As of this chapter, everyone's ages (youngest to oldest). If there is a second parenthesis after their birthday month, that is how old they are starting at the present time of the chapter, in late March. Also, Jura is 16, and Ichiya is 18. I haven't picked out months yet.

Levy – 6 (July)

Lucy – 6 (June)

Juvia – 6 (April)

Max – 6 (March) (now 7)

Brandish – 6 (February) (now 7)

Cana – 7 (July)

Laki – 7 (February) (now 8)

Freed – 9 (September)

Evergreen – 9 (August)

Nab – 9 (June)

Bickslow – 10 (October)

Elle – 10 (May)

Laxus – 13 (November)

Erigor – 16 (December)

Reedus – 16 (January) (now 17)

Enno – 20 (August)

Wakaba – 26 (November)

Macao – 26 (September)

Layla - 26 (August)

Jude – 28 (December)

Gildarts – 36 (April)

Porlyusica – 68 (November)

Makarov – 77 (March) (now 78)


Chapter Forty Five - Ultear

Laxus and I left in March.

Honestly, I didn't really register everything that happened within those first few months of X774, other than the birthday celebrations. After Enno, Macao and Wakaba had thrown their birthdays out for celebration, we began celebrating everyone's birthdays.

Reedus was first, in January, and turned 17. After that, Brandish turned seven in February. While Reedus celebrated by painting everyone, Brandish celebrated by shrinking all the boys down into little dolls to play with (to also celebrate moving on to changing the mass of living beings).

As you can imagine, the boys were not very happy (though I personally think that a miniaturized Laxus is adorable, and I caught Enno playing with a shrunken Macao.

While I did drop by Laki and Max's places for their birthdays, we heavily spent the beginning of March celebrating Makarov's seventy eighth birthday (where there was a huge party and we all had to leave because someone *cough* Makarov *cough* invited a shit-ton of strippers.

It was a little harder dragging Laxus and Reedus out the door than it would have been otherwise, and Enno dragged out Macao by his ear. He also grabbed Wakaba and Gildarts, claiming that if he couldn't enjoy the strippers, neither could they.

They slipped away when Enno was busy tearing into Macao, though.

Erigor came along pretty well. Wonder if he's gay.

Wonder who I can ship him with.

But then my cards monitoring Gray went off – he had started learning magic.

And we had to leave.


"So…..who's who, exactly?" Laxus asked.

I pointed at the corresponding people. "That's Gray, he's Cana's age. Lyon is a year older, and Ur is the woman teaching them."

"And OH MY MAVIS THAT WOMAN IS NAKED!"

I punched him as Ur finished stripping down. "Quiet down, you idiot. It's how they learn ice magic. And she's still in her underwear."

Laxus finally tore his eyes off of Ur and noticed the boys stripping down, too. "They're the strippers you were talking about, aren't they?"

"Yep."

I requipped my five cards and went over them.

"And who are those?" Laxus asked. "And what does it mean?"

I pointed at Ur, Lyon, and Gray's cards, as they brimmed with magic, even slightly frosting over the cards. "Those belong to the three of them, and it means they're practicing magic."

"And the other two?" he asked.

I pointed to Ultear's, which was sparking dangerously. "That means she's being tortured."

"Tortured?" Laxus asked.

I nodded. "Several months ago, I searched for her, but I've been unable to find her location. I know that she eventually escapes, which is what we're waiting for."

He nodded. "And the last one?"

"That means he's dead," I said. "But active."

He blinked at me, before yelling. "What does that even mean, Elle?"

I shushed him, glad that the ice wizards didn't have any sort of superb hearing. "One of Zeref's demons is a necromancer, and he ended up bringing this man back to life. He's hovering in between life and death. I'm hoping you can restart his heart and save his life."

He stared at me before saying, "Are you using me as a human defibrillator?"

"Yes."

"Dammit, Elle!" he said. "Are you telling me you need me here the whole year so you can bring him back to life?"

"No," I said. "And hush."

He stopped and looked at me.

"I don't need you the whole year, but I'd like you the whole year," I said. "Your help would be great. Also, now that I've got Saturn down and the basics of Mercury, I only have two elements left – Ice and Lightning."

Laxus froze and looked around, before turning to me. "You're planning on learning those this year, aren't you?"

I nodded. "I need to surround myself with the cold so I can learn Uranus."

"And you're planning on using me to learn Jupiter, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but it's more than that." I looked away and smiled, deep in thought. "I love the kids, all of them, but they can be a bit crowding." I turned and smiled at Laxus. "I want to spend some time with my best friend!"

He sighed and crossed his arms behind his head. "Fine, I guess I can stay here with you. Geez…."

I smiled at him, and pulled out a stick, which I wrapped up and set on fire. "Here you go; I can tell you're starting to get cold, even if you are running at a hotter temperature because of your powers."

He glared at me and took the torch. "Seriously, why do you carry sticks around?"

"I SAID NO QUESTIONS!" I yelled, ignoring him.

"You also said no yelling!" Laxus shouted back.

At that, we both quieted down.

One of my cards beeped, and I was brought back to it.

"What does that mean?" Laxus asked, pointing to Ultear's card.

I smirked. "It means she's escaped." She was in range, and the magic on the card could tell that her location wasn't being blocked anymore.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"We need to intercept Ultear before she can get the wrong impression."

"That's great and all," Laxus said. "But it would be a lot more helpful if I knew who the hell you were talking about."

"Ultear is the girl who was getting tortured," I said. "She's a year younger than me (I think), and she has the same problem with Magic Overload. Her mother, Ur, didn't know what to do, so asked the Bureau who claimed they could help. They didn't, and instead told Ur that her daughter died, and continued to experiment on Ultear."

"Why didn't you just ask this Ur lady to take you to the Bureau?" Laxus asked, jerking his head over to Ur.

I froze, then grabbed my head. "Because I'm a fucking idiot. Ahhhhhhh!"

I got up and started to pace. "Since we're going to spend so much time together, I might tell you more about what happens in the future, because I obviously need another opinion."

I stopped pacing and turned back to Laxus, who was staring at the three of them (but mostly Ur). He noticed I caught him and blushed, trying to focus on something else.

"So...they practice Maker Magic?" Laxus asked somewhat desperately.

I ignored Laxus's hormones and nodded. "Yes. I'm hoping that by copying their training, I might be able to get Uranus. It's kind of how I learned Mercury with Maggie."

Laxus nodded. "I get it."

Honestly, I barely know Mercury, at all, and I was hoping to spend some more time training that element, too.

That night, I set up our tent, and we crawled inside. I activated one of Cana's Fluff Cards so we would have a bed and such, and we would spend our night camping out together (to conserve heat) and talking, waiting for Ultear's appearance.


Less than two days later, my card went off, signaling that Ultear had entered a two hundred-foot range. I perked up from where Laxus and I were sitting, watching Ur, Gray and Lyon practice magic. I decided to hold off on learning any new magic until we solved the situation with Ultear, though I did work on Mercury a bit more (not that it helped any).

"Give me a sec," I told Laxus. "I'll call if I need you."

I teleported to the other side of the clearing, where Ultear was standing, watching her mother laugh with her pupils from between the trees.

"Unforgivable," she whispered.

"Don't be stupid!" I said.

Ultear jumped, swirling around to look at me. "Who are you?"

"I'm the person who is going to fix this," I said. "Look, you think your mother…what, betrayed you or something?"

Ultear glared. "Yes."

I rolled my eyes. "Ultear, the Bureau told your mom that you died. Alright? She thinks you're dead. She cries over you, night after night. She took on two pupils to distract herself, and so she could focus on practicing her magic."

Ultear froze, before looking away and saying, "I don't believe you."

God, she was stubborn.

"Look at it this way," I said. "You go down there. Don't say anything, except maybe 'mom' or whatever, and just show her you're alive. If she has a bad reaction, I'll jump down, grab you, and take you away. And then we can go where we want. You can go back to the Bureau, if you want to. You can come join my guild, Fairy Tail. I know that you were having problems with Magical Overload, and I've had similar problems. It can be a bit difficult, but we're working on it. The choice is yours."

Ultear hesitated, before slowly nodding.

"No!" a voice cried.

Brain appeared from the shadows. "I won't let you take her away from me!"

I gaped at him. Was he following her all this time? Why? Did he expect her to turn around, and go back to the Bureau? Was he just playing with her? Would he have kidnapped her back if she decided to do something different? What the hell type of plan would he even have?

No time to think about this, Elle.

"Ultear, run. Go to your mother, and run," I said. "I'll hold him off."

"You can't!" Ultear said, as I requipped my bracelet away.

I wish I had known this was coming.

"I can," I said, looking back at her. "Go!"

"Dark Capriccio!" Brain shouted, and a spiral of dark magic headed for me.

"Venus's Reflective Shield!" I shouted, holding up the barrier and blocking his attack. It bounced off the shield, but dissipated before it could strike Brain again.

Ultear looked at me in shock.

"Go, Ultear!" I shouted. "I'll be fine, but you need to leave, now."

Frightened, she nodded, and ran off, shouting, "Come back safely, Nee-san!"

"I will," I said, determinedly.

Despite the distance, I could hear Ultear shout, "Mama!" and the resounding blubbering and explosion of happiness coming from Ur. But Ultear tried to get her mother's attention. "No, Mama, we need to go! It's not safe, the evil man is coming!

"The what?" Ur asked.

"The evil man, we need to go, now!" Ultear said, dragging them away.

Ur didn't move. "Ultear, what on Earth are you talking about?"

"He's coming back!" Ultear yelled, starting to cry. "Don't you understand, he's trying to take me back to that place and hurt me again!"

"Well, then we gotta hurt him, first!" Gray shouted.

"Don't be an idiot," Lyon said, punching Gray. "Oh, wait. You can't help it."

For an ice wizard, that's some burn.

Ultear screamed and broke down, clutching her head. "Don't you understand!" She cried. "Won't you help me? Unforgivable... Unforgivable."

I nearly facepalmed. If Ur didn't get Ultear away quickly, Ultear would be liable to go dark, and all of this would be your nothing.

At least I think so.

Damn, I wish I had read a bit more on psychology.

Ur must have realized something, because she yelled, "Ice-Make; Wall", scooped up Ultear and ran off, calling the boys after her, leaving behind a wall of ice separating her from us.

Fuck.

I was kinda hoping for Ultear to run and send her super badass Wizard Saint Level Mama after Brain to kick his ass. While she and the boys ran safely away, of course.

I probably should have been a lot clearer with Ultear, and it was just sort of unlucky that Ultear didn't mention someone else fighting the enemy, or Ur might have joined in anyway.

Well, it was no biggie, right? I had Laxus.

"Laxus!" I shouted.

I really hope he wasn't stuck behind that wall.

"Calling for help, girl?" Brain sneered.

"So what if I am, you pillock?" I yelled.

"What is a pillock?" Brain asked.

I waved a hand dismissively. "It's British."

"What's that?"

Damn you, Mashima.

I shook my head and grit my teeth, focusing back on the fight. My magic was shaky, and I didn't know if it was because it didn't have to time to settle back into my container before being used, or if it was something else, but this was not what I wanted to do right now. In addition to that, since he used such dark magic, Venus would be the best element to fight against him with. The others wouldn't be nearly as effective.

"Beams of Venus!" I yelled. A series of beams the size of my fists exploded towards him, burning him and roughing him up, but I knew it was gonna take more than that to put him down.

"Dark-"

"Lightning Dragon Wing Attack!"

Laxus appeared in front of me. "Don't. Touch. Her." He hissed.

"What's this?" Brain asked. "A Dragon Slayer?"

"Yeah," Laxus retorted. "Which means that it shouldn't be hard to slay you at all."

Brain's eyes widened. "Oh, I know you! You're Ivan's boy!"

Laxus froze. "W…what?"

"How are you liking the lacrima?" Brain asked. "I told Ivan that it could be a bit rough on you, but he convinced me to give it to him. And I see it was a success!"

"What?" Laxus whispered.

"It seems that the right eye was point of entry…" Brain was muttering to himself.

My anger built. He was purposefully manipulating Laxus. I had no idea what it would do, but "Cleansing Power of Venus!"

It wasn't meant to be a battle spell, and (now that I think about it) would have been just as handy as using Venus's Sword on Cana.

But because he used such dark magic (and, you know, was such a piece of shit)...

The spell struck him hard, and he let out a loud yell of pain, before shouting, "Dark Gravity!"

My body slammed onto the ground, and I could nearly feel my bones creaking under the pressure. My spell faded, and Brain's laughing filled the clearing.

I tried teleporting, only to find it didn't work. Brain's laughing continued as I struggled under the weight; "You're trying to teleport away, aren't you? Don't you know? You can't teleport in a manipulated gravity field."

Damn. That meant it was up to Laxus.

My eyes moved to him, and I could still see Laxus pinned to the ground not too far from me, though it was obviously at a much lighter pressure.

Or maybe mine was just stronger because he didn't like me.

"Laxus," I whispered as Brain moved closer. "Snap out of it…"

"…gravity can't hold light."

With a snap, Laxus shifted into his Lightning Body, and charged at Brain, generating up his power to take him on.

"Dark Gravity!" Brain repeated, trying to hold Laxus down. Nothing happened, and Laxus came closer. "Dark Gravity!" he yelled again.

Except he was obviously going for a different tactic – if he couldn't stop Laxus, he'd just hurt me.

I couldn't hold back the cry of pain as I felt the weight increase. Almost as if someone was standing on my bones, ready to snap them in half.

A very different part of me was reminded of the commercials about elephants sitting on people – I think it was for depression?

Not the time, Elle!

Another shout left me as the weight shifted.

Laxus froze.

"Not another move, boy, or I break her bones," Brain hissed.

Laxus didn't move. Neither did Brain.

Neither did I, but I couldn't really help it.

"It seems we are at a stalemate," Brain said quietly.

"Laxus," I said quietly, at a level Brain couldn't hear. "Close your eyes…NOW! Blinding Light of Venus!"

Brain let out a cry of pain as the light assaulted his eyes, and I shouted. "Go, Laxus!"

"Lightning Dragon Roar!" Laxus shouted, sending the biggest roar I'd seen so far at Brain, which hit him dead on.

When the light vanished, it revealed a crispy, half-blind Brain. "That won't be enough to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I requipped the giant CHLOROFORM that I had tucked away in my requip storage. Despite being nearly five months old, it did the job well enough, landing on Brain and knocking him out, with the addition of the smell keeping him unconscious longer.

With him out of the picture, the weight on me vanished, and I was able to breathe easily again.

"Elle?" Laxus asked, coming around to my side and kneeling down. "Are you okay?"

I sighed. "Next time, can you get hurt?"

He chuckled a bit. "How about neither of us get hurt?" He paused, thinking. "Why didn't you use Pluto's Body?"

I shook my head, still lying buried in the snow. The CHLOROFORM was far away enough that it didn't drift over just yet. "No way, it's too close to Darkness Magic. There's a chance he could take control of me."

He nodded grimly. "Did you do what we set out to accomplish, today?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, smiling. "Yeah."

I paused, before continuing.

"You gonna tell me what all of the possessiveness was?" I teased, smiling up at him. "'Don't. Touch. Her.'"

I mimicked.

He blushed, looking away. "What, you're my friend and dragons are territorial or something, right? So I'm just keeping my friend safe..."

I nodded. "Mmmhmm, what ever you say, you stupid tsundere."

"NOT A TSUNDERE!"


I didn't want to get up anytime soon, so instead Laxus carried me to our camp, on the other side of the clearing. He let me lay in the snow as he packed up most of our camp, after hearing my reasoning that the Ice Mages probably wouldn't return to that practicing spot, and so we should move, too.

Laxus finished packing and he spent a few minutes by the fire as I laid sprawled on the ground, before I was finally ready to get up, and requip it away.

With the tent and our other supplies all in my storage, I pulled out my bracelets and put them back on. I also pulled out one of their pins so I could track where Ultear and the others went. Once Brain woke up, he'll probably realize the same thing I had, and dismiss the spot and disappear.

With one action, I have already solved several problems. The ripples caused by Ultear going dark weren't going to happen, and that alone should save several lives.

Now, I just need to talk to her.


Sorry about the wait. But I'm back now! :)

I also thought that Teleportation was a bit too handy, if you get my drift. So I ended up giving it some limitations. Also thank you, EdenAngel7 for helping me work out the kinks in some of the chapter.