Wow guys! We hit the 100 review mark! I'm so happy for all of your support. I don't know how I could repay you all! Maybe virtual cookies?
Boy, you guys are definitely going to hate me for the end as well. And probably for the middle... I'm actually surprised nobody killed me yet. But on the other hand if you kill me then you won't get any new chapters!
FrostWingedButterfly: But cliffhangers make everything more dramatic! Drama is everything! But I know my cliffhangers are mean
fanficFreakShingeki: I know my cliffhangers are mean :D But I hope this chapter will make it up... a little bit ;)
lilnightmare17: Here it is! Hope you enjoy it!
Alex: Thank you so much! And I somewhat understood that Italian, even though it was only the end! :D But I put it in Google Translator and I have to say thank you again for saying that the last chapter was one of the best! That makes me so happy! And Google didn't fail for once! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I have a bad feeling that you're going to make an attempt to kill me at the end. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
The group had gotten to a clearing just in time to see everything happen. Erza was the first to arrive to see the all familiar brunette on the ground ensnared in those magic nullifying whips. She was speechless. She had watched them take her down and how she took them out. She thought she was seeing a ghost.
"Kera?" That was the only thing she was able to say. She couldn't get anything else out. All the pain, the anger… it went all away seeing her there. She couldn't believe it.
Kera turned her head to see an all familiar red head. She blinked, was she real? No, she couldn't be. She was dead. She was…
"Erza?" She asked in disbelief. Her eyes went wide. Behind Erza she could also see the others all wearing shocked expressions.
She saw Erza run towards her and before she knew it the red head pulled her into a hug. Kera couldn't believe it. She was really alive. Erza was alive! And her able to feel her just confirmed that she was real.
"You're alive! You're alive! God, I thought you were dead!" Erza stated as she hugged Kera. The brunette smiled as she hugged her back. "I thought you were dead! Oh god…" Tears fell down her face.
But realization hit her as soon as the pain in her chest started acting up again. Immediately Kera pushed Erza back and she scrambled away. "No, no, no, stay away from me!"
Erza looked hurt and confused. "Kera, what's going on?" She tried to go to her, but the brunette simply backed away. "Just stay away from me! Just leave!" She shouted scrambling back. She tried to get up, but stumbled over one of the bodies and crashed into the ground.
You will be a danger to everyone around you.
Kera closed her eyes. No she wouldn't be a danger to them. Erza was alive and now she doesn't want her to die because of her. She wanted her friends to be safe.
Hands grabbed her shoulder. "Whoa, what's wrong Kera? You alright? Shit your still in all this snare." Natsu… he would understand if she would explain it.
She pushed him away as well. "Go! You need to go! Just get away from me!" She yelled at him. Natsu stood there confused. "What are you saying?"
Erza tried to go to her again, but Kera shook her head. Please don't make me say this Erza! Just please go!
"Kera, just calm down, we are here to help you." The red head tried to reason with her but she wouldn't listen.
"No! I don't need your help! Just go!" Kera yelled at her. "I don't need you!" I'm sorry about this Erza. "Just leave! I don't want to see you! Just leave me alone! I never want to see you again! I hate you!" She yelled.
The pink Dragon Slayer looked at Erza and saw her shocked expression. She looked hurt. Turning back Natsu yelled as he saw her scramble to her feet and running away.
Immediately he ran after her. He has no idea what's going on with Kera, but he was going to figure it out. There had to be a reason why she wouldn't want them here. Also she had hurt Erza, there had to be a reason!
Running through the forest he saw Kera ahead of himself. He noticed that the brunette was clenching at her chest as she ran. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong with her.
Dodging branches and jumping over roots, after five minutes he finally caught up to her and without thinking he tackled her to the ground. Kera immediately struggled and pushed him away while trying to crawl away, but Natsu dragged her back. "Kera! What's your problem!?"
Suddenly Kera's body was engulfed with flames, but he still kept a tight hold on her. "Kera! Stop this! You know flames don't hurt me!"
"This isn't me!" Kera yelled back in a pained tone.
The Dragon Slayer blinked. If this wasn't her, then…
"You have to get away Natsu! Please!" The brunette yelled as the fire started to burn on her own skin. That wasn't a good sign at all.
Natsu shook his head. "I'm not letting you go Kera! You better stop using magic and tell me what your problem is!"
"I can't control this!" She snapped at him as the pain got worse. All this emotional crap was quickening her death sentence. Before she knew it her magic let out a burst of fire before dying out… for the moment.
Kera fell to the ground as tears ran down her face. This was just too painful. Natsu finally let her go. "Kera… what's going on?"
He saw her crying and immediately felt sorry for her. Kera shook her head as she was still on the ground. "Please Natsu, just go! I don't want you to get hurt." She sobbed.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"
"I can't control my magic. It's growing too quickly. I'm literally going to explode and die and take everyone near me down with me. That's why I want you guys to go!" Kera yelled while crying.
Natsu finally understood. He sat cross legged on the ground as he comforted her. "So… everything you said back there…"
"Was just to get Erza and you guys away from me. I thought she died Natsu! Now that she's alive I don't want her near me because if she stays I'm going to kill her." Kera explained to him.
Hands pulled her up and she felt Natsu embracing her. "Hey Kera, calm down, everything is going to be fine."
She shook her head violently. "No it won't! My magic is going to explode and I'm going to kill everyone near me. I don't want that to happen!"
"Then we'll find a way to stop this." Natsu stated.
Again she shook her head. "There is nothing to fix Natsu. You can't stop this. It's just going to happen."
"Yea like hell it isn't." Kera looked up at Natsu shocked. He glared at her while he crossed his arms. "We thought you died Kera. We couldn't find you or anything. And after finding out you are alive, we're just supposed to let you die? No way! We're family and we take care of each other. Even if one part of our family is in danger of exploding."
Kera chuckled slightly as she wiped the tears away from her face. "Thank you Natsu, but… there's nothing you can do. I already accepted it myself."
"Do these outbursts happen often?" he asked cocking his head to the side.
Sighing she nodded. "Yea, lately it's happening a lot. God, today it already happened like almost five times and every time it gets more painful. It's almost my time Natsu."
Natsu grabbed her by the shoulders. "No it isn't Kera. Your time will be when you're ninety and old, not now. Maybe if we take you back, Master might find a way."
"And what if he doesn't?" Kera asked him. "Then I'll be there and I'll destroy the whole guild with everyone in it. Sorry Natsu, but this is just not going to happen."
"But what about Erza? You have to tell her that you didn't mean all those things you said." Natsu told her hoping she would understand.
Unfortunately Kera didn't. "I'd rather have her angry at me and alive, than dead. I'm fine with it Natsu and anyways, you could probably tell her why I said all those things."
"She's going to kill me, you know that?" He asked.
Chuckling again Kera nodded. "Yea I know."
The two sat there with a smile on their faces. Kera shook her head. "You guys are the best. I'm going to miss you all."
"You're not going to miss us, because you're going to survive this." Natsu told her.
She rolled her eyes. "Natsu, not this again. There is nothing you can…" She stopped as she was hit with something in the head. She slumped to the ground as her vision went black for a moment.
Opening her eyes she could see Natsu on the ground, dazed as well. Kera quickly regained her senses, but it wasn't fast enough. Hands grabbed her and dragged her back while someone tied something around her. Her eyes went wide as she saw the men.
No! No, no, no, no! This was not happening! She tried to struggle but the ropes were really strong. "Natsu!" She called out hoping he would hear her.
Luckily he did. Unfortunately the guy above him heard her as well. Natsu saw what was happening and started to get mad. "Kera!" He called out but the man above him pinned him to the ground.
"Get her tied up! Knock her out so she can't use her magic!" Someone called.
Kera tried to struggle and was about to use fire to burn the ropes, but something really hard hit her head that knocked her out immediately.
Natsu's eyes went wide as he saw Kera's body go limp. He snarled. "You bastards! You're going to pay for this!" He yelled struggling under the man's grasp.
He just laughed. "No we won't. But you're going to pay for interfering. Say goodnight." With that Natsu also felt something hard hit his head before his world went black.
The others, even after ten minutes, were still at the clearing not believing what had happened. They had found out their friend was still alive, but wanted them gone.
Erza can't believe Kera said that she hated her. Why would she say something like that?
"You okay Erza?" A voice asked her. The red head looked up to see that Lucy looked at her worried. She gave her a small smile. "Yea, just…" She didn't continue.
Gray got worried as well. Gajeel on the other hand didn't. He simply rolled his eyes. "What's hard to get? She said she didn't want to see us or you. Can we leave now?" He asked
Both Lucy and Gray shot him a glare that would have killed him, if looks could kill.
Lucy turned back to Erza and laid a hand on her shoulder. "There's probably a reason why she said all that."
"And there is."
A woman with white long hair stepped out of the forest. She walked to them with a smile. "So you have finally found your friend."
Gray and Gajeel got ready to fight, but the woman just laughed as she raised her hands. "Do not worry children. I am no enemy. In fact I am a friend. I am the one who took care of Kera when I found her in the water."
"You are?" Erza asked standing up. "But how? The others said they looked all over the ocean and couldn't find her!"
The woman gave her a warm smile. "You must be Erza, I presume?"
The red head nodded causing the woman to chuckle. "You definitely aren't dead."
"I don't get…"
"Guys!" They all turned around and saw Natsu stumbling out of the forest. The woman acknowledged him and let him speak what was on his mind.
The Dragon Slayer was out of his breath. "T-These guys… they… they got Kera!"
"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted except for the woman.
She just lowered her head shaking and sighed. "Oh dear, I hoped this wouldn't happen again."
Natsu blinked as he saw the woman. "Who are you?" He asked.
"I am Kaya, I am the one who took care of your friend when she was washed up in the ocean, badly injured." She explained to him.
He nodded, but quickly turned to the equip mage. "Erza! Listen to me. What Kera said, she didn't really mean it." He said while grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a bit.
She gave him a confused look and he started explaining on the spot. "I don't know everything, but she said something about her magic. She can't control her magic and that she was going to explode or something and take everyone down that is near her. That is why she wanted you to go. That is why she wanted us to leave."
Lucy frowned. "What do you mean with explode?"
"I can answer your questions if you like." Kaya told them. "It would probably be best if we head to my house so we can talk. There is a lot that you don't know about Kera I presume."
Somehow they all looked at Erza for advice. The red head just sighed. "Alright, we'll come with you, but we would like to know everything you know."
"Of course." Kaya smiled.
They all walked back to the place where there were scorch marks on the ground. They were confused why she would come here, but Kaya turned around a corner and to their surprise there stood a house.
She entered the house and went to the kitchen. "Go ahead and sit down, I'll be right there with some tea."
The others all walked into the living room and sat down, but something hard hit both Natsu and Gajeel. They both held their heads. Lucy turned to Natsu. "Is everything alright? What's wrong?"
"This smell." Natsu grunted.
Gajeel nodded. "It's so familiar."
Lucy and Erza gave each other a confused look while Gray just rolled his eyes. They were just overreacting. "It's probably just some familiar scent or something."
Natsu shook his head. "No, it's so familiar, gah it's…"
"Tea's ready!" Kaya called as she walked in the room with a kettle in her hands. Right as she entered both Natsu and Gajeel snapped their heads towards her.
Then it suddenly hit them like a brick wall. Their eyes went wide as they finally recognized the scent. How could they forget? Shocking everyone the two boys went down on one knee and bowed down their heads.
Lucy, Erza and Gray were shocked seeing this. Natsu shook his head. "We apologize for our behavior your majesty." All of their eyes went wide.
Don't kill me! I know I'm mean with cliffhangers at the moment, but they are just so perfect! I hope you enjoyed the chapter somewhat! And... there was a bit of a reunion! At least they know the other is alive! Don't forget to leave a review behind!
Until next time!