A/N: I'm not good at fight scenes. This chapter is a bit weaker than usual because of that.

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With Irene's defeat, her Universe One spell was broken and the earth beneath them shifted again. Erza, Lucy, and Wendy found themselves laying on the lawn right outside Fairy Hills just a few seconds later.

The war was not over yet. She would have time to mourn later. As for now, they needed to protect what was left of their family first.

After resting for roughly half an hour or so, enough to feel some of their magic power returning, the three of them made their way toward the main Fairy Tail guildhall just down the hill a short distance away. But as soon as they just stood up and took two steps forward, Acnologia crashed down from the sky and interrupted them on their paths.

His target was all remaining Dragon Slayers in the world. And that included Wendy.

Erza clenched her jaw. It would be a tough fight, both their magic power and physical strength hadn't recovered fully yet. And even if they had, Acnologia was too powerful for any single mage in this world to defeat. Their only hope now was to buy time to let Wendy go somewhere safer first.

Jellal showed up when the redhead was still formulating possible defensive plans inside her head. The blue-haired man immediately put up a defense spell against the colossal blast Acnologia was sending their way.

"Jellal-san?!" Wendy exclaimed in surprise, and Erza couldn't help but feel much more relieved now. Her old friend looked like he was in better shape than any of them here, so their chances of success had certainly improved.

The man just nodded his greeting to them before turning back to focus on throwing spell after spell at Acnologia. Erza was just about to ask how did Jellal know to find them here when the First Master's voice suddenly rang inside their heads, "Lucy, Erza, Wendy, thank goodness you're all fine! Erza, Wendy, can I borrow Lucy with me? I have something that requires her assistance."

The redhead frowned, because that did not sound right, "Master, Lucy is her own person. If you want her help, you should ask her yourself."

"Master." Lucy interrupted, "How can I help you?"

"Right, I need you to go to the guildhall immediately. Gray and Happy are with me too. I have a plan to stop Zeref and save Natsu, and you are a crucial part of it."

"Save Natsu?" The blonde turned around to look at Erza, hesitantly, "But I..."

The Requip mage shook her head firmly, "Go, if Natsu is in trouble, you need to go to where the First Master said. Don't worry about me. Wendy and I will go to the guild as soon as possible." We can't lose Natsu, too.

The frown still hadn't left Lucy's face, "How can I not worry? That's Acnologia over there! Besides, I don't even have enough magic power to sustain the location spell I put on you!"

Erza looked down at her arm. The blonde was right, the marking wasn't there anymore, the spell probably had disappeared earlier when Lucy's magic ran out after Urano Metria.

"Lucy, look at this!" Jellal abruptly called out for the blonde, drawing both of their attention to where he was facing Acnologia just a few feet away, "May the seven stars bring judgment upon you! Grand Chariot!" Seven columns of white light shoot down from the sky, drawing an explosive zigzag line on the ground, the force behind them was strong enough to make Acnologia stagger back for a few seconds.

Erza swore she just blinked for one millisecond, and Lucy was already hopping over to where Jellal was like an excited rabbit. Seriously. "Is that the Big Dipper? How do you cast such a powerful spell? Do you need to know where exactly the Big Dipper is on the night sky to be able to do so?"

Her girlfriend had a curious mind, that was one of the most endearing traits about the blonde, after all. Erza was right, these two would be such nerds together.

"Yes, it is. And no, I don't need to know where the Big Dipper is. I draw my own version of the asterism." Jellal smiled kindly and turned to give Lucy a meaningful look.

Erza narrowed her eyes. She knew what Jellal was trying to do, aside from letting people know how much of a nerd he was, that's it.

He was showing off his power. The blue-haired man had always been the type to do so, ever since they were kids. Not for personal glory or reputation or anything. But rather, to let everyone around him know how strong he could be so they would feel safe whenever they needed to rely on him. He would gladly shoulder their burdens, whenever possible. Always the protector type, that one.

Back then, Erza had only seen that tendency of his applied to people at the Tower who were suffering just like them. And now, Jellal was extending the same courtesy to Lucy as well. He was basically saying he was strong enough for Lucy to entrust Erza's safety in his hands, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Her girlfriend must have realized that as well, judging by the way the blonde's eyes narrowed at the sincere look Jellal was giving her. Honestly, these two. "Lucy, go! I will be fine. And Jellal, focus, Acnologia is getting back up!"

After the Celestial mage was gone, Christina crashed down from the sky and Ichiya appeared to offer his help. Per the man's insistence, Erza, Jellal, and Wendy quickly boarded the ship to join in their plan of drawing the Black Dragon away from Magnolia.

Ichiya explained that they were trying to lead Acnologia to a certain spot, and then they could finally defeat the Black Dragon, for good this time. Erza was just about to ask him to elaborate on that plan when another voice interrupted them, "We'll explain on the way to our destination. That should give us plenty of time."

Erza frowned, looking at the woman in front of her. There was something familiar about her magic, and those brown eyes with golden freckles inside them as well. The fact that this woman looked almost exactly the same as Lucy made her frown deepen, "Who are you? Do we know you?" Was this woman a foe, or an ally?

"You and this gentleman here don't." The woman shook her head with a kind smile, so similar to Lucy's it made Erza unconsciously lower her guard for a second, "But Wendy might remember me... This ship was actually built with Dragon Slayers in mind, so calm yourself and take a deep breath, child." The last part was addressed to Wendy, no doubt.

This woman turned out to be Anna Heartfilia, an ancestor of Lucy and also the Dragon Slayers' teacher. Four hundred years ago, she was the one who taught Wendy, Natsu, and the others about things like language and culture. Per her explanation, at that time, after Acnologia's rise to destruction, the dragons had no way to oppose him so they decided to place their hope in the future. They would enter the Dragon Slayers' bodies and travel to this era filled with the most magic power.

That corroborated everything they had learned from the dragons after the Tartaros battle. Erza nodded, signaling for Anna to continue. Zeref was the one who created the Eclipse Gate back then, and Anna was the one who opened it. It was Layla Heartfilia who connected them to this era by opening the exit point of the Eclipse Gate.

Lucy's mother? Erza's eyes widened in surprise. How did Lucy's mother even get involved in this?

The mission of opening the exit point of the Gate had been passed down through generations of the Heartfilia family until Layla decided to finally fulfill the family's duty in her generation. Purely because she didn't want to pass the burden to Lucy. All Layla ever wished for her daughter was for Lucy to be able to live freely and happily without a centuries-old weight bearing on her shoulders, overshadowing the rest of her life to come.

The plan was for Anna to pass through the Gate with all five Dragon Slayers. Her purposes were to explain the situation to the person at the exit and to bring the Dragon Slayers here and raise them. But an unforeseen accident flung the five children all through the Gate in different directions and Anna was separated from them then. It took her five years to find all of them, but when she saw the lives they had found for themselves in this era, Anna decided it wasn't time to contact them yet.

While searching for the children, Anna accidentally made an extraordinary discovery. A rift in time, with tremendous, dangerous power that could obliterate everything that came into contact with it. By traveling four hundred years into the future, Anna believed they had caused the natural flow of time to warp slightly thus giving rise to that time rift as time tried to correct itself.

Their plan now was to lure Acnologia there and trap him inside of it. They would go around the rift and then wait for Acnologia, when the Black Dragon gave chase to them, he would touch the rift and vanish into nothingness.

It sounded almost too good to be true, and too simple. Erza couldn't help but be skeptical about the whole thing. Something told her it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of the Black Dragon, and judging by the frown on Jellal's face, he agreed with her doubts as well. But that was all they had for now, and the redhead settled for waiting to see what would happen when they reached the coordinates that Anna had calculated, with Acnologia hot on their tail all the way.

Her apprehension came true. Things didn't go according to the plan, because the Black Dragon touched the time rift and nothing happened. Amidst Blue Pegasus and Anna's shock, Erza and Jellal were the only ones fast enough to immediately spring into action. The redhead quickly smashed the lacrimas that made the Dragon Slayers immune to vertigo on board the ship to make Acnologia release his hold on Christina while Jellal crashed right out the window to face Acnologia himself, intent to buy time so Anna could come up with another plan instead.

The idiotic, prideful, noble ass. Erza could only yell out "Be careful!" before the blue-haired man already speeded away to zone in Acnologia in the distance.

Anna Heartfilia used the time Jellal bought for them to try opening the time rift again while Erza kept her full attention on Jellal's form spinning around the Black Dragon, dodging his attacks and throwing back counterspells in return. Jellal was extremely skilled, the Requip mage knew that, but still a part of her couldn't help but feel uneasy at the sight of him charging head first at danger without sparing any second for hesitation like that.

Anna got the time rift to open back again just when Christina got caught in a blast from Acnologia which was intended to head for Jellal's way. Both the ship and Jellal fell down from the sky at that, Christina from sustaining too much damage and her old friend for depleting most of his magic while keeping Acnologia distracted. Erza quickly swam over to the man's still form a few feet away from them, both hands reaching out to grab him before he could shrink into the ocean and disappear from her life once more.

A deafening explosion rang through the air, Erza looked up again to see Acnologia got pushed into the time rift by a battered Christina with Ichiya and Anna at the helm. Her eyes widened in shock as the time rift flared up before swallowing any trace of them into nothingness, leaving only a thin, silent, forlorn air in the aftermath.

It all happened so fast, Erza clenched her jaw, holding onto an unconscious Jellal in her arms tighter. Ichiya. A friend. Just how many more people she had to lose in this war? They had survived the Black Dragon again, but at what cost?

And now, she had to bring the news of Anna's sacrifice back to Lucy, too. Another one of the Heartfilia family to add to the heartbreaks.

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The first thing Jellal managed to stutter out after he regained consciousness and Erza had explained to him Ichiya and Anna's sacrifice was to ask about Natsu's situation. And Zeref.

Erza sighed, that was what she was worrying about as well. Lucy had left earlier to go save Natsu, per Master Mavis's request, so the redhead hoped the both of them were still alright. They would have to go back to Magnolia now, in case their friends needed help dealing with the Black Wizard on land.

Just when everyone was ready to go back to the town and reconvene with the others, several gasps spread through the crowd. Erza looked up to where people were pointing in confusion, only to see a crack open up in the blue sky above their heads.

A tremor went through her spine as the crack got bigger, until it was large enough for them to see Acnologia's claws appear, followed by the rest of his body slipping through the crack to spring free in the sky once more.

That was impossible! Erza gritted her teeth tightly. How was the Black Dragon able to consume the time rift itself and merge it with his power like that?

The sky dyed a dark red color with Acnologia's series of colossal blasts spread out the entire ocean. Everyone quickly scrambled for cover as the Black Dragon laughed maniacally at the destruction left in his wake. As Acnologia now was able to wield the power of time itself after consuming the time rift, he had used that power to pull all the Dragon Slayers into his pocket of time. A prison of his choosing.

Starting with Wendy, right in front of their eyes. Erza and Jellal could only look on helplessly as the Sky Dragon Slayer disappeared into a bright column of blue light, leaving behind only the silence that followed.

Erza cursed out loud as the Dragon simply ignored their attacks and flow away. Back to Magnolia it seemed, based on the direction he was moving. The Requip mage had half a mind to fly up and grab hold of the Dragon itself when something else caught her attention.

Ichiya and Anna were still alive, falling through the crack Acnologia just pried open in the sky to crash into the ocean with all of them. Anna explained her theories on the current situation, that the enormous power Acnologia gained from consuming the time rift had come at a price. The Black Dragon now had lost control of his own power, which split him into two separate forms: Body and Spirit. His Body, the physical form they had just witnessed, would wreak havoc in this world while his Spirit tried to maintain a balance from inside the time rift.

The Dragon Slayers were all inside the time rift with Acnologia's Spirit form now as he was going to circulate their life force in order to stabilize his own magic power. Erza didn't really understand all of it, just the important parts. Natsu and the others were trapped somewhere they could not reach, and Magnolia was in danger of destruction again.

Anna didn't have any idea as to how they could overcome the situation this time. That look of defeat in her eyes, eyes so similar to Lucy's, grated on the redhead's nerves. She had faith in Natsu and the others that they could deal with Acnologia's Spirit form inside the time rift, but the Dragon's Physical form was heading right to Magnolia, her home, and Erza simply could not let it happen.

Erza was determined to swim all the way back to the town, if that was what it took to reach the shore, when Mest appeared and teleported both of them back. The Requip mage frowned as she looked at the shambles around the town, all the destruction that was caused by their fights with the enemy.

Lucy, Gray, and Happy were there as well. The blonde's eyes shone with tears as she helplessly whimpered to her, "Erza, Natsu... He's gone... I couldn't save him..."

Erza shook her head firmly and took a hold of Lucy's hand, "That's not it. Natsu's alive. There is no time, I will explain later! You guys need to come with us now!"

Gray exclaimed in surprise, relief, and disbelief all together, "Natsu's alive?! Where is he? What's going on?" Lucy's grip on her hand tightened hopefully as well.

Erza looked up at the clear sky above their heads. There was no sight of the Black Dragon on the horizon, so perhaps she could spare a few minutes to explain the situation to them just so they could feel reassured about the Dragon Slayers' condition.

"I would like to hear an updated on the situation as well, if you please, Erza?" That voice... That voice! The redhead immediately turned around to confirm her suspicion, praying that her mind hadn't played a trick on her feelings this time.

But it was truly Master Makarov, in the flesh. A bit worse for wear but alive. Alive! And the rest of their friends were with him too.

Erza could not stop the chidlike, bright, warm happiness that blossomed inside her chest, and the unhindered grin tugging at the corner of her lips that followed, unrestrained, "Master! You're alive!"

His eyes were so kind, so gentle. There hadn't been a full day yet, but oh how she had missed him. So much. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Erza. It was not my intention to do so."

The Requip mage wiped away the tears threatening to fall down from her eyes at the sight of him. Alive. "No, not at all. I'm just happy you are still here with us."

Mest took the liberty to explain the situation in her place to every one of their friends and family. With the Dragon Slayers stuck inside the time rift, they had no way of truly defeating the Black Dragon now. But they still couldn't ignore Acnologia's Physical form flying straight their way like this, especially if he intended to destroy the city once again just to satisfy his instincts.

Lucy was the one who came up with the plan to immobilize the Dragon with Fairy Sphere. Erza turned to look at the blonde in awe as her girlfriend explained the details of the plan and quickly assigned different teams to their locations, based on their strengths, weaknesses, and appropriateness of the situation.

Erza leaned in to give the blonde a quick kiss on the cheek for good luck before they parted ways. Now that they had a somewhat concrete plan in place, Erza would do everything in her power to stop Acnologia in his path.

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In the end, it was a concerted effort of all wizards in the world that helped them trap the Dragon inside the Sphere, just in time for Natsu and the others to defeat Acnologia's Spirit inside the time rift, sealing the Black Dragon away for all eternity, this time. Erza jumped over to where Lucy was swaying in place to catch the blonde before she could fall to the ground in exhaustion. Casting such a powerful spell like Fairy Sphere had taken its toll on her girlfriend, and Lucy could only manage a weak smile at her as Erza whispered with a lingering kiss to the girl's sweaty forehead, "You're amazing, my love."

Their moment was cut short by a crack opening in the sky again, only this time it was the Dragon Slayers who fell out right above their heads. Erza was too startled, and happy at the sight of them, to requip into another armor in time and so she, Lucy, and Happy were instantly crushed under Natsu and Wendy's weight.

My God. Erza barely had any time to react before Gray ran over and jumped on top of them in the mess as well, one hand affectionately wrapped around Natsu's neck in a headlock, "Oi, idiot! Don't ever scare us like that again!"

Natsu just laughed easily, the happy, carefree sound curled up tight inside her heart. What a dumbass. But that was Natsu, alright. "What, pervert? You're jealous you didn't get to fight Acnologia like me?! Remember that bet we made?" Happy had settled himself in the pink-haired boy's lap and simply cried out in relief non-stop.

"Ha!" Gray's eyes softened at the idiotic grin on the Fire Dragon Slayer's face, bright and alive, "I'll let you win, just this time though."

"Natsu! Look over here for a second!" Erza let go of Lucy so the blonde could grab the Salamander and check for any major injuries. The redhead reached out and scooped Wendy in her lap instead, noticing the girl's brown eyes were brimming with tears from her place next to them, "Wendy, are you alright?"

"Erza-san..." The small Dragon Slayer sniffled and hugged her back tightly, "I'm just glad everyone is alive..." The Requip mage smiled and patted the girl's head gently. In the meantime, Carla had run over and attached herself securely to the small bluenette's arm.

"Oi, Luce, that hurt! Can't you be more gentle with it?!"

"Stop moving so I can see the damage on your arm!"

"I can't! It tickles!"

"Keep going, Lucy, I will hold down this moron for you!"

"Natsu, stop whining and let Lucy see your arm!" Erza had to intervene when her girlfriend looked like she was about to hit the Salamander on the side of his head, out of worry or frustration, the redhead didn't know.

Amidst the delight cocooning them, there was still one thing that still tugged at her mind, "What about Zeref though? Do we have any plan to stop him as well?" The Requip mage turned around to ask her friends, and Gray managed to grit out his teeth as he was trying to wrestle Natsu to the ground, "He is gone, too. We will explain it later, if you want."

Erza sighed in relief at that. It didn't matter now. What had happened didn't matter. They were all alive, and here with each other, that was all she ever cared about. Erza looked up to see their other friends around them, bright, joyful, carefree grins and cheers on their faces as well. Even the mages from other guilds were elated as the last waves of the war settled quietly behind them, paving the way for a new day to come.

It was the dawn of a new era. Without any darkness lurking in the shadow this time. They had all the time in the world for explanations and celebration later, back at home, safe and sound as ever.

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A/N: The pacing of this arc is cruel. People are being thrown into emotional rollercoasters left and right without being given enough time to properly digest it. Our beloved characters must have extreme compartmentalizing skills as a result of that.

We're approaching the end, guys. Only one chapter left to wrap up the fic!

Votes and comments are welcome!