The Tower of Heaven
In a dark room, stood three saurians. The room was large and round, with a large hunk of lacrima in the center, and a sizable sculpture.
"The abduction team failed!" a saurian with red tinted scales said angrily, "You said that your agents would succeed."
"And you said that Erza Scarlet and her cohorts would be the only one's there," one with more golden scales responded.
"So what are we supposed to do now? Send another team?" a third with black scales said, "You can't expect us…"
"Calm yourselves." The reptiles all looked at a massive throne hidden in the shadows. Sitting in the throne, was a dark figure, whose face was obscured by the darkness. His hands were folded, as he sat completely passive.
"My lord," the red scaled one said.
"You are incorrect, Shon'rin, the team was successful," the figure continued.
"What do you mean?" the red scaled saurian, Shon'rin, asked. The figure rose to his feet, folding his arms behind his back, as he descended to their level. The shadows seem to follow him, keeping his face obscured, as the saurians parted ways for their lord. The figure walked over to the sculpture, and waved his hand. The sculpture then lit up, with countless glowing figures littered around it. At the base, was a glowing ship. The figure pointed to that.
"There they are," he said, "They're probably going to try an infiltration."
"Give the order and my soldiers will deal with them," the black scaled one said, "My soldiers aren't like Kel'ra's agents." The golden scaled hissed in response.
"No, Nok'vor," the figure answered, "I believe that we can still handle this quietly. We'll grant them access into the Tower."
"But what if they start causing trouble?" Kel'ra asked.
"Oh they will, that's assured," the figure said, "Do you not think your people can stop them?"
"Well…"
"Well you'd be correct," the figure interrupted, "Your fodder are no match for any of the ones on that ship. The fiasco at the resort showed as much. But it doesn't matter, we will welcome them with open arms."
"My Lord, if I may insist…," Shon'rin began.
"Do you think you can formulate a better strategy than me?" the figure interrupted, turning to face the saurian. A pair of blue eyes lit up in the darkness. Suddenly, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
"No, Lord Stark," Shon'rin answered, backing down. The figure, Stark, turned back to the sculpture, as he looked down at the small image of a boat.
"Good, now let's entertain our honored guests," Stark said, "Quite a few of them, in many respects, are coming back home. This is cause for celebration."
(in the water outside the Tower)
"That's the Tower of Heaven?" Lucy asked, "Its… hideous." And it was. Nothing about that Tower looked good. It was thin, asymmetrical, reminding Lucy somewhat of a some-kind of plant with thorns, with a large bulb at the top.
"It is," Erza agreed, "There is not a positive thing about that structure." Memories began flooding back to her. Cruel, vile ones. Even though Natsu could barely stand, Erza could feel his grip on her hand tightening. She would've liked to say having her husband close gave her all the comfort she needed, but she couldn't.s Carla then noticed some strange things flying around in the sky.
"What are those things, flying?" she asked, pointing.
"Skeeters," Z'tar answered, "Their native to the same continent as my kind."
"That doesn't matter," Jellal said, "What matters it ant we're here now."
"Congratulations, you're here," Z'tar said, "Now what do you plan on doing, mammals? Go and knock on the front door?"
"I scouted it out earlier," Kinana explained, "There's an underwater passage." Some people looked at Kinana strangely.
"Snakes are strong swimmers," she said.
"I can create water spheres to allow us to breathe," Juvia said, holding up a water orb, "Now so long as everyone can swim…"
"Easy enough," Simon said, "Now we have to move quickly!"
"Let's go!" Wendy said.
"You're not coming!" Erza said sternly, poking the little girl in the forehead, "You're way to little!"
"Erza's probably right," Jellal said, "A girl like you is far to young to joint eh fight."
"That's not fair!" Wendy whined.
"No, its completely fair," Lucy said, "We can't honestly let you join a fight against a monster like Stark seems to be!"
"Think of it as guarding Z'tar, since he isn't coming," Wally said, "Its a dandy job, that we all need to keep in mind." Wendy wanted to protest, but she figured that nobody would ever let her join, so she took a breath, and relented with a nod.
"Just stay here," Erza said, "When its all over we'll come back." With that, the group, save for Wendy, Carla, and Z'tar. As the Sky Dragon Slayer watched her comrades descend, she looked over her shoulder at Z'tar, who was propped against the railing, and was glaring right back at her.
"So, know any good jokes?" Wendy said.
"Wendy!" Carla said.
"We're going to be here for a while, what else are supposed to do?" Wendy said with a nervous smile. Z'tar looked at Wendy for a time, before sighing.
"Did you ever here the one about the saurian missing three teeth?"
(at the Magic Council)
"We shouldn't have such a huge discussion without all the council members present," Yajima said, "And last I checked, Jellal isn't here."
"I thought we destroyed all of them," Org said.
"Apparently there was one we missed," another member said.
"Are the rumors true?" a cat-like man named Michello asked, "Is he there?"
"It is," Ultear spoke up, "The one in charge of this places construction, is the Cold King, Stark." A chill fell over the room.
"So he's finally emerged from the shadows?" Gran Doma said, clenching his staff tighter, "Why now of all times?"
"What does it matter?" Ultear said, "The fact of the matter he is there! This is a golden opportunity!"
"For what, may I ask?" Yajima said.
"We have to make absolutely sure that we destroy every trace of it, and in the process, finally rid the world of Stark!" Ultear insisted, "We have to use the Etherion!" The name of that weapon resonated throughout the Council hall.
"Are you insane!" one female member yelled.
"You can't seriously expect us to fire such a powerful weapon!" Michello protested, "That tool is powerful enough to destroy an entire country!"
"Its the only weapon strong enough to destroy the Cold King!" Ultear said, "I am officially casting a vote to fire the Etherion! I need four more brave souls to vote in in order to use it!"
(underwater)
As the group swam underwater, all with orbs on their heads, courtesy of Juvia, save for said water mage, who, for obvious reasons, didn't need an orb for herself.
Eventually, they managed to get above the water, into the tower. Nobody was happy to be in their. They hid amongst the rocks, looking over the workers. There was something strange about them. The workers were dressed in thick robes, hiding their bodies, as they moved in a hobbled fashion.
"What's with them?" Happy asked.
"Why are you here?" Lucy said. But nobody paid attention.
"I don't know," Jellal answered, "But they don't seemed to be human."
"Are they saurian?" Sorano asked.
"No, but those are!" Simon answered, pointing. Indeed, there were several saurians standing on the walkways above the work area, observing the workers. But they weren't working.
"So what do we do?" Millianna asked. Erza then looked up, and noticed things on the wall. Large gash marks, and burn marks.
"Those marks," she whispered.
"They're remnants of when Lord Igneel attacked," Cobra explained, "His claws and his fire breath." Natsu looked over the group, and a smile worked its way onto his face. Erza recognized that expression, and just as Natsu was starting to move forward, he was grabbed by Erza.
"Our objective is to take down the Tower," she said. Erza had Natsu in a headlock, as the Fire Dragon Slayer struggled to go and fight, his wife's hand clamped over his mouth.
"This thing is huge!" Lucy said, "How can we destroy it?"
"Destroying it is impossible the way things are," Jellal said, "The only one who may have been capable was Lord Igneel. Instead, our goal should be Stark."
"You think we can defeat him?" Erza asked.
"There's not much else in the way of options," Jellal answered, "We simply don't have the power to destroy this tower. Its just too large."
"You are we can't just sick Natsu on the Tower?" Happy asked.
"Not even he's powerful enough to destroy he place." Natsu grunted in protest, as he thrashed around in Erza's grip.
"Stark will be at the top of the Tower, where he can observe everything," Simon said, "We need to start moving up there, without attracting too much attention."
"If you're going to do that, then you need to knock Natsu out," Gray said. Natsu swelled up in anger, and then looked at Erza, as if expecting her to protest.
"Easy enough," Erza answered, as she held her fist, much to Natsu's horror.
"Wait!" Juvia said, look, pointing. Everyone looked. Descending from high above, was a large creature, that looked like an amalgamation of several insects. It had massive, dragonfly-like wings, and a long body, ending with a scorpion-like tail. Its head was like that of a mantis, with massive mandibles, that covered a mouth full of sharp teeth. Its body had six legs, the front two having grasping pincers. It could be assumed that it was a skeeter. Jumping down, was a saurian. The saurian was wearing a red robe, and had red scales, and was carrying a staff with the head of a cobra.
"Master Shon'rin!" one saurian said.
"Shon'rin?" Jellal said.
"You heard of him?" Richard asked.
"He's wanted by the Magic council," Simon said, "He's stolen more than a few powerful magic items, including that staff he's holding. He's also a renowned crime lord in Ishgar." Everyone watched the red reptile look over the workers.
"Soon we'll be having some intruders," Shon'rin explained. Everyone froze in shock at that statement.
"So you want us to deal with them?" the other saurian asked.
"I do, but Lord Stark doesn't," Shon'rin answered.
"What does he mean?" Millianna asked.
"Stark knows we're here?" Sho said.
"So what do we do, Master?" Shon'rin bared his teeth in frustration.
"We follow Lord Stark's will," he answered, "And his will is that we leave them be for now."
"That ain't dandy!" Wally said, "What to do we do now?"
"I hate to sound like Natsu, but should we just storm the place?" Gray asked.
"Juvia agrees with her beloved!" Juvia said, "She'd love to fight with Gray!"
"We don't know how many saurians are, not to mention whatever those workers are," Simon said.
"So what should we do?" Kagura asked.
"For now, we have to think…," Jellal was interrupted when an image began to flash over everyone. The image looked vaguely humanoid. The saurians assembled around the image, and began pumping their arms.
"Stark! Stark! Stark! Stark! Stark!" they chanted, as the image began to take a more distinct form, and could now be fully discerned.
"Is that…," Lucy began.
"Stark!" Erza hissed.
Note: One thing to bear in mind, is that I'm using the anime design for the Tower, because quite frankly, that design is much more ominous and sinister. And don't worry, we'll see Stark in full soon enough, and Wendy isn't removed from the story, far from it actually.
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