the guild for generations. Their first order of business was to rebuild the guildhall, using similar blueprints as their previous one. Although it was hard work, Erza was sure if they divided the load between all of them, it would be completed sooner. They wanted Master Makarov to praise their new guildhall when he returned, after all.

Some had doubts about whether Master Makarov would come back or not, but Erza was sure of it. It would only be a matter of time.

They got new guild marks as well. Same placement, but different colors. Erza's was light yellow this time while Lucy got scarlet for hers. Because the blonde was still hung up on Levy's comment a while ago even though the Requip mage had told her more than once that it was not necessary. "Erza, this is my new favorite color now! Don't try to stop me!"

Laxus wandered over to where they were getting new guild marks stamped by Mirajane, shaking his head at the Take Over mage's question of whether he wanted a new mark as well, "That's a nice color you got there, Erza. Didn't know you're a part of my fan club too." The redhead only punched him playfully on his broad shoulder at the amused chuckle coming from the man.

And when the Thunder Legion came and pulled Laxus away a few seconds later, Freed claiming he had something that absolutely required Laxus's attention right this instant, Erza turned to Mirajane, "What about you? Do you plan to have a new guild mark as well?"

The white-haired girl just blinked at her in surprise, "Huh? Do you think I should?"

"It depends," Erza smiled. It was time for payback now, "Maybe the same color as mine? Or, I don't know, black this time? Which one do you prefer?"

Her smile turned into a smirk at the light blush coloring Mirajane's cheeks. That was right, Erza knew who were the ones the Take Over mage kept in close contact with during the past year. She and and Lucy had tracked them down in their investigation. And looking at Mirajane together with each of the two now, she was sure whatever it was, it had the potential to bloom into something more for the white-haired mage.

"As of now," The oldest Strauss sibling admitted, "I'm not entirely sure myself, so I will just keep my old one. And even if I do know, we wouldn't have developed that kind of commitment you and Lucy have with each other to change our guild marks like that yet. You guys have been together for a long time now."

Erza frowned, "Mira, a relationship should not be judged by the length of time it has spanned. The same with commitment. There is no standard timeline or method to develop your feelings for the ones you hold dear. You are the one telling me not everyone moves at the same pace, remember? Some might be slower, others are faster. None of which invalidates the intensity of their feelings."

The Take Over mage tapped her chin thoughtfully at that, and Erza patted her back in a comforting manner. "I'm here if you ever want to talk about it. Lucy says I'm a great listener, just so you know."

"Yeah," The Take Over mage chuckled, "Because Lucy is not biased at all." To which Erza put her hand over her heart in mock offense. The weight on Mirajane's shoulders seemed lighter now, and the redhead smiled at the soft look her friend was giving the object of her affection from across the site.

Levy had volunteered to deal with the paperwork needed to restart the guild, claiming she was familiar with how the Council worked in order to facilitate the process faster. Erza could have done it herself, but she supposed between the two of them, her superior physical strength could be better diverted to help rebuild the building with the others.

But that just gave Levy the ultimate power to decide who should be their temporary Master in the time they waited for Makarov to come back. A designated guild master was required in the application form so that the Council knew who was responsible for the operation of the guild and, without a doubt, any subsequent destruction Fairy Tail would bring to the towns and cities nearby.

Levy somehow convinced every single one of their guildmates, in a unanimous vote, to put Erza in charge since she was the only one capable of keeping the troublemakers (Natsu, basically) in line before Master Makarov came back. The redhead was apprehensive at first, because being a guild master required another level of responsibility she was not familiar with. But desperate times called for desperate measures, if that was what Fairy Tail needed right now, Erza was determined to do everything to fulfill the expectations set out for her.

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Mest Gryder appeared at their construction site one day, bringing with him information about Master Makarov's whereabouts. But not before inquiring Erza to follow him to Fairy Tail's basement first and he would explain the situation to her on the way.

The redhead had no idea such a place exist beneath the guildhall, let alone the secrecy about it. Apparently only the guild masters could know about whatever information Mest possessed about this place, Natsu and Gray wouldn't stop complaining about why Erza was the only one allowed down here.

What awaited her was more bizarre than anything Erza had ever seen in her entire life. Fairy Tail's ultimate secret: Lumen Histoire was actually their First Master, Mavis, frozen inside a crystal. Natsu and the others interrupted Mest just before he could elaborate any further, having snuck down after Erza to stumble upon this room. The redhead could only sigh, among all of them, only Lucy had the decency to look ashamed at having been caught eavesdropping, albeit Erza could still see the curiosity shining in those brown eyes.

Since they had seen the First Master's body already, Erza supposed there was no way Natsu would leave the place without detailed explanations from Mest, so she could only let it go this time.

Mest had the same thought as well, judging by how he simply kept on explaining the situation like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He didn't know exactly what the Lumen Histoire was either, only that it was something extraordinarily important. To give credibility to his information, Mest used his magic to transfer his memories to their minds so they could see for themselves.

Ten years ago, Master Makarov had asked the man to infiltrate the Council to gather any information the Council had about the Western continent. There was not much information, however, mostly because diplomatic relationships with the Western continent were non-existent. Mest kept his post inside the Magic Council after that to dig deeper into the situation. Until one year ago, after the Tartaros battle, Master Makarov suddenly pulled him out and declared Fairy Tail's disbandment. Based on all the information Mest had discovered and his own investigation, Master Makarov was certain disbanding Fairy Tail was the only way to protect everyone against the threat from the Western continent.

The Alvarez Empire from the West tried to invade Ishgar ten years ago to obtain the Lumen Histoire. The invasion was called off after the Council flexed their arsenal with the Etherion and the Faces, not even Alvarez could afford the risks involved. However, since both of those were gone now, Ishgar had lost its ability to deter Alvarez and they would surely invade again.

Ishgar was home to 500 guilds or so, including Fairy Tail whereas the Alvarez Empire incorporated more than 700 guilds under their command to become the military superpower they were. If a war did break out, Fairy Tail would stand no chance against such an enemy. That was why Master Makarov had gone to the Alvarez Empire to negotiate with them. If something happened to him when Fairy Tail still existed, its members would definitely get targeted next. Master had no choice but to disband the guild in order to protect his children.

He had gone to Alvarez right after that, and never came back. Both Mest and the new Magic Council hadn't heard anything from him in a year now.

Something bugged Erza about the whole situation. Since none of them knew exactly what the Lumen Histoire was and how it was connected to the First Master's body, she wondered why such drastic measures were deemed necessary by Master Makarov. Should she infer the Luman Histoire was along the line of a weapon that could never be fallen to the enemy's hands? Gray and Lucy had informed her that Master almost activated it to stop the Faces back then, but he didn't have the courage to use it in the end, so that supported her theory.

Even though there was still too much they didn't know about the full extent of the situation, everyone was eager to come and save their Master immediately. Fairy Tail left no one behind, that had always been their family's motto. With all of them together again, no one could stand in their way.

But there was something else Erza needed the others to understand first, before any hazardous action could be carried out. Master had risked his life to buy them time, as his successor, Erza didn't intend to let that sacrifice go to waste. They should focus on rebuilding Fairy Tail to its former glory. However, as a fellow guild member, the Requip mage would absolutely not let their Master suffer at a foreign continent like that. They must rescue him, but keep cautious not to anger the Alvarez Empire so they wouldn't retaliate Fairy Tail and destroy the hope Master harbored for their safety.

That was what Natsu, and perhaps everyone else inside this room, needed to understand. This was not a battle, only a rescue mission and subtlety was a must. A small team was the best, so only their normal team plus Mest would go infiltrate the Empire to save their Master and then escape back to Fiore. They must not start any unnecessary fights or cause any trouble to gather suspicion. Erza would have to keep a really close eye on Natsu the whole way.

However, Erza tapped her chin, deep in thought. She had just become the new master, and construction for the new guildhall was still in progress. She could not afford to not have someone supervise it in the time she was away, even though it was supposedly only for a short while. The redhead made sure to inquire Mirajane to step in for her, claiming their team needed to go deal with an emergency first at the questioning look in Take Over mage's blue eyes.

Erza just hoped they wouldn't be too late to save their Master from the enemy's hands.

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It would take ten days to sail to Alakitasia, the Alvarez harbor that was closest to Ishgar, then several more to reach the capital. First, they would stop by the resort town Caracol to stock up on supplies and food, and more importantly, to rendezvous with Mest's undercover agent there. Then the agent would tell them how they could sneak into the Empire from Alakitasia.

All subtlety went out the window when everyone witnessed how the Alvarez soldiers situated at Caracol were abusing the local townspeople. Erza couldn't stop herself from intervening when they were about to kill a small kid just because he was asking about his dad. Since their cover was blown, Mest left immediately to go meet up with the spy while the rest of them kept the soldiers distracted.

The soldiers were too easy to defeat, but the newcomer wasn't. The guy in a purple suit introduced himself as Marin, a member of the Alvarez Imperial Army's Brandish Division. Whoever this Marin was, his specialty of neutralizing any Space-based magic types was certainly troublesome for both Erza and Lucy. Worse, he had interfered with Mest's transportation as well and knocked the man out unconscious.

And that was not all. A green-haired woman, Brandish whom Erza guessed must be the guy's superior, judging by the way he deferred to her authority instantly, showed up at their fight just a few seconds after. Erza's eyes widened in shock at the intensity of magic power radiating from the woman's body. None of them had ever felt this insane amount of magic in a person before, and the redhead gritted her teeth in preparation for an attack.

But Brandish didn't want to fight with them. Even though her mission here was to capture the Ishgar spy and locate their contacts, the woman was assured that Ishgar would never have the gut to mess with Alvarez even if she let all of them go. Out of mercy or indifference, Erza didn't know.

But Natsu, the stubborn hothead, was not ready to retreat that easily without paying Marin back for Mest's injuries. Erza couldn't believe her eyes when Brandish just flicked her fingers and the guy instantly vanished into thin air, presumedly dead or rendered incapacitated.

"Makarov is alive," The green-haired woman said, Erza had no idea how she was seeing right through their covert mission, "But if you guys try anything, who knows what could happen. So consider this a warning. Stay away from us."

At that, the ground beneath their feet started shaking violently until the whole island was completely gone, leaving everyone floating around in the water. "Alvarez has 12 wizards this powerful. Don't start a fight you can't win, Fairy Tail." Brandish left them at that, boarding an Alvarez battleship nearby and disappeared into the horizon.

Erza made sure to memorize this woman's power. So her magic could enlarge things, shrink things, or alter their mass. On extremely large scales as well. And to think there were 11 more of her caliber at the Empire, Erza was starting to understand why Master Makarov was so apprehensive of Alvarez's power compared to Fairy Tail's.

The redhead was still pondering on what their next steps should be when Mest woke up and teleported them to an underground mobile temple. He had successfully contacted his spy, who turned out to be Angel from Oracion Seis, and this was their agreed meeting up spot.

The last she heard about Angel was from Jellal. The man said Oracion Seis was with him now, having become members of Crime Sorciere after Ultear's departure. Mest explained he had asked for Crime Sorciere's help since each one of them was powerful in their own right and highly skilled at staying hidden under the radar for a long, extended period of time as well.

Erza didn't know much about other members of the former Oracion Seis except for Midnight and Cobra. But if Jellal had faith in them, she supposed she could extend the same courtesy to Angel now. Everyone deserved a second chance, after all.

Angel, or Sorano as she insisted everyone refer to her, had managed to locate Master Makarov at the capital of the Empire and her mobile temple was taking them straight there. Traveling underwater was certainly a creative way to get past the enemy's patrol and defense on the ground, Erza had to commend Sorano for that.

When they got as close as possible to the destination in waterway, everyone emerged from the water and moved onto the land. There was only a short distance left between them and Master Makarov's position, as Mest could feel using his magic, so they decided to let the man teleport there and bring Master back with him.

It was only for a short while, but still Erza worried. They were so close now, and the redhead prayed nothing would happen to mess up their plan this time. She hadn't seen Master for far too long, and Erza was getting impatient because of it.

When Mest brought Master back with him, Erza let out a sigh in relief. He looked so much older since the last time she saw him, and paler, too. Erza didn't like it one bit.

She also didn't like the news that Master brought with him. "I had no idea either... But the man known as Emperor Spriggan is actually Zeref, in the flesh. If you kiddos are here, I take it Mest has filled you on the situation?"

"Yes." Erza nodded, "I'm just glad you're alright." Now, they needed to get out of here first. Spriggan, Zeref, Alvarez. They had a lot of catching up to do. But all of that could wait until they were back at Fairy Tail and derived a strategy for counterattack.

Mest had used up too much of his magic, and now he only had enough power to teleport them one last time. He would like to use that last teleport to reach Sorano's ship, so they needed to head back on a magic mobile until they were within range of her ship.

But another one of the Twelve Shields of Spriggan appeared before they could move. Ajeel, as Master Makarov called him. Erza could feel it, this man got as much power as Brandish did before, clearly not a foe they were ready to tackle at this instant.

True to her words, Ajeel overpowered all of them quite easily. His enormous sandstorm almost successfully buried them alive if it wasn't for Laxus to dispel it in time using one of his lighting attacks from above. The Lighting Dragon Slayer had gotten even stronger in the past year it seemed. Erza quickly looked up to Christina floating high above their head, Cana's voice rang through across the distance, "Mest! I assume you're down there! Teleport onto the ship!"

With Laxus keeping up the defense against Ajeel, all of them managed to escape from the Empire. Erza looked around, noticing each one of their friends on board the ship. Along with Laxus were the Strauss siblings, the Thunder Legion, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, and Cana. Apparently, Gajeel overheard their plan of coming to Alvarez to save Master so he thought he would rope other members into forming a plan B and follow after them. A wise decision, as it turned out.

"Wait. While you're here, who is left in charge of things back home?" Erza turned around to ask Mirajane, the Take Over mage simply smiled, "Macao. It should be fine, all the troublemakers are here with us already, Erza. Don't worry."

The redhead nodded, keeping an eye out for any surprise ambush on the way. They had successfully retrieved Master Makarov, the only thing left to do was returning to Fairy Tail in one piece.

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Everyone was happy to have their Master back. Erza made a mental note to submit the appropriate paperwork to change Fairy Tail's master to Makarov again after all of this was over.

As for the moment, a war was about to happen, so they needed to focus all their attention on the situation at hand first.

"Before the battle begins, there's something I must tell you all." Master Makarov announced in the middle of the guild, to every single one of their family, "It's about Lumen Histoire, formally known as the "Fairy Heart"..."

"Perhaps I should do the explaining, Eighth." Master Mavis stepped up on the stage to stand beside him. Erza frowned. If Master Mavis's true body was encased inside the crystal down in the basement, was this only a projection of her thought? Or something else?

"Everyone..." The First Master started, "Fairy Heart has always been our guild's most confidential secret, because it holds something that the world must never learn of. However, it's important you know why Zeref wants it... and about my own sins."

"This is a tale of a cursed boy and a cursed girl, and the primordial magic they sought together."

It was a tale of light and dark, of love and heartbreaks, and of hope and tragedy. Over a hundred years ago, a little before Fairy Tail was founded, Zeref and Mavis happened to cross paths in a forest to the West of Magnolia. He suffered from the curse of Ankhselam, a curse that would take the lives of others against its will. Mavis found him mesmerizing, however, and asked Zeref to teach her many kinds of magic.

At the time, Magnolia was ruled by a dark guild, so the First Master, along with her comrades, learned magic from Zeref to free the town. And then, in the middle of the fighting, Mavis cast an unperfected black magic spell that brought them victory. But the consequences of it stopped her body from growing like a normal person, or so Mavis had thought at the time, until she met Zeref again 10 years after Fairy Tail was founded.

He was the one who warned her that the consequence of using Law was not that her body had stopped growing, but rather, Mavis had lost the ability to age or die. Since she had judged who should live and die back then, Mavis had essentially valued someone's lives over others'. As such, she had been affected by the curse of Ankhselam, just like Zeref. The more she valued someone's life, the more life she would take from the world.

The day Yuri's son was born, Mavis finally understood what Zeref meant. The day she exactly how precious a life was would be the day the curse took effect on people around her, starting with Yuri's wife and Master Makarov's mother. The First Master left Fairy Tail after their deaths and never returned.

The curse of contradiction. When Zeref found her hiding inside a dead forest, he told Mavis about his plan of building a country on another continent. He viewed the people there as nothing but pawns or units so the curse of Ankhselam wouldn't affect them that way. Mavis didn't understand his reason at the time since Zeref broke down in front of her, conflicts burdened in his mind and soul, having been rejected by the world around him for hundreds of years and the only way he could cope was to ignore the pain it caused and sealed his heart away.

"He had very gentle eyes, and even a more gentle heart," The First Master whispered, and Erza already had a feeling how the story would go, "What I felt for him, and what he felt for me... We're not meant to be together..."

Because that was the truth. Such was the ever-turning gear of fate, for it to offer only a glimpse of hope just to produce one final, tragic contradiction.

Zeref loved Mavis enough to take her life away because of his curse, surmounting her own immortality. After that tragedy, the Black Wizard was adamant to never make the same mistake of trying to love someone ever again, fully sealing his heart away for all eternity.

Erza clenched her fists tightly. She couldn't even begin to fathom how Zeref had gotten through four hundred years of his existence in this world, caging himself inside a prison of his own choosing out of fear for other people surrounding him. Of compassion and care. His heart had no choice but to turn cold after all this time.

Lucy walked over and took a hold of Erza's hand, prying open the clenched fist and intertwining their fingers. The redhead turned to look at her girlfriend, at the person she loved, and met the blonde's own gentle eyes. To be taken away the right and ability to love someone, there was no crueler punishment for whatever sins Zeref had committed.

The man brought Mavis's body back to Fairy Tail and entrusted it to Precht. Precht was the one who enclosed her body inside a revival lacrima in the guild's basement with the hope of reviving her someday. He kept on trying to do so in the next thirty years, but then the situation took an unexpected turn. Precht's genius abilities and powers combined with the seemingly permanent life force of Mavis's cursed, ageless body gave birth to a new Magical entity, the Eternal Magic: Fairy Heart, an infinite source of magic power that can never end.

Fairy Heart offered magic power that would never dry up. If this somehow got out of the guild, the wizarding world would get thrown into upheaval, especially when Fairy Tail didn't even know how to control it themselves yet. That was why Master Makarov did not use Fairy Heart to destroy all the Faces during the battle with Tartaros, out of uncertainty of what would happen afterward.

Mavis theorized that Zeref wanted to obtain Fairy Heart so he could defeat Acnologia. A noble goal, perhaps. But that kind of magic must never be released into the world, no matter what. And besides, it was their First Master's body, there was no way Fairy Tail would let anyone get their hands on it.

"First Master, you mustn't blame yourself," Erza spoke up at seeing Master Mavis blaming herself for the mess she had caused Fairy Tail, "Loving someone is neither a sin nor a crime. And without you, Fairy Tail would never have existed." Lucy leaned up and kissed her on the cheek at that.

Everyone echoed the sentiment, Juvia was crying out loud now, "It's so sad that you have to fight the person you once loved..."

"That was a long time ago," Master Mavis wiped away the last of her tears, "Zeref is now a threat to all mankind. We must defeat him."

Laxus's gruff voice questioned, "Still, even if we manage to deal with Alvarez's army, Zeref himself can't age or die, right? How do we defeat him then?" That was the hurdle Erza was wondering as well.

Natsu suddenly guffawed and jumped on top of a table, shouting about a secret weapon he had in his right arm that was invented specifically for defeating the Black Wizard. The Salamander refused to disclose what exactly it was, and Erza had half a mind to beat it out of him immediately.

But Natsu's confidence was infectious, and encouraging to hear, so Erza supposed there was no harm in trying out his method first. The First Master said she did have several other strategies of her own, after all. So they would have backup plans in case it failed.

"Master," Lucy spoke up, and Erza quizzically turned around to look at the blonde. "Not you, love. Master Makarov, could you tell us about the enemy we're about to fight?" That was a good question, they needed all the information they could get about their upcoming adversaries.

Master Makarov nodded approvingly before proceeding to disclose everything he had gathered during the one-year stay at Alvarez Empire. First, Emperor Spriggan, known as the Black Wizard Zeref. And beneath him was an elite force called the Twelve Shields of Spriggan. During Master's year there, he had only managed to meet six of them. Invel, the Winter General and Zeref's Chief of staff. Given his title, it was possible that he used some type of ice-based magic. Ajeel, the Desert King, also the sand mage they encountered during their escape and one of the Twelve's most aggressive members.

Brandish, the Nation Destroyer. She wasn't particularly aggressive but had enough power to wipe out entire countries. Dimaria, the Warrior Queen, was a knight revered as a goddess on the battlefield. God Serena, the mightiest one of the Ten Wizard Saints who had switched side to Alvarez for unknown reasons. August, the Wizard King, possessing tremendous magic power that made the other Twelve pale in comparison. Rumors had it he could use every manner of magic from every region of the world and even wield more types of magic than Zeref himself.

Those were the six Master Makarov had knowledge of. He only knew the names of three others. Bloodman, Neinhart, and Wall. The rest remained a mystery to him.

"Please listen well, everyone." Master Mavis announced, "Zeref will come at us with his entire army. There's no question that we are now facing an overwhelming disadvantage. Our foe is far more powerful than any we've faced before. But we will prevail with our courage and bonds. Let's show them what our guild is made of!"

Erza smiled as everyone cheered loudly at that. Master Mavis didn't have to say it out loud. It had always been the Fairy Tail way and as long as they still bord Fairy Tail marks on their bodies, no enemy would dare to break them of the bonds they had with each other.

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They spent the next day going over battle strategies and setting up defense formations around the town. True to her title, Master Mavis was an exceptional tactician and Erza marveled at the plans she could draw up in just a small amount of time they had. The redhead only hoped she could reach her level someday, perhaps sometime far in the future.

Alvarez attacked Magnolia at night, when Erza and Lucy had retreated to their house after all preparations had been appropriately made, leaving a few behind at the guildhall to track any potential enemy's movement. They had just come out of a bath when a strange, eerie magic power flooded through the town, lighting every single one of Erza's nerves on alert, followed by the bell from Fairy Tail's main guildhall signaling an enemy's attack.

Warren's voice rang into their ears, using his telepathy magic, "First Master said Operation D, Flying Dragons and Ospreys! Commence attack!"

That was Bisca's units and the three Dragon Slayers along with their Exceeds, so the enemy must come from the sky then. Erza walked out to the balcony, only to see a magic barrier appear in front of a warship fleet in the sky and dispelled Jupiter's blast from Bisca. The redhead requipped into her Heaven Wheel Armor and jumped down the street, "Lucy, I'm going to Natsu and the others! There is no telling the extent of the enemy's force yet, you should go and reconvene with everyone at the guild in case they ambush us on the ground too!"

What a bunch of idiots, Erza secretly facepalmed when she saw the three Dragon Slayers leave the Exceeds to land on the ship with Ajeel on it. The First Master had explicitly warned them to not come into contact with any vehicle, but Natsu and Gajeel clearly didn't hear any word she said and Wendy was simply not used to getting sick on vehicles yet.

The Requip mage sliced apart the foremast of the ship, throwing the three Dragon Slayers down to the ground beneath and jumped down in front of Ajeel herself, "Happy, Carla, Lily, go help them! Leave this one to me!" Several ships had already landed, the Dragon Slayers would be more suited to deal with the enemy on the ground anyway.

Erza was prepared to give her all into this fight with Ajeel. This guy was the first one of the enemy to reach them, morale would be boosted sky-high if she managed to defeat him before any other of the Twelve got here. Ajeel was definitely stronger than any of her previous opponents, and Erza could only come out victorious from the massive sandstorm he laid over the whole town with Bisca's help. But the redhead did not mind. Relying on their friends and family had never strayed her wrong before. It was a part of their strength, after all, to know what their weaknesses were and leaned on others to compensate for the gaps in their power. That was what made their guild Fairy Tail, and it was high time Alvarez got a taste of that.

But the Requip mage suffered many injuries from that fight, too, enough to make her black out for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes again, Erza found herself laying on the ground, Natsu grinning at her and Wendy tending to her wounds at her side. The redhead smiled and lifted her hand up, Natsu's eyes widened in surprise before excitedly slapping her open palm in a victorious high-five.

As soon as she could sit up, Erza leaned over and patted Wendy on the girl's head as well. It seemed like the three Dragon Slayers had managed to destroy the ships that had landed on the ground, just like she had hoped.

Wendy just sniffed and lowered her head to look at the ground, and Erza was lost as to what had happened with the girl. Perhaps the small bluenette was also injured in the fight? "Wendy? What's wrong?" Natsu also turned his head to look at the Sky Dragon Slayer in confusion.

"Erza-san... You always protect me... I can never do anything for you..." Wendy mumbled with tears in her eyes. Erza frowned and looked to Natsu for answers, the pink-haired boy only shrugged in response, having no clue as to what Wendy was talking about either.

"Is this about earlier?" Erza tried a guess, searching the small girl's face for confirmation, "Wendy, would you look at me, please?" If Wendy was feeling burdened about it, the redhead would have to nip it in the bud before it could grow into something wicked that could come back and haunt them someday.

When the young Dragon Slayer finally looked at her, Erza asked in the most soothing voice possible so as not to scare the girl away, "What do you mean by that, Wendy?"

"Ever since we first met, you have always protected me... both in battle and with everything at the guild. And I... I haven't done a single thing to help you... That's not right..."

Erza leaned forward and gathered the small girl into her arms, and Wendy just clung to her immediately, head burrowed under her chin, "That's nonsense. Wendy, you have saved my life more times than I can count. The first time we met, you were the one who cured me of the poison from Cobra's snake, remember? Can you honestly name a single mission we have been on together after that when I didn't require your medical assistance? And besides..."

The redhead reached out and grabbed Natsu's shoulder, letting Wendy see the Salamander next to them as well, "See this one here? He has protected me many times before, and I also protect him whenever he's in trouble, right Natsu?"

The Salamander nodded vehemently, a serious look in his uncharacteristically grim eyes, "Yes. Protecting each other is what we do, Wendy. And that includes you too!"

"You seem to have a misconception about how protection works here in Fairy Tail," Erza smiled at the girl's teary eyes, "It's not always putting oneself into physical danger just so others could escape. Sometimes it's supporting them with everything you have so they can improve themselves. That's protecting them from turning into the worst versions of themselves. Sometimes it's shielding them from other intangible kinds of threats. Heartbreaks, traumas, and the like. And sometimes," The redhead tapped Wendy's nose affectionately at that, "It's living your life to the fullest to protect other people's hope about a brighter future ahead. You are our guild's pride and joy, Wendy. Don't ever sell yourself short like that. Just your existence next to us is already all the light and help we need."

"That's right!" The Fire Dragon Slayer eagerly asserted from next to them, "That's called being a family, Wendy. We will always protect each other in our own ways! I usually have to punch Gray really hard to stop him from doing stupid things, even though everyone knows how much I can't stand the pervert."

Wendy wiped away the few tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, tentative smile in place, "Really?"

"Really." Erza smiled back, "And Lucy usually protects me from my past by holding onto me tight and reminding me of all the good things life has to offer. Everyone has their own way of protecting others, so don't worry too much about that, alright?"

"Alright... Thank you, Erza-san. You're so kind." The young Dragon Slayer nodded, and Erza smiled at the tiny hint of the usual brightness returning to light brown orbs at that. Wendy was just coming into the formative age of her life, the redhead only hoped they could be the best role models possible for the girl to look up to.

**********

A/N: The end here is a bit abrupt, but that is the best place possible for cutting this chapter. Apologize if anyone feels dissatisfied (like me!) :) The second part should be out soon enough.

Votes and comments are welcome!