Introduction: Chapter 1: Night Prowler

X384, A rural mountain village

Undercover of night, a thunderous roar erupted over the crackling night sky. A silhouette is shown through the moonlit clouds. The giant shadow it cast had fear taking hold of the denizens of the rural mountain village. Despair and pain capturing their hearts and minds. The monster of black and blue flew below the clouds and at that moment revealed its scaled body, as it then blasted a powerful torrent of blue flame at the village.

Upon impact, the village became a dead zone, full of the screams of agony and death ringing through the ears of every man, woman, and child. The sound of crunching as the wooden building fell scorched onto the ground, and as the beast ate the bodies that were freshly greeted with the plague of death. The crackling of thunder and the pouring of rain only helped drain the people of their will and rob them of their lives. And among the midst of the screaming chaos, a black-haired boy on his knees was holding the body of his younger brother. As he caressed his pink locks of hair, he sobbed through clenched teeth. Trying to fight the pain but to no avail. As the tears crept down his cheeks from his glassy, bloodshot eyes. He spoke.

"I swear," he gasped out. "I will bring you back." He paused as he saw the monster fly away into the night like a hawk. "No matter the cost."

July 7, X777, Random cave in Fiore

As light crept under the eyelids of a pink-haired boy, he started to stir out from under the trance of sleep. As he lifted his eyelids and raised his heavy head, he looked around confused. " Igneel?" He cried out, hoping to hear a response in return. As he lumbered to his feet, he thought about the current situation. He swore that he didn't hear Igneel get up this morning, but he could not know for sure.

Maybe he was just out to gather food for breakfast, but he would have told me something before his departure. The boy pondered the idea that Igneel just up and left but shook the thought off his head.

The boy decided that the best course of action would be to wait for Igneel's return and, therefore, wait in the cave.

July 8, X777, The next day

By the next morning, the boy had had enough of this waiting game, he was starving, and Igneel was gone. So he decided to forge on through the forest, the familiar smell of the cedars and pine making him feel comfortable and at peace. The forest was filled with pine and cedar, and to the boy, the musky smell was pleasant. As he continued through the forest after a few hours, he heard shuffling through the bushes and made sure to sharpen his senses to the possible threat quickly.

And just then, after a brief moment of standing in anticipation, a lizard came scurrying out of the bush and ran past the boy. The boy sighed, thinking that there might have been an actual fight. "Of course, it was just a lizard; it's never a monster." He put on a bored face and walked in no general direction. Shrugging the experience as just bad luck, he had fought many beasts in the past when Igneel was training him.

Damn, the boy thought. Igneel, where did you go off to. He was downtrodden at the thought of his foster father just up and abandoning him like this. Truly he knew that Igneel must have had his reasons for his absence, but the thought still stung deeper than he thought it would. But I won't shed tears; I'm stronger than that.

In his mind, he knew he couldn't stay here since Igneel was gone; he would have to find a human village to stay in for a little while. But at the same time, he was wary of going due to the warnings Igneel had told him about humans. And their ability to turn on each other. But he knew they weren't all savages; sometimes they were just unrefined.

After a few more minutes, seemingly out of nowhere, the boy felt an immense magical presence through the forest, and it was moving. It was not Igneel; he could tell the magic was. Different.

Through the brush, the boy leads on to try and find out what he was feeling in the distance. He started to run as he approached the source of the magic. The boy, not sure as he was about to see, was for sure that whatever it was. It was too powerful to handle, so he hoped that the target was not hostile towards him. He was almost tempted to flee and not make contact, but this itching curiosity could not be shaken off from him. He had to investigate for his own sanity.

Finally, after what seemed like a never-ending chase, he went through the last remaining branches and behind a bush almost immediately after he saw an older man standing in a small clearing. What he saw confused and gave him more questions to solve. It was an older man, wearing a strange getup. Why was he here? He must be a mage to have magical power like this, a strong one at that. But just why was he here? I've never seen him before. But while the boy was deep in thought the wizard spoke. " How long will you continue to hide in the cover of those bushes, young one." He spoke in a calm but stern demeanor.

The boy thought what the best course of action would be at the moment, and so he stood up from behind the large green fern and walked toward the elder mage.

Making sure to observe the older man for any chance of attack. It always helped to have heightened senses in combat situations.

It was amazing, though, the older man thought as he measured up the boy's magic power. He has never felt such magical prowess from one so young before. Realizing that they had been standing in silence for the last couple of seconds. He decided it best to say something. And so he coughed into his fist and stroked his white mustache.

"What are you doing in such a remote place, brat." The white-haired old man spoke abrasively while stroking his mustache once again, waiting for an answer. The boy grew a tick mark on his forehead in annoyance for being called a brat by the older man. But calmed himself before answering slowly. "I could ask the same of you old geezer." He remarked much to the elder's aggravation; he scowled for only a split second before returning to his previously stoic face.

"But to answer your question, I was looking for someone, someone dear to me." The boy started with a bored expression across his face. The older man did not know how to respond to the boy, but he knew for sure that this boy was fascinating. And could make a valued addition to his guild. And he uttered to the boy a proposition.

"Well, boy, if you would like, I would allow you to join me and my guild. And maybe along the way, you'll come across the person you are searching for. " The old man hoped that the boy would comply. He knew that with proper training, this boy could be formed into a far more potent wizard. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the boy, " What do I get out of joining you." He stated with fire in his eyes as he expectantly awaited an answer from the elder.

"You would gain not only companions at arms but also the guidance to bring you to a more acute level of wizarding prowess." The older man was sure that these promises would hopefully pursue this young man on his way. Just then, The old Man remembered he had never asked of this boy's name. "May I ask what your name is, young man?" Asked the elder. The pinkete weighed his option; he was not yet sure whether he could trust this man or not. But in the end, he gave in and started.

"My name, you ask," he snarkily replied. "Yes, son, your name," the old man cursing this child under his breath for being such a little brat. Which did not go unnoticed by the boy. "My name is Natsu Dragneel; nice to meet you," Natsu stuck out his hand as if to be used as bait. The older man then spoke in an equally calm voice. "You may call me Hades," said the elder as he returned a firm handshake to Natsu and then gave him a smirk.

Just then, Hades noticed that this boy's clothes were in shambles, the exception being one white scarf that hung tied around his neck. " Come, let's get to get you something to eat," and with one swift motion, Hades made an about-face and walked into the forest with Natsu following in suit.

Natsu was still on edge to see if he could truly trust this man. But at least he'd have someone that could watch over him in Igneel's stead, come to think of it, this had been his first human interaction, and to that he felt relieved that he found another wizard was to him quite a relief. Natsu realized that he had been too deep in thought and saw that he is lagging behind Hades; he lightly jogged up to him. "Hey old man, how long are we going to be walking for? Where are we going anyway?" Natsu asked; the curiosity was starting to get to him.

Hades frowned at being called old man, even if it was true. "We are headed to the guild's headquarters, which happens to be an airship. Natsu stared in awe as he saw the ship landed in the forest clearing and how it glistened in the sun like a radiating beacon. " How could a ship fly? I thought only dragons and birds could fly." To say Natsu was dumbfounded was an understatement. "It's of no concern to you at the moment," Hades told a disappointed Natsu who fumed at not being told how the ship worked. And that was the day Natsu's life was changed forever as Hades spoke those six words.

"Natsu Dragneel, welcome to Grimoire Heart."

X776, One year earlier, Tower of Heaven

The clanking of hammers could be heard all around the secluded Island and the screaming of slaves being beaten and tortured by the black cultists. One little girl with scarlet hair was crying in her cell; she had just lost her right eye through torture. Not so long ago, she had stood up for one of her cellmates whom she held dear. A blue-haired boy with a tattoo marked on the left side of his face. She was taken and beaten for showing any form of defiance.

The blue-haired boy walked from the other side of the cell where the others were and over to the scarlet-haired girl crying. "Hey Erza," he spoke out softly to her. " Hello, Jellal," she spoke almost inaudibly. " Are you going to be alright," Jellal was concerned about her state of mind; she had often been crying since they took her eye. He knows it was his fault that she was this way; it was him who misspoke. And yet, it was her who took the punishment for disobedience.

He couldn't help scold himself for letting this happen to her. His thoughts were interrupted by a weak reply. "Yes, I'm fine, don't worry about me." She didn't want her friends to worry; she wanted them to focus on themselves more than on her wellbeing.

"But Erza," she was taken aback by the sternness in his voice. "We have to worry about you because we are your friends." He smiled at Erza. "And that's what friends do; they watch each other's backs. They don't just abandon that friendship after just one struggle; they keep fighting even when it seems impossible."

His kind word touched Erza, and she jumped up and gave him a stiff hug, causing Jellal to form a blush on his face and scratch his head in embarrassment. "I feel better now; thank you, Jellal." She smiled at him and to the rest of her cellmates, Sho, Simon, Miliana, Wally, and grandpa Rob. She enjoyed their company and dearly hoped that they could all escape this hell. The thought of losing them was heartbreaking, they were the only people she could trust right now, and that's what she held onto.

Jellal then spoke up. "It's still hard to believe that this is happening. I believe we'll get out, though; we just have to." Everyone nodding in compliance with his words. All of them still in shock even after all this time.

"I just don't know why people have to be so cruel," Sho cried out. "And condone such wanton hatred." Sho was at the brink of tears, struggling to keep it together. "I don't know what to tell you, Sho; I can hardly understand myself." Grandpa Rob sorrowfully said with his head hung low.

"Why did this have to happen? They killed our families and forced us to work tirelessly on this stupid tower. And for what, Some dark lord. It just doesn't make any sense." Sho started to bawl into his clenched fists. Grandpa Rob went and caressed the boy. "It's okay young one; we just have to stay strong in the hopes we someday leave this tower." His words were comforting and warm and gave hope to everyone in the cell.

"We must live so that we may one day be free again" everyone believed his words to be the truth, and it gave them a drive for the future. A guard nearby walked up to the cell and with his spear and slammed it into the cell bars. Therefore making a loud metallic clank that made everyone jump. "Shut the hell up, maggots, or else I'll give all of you beatings one by one!" Everyone dared not make even a whisper, too afraid to move.

As the guard moves on to terrorize other people in their cells, they all sat looking at the floor with long faces. After a minute or two, they decided it best to get some rest for the night. However, Erza could not sleep; she was too distracted by her thoughts to even think of sleeping. All she could think was that they were all in great danger here. And no matter what they did, they were being punished and tortured just for the amusement of the cultists. I don't know how they sleep at night, Erza contemplated.

They had to get away out of here. There was no way they could stay here for too much longer. Her friends were getting weaker by the day, especially grandpa Rob. But as her thoughts continued to pour out, she could feel her eyelids becoming heavy as lead. And she finally gave in to the temptation of sleep.

"Aahhh," Erza yawned into her hand and saw that it was early morning; she then heard footsteps getting louder towards her cell. It was a guard. He reached to his belt and grasped a hoop with a multitude of keys on it; he fiddled the key in the lock for a brief moment before he opened the cell door. "Get up, maggots, time to work!" The black-robed cultist yelled at them, officially waking up everyone in the cell. They all got up and trotted out of the cell into the giant courtyard filled with stacks of stone, wood, and sheets of lead. There were already other slaves at work.

Many too weak to work but do anyway, or else they are beaten or tortured. That's just how it was for us, Erza thought as she slunk over to do some work. She started carrying some of the lighter material to their respective piles around the yard. She could not remember how long it had been since she even got here; it's been so long. Erza looked over her shoulder and saw an elderly woman fall to her knees while carrying a load of wood. She immediately ran over to help. " Are you okay? Do you need some help" Erza questioned as she looked at her face? She had some wrinkles but not that many; she looked to be in her sixties or so. She had brown eyes and grey hair.

A guard walked over to them with a scowl ever-present on his face. " Are you maggots chit-chatting over here, and why are you on the ground? Get the hell back to work!" The older woman struggled to get up in time, and the guard kicked her over. "Come on, hag, get on your feet," The guard merely chuckled at the elder who was groveling on the ground in pain. "Hey, leave her alone. Can't you see that she's in pain?" Erza stood with her arms spread eagle in defense of the old woman. "No young one, don't stand in defense of me." the old lady didn't want to see another meaningless death and on her behalf no less. " No, we must stick together if we are to survive the cruelty of this place." Erza beaconed for all to hear. "We must stand strong and fight our oppressors."

Now the guard was livid as he kicked Erza to the ground. "Little bitch!" The guard screamed. "I kill you for trying to defy me!" He tried to stab Erza with his spear but instead found his spear impaling the wrong person. No, Erza's eyes were wide; she was trembling. Not in fear, but at the dead body that slid off the spear right in front of her. She started bawling his chest as she gripped him as hard as she could. "Jellal! no, no!" She yelled while continuing to cry on his chest.

Every slave at that point had stopped what they were doing and watched the gruesome scene before them. As Jellal, blood poured out and soaked both him and Erza in blood. "Hah, shows what he gets for trying to save you. And it was all for nothing because you'll still die from my blade." he grinned sinisterly as she sat terrified of the man standing above her. But suddenly, grandpa Rob stood arms wide between Ezra and the cultist.

"You won't kill another young one; kill me instead. Haven't you already had your fill of bloodshed?" As grandpa Rob stood, the guard only grew angrier. "You too, it doesn't matter how many stand in defense, eventually I'll still kill the redhead brat! "The guard stood there and after only a moment's hesitation. He jabbed his spear forward and stabbed grandpa Rob. Every slave could only drop to their knees after witnessing two deaths like this. "See, this is what happens when you defy the dark lord Zeref."

The cultist laughed out. He then set his eyes back on Erza. "And you'll die all in the same because of your dirt. No, you're lower than dirt." Then the cultist licked his wicked lips and crept forward spear at eh ready. He thrust his spear forward, and then everything went white.

Erza sat up and gasped out; she was sweating profusely and saw Jellal look over to her. "What's wrong, Erza? Are you okay" he spurts out worriedly for his friend. "It's okay; it was just a bad dream, pretty bad," she concluded. "Worse than the last one?" Jellal remarked, knowing full well this had happened before. "Yeah," she didn't really want to elaborate on the subject any further. "Well, ok." Jellal Knew it was his place to pry any farther. But he couldn't shake the feeling that Erza seemed to be growing more distant by the day.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, you know who to talk to." He put on a dumb smile, and Erza let out a small giggle. It wasn't often she would laugh these days, if even at all. " I think it's almost time for us to get out to the courtyard. The sun will be up soon." "Thanks," Erza replied calmly; she was never ready for the intensive labor they had them doing. It was always too much.

After about thirty minutes, the sun was coming up, and Erza heard the guards' footsteps. She dreaded the thought that her dream would come true. And it was very unsettling. And just like in her dream, the guard took his time opening the cell. "Get up, maggots, time to work!" Erza was terrified; this was just like her dream. And there was no way she could let that happen, But unlike in her dream, the guard then said something else. " You, Blue-haired one. You come with me; the master wants you." "What would want to with me," Jellal said, fear in the back of his mind. "Oh shut up, will ya'" the guard then gestured for Jellal to follow him.

And just like that, Jellal was taken from them. Erza could barely come to terms with all the thoughts in her head. It was unbearable; what were they doing to him? Would he be alright? A cultist walked up to Erza and yelled, "Get back to work, maggot!" he looked like he had blown steam from his ears, with a sinister frown adorning his face.

But something sparked in Erza; she would not stand for this any longer. They had taken Jellal just a few hours ago, but that was enough to push her over the edge. "She looked at the guard with a look so fierce that he took a step back. "No!' Erza declared as loud as she could. "I won't be pushed around; I and all the other are fed up with this. I'm thinking of being a slave. I'm though building this Tower!" As she said this, the other slaves sat and thought for a moment and then a moment more. They started to chant. "Yeah!" The slaves started to throw rocks at the guards and fought them hard. The guards were dumbfounded by the strength the slave shown after such a trial rally speech. Erza used her small but strong fists to punch the cultists.

But then Erza was confronted by a cultist that seemed to use magic. "Hello there, little brat," the cultist smirked his devilish grin forward, Erza. Erza could feel his magic, and she was scared; she'd never fought a Mage before, but the idea seems outlandish in her mind. The Mage then gathered his magic up in a ball of green light and was ready to launch. Erza stared scared out of her mind; there was no way she could move fast enough away from it to dodge the attack. "Now feel the power of the dark lord Zeref" the beam then shot at her, and she could only stare as grandpa Rob stood and took the blow.

How could she be so weak? It wasn't like her to be cowardly. What was wrong? Why was all she could do was stand here and quiver in fear. All she wanted was freedom, and yet her mind rejected her. But then Erza saw it, the body of grandpa Rob, and that was the tipping point. She could not stand here and be a coward. She knew what she had to do, and she yelled out so loud everyone could hear. For only a moment, they could all hear the scream of Erza. And suddenly, multitudes of weapons and tools started to float up off the ground and into the air.

The cultist, for the first time, felt fear from this scarlet-haired girl. Then with her magic weapon started to fly over the battlefield, only intensifying the morale of the slave who fought for freedom. It was all going so well. That was until Erza saw him. Standing there like he never left, but he was different. She ran up to Jellal and hugged him. "I can't believe they let you go. Are you okay; what did they do to you." Much to Erza's Shock, Jellal forcefully pushed her off of him. "Wha," Erza gasped out as she fell to the cold stone of the courtyard. "Wha, what's wrong? It's me, Erza." Erza was so confused as she looked into his eyes but didn't see the same person as she did earlier today.

She was shocked to see that he was like a different person and had a whole different feeling about him, especially since she did not remember feeling magic like this before now coming from him. "Hello Erza, it's so nice to see you again," Jellal said sinisterly as he gave a light chuckle. "Throwing a little revolt, are we? My what a naughty girl." He said as he put his hand on his cheek. Jellal's voice was filled with toxicity as Erza had ever seen. "Jellal, what going on? What happened to you?!" She Couldn't take this anymore; how could he have changed so much. "Well, Erza, what do you have to say for yourself," Jellal said, continuing to toy with her. " We were going to escape, don't you remember."

"But why would we ever leave." Erza's eyes widened in terror; what was he saying. This wasn't the Jellal she has known for the last half a year. "Why, this is paradise. We must continue to build the tower. We must continue so that our lord Zeref can return to this world." Erza started to back away; she'd never been so afraid in her life as she was right now. This was breaking her heart; the boy she had come to be so fond of was betraying everything she knew. And it rocked her foundation. She was lost; he was her reason for the revolt. She would have never had the courage to go and take action if not for the blue-haired boy she held dear in her heart.

"No, we must leave this place. All of our friends will die if we don't" Erza was starting to shed tears; she couldn't control herself anymore. "Hey Erza, do you need help." It was Simon running to her from a distance, getting closer with every stride. "No, Simon, stay away." But he did not listen and ran up to her only to then look at Jellal. "Oh, Jellal did you escape," Simon said as he walked over to the blue-haired boy.

"Get out of my way past; you have no place here." Simon stood confused and afraid as Jellal stuck a hand up and blasted him with a black and green orb of magic that collided with Simon in s split second. Simon fell to his back, and blood running down his mouth. Erza dropped to her knees and stared at Simon. How could this happen? Why. Why. Erza's thoughts were now only screams, as she felt like a rag doll thrown around and completely void of emotion. "This is what happens when you defy our lord Zeref," Jellal said as he walked toward Erza and lifted her chin to look at him; she looked like a zombie. "Pathetic, do you really want to leave so badly." Erza didn't care anymore if she lived or died. She just wanted for it all to end, for her suffering to end. "Fine then, leave. But know that you've abandoned your true family" Jellal then threw Erza onto a small sailboat and simultaneously burned the rest of the ships.

As the rioting stopped and the slaves finished their fighting, they all came to the shore to see the ships burning. "Jellal, what happened," Miliana asked as she saw all the boats burnt to a crisp. "Erza has abandoned us and burned all the ships." Everyone was shocked.

"But, big sis." Sho cried out as he watched the boat sail off into the distance.

X777, Alakatasia

A black-haired man sat apron a thrown. " Hmm." The man smirked as he rested his head on his opened hand. "It would seem that the pieces are finally coming together." An older man with a tall magic stave walked up to him. "Is it yet time for our plan to come into fruition Lord Spriggan." He awaited an answer as he stroked his long beard. "Not just yet, August," Spriggan said with a sly smirk glued to his face.

"Isn't that right? Natsu."

To be continued...

Hi, this is Laylaandotherassortedlovesongs here. This is my very first ever Fanfic. I just read Fairy Tail all the way through and decided that this is what I would do. Leave comments on what you think and suggestions on what I could do to improve my writing. I love to write, and this is a way to express myself. This story should be updated often, and expect longer chapters as the story progresses.

Anywho, I have a plan set out that this story will be much longer than this. This was just a tester of sorts of what's to come. I hope you enjoyed it.

I do not own Fairy tail, which belongs solely to Hiro Mashima.