The hallway opened into a giant, circular, stone brick room. The walkway ahead dipped into a bowl-like floor with a tower standing in the center. Resting atop it was a giant spherical lacrima glowing with power. Zero stood at the bottom.
His evil chuckling brought ashes. Melted black stained the ground. But time had passed and there had been years of growth. Over a decade of training urged her to stab through Zero's chest and make him watch it be crushed with bare hands.
Her foot shifted. Zero's red eyes turned to her. She lifted her foot and stomped on the stone brick ground, using Sound Burst to propel herself into the air. "Solid Weapon: Polearm!" Laura shouted, turning her words into a crystallized pink polearm as she fell back down. The blade pointed at Zero's head, but he only took a step forward to dodge.
The blade pierced into the stone and Laura used it to kick herself up and swing her legs around to kick his head. He shifted his torso downwards to dodge again. She lifted the polearm from the ground and swung it at him before stabbing, then created a dagger and threw it as the polearm blew away like dust. Zero had effortlessly avoided all of it.
She leaped back and crouched down, catching her breath while anticipating his attack.
"Don't go fighting on your own! We're a team, remember?" Natsu shouted from his spot, which he hasn't moved from since arriving.
"I know what I'm doing," Laura called back.
Zero cast his hand out and pointed his two fingers at her, "Dark Capricio!"
She jumped out of the way, but he moved his arm to change the magical beam's direction. The green magic chased after her. She created a pink dome from his crazed laughs, which only lasted a few seconds. The beam shot through and hit her.
Laura's head hit the ground and she couldn't react in time to completely block the next hit, then the next. Natsu's yelling directed the attention to him and he started swinging flaming fists and kicks at Zero. None of them landed a hit.
Let's try this again… Using Crystal Armour, a glove formed from the sound of her breaths. She straightened her back and pointed her arm out, carefully aiming at Zero. Natsu had backed away when Zero had attacked. Before she could attack, someone else's fire magic hit Natsu and knocked him to the ground.
"Who's there?!" Zero's furious voice echoed throughout the room. Laura shook her arm and blew the glove away. Maintaining it hurt too much.
Coming from one of the hallways stood a young man with blue hair and a fancy red mark around his eye. His hand was glowing with fire.
"Jellal!" Natsu growled. Lyla had reacted similarly when they were looking for Wendy. From what she had gathered he was a man who was once Erza's friend, but then he had done something horrible and betrayed her and caused everyone else to despise him.
Looking around, Zero spoke to Jellal, Jellal spoke to Zero and Natsu, and Natsu couldn't take his eyes off of Jellal. They were all distracted. They forgot a woman stood behind them. A single sound outside of their voices and they would be reminded of her.
They had to destroy the lacrima in sync with the other five, so breaking it while everyone had eyes on someone else would be no use. If something could be timed to match the countdown…
Pockets. Laura had pockets. Bags of dust bombs. She always kept some on her. They weren't destructive but could work in her favor with enough ingenuity.
"Did you forget flames don't work on me?!"
"Yes, briefly, but I remembered just in time."
Some of the conversations slipped through the planning. The string on Laura's cloak had her preoccupied. If she could get a long enough strand…
"Only you can stop Zero." Jellal's words slowed her, but she got back on track. She growled softly at the string. How difficult could tying thread around a pouch be?!
"Only my memories of Natsu had returned. I'm determined to stop Nirvana."
So Jellal has amnesia…
"Yes!" Laura whispered in triumph. All of her dust bombs were tied in a line. She secured them around her waist and took out a final pouch. She scanned the area, then locked onto the lacrima towering above her.
"It's time to make amends. I want to help protect Wendy's guild."
That got her attention.
Amends? Jellal had done villainous things to Fairy Tail no one would forgive him. Everyone would cast him out or throw him in jail. That's what happened to all criminals, of course.
"I don't believe you!" Natsu jumped up and right hooked Jellal's cheek. It made her flinch, but she expected that reaction.
He grabbed the collar of Jellal's dark cloak and lifted him, continuing to yell. Hesitantly, Laura counted her steps backward and imagined the impact. She took a few more steps back and poured the dust onto the floor. Then she tossed the empty bag aside and rubbed the pile of dust into the floor, making it stand out from the debris from fighting Zero.
Zero… Rage coursed through Laura. "How pathetic. If you're going to argue, must you do it in front of me?" He cast his arm out and green magic slithered from his hand. Jellal jumped in front of Natsu and took the hit.
It didn't kill him, but he collapsed in pain.
"Why Jellal?" Natsu echoed Laura's thoughts. No efforts could redeem him for whatever he had done. If Fiore -The kingdom- couldn't forgive a couple of thieves, how could he even live?
"Go ahead and kill me, if that's what you have to do." Jellal said through grunts of pain, "But first, let me give you the power you need to defeat him." He held out his hand. Golden flames sparked to life in his palm. Natsu stared at it in awe. Laura did as well. Such pure gold. Somehow, no smoke followed the flames.
Natsu took Jellal's hand and the flames traveled to his body. He started scarfing it all down. Zero let him.
Jellal hadn't been forgiven yet. It would take more than a few actions to earn that honor.
Natsu charged at Zero, finally landing a hit. He picked him up and threw him across the room. Laura jogged to Jellal, slowing her pace as she neared him.
Her shadow caught his attention. She glared at him with a dark look, but he kept a still face.
"I have no memory of you." He said calmly.
"We met in the cave." Laura's stone words were followed by Natsu's Fire Dragon Roar in the background. She waited for the spell to finish before continuing, "Why do you want to stop Nirvana?"
"To save Wendy's guild."
"You think that'll prove anything?"
Jellal smiled, "As I said, I want to make amends for my actions. Even if I don't remember them."
She frowned, a touch of anger in her voice, "I wasn't there when you attacked Fairy Tail, but I know you did things worse than me." She crouched down, "What makes you think your pointless actions will do anything?"
His voice didn't falter. He stared into her and told her, "I know I will most likely never make up what I've done, but I don't have to be a 'good' person to help."
He turned to look at Natsu. Laura did the same. Golden flames engulfed his body. He- He was a good person. Laura wasn't, but they could still work together.
"Salamander!" Laura stood up, all eyes now on her, "Take care of that bastard! I got the rest."
Natsu's lips pulled back into a determined grin. "Alright! You got it!"
Then the ground cracked beneath him. A green light shone through just before it crumbled and dropped him several floors. Zero stood up after casting the spell and peered over the edge of the gaping hole left behind.
"Don't tell me I've already defeated the mighty dragon slayer."
Laura formed her glove again, pointing her arm at his shoulder blade. She gripped her arm to prepare for recoil and fired. The piece of armor flew across the room and slammed right into the target. He fell back and into the hole.
She hurried to the edge and watched him fall deeper into the dark. He didn't scream or yell, just grinned up at her with that sickening mockery of a smile. It took some time before green magic and fire were thrown at each other at the bottom.
Laura recollected her thoughts and brought herself back to the task. It was going to be a few more minutes before everyone would destroy their designated lacrima.
With nothing else to do, she walked to the spot she marked and sat in the dust. She closed her eyes and listened. The last few spells made her ears bleed once more. Her mother's ears didn't bleed when using magic. The woman had known something about her powers and never got the chance to tell Laura. Now, the daughter had to use her magic sparingly.
Freezing and gathering noise pierced her ears. She had to concentrate on the sound, then listen to its pitch and volume morph and transform as she collected it into armor or weapons, or scatter it into sand or harden it into a protective dome. It would change to such extremes that the human ear couldn't pick up, but her ears could, and it hurt every single time.
Time passed slowly. Three more minutes to count down. Laura snapped the thread and held the line of pouches in her hands. She couldn't waste any magical energy. The lacrima would have to shatter with one spell.
Three minutes… Laura placed the pouches in her lap. It's been too long since she's let out a soft hum, then captured it in her palms. Pink light glowed around the hum. It grew louder, then quieter, then higher and lower. The skill had become easier after years of practice, but the song would occasionally falter or change into the wrong note. She still had no complete control over it. A factor could be not practicing for years straight. Perhaps she had gotten worse since last time. Unlike her mama...
Something rumbled underneath. A massive quantity of magical energy exploded from lower floors in Nirvana. The time! Less than thirty seconds.
Laura jumped up. She stared the lacrima down. A single small bag of dust made a soft thump when hitting the ground, but a reasonable supply of them with sound magic could make the whole city deaf.
Brilliant!
Fifteen seconds, then ten. Laura took a deep breath and braced herself. She took the thread and the end of the line and swung it in the air. She swung it down as quickly and as hard as possible. Dust flew everywhere.
"Magnify!"
The small thumps on old stone multiplied in volume and became an explosion. He threw her arms out in the lacrima's direction. It cracked, then shattered under the pressure.
Nirvana shook and started to fall. It threwLaura to the wall and smoke and dust filled the room. Her eyes watered and she couldn't stop coughing.
"Hey! Laura!"
Her head turned to the source. Natsu waved at her between clouds of smoke and dust. She stood up and approached him on wobbly legs. The whole floor started to crack around them. Rocks and rubbled fells from above.
They exchanged looks and wordlessly communicated. Run.
Laura bolted down the closest hallway. Jellal didn't fall too bar behind her and Natsu. Sounds were muffled and distant. She couldn't hear where the rocks would fall. It was a pain.
A voice shouted, but the blood made it indistinguishable. Something grabbed her arm and pulled her back right before a boulder crushed into the ground.
Hoteye had her arm. He held Natsu and a mostly unconscious Jellal on one arm. Then he picked her up and used his earth magic to drill a hole through the ground and to a safer spot.
Richard. He wanted to be called Richard. Nirvana had converted him to the 'good' side, so now he helped others with no selfish gain in mind.
Nirvana's shaking grew softer. Soon enough, Richard popped up from the ground and announced himself to the other wizards.
Trees surrounded them. They were on a wide dirt path in the middle of the forest. Nirvana could be seen in the distance, still falling and crumbling on impact. Wendy, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Happy, Carla, Ichiya, and Jura had regrouped. The sight of Jura still alive left a good feeling in Laura's chest.
Richard placed Laura, Natsu, and Jellal on the ground. Wendy ran up and hugged Natsu full of happy tears. Laura couldn't hear every word clearly, but the overall conversation seemed… wholesome.
They stopped hugging and high-fived each other. Laura walked up and tapped Wendy's shoulder, pointing at her ears.
She held her hands out. Laura kneeled and let Wendy do her whole glowing hands things.
"How do you get your ears hurt twice in one day?"
Words became clearer, but washing out the blood later would help.
"I can be reckless."
Now being healed, she could hear chains and heavy, synchronized footsteps. A large group of armored men approached them. Laura stayed alert, but let everyone else congratulate each other on defeating Nirvana and the Oracion Seis. No more Zero, no more Brain, no more Bureau.
"Who's that?" Gray asked quietly. The alliance turned to Jellal leaning against a small wall of rock away from them.
Laura gave a sidelong gaze to Erza. According to the minuscule context she had received, she had been hurt the most by him.
"It's Jellal." She stated. Gray and Lucy had reacted negatively to it. Wendy started to explain to them his amnesia.
Laura found an empty spot and sat cross-legged. She listened to the armored footsteps. They were much closer. The people knew exactly where they were going. She had used all of her magical energy, and physical attacks would be useless.
"My face!"
Ichiya couldn't move forwards. Something invisible smushed against his face when he tried. With closer inspection, the group found solid script magic surrounding them. It contained them in an invisible box. Everyone freaked out while Laura sat in silence.
The footsteps grew louder until soldiers surrounded the wizards. All were dressed in iron armor and wore the crest of the Magic Council.
"There's no need to panic. We mean you no harm." One council member stepped forward. He stood tall with long hair neatly brushed and held up in a bun. He introduced himself as.
"I am the captain of the new Magic Council's fourth Custody Enforcement Unit: Lahar. And this is my army. It is my duty to uphold the law and-"
"'And preserve justice throughout the land.' The Council is just some 'parents' trying to juggle raising a bunch of stupid guilds as 'kids'. Those dark guilds are just rebellious teenagers." Laura approached Lahar with a powerful stride. She stopped just before the solid script enchantment had been written. She stared at the captain with a blank expression.
"Laura Ragstone."
"Captain Lahar."
"You two know each other?!" The alliance exploded with bafflement. They took no notice.
"I'm on a new record now, aren't I? I've been off the radar for some time."
"Yes, that made it tricky for us to keep tabs until you settled on another guild. You aren't who we're here for, however. We've come under orders to take the Oracion Seis into custody. I ask that you please cooperate and hand over the member codenamed: Hoteye."
Jura protested this vehemently, but Richard calmed him down and willingly surrendered. Two soldiers came forward, cuffed him, and walked him to a dark steel carriage that would take him to jail.
"Now we must capture our true objective." Lahar said, "A fiendish creature who infiltrated and destroyed the Council. And fire the Etherion Cannon. A man who is more villainous than the Oracion Seis put together. Truly Black of Heart. I'm referring to you, Jellal."
Wizards behind protested against his arrest, then Laura spoke out, "If you're rounding up all the criminals here, why don't you take me in too?"
"We haven't been given any orders mentioning you. We will take any other surviving member of the Oracion Seis and they'll all be brought to justice." Lahar spoke over two other soldiers cuffing Jellal and taking him to the carriage. Wendy begged for him to stay. No effort worked with Lahar.
"Obedient bitch," Laura mumbled.
Lahar stared at her, then ordered a nearby soldier to take down the enchantment barrier. Laura brushed him off and returned to where she last sat. She watched, like the rest of the alliance, Jellal be taken into the carriage where Richard waited.
"Hold it right there!" Natsu yelled, pushing two soldiers aside. A dozen more men rushed to restrain him. The other's quickly jumped in to defend Jellal.
"He's done one good deed! That must mean something! He's innocent!" They all said. Laura snarled. They would all be punished for fighting the Council's soldiers. All of her allies were even dumber than she thought.
A rustling came from the bushes behind. Finally, something not so disgustingly dumb.
"The hell took you so long? I'm tired and annoyed." Laura looked up at the figure from the bushes. They calmly walked past her and toward Lahar.
"Goddammit, Lahar," Lyla sighed, "you're fucking things up even worse." Then she gave him a satisfying punch in the face. He collapsed, but Lyla grabbed his expensive coat and dragged him away.
She passed Laura, who whispered, "You're explaining a lot when we get back." before the two disappeared deep into the foliage
Caitshelter graciously let the alliance stay in their village for the night. When the morning came, they also gave them brand new clothes. The girls were in one building to dress and admire their outfits with the men in the other.
Laura stood in front of a tall mirror, turning back and forth to see all angles of her outfit. She wore a bright and colorful dress short enough to reveal her lower thigh. Silver arm cuffs and ribbon came as decoration.
"You look nice," Lyla whispered soft enough for only Laura to hear.
"Thanks," Laura replied, looking at Lyla's reflection.
Lyla wore white men's pants and a black crop top that revealed her back and the tail for her Fairy Tail emblem on her chest. Scars traced over every inch of visible skin. She still couldn't stand feminine clothes, could she?
"You have better ears, but I can tell you don't sound…"
"Happy we beat Oracion Seis?" Laura asked.
"That."
She sighed and stopped posing. Her figure took up less space. "I don't know if it's because I never knew him until now… but Jellal…"
Lyla's reflection creased her eyebrows. Jellal still went to jail and still had to face punishment. Even though he won most of the alliance's friendship, it left Erza depressed and Lyla…
Laura turned and walked to Lyla, "I heard his charges. He's not a good person, but he did a lot. Natsu wouldn't be able to fight Zero while I broke the lacrima if he didn't come help.
Lyla opened her mouth to speak, but Sherry interrupted and spoke to Wendy, "I can't believe that you had absolutely no idea everyone in this guild but you were a descendent of the Nirvit."
"Well yeah! I was the only one who joined after it was born."
Sherry and Wendy continued talking about Caitshelter and their people. Erza stayed to the side, sulking. Lyla snuck off while everyone dealt with other things. Laura decided not to follow. It could be Jellal or it could be something else, but if Lyla wanted anyone to know she would tell it to those people.
Carla spoke out, reminding the room that the rest of the village and alliance were waiting for them to finish. Even the cat wore a colorful little dress.
The girl exited the building and joined their allies in the middle of a wide and large dirt intersection. The village had few houses on the corners with the guild at the end of one road. There were plenty of patches of tilled dirt surrounded in healthy, bright green grass. Clusters of trees grew throughout the hilly landscape and into the forest around the village.
In the center of the intersection, the alliance stood together on one side with the village facing them on the other. Wendy joined her guild's side.
While the old guild master and chief of Caitshelter thanked and congratulated each guild, Laura took the time to take in the fresh air with deep breaths. Birds sung in the distance and wind rustled the leaves of trees. It had been some time since she listened to nature's songs.
Each wizard beating their happy melody. Their voices were full of glee and they cheered in their victory, but the villagers didn't. Their heartbeats had no rhythm. They had no heartbeats. They didn't breathe in or out. The villagers were just there, existing.
Then, she realized that only those alive had to breathe to keep their hearts beating.
A/N: Ugh... I'm so sorry! *hides behind school book* I didn't mean to. Finals are stressful though... and Syaleo(this is what my bestie and coauthor is going by now. I don't know if I've mentioned this.) is moving. *peeks out* Also, for the next two months, we'll be posting 'filler'. We're just going to be working on getting some more of the next arc done. It's less filler for now, but it may end up just being that. Hopefully, it won't take too long, but we'll see. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave any ideas for something fun you'd want to see too!