Yo! Quick note: I'm using the anime appearance for the Tower of Heaven, which is very different from the manga's version.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
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"Where did you get those tattoos?"
Ur wasn't usually a morning person, but she didn't think her list of waking-up problems would include hallucinating, and she was seeing her daughter and her friend with new tattoos on their arms and hands.
"Oh, it's a long story," Ultear exaggerated, taking a bite from her eggs.
Ur sat down at the table, where Ultear and Natsu were finishing up breakfast. Gray and Lyon didn't say anything before they went outside to train after eating (probably thinking something like 'It's not like there's anything wrong...') Ur had just put her dishes by the washbasin (they live in a cabin in the mountains; it's not like they get the luxury of regular plumbing) and sat back down, since she wanted to ask about the new tattoos.
"I have time," she answered, leaning forward and taking a drink.
"Okay." Ultear put her fork down, her voice still level. "Last night, we were visited by a Celestial Spirit."
This made Ur spit out her water to the side. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "What? Is that some sort of joke? It doesn't sound like one. Does that sound like a reason to be home late? I had to make Lyon and Gray go to bed earlier because I was worried for you and I was looking for you all over! Tell me what happened," she commanded, concerned.
"Well, don't worry, Natsu was a good friend to the Celestial Spirits in our time, so he wouldn't have hurt us anyway. He was Leo the Lion, the leader of the 12 Zodiac Spirits. He was on business with Natsu and me," Ultear explained.
Ur seemed lost in thought for a moment. "So, what did he want?" she asked. 'I guess I'll play along,' was her mind's general consensus.
"He wanted to make contracts with us so that their keys wouldn't fall into evil hands..."
Flashback, the previous night...
"Are those... Celestial Spirit keys?"
"I thought you couldn't summon your keys?" Ultear asked.
"When I said 'Our keys can still fall into the wrong hands now', I meant that, if you said no, these keys would have been found in the same manner as from your time, and history would repeat itself. I can already summon my own key, but, as the leader of the most powerful spirits in the Celestial Spirit World, I can summon any keys, including those of my fellow Zodiac Spirits, and it works faster if the spirit gives me their permission, which all of them have," Loke explained.
"Including the Celestial Spirit King?" Ultear asked, curious.
"His Majesty doesn't have a key. Also, he is my boss and my king; I don't think I would be able to summon his key if he had one," Loke added.
"Let's get on with this!" Natsu said, clearly fired up as he punched his palm.
"Okay. First, we should probably ask them which spirits choose Natsu and which choose Ultear. I will summon them all, and I will teach you how to summon them after we get this all sorted out," Loke asked, holding up the key for Aquarius. It glowed white rather than the gold glow it was when Lucy used the key, and a golden glow appeared in front of him, dissipating to reveal a mermaid with blue hair, a unique headpiece that decorated her forehead with a jewel, and a Zodiac symbol adorning her collarbone and the jar she was holding, the symbol of the Water Bearer. She was levitating and didn't look happy.
"Hey, Aquarius. You look as beautiful as ever," Loke complimented, smirking.
Aquarius 'tch'ed. "Yeah, yeah, lover boy. Let's just get this over with," she said grumpily, turning to them. She immediately pointed to Natsu. Then, she moved forward and placed her hand right under his chest, and a glow appeared and then vanished. A tattoo had appeared. It was the symbol for Aquarius, a squiggly line. The key in Loke's hand separated into many little golden magic particles and flowed into the tattoo, which glowed blue.
"There, happy?" she asked angrily.
"Would you cut that out?" Natsu snapped.
"What do you mean?" Aquarius asked, keeping her tone.
"Talking like you're so irritated. What're you so mad about anyway?" Natsu asked casually.
"Why you...!" She lunged at him, to hit him with her urn. He simply put his hand up to stop it. She forcefully pulled it back, meeting no resistance.
"Did something happen?" Natsu asked.
"Shut up! What do you care?" Aquarius shot back.
"Well, you are Lucy's spirit, and that makes you my friend! It's not like I wouldn't care!" Natsu shot back, raising his voice.
Aquarius paused for a moment, staring at him. 'His eyes... I think he actually cares... just like that brat...' she noted mentally. Then, suddenly, she grinned.
"Hm?" Natsu grunted, cocking his eyebrow at her sudden reaction.
"Just don't die, kid," she advised. She turned away from him, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder, telling him when he could summon her, before leaving, vanishing in a blur of golden sparkles.
"What was her problem?" Ultear asked, Natsu rubbing his new tattoo, seeing as he was practically pushed by her hand.
"Don't worry about her. She's always moody like that," Loke explained, causing her to sweat-drop as Natsu lifted his shirt to see a bruise around a clearly distinguishable blue tattoo (which was no longer glowing).
"That's not exactly comforting..." she deadpanned.
"Anyway, next up, Aries," Loke said, ignoring her.
"Wait, did the key go into that tattoo?" Ultear asked.
"No. Only the ability to summon Aquarius just like a Celestial Spirit Mage would with the key. I'll talk more about it when we start training," Loke responded.
They repeated the process for the rest of the spirits, with the keys for Sagittarius, Taurus, Scorpio, Cancer, Aries, Virgo, Libra, Ophiuchus (yes, even she wanted a new Mage), Gemini, Pisces, Holorogium, Pyxis, Crux, Lyra, Polaris, Caelum, Plue, and Deneb the Swan appearing on Natsu and Ultear, whomever they chose. Within Gemini and Pisces, the two opposite-gendered entities each wanted to choose different owners, so they simply decided that they would each put a tattoo on the person they picked. The tattoos themselves depicted half of the symbol of Gemini/Pisces.
"What's with these tattoos from Gemini and Pisces? Why are they each only a half?" Ultear asked.
"I've been wondering about that too..." Natsu added.
"Ultear, do you see how they fit together if you put your hand with the mark of Pisces on his arm with the mark of Pisces? They each wanted to contract to separate people, but they didn't want to be divided over this, so they simply compromised. If you want to summon Gemini or Pisces in battle, Ultear, you have to put your tattoo over his, and both of the Twins or Fish will appear. It's a little hard, so I'll show you how to do it in the near future."
"Hey, Loke, how do you know how to summon spirits?" Natsu asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Loke asked jokingly. "We're Celestial Spirits. We're the ones who taught humans how to summon us. Only we could make keys that could summon us completely. Anyone else would mess something up or summon spirits incorrectly. That wouldn't be right."
"Hey, Leo-"
"You can call me Loke, Ultear," he reminded her.
"Right. Loke, what about you? Are you going to make a contract with one of us?" Ultear asked.
"Yeah. Sorry to disappoint you, though, but it's Natsu I want to make a contract with," Loke confessed.
"Huh? Me?" Natsu asked, clearly confused.
"You're one of my closest friends, next to Lucy. I don't mean to be rude, but I remember thinking that one time when I had returned back to the Celestial Spirit World that, if I was given a choice, I would rather be contracted to you if I had to pick someone else. Given that Lucy is currently missing, I want to make a contract with you," Loke explained.
"Ah. Okay then," Natsu replied.
Back to the present...
"Really?" Ur asked with mock interest. "Can I ask this Leo a few questions?" she asked.
"Okay, mom, if it will get you to believe what I'm saying. Natsu, summon Loke," she replied.
"No need."
Ur jumped, turning to find the source of the voice, a man she didn't know. He was wearing a formal suit and tie, glasses, a couple rings, and spiky hair.
"Besides, I haven't taught you guys how to summon us yet. It would be kind of hard to just try it without anyone teaching you," he added.
Ur stood up and blocked the path to her daughter and guest. "Who are you? Why did you break in?" she asked assertively.
"Whoa, whoa, beautiful, please calm down. I didn't break in at all. I summoned myself since Natsu can't summon Celestial Spirits yet." He cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce myself to you. I am Leo the Lion, but my human friends call me Loke."
"Wait, Ultear was telling the truth?" Ur asked, earning a comical glare from her daughter.
"Mom! Of course I was telling the truth! Why would you think I was lying?" she yelled (comically).
"Well..." Ur turned as red as a tomato after she said that, imagining Natsu kissing Ultear, among other things.
"Oh, come on! We're just good friends!" Ultear countered, blushing as well.
"Anyway, what questions did you have for me?" Loke asked.
"Why are you here? I mean, I'm not against it anymore, but I was just wondering," Ur asked.
"Oh, I came to see if Natsu and Ultear were ready for training," Loke responded.
"'Training'?" Ur asked.
"They aren't Celestial Spirit Mages yet. They still need to learn how to summon us, so we need some time to train and practice so they can add it to their growing list of abilities," Loke explained.
"Ah. We should wait a little, then. I guess I should teach Gray and Lyon some new things too in the meantime," Ur commented.
"Awesome!" That voice came from behind the door.
"Lyon, get in here. Is Gray there too?" Ur asked, clearly annoyed.
"I'm here," he responded. They walked into the room, closing the door behind them. They fixed their eyes on Loke, who looked back down at them.
"So this guy is a Celestial Spirit?" Gray asked.
"What are those?" Lyon asked.
"Celestial Spirits are beings from the Celestial Spirit world derived from constellations. We now help humans. I suppose you heard my introduction, so I'll just say one thing: You can call me Loke," he explained.
"Okay! Nice to meet you!" Lyon said cheerfully.
"Well, Natsu, Ultear, and I should get going. We have to hurry if we want to make it to the Tower of Heaven in time."
...
It took Natsu and Ultear a month to be able to summon spirits for a practical length of time (Loke had summoned himself on his own power) and even longer to be able to summon a Zodiac Celestial Spirit. It was 2 years later when Natsu could summon four Zodiac Spirits at once and Ultear was getting close to four. Igneel had stayed the whole time, in the new cave Natsu made by punching a nearby cliff repeatedly with his Dragon Slayer Magic. Ur, meanwhile, had given Lyon and Gray swords and taught them swordsmanship so they could learn her new Ice Magic Technique, Freeze Blade Style, which combined Ice Magic with Sword Magic. Naturally, they were excited. In fact, Gray managed to master wielding 'Shunkan Tooketsu' (alternatively 'Flash Freeze'), a Magic Ice Blade that morphed into a Magic Ice Bow, in battle, switching forms properly and fast, and Lyon learned to wield two katanas, 'Fubuki no Maebure' and 'Meidoo Hyoo' (or 'Snowstorm Bringer' and 'Rumbling Hail', respectively) at once, utilizing the abilities their weapons granted them in combat. They had yet to test their abilities in a real battle, but they performed pretty well in training. Meanwhile, there were others working hard, too...
...
X775, the public library of Magnolia...
Levy was sitting quietly, reading a novel and totally enjoying it. Suddenly, she got a tap on the back of the neck. Looking up to see who it was, she saw a red-haired man sitting next to her. She put down her book, marking her place with a cute little self-decorated bookmark she had brought, and asked, "May I help you?"
"I just noticed you were reading one of my favorite books. Do you like to read?" he asked.
"Yes, I like to read very much," she answered.
"Have you gotten to the end already?" he asked.
"No, I haven't... Please, don't spoil the ending for me..." she answered.
He chuckled amiably. "I wasn't going to. I just thought you might enjoy this book about Magic," he said, handing her a book with gold-lined pages and an old leather cover and binding.
Levy took the book, examining it with fascination. "Wow, this is really old? Where'd you get it?" she asked, keeping her attention on the book.
"I just had it lying around. I don't need it, and I just decided to give it away today. Except, that book is very valuable. Lots of people want a lot of money for it, and it was in my possession because I didn't want the wrong people to get their hands on it. I think... you're a very friendly person, just from learning how you like to read," he explained.
"Really? It's valuable? Why?" Levy asked innocently, now looking at him.
"It has a hidden message that contains the secret to a very powerful Magic. Are you a Mage?" he explained.
"Yeah, I am. I use Solid Script Magic, but I'm not very good yet..." Levy answered.
"Mm. Well, allow me to let you in on a secret..." he said, gesturing for her to lean towards him. She did so, putting her ear next to his mouth, and whispered, "I know the name of this Magic. It is called 'Trait Script'."
"'Trait Script'? Is it like Solid Script?" Levy asked.
"Well, I think so," he answered.
"You think I can solve the puzzle?" Levy asked innocently.
"Yep," he said bluntly.
"Wait, I forgot to ask your name," she remembered.
"It's Kai," he stated. He then added, "By the way, I think this would make a nice bookmark." He gave her a card (if you could see it, readers, you could see that it was a Dream Card, but she doesn't know that), which she took. He then said, "I have to go, but, whatever you do, no matter what, never give the book or that card away, okay?"
Levy smiled at this stranger. "Okay. You can count on me!" she said.
He smiled at her. "I know," he answered. With that, he walked away.
...
In the middle of the ocean, X776...
"Hya!" Erza grunted. She was currently training with Kai, who came back every night to train her, as a ghost just outside her cell while she could, before the guards came back to wake her up. She had been training all night, trading blows and clashing (real) swords with him, and she could now withstand him attacking her gut with a hard punch more than once without getting knocked back. She had gotten used to it, since he meant her no ill will. They had devised the plan to train just outside their cell so that they could notice the guards before the guards noticed them. It had been working well for the past few years. They stopped to catch their breath, panting.
"You're getting really strong, Erza," Kai commented.
"Thanks. I'm just glad we can train like this so that nobody can see us. It's very convenient," she replied, panting like Kai.
"Is magic getting any easier for you?" Kai asked.
"Sort of. I can feel my magic being slowly drained as a ghost, but I don't know how to draw upon it myself yet," she answered.
"I see. Well, it helps if you know how it works. I'm sure you can figure out how the spell is drawing upon your magic and where it's drawing from. After that, it shouldn't be that hard," Kai hinted.
"Thanks for the hint," Erza replied.
"I am your teacher. No need to thank me for teaching you," Kai joked, chuckling.
"You know, Kai-sensei, I always wondered... why did you pick me of all people to train? A girl imprisoned in a tower with other kids and forced to build the tower up? Jellal I can understand, but why me?" Erza asked, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall (remember, she's had a few years to master the spell she received).
I should just go ahead and explain bluntly now in first person what she's talking about. Once she had gotten the tattoo, she chose Jellal as to bring with her in her ghost form. I think I'll just...
Flashback, the middle of the ocean, X772
It was the night after Kai's first visit. Jellal and everyone had gathered at lunch and noticed Erza was hiding something, but, after she would deny their help politely, they just let her be, even though they were concerned. Now it was that night, and Kai had come again, much to her surprise.
"Kai? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I told you we'd meet again, Erza," he said, smiling.
"But you were talking like you'd never come back," Erza countered.
"Well, that wasn't true. I was just surveying the tower and it's inhabitants, including your friends. Why don't you introduce me to one of them? That blue-haired kid with a tattoo on his face, perhaps?" he explained.
"Jellal? Why him?" Erza asked innocently.
"He seems interesting. At least I know he's nice," Kai answered.
"Okay, but how are we going to meet him? I can't get out of this cell and he can't see you anyway," Erza asked, standing up.
"You could always use that spell I gave you. And I can get his attention. Just leave it to me."
End of the Flashback
Long story short, after Kai got his attention, he introduced himself and started training the two of them physically. He had given Jellal the same Arc of Spirits spell as Erza and they trained in the hallway. At least Erza's and Jellal's cells were close to each other (somewhat)...
"Well, Erza, you're very special even in those cases. I don't mean to make light of your suffering, but you do get physically stronger doing the labor, and, if they punish you regularly, being able to withstand it will help with your physical endurance. Not to mention, these Magic-suppressing cuffs are poorly-made. If you can counter their anti-Magic effect, even a little, you must have a lot of Magic power, too much for the cuffs to completely suppress," Kai explained, sitting next to her.
"True, but there are a lot of other kids in this tower. Some of them could have all those things too. So why us?" she countered.
"Because, out of all of them, you have the highest amount of latent Magic power and talent. Once it starts manifesting, you could be a very strong Mage. Besides, I think you can make a great Mage when you and everyone else get out into the real world," Kai answered back.
"You still think that can happen?" Erza asked, downtrodden now.
Kai seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I think... you never know," he answered cryptically.
They just sat like that for a while. Then a guard walked around the corner and Erza ran back inside her cell to wake up her body, while Kai ran with her so he could fly away. They said goodbye and parted ways as Erza fell back into her body (because she was standing up and her body was lying down). The ghost was flying away from the Tower of Heaven as Erza watched him. She looked towards him through the bars, back in her body sufficiently fast enough.
Meanwhile, Kai was flying through the sky, thinking, 'Any day now... I can remove this disguise.'
...
The next day, there was a second Kai sitting in his room in Magnolia, which he had rented by blowing the landlady down with Wind Magic, reminiscing about the night after Loke had talked to Natsu and Ultear, which was the next time they were able to enter the Dream Card.
The previous night...
Kai looked outside, noticing it was nighttime, then at his clock, noting that it was five minutes to ten. Grunting, he got up and walked over to his bed, not even bothering with the covers and picking up his Dream Card. He activated it and fell into the dream on his bed.
Opening his dream-eyes, he 'awoke' in the forest of his Dream Card. Not long after, Natsu, Ultear, Cana, and Lucy gathered before him. They greeted each other as they got there. Cana was now nine and Lucy eight. Even though they perceived that they were the only real people, they still got to know these 'illusions' well. As well as Cana and Lucy knowing that Natsu uses Dragon Slayer Magic mainly and has learned Devil Slayer Magic, that Ultear specialized in the Arc of Time (and that she kept that a secret) and Ice-Make Magic, and that Kai was a very sage person for his age.
"Hey, Natsu, Ultear-nee-chan, where were you last night?" Cana asked.
"We were making contracts with Celestial Spirits," Natsu said bluntly. Both Cana and Lucy blinked twice.
"W-What?" Lucy stammered.
"Well, looks like he spoiled the surprise. Did you notice our new tattoos?" Ultear replied, calmly smiling.
"Hm? Oh, I was going to ask about those next," Cana replied.
"Do they look familiar, Lucy?" Ultear asked knowingly, also opening Natsu's vest, causing an instinctual blush to appear on the three girls' faces (he was well-defined, after all). Aside from that, Lucy noticed a familiar-looking tattoo.
"That's... the symbol for Aquarius!" she recognized.
"Hey, that's Aries!" Cana noted, causing the others to look at her. "What? That's my sign!" she protested defensively.
"Yes, these tattoos were given to us by the Celestial Spirits. We started learning how to summon them today," Ultear commented.
"Does that mean Aquarius visited you?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. She kinda fought with Natsu a little, but then she just smiled and left. I don't know what that was all about," Ultear commented.
"What do you mean? She's always a grumpy-grump," Lucy said innocently, causing the other two ladies to sweat-drop.
"Yeah, that's what Loke said..." Ultear said awkwardly.
"Who?" Cana asked.
"Leo the Lion. He asked us to call him Loke. He's the leader of the Zodiac Spirits," Ultear explained.
"The leader?! Cool!" Lucy commented, her face lighting up.
"Yep. And it's nice that Celestial Spirits can make multiple contracts at once with different Mages. I bet Natsu wouldn't want to take your only Celestial Spirit away from you," Ultear commented.
"Really? They can do that?" Cana asked, amazed.
"I guess so," Natsu commented, surprising the ladies a little with his sudden comment.
The girls, however, didn't really move their eyes from his torso. They really had no idea they were staring, aside from one. Ultear mentally chuckled a little. 'It seems I'm going through puberty early somehow,' she mused. She then eyed the other girls, who were doing the same thing she realized she was doing, only she remembered that they weren't living a second time like her. 'Maybe them too...' she noted.
Back to the present...
Kai smiled. 'Oh, they are so going to be ready to rescue Erza's group and the Oracion Seis kids,' he mused.
...
X776, Ur's house...
"You haven't been out here for a while. You kids kept me waiting," Igneel commented.
"Sorry, Igneel. We kinda had something important to handle first," Natsu apologized.
"It's fine. Let's go, though. That tower isn't going to destroy itself," Igneel commented, lowering his body to the snow.
"I, for one, am glad we spent so much time training here. My swords are awesome!" Lyon said, smiling. His spiky silver hair stuck up like usual, but, now, he had armor over his torso, as well as gauntlets and greaves. He had his blue jacket on with his long pants under his greaves, as well as his two katanas sheathed in an X on his back. One sheath was decorated with crystals and the other had gray wool near the entrance and had bits of the same crystal under it, like a snow-cloud.
"I guess it's a good thing we learned something new," Gray commented. He had apparently mellowed out a lot while training, seeing as how he had been avenged by his now-fierce rival. He thought he had brought his white jacket, his clothes, and his pants, but he only had on his boxers and the band around his body that held his sheath to his naked torso, also a katana.
"What happened this time? You're naked again, dude," Lyon commented, causing Gray to freak out upon looking down.
"How does that keep happening? Gray, go get your clothes!" Ur commanded (comically). She was, like most of her fellow riders, wearing her jacket as well as her clothes. She had a katana on her. She knew she had successfully made a new Ice-based Magic when her pupils picked it up and used it, so she had trained and practiced alongside them in the Freeze-Blade Style with her own Magic Katana, 'Fuyu no ShikeishikkÅ' (Winter's Executioner). The sheath was strapped to her belt. Gray, meanwhile, obeyed her, jumping off the dragon's back and running into the cabin.
"He really has a problem now, doesn't he?" Ultear asked rhetorically. She hadn't changed her attire much at all, seeing as how she had the same outfit in her closet (times seven) for every day. She always was too laid back to fuss much over fashion (remember, she was a science experiment as a child and crazy for most of her life, basically). She did get a new jacket, to replace the one she had been two years too old to wear when she had gotten back. Her tattoos shimmered in the daylight like Natsu's.
Speaking of Natsu, he was busy looking down at Igneel, lost in thought. He didn't even notice the cold, seeing as how he was the only one of them who didn't wear a jacket. He claimed his scarf was enough when Ur asked him about it (and then when she forced a jacket onto him). He was still wearing his usual vest and baggy pants, lacking a shirt. None of the ladies complained, though. After all, a nice sight was a nice sight, and, in the case of Ultear and Ur (and Cana and Lucy in the Dream Card), they appreciated that their friend was eye candy among the rest of his good qualities.
The rest of the next hour went by relatively fast. Since Natsu still had Erza's scent in his nose, he pointed the way for Igneel to fly while everyone else watched on, kind of amazed that his nose was that good. Of course, along the way, he explained that his nose was only good because of his Dragon Slayer Magic.
Eventually, that hour was gone and there was a stump of a tower visible in the distance. It was very jagged, looking (quite literally) like a big pile of junk. This confused everyone present but Ultear.
"What is that?" Lyon asked, pointing to the 'stump of a tower'.
"That's the Tower of Heaven," Ultear stated stoically, surprising everyone.
"But it's so small! It's not even a tower!" Ur commented in surprise.
"It would've been finished in X781, but we're going to trash it after rescuing the slaves," Ultear explained.
"Alright! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu shouted, punching his fist.
"By the way, kids, I can't just drop you off. You have to jump as I fly by," Igneel warned.
"What?! You're crazy!" most of them shouted, startled.
"I'm going to fly low, so don't worry about dying from a fall," Igneel added. The tower was getting closer and Igneel flew lower, closer to the ocean.
Meanwhile, inside the tower...
Erza was furious. Grandpa Rob saved her with his Magic when he stepped in front of her, but now he was dead since he was shot before he could use his magic. Of course, there's also the fact that she couldn't save him with what she had and the fact that she only discovered how to tap into her Magic reserves after he died, but she didn't care. She was making swords, shields, and other arms fly because she was angry. Everyone watched her with awe, cultist and slave. The Magic-restricting cuffs broke and the swords flew at the cultists forcing them to either dodge or block with what they had. A lot of them retreated in fear. Sadly, there was the army of flying undead soldiers still around, and all of them were part of the Magic-wielding troupe, not to mention the few very brave/stupid/devout (you pick) human cultists who couldn't use Magic. Erza was hunched over and the Magic Squad wasn't moving at all. The slaves were all yelling at Erza to get back, but the Magic wielders shot at her before she could move. Luckily, she had enough endurance to withstand the strain she had just taken and dodge them, still holding her weapons. The shots hit the wall behind the slaves, blowing the wall away. When the shots hit the wall, the slaves, backed away from the wall. Dust spread across the side with the slaves, veiling them all in a cloud. Once the dust settled, the slaves were staring out the giant space where the wall used to be. Many of them gasped or widened their eyes.
"Is that..." one of the children asked.
"Is that an angel?" one of the children asked innocently.
"No, something else," someone next to her told her.
"I can't believe it! It's a dragon!" one of the older slaves shouted.
This set everyone into a panic. Many of them cleared away from the space, the flying Magic troupe moving to intercept the dragon (they were mindless zombies, after all). They fired at the dragon, but it simply opened its mouth and sucked in all the projectiles. It flew over the tower and circled overhead. However, five figures were falling from where the dragon was when it had flown directly overhead. The slaves ran away from where they thought the figures would hit the ground.
"Ice Make: Slide!" From the hands of Ur, Ultear, Lyon, and Gray, a spiral slide shot out and formed, reaching the ground. Natsu, meanwhile, had simply turned over in midair and formed a crater when he landed on his feet. The four Ice Mages landed on the ground next to him, the slides disappearing.
"Everyone, get behind us!" Ultear commanded. Ur and Lyon stayed behind to block any shots that would've hit the slaves. Natsu, Ultear, and Gray ran forward. Gray unsheathed his sword and jumped up, slicing up the undead left and right, freezing the ones he sliced open before they broke. Occasionally, one of them tried to shoot him, but he simply called out "Morph!" and the tip of the sword shot out a blue string of Magic energy towards the bottom of the hilt, where it fastened onto the pommel, becoming taut, before pulling back on the string and shooting an arrow he formed out of ice. He never got hit with a ranged attack, even when he was morphing his bow back into a sword.
"Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!" Ultear called out, summoning the horse-costumed man with a bow and quiver. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" This summoned a guy with red/white hair and attire, as well as a giant stinger. "Sagittarius, Scorpio, help me blast them out of the sky!" she commanded.
"Okay, as it were-moshimoshi!" Sagittarius replied, nocking an arrow and aiming it at the army.
"We are! You got it, Lady Ultear!" Scorpio answered, bending over and aiming his stinger at the Magic soldiers.
She herself assumed an Ice Make stance. "Ice Make: Arrows!" When she called this out, she thrust her hands forward, a stream of ice arrows shooting out.
"Star Shot!" Sagittarius shot an arrow and it multiplied too many times to count, each hitting an undead zombie soldier.
"Sand Buster!" Scorpio shot out a blast of sand, pushing back and through the flying Magic troops.
Natsu, meanwhile, was jumping all over the place just like Gray, using his Dragon and Devil Slayer Magics at once in his new mode, Demonic Fire Dragon Mode, and beating them up with bare hands, punching them so hard they crashed into the walls. He had two jagged horns sticking out of his head and scales forming around them, visible on his forehead.
Lyon and Ur had formed a giant wall made of ice which blocked all the magic shots with ease. He turned his head and said to the slaves, "Don't worry! We're here to rescue you!" he said to them.
"This will be over soon, don't worry!" Ur called out.
"Umm, excuse me, but could you help save my friend?" Ur lowered her gaze to a red-haired girl with an eyepatch.
"Yes, but after those three deal with those cultists. Neither I nor my pupil can keep up this wall against a barrage-"
"We're done!" Natsu called out. Ur snapped her head forward to see that there was no longer another conscious cultist in sight. She and Lyon immediately brought down the wall.
"That was fast!" Lyon commented.
"We're not done yet. We have to go save one of the slaves-" Ur started.
"Please help me! I need to save Jellal!" pleaded the scarlet-haired new Mage.
"Erza!" Natsu smiled.
This made Erza lean back a little. "How do you know my name?"
Ultear stared at Natsu. "We'll explain later. For now, let's go save Jellal," she commented.
"But I'm here already..."
Erza, recognizing the voice, turned and saw Jellal walking towards her, perfectly fine. The whole room was silent (then again, what are you supposed to say when a normal boy breaks out of Magic-restricting cuffs on his own in such a short time, after being tortured for hours?). Then he fell down on his face and everyone gasped. His friends ran over to him. What they didn't notice was that a red-haired man just jumped out of Jellal's body. Ultear was busy looking for the Oracion Seis kids and Erza was too busy examining Jellal, so only Natsu noticed. He looked at Kai, who smiled and said, "Natsu, follow me." Natsu did so, walking away from the crowd, but everyone was busy waiting for Jellal to wake up. They went behind a rock and sat down.
"Hey, Natsu, we don't have much time, so I'll just tell you now that I live in Magnolia, that Erza can see me, and that Igneel had to leave. Actually, to tell you the truth, he left a long time ago, back before Deliora attacked," Kai said.
"What? That's impossible! I was riding on Igneel when Deliora attacked!" Natsu protested.
"Igneel was gone the night before Deliora struck. The next day, that was me using my Magic to transform into Igneel while, at the same time, make an illusion of Igneel appear so that people see Igneel when, really, it's me," Kai confessed.
"Huh?" Natsu asked, confused.
"Sorry I lied to you. I know this is a lot to process, but don't worry. All we have to do is fly to Magnolia and you can join Fairy Tail with everyone. Besides, Igneel has his reasons. No need to worry about him or why he left," Kai apologized.
Natsu stared into space for a moment, lost in thought. They heard footsteps and stood up. Erza walked around the boulder and widened her eye. "K-Kai? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I just explained something important to Natsu. I have to leave now, though," Kai explained.
"Aw, why? I want to introduce you to everyone!" Erza whined.
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance. Just stay with Natsu. He told me he was going to have Igneel fly everyone to Magnolia, right Natsu?" Kai said, giving Natsu a look.
"Yeah," Natsu responded after a second.
"Thank you for saving us," Erza looked at him for a second, then said, "Jellal woke up. Let's go say hi," Erza said, taking Natsu by the hand and running him to Jellal, leaving Kai to go outside and use his Transformation Magic.
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I originally was making a huge chapter, but I changed my mind and split it into two smaller chapters. Also, the poll is now on my profile page (sorry, I forgot you were supposed to change the settings for the poll to be there), so go and vote, please. The poll is asking whether I should make the romance of this story M-rated. Anyway, bye!