Hey everyone! I'm sure that some of you might remember this story which originally belong to ProtecterofAnime but since the story was put up for Adoption I requested if I could continue it and he'd agreed. So I hope you guys will be able to enjoy this first chapter and also anything beyond this will be my own work. Also good news for the people who are fans of my other story, Kakashi the Demon Eye Mage, is that I'll have a new chapter up by Friday!
Fiore X773
Outside the unfinished Tower of Heaven laid an unconscious boy who wore a simple white suit of clothing with green trimmings and a hood. The boy let out a small groan as he started to wake up slowly as the light of the sun started to burn his face. It took a couple of minutes before he was fully awake. He quickly sat up and took in his surroundings. The boy then looked ahead of himself and saw nothing but water.
He slowly got up and walked towards the water. As he finally reached to the water, he looked down to see a reflection of himself. He saw that he had bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair with jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. By the look of the reflection it seems that he was at least eight years old.
A frown appeared on the boy's face as he tried to remember who he was but for some reason he couldn't. Another thing that bothered him was his surrounding, he looked around his new surrounding and he didn't have the slightest idea to how he got here.
He looked back at his reflection. 'Just who am I?' His thoughts were interrupted as he heard someone shout.
"LOOK! ONE OF THE PRISONERS IS TRYING TO ESCAPE!"
"THERE'S NO WHERE TO RUN!"
"STOP THE LITTLE BRAT FROM ESCAPING!"
The boy looked in the direction where the shouting was coming from. A group of people each wearing white mask and a weird symbol in the middle of the mask was running towards him.
The followers of Zeref walked around the boy to see if there were any other prisoners who had escaped. After a quick search they surrounded the boy and stared at him.
Suddenly one of the followers grabbed the boy by the collar.
"So you tried to escape?" The follower quickly noticed that the escapee had no handcuffs on, "I wonder how you got the handcuffs off, slave."
"Well it doesn't matter right now, what matters is that we bring this boy back to the Tower." One of the followers then grabbed the boy by the arm and started to pull him towards the tower.
"Hey get off me!" The boy shouted, struggling to get free.
"Keep quiet, boy." The follower that was dragging him, while the follower was doing that another came and placed handcuffs on his wrists. "It is pointless to try and escape." The follower then raised his staff and a dark magic seal appeared in front of it and out of nowhere electricity started to surge through the boy, making him fall to his knees. He gritted his teeth, trying to fight the pain. After a minute, the electricity stopped and the boy let out a sigh of relief.
"Now are you going to walk quietly or do you want me to keep going?" The follower asked sternly.
The boy looked at his wrists, the electric handcuffs were the only reason that he was not running away. He then lowered his head and said nothing.
The follower took the silence as a yes and continued to drag the boy towards the tower. One of the followers grins before looking at the boy. "Welcome to the Tower of Heaven kid."
The followers then brought the boy inside the tower. After being pulled by the guard, the boy saw that there were rooms with multiple cells. As he was still being pulled by the guard, he couldn't help but feel bad for these people.
'Such a sad place.' He thought to himself.
The guard stopped walking and stood in front of a cell. After unlocking the cell, the guard swiftly opened it. "Hey slaves! Here is some fresh meat!" The follower shouted and threw the boy inside the cell. The boy crashed onto the ground and groaned in pain.
A red headed girl then ran towards him and helped him up. "Hey, are you okay?"
Minato slowly opened his eyes and got a good look at the girl. The boy nodded in response to the girl's question.
"Yes I'm fine, thank you for your concern." The boy replied with a smile.
"Well that's good to hear that you're alright." An old man with a beard and long eyebrows said. "My name is Rob and here is Erza."
The boy nodded as he memorized both names. "It's nice to meet you both." The boy then had another question. "Can you please tell me where I am?"
A sad look appeared on Rob's face. "I'm sorry to say my boy, but you're a slave in the Tower of Heaven."
"Tower of Heaven?" The boy asked which he received a nod from the old man.
"So, what's your name?" Rob asked, wanting to change the subject.
The boy took some time trying to figure out the answer to their question. 'My name… What is it?' A frown appeared on his face as he looked down on the floor. He closed his eyes, hoping that would help him remember his name.
After a few more seconds later, the boy finally responded. "I'm sorry but…I don't remember."
Rob placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry. It will come back to you, maybe sooner than you think." Rob said with a smile, giving hope to the boy.
Before he would respond, the gate of the cell was swung open, a guard walked in. "Everybody get up! It's time to get to work slaves!"
Rob and Erza stood up and started to walk out and the nameless boy got up and followed them as well, the trio finally arrived at the worksite. The boy was shocked to see the number of prisoners. There were a large number of people working on their floor alone.
He hated to see a sight like this but after what happened outside he knew it would be best to do what he had to do. He followed Erza to an area in the worksite and he found a pickaxe on the floor, he picked it up and looked over towards Erza who started to pick some rocks. He followed the same action as her.
The rest of the day was the nothing but hard labor with no breaks what so ever but after working for the whole day, all the prisoners were led back to their cells. The boy was the first to enter his cell and he immediately lay on the floor, exhausted from the work he did. Erza walked in and sat next to the boy, she was also exhausted from the work. Rob finally entered the room and sat next to Erza and the boy.
Rob closed his eyes as he was about to rest until he opened his eyes when he felt someone poking him. He looked down and saw Erza poking his legs.
"Yes Erza?" Rob asked.
"Gramps, why don't you tell us one of your adventure stories with Fairy Tail?" She asked.
"Fairy Tail?" The boy asked with curiosity. "What's that?"
"Fairy Tail is a magic guild and Rob was one of the best mages in the guild." Erza replied happily.
The boy perked up with interest when he heard the word magic.
"Magic?" The boy asked with a curious tone. Rob chuckled at the boy's curiosity and explained what magic was. He first explained where magic came from. The boy was amazed that only 10 percent of the population of the world could use magic. A large smiled appeared on the boy's face.
"Do you think I can do magic?" He asked with excitement.
Rob chuckled in response as remembered when Erza first learned what magic was.
"Maybe. Who knows?" Rob replied with a smile and patted the boy on his head.
"So do you think you can tell us a story?" The boy asked as he was excited to hear more about magic.
"Hmm." Rob stroked his beard as he thought of a story. "Oh I know!"
Once Rob had finished telling the two children the story he could easily tell they were happy to hear the wonders of magic as well as his guild.
"I have decided!" The young scarlet haired girl declared. "I will join Fairy Tail."
Rob smiled at Erza, while the nameless boy smiled.
"Fairy Tail does sound fun." The boy said. "I wanna join Fairy Tail too!"
Erza grinned at her friend as they both decided to join Fairy Tail and become a team. After their declaration everyone soon fell asleep as well as Erza who walked over to the boy and lay on the floor next to him.
Minato's Mindscape
The boy slowly opened his eyes as he got up. He was completely surprised when he saw that he was in a whole new place. He looked around and saw that there were no walls or roof and the floor he was standing on seems to be only water. He thought this was only a dream so he pinched himself to try and wake up but nothing happened. The boy then heard a voice repeating the same name over and over again.
"Minato…"
"Minato…"
He looked behind him and his eyes widen by what he was seeing. He saw a pair of large demonic red eyes. The boy started backing away in fear from the giant beast until the beast let out a mighty roar.
"MINATO!" The beast roared.
A second later everything vanished. Ben quickly sat up breathing heavily. He looked around and realized that he was back at the Tower.
'Was that a dream?' The boy asked himself as he kept breathing heavily.
He shuddered as he remembered how he saw those eyes but he let out a sigh of relief knowing that it really was just a dream. He looked to the right and saw Erza's back facing him. He smiled as he finally realized that he was back in reality.
"Are you alright?" The boy flinched at the voice and he turned around to see Rob smiling at him.
"R-Rob?" The boy muttered.
"I was awake the whole time. But it seems you just woke up from a dream." Rob then asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Minato looked away. "I don't want to bother you with it Rob." He muttered softly.
"I don't mind." Rob smiled gently as he patted the ground, motioning the boy to come sit next to him.
The boy stood up and walked towards Rob. He sat down and crossed his arms.
"Well the dream I had was strange." The boy said as he looked at Rob. "This is what happened …"
After describing the dream, he looked at Rob wondering what his response would be.
Rob took a moment of thinking as he stroked his beard. "I must admit that I never heard of something like that but it does give us something."
"What would that be?" The boy asked.
Rob chuckled and looked at the boy. "Well it seems to have given us your name."
"My name?" Minato asked.
Rob nodded. "Yes, if it was repeating that name specifically then that must mean it's your name."
The boy took a moment before responding. "So then my name is Minato."
Rob smiled as he patted Minato's head. "I guess it is. Now let's get some sleep, alright?"
Minato nodded his head before he lay down on his side and slowly closed his eyes before drifting to sleep. After that event it seems that Erza was quite happy to hear that Minato learned his name and that was the beginning of Minato's life at the Tower of Heaven.
X774
The beginning of the day was the same as any other day for Minato. Everyone was at their workstations busy doing their work. He started to pick the rocks but stopped to take a look around. He saw the same thing he would always saw… People who had given up hope, Minato would always see this and it made him feel unhappy, though he continued his work knowing he'd get in trouble if he got caught. As he kept working he couldn't help but glance at Erza who was working in her own workstation.
For some reason Minato couldn't help but smile every time he sees her. Every time he would see her, he couldn't help but notice her beautiful red hair.
'Scarlet…' He quickly realized what he was thinking and a small blush appeared on his face which he quickly shook off.
"Alright slaves, back to your cells!" One of the followers shouted. With that single command all of the prisoners dropped their pickaxe and started heading towards their cells.
After another day of hard labor Minato rested against the wall of his cell and closed his eyes in order to relax. He couldn't believe that it's been a year since he's been in the Tower of Heaven. Despite the hard time that he had gone through there were some things that made him happy.
First was meeting his best friend Erza. Minato couldn't help but smile when he thought of Erza. She's been a true friend to him despite the situation they were in. Then there was Grandpa Rob, and he was happy to know a kind man like Rob.
Another thing that continued during this year was the dream he would always. The creature that Minato would always meet only shouted his name and before Minato could say anything the beast would always roar which always cause Minato to wake up.
Minato opened his eyes and saw that Rob had returned but Erza had not. He got up and walked towards Rob.
"Ah Minato seems you've gotten here early." Rob said.
Minato nodded but he looked around to try and find his friend. "Grandpa Rob, have you seen Erza?"
Rob shook his head. "I'm sorry Minato but I have not. I thought she was with you."
Just as Minato was about to response he heard a familiar voice.
"Grandpa Rob!" Erza called out.
Minato and Rob then turned to Erza's direction and saw that she wasn't by herself but a group of kids were with her. One of the kids was a tanned boy with blonde hair and was shirtless. Standing next to him was a girl with brown hair in a bowl-cut style. Next to her was a young boy, he possessed blue hair, and had a strange tattoo around his right eye. Then there was a young boy who is mildly long dark hair possessed two prominent bangs curving outwards on the front, framing and partially covering the upper part of his face. And the final one was a young boy with spiky black hair.
"Ah, Erza who are you're new friends?" Rob asked with a kind smile.
But before Erza could reply, the blue haired boy spoke up. "I'm Jellal Fernandes. Nice to meet you guys." He said as he smiled and turned to the others. "This is Simon, Wally, Millianna and Sho."
"Well it's nice to meet you too children. My name is Rob." Rob placed his hand on Minato's head. "And this is Minato."
Minato smiled. "It's nice to meet you all."
Rob chuckled. "And I believe you all know Erza." Rob said as he pointed towards her. Erza waved at everyone but Jellal had a confused look on his face.
"Just Erza, don't you have a last name?"Jellal asked out of curiosity.
Erza looked down, suddenly depressed. "I don't."
"Way to go Jellal, now you made her upset." Wally said.
Simon then looked over to Minato. "What about you Minato, don't you have a last name?"
Minato sighed and shook his head. "Sorry but I don't have a last name too."
"Why don't we just call Erza Scarlet, like her hair?" Jellal suggested.
Everyone looked at Jellal after his announcement. While Wally looked at Jellal like he grew a second head.
"You can't just give someone a name like they're a pet! What-"
"I like it" Erza said.
Everyone looked at Erza as she interrupted Wally.
"My name is Erza Scarlet. Nice to meet you." She declared with a bright smile.
Jellal looked happy that Erza enjoyed the name that he gave, and then looked over Minato. "So what should your last name be?"
Minato looked at Jellal and pondered for a moment. "Well I'm not sure too be honest."
"Hey why don't we name him blonde?" Wally suggested playfully.
Minato chuckled lightly. "I don't think that name is suited for me." Minato pondered for a moment trying to think of a name. While he was thinking for a name something just came to him.
"Well how about Namikaze?" Minato suggested.
Once Minato had announced the name everyone except for Erza gave him a confused look.
"Where did you come up with that name?" Sho asked.
Minato chuckled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not really sure to be honest," Minato answered. "I was just trying to think of a name and suddenly it just came to me."
"Well I like it." Erza said with a kind smile. "For some reason that name fits you well."
"Minato Namikaze huh?" Jellal repeated himself with a curious look but was soon replaced with a smile. "Then it's settled, your name is Minato Namikaze."
Minato nodded in agreement and he noticed Erza smiling brighter than he had ever seen. After that was a start of an amazing friendship.
Time has gone by quickly for the others as years had passed. Minato and the others had to spend more of their lives in the Tower of Heaven. One day when Minato returned to his cell his was greeted by Jellal.
"Something wrong Jellal?" Minato asked as he sat down next to Jellal.
Jellal sighed. "Minato do you think we'll ever escape this place?" Jellal whispered.
Minato nodded. "I know we'll escape…Just one day we'll be free."
"Well I think I might have found a way to escape." Jellal said.
Minato raised a brow. "How?"
"Just get the others and follow me." Jellal replied.
"But what about the cell?" Minato asked with worry.
"The guards usually leave the gates unlocked on this day." Jellal replied.
Minato was still a bit worried. "But what would happen if we get caught?"
"Please Minato just trust me on this," Jellal plead. "If this works then we'll finally be free."
Minato fell into silence for a moment as he was speechless. He crossed his arms as he continued to think about it.
'Did Jellal really found a way to escape this place?' Minato then remembered something when he first came here. He remembered how Rob first told him about Fairy Tail and he smiled imagining that all of them were in Fairy Tail together. Minato gave him a simple reply by nodding his head.
"Alright Jellal if this works then I trust you." Minato said, giving Jellal a grin.
Jellal grinned back as he placed his arm around Minato's shoulder. "Trust me Minato. We'll finally be free from this prison."
Hours later, it was midnight and Minato had gathered up Erza and the others to meet with Jellal
Jellal stood up and walked into the middle of the group. "Guys, we have been here too long. I have come up with an idea that can get all of us out of here."
Wally was a bit worried upon hearing that. "Is that really why you dragged us here? To escape?" He said. "I mean it's impossible to escape and what if we get caught?"
Minato and Erza fell into silence when they heard what Wally said while. Sho and Millianna shudder in fear. Simon was just neutral as he stared at Erza, ignoring everyone else.
Minato stood up. "Wait, let's hear him out first." He encouraged. "Maybe he does have a good plan."
"B-But Minato… Wally has a point." Erza said nervously
"Erza… This is a chance that we all been waiting for. Freedom." Minato replied as he turned to face Jellal with a smile in his face. "I trust Jellal with my very life."
Everyone got quiet as they heard what Minato just declared. When Jellal heard this he couldn't help but return a smile.
"I think we should hear what Jellal's plan is." Sho suggested.
Millianna nodded her head. "Yeah, me too."
"Well. As long as we get to decide after he tells us, then I see no problem." Simon said.
Minato grinned at Simon before looking at Erza. She didn't say anything for a moment. Minato hoped she will agree, because he wanted the both of them to join Fairy Tail together.
"I-I guess we can hear what Jellal has to say." She finally agreed.
Minato smiled as one of his best friends agreed. He then looked at Wally who was the only person left to decide.
Wally gave a cough before telling them. "Alright, I guess I can listen to Jellal's plan."
Minato nodded his head before he looked at Jellal who gave him a grin. "Go ahead Jellal." Minato said before he sat next to Erza.
"Right," Jellal nodded as he looked at the others. "The plan is very simple." He pointed to the open small window that showed the dock. "I managed to find a small passage way to lead us to the docks. Once we make it to the docks we'll take one of the boats and take it back to the mainland."
He looked back at the others. "Any questions?"
"That's it? That's your big plan?" Wally stood up, furious. "Walk towards the dock and take a boat without the guards noticing? Are you crazy?!"
Everyone else looked at each other, the plan was dangerous. The chances of getting caught were very high. But if they didn't get caught, then freedom was there waiting for them.
Minato stood up. "W-Wait a minute Wally," Minato pleads. "I think this is a good plan. Besides I bet Jellal thought about the guard situation." Minato turned towards Jellal. "Right?"
"Yeah," Jellal nodded his head. "I overheard a guard complaining to his pal about the shifts. Apparently there is only one guard overlooking the docks. We can easily overpower the guy and take the boat before any reinforcements come. Or we can just be sneaky and take a boat without him looking." Jellal separated his hands. "We'll see when the time is right."
"Okay, but what about the rest of the guards?" Simon spoke up. "I doubt that they won't notice one of their boats missing."
"I've already thought about that, Simon." Jellal said. "So just leave it to me when that happens."
"It is a good plan." The scarlet haired girl looked at everyone. "But what about Grandpa Rob? We can't just leave him behind."
Minato's eyes widened as he finally realized that Grandpa Rob wasn't in on the plan. He respected the old man and treated him like he was family.
"S-She's right. Grandpa Rob did a lot for me when I first got here. We can't just abandon him." Minato spoke up.
Jellal placed his hands on Minato's and Erza's shoulders. "I told him about the plan. He said that we should do it."
"And what about him?" Erza asked nervously. "He didn't want to join us?"
Jellal shook his head. "He said he would drag us down. Trust me. I want the old man to come with us as much as you guys do."
Minato nodded his head, but he was thinking the opposite. That didn't sound like Grandpa Rob. Or maybe the old man had changed his mind?
He sighed a bit upset. "Okay. So when are we doing this?"
Jellal took a deep breath before he replied. "We have to be ready to leave by tomorrow."
Everyone's eyes widened. It was too soon. They had expected that the escape would be at least a week from now, but tomorrow?
"What about the details of the plan?" Wally asked, as nervous about the date as everyone else was.
"It's all in here." Jellal said, pointing to his head. "We will be out of here by tomorrow."
Erza and Minato looked at each other. They'd been talking about freedom ever since they met each other. And now it was supposed to happen by tomorrow, was it possible?
After their little gathering everyone soon went to sleep all except Minato and Erza who were still thinking about Jellal's plan. Minato and Erza lay in front of each other, face to face.
"So… tomorrow." Minato whispered. "We have a shot of getting out of here once and for all."
"Yeah." Erza replied, before she looked away. "I don't why I feel sad. I should be happy that we get to leave this prison forever, right?" She looked Minato in the eyes.
"I know how you feel." Minato looked at Grandpa Rob, who was sleeping by the wall. "We can't leave him behind."
"So what are we going to do?" She asked.
Minato gave her a smile. "I'll convince Gramps to come with us."
"You really think you can do that?" Erza asked, hoping the answer would be a yes.
"Of course." Minato said as he gave her a kind smile. "I promise you that we'll all be free and we will a part of Fairy Tail together."
Erza couldn't help but smile and hug him. "Thank you Minato." she said.
Minato hugged her back as he whispered in her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." They soon let go of one another and fell asleep
The next day, everyone woke up excitedly and nervous as it was the day they would escape. Minato soon woke up and he looked for Rob
'Okay, first thing I have to do is convince Grandpa Rob to come with us.' He thought to himself as he looked at the spot where Grandpa Rob usually slept. His eyes widened when he wasn't there. Minato looked around the cell and noticed that he wasn't in the cell at all.
"Where is Grandpa Rob?" He asked.
"Oh, well a guard came in earlier and told him to do something." Sho replied as he walked over to Minato.
Minato frowned when he heard this. Minato started to wait for Grandpa Rob to come back from wherever the guard took him.
While Minato was waiting for Rob, Jellal gathered them around as he said. "Today is the day. After the guards check our cells we will make our escape."
As Jellal continued to give his speech, Minato ignored it as his only thought was keeping his promise to Erza. Convincing Gramps to go and also protecting Erza while they escape.
Minato hoped he would find Grandpa Rob at the worksite, but unfortunately for him, he was nowhere to be seen. The day went by very quickly as the group was led back to their cells.
Again, Grandpa Rob was nowhere to be seen in the cell. This got Minato worried, where was he and how was he going to convince the old man to come with them?
Finally, in the evening Grandpa Rob returned to the cell. Everyone looked at him, they were surprised to see him without any bruises, as some thought he was being punished for something. Minato quickly walked up to him and said lowly so that no one but him could hear.
"Grandpa Rob, we need to talk." Minato said.
Rob raised a brow before he nodded his head. The old man led Minato to his usual spot before sitting down.
"What is it Minato?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Well, I'm sure Jellal told you of our escape plan that is happening later tonight, right?" Minato asked him.
Rob smiled as he knew where this was going. "Yes. He already told me a couple of days ago."
A sad look appeared on Minato's face. "Well then, why aren't you coming with us? We all love you Rob and we can't just leave you behind." Minato whimpered. "Why don't you want to come with us?" Minato lowered his head and a lone tear shed from his eye.
Rob couldn't help but feel a bit guilty seeing Minato like this. He placed his hand on Minato's shoulder causing the boy to look up with teary eyes.
"Minato I know that with the condition that I'm currently in I'll be nothing more than a burden to you children." Rob replied.
Erza who overheard the conversation quickly walked up to Grandpa Rob. "Grandpa Rob don't worry. We will help you, just come with us. Please!" She begged as tears started forming in her eyes.
"Erza... I remember when you first came into this tower. You were just a little girl, but now look at you. You have the heart of an angel and know how to keep everyone in line." He pulled her into a hug. "I know you'll do great things."
Erza started sobbing when she heard this and hugged Rob tighter.
Minato looked down. He failed to keep his promise to Erza. He's upset that Rob won't be able to be with them when they join Fairy Tail. But what upset him the most was that he won't see Rob anymore, he always considered him as a father figure but now Minato just doesn't know how to feel.
"Minato." Rob said catching his attention. "You were just a lost boy when you first came in. Now look at you, you're now a kind hearted person who cares about your friends and will do anything to protect them." Grandpa Rob pulled Minato to his other side. "Don't ever change, and always be there for one another."
Erza wiped away her tears as she replied. "We'll never forget you Grandpa Rob."
The three stuck together for quite some time before it was time to get ready to escape. Everyone was currently waiting for one of the last guards to pass by.
"What do we do now?" Sho whispered towards Wally.
"Don't look at me." Wally pointed towards Jellal. "Jellal, what's the plan? No one has shown up yet."
Jellal sighed. "Just be quiet and act like you're sleeping. The guard will pass by, just give it some time." He whispered back.
Five minutes passed before a guard finally walked by. The guard stopped in front of the group's cell. He made sure everyone was in their cell before walking away to the next. Jellal stood up with his hand out, motioning everyone to stay where they were. He peeked outside the cell, watching the guard go to the next floor.
"Okay." Jellal slowly opened the gate of the cell. "Let's go."
Everyone quickly and quietly stood up as they all walked out of the cell except for Erza, who looked at Grandpa Rob.
"Go Erza. Be free." Grandpa Rob said.
Erza smiled and bowed one last time. "Thank you for everything, Grandpa."
So far the plan was going well. Everyone was able to sneak through the floor without waking anyone up. As Erza caught up to them, Jellal tried to navigate the way towards the guard's room, which was located on the same floor. He remembered the way and started to make a turn.
"This way." Jellal whispered as he led the group around the floor.
They walked a couple more feet before stopping in front of a door. Jellal then carefully twisted the doorknob and pushed the door slightly open. Both Minato and Jellal quickly walked into the room, making sure no guards were there. Everyone else soon followed as Jellal continued to lead them around the room.
As they were looking around the room Jellal soon found what they were looking for. "Guys I found it." Everyone soon ran to where Jellal had found the small entrance and gathered around him.
"All we need to do now is to go through here and we'll be on our way to the docks." Jellal said.
Everyone was happy seeing that Jellal had found a way to finally escape from this prison.
'Finally…We'll finally be free.' Minato said but he immediately fell to the floor as he was being electrocuted.
Everyone suddenly turned around and their eyes widen when they saw three guards over them. Erza quickly ran to Minato's side.
The fat guard with a green coat and mask appeared from the shadows. He chuckled at Minato and his friends.
"Well, Well, look what we have here boys." The fat guard said. "A bunch of brats trying to escape, too bad they failed miserably."
Minato and everyone else was cowering in fear, tears were streaming down their faces. Millianna hid behind Sho, who was crying his heart out. Wally was kneeling on the ground, staring at the guards. Simon and Jellal were glaring at the guards. However what hurt Minato the most was seeing Erza trembling next to him. He looked in her eyes, he could no longer see hope, only fear.
The fat guard laughed psychotically. "Now since we don't allow this type of behavior in the R –System, I'll have to punish one of you brats!" He exclaimed. "So which one of you is the leader?"
Jellal stared at the ground, not moving an inch. He didn't know what to do. Minato glanced at him. Jellal was his second best friend. Not knowing what to do, Minato looked at Erza, his eyes widened when she stood up.
'No! I won't let you!' He thought to himself as he quickly stood up in front of Erza.
"I..." Erza began whispering but was quickly interrupted.
"It was me. I planned it all, and I encouraged them to join me." Minato said without hesitation.
The group stared at Minato, shocked. The fat guard looked at Minato carefully, trying to find if he was telling the truth. Jellal gritted his teeth. Minato was taking the fall and that was something he didn't want him to do.
Minato continued to stare at the fat man, waiting to be taken away.
"Is that so?" The fat guard questioned.
Minato could help but flinched. The tone of voice suggested nothing good. He noticed that he was staring at his friends. The fat man smirked behind his mask as he quickly lunged forward and grabbed Erza off the floor.
"It was this girl, wasn't it?" He said as he gripped her arm tighter making her cry in pain.
Minato could only stare in shock. Were they going to take Erza away? He looked at Jellal who stared back at him.
"No!" Jellal stepped forward. "It was me!"
The fat man simply laughed as he pushed Jellal to the floor. "I'm sure it was." He looked at the other guards. "Take this girl to the top floor."
As the guards nodded their heads and grabbed Erza by the arms, Minato rushed forward. He wasn't going to let this happen. He attempted to punch one of the guards dragging her in the back but was caught by another guard. He got slammed to the floor and was held down.
"ERZA!" Minato yelled, trying to get free.
"Don't worry, I will be fine." Erza whispered in a shaky voice.
Minato watched in desperation as he realized he couldn't do anything to save her. Jellal was already on the ground with a spear near his face. Minato looked back and yelled.
"Just hold on Erza! I will save you! I swear I will protect you!"
Erza gave a small smile as she nodded her head. A few tears were coming down as she disappeared into the darkness.
The fat man looked back at the rest of the group. "Get these slaves back to their cells." He took a quick look at Minato. "But take this brat to the bottom floor."
As the guards made everyone stand up and pushed them towards the stairwell, Minato looked at the ground. 'Erza…I promise you that I'll save you no matter what.' The guard had brought the rest of the children to their cell and made them go back inside. Once they did that, the guard looked at Minato and dragged him
"Erza…" Minato mumbled.
Once they returned to their cell the guard told forced Minato to keep walking on the lower floor. After sometime later Minato stopped walking when he came faced a door.
"Move it slave!" The guard yelled as he opened the door and pushed Minato inside. The guard chained Minato to a cross and soon left, after sometime later the fat guard from before returned with a staff in his hand.
"Sorry it took me a while to get here but I had to deal with that little red head." The fat guard chuckled.
Minato gritted his teeth. "You bastard! I'll make you pay for hurting Erza!" Minato threaten but only to receive an electric shock.
"I would shut up if I were you punk!" The fat guard said as he electrocuted Minato once again. As he kept doing this Minato was screaming in pain that can only be heard inside the room.
Everyone who were back in their cell walked in without talking back. There was no point in doing anything. They got caught and now Erza and Minato were going to face punishment. Jellal was trying to figure out what they could do to help them but sadly he couldn't think of anything.
"I…I want to save them." Jellal said. "It's my fault that they got taken away."
"But what can we do?" Simon asked.
Jellal then started walking slowly to the gates. "I'm going to go find them and save them."
"H-Hey you can't go by yourself!" Wally exclaimed.
"Y-Yeah it's suicide if you go by yourself!" Sho shouted.
"I don't care! I have to go save them…They do the same for me." Jellal whispered as he tightens his fist.
He looked outside of the cell and after a moment, he quietly opened the gate and walked out of it. He then looked to the left side and then the right side, no guards were in sight. He continues to walking until he stopped when he came across two different paths. One leads upstairs here Erza is being held prisoner while downstairs is where Minato is being held.
Jellal gritted his teeth as he was trying to think where to go first. 'D-Damn it, where should I go? What would Minato do?' Jellal asked himself. After a few minutes of thinking Jellal headed upstairs. 'If I know Minato he would want me to save Erza.'
Jellal have made his way upstairs but he's been running through the hallways trying to find out where Erza is being kept prisoner.
'Where the heck is she?' Jellal asked himself as he was going through each chamber, but sadly there were no signs of Erza.
"Erza?!" He shouted, hoping to hear a response.
"J-Jellal?" A faint familiar voice said.
Jellal's eyes widened, that was Erza's voice! He could save her from the wrath of the guards. Jellal quickly ran to the chambers where he heard the voice and spotted a pole with Erza tied to it.
"Erza I'll get you down!" Jellal shouted as he ran towards Erza. Once he got to her, he untied the rope that bounded the scarlet haired girl. He noticed the bruises on her arm and some dry blood on her shirt, but he would deal with it after. Jellal got her down from the pole.
"You're safe now." He whispered, holding her close to his chest.
"Jellal..." Her voice was barely a whisper, but still at least she was alive.
He smiled at her, but noticed something was off. Her hair covered her right eye while her left eye was half open. His hands trembled as he brushed her hair out of the way. His heart stopped when he did.
'Her eye... No... Why would they do that?'
Tears started to stream down his eyes. He was too late to save Erza.
"Jellal…It's okay." Erza touched his hand trying to comfort him. Jellal sat there, still holding Erza in silence as he tried to think of something, but the door flew open and entered a guard holding a spear and dagger.
"What are you doing here, slave!?" The guard questioned.
Jellal didn't flinch, he was tired of running. He slowly and gently put Erza on the floor, but as he was doing so he noticed she flinched upon hearing the voice. The blue haired boy looked at the guards. "Erza, can you stand up?" Jellal asked.
Erza slowly nodded as she struggled to stand up but managed to do so.
"Erza I'll stay here to hold them off. I need you to get out of here as quick as possible." Jellal said.
"B-But Jellal…" Erza muttered weakly.
"No buts Erza! I need to make sure that you get as far away as possible." Jellal then picked a dagger from the floor, which must have been used on Erza, and he charged towards the guards.
Erza knew that she had to listen to Jellal so she quickly took off towards the exit.
One of the guards quickly notices this. "Hey one of the prisoners is trying to…gawh!" The guard was unable to finish his sentence as he felt his back being stabbed.
The others guards quickly over powered Jellal and they knew that one of the high priest had to hear about this.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
With Minato
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The fat man was whipping him several times. "See you little brat?!" He shouted as he kept whipping Minato. "This is what happens when you try to escape from the Tower if Heaven!" The fat guard soon stopped and took a step back to see his work.
Minato was breathing heavily. His entire body was covered in cuts and bruises. His head hurts, he felt blood dripping down. He thought it was finally over until he felt another bolt of electricity surging throughout his body, making him scream in pain.
"Don't think that it's over just yet." The fat guard chuckled darkly. "We're just getting started." He launched another electrical blast and Minato tried his best to ignore the pain.
"High Priest!" A guard entered the room interrupting the High Priest.
"What is it? I'm busy." He asked rudely as he stopped.
"The red headed girl from before managed to escape, apparently one of the other brats released her." The guard explained.
"Tch." The fat guard turned back to Minato. "Well looks like it's your lucky day, but don't think that I'm through with you." He turned back to the other guard. "Did you manage to capture the prisoner who helped the girl escape?"
The guard nodded. "Yes sir, he's currently in the top floor where we had the girl."
The fat guard chuckled. "Well that's good to hear, let's go." With that both guards then left the room leaving Minato by himself. Minato haven't move but he couldn't help but smile. 'E-Erza…You're free…If only I can help you but…I'm too weak.'
Tears started to stream down his eyes. 'Why? Just why can't I protect them…Why am I so weak?'
"Minato…" Minato eyes widen as he heard the familiar voice.
"I-It's you, the one who's always in my dream." Minato stuttered but got no response from the beast. Minato then closed his eyes trying to see the beast once more.
Minato's Mindscape
Minato slowly opened his eyes. He looked around his surroundings and saw that he was in the lair of the beast. The reason he calls it that is because every time he would go to sleep, he would always end up here only to wake up when the beast shouts his name.
Normally Minato would be a little scared every time he comes here but right now he needs to know something. "Listen here!" He shouted. "I want to know if you can help me save my friends."
Minato waited for a response from the monster but sadly he didn't get a reply. "Please I know you're there and I need your help! You're always in my dreams and I always thought you were nothing more than a dream but…" Minato clenched his fists. "I need you to help me save my friends!"
Minato stood there in the same spot thinking that the monster may have been nothing but a dream until…
"Minato Namikaze…You wish for the power to save your friends…?" Minato eyes widen as he saw the beast getting closer to him until he got a view of the monster.
'A f-fox?' Minato quickly shook his head trying to focus on the reason why he's here. "Yes I want the power to protect my friends! I want nothing more than to save everyone from this place…I want to save Erza!" Minato then got on his knees and bowed. "If you can give me the power then I beg of you, please lend me your strength!"
The fox couldn't help but chuckled at this display. He raised his arm and brought his fist in front of Minato who looked up. "Then I shall lend you my strength, Minato Namikaze!" The fox declared.
Minato couldn't help but smile. He stood up and bumped his fist with the fox. "Thank you." Minato said.
Real World
Minato's body was engulfed by a golden flame aura. The aura was able to break free Minato from his prison and fell to the ground. He slowly stood up as he examines his body.
"W-What is this?" He asked himself but got a response from a certain fox.
"This is my power…I am giving you my power to save those you cherish…But I must warn you that this is the first time that you're using this power…So this power boost will only be temporarily." Kurama spoke from Minato's mind.
Minato nodded before a thought came to him. "Right, I understand um…What's your name?"
The fox didn't respond right away but after a few seconds later he gave Minato an answer. "My name is Kurama."
Minato nodded with a smile on his face. "I see then in that case, thank you Kurama. Now it's time for me to protect my friends." Minato then walked in front of the door and pulled his fist back and punched the door which completely destroyed it. Minato then ran out and started heading towards the others.
'Please wait for me, okay…Erza.'
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
With Jellal
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'W-What happened?' Jellal slowly opened his eyes. He tried to move but when he moved his arms felt the familiar rattle of chains. Jellal tried to remember what happened until he remembered. He couldn't help but smile knowing that Erza was safe.
"Finally awake, boy?" The voice got Jellal's attention as it sounded familiar. In front of him was the fat man.
"Did you really try to escape again? You must be stupid from not even learning from your mistakes!" The fat guard laughed psychotically as he whipped Jellal.
Jellal gritted his teeth as he tried to withstand the pain before glaring at the man. "I did what I did and I'm glad I saved Erza."
The fat high priest chuckled darkly. "Well then I guess it's time for us to have some fun together." He raised his staff and shocked Jellal with a powerful electroshock.
"This tower has the power to revive our God, Lord Zeref! And we'll keep kidnapping fresh meat until this tower is complete!" The fat guard declared.
Jellal's body was still being shocked but he struggled to look at the guard. "Shut up pig!" He shouted and spit at the Priest's face.
The High Priest had a look of fury on his face and was about to increase the electrical flow until he felt an explosion. "W-What was that?"
"High Priest!" A guard entered the room interrupting the High Priest. "The slaves are rioting against us."
"What?!" The High Priest shouted with anger. "D-Damn it well I need to go handle them then." He began walking towards the door but he turned to Jellal. "Once I'm done I'll be back here to make you pay for your stupidity."
The High Priest left the room followed by the guard who shut the door and locked it.
Jellal spat on the floor. "God? I don't need to believe or even need a God, that can't even save me."
"I hate them." He added, disgusted.
"Is that so?" A mysterious distorted voice asked.
"I hate them all and their God. Everything about this world…I hate it!" Jellal muttered darkly.
The voice let out a chuckled. "That's it…Embrace your hatred…Hatred is something that I enjoy very much so."
Jellal was surprised when he heard a dark voice. "Who are you?" He asked as he looked around the room.
"What amusing creatures. I'm right here in their tower so very close to them. Yet they go through all this trouble to resurrect me." The voice spoke.
"Show yourself!" Jellal demanded.
A dark goop started forming in front of Jellal, which shocked the young boy. "They may have all the fate in the world but your hatred is the only reason you can see me."
The dark goop soon took form of a humanoid creature. "Jellal, you are very fortunate. You get to meet the God worshipped by so many."
Jellal's eyes widen when he heard what the creature had just said. He started struggling as he saw the humanoid getting closer to him. "My name is Zeref and Hatred is the reason for my existence!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
With Erza
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
After Erza managed to escape, she quickly returned to the others. She then notices that Minato was not in their cell so she asked what happened to him. Simon told her that Minato was taken away by some of the guards. Erza was upset hearing that two of her best friends were captured. After hearing this she couldn't take it anymore. She managed to rally most of the people in the Tower to fight back, against the Dark Wizards. It was short live however as the Magic soldiers entered the field. During the battle Erza was almost killed when a group of Magic Soldiers appeared.
Erza just stood frozen, so many things happening at once.
An explosion was coming towards her. She felt helpless... The rebellion was over... Still frozen, the explosion was a couple of feet away from her.
Suddenly a figure appeared in front of her, waving his arms in circular movements stopping the blast of fire completely. Erza covered her eye, but through a gap of her fingers saw the Fairy Tail guild mark.
Erza's eyes widen as she saw who the figure was."Grandpa Rob!" She shouted.
Rob stood in front of Erza. "I may be an old wizard but I'll use every ounce of magic I have to protect my friends!" His body was surrounded in flames and he thrust his arms forward causing a massive torrent of flames to hit the guards. After the attack Rob tried to stand strong, but it was obvious all the magic power he used was taking a toll on him. He slowly sank to his knees.
Erza ran towards him. "Grandpa Rob! Are you alright?"
Rob was breathing heavily. "Yes I'm alright," He struggled to stand up and he brought his arms up.
"What are you waiting for!?" The guard shouted. "Keep firing!" The guards kept firing multiple magic blasts which Rob managed to protect Erza from.
"Remember Erza. Magic comes from your heart." Rob said before he sank to the ground lifelessly.
Tears streamed down Erza's eye as she heard the others to get away. Grandpa Rob, the man who she called Grandpa was now gone.
She started to scream as a huge magic wave blasted everything away from the scarlet haired girl. The magical power that was hidden inside her started to come out and it was invoking fear to the mages as they backed away, weapons of the fallen rose to the air. She launched the weapons towards the mages, quickly taking more than half of them out. Their cries were heard through the battlefield, until it was silent again.
'You always knew Grandpa. You knew I had this magic in me. I will fight for our freedom, in your name.' She thought as she looked at her hand and closed her eye.
Her friends ran to her and cheered her on. They could now get to the boat a lot easier with the majority of the Mages taken out. Still Erza had one more thing to do.
"Everyone get to the boat and help Simon. I'm going to get Minato and Jellal." Erza ordered.
With that she sprinted, grabbing two swords along the way. She promised herself that they would all leave the Tower together.
"W-What do we do?" One of the High Priests asked as they ran into the torture room.
"I-I don't know." The other replied but their eyes widen as they saw the scarlet haired girl.
"Outta my way!" Erza shout as she enters the torture room of the tower, knocking out the two top guards with two large swords.
Once she knocked out the guards she ran towards Jellal. "I'm here to save you." Erza proclaimed, as she sliced off the bonds on the pole Jellal tied to.
"It's going to be okay." She said, as she helped Jellal on his feet. "Now we just need to find Minato and we'll escape together." Erza announced.
"Erza…Don't you see… there's no freedom in this world." Jellal muttered in a dark tone.
"B-But I thought you wanted freedom? This is our chance to escape!" Erza exclaimed.
Jellal merely chuckled darkly. "Those fools who built this tower may not hold you prisoner anymore. But you haven't experienced true freedom." He said, as a dark red aura looms over him. "Because it can only be found in Zeref's world." He said as his voice changes and his left eye glows with a creep looking symbol in it.
"Now I understand why they made us work so hard on this tower. They believe that they can use it to resurrect Zeref." Jellal said as he approaches the tall guard from their escape plan.
"You claim to be such devout followers, but you couldn't even sense your god's present's here. Could you?" He continued as he closes the distance between him and the guard. Jellal then pulled him up by the shirt and held him up against a crystal in the middle of the room. "This tower belongs to me now. I will finish its construction and bring Zeref back to life." Jellal told him, as he was done talking, a magic circle appeared right under him and the guard was then flown up into the air and crashed into the ceiling.
"That's magic!" Erza said as she watched this display unfold.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!" The fat guard said as he ran for the exit. However Jellal saw him and then used his magic to slam him right into a wall.
"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Erza plead to him.
"So what." Jellal replied darkly as raised his hand up ready to attack him again, However Erza rushed over to stop him from doing any more damage.
"Why do you care, I thought you hated them?" Jellal asked in an accepting tone.
"You're right I do, but your being cruel!" she replied hoping he'll listen.
"If you want to sense Zeref's present's you have to focus on your hatred." Jellal said as he shook her off him, and summoned a magic circle in his hand in which caused the guard to explode in a purple mist.
Erza's eye widen as she saw Jellal's action. She looked at him."You killed him! What has gotten into you?!" Erza demanded as she was forced to watch.
"I haven't changed one bit." Jellal replied emotionlessly.
Erza then had enough of this and she got up, walking closer to him before slapping him across his face. "This isn't you Jellal!"
"You fool!" He thrust his arm causing a powerful force to push Erza and crashed against the wall, making her unconscious.
"If you can't see the ways of Zeref then you must be punished!" He raised his hand and a purple magic circle appeared in front of it. "Now you must pay!" Before Jellal could bring his arm down he felt a tight grip on his arm causing him to stop the attack. He turns to see who was stupid enough to stop him. He smirked as he saw a familiar face.
"Minato." Jellal said.
"Jellal." Minato replied.
Minato released his grip. "What do you think you're doing?" He questioned.
Jellal chuckled at the question. "I'm sorry but I'm quite amazed really. I never knew you had an interesting power within you."
Minato merely nodded. "Yeah, but I know the power that you have isn't you."
"You fool! The power that I possess is much greater than yours!" Jellal extend his arm and a magic circle appeared in front of it. "This is the power of Zeref!" Jellal fired a massive dark energy blast.
Minato just stood there until the blast erupted causing a massive explosion that destroyed the top floor. Underneath the rubble of the slave's work area, Jellal erupted from the rubble and stood up, dusting himself off. "Well, Well, I thought that would kill the both of you but apparently I was wrong."
Minato then appeared out of thin air with Erza underneath his arm with a furious look on his face. "You didn't care what would happen to Erza?!"
Jellal merely shrugged. "She questioned the way of Zeref so I don't care what happens to her now." He raised his arm and fired another dark energy blast at Minato, who barely managed to dodge it.
Jellal continued his assault, but missed all his shots. Minato knew he couldn't fight while holding on to Erza, he quickly teleported away from the floor and re-appeared inside one of the cells. He gently placed her against the wall and a frown appeared on his face as he saw the bandage that was wrapped around Erza's right eye.
"Forgive me Erza…Please stay here…I'll be back." He softly said before he teleported back to the slave working area, only to see Jellal sitting on the rocks waiting.
"Well Minato, you should know that it's rude to leave someone so soon." He said, chuckling darkly.
"Well I had to put Erza somewhere safe if we're going to fight." Minato replied before he vanished and appeared next to Jellal and launched a roundhouse kick to Jellal's side, sending him against the wall.
Jellal slowly stood up, cracking his neck before he launched several dark blasts at Minato. Minato countered by teleporting away from the multiple blasts. Minato then vanished. Jellal turned his head side to side trying to find Minato only to receive an uppercut against his stomach. Jellal shook of the hit only to see Minato vanished again. Jellal looked around his surrounding but he soon smirked and turned to his side and threw a straight punch where Minato suddenly appeared and received a blow straight into his stomach. Minato was pushed back and looked at Jellal with a surprised look on his face.
Jellal chuckled at the expression he saw on Minato's face. "You had the upper hand at first but thanks to the power of Zeref I'm able to sense your unique energy and know where you're going to be."
Minato was going to charge again but suddenly stopped as he felt something off. He looked at himself and saw the flames around his body dying out.
"K-Kurama what's going on?" Minato asked.
"It seems that you're at your limit. We don't have much time before this power wears off."Kurama explained.
Minato nodded but turned his attention to Jellal when he heard his laughter.
"Will you look at this? It seems that this special power of yours is wearing off." Jellal taunted.
Minato tighten his grip. "Kurama can we use the power I have left to finish this in one shot?"
Kurama was silent for a moment before answering. "There is one technique that may finish this. I need you to open your palm and I'll handle the rest."
Minato nodded and opened his left hand. The energy surrounding his body began swirling around his open palm and formed a blue sphere. Once the blue sphere was completely finished the aura around his body disappeared.
Jellal smirked at this. "So going for the final blow huh?" Jellal then brought his hand to his side and a dark aura started surrounding it. "Let see who will win this fight!" Jellal then started charging towards Minato. "Minato!"
Minato then charged towards Jellal. "Jellal!"
Both techniques met in the middle with a loud bang, as a shockwave of a blue and purple aura shot out. Both side struggled to overcome one another. Until both attacks caused a massive explosion that pushes both Minato and Jellal back, crashing against the wall.
Both Minato and Jellal struggled to get up. Once they stood up they looked at each other as they were breathing heavily.
Jellal laughed psychotically which earned Minato a confused look on his face.
"You really are an interesting person Minato," Jellal said. "Tell you what, I'll allow you and Erza to leave the Tower of Heaven but in return I'll keep the rest of the slaves here to finish the tower."
Minato gritted his teeth. "No! I want all of us to be free."
"Tch, Tch." Jellal said as he wagged his finger. "I wouldn't demand for things if I were you." Jellal said as a dark red aura surrounded his body growing in size. "Because unlike you I don't have any limitations!"
Minato tighten his fist seeing this. 'Kurama…Are you sure I can't get another power boost?'
"I'm afraid not." Kurama replied. "Your body is not strong enough for another power boost. If we were to continue to use more of my power than your body could handle then it would severely damage your body or worse…"
Minato couldn't help but lower his head in defeat. "V-Very well Jellal…I'll agree to your terms."
Jellal smiled at this. "Good, then why don't you fetch Erza and I'll let you go free but here's another thing you should know. You'll never tell anyone of this place, if word were to get out, then I'd have no choice but destroy the tower and everyone inside it. You're forbidden from ever returning here again. Set one foot on this land and I'll kill your friends."
Minato slowly nodded his head. And he soon stood up and went to get Erza, once he got her he went back down to the slave's work area only to feel weaker and weaker and he soon fell unconscious.
He soon has awoken on a beach as he looked around. He frowned as he remembered the agreement he made with Jellal. He looked at his side only to find Erza sleeping. He couldn't help but smile at this and looked up at the full moon. "We're finally free." He whispered before he closed his eyes, felling the cool wind around his body.