Kai dodged the staff swing of a guard as Erza plowed him aside with her magic. They approached the corner of the hallway and glanced around it. Nobody.

"Which way to the upper levels, again?" he asked. He'd really rather not remember but found it a bit too easy to navigate this hellhole.

"Follow me," Erza said, and tugged on his cloak. Kai followed, resting his sword over his shoulder so the point didn't stab into the ground. The cursed ground.

Erza's armor clinked while they moved at a brisk job. Kai's eyes flicked all about. There had to be more guards. There had to be other wizards. Jellal wouldn't just let them wander around.

Jellal.

Kai squeezed the sword grip. What Kai wouldn't give to just ram the sword through his chest. That wouldn't bring back all the lives Jellal destroyed, but it would bring them justice. Right? Erza's stern face forced Kai to wonder if the same thoughts floated through her mind.

They busted through a door, where four guards waited for them. Erza swung her sword, easily slicing them down with a blast of power. They dropped back, unconscious, allowing Kai and Erza through unabated.

Erza stopped them at the next door, a metal door, meaning it led to the stairs. The tower was always marked by heavier doors so slaves couldn't just wander around and maybe find their way out. As if there was anywhere to go.

There was nothing but ocean around them for miles. Even if Kai and Erza were able to escape, to defeat Jellal, they'd be stuck there until they could get the attention of a ship. They weren't that far from the Fiore coastline, but far enough not to be within eyesight.

Erza placed her hand on the door, then forced it open. A dent formed right in the middle of it, and then the door creaked open. They burst up the stairs, Kai barely able to keep up, before they came upon a well-adorned room. A lounge, by the looks of things.

Kai lowered the sword and shifted his grip around. Erza did the same with the sword in her hand.

"It's empty in here," Kai said.

"Did you expect Jellal to be in here?" Erza asked.

"This just feels like…a good place to spring a trap," Kai said. He opened his arms to the entire room. "It's nice and open. Enough space for a quick skirmish."

"What if Jellal is just waiting for us at the top?" Erza asked. "What if he wants us all for himself?"

"Wouldn't really put it past him, honestly," Kai said.

Something caught his senses. A scent. He shifted his sword and Erza prepared herself for battle. Something rumbled on the other side of the door before finally the door burst open and Natsu, Lucy, and Gray tumbled through, followed by a rather trepidatious…Juvia? From the Element Four?

"What are you doing here?" Erza burst.

Not quite the first question that came to Kai's mind. Kai sheathed his sword, though Erza didn't. She was so on edge. Her voice quivered just a little. And the armor wasn't enough to shield her anymore; she needed the sword. Kai couldn't blame her.

"We came to find you," Natsu said. "And Happy and Iggy."

"Happy and Iggy?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, that cat girl took them," Gray said.

Kai bowed his head but Erza's demeanor did not shift. "We have to get them back, and then you all need to leave. Immediately."

"No way," Natsu said, then pointed to the two of them. "You've both got some explaining to do, I think. How the heck did those people know you?"

"And what were you doing here as kids?" Lucy asked, glancing at Kai.

"Erza's right," Kai said. "You're all in danger here."

"And you're in more danger it we leave, so get talking," Gray said.

Kai balled up a fist but Erza placed her hand on Kai's shoulder. He shuddered.

"Erza…"

"I'll tell them, Kai," she said. "I'll tell them everything."

She rolled her shoulders back, brushing off all of the fear, the anxiety, the oppressive darkness that rolled out of her mouth as she spoke of how she came upon the Tower of Heaven as a child.

About how she was here before Kai and made fast friends with Millianna, Simon, Sho, Wally, and even Jellal, the one who would eventually enslave everyone and become one of the world's foremost Dark Wizards. At least, that she thought dead for a long time. That was the brother of Siegrain of the Magic Council.

About Gramps and how Erza first learned about Fairy Tail through him, and how she lost her eye but that her rage eventually led to her discovering her magic. Kai closed his eyes and memories flooded him about the revolution.

Kairi's words would always echo in his mind as they fought, as they resisted the guards. He struggled mightily, he could barely keep control of his magic. He had his friends and that was all. He had nothing else. Not even a last name. And yet he fought for freedom, or at least, fought to be rid of the dark life he'd been absorbed into.

Erza did not weep. Erza never cried in front of others. At Fairy Tail Erza never cried, but after they escaped the Tower and washed ashore on Akane, she and Kai wept the entire route into Magnolia.

She remained stout and tall, saying each word with power and majesty. Team Natsu, and Juvia, watched on with awe, fright, and empathy. Kai held back, holding his sword tight. The sword Erza gave him, a weapon with which he could fight those like Jellal and the masters of the Tower of Heaven.

He snapped to attention when he heard his name, though it sounded so distant.

"You there?" Lucy asked.

"What's that?"

"They want to know your part of the story," Erza said, and side-stepped away a bit.

The entire room descended into silence. Kai encroached just a bit, strumming his fingers on his sword.

"My story with the tower, yeah," Kai muttered.

"It's okay, you don't have to," Lucy said.

"You should know," Kai said. He eyed Natsu. Kai recognized the expression; he was stifling an inferno of anger beneath those eyes. "It started on July 7th, 777. Just like Natsu, I woke up that day and had no idea where my dragon, Kairi had gone. I was alone in Iceberg."

"Iceberg?" Gray echoed.

"Kairi wanted to live out there instead of Fiore like the other dragons," Kai said. "She felt more at peace, and she was away from her brother, my uncle. The dragon Acnologia."

"Never heard of him," Natsu said.

"Didn't like to make himself known in a good way, I can tell you that much," Kai said. "Anyway, I wandered around for a few weeks when some poachers found me. I was starving and didn't have the energy to fight back, so they took me in immediately. When I came to, I was here, in the Tower of Heaven. Didn't know how to read or barely even how to speak. I definitely couldn't use my magic.

"I didn't meet anyone for weeks. I was sick all the time; it was too hot out here, I wasn't used to it. I thought my bones were going to melt for a long time. When I was just barely healthy enough to work they set me up right away. They liked to sneeze and cough on me all the time so I never really got better. But I always held off the fevers and colds, I could never get fully sick.

"And I couldn't ever really do much of anything. Until I met Erza, Gramps, and the others. They taught me how to laugh like Kairi did, they taught me how to live. When I was with all of them, I wouldn't get beaten up as much. Erza already told you all about the revolution, and I wish I could say I was able to actually do anything but…" Kai shook his head, staring right at the sullen ground. "I couldn't control my magic. I was scared of it. I—" He sighed, blinking away a few tears. "I wanted to fight back so bad and show Kairi that I did learn something. I did know how to be a Dragon Slayer like she wanted me to. I knew I had to get stronger and get out so I could find her. Maybe she was looking for me all over the place and just wouldn't look here because she didn't think I would be weak enough to get captured.

"When they brought in wizards to fight back I knew they were going to come find me. Erza did too, and Gramps. We had to get out, so I was able to stow away with Erza after Jellal went insane."

"You were there?" Lucy asked.

"I saw everything," Kai said. "I know the monster Jellal became, the monster that built the very room we stand in. He took everything from so many, and I—I can't forgive him. He has to be brought to justice." Kai held the sword up to his chest. "In a way I'm almost glad we were brought here. Now I can finally unleash that power I was afraid to all those years ago."

"And you won't be alone," Gray said. He held his hand out. "We'll back you up."

"If this Jellal guy is as bad as it sounds, he needs to be beaten so nobody else goes through the same thing you did," Natsu said. He also held his hand out.

Erza smiled bright, and Kai clasped Gray's hand, then Natsu's, and squeezed.

"Y—you're lying!"

A squeaky but familiar voice cried out to them from the way they came. Kai spun around but Gray was faster, and a pair of shackles appeared on the perpetrator's wrists.

Sho stumbled into the room, his eyes wide like that of a madman, his arms trembling.

"Jellal didn't do any of that! You did it, Erza, you betrayed us! You left us behind, you sabotaged us so you could get free!"

"Sho!" Erza shouted, and everyone in the room took a step back. "I would never do that to my family. You were supposed to come with me. You were supposed to escape with me. But something happened, and…"

"What happened, Sho, was that we were lied to."

Another familiar voice, this time from the way that Natsu and the others had come. Kai glanced over his shoulder and watched as Simon emerged, his eyes downcast on the lot of them from his towering height.

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw it, Sho. I saw Jellal sabotage the boat that would have saved us all. He didn't try to kill us, but he wanted us to remain enslaved here."

Sho shook his head. "That…you're lying! You're just saying that to protect Erza!"

"And what if I am?" Simon asked. "Think about it, Sho. What good does it do Erza if she sabotages our ship? She was getting away free, anyway."

Kai couldn't believe it. Jellal let she and Erza go on purpose. But why? Why keep the others?

"Jellal could use us as slaves."

"Then why did you stay?"

Simon emerged into the room and approached the weeping Sho, who was already crumpled on the ground.

"To protect you, and Wally, and Millianna!" Simon exclaimed. "Someone had to stand up when you were all too fragile to. I had to make sure you didn't hurt yourselves while you developed your magic."

Sho shook his head. "B—but you still believe, right? In the cause?"

Simon scoffed. "Sho, please, don't tell me you actually think that the R-System would save the world?"

"It would save us, Simon!"

Kai grit his teeth, then stepped forward. "Sho, Zeref is a monster! He's a Dark Wizard. Do you know what his creations have done? They've killed thousands, maybe even more! He's not a hero, he's not a god, he's a rotten soul that needs to stay in the shadow."

"I don't know what's twisted Jellal's mind into this ideology, but it must end," Erza said. "Zeref cannot be brought back, the R-System can never become active."

"All of my life was not spent to bring back a monster, it was to bring back a savior," Sho said. "It was…I…promise. Please, I beg, I…"

He tried to get out a few more words. Erza moved quickly across the room and roped Kai in for an embrace where he simply broke. He sobbed while tears streamed down his face. He wrapped his arms tight around Erza, almost crushing her in an embrace.

"Oh, Sho," Simon mutters.

Kai rests his hand on his sword and approaches with Simon. They both rest a hand on either shoulder while Sho trembles.

"It's okay, Sho," Erza said. "I promise, I wasn't strong enough to protect everyone before, but I am now. And we're not alone. Jellal can't harm any of us now."

"Just wait until he tries," Natsu said, and pounded his fists together.

Kai stood, before Erza could do anything and said, "You're sure about this? Jellal is unlike anything we've all faced before, even Jose."

"You're not getting rid of us," Gray said. "Plus, we've got other friends stuck here that need our help."

"Yeah, these jerks stole my cat," Natsu said.

Kai mentally apologized to Iggy for getting her roped up in everything, and hoped she would be okay enough to accept the apology.

"We'll go get them, then," Kai said.

"We should split up," Erza said. "To cover more ground."

Kai grimaced, but ultimately agreed. Erza wanted to keep them away from Jellal. She wanted to fight him.

No way.

"Natsu and I will go find Iggy and Happy, we have the strongest senses," Kai said.

"I'll take the others, then," Erza said.

Kai and Erza locked eyes as she stood up. Kai pursed his lips and words came to his mouth. He didn't know what words, but he just knew he had to say something. His heart pounded and chest swelled. Why did he still look at her like that, even though he knew she didn't feel the same? That she couldn't feel the same? He was a relic of her dark and dangerous path.

"Be safe," Kai said at last.

"See you soon," Erza said at almost the same time.

They nodded to one another, then Kai gestured to Natsu and they jogged off back into the Tower of Heaven. Kai traced back his senses for Iggy's, as Natsu no doubt did for Happy, and they pushed forward.

Millianna's room was hard to find but easy to notice. Kai peaked around the corner. Millianna was sitting in the middle of the room full of cat posters and paraphernalia, humming something to herself while she stroked the head of a rather reluctant and bound blue tomcat. Iggy sat by the bed, also bound, struggling against the restraints.

"I can't believe Erzie was friends with such nice cats," Millianna said.

Kai peered back to Natsu and stopped him from bursting into the room.

"What?" Natsu asked.

"Wait."

"For what? She has Happy!"

Kai hesitated, then said, "Look, man, it's just…Millianna's a bit fragile."

"She helped stop us back at the casino, I don't think she's that fragile."

"I don't thinks he's acting malevolent on purpose is what I'm saying, I don't think she's trying to harm them. Let's just see if we can't get in and talk her out of the catnapping."

"I ain't talking her out of anything. How about I talk you into just getting in there, taking her out, and getting Happy?"

Kai opened his mouth to retort but something quickly bound around his neck and yanked him back into the room, slamming him into the room.

Millianna pounced atop him.

"Finally, the big catch I've been looking for," she said, and purred. "Been waiting a long time to see you again, Kai, and you're looking pretty good."

"Okay, Natsu, maybe I was wrong," Kai said.

Millianna raised an eyebrow. "Natsu?"

The room's temperature spiked. Happy cried out as flames shot toward Millianna. She leapt up and clung to the top of the room, then hissed down at them both.

"Kai, how dare you!" she shouted.

"You just didn't want me hurting her because you like her," Natsu said.

"No, I didn't want her because it's the other way around."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It's complicated."

Millainna dropped. Kai leapt back and swung out his arm to block Millianna's tail, catching it before it could wrap around Natsu. Natsu's fists ignited with fire.

"It'll just be one quick shot," Natsu said.

"Natsu, stop," Kai said, still glaring at Millianna, whose face contorted into utter betrayal. Her fists balled up and tears swelled in her eyes.

"How could you leave me behind?" Millianna asked. "You destroyed our ship, you left us to finish the tower with Jellal…"

"I didn't leave you behind," Kai said, and grunted from the pain of the tail. "Jellal destroyed your ship. He let Erza and I go for some reason. Erza and I had nothing to do with what happened to you guys."

"Nothing to do with us?"

Kai turned his head. Wally, with two massive guns for arms, stepped into the room, his face also enraged. Kai barely recognized him with the new magical, and blocky, appearance.

"Oh, not this guy again," Natsu muttered.

"Natsu, seriously, stand down," Kai said. Millianna tightened her grip on them.

"Take this outside, Wally, I don't want the cats to get hurt, or Kai," Millianna said.

"We'll take this outside!" Natsu roared.

"That's enough, all of you!" Kai shouted. "Can't you see what Jellal is trying to do, what his plan has been this whole time? He wants us to fight. He wants you to think of me as your enemy rather than remember me as your friend."

"Friends don't betray one another," Wally said.

"Friends don't," Kai said. "That's why I'm your friend, and Jellal is your master."

Wally stiffened, and the tail around Kai loosened, but Millianna still had her grip on him. Kai turned toward her. She sheepishly looked away from him for a moment before looking back.

"Mill, come on," he said. "I have the power to save you this time. I can get us out of here."

"You said that last time." She barely held back the tears.

Kai blinked away his own, and took a step closer to her. Wally raised his arms and nobody moved. Even Natsu.

"Last time I was scared," Kai said, "and powerless. This time, well, I'm still scared, but I'm stronger. You are too. You're a wizard now, Mill, just like Erza, Gramps, and I. You've all come so far and I'm so happy you've found magic. Isn't it beautiful?"

"It is." She held her hands up. "Don't…don't come any closer."

"Mill, please. You know me. You know us. I'm going to save you all, I promise. We'll take the Tower of Heaven down, we'll take Jellal down."

"But he saved us, he gave us our gift, he gave us our lives."

"You're not living," Natsu said, "you're surviving."

Millianna opened her eyes wide. Kai stepped forward and the restraint dropped completely. Kai buried her in his arms and she let out a cry, then slumped down. Kai descended with her, holding her all the way while she wet his shoulder with years of pent up tears.

"Kai, you're serious?" Wally's voice was somber and soft. Kai barely remembered a time where that was the case.

"I am," Kai said. "I'm a real Dragon Slayer now, Wally, just like Natsu. We can beat Jellal, with Erza's help."

"But why would he just let you go?" Wally asked.

"I wish I knew," Kai said. He patted Millianna's head and she buried her head into his chest some more. "And I'm so sorry it was us that got away, not you."

Wally's arms morphed back into his now-normal block hands and he glanced away. It was quite hard to tell where he was looking, but judging by the position of his head, he looked away ashamedly.

"What now, then?" Wally asked. "We just…move on? Like our lives weren't a lie?"

"Right now we need to get you out of here, right?" Kai asked. He said it again, pointedly toward Millianna. She purred and nodded.

Kai tried to stand but she nestled him once more before rising with him and held his hand. He let her. Fine. She needed the support.

The restraints on Iggy and Happy also loosened and the two cats wiggled free. Natsu picked Happy right up and Iggy waggled her eyebrow and Kai who waved her off.

"Your guild has such cute kitties," Millianna said.

"Fairy Tail," Kai said. A warm thought crossed his mind, "Hey maybe when all of this is over you guys can—"

"Attention, all residents of the Tower of Heaven."

Kai, Wally, and Millianna froze. Natsu looked around confused.

"Who is that?"

"Jellal," Kai said.

"It's come to my attention that things are starting to get a little interesting in my little tower. I thought I would throw a few more fun tidbits into the mix. I call it the Paradise Game."

"Sounds pleasant," Iggy muttered.

"Knowing Jellal it's going to be the complete opposite of that," Kai said.

"A couple of my old friends have washed ashore on this tower and are the subjects of this little game," Jellal continued. All eyes in the room fell to Kai. "The goal of the game is simple: stop me from using their amazing new power to resurrect. If you can do that, you win, Fairy Tail. But there are a few catches.

"First, if you plan on just defeating me, you're in for a rough time. My allies, Trinity Raven, are here to ensure that doesn't happen. You must get through them if you want an audience with me.

"Then, and this is the exciting part, an Etherion blast is charging as we speak, aimed straight at the Tower of Heaven. I'm not quite sure when it'll detonate, but I believe that when it does, none will be left alive. So I would suggest you get into your places, because the games begin now."

The communication, which seemed to come from all around them, cut out. The room, thus, fell dead silent. Millianna wrapped both hands around Kai's arm and squeezed. He patted her head and she purred and also backed off.

"I need to find Erza," Kai said. "Without her we don't stand much of a chance at beating Jellal."

"Oh come on," Natsu said. "Where's the spirit of the game?"

"The what?" Iggy asked.

"Kai, I think your Salamander friend is a bit crazy," Millianna said.

"Let's make our own game out of it, Kai," Natsu said. "First one to Jellal wins. Sound good?"

Kai bit the inside of his lip.

Jellal's words sat with him, chilled him. It made him want to both run away from the tower, yet also run further into it. He looked from Millianna to Wally, both of whom were a mix of concern and unstable determination.

"Both of you," Kai said, "need to get to the shore immediately and take whatever ship you came on to get here."

"I won't leave you," Millianna said.

"I don't know this Trinity Raven is, but they're probably dangerous, and Jellal knows you're not with him anymore," Kai said. "He'll come after you, Millianna."

"So protect us."

"Kai." Iggy stepped forward, then flexed her wings out. Millianna seemed to melt at the sight of them. "I'll lead them out."

"You remember the way in?"

"Somewhat. But I have a feeling where I go…" She nudged her head at Millianna, and Kai shrugged.

"You better be careful."

Iggy smiled and nodded. "You two. I better see you at the bottom of that tower soon."

Kai patted Iggy on the head as well, then the cat flew out of the room. Millianna followed. Wally hesitated, then chased after Millianna.

"Well, Natsu, looks like the race is—"

"Happy, quick, let's get a headstart!"

Kai snarled as Happy caught Natsu by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him forward, the two blasting off toward the top of the tower.

That left Kai. Alone. He stepped free of Millianna's room, back out into the dank hallways of the tower. He unsheathed his sword, the sound of metal on leather echoing down the hallway. A faint hum resounded all around him. Something pricked at him beneath his skin.

Jellal wanted he and Erza alive. He called them powerful.

As Kai progressed through the room up the tower, up his own haunted memories, realization dawned on him: Jellal didn't just let them go because he felt pity for them.

He let them go to fatten their magic up so the Tower could one day have a nice meal.

And that day had arrived.