"涅槃！"
The mini dragons were nuisances, but they were easy for Fate to knock out long enough for the 4 Exceeds to get past. Abygale was leading them to Nate and the others because Fate had asked her to, and they were making their way there slowly.
Abygale was far too enthusiastic about it. She continuously muttered under her breath that Nate was here, even if it meant that the end was near. It worried Fate because Abygale was basically only 3 months old or so, and Abygale shouldn't be worrying about the end of the world.
Fate wanted to meet Nate and the others because Abygale said that Nate was going to tell her about how she was going to save the world, which she doubted was true. Plus, other than Tanner, Abygale hadn't mentioned the names of anyone else. She had said Nate and the others, so there had to be more and Fate wanted to know who the others were. Especially if Abygale didn't know.
"WENDY!"
Wendy looked down to see Jordan. He couldn't fly up to her, Carla and Mira because he didn't have an Exceed or any kind of magic that would help him fly.
"Where's Lily? He's here, too, right? Sorry to Gajeel, but what else am I supposed to do, just sit around?" Jordan asked, talking to himself as he looked around for Lily.
He spotted the black Exceed, but before he could call out to him, he was picked up by something or someone. He looked up and his eyes widened, seeing Giggles.
"Giggles, why aren't you—"
"I was told to do what I wish here because Fate's being taken care of by the others. There are other reasons that I can't tell you, but... let's just fight, okay?" Giggles asked, cutting off Jordan. Jordan smiled and nodded.
"Alright... I'll be counting on you, Giggles." Jordan said.
"There's one more thing, Jordan Marone."
Jordan was confused.
"2 things: How do you know my full name and what is it?" Jordan asked.
"I just know." Giggles replied. "And my name isn't Giggles. It's Yuuki."
"Yuuki...? Like, Courage in Japanese?" Jordan asked. Yuuki nodded. "Alright then, Yuuki it is."
Fate was nearly out of magic power and there was no end to the mini dragons that were surrounding her, Abygale, Lector and Frosch. She was panting heavily, attacking the mini dragons one by one to keep them away, but she knew she would only last so much longer.
Lector suddenly yelled at her and she looked up, seeing a mini dragon dropping down straight above her. She knew she wouldn't make it in time and raised her hands up, unsure of what else to do.
"Hakai mahō: Kōgeki!"
Fate watched as the mini dragon was hit with an all-too-familiar magic, shattering. Fate sighed in relief, turning to Ruri with a smile. With her was Rory, which didn't surprise Fate. She was really glad to see them.
"Have you seen the others?" Ruri asked.
Fate knew that Ruri was worried about Cathy and that Rory was worried about Adam, and it was painful to have to shake her head even if it was the truth.
"Not since the beginning." Fate replied.
"Did you meet up with these 2?" Rory asked, referring to Lector and Frosch. Fate nodded.
"Lector saved me and they're pretty stubborn when it comes to protecting the people they care deeply about." Fate replied.
Lector laughed sheepishly, making Fate smile.
"Yah, but you're the same way, pipsqueak." Rory stated.
"And so do you!" Fate reminded, turning away from him partially before looking down at the ground with a smile. "I'll protect anyone who cares deeply about me, because I know that they'd do the same..."
Rory smiled, shaking his head because he was right.
"Fate..." Abygale mumbled. Fate nodded, turning to Rory and Ruri.
"We're going to meet up with some people. You coming?" Fate asked.
"Well, we can't leave you alone." Ruri replied, answering for the both of them.
Fate nodded once more before they all ran off, following Abygale.
Laxus and the Raijinshuu had jumped in to help fight Zirconis, leading the fight to the ground, but even with Laxus... Zirconis didn't take any damage. Laxus' lightning reflected off of Zirconis and everyone covered themselves before looking back up in disbelief.
'Even Laxus...' Jordan thought.
Jordan gritted his teeth as he watched Zirconis stand. Even with Laxus, Wendy and his attacks combined, Zirconis still stood with barely any trouble. He was standing with Wendy when Zirconis turned to face them. Zirconis suddenly charged at them and Jordan quickly pushed in front of Wendy, while Laxus ran in front of both of them.
Takanashi didn't know what was coming until she turned, seeing Niruth charging towards her with his mouth open. She froze when the dragon was right in front of her, no longer able to hear anything but her blood rushing through her body.
Suddenly, someone shoved her and ended up in the range instead. She looked to the left as she fell to the ground and her eyes widened, seeing Ethan straight in the path of Niruth's mouth. He said something and she read his lips, nearly hearing his apology before she screamed his name, her voice merging with Kurai's as he screamed the same thing she was.
When they all turned left, they weren't expecting to run into a bunch of mini-dragons and then to be surrounded by more. Luckily, there was an alley to turn down and they quickly turned and ran into it, but Lector slipped. Everyone turned and the mini-dragons got ready to fire just as Lector was standing. Fate suddenly held up her arms, and in an instant Lector was standing where she had been.
The mini-dragons fired and everything where Lector had been before he appeared in Fate's spot exploded. Everyone froze for a moment, taking it all in.
"Hey... weren't you just...?" Rory asked, not finishing his sentence.
"Lector... if you're here, then..." Ruri trailed off.
"Ms. Fate..." Frosch whimpered.
All of them had tears in their eyes and Abygale instantly ran out of the alley, straight past Lector.
"It's not true!" She screamed.
Destiny and Cass took down more mini-dragons, sighing in relief when no more of them showed up. Cass groaned, leaning against her twin brother.
"This is getting tiring as all Hell..." Cass complained.
"I left Akina and Namine to find you and Fate. You're with me and Fate has gotta be somewhere around here." Destiny stated, looking around for any sign of movement.
"Destiny, Cass...?"
Destiny jumped upon hearing Ruri's voice, smiling. Rory had to be with her and if Fate wasn't with them, they had to know at least the location she was in. He turned around with a smile, but upon seeing what he did his smile instantly faded. His eyes widened, filling up with tears, as his heart dropped. Destiny shook his head, hearing Abygale's little sobs and seeing everyone's tears.
"This isn't real... it's just a nightmare..." Destiny muttered under his breath. He grabbed Cass' shoulders and shook her. "Pinch me, slap me, anything! Wake me up!"
"I'm sorry, I can't! It's real!" Cass cried.
Destiny turned away from her, back to the others. He had hoped that she would open her eyes and smile, telling him it was a joke and that they all had gotten him and Cass. But she didn't and Lector walked forward with her in his arms.
Fate was unconscious in Lector's arms and every wound that hadn't healed yet had been ripped back open, bleeding along with the new injuries that had been inflicted on her. Not only was she bleeding, but she wasn't breathing. She was still and pale. She was dead and he didn't want to believe it.
Lector gave her to Destiny, who fell to his knees with her in his arms as he cried. Tears dropped onto her face, some rolling down it, as tears also streamed down his cheeks as far as they could. He heard Rory state that there was no pulse when they could get to her and even heard a sob escape his throat. Abygale's sobs killed him the most, but Destiny could only hold onto Fate's tightly as he whispered softly in her ear. He knew that she couldn't hear him, but he still did.
"I'm sorry that I didn't run after you... I'm sorry that I've always been an idiot and that I've never been able to protect you from anything. I love you more than anything, please don't be dead..."
When nothing happened, for some reason he got angry. Angry at himself, angry at her... just completely angry.
"What about James? What about Cass? What about Olivia and Ethan, and Abygale? What about Rory, Ruri, Lector, Frosch, Takanashi, everyone? What about me...?"
He didn't know why he was whisper-yelling at her, but he couldn't stop.
"What about Michael, Fate...? What about Micah...? He can't... you can't..."