As always, time passed. With Irene, Erza and Selene to keep her busy, Yin spent most of her time getting some training in with the Dragonslayers and her and Yang's own personal group that consisted of Ultear, Ur, Erza and the Strauss siblings.
As things stood, they were stronger than they were in canon. So when Phantom Lord attacked? They were ready. The retaliation was as swift as it was brutal. Some S class mage that wasn't Juvia had jumped Gajeel's personal crush, Levy and her fanclub. So he kicked a fifty foot rod into Phantom Lord's Guild and started a war backed up by everyone in the Guild.
As it turned out, the plan was to create a disturbance so the Phantom Lord's mages could kidnap Lucy from her house.
Naturally, this pissed off Natsu, Gray and Erza, who had gotten close to her after a few missions taken together.
But while Phantom Lord's main guild was suffering the consequences of kicking the hornet's nest, their sub-guilds, scattered across the Kingdoms of Earthland were being raided by Laxus, Mystogan and two bored Dragons and their.. Mistress?
*BANG!* *BANG!*
"Wild Wild West! Real West, desperado. Rough rider, nah ya don't want nada~" Yin sung while shooting Dead Man's Tale.
A weapon she hadn't really had time to use, sadly. A 'Scout Rifle' that had such an iconic Space Cowboy theme going on that Yin decided to fully commit to the look. Which means she bribed Bisca for her clothes and made Yang some revolvers before heading out to shoot down the subpar mages.
So, dressed in a black cropped duster, jean short shorts, red cowgirl boots and a black desperado hat, she wreaked havoc.
Because beating them with magic or bute force wasn't humiliating enough.
*BANG!* *BANG!*
No, they were going down. One (rubber) bullet at a time. It was almost disgusting how easy headshots felt. Though her own rifle wasn't the only headshot machine there. As Yang, dressed in yellow chaps, blue jeans, a tanned cropped duster and a white cowgirl hat, rapidly fired two golden pistols Yin designed after Mesa (Warframe). Of course, Irene helped enchant the concept of 'headshots' into the guns, so every pull of the trigger delivered rubber bullets coated in poison ivy extract into their faces.
"Please...! Mercy!" One of the many poor Phantom Lord mages cried out after Yin shot him in the face and broke his nose.
"I'm singing here! Great, now I have to start again. When I finish the song, you guys can rest. From the top again!" Yin's face nearly split in a demonic grin when she heard the agonized screams that followed.
*BANG!* *BANG!*
"You just had to fall for the sadistic Dragon twins, didn't you, Irene?" The red haired Dragon Sage muttered to herself, watching over her enchantment that essentially shrunk the distance between every Phantom Lord sub-Guild in Earthland.
Yin had called it a 'Battle Royale' but from what she described the game to be like, this hardly fit. No, there was another game series she told her about that suited the situation far better. Yes, DOOM.
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"That was fun.. we never get to shoot that many targets. Well, y'know.. except Grimm. But like all the Grimm grunts are easy mode." Yang snorted, seated atop the ruined and bullet-ridden wreckage of one of the sub-Guilds.
"Yeah it's fun, right? You gotta improve your aim though. The first few shots with those revolvers, unenchanted, were a shitshow. I think you nailed some poor bastard in the balls." Yin replied, storing away Dead Man's Tale for another day.
"I'm starting to see why you didn't get involved in the other battles so far. The kids won't grow if there's no real challenge." Irene shook her head, imagining what would happen if the twins remained at Fairy Tail to raid Phantom Lord.
"Actually that reminds me..." Yin stood up and looked at Irene.
"You should get involved when they deal with Oracion Seis. At least to make sure Zeref's fucking experimental toys don't go off. Brain's kinda dead, so they'll likely either be disorganized or Hades will have taken them in."
"I see.. so what will you be doing?" Irene asked.
"Yang, Ultear and I are going to look for Zeref. He's probably in his fugue state right now, wandering aimlessly. We'll pop over to Tenrou, then other places of interest if he's not there. Ultear's gotten better at looking through time using specific items, so we're hoping that points us to him."
"One of Zeref's many inventions hm? I'd certainly hate for such a thing to fall into the wrong hands.."
Yin shrugged dismissively, "It's Nirvana. Basically a morality inverter. It shouldn't affect anyone strong. But it's probably best to just destroy it, unless you want evil versions of our kids running around."
Irene merely shivered at the thought.
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Weeks passed by and the ending of Phantom Lord had been followed by a stretch of peace, thanks to the simple fact that Laxus was humbled. Mere days before the Oracion Seis debacle, Yin, Yang and Ultear had taken a ten year Quest to Guiltina, to deal with a powerful Dark Guild that subsumed all the weaker ones after they visited six years prior.
Needless to say, they got that done in a day and started flying back to Tenrou. Ultear sat atop Yin's back, watching the scenery far below them as she rode with two Dragons.
"Yin? You told me about your promise to Zeref but.. was he really not as evil as people claim?" Ultear asked, getting both Yin's and Yang's attention.
"Zeref was a.. complicated man. I'd even call him a good person. He delved into magic and tried to bring back the family he lost. And he spent hundreds of years making things to try and kill himself. But they never really worked out. Ankhseram's curse of immortality was too powerful. Even his Demons weren't really strong enough. Maybe his best creation E.N.D could, but whether he'd want to kill Zeref is another thing.." Yin hummed.
"And that's why you pushed your power of Ruin so far? To kill him?" Ultear asked.
Yin shook her head.
"To destroy his curse. I know of three immortals. And of those two, he deserves his punishment the least. Ankhseram didn't stop when he learned the 'value of life and death'. He just let Zeref suffer because Zeref stepped on his toes. He's a fucking dickhead." Yin spat scornfully.
"Sure sounds like one. Oh, look below. There's Tenrou." Yang spoke up from beside them.
Both came to a gentle stop and floated above Tenrou, leering down at the massive tree that sat in the middle. As both Dragons looked down, they saw the ever present protective barrier that was placed by Mavis. But aside from the beasts, there was nobody there. Not even Mavis herself. Though Yin knew why that was. The first Master was currently in the basement of the Guild.
"Anything?" Ultear asked, squinting at the Island.
"No. Just some monst-" *ROAAAAAAAAAAR!!!*
The sky trembled as a shockwave swept over them and nearly flung Ultear off Yin's back. It was a sound Yin recognized.
Acnologia had found them. And he was flying as fast as he could toward them. Even pushing magic into his wings to fly faster.
"Tch.." Yin clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Just what I needed.. Of course you show up the one time I'm not actually looking for you." Yin grumbled as Yang looked over at her.
"He's strong. Stronger than Garmr after he Carmilla. Are we gonna fight him?" Yang asked, her magic pressure extending outward.
"We can't. Not when we have Ultear with us." Yin shook her head.
"I can help you. I've gotten very good with Ice Make and Arc of Time, you know?" Ultear declared, standing on Yin's scaley neck.
"Acnologia devours all magic. He's the Arcane Dragon King. Yang and I have our Conceptual attuned magic he can't eat but to use them so close to you while dodging him? I'm not taking that risk. We avoid him.. for now." Yin stated, then spread her wings out and flew off with Yang, pouring their own magic into their wings to outpace him.
Thankfully, they were just a bit faster than Acnologia. But it wasn't to the point where they could easily lose the black Dragon. So it took several long hours of intense flight, where they were forced to dodge incoming magic beams.
They flew throughout the night and eventually lost Acnologia after crossing the shores of Alakitasia. After confirming the lack of a raging black Dragon nearby, Yin and Yang settled near a few mountains and walked into a quiet town, where they found a motel/tavern and got one room so Ultear could sleep.
"Haaah... man that guy HATES you, Sis!" Yang chortled, both sitting on the floor outside their room while Ultear slept.
"I think he's a battle maniac. I probably gave him a decent enough fight to wake him up a little. And he hates all Dragons, Sis." Yin replied with a roll of her eyes.
They got sidetracked by the genocide Dragon but in the end, Yin did want to pop into Alakitasia to see if Zeref changed and decided to play Emperor Spriggan for a while longer. She could definitely feel strong magical presences but she knew Zeref had 'Generals' that were capable of fucking up Earthland's Guilds in the invasion.
They were maybe half as strong or even three quarters as strong as Acnologia, judging by pure magical pressure.
"We should see who's lurking around the Empire. I distinctly remember Zeref had some secret child..." Yin thought out loud.
"Woaaah.. scandalous! With who?" Yang asked quietly.
"Mavis Vermillion. Our Guild's first Guildmaster and Founder. I don't think either are aware that he exists. All the more reason to break his curse. He might be able to point us in the right direction." Yin replied carefully, expanding her magical senses outward again.
"You'd think the guy would have left you a message or somethin' about where to find him.."
"He may have.. If he has, he likely left it with his Spriggan Twelve. So either way? We have to go looking for them."
With that plan in mind, they decided to return back to their room, strip down, sandwiched Ultear between them and got some sleep themselves.