A/N: I'm going to be introducing different points of view from now on. I can't say how often, probably not much. The story still mainly revolves around Anora's P.O.V. but we are going to switch it up sometimes. Just so you know, when there is a view point change, I'm going to announce it beforehand with text LIKE THIS.

Now then, enjoy the chapter

Chapter Fourteen

Echoes of the Past

After the atrocious events that occurred during our acting mission, life was normal again. Well, our kind of normal at least. We were currently in Hosenka village in a spa. It was Lucy's idea after we finished a job early. Best. Choice. IN MY LIFE!

I gotta admit, I've never been to a spa before. I didn't know it could be so relaxing. Everyone was having a good time. After Erza, me and Lucy bathed together in some red water we got back to our resting place where we found Natsu challenging Gray to a pillow fight. Of course Erza snatched the two closest pillows to her the moment she heard him.

"My arsenal is equipped only with the most powerful pillows!" She declared with a smug smile.

I grabbed one of the two pillows she was holding. "Then I guess I'll just have to borrow one of your 'all powerful' pillows and defeat everyone in the room with it." I glared with a challenge in my eyes and Erza did the same to me.

"Whatever, you guys are going down!" Natsu started throwing pillows, grinning like an idiot. Laughing we started dodging and throwing pillows on our own. It was only the three of us until Gray got hit and decided to join in. The room was full of flying pillows everywhere. Where the heck did we find so many? That was a constant question in my mind but I payed no heed to it as I was having too much fun.

When Lucy finally decided to join in she was hit by four pillows coming from the four of us and was sent flying through the doors of the room. Happy joined in after that. It was an all out pillow war. We all lunged towards each other, screaming bloody murder. In an instant we were fighting in a puff of smoke, pillows flying left and right. Happy somehow got away from the fight.

After half an hour, Gray and Natsu were knocked out, but me and Erza were still going.

I lunged at her with two pillows. "You're going down!" I huffed from exhaustion.

She did the same. "You will be the first to go down!" She yelled as we clashed and fought for another half an hour. We were currently on the ground weakly patting each other with a pillow.

"I… call… a… truce…" I said patting her slowly with a pillow.

"I… accept…" Erza did the same.

I stopped with the patting and took a deep breath. "Let's just say that we are the girl team and we beated the boys, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good." Erza said with a smirk. The boys were still unconscious from the knockdown that we and Erza delivered on them.

"Hey, Lucy's been out for a while now. What could be keeping her?" I asked as I remembered that Lucy got out of the room before an hour. Erza was just about to comment when the door opened and Lucy came in.

"Oh, hey Lucy!" I greeted. "We were just wondering when you were gonna come back."

She closed the doors behind her. "Yeah, sorry that I took so long… I had a lot to think about." She answered.

I eyed her curiously but decided to drop it. I was too tired to be stubborn.

"Well, I don't know about the two of you but I'm beat…" I said as I stretched and released a lazy yawn. I went to my sleeping bag and Erza followed.

"Yeah, me too." Erza said.

"It's pretty late, we should probably get some sleep." Lucy suggested as she was moving her sleeping bag next to ours.

"Agreed." Erza confirmed as she was nesting herself in her sleeping bag. I switched off the lights before I plopped down. We said our 'goodnights' and went to sleep for the night.

The other day we returned to the guild after patching Natsu and Gray up. It appeared that me an Erza got a bit carried away… Lucy was at the bar and looked really depressed. I didn't ask her why though… I cut my day short and I went home. I was just going to relax and use the day up for my hobbies. That included books and… music. Funny enough, I didn't let go of my musical talents. I even bought myself a guitar and a violin. I wanted to get a piano as well but for the moment I used the one at Fairy Tail when I felt the need to use it. Whenever I got the chance I would practice.

I wasn't good or anything, I just enjoyed doing it. Ok, maybe I had some knack on how things were to be done but I wasn't that good to make songs of my own. So I just sang what I remembered. I had some really nice songs from this world but I could remember some from my past life as well. Don't ask me how… I've listened to some songs more than hundreds of times… I would be surprised if I hadn't memorized them.

And so for the rest of the day I read a new book that I bought. It was an adventure book and it was a nice read. After that I practiced some of my singing with the guitar. It was currently around noon and the sun was slowly disappearing from the sky. It was at that moment that my door went flying. I looked up from my bed at the door as I held the guitar in my hands, not even flinching. I was already used to that happening to my poor door that didn't do anything to deserve this treatment. To my surprise I saw Gray who was panting. I was expecting Erza to be honest, she usually does that...

"I've got bad news Anora! It's Loke." I looked up at him confused. "He quit Fairy Tail and then ran away." My eyes widened. After he had informed me of the situation I got dressed and went to search for Loke with the rest of the guild. We looked all around Magnolia but we couldn't find him. I remembered where he was but I didn't know how to go there. We continued the search but we couldn't find him until Lucy came back from where she had went and told us everything that had happened. Everyone was relieved to hear that everything was ok.

After the events of that faithful night, Loke became one of Lucy's spirits. In the morning he came back to say hi to us and even gave us tickets to this exotic place.

And that's how our little team found it's way to the famous Akane Resort. Once we got over to the place we didn't waste any time. We got to the beach right off the bat. We ran around the beach, played volleyball, swam in the sea. We were enjoying ourselves.

After the day had passed we retreated back to the hotel that we had rented with the tickets that we had. I was currently on the balcony of my room, watching the sunset, a violet book in my hand.

I looked up at the opened book and read the summary of the time period I was in.

The Tower of Heaven period. After a vacation, Erza is kidnapped by her former best friends and is dragged to a huge building in the middle of the sea. She is brought in as a sacrifice to appease the tower and lend it strength to revive someone else. She meets with the one that holds her heart and fights to bury her demons, her friends helping along the way.

Aftermath: Someone D̷̸͜͏IE̕Ş̶̴͘͜

I read the last scribbled line with disgust and hate. I didn't remember every little detail but I knew the base of it and I was pretty sure that the event was going to happen very soon. No one is going to die on my watch! I sighed as I lay my diary on a nearby table. This was enough to put me into a bad mood.

'Maybe I should tell them?' I thought. 'Maybe… just to get it off my chest. They'll understand that I can't give them answers they crave for... right?'

'Oh, who am I kidding… Everyone will want to know something and the temptation of wanting me to tell them would be too strong.' I huffed. 'Maybe… someday…'

My train of thought was broken when Lucy and Erza entered my room, dressed in elegant dresses. Lucy had a long red dress while Erza had a violet one.

"Hey, Anora." Lucy greeted. "Come on out, let's have some fun down at the casino." She suggested.

"Be right there, I just need to put something more fitting." I was currently in my azure T-shirt and with a small skirt. Lucy and Erza exited the room to wait for me outside while I dressed in a jade dress that I bought not so long ago.

I sighed as I looked in the mirror. "I guess I should enjoy myself while I can…" I murmured as I went towards the door. The girls were waiting for me and we headed down towards the casino. We found ourselves playing poker. Erza was destroying everyone. Who knew she was so good at playing cards. Amidst the game I had the urge to go to the bathroom so I told them where I was going and went straight for the ladies room.

After I finished my job I got to the nearest sink and washed my hands. I looked up in the mirror and saw a girl with cat like ears stand behind me and my eyes widened.

"Me'ow" She said like a car and a magical circle appeared underneath me. I couldn't react in time and before I knew what hit me, I was tangled in an orange rope. I tried to use my magic but it looked like the binds were suppressing my powers.

'Damnit… I let my guard down.' I thought as I looked at her. "Who are you? What do you want?" I asked, already having a sneaking suspicion.

"You're Anora right?" The girl purred. "Where is Erzi-werzy?" She asked, ignoring my line of questioning.

"And what makes you think I'll tell you." I glared at her from the floor, where I was currently laying on. She grew a smirk and the ropes on my hands extended and bound my arms to my legs behind my back, starting to pull them together. I was in an 'O' shape and scince I wasn't fond of yoga, I did not like this one bit. It was quite painful.

"In about five minutes you are gonna be twisted up like a yummy little pretzel. I would talk right about now if I were you." She pointed her index finger at me.

"I won't tell you anything!" I yelled at her while my body was twisting in pain.

"Too bad…" She hummed and then touched her head. "Oh you found her?" She asked in ecstasy and then looked at me. "Well, I guess I don't need you anymore, Me'ow" The ropes started pulling more and more and my vision was getting woozy. I was starting to lose consciousness and the last thing I remember was someone telling her to stop.

When I woke up I found myself tied with the same rope to a wooden pillar on what seemed like to be a ship. I heard someone yelling my name and I looked to the side to see Erza, yelling at me. There was another person with blonde hair in front of her.

"Anora! You're awake." She then turned towards the man. "Why did you take her as well, she has nothing to do with this." She spat angrily.

"Oh but she does sis." The teen told her, looking at me. "Jellal told us that she is a key part of completing his plan." But as he looked at me his scheming face turned to confusion. I guess they finally notice my heavy case of motion sickness and that I didn't give a damn about anything that was going on at the moment.

"Why does she look like that?" The boy asked.

"She has motion sickness…" Erza answered him.

"You know…" I said weakly. "I'm your prisoner and all… can't… you just knock me out already?" I asked, trying not to puke as I talked.

The man hesitated but then knocked me out with a fist to the stomach.

'Here we go again… I hope this doesn't become a habit.' I thought as I was plunged into darkness once more.

After that I woke up in a cell with the most unusual view in front of me. The man that knocked me out when we were on the ship was now lying unconscious on the ground while Erza was removing her bounds. She looked at me as she removed the rope and then came over and untied me.

"Anora! Your finally awake…" She said with relief and sadness. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, this is all my fault." She said as she finished untying me. I rubbed my hands together and the put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a big smile.

"Oh come now Erza. You know that I don't mind being dragged around into dangerous places." I told her but she didn't say anything. "Now come on, we gotta get out of here." She agreed to that.

We ran out of the cell and down a huge staircase. There were a lot of guards in our way as we made our escape but they were nothing that could hold us back. The jade dress I was in was not suitable for combat and it got damaged heavily. At least in it's current form I could move more easily. We ran and ran, defeating guards along the way until we entered a room and found ourselves staring at our team.

"Hey guys!" I greeted.

Erza gasped. "It's you! What are you doing inside the tower!?" She yelled at them.

They told us that they came looking for us but Erza yelled at them to go back, telling me to go with them. Throughout her outburst, Natsu ran outside the room, towards the top of the tower, saying he needed to save Happy and that he wasn't going to leave this place without him.

Everyone tried to convince Erza to let us stay but then she did something no one of us expected… She gave us 'the puppy eyes'. Erza Scarlet just gave us 'the puppy eyes'. We were shocked to say the least. Afterwards she told us her tale, how she got to know the people that kidnapped her, how she knew about the tower and how it's owner, Jellal, had turned evil and made her look like she was the one who betrayed her old friends.

As she finished her story the teen from the cell before revealed himself at the entrance of the room.

He walked slowly towards us. "Sister… That's not true… W-Why are you lying to them?" He asked in disbelief. "You think that by making yourself the martyr you'll get sympathy from your friends? Tell them the truth! That's not how it happened and you know it." He yelled the last part.

"You blew up the boats with which we were going to escape and then you left on your own. We would've ended on the bottom of the sea if it hadn't been for Jellal. He saved us! He warned us not to trust wizards like you, who haven't learned to use their magic properly. He said that you had become drunk with magical power and that you didn't want to do anything with your past or the friends you left behind." He yelled at the brink of tears. Erza was looking with sad eyes towards him. It was at that moment that I snapped, drawing every pair of eyes in the room towards me.

"Are you a complete idiot!?" I yelled at him waving an index finger.

"Anora!" Erza tried to stop me but I stopped her with a wave of my hand. The blond teen, who I targeted with my rage, was watching at me with a shocked expression.

"You keep calling Erza 'sister' yet you have so little faith in her?" I asked sarcastically. "Do you even know her? She is one of the most kind and loyal people I've ever met. She would die before she betrayed someone." I shouted and he was staring at me with disbelief while Erza was looking at me, surprised.

"Did you ever think that maybe Jellal lied to you?" I continued my rant. "Oh look everybody, I'm a single person and I saw this girl with red hair just blew all of the ships at our disposal so we can't escape even though she was the one that initiated the fight for our freedom…" I said, impersonating a small boy. "Did you ever see her do it? Did you see a boat leave on it's own with Erza on it for you to believe that she left you on her own accord? Did you even think how could one girl escape that island alone without a boat? Do you even have any faith in the girl you so persistently call 'sister' ?" I was screaming right in front of his face right now. "If you ask me, you don't deserve to call her that. If you are going to so quickly cast her aside for the word of another, you better stop calling her that because that is disrespect on a whole new level and I'm warning you, I won't stand for anyone treating my friends like this!" At this point everyone's mouth was agape and the teen in front of me had tears in his eyes.

"Anora…" Erza said with a low voice.

"You weren't back then…" The teen said with tears in his eyes. "You don't know anything about us!" He looked at Erza. "After you left, Jellal's words were my only salvation." Erza lowered her head. "And that's why I spent all these years trying to finish the tower for him. I did it for his sake! And now you're telling me that it was all a lie?" He looked down. "You really expect me to believe that you are telling the truth and that Jellal's been lying to us this whole time?"

"That's right." A man with a metal jaw appeared out of the shadows.

He explained how he had spared Gray back at the casino and how he knew about Jellal from the start. He assured the blond teen that we were in fact telling the truth. Erza went to comfort the blond teen and the man told us that he planned to defeat Jellal and that he wanted our help. Of course, we agreed.

We headed deeper into the tower, ready to face Jellal. We were running along a corridor when suddenly, red eyes appeared on the walls and ceiling and the voice of a man was heard.

"I welcome you to the tower of heaven. My name is Jellal and I am the ruler of this place. I see that all the pieces have been arranged."

"Say what?" Gray commented.

"So he knows that we are here… He could be lurking anywhere in the tower. "The man that introduced himself as Simon, speculated.

"I'm delighted that you've come all this way to see me. Shall we play a round of Heaven's game? The rules are really quite simple. I wish to use Erza or Anora as a sacrifice in my ceremony to resurrect Lord Zeref." He explained and everyone in the room tensed.

"You know that I won't let you…" The edgy blond teen, murmured, gritting his teeth.

"If I succeeded the gates of heaven will open, crowning my victory. However… if you manage to find a way to stop me, you will be the winners of this game." He continued. "To make things more interesting, I've enlisted four knights to battle on my behalf."

"The only way to get to me is if you defeat them first. In other words a four on nine battle royal." He said. "And… there is one more surprise. The magic Council has the satellite square focused directly on this tower and it's highly likely that they will attack." Everyone gasped at the revelation. "At this very moment they are voting to decide if they should fire the Etherion blast. There is no telling how much time there is left. Should the Etherion strike, complete annihilation is eminent. No players left to win. Game over." He said calmly and everyone looked at the ceiling with shock.

"What kind of messed up game is this?" Lucy asked in panic.

"But that doesn't make any sense to me. Why would the Magic Council resort to such drastic measures?" Erza commented.

"Yeah… that doesn't really make sense indeed." I agreed.

Suddenly the blond teen turned Erza into a card.

"Erza!" I, Gray and Lucy yelled in unison from the surprise.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Simon asked, agitated.

"Now then… Let the game begin." Jellal finished and the red eyes disappeared.

"I won't let him lay a finger on her!" The blond guy reasoned. "Let me out of here!" Erza protested. "I 'll beat Jellal on my own if I have to!" The idiot ignored her and ran in a random direction. I was getting really frustrated with tha brat. He ment well but he had to listen when people with experience were talking to him.

"No! You can't do it alone." Simon called after him

"Idiot! Come back here! We need to stay together." I bolted after him. And just like that we were separated from the group.

He had the advantage on me and I didn't know which way he went but thankfully my nose and hearing served me well. I was able to track them down. At the end of the corridor I could hear two people arguing. It was them! I was nearing them. Before I could reach them though a third voice entered their conversation. A woman! I heard yelling and after that a big thud.

I entered a room with a bridge, leading towards a tree with pink leaves. The blond teen, kneeling on the ground, unable to move and a woman standing in front of him with a katana.

"Konichiwa, I am the one they call Ikaruga." She greeted me. I tensed as I sensed the power emanating from her. I took a battle stance. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Anora and if you don't back away now, things are going to get ugly."

"Ahhh… yes, the girl he spoke of…" The woman scanned me.

My interest was piqued. "Who spoke of me?"

The woman smiled. "You will find out in due time. Now if you could be as kind as to get out of the way… You are not mine to battle."

"Well too bad, cus I ain't movin' ." I readied myself for battle. "Be careful Anora, she is dangerous!" I heard Erza yell from her card prison. I nodded.

The moment I focused on my enemy though, I felt that something wasn't right… She was there, in front of me, but her scent and her ethernanos were moving at a lighting fast speed towards me. My eyes widened as I realized that she was attacking me without moving. I dodged to the side, a mark of sword cuts everywhere on the floor at the place where I stood before.

"Impressive… I didn't think that you were that skilled." She gripped the handle of her katana and narrowed her eyes at me.

Without more petty talk I lunged at her.

"Arcane Dragon Wing Attack." The twin swords appeared in my hands. I used them to block the attacks that I sensed, that she sent at me. I got close to her and tried to strike but she parried with her katana. We stayed like, with locked blades for a minute.

"As much as I would enjoy our little battle here, I am not the one who you should be facing." The woman released a coy smile. Then to my shock, she pushed my twin swords off her katana with ease and landed a crushing blow with her leg at my side, sending me flying into a nearby wall. The impact was so strong that I crashed right through a bunch of walls and finally landing and in a completely different room.

I stood up, holding my stomach.

"That hurt like hell... man…" I looked around. The room was cylindrical in shape, sort of like an arena. The room was very dark, not a single light in view. Thank god for my enhanced vision with which I was able to see somewhat better in the dark. The strange thing about the room was that half of the room mirrored the other half. My search was abruptly stopped as my eyes landed on a figure on the other half of the mirrored room. He was standing exactly at the same place as I was on his half. It was as if I was looking at a mirror but instead of seeing my reflection, I saw someone else. I looked at him more carefully now that my eyes had adjusted fully to the dark. He had short dark hair and a slim body. He was taller than me, probably a few years older. Dressed in a black and white tunic. Suddenly he spoke.

"Long time, no see… Anora." My eyes widened. How did he know me? Had we met before? "Come on… No, 'hi'? No, 'how you've been'?" He said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" I asked as I took a stance.

"My, my… Have you really forgotten me?" I eyed him, trying to find out who he was but I found nothing in my memory. "And here I thought that we would have a nice family reunion." My eyes widened in shock at his words as he let out a coy smile and the whole room lit up, revealing the form of the man standing in front of me. I looked with panic and shock into his deep, brown eyes.

"After all, I've been looking forward to meeting you again... little sis." He said giving me a big smile as he crossed his hands.

"Draco…" I said in a whisper as my mind raced and my whole body tensed. What was going on here?!

[The top of the Tower of Heaven.]

Narrator

Jellal stood in his throne, a table with a chess board on top of it near him. On it, small pieces with different shapes lay. Suddenly the man in the throne picked up the piece that represented a blue and violet dragon and moved it towards another piece that was a mirror.

"Brother versus sister... The Dragon versus it's reflection... My, my, this is going to be interesting…" Jellal said as he sat comfortably on his throne. A menacing smile, creeping on his face.

A/N: Oh, the cliffhanger be real… Yes, I know, I'm evil… tell me something I don't know. We are finally entering The Tower of Heaven arc and I am really excited. Mostly for what comes next. I've been planning the next chapter from the very beginning and I'm very eager to write it. I don't really know how to feel about this chapter, was it too rushed or was it going in a steady pace? Leave a review and tell me what you liked or didn't. It really helps me out and I can understand what you guys prefer.

See ya all in the next chapter.