Separation

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

"Get your grubby hands off me!"

"Watch where you are touching!"

"Get your feet off my face!"

The entire Tenrou team fell into a messy heap on a carpeted wooden floor. Makarov instantly recognised where they have been transported to.

"Isn't this... Porlyusica's place?"

"EHHH?!"

Just at that moment, the elderly lady stormed through the door with a broom in hand.

"Who dares invade..." She trailed off upon seeing the group's haggard state and a furrow in her brows worked its way up onto her face. She hesitated on what to say, but finally decided upon a question.

"What happened?"

"Long story." Gray huffed. "I still don't get it myself. One moment we are facing the black dragon of apocalypse, the next moment we are here."

"Apollo's Chariot allow the user to transport themselves and any persons he wish to any fire source within range as long as the user has enough magic to do so, a Fire God Slayer with total mastery of this spell is able to teleport to any fire source in the world instantaneously. My proficiency in this spell only allows me to to transport myself to Hargeon from Tenrou Island if I'm lucky enough, but by borrowing everyone's power I am able to transport the entire group here. It is a mere coincidence that the fire source I randomly chose belonged to someone you knew."

The crackling of fire from the fireplace at the side of the small wooden room that barely fitted the entire group got the group's attention as they stared at the small fire where the voice came from. A figure materialised from the flames, carrying an unconscious Meredy over his shoulder. Zancrow gently lay her down on the couch in the room with one arm before shutting the group up with a finger to his lips with the universal gesture to keep quiet.

"Meredy has exhausted herself trying to link us up with her magic. Let her have some rest."

That is the last thing the Fairy Tail mages have on their mind when they saw the state of Zancrow's left arm.

"Y-Your arm..." Lucy stuttered.

"Why else do you think I called it a forbidden technique?" Zancrow shot back a harsh whisper, trying not to wake Meredy up. "And keep your volume down! You think such a convenient and versatile spell that allows me to transport us so quickly while facing the Dragon King comes without a cost? Especially when my brand of magic is known for its destructive properties and not suited for utility? I'm lucky that the usage of Apollo's Chariot only cost me a single arm, I wasn't expecting to come out of this alive. That spell was supposed to consume my life as the price for invoking it since I did not manage to master it. I need to be at least on a Wizard Saint's level if I want to use it without any repercussions to myself, which I'm not. Apollo's Chariot is meant to be a last resort to save Meredy, even if she doesn't know about that particular bit."

The rest of the Fairy Tail mages stared on in silence as they took in the sight of Zancrow's charred left arm, which is burnt up to his bicep and resembled more like charcoal than a human limb.

"L-Let me heal it for you." Wendy said as she walked up to the man. "Maybe my magic can-"

"It won't." Porlyusica interjected. "I can tell from a single glance. To invoke that kind of spell without a full mastery of it... it will only work by needing to sacrifice something, something of an equal value. Once you paid the price, you can't reverse the result. The boy is right by saying that he is lucky that the spell only cost him a single arm."

The entire Fairy Tail group fell into silence as they absorbed what Zancrow had planned to sacrifice to bring them all back to safety. They would have been dead if it wasn't for his help.

"Makarov." Zancrow called out as he looked at the elderly man.

"I know. You don't need to keep reminding me every single time you see me, sheesh." Makarov grumbled as he soothed his incoming headache by rubbing his knuckles into his temple at the side of his head. "Meredy will have a place in our guild. We will protect her from any threats from any dark guilds, and we will not tell the Magic Council of her involvement with Grimoire Heart. That fine by you?"

"Yes, it's fine. Thank you." Zancrow said softly and with a swipe of his hand, the guild mark of Grimoire Heart on Meredy's shoulder disappeared and faded into nothing.

"There. Now she can finally start anew."

"Awesome! Blondie!" Natsu nearly shouted but upon Zancrow's glare, quickly changed his volume to be suited for indoor use. "Does that mean you are joining Fairy Tail as well? You are strong! Come on, join us! I want a rematch!"

"Sorry, but no."

That quick refusal brought everyone's attention on the enigmatic God Slayer once more.

"Har? Why?" Natsu whined. "I mean, I did see you kill the guild master and stuff, but it was justified, right? You said that he killed your family! I will be mad too if anyone killed my nakama! I don't blame you for it! No one does!"

"You nitwit, have you forgotten? That person was also the second guild master of Fairy Tail. It was why I was so pissed with your guild originally."

"It's true." Makarov interrupted and silenced his brats before they could go into an uproar to defend their guild's honour. "The guild master of Grimoire Heart was my predecessor, Precht Gaebolg, and the second guild master of Fairy Tail. Apparently he took on the name of Hades sometime after he left the guild." Makarov turned towards Zancrow. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Zancrow. You were right to be angry with us."

"Save it." Zancrow dismissed Makarov with a wave of his working arm. "Just remember your promise. If Meredy falls to harm, I will raze your guild down to the ground myself."

"Argh! Don't leave!" Natsu clung onto Zancrow's leg comically, trying to prevent him from leaving. "Come on! Join our guild!"

"The Magic Council knows what I look like and that I am a member of Grimoire Heart, even if I didn't join that blasted guild on my own accord." Zancrow reasoned as he hissed at Natsu. "The reason why I let Meredy join your guild is because the council didn't know Meredy is a member of Grimoire Heart; I had wiped away every trace of her involvement with us and her existence with my information network right before we headed to your little island. Even if you dig out information about Grimoire Heart with Archive magic, there will be no traces of Meredy in it. Nobody will know how Meredy looks like or that she was one of our strongest members other than you guys since every single one of Grimoire Heart's grunts is dead. I killed them back on Tenrou before fighting Hades. The only ones left are the surviving members of the Kin, but they are smart enough to keep their mouth shut. Or if not, I can help them shut it up. Permanently." A shiver went through the Fairy Tail members at how Zancrow talked about killing off people so easily. "On the other hand, the council knew about my existence and how I looked like. If you really wish for Fairy Tail to be labelled as a dark guild, then by all means, make me a member of your guild."

"I'm sure there is a way for you to be legally accepted into Fairy Tail." Mira spoke up. "You did help us in the end, it's only fair that we return the favour, no matter what you say."

"No, I don't want it. I haven't plan on what I'm going to do after this. Heck, in my original plan, I was supposed to be dead by this point after fighting Hades. I have no idea how I am still alive." Zancrow ran his right hand through his blond locks tiredly. "The only thing I planned for the future is to ensure Meredy has the chance to walk in the light again. Full stop."

"We can vouch for you!" Levy insisted. "You saved us from Acnologia! You were preparing to throw away your life for us! That is something!"

"And it is because I didn't want to continue living to begin with. How many times must I tell you guys for you to understand? Let me put it this way: I was planning to die, either by bringing Hades down with me with the tons of suicide moves I came up, or by transporting Meredy away with Apollo's Chariot if things went FUBAR. Apollo's Chariot was supposed to be a suicide move to get Meredy out of there; you guys just happened to be tagging along for the ride, a ride that was supposed to consume my life as the ticket price. Obviously things didn't go according to plan since somehow everything took a turn for the better as if the gods themselves granted us their protection. Now, let go of me." Zancrow kicked Natsu away from his leg. He took a last look at Meredy's sleeping visage and carefully brushed aside the stray strands of hair from her face with his remaining working hand.

"Tell her not to look for me. After so many years in that hellhole, she can finally live the life of a proper, decent human being. A sinner like me can never walk beside her. I don't deserve her. I will keep an eye out for her, but I will never appear before her again. She will want to chase after me the moment she found that I'm gone. Don't let that happen. Use Memory Control magic to erase her memories of me if need be, I know your guild have someone capable of such a feat. Just don't let her look for me."

"Why?" Lucy blurted out. "You two are close, right? Why wouldn't you let her see you? Why would you rather her forget about you?!"

"Because she will be safer that way. She... She'll grow up to be better than what I'll ever be. I'm a criminal, she's not, she's too kind for it. She's safe here. She'll be fine. She..." Zancrow visibly held back a sob as the rest of the occupants in the room felt a throb in their heart. They did not expect what appears to be a cold and uncaring man to have such a soft side for Meredy. They understand his reasoning, even if they don't like it.

They don't like it a single bit.

But what else can they do? No matter how much they pity his plight, it does not change the fact that Zancrow is a wanted criminal in Fiore.

"She'll be okay, as long as she doesn't have any affiliation with me or Grimoire Heart, she'll be okay. She's finally free."

It was then Natsu truly understood the point Zancrow is driving at.

Because criminals are never truly free.

Because the lives of being a criminal on the run isn't kind to anyone no matter how strong they are.

Because criminal like him never meet a good end.

Because Zancrow just wants Meredy to live properly without the sins of a dark guild looming over her back.

Because of that, he chose to leave her here at Fairy Tail where he knew she would be watched over by caring people. People that can bring out the best in her and protect her. People that will treat her as their own, like a family.

Natsu will do that and he is sure that the rest of the guild will too. It is the least they can do.

"Take good care of her."

With those parting words, Zancrow left. The Fairy Tail members tried to stop him from leaving but Makarov held them back.

"Let him be." He sighed. "He had made his resolve, let's not make things even harder than it already is for him. We will pay back our debt to him one day, and the doors of our guild will be forever open to him should he needs it. For now, we need to treat our injuries." Makarov's eyes wandered back to Meredy, who is still sleeping off the exhaustion.

"And think of how to break the news to our newest guild member, Meredy."

"We are back~~" Wendy said out loud as she entered the guild hall after a mission together with Carla and Meredy. Meredy and Wendy had become fast friends with each other due to their similar ages and it's not uncommon for them to go on missions together.

"Welcome back, Wendy, Carla, Meredy."

The two girls and the exceed returned Mira's greeting and sat down at a table in the corner of the guild. Mira handed them drinks before going about the guild and doing her job as a barmaid. Meredy drank from her cup and let her mind wander.

It has been three years since the incident at Tenrou Island.

The transition was hard at first, especially when she first woke up and found that Zancrow had disappeared without a trace. The entire guild had to physically restrain her to prevent her from running off after Zancrow, but Master Makarov had shouted at her to calm down and listen to him, which she did.

She learnt from him how Zancrow had approached Master Makarov on Tenrou Island on that fateful day and struck a deal with him to keep her safe. She learnt the true nature of the spell, Apollo's Chariot, and the consequences for using it. She learnt about the price Zancrow had paid to get them all to safety. She learnt that Zancrow was planning to die that day. He planned to die, to leave her alone without even telling her.

The last part of the truth shook her very core.

Meredy was a sobbing mess after that. She just cannot understand. Didn't Zancrow promised her that he will never leave her alone after they settled their differences back at Azalea? Why? Why had he attempted a suicide technique even when he had promised her to never leave her alone? Why is he leaving her now? Grimoire Heart is gone, Hades is dead. So why? Why can they not be together after all they had been through?

Meredy wanted to go and find Zancrow but Master Makarov just handed her a letter and asked her to read it. Apparently the letter found its way to him just a day after Zancrow left. It was addressed to her.

Meredy,

When you are reading this letter I would have already left. I don't have an exact idea on where I'm going or what I'm going to do from this point onwards, I have never planned that far ahead beyond getting my revenge. As you would have probably learnt by now, things didn't go exactly as I had planned. In my original plans, I would have been dead by now and you would be left in good hands. I have never expected myself to come out alive from this mess when I joined Grimoire Heart so many years ago to seek revenge. I know that I had promised you that I will not leave you alone in this world and I knowingly broke that promise.

I'm sorry.

I didn't want to promise you that particular request of yours when you cried in my arms and forgive me for my sins back at Azalea. At that point in time I was already determined to give up my life to bring Hades down and to let you live a new life, even if I have to die trying. But I just can't bring myself to say 'No' to you. I can never say 'No' to you. You never failed to throw a wrench in my plans, you know that? I swore to not let myself get attached to anyone at Grimoire Heart but then you came into my life unannounced. I wanted to let you latch onto someone else, like Ultear for instance. She would have taken good care of you but you just keep coming back to me no matter what I did to chase you away. It wasn't long before I realised that you are the biggest unaccounted factor in my schemes. Without knowing it, I had come to care for you and I was forced to adjust my plans for revenge the moment you entered into my life.

I was determined to let you have a chance to start anew and experience a life outside the senseless killings and schemes. I was determined to not let your hands be tainted in blood like me. I can now proudly say I succeeded. You have never bloodied your hands and your heart remains pure despite the hellhole you were raised in. I made sure your past with Grimoire Heart cannot be traced back, so live. Live your new life in the light with your head held high. Start anew, make friends. Live and enjoy the life that we were both robbed away from, for the both of us.

Perhaps the heavens took pity on me and allowed me to come out alive after facing Hades and Acnologia, maybe the fates wanted to give me another chance as well. I don't know, I really don't. Maybe there's still a purpose for my continued existence outside of revenge. So I decided to leave to find that purpose. Knowing you, you will have tried to come along with me no matter what I say and I will not be able to refuse you. I decided to leave before that happens. This is my responsibility, you are not responsible for the crimes I committed.

I need to do this alone.

I am a sinner, Meredy, no matter what you try to say. In my opinion, the only ones I have killed are dark mages and the lowest of scums, but a life is a life. I have killed hundreds even though I felt that my actions were justified and the world is better off without them.

Two wrongs don't make a right. I am a sinner. There's no way around that.

You can argue that I may not be the one who reaped the lives of the innocents, but I am equally guilty for just standing there without doing anything to try and save them. It doesn't really matter to me now. At the very least, I had managed to save you and I do not regret it.

Put the darkness we experienced behind us and see the world again, I'm sure that it will look very different to you now. I will always be keeping an eye out for you, but do not look for me. I will most probably be going on a journey. It may be to redeem myself, it may be to run some damage control on what our guild had inflicted upon this world, or it may be to just see the world once again in a new light. I don't know for sure on what I will do in the foreseeable future and it is what I am going to find out. I need to right the wrong that Grimoire Heart has done upon the world. It is my responsibility and my punishment, even if I have no idea yet on how I am going to accomplish it.

Stay safe. I will always be behind you, no matter what you do.

Zancrow.

Meredy eyes wandered back to the letter held in her hands as she read it for the umpteenth time. The letter is always on her person. She had long since memorised the contents of the letter as she read it a few times every single day, it's the only thing Zancrow had left her. Meredy can understand the point Zancrow is driving at. Knowing him, he probably wants to do some good for the world to redeem himself of his crimes and lessen the guilt he feels. Zancrow didn't want Meredy to come along with him since he felt that Meredy shouldn't suffer for his crimes but Meredy thinks that it is utter nonsense.

The reason why Meredy's hands remained clean till date is because Zancrow had took on the dirtiest of jobs for her. He stained his hands in even more blood to protect her innocence. Meredy is no stranger to death, she had seen countless corpses in her time at Grimoire Heart even if she had never killed herself. Even so, she knew that there is a stark difference between looking at a corpse and being responsible for the death of said corpse. She just never had the opportunity to cross that line, Zancrow had ensured it for her sake.

For that alone, Meredy feels that she is just as guilty as Zancrow is. If Zancrow is a sinner, then she is one as well.

After pondering over that issue for a few days, she decided to disregard Zancrow's request to not look for him. Despite how he carried himself in front of others, Meredy knew that Zancrow's mind is even more fragile than what it appears to be. Zancrow loathes himself for being unable to protect his family and hates himself for being a killer for hire back at Grimoire Heart. It would not be good for his mental health if he was left alone without any form of emotional support. Meredy wants to be there for him, just as how he had been there for her for so many years. With Master Makarov's approval and support, Meredy used her skills that she acquired in Grimoire Heart on intelligence gathering to try and locate Zancrow. Many members of the guild helped out as well as they try to search for any news of Zancrow when they went on their respective jobs.

No one had any luck. It's like Zancrow had disappeared from the face of the earth.

"Meredy? Would you mind having a private word?"

Meredy's attention snapped back towards Master Makarov, who is gesturing with his hand for her to follow him to his office.

Once in the office, Makarov locked the door and set up magic seals to prevent any eavesdroppers. He turned to Meredy and handed her a slip of paper.

"I will be blunt. I think I may have gotten news on Zancrow. The coordinates where he was last seen is written on the piece of paper."

Meredy quickly perused through what was written on the paper. The exact coordinates of a specific location was written on the slip of paper like what Makarov had said.

"How did you find it?"

"You know the bounty hunter who went by the name of Skull? The one that popped up in recent years?"

Meredy nodded. Skull had become somewhat of a news sensation when he appeared about two years ago. He is an independent mage that took on jobs posted by the Magic Council to exterminate dark guilds that were too problematic for even both the council and legal guilds to handle. Most independent bounty hunters that went on these kinds of jobs have to go in groups to ensure that they come back alive, and even then it is common for these groups to go on their missions without making it back. The astonishing thing is that Skull took on these missions alone and maintained a 100% success rate till date. He exterminated the dark guilds and mages he was assigned to take down with extreme prejudice, leaving his targets with wounds that are often more grievous than what is strictly necessary to bring them down. No one knew what type of magic he used although none of his targets had died so far when he dumped them into the cold cells where fugitives like them are held. Despite his contributions to the magical community and the country, his cruel methods in exterminating dark guilds did not exactly paint him in a favourable light in the eyes of the council, and thus making him a problematic and controversial figure to deal with in the council's opinion.

The citizens of Fiore, however, loved him, especially those who had been saved or had benefited from his actions. No one knew what he looked like. He is constantly wearing a hooded cape that covered most of his body and he wore a mask painted with a skull design on his face. He didn't give anyone a name to call him by so over time, people refer to him as 'Skull' due to the mask he wore on his face whenever he appeared in public. The design of his mask soon became a merchandise where merchants will sell to little kids who aspire to be a hero like him. His heroics had inspired many young mages as well.

"What does Skull have to do with Zancrow? Did he spot him on one of his mission?"

"No, I suspect Skull is Zancrow. No one know what type of magic Skull uses but according to an eyewitness from a mage of Lamia Scale when he passed by the area, he spotted Skull using a type of Fire magic that produces black flames that turned the surroundings to ash within seconds. There's only one person we both know that is capable of such magic."

Meredy's breath hitched as her heartbeat quickened. This is the most reliable news she had gotten about Zancrow to date. From that description alone, she is almost sure that Skull is Zancrow.

"Master! I..."

Makarov chuckled as he waved his hands to dismiss Meredy's concerns.

"Go and search for him. I know he means the world to you. Just make sure to say your goodbyes before you leave, alright? And remember to write a letter back every now and then so that we know that you are well. You are strong, but there many other stronger mages out there. If we don't hear from you at least once a month, I will consider sending a search party to look for you."

Meredy nodded excitedly and Makarov shooed her out of his office, claiming to have stacks of paperwork to clear. Meredy hastened her pace back to her apartment at Fairy Hills. She have goodbyes to say to her nakamas before she went out to search for Zancrow.

Meredy inwardly prayed to the deities above that she will be able to locate and meet Zancrow this time. She don't think she can handle chasing another lead on him only to reach another dead end.

She will find him. That's a promise.