Avatar arc

The Avatar arc is the sixteenth story arc of the Fairy Tail series.

One year after Fairy Tail's dissolution and subsequent disappearance of Makarov Dreyar, Natsu and Lucy embark on a long journey, in order to track down their comrades and reunite the guild once more. On the way, they encounter allies and enemies, both new and old. Meanwhile, in the shadows, a sinister organization plots to fill the power vacuum left by the defeats and collapse of the Balam Alliance, and to pave the way for a new world belonging to Zeref.

One Year Later
A year passes since the events of the battle with Tartarus and Fairy Tail's disbandment. Lucy has become an editor-in-training at Sorcerer Magazine thanks to Jason—though not before ironically being one of its models. She covers the recent Grand Magic Games, though cannot help but wonder where her friends went off to since then and has been using her job to find any leads on them. However she admits to herself that even if she could find them and bring them all together again, she would not know what to do afterward.

On the last day of the Grand Magic Games, she covers the match between the finalists: Dullahan Head and Scarmiglione. Despite Jason predicting Dullahan Head will win, Lucy sees through Scarmiglione's attempt to conceal their abilities during the previous matches. Sure enough, Scarmiglione comes out victorious, to Lucy's disgust as she figures all they really care about is money. Just as the tournament is about to come to a close, a cloaked figure suddenly enters the stadium. Lucy senses a strong Magic presence as it challenges the winners to a match. The figure suddenly releases a blast of hot air that resonates through the stadium, which easily beats the guild and at the same time melts the clothes of the spectators. The hood comes off; Natsu announcing his arrival. Happy manages to find Lucy in the stands and states that Natsu wanted to see the strength of the current number one guild in Fiore. Several other competitors try to ambush him, proving futile as he quickly defeats them. He then notices Lucy and greets her to which she smiles and greets him back. Lucy subsequently thinks to herself that Fairy Tail may not be gone after all.

Afterwards, Natsu's destruction of Domus Flau is forgiven by Toma E. Fiore, so he and Happy head out of the castle, just to meet up with Lucy. His curiosity about the rest of the Fairy Tail members is answered as Lucy reveals that the guild has been dissolved, much to the duo's shock. Natsu tries to take his anger out on Makarov, as well as the rest of the former members, wondering whether they were fine with such decision. He is taken aback when Lucy notes that Natsu was also gone for an entire year, not caring about the guild at all. However, knowing that both Natsu and Happy had a lot on their mind, Lucy apologizes and brings them to her apartment. Natsu takes care of his appearance and then ends up telling Lucy stories about his travels until it's late, with Natsu lying down on a couch. Both he and Happy continue thinking about the guild's fate, however, it's not long before they decide to sneak into Lucy's room. That is when they witness all the information about the former guild members that Lucy has gathered. In the morning, Lucy wakes up just to find her place surrounded by the royal soldiers. It is revealed that Natsu went and put up a message on the royal castle using his flames, signalizing the revival of Fairy Tail. The three run out of the apartment and even though Lucy is initially reluctant, she accepts the offer and together, they flee from the army.

Natsu and Lucy arrive at Tuly Village, where Natsu immediately recongizes the clock tower he destroyed during his earlier job. He ponders destroying it again, only to be slapped by Lucy in order to detract him from it. Natsu is visibly stirred from the lack of challengers, especially that his beloved guild was dissolved, leaving him without anyone to fight. He decides to duel with Lucy, which seems to be confident about her newly acquired abilities, only for Natsu to launch his pinpointed breath towards a group of thieves a certain distance away, precisely landing his attack and allowing the victim to reclaim his carriage. Later, Natsu and Lucy rest in Kotoko Inn, in order to plan their next stop in Margaret Town, which is the home town of Lamia Scale, which also is the new guild of their former guildmate, Wendy Marvell.

Orochi's Fin Invasion
At the time when Natsu and Lucy arrive in Margaret Town, the Lamia Scale Thanksgiving Parade is taking place. Observing the celebrations, they spot Wendy alongside Chelia Blendy, known as "Sky Sisters" duo, performing a song, much to the joy of the celebrating people of Margaret Town. Natsu is set on taking Wendy back from Lamia Scale, only to be met by Carla, now using a human form, thanks to the Transformation Magic. Meanwhile, members of the rival guild of Lamia Scale, Orochi's Fin observe the event, planning their attack soon after the celebrations are over. Soon after, Natsu, Lucy and Happy go to meet with Wendy and Carla, alongside other members of Lamia Scale. Natsu openly declares that he wantes Wendy back in order to have her bolster the ranks of the rebuilding guild, only to be refused by her. During the talks, it is noted that Jura Neekis left Lamia Scale in order to become a member of reformed Magic Council, and that Makarov Dreyar received similiar invitation, but did not show up, leaving his whereabouts unknown since the disbanding of Fairy Tail. Natsu and Lucy head to rest in the Viper Inn, both pondering about Wendy's decision. Meanwhile, Wendy and Chelia have their conversation about their friendship. Soon after, Lamia Scale Guild is bombarded, and Margaret Town is attacked by monsters summoned by Orochi's Fin. Natsu, Lucy and Happy arrive at the scene and rendezvous with Lyon, who explains the situation. It is revealed that this is only a small fraction of the attacking force, as the entire force is composed of at least 100,000 attackers. Ooba Babasaama deduces that Orochi's Fin has monster tamer mages in their ranks, so Natsu decides to attack their forces from the air using Happy, alongside Wendy and Carla. Suddenly, Chelia hijacks Happy from Natsu and decides to take care of the problem alongside her Sky Slayer counterpart.

Wendy and Chelia launch a counterattack upon the invading Orochi's Fin members, with their main goal to take down the summoner Mage responsible for taming the massive amounts of monsters invading the city, with Wendy noting a smell belonging to a familiar figure nearby. Meanwhile, back in Margaret Town, Lucy, Lyon and Natsu are poised to defend the town and its inhabitants. Natsu, mad at Chelia for hijacking Happy rushes at the invading monster army and decimates them as he moves towards the Sky Sisters' location. Lucy, at the same time summons Loke and utilizes her newfound Star Dress, entering Leo Form in order to defeat the monsters invading the town. Wendy and Chelia approach the location of the Orochi Fin's Monster Tamer, but are ultimately pinned down by the former Dark Mage of Grimoire Heart, now an affiliate of Orochi's Fin: Bluenote Stinger. As Bluenote prepares to finish off Chelia, Natsu arrives and grabs her, oblivious of the situation, yet seemingly unaffected by Bluenote's Gravity Magic.

Natsu, still mad at Chelia, does not realize that the enemy standing in front of him is the same man that once fought them at Tenrou Island. Bluenote seems to have some recollection of Natsu and engages him, but Natsu dodges the attack by using his flames to lift himself up. Proclaiming that Fairy Tail is not yet a thing of the past, Bluenote remembers the guild's name, as well as the man who defeated him, and once more engages Natsu only to be obliterated by Natsu's roar, which became considerably more powerful, greatly surprising both Orochi's Fin members, as well as Carla and Wendy, who are baffled by the amount of power Natsu gathered through the year. After that, Natsu lectures Chelia that stealing is bad, but is reminded by Happy that Orochi's Fin are still on the scene, but the guild surrenders unconditionally in fear of Natsu.

Back in Margaret Town, Lamia Scale rejoices over their victory and thank Fairy Tail mages for the help. Elsewhere, Wendy and Chelia talk about the battle and how Chelia wanted to protect everyone, only for Natsu to take all the glory. Chelia also tells Wendy that her place is in Fairy Tail, noting that both Wendy and Natsu love their guild and comrades, and that's why he wants to bring it back, and she reassures Wendy that they are and will be friends, even if they are under a different guild's banner. Wendy and Carla leave Lamia Scale in order to depart with Natsu, Happy and Lucy in their search for other members, with their next destination being Amefurashi Village.

Ominous News
At Amefurashi Village, Juvia is seen to wander in the rain, clearly depressed, while Natsu, Lucy and Wendy are on the move towards the location at the same time, noting the rumors about the constant rain in the village.

Juvia is eventually found by Natsu, who quickly catches up with her scent, but her health is severely crippled because of her extended exposure to rain, and is brought inside her house to recuperate. Juvia reveals that she lived in the village with Gray for six months, until his body was slowly overtaken by black marks. Gray left her shortly afterwards, driving her into depression. Natsu promises Juvia to bring Gray back and rebuild Fairy Tail, so they can be a family once again, but later is visibly angered, prompting Happy to question his mood. Natsu reveals that he wants to go to Sabertooth. Elsewhere, in a castle situated in a dark forest, a shady organization convenes about Balam Alliance's fall. Their priest, Arlock proclaims that with the end of the era of the Dark Guilds, a new era has begun - the age of Avatar, and state their goal: to eliminate every Mage that does not pledge their loyalty to Zeref and create the world belonging to the Black Mage. Every member agrees upon this course of action, Gray among them.

Back at Amefurashi, Wendy attempts to heal Juvia, but to little effect. Carla wonders whether Natsu, Lucy and Happy have reached Sabertooth yet. Meanwhile, the trio arrives at the location. Natsu tells Lucy that from that point forward, he must stop trusting Gray, unless his suspicions turn out to be false, but promises her to bring him back to the guild regardless. After a brief reunion with Sabertooth, Natsu ventures to find Rogue, who was with Minerva and Frosch at the time, heading out to fulfill a request. Natsu quickly takes Rogue to talk in private and urges him to give a look at his request, which is the destruction of Avatar. Natsu immediately gets suspicious and urges Rogue to stay in the town with Frosch, and tells him that he will take the request instead. Rogue is baffled and unhappy because of it, and Natsu quickly rushes with Lucy to Avatar, recalling what Future Rogue told him about Frosch's killer, who is revealed to be Gray.

Natsu's team arrives at Mikage Forest and discuss the request that Natsu has taken from Rogue. Lucy explains that Avatar is a cult worshipping Zeref, that is reported to be on the rise since the downfall of Balam Alliance and the Dark Guilds. Natsu, hearing this is ready to attack them, and explains that they might encounter Gray as an enemy, as Future Rogue said his ominous warning one year later. He also notes that the black marks Juvia mentioned were similiar to what Natsu has seen on Gray's body during their fight with Mard Geer. Meanwhile, in Avatar, the cultists discover that the Magic Council has discovered their base of operations, and Jerome suspects Gray to be a mole. Gray rebutts his accusations and points out a flaw in the intelligence gathered by him. He also states that his only reason for working with Avatar is to get the Book of E.N.D. and doesn't care about what lengths he will go to claim it, in order to destroy the Etherious. Meanwhile, the Rune Knights advance on Mikage Forest, and discover that Gray is part of Avatar. Surprisingly, Gajeel and Pantherlily are among them, and the former says he doesn't care about his former guildmate, only to take every cultist into custody.

Attack on Avatar: Rough Reunion
Natsu prepares to storm the building through the front door, only to be stopped by Lucy, who notes that they don't know the enemy's strength and proposes to sneak in by the help of Virgo. Lucy also uses her Star Dress in order to borrow some of Virgo's powers and burrow into the basement of Avatar's church. Lucy then proposes to keep out of sight, while searching for Gray's location. Natsu, however immediately disregards the stealthy approach and yells for Gray, immediately alerting the cultists. Abel, Goumon and D-6 confront Natsu's group, but are defeated without much effort by Natsu. Shortly after, Gray shows up, telling the cultists that Natsu isn't an enemy of their caliber and that he will deal with the Fire Dragon Slayer himself.

Back at Amefurashi, Wendy continues to take care of sick Juvia, and is worried about Natsu and Gray fighting each other, but notes that fighting is not a new thing to both of them. Meanwhile, Natsu and Gray begin to exchange blows, and Gray asks what Natsu and his team are doing inside Avatar's base, to which Natsu replies that they have come to take him back in order to rebuild the guild. Gray, however has no intention of going back, stating that Fairy Tail is no more and neither feels any attachment to it now, which angers Lucy, who slaps Gray out of anger. Suddenly, Mary casts a spell restraining Lucy, distracting Natsu, which allows the defeated Avatar members to capture them. Natsu yells at Gray, telling him that he's possessed, but Gray simply responds that he's perfectly sane and joined Avatar by his own free will, showing his new mark to his former comrades. Meanwhile, the Magic Council's unit prepares to make their move, with Levy returning from her infiltration task. Gajeel remarks that Gray's membership in Avatar makes him an enemy, and stopping the Operation Purification comes first, or else innocents will die.

Later, Lucy and Natsu are imprisoned in the dungeons of Avatar's Mikage Forest base. Natsu, Lucy and Happy ponder Gray's downfall into darkness, until they are visited by Goumon, their interrogator. Natsu demands Goumon to reveal Gray's whereabouts, but Goumon reveals that Gray and the rest of Avatar left the area in order to participate in Operation Purification, and that he's going to extract knowledge from Lucy about the reason of their invasion by torture. As Goumon attempts to execute Lucy, he is frozen by Gray, who contacts a person through the communication Lacrima about the infiltration plan being ruined, and passes it to Natsu. The person behind the call is revealed to be Erza.

Attack on Avatar: Operation Purification
Natsu expresses surprise to Erza about an infiltration mission that Gray was undertaking. Erza reveals that she was looking into Avatar, as a group related to Zeref a half year ago, per request from Crime Sorciere and Jellal. Gray also reveals that he learned to control his black marks at will with Porlyusica's help. Gray reveals that him taking part in the operation was to learn about the book of E.N.D., and he expressed regret about not telling Juvia, because he was stopped by Erza not to cause any unnecessary harm or attention. Gray also reveals that Avatar consists of many branches operating independent, nor interacting with each other, which explains his prolonged work in the cult, trying to gain as much info on Operation Purification as he could, and learned that this event gathers every branch of Avatar in order to kill innocent people and summon Zeref. The reformed Team Natsu arrives in Malva City and starts to defend against the oncoming Avatar cultist army.