Fairy Tail: Threads of Infinity

The moment their feet crossed into Butterfly Grove, something felt... off. No, not just off—wrong. Like they stepped into a memory that was trying to forget itself.

Lucy blinked and looked around with wide eyes, clutching her golden Celestial Spirit keys to her chest like they were some kind of holy talisman.

The trees...

Why did the trees look like that?

They weren't dead. No, that would've been fine. Death was natural. This was... twisted. Bark warped in spiraling patterns that looked like they were trying to breathe. Yes, breathe. Some of the knots in the wood actually pulsed. Like wounds. Wounds that wanted to speak.

The leaves flickered in colors that didn't make sense. Reds that looked like blood on a mirror. Blues that refused to shimmer. And greens—ugh, Lucy didn't even have words for those greens. They hummed. Not in sound but in presence.

Even the light itself was wrong.

"This place... it's giving me the creeps..." Lucy whispered under her breath, but it still felt too loud.

"Creeps?" Natsu muttered, scratching the back of his head. "This place is straight-up haunted."

Shinra was already crouched down, examining a patch of drooping, miserable-looking flowers like some kind of magical botanist detective. His gloved hand hovered over the petals, but he didn't touch them. His face was unreadable.

"Inversion magic," he muttered. "Life energy's going backward. Mana is spiraling *inward* instead of flowing out."

Gray squinted. "Yeah, cool science talk, but uh... what?"

Shinra tilted his head like a teacher trying to explain math to a rock. "Something's infecting the natural flow. Not killing it. Warping it. Like it's trying to rewrite the laws."

Erza's eyes narrowed instantly. Her warrior instincts kicked in. "Corruption magic?"

Shinra stood up, brushing nonexistent dust from his coat. "Yes, and a strong one."

Silence.

Then—*rustle*.

But no wind.

Everyone went still. Every hair on Lucy's arms stood up like they were trying to flee.

And then... it came.

From the trees above, a massive, mutated butterfly fluttered—or rather, **sliced**—into view. Its wings looked like jagged glass-blades made of night. The black carapace on its body reflected light like oil in water. Glyphs swirled across its head in patterns that made Lucy's brain itch.

And its eyes—oh god, its eyes—burned with unstable mana. Not fire. Not magic. Just... raw, melting power.

It didn't shriek.

It hummed.

And somehow that was so much worse.

"Everyone, get prepared!" Shinra called out, not even raising his voice, but the weight in his tone snapped everyone into motion.

Erza dashed left like a red blur, sword already in hand. Gray shifted right, summoning icy mist into his palms. Lucy fell back into the center, keys shining faintly as she summoned her courage.

And Natsu?

He was already heating up, fire licking around his fists. "Let's roast that overgrown moth!"

But Shinra... Shinra didn't move like the others. He walked slowly toward the creature, like it was a scared animal instead of a horrifying mana monster from a fever dream.

"That's not your true form, is it?" he asked gently, voice barely a whisper.

And then the thing—**SPLIT INTO FOUR**. With a sound like ripping wet fabric and teeth grinding together.

"Oh come on!" Gray shouted.

"Multiplication spell," Shinra said calmly, like he was explaining weather. "It's trying to confuse us. Only one of them is real."

"Then I'll just BBQ all of them!" Natsu yelled with a wild grin—and before anyone could stop him, he launched forward like a missile made of rage and fire.

"Wait—!" Shinra tried.

**BOOM.**

Flames hit one of the clones—and in an instant, cursed pollen burst into the air like a nasty surprise party. A shockwave knocked Natsu clean out of the air. He hit the ground hard, coughing like he'd swallowed a volcano.

"NATSU!!!" Lucy screamed, eyes wide with panic.

Shinra raised a hand, and suddenly—time itself seemed to pause. Infinity shimmered into existence, creating a dome of suspended magic particles around the group. The cursed pollen froze mid-air, trapped like flies in amber.

"Don't engage recklessly," Shinra said . "It's using decoys to spread toxins."

Gray growled. "How do we even find the real one then?!"

Shinra's eyes narrowed. And then...

The Six Eyes lit up and the world changed.

Everything slowed down. Layers of magic peeled apart like an onion. The butterflies glowed in different wavelengths—except one.

"There." He pointed, deadly sure. "The third one. Real. Its magic reflects ambient mana differently."

Erza didn't wait.

"On your mark," she said, her body already in motion.

Shinra paused.

Then nodded. "Now."

Erza Requipped mid-air—her armor transformed with a flash of lightning. **Lightning Empress Armor**. She hurled her lance like a goddess of storms.

The butterfly screamed.

This time, it was real.

Blood—if you could even call that black goop 'blood'—splattered as the hit landed. Gray was next, slamming **Ice-Make Chains** onto its wings, locking them in place. Lucy raised her key, yelling out:

"OPEN, GATE OF THE WATER BEARER—AQUARIUS!"

The water spirit arrived in a torrential wave, flooding the grove floor and slamming two clones into trees.

Shinra walked forward calmly.

The butterfly, wounded and angry, shot out a blast of chaotic glyph-magic. The air rippled. Trees exploded. It was headed right for Erza.

She braced herself but she wasn't going to make it.

**Snap.**

Shinra raised two fingers.

**Cursed Technique Reversal: RED.**

A shockwave exploded outward, catching the blast and reversing its momentum like a gravitational punch. The butterfly was hurled back, screeching like a dying demon.

More black ooze. More damage.

"Gray!" Shinra called. "Freeze its legs. Now."

"On it!"

"Lucy, keep the ground wet. That interferes with its spellcasting pattern."

"Roger!" she shouted back, sweat on her brow, heart pounding.

The team clicked together like gears in a finely tuned clock.

They weren't just fighting anymore.

They were synchronizing.

And Shinra...

He didn't shout or command.He just moved, and everyone followed.

Then the butterfly's body started glowing.

Its death-spell.The final attack.

Shinra moved before anyone else could. He stepped in front of Erza, raising his hands.

"Wait."

He removed his gloves.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

**Domain Expansion: Infinity Thread.**

For a moment—a split second—the world changed.

White threads. Endless.

Time stood still.

The butterfly froze, its spell stuck in limbo.

Then—**shatter**. The domain broke.

The butterfly's core glyph? Gone. Neutralized. Just... *gone*.

Shinra lowered his hands, exhaling slowly.

Natsu, now sitting up and watching wide-eyed, muttered, "Dude... *what the hell was that?!*"

"That was effective," Erza said, arms crossed.

"Quite stylish too," Lucy added, still breathless.

"Damn, that was badass," Gray grumbled, clearly impressed.

Shinra shrugged. "I like being thorough."

---

Later...

The grove looked brighter as they left.

The corrupted aura lifted, bit by bit. Flowers returned. Trees sighed in relief. The villagers could come back now.

As they walked across the ridge, Erza stepped beside Shinra, walking quietly for a few minutes before speaking.

"You don't act like a leader."

"I don't need to," he replied. "Everyone here already knows how to lead themselves. I just… help them remember."

She looked at him.

He looked back.

"You read people well," she said softly.

"And you let people read you," he replied.

That made her smile, faint and real.

"Not always."

"But you did with me."

She said nothing for a moment.

Then: "I trust you."

Shinra blinked. For someone like Erza, that meant everything.

---

That Night –

They were all exhausted sitting around the fire, Lucy handed Shinra a warm drink in a chipped mug.

"Why do you have an expression as if you're always… thinking?" she said, watching him.

"I usually am."

"Isn't that tiring?"

He paused.

"…Only when no one asks how I'm doing."

She blinked.

Then smiled, eyes gentle.

"So… how are you doing?"

Shinra looked at her and smiled softly.

"Better now."

---