Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one.

Chapter 73

Stopping Nirvana

Natsu

We were on our way once again to the central tower. I still couldn't stop thinking about the amazing power Jura had. If that's how strong Jura was, I wondered how much more powerful Gramps was.

I was back on my feet. My magic was still pretty depleted, but I would be able to hang on. I hate to say it, but I wouldn't last too long in a fight. I really was relying on Lamia Scale to handle any other fighting. And I hated it.

We reached the base of the tower to find a horrifying sight before us. A familiar blue haired woman was laying on her back on the ground. Glass and scales were littering the ground where a bloody, beaten Wendelyn laid.

"Oh my god…" Sherry gasped.

"What's she doing here?" I asked.

Jura ran over to Wendelyn. He carefully gave her a quick examination.

"…demon." I heard her whisper.

"She's still alive, but she's not well."

I came closer and found she was glaring at Jura.

"Zero was released." Gemini reported to us.

We all turned to Gemini in confusion. None of us knew what they were talking about, except for Sorano and Richard. The two ex-Oracion Seis members wore horrified looks on their faces.

"That shouldn't be possible!" Richard replied, "Racer said he wouldn't give up his prayer!"

"Are you sure he didn't lie to you?" Lyon asked.

"Racer is just as terrified of Zero as the rest of us." Sorano explained, "Midnight, Cobra, and Brain are the only three who would be willing to release that demon."

"The rest of the alliance is up there with him!" Gemini continued.

"How do you know?" Gray asked.

"I can hear her thoughts." Gemini replied, "She isn't very nice."

I watched as Wendelyn attempted to move her body, but it just wouldn't. Gemini pouted in response. I had a feeling Wendelyn wanted to do something rude to Gemini.

"Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye Sir!"

Happy latched onto my back and we flew up in the sky. I heard the protests from down below but ignored them. My friends were in danger and I wasn't about to leave them hanging. When I reached the top though, I was relieved. While everyone was unconscious, there was no sign of this Zero demon. I could make out a new, foul smell, but it already left the area. I shouted down to the rest of the group and entered the room. There were fires raging in there. It was nothing major and nobody was in immediate danger of being burned, but we definitely didn't want them getting any worse. Plus, I was hungry and could use the extra boost.

With Jura carrying Wendelyn, the rest of the group made their way up the tower and got to tending for our injured friends. Humorously, Siegrain was holding Lucy in a very protective manner. Gray and I both got a devilish idea.

"Man…wouldn't it be awesome if we could take a picture of this?" I suggested.

"If only we had a camera." Gray chuckled in response.

Juvia peeked out from behind Gray, "Juvia can use the Archive to take a picture?"

Gray jumped in shock and instinctively took an offensive stance against the water mage. He quickly calmed down when he realized who had snuck up on him. Juvia gasped in response.

"Juvia is sorry!"

"Uh…yeah…you're fine. Just don't sneak up on me like that again."

"He liiiikes her."

Cue Gray beating the daylights out of Happy. While that was going on, I tried to get Juvia to take the picture. Unfortunately, Jura and Lyon were too busy trying to operate the Archive to shut Nirvana down. The picture would have to wait for later.

"By the way, wasn't Siegrain poisoned?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it looks like he's better now." Gray replied, "He wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

"He's still poisoned." Gemini replied, "Wendelyn was thinking that. She's keeping him alive right now."

Sorano's eyes bulged and she quickly ordered Gemini, "Then remove the poison!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Gemini pounced on Siegrain, rather comedically, and began to suck the poison out of him like a vampire. His veins turned purple and began to recede towards Gemini's mouth. It wasn't long before he was totally back to normal.

"Ugh…I'm full."

"I think you've helped enough, Gemini." Sorano said as she leaned against a wall and slid to the floor, "You can return to the Celestial Spirit Realm."

Gemini looked at Sorano in surprise, "Really?"

Sorano nodded her head, "Thank you for your service. It's getting to be a bit much to keep you summoned."

"Oh, of course Lady Angel!" Gemini replied, "Call us if you need us!"

With that, Gemini saluted Angel and disappeared back to the Celestial Spirit Realm.

"I have bad news." Jura said, "It seems that Zero had taken control of Nirvana and is planning on firing it again."

"Doesn't look like it'll hit anything important though." Lyon added.

"Except a city."

Lyon's eyes widened. I was beginning to think he was as good with directions as Gray was.

"What can you tell us about Zero?" Sherry asked.

"Zero is the Ace of Oracion Seis, yes." Richard explained, "He's the alter ego of our Guild Master Brain, and he's significantly stronger than all of us."

"He's stronger than your guild master?" I questioned.

"Yes, Zero is too chaotic to properly run a guild, so that fell on Brain."

"Hold on, are we just going to ignore the fact that he shouldn't have been released in the first place?" Sorano pointed out, "You said Racer never gave up his prayer."

"Juvia has a theory. There were two Grimoire Heart mages, so is it possible that one of them went after Racer to force him to give up his prayer?"

Sorano and Richard looked to each other in concern, "If so, that would be a massive overstep on Grimoire Heart's part, yes."

"Regardless," Jura called out, bringing us all back to the situation at hand, "We can't shut down Nirvana from here. If what the Archive is telling us is true, the only way to stop it from firing is to destroy the lacrima that power it."

"And that's probably where you'll find Zero." Wendelyn added in a raspy voice.

"Where are the lacrima?" I asked.

"It says they're kept in each of the six legs that support the structure. They will all have to be destroyed at the same time. I can place a timer over the lacrima so we can coordinate our attacks. There are nine of us, so three of us can double up if we want."

Gray was the first to speak up saying, "I'm going with Natsu."

"Me too!" Happy exclaimed.

Sherry looked to Lyon and said, "Lyon and I can take the two furthest lacrima. We can fly so we'll be able to get there faster."

"I think I'll hang back," Sorano said, "Using Urano Metria took a lot out of me. I can keep an eye on the others?"

"Very well. Richard, can we count on your help?"

Richard nodded his head, "Of course, yes!"

"Then Juvia and I will take the remaining two lacrima."

"We'll take the one in that direction." I said with a smirk, pointing in the direction the foul smell went.

"Alright, then I'll take this one." Jura pointed to the lacrima he was going to on the Archive screen.

Everyone else ran down the lacrima they were going to take on. We all broke and began to make our way to our designated lacrima. I was stopped however by Wendelyn, who grabbed my pant leg. She looked up at me with a mix of contempt and worry.

"Don't you dare die."

I gave her a thumbs up, "We've got this!"

"I'm not kidding...he's no joke."

It seemed that nobody else heard what she said, except for Gray and Happy. Wendelyn motioned for the door for us to leave. We made our way out of the control center and made a mad dash towards the lacrima. The foul scent continued in that direction, growing stronger as we neared our destination.

"That's where he is, right?" Gray asked.

"Definitely, there's this foul scent I picked up back in the control room. I'm willing to bet it was him." I informed Gray, "We're gonna make him pay for hurting our friends!"

We continued on our way through the ancient city to the back left leg. A very small, shed-like building was situated at the edge and the door was already open. Zero's scent continued into there. Inside was nothing but a staircase leading down, no doubt to the lacrima. We travelled down the concrete staircase until we reached the bottom. Directly in front of us was a massive arch, and inside was a massive lacrima. Magic swirled around it and at it's base was a pale man wearing a green military outfit. He was smiling at us devilishly.

The man spoke slowly, "And here I was hoping to kill another Wizard Saint. I guess I'll settle on another Dragon Slayer."

Thank you for reading. Please review and let me know what you thought. I really appreciate any feedback I can get.