Chapter 6

Makoto POV

"Ow.." I mumbled as I stood up. I looked around to find myself at the base of the tower. My back felt like it had been stampeded by a pack of mules. I felt Nirvana moving forward. Brain was tougher than I thought. He has years of training and experience. Stated Mike. The fact you were able to keep up with him was amazing. I might have done better if you didn't show me that video in the middle of the fight. Okay fine, I'll talk to you after fights. I sighed and stood up. I needed to find the others and regroup. I closed my eyes and scanned the area for large concentrations of magic. Okay, so the two behind me is Natsu and Cobra, to the right of me, was a small group which is probably Lucy and Gray. The closest people were in front of me, Wendy, Erza, and Jellal. I decided to head there.

As I walked, I recalled the recording Mike just decided to show me. As I remembered the details, I blushed. I had accidentally hugged Wendy. As a teenage boy, I had only ever hugged my parents, much less a girl my age. She had felt so warm and comforting, and smelled like fresh air. I was so lost in my thoughts; I didn't realize I had reached the trio until I heard someone call my name

"Makoto!" yelled Wendy. I looked up to see Wendy running up to me.

"Woah Wendy!" I said as she tackled me. I tentatively hugged her. I was extremely surprised that she hugged me. "Uh, would you mind letting me go?" Wendy suddenly seemed to realize what she was doing and jumped back, face red as a strawberry.

"S-sorry!" she apologized. "I was just really excited to see you!"

"Okay," I said uncertainly. I felt like there was more to this but I didn't need to ask right now. "Where's Carla?"

"Oh. She's behind me." A few seconds later, Carla flew into view and landed next to Wendy.

"There you are!" exclaimed Carla. Then she realized I was there. "and you. What are you doing?"

"I was confused," I said, "I thought you two were with Jellal and Erza."

"Um, they wanted some alone time," said a confused Wendy. "Wasn't sure what that was about." ROAR! A huge sound rocked Nirvana to its core.

"Woah!" I said as it steadied.

"W-what was that?" asked Wendy.

"Natsu," I sighed. "Finally figured out how to defeat Cobra. We should probably head back."

"Makoto," asked Wendy as we flew. "I think you mention a name…Mystogan right?"

"Yeah," I said. I didn't like where this conversation was going.

"So, what was that about?"

"Um.." I hesitated, not wanting her to be influenced by Nirvana, but she deserved to know the truth. "The boy who saved you, did he have a staff on his back?"

"What does that have anything to do with that?" asked Carla.

"…yes," slowly replied Wendy. "Yes, he did."

"So, Mystogan, for a reason I won't explain," I started. "Looks exactly like Jellal."

"S-so when I healed Jellal," trembled Wendy "That wasn't the one who rescued me?" Before she could cry, I gripped her shoulder so abruptly, Carla was almost sent tumbling.

"Don't stop me without giving me a warning please!" exclaimed Carla. I ignored her.

"Listen to me," I stated. "Jellal is a good person, you were right to heal him, even if he resurrects Nirvana." Wendy stopped shaking, and her breathing slowed.

"A-alright," she murmured. I let go and gestured for us to continue flying.

Carla spotted a mess of rocks, and I deduced that was most likely Jura's work. We landed a few feet away and ran to join the others.

"Carla!" waved Happy. Everyone in front turned around to see the three of us running towards them.

"Hey!" I yelled and then slowed down. "you guys defeated Brain? Nice! You might want to lock up his body though." Everyone gave me a confused look.

"Why?" asked Gray.

"Nevermind," I said.

"If he's defeated," asked Carla "Why are we still moving?"

"Maybe if we get to Kings Landing, we might know what's going on," suggested Jura. We all nodded and began heading towards the tallest building.

"Hey, Wendy," said Gray, "Why did you decide to join this taskforce?"

"Huh?" said Wendy.

"Yeah," added Lucy. "Why did you?"

"She joined so she could meet this nimrod," Carla gestured to Natsu. "She knew he was a dragon slayer, so wanted to meet in person."

"Yeah," Wendy mumbled. "That's right." Natsu rubbed his chin and mumbled something.

"You can talk to him you know," I said. "after we destroy Nirvana." Wendy seemed to brighten up a bit. A few minutes later, we reached the top of King's Landing.

"Nothing is up here," noted Gray. As everyone began to discuss how and where it could be moving, I scanned the are for certain staff. You not going to find it here right now. said, Mike. Yeah, but it was worth a shot. Suddenly I heard some crunching and did a 180. Wendy ran into the entrance of Kings Landing and disappeared into the darkness. There she goes.

"Everyone!" announced a voice. "It is me, Hot Eye!"

"Richard!" said Jura. "Are you okay?"

"As I feared, I was no match for Midnight. To stop Nirvana, you must defeat Midnight. He is at the base of Kings Landing."

Natsu lit his fist. "I'm all fired up!"

Jellal POV

Jellal looked at the mysterious man in front of him named Midnight. A sudden sound made him turned around and saw a bright light explode from the base of the tall tower.

"For course, Father takes away all the fun," sighed Midnight. What happened? Questioned Jellal in his head. Jellal then noticed Midnight was advancing. He stepped in front of Erza determined to protect her.

"Erza, stay behind me!" ordered Jellal. She looked a little shocked but stayed where she was. He extended his hand, summoned a powerful light beam directly at Midnight. The magic suddenly curved around him and left him unscathed. He felt a sharp pain in his right eye.

"Sss," he grunted in pain.

"Jellal!" yelled Erza. "Let me-" Jellal suddenly put a hand out to stop her. He was not about to let a friend get hurt. He focused his energy into a magic circle on his left hand and summoned multiple homing beams that zipped at Midnight. He has to be hurt. The smoke cleared, and there Midnight, smiling. What? His right eye hurt so much, he was forced to close it. Can anything hit him? As he tried to refocus, Midnight summoned a gray line that wrapped around him and forced him into the air. Yellow spots danced in his one open eye. Then he was dropped back onto the ground. Thump, Jellal twitched in pain and tried to look at Erza. Sorry, I couldn't protect you. He thought sadly.

"Still alive?" asked Midnight. While he was talking to Jellal, he noticed Erza summon a plain sword and lunge at Midnight. She slashed at him, but Midnight dodged. Uh, Oracion Sies is tougher than I remember. Oh wait, I don't remember anything. Jellal thought. Erza jumped back, anger in her face, as she summoned another sword, and tried to swing again. Jellal immediately recognized the danger of this action.

"Erza!" he yelled. "Stop!" Too late, Midnight already hit her with one of those lines and she was covered in bandages, The began to constrict as she dropped her swords and tried to squirm her way out. She closed her eyes and concentrated. A blinding glow began to cover the bandages, and suddenly, the bandages exploded off of Erza, leaving her in her blouse. Woah. That was powerful. He noticed the surprised look on Midnight's face. She reequipped into a much more revealing armor, with wings.

"So that's your magic," she said with understanding. Midnight contorted his surprise into a smile.

"My reflector magic makes me impossible to hit," he said smugly. This guy is that powerful?! I didn't stand a chance. A large number of swords suddenly appeared as they tried to hit Midnight's body. Midnight smiled as he deflected all the blades attacking him back onto Erza. She slashed them away. Midnight moved his left hand as her armor was shattered by the force of the bandages. They began to squeeze her.

"Erza!" screamed Jellal. He saw Midnight licking his lips as his vision turned red. He barely saw the translucent box that formed around Midnight. He slowly raised his arm, as if in instinct, to fire.

Erza POV

Pain. She felt her muscles being forced down by the bandages, as she felt a few cracking noises around her ribs.

"Agh!" A sudden whirlwind surrounded her and slowly carried her upwards. All the bandages were shredded, but replaced with small sharp pains all over her body. Her body was racked with pain. She closed her eyes and waited for the torture to end. A few seconds later, the winds died, as she fell to the ground, barely breathing.

"Erza!" yelled a distant voice. "Wake up!" She slowly opened her eyes, to find Jellal shaking her shoulders. When he saw Erza's eyes, he sighed in relief and helped her up. She unsteadily looked around. It was a little confusing, seeing Midnight knocked out in front of her, with his back smoking.

"H-how did you hit him?" asked Erza

"Um, he's the reason," Jellal pointed to a short man wearing white armor, with a blue visor that was extremely visible against the backdrop of gray, dull, buildings. Suddenly, the armor retracted off of the person's body and flew towards Kings Landing. Makoto?

"Makoto?" questioned Erza. "What did you do?" Makoto seemed to suddenly realize Erza was awake.

"Oh," he said. "Um, I used my magic, and Jellal delivered the blow."

"But," she said. "Magic can't hit him."

"I didn't attack him," said Makoto. "I blocked his magic." Erza was at a loss for words. This child has the power to block magic.

"Y-y-you can block magic?" she stammered.

"Yeah," he said confused. "So what?"

"Nothing," lied Erza. She looked around. "What do we do now?" Suddenly, Jellal turned around and readied himself.

"Someone is coming," he stated. The sound of footsteps could be heard.