Ch. 5- Heaven's Game
Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima
Story and OCs © Me
"Rrrgh... come on!" Haru grunted as she and Blue Fang tried to pull the mask off of her brother's head, but no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn't come off.
"Ow!" Natsu cried the more Haru pulled on the mask. "Oww! Okay, ow! Ow, ow! Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! OWWW!"
"Ugh... gah!" Haru cried as her hand slipped off before she groaned in frustration. "It's no use, Natsu! It's stuck on your giant noggin!"
"I can't stay like this!" Natsu whined. "Get it off, sis! I can't eat with this thing on my head! I'll starve to death!"
"Okay, okay, calm down!" Haru said. "Umm... okay, since we can't pull it off, I might have to break it. I need a hammer or something. Blue Fang, go find a hammer, boy!"
Blue Fang barked before he soon sauntered off to find such a tool.
"I hope he finds one, soon," Natsu said. "I think I'm gonna... ah... ah... ACHOO!" He yelped in disgust as he tried to wipe his face, but the mask was in his way. "Oh, ew! I got snot goin' into my mouth!"
"Eww, gross!" Haru cried, just as disgusted as he was... but then, out of nowhere, something coiled around her and Natsu, and before they could react quick enough, the siblings were both on the floor, tied up with their backs together.
"Hey, what gives?!" Natsu questioned.
"What's going on?!" Haru asked as she looked up, only to see Wally pointing his gun at her face and Millianna standing behind him.
"Well, ain't that dandy?" Wally asked with a grin.
"Uh-oh," said Haru, nervously.
"Hey! That sounds like that Square Guy!" Natsu shouted. "Where is he?! Lemme at him!"
"I'd be quiet if I were you," said Wally as he cocked back the hammer of his gun. "Otherwise, the broad here is gonna get a face full of lead! And after that, you're next, Dragon Boy!"
Haru gulped as she tried to think of a way out of this. She could try calling for Blue Fang, but then again, without her magic, that would be a lost cause. Unless she had a knife or anything like that, there was no way she and Natsu were getting out of this mess.
"Say goodnight, kid- OOF!" Wally started, only to grunt as he was suddenly struck in the back of his head by a stuffed cat... and Haru gasped happily as she saw that it was none other than Happy!
"Hey, guys!" Happy greeted.
"Happy, it's you!" Haru exclaimed, relieved to see the little blue cat.
"Happy?! Where?!" Natsu asked as he looked around. "I can't see!"
"Why you little fleabag!" Wally shouted as he tried to shoot at Happy, who yelped as he used his wings to fly around and dodge the bullets. "You messed up my line!"
"Hey!" Millianna shouted as she pushed Wally. "Don't shoot at the poor little kitty-kitty!"
Haru gasped, remembering how Erza said that Millianna was an avid cat lover, causing her to smirk as an idea came to her head.
"But Millianna~!" she called. "What about this poor little kitty-kitty you've got tied up with me?"
"Huh?" Millianna asked as she looked over at the Dragneel Siblings.
"Psst! Natsu!" Haru whispered.
"Huh?" Natsu muttered before he realized what was happening. "Oh, right, right! Uhh... meoooow?"
Millianna just stood there, staring blankly, and at first, Haru bit her lip, thinking that she wasn't falling for it... but then...
"Awww~!" Millianna cooed. "Look at the poor, helpless kitty~!"
"Please untie me, meow~!" Natsu meowed.
"No! Millianna, don't!" Wally cried, but it was too late, for the cat girl soon uncoiled her tubes from around the Dragneels, causing Haru to smirk.
"NOW!" Haru shouted as she charged at Millianna while Natsu dashed toward Wally with both hands ablaze.
"FIRE DRAGON WING ATTACK!"
Wally screamed as he was sent flying by Natsu's fiery attack while Millianna shrieked as she was quickly pinned down by Haru, who had her hand against the back of her head and her foot stamped against her back.
"Agh! Hey, let go!" Millianna cried. "No fair!"
"WHOO-HOO!" Natsu cheered as he stood over the defeated Wally. "Payback, baby!"
"Uh... Natsu?" Happy asked as he flew up to his partner. "Why are you wearing that cat head?"
"Uh... I can't get it off," Natsu answered, sheepishly, and at that moment, Blue Fang finally reappeared with a hammer in his mouth.
"Oh! Good boy, Blue Fang!" Haru exclaimed. "You found a hammer!"
Blue Fang tilted his head, puzzled as to what went on during his absence.
"Urgh... how dare you...!" Millianna growled as she struggled to get out from underneath Haru. "You won't stop us!"
"Yeah... you think you've won, yet?" Wally asked as he tried to stand up. "We'll still be on the path to Heaven... Jellal will show us the way!"
"Who?" Natsu asked while Haru sighed.
"Wally, Millianna," said the Beast Wizard as she stood up, letting Millianna go. "There's something you guys need to know."
After a while, Haru explained everything to the pair... and needless to say, just like Shô, they were also shocked by this revelation. By now, Natsu had gotten the cat mask off of his head while he stood nearby with Happy and Blue Fang.
"I... I don't believe it...!" Millianna whispered with tears forming in her eyes.
"That can't be..." Wally said in shock. "You've gotta be lyin'!"
"I'm not lying," said Haru. "Simon and Erza told us the truth... Jellal lied to all of you. Erza didn't abandon you because she wanted to. She had no choice... otherwise, Jellal would have killed you guys."
"But... Jellal said that... we'd create a world where we could control everyone...!" Millianna said, tearfully. "That we'd create a true world of freedom! So that no one would suffer the way we suffered!"
"...Millianna," Haru said with a serious expression, "if you think having freedom is having the power to control everybody... that would make you no different from the people who enslaved you."
Both Wally and Millianna gasped in horror at this while Happy watched with concern, and as for Natsu, he just leaned against the wall, picking his ear.
"I don't really know what's goin' on," he said, "but it sounds to me that you guys got fed a load of crap to me."
"'A load of crap', you say, Salamander?"
The group gasped as the mysterious voice suddenly spoke.
"J... Jellal?!" Wally asked as he looked around, and as he did, multiple mouths began to appear on the walls and the ceiling.
"WAH! THIS IS CREEPY!" Happy cried as he clung to Natsu's arm.
"What the hell are these things?!" Natsu asked. "They're everywhere!"
"Welcome, guests, to the Tower of Heaven... I am Jellal Fernandes, the tower's keeper. Now that we have all the game's pieces, I'd say it's time to start our little game."
"Game?" Haru repeated. "What game?!"
"Why, Heaven's Game, of course, Haru Dragneel," Jellal answered in a wicked tone.
"J-Jellal... you're scaring us!" Millianna said, worriedly.
"Yeah! What are you talkin' about?!" Wally asked.
"The rules of the game are simple," Jellal explained. "I tended to sacrifice Erza Scarlet in order to revive the great and exalted Zeref. In other words, if the Gates of Heaven open, then I win... but if you people manage to stop me, then you win. Of course, if it were that easy, it wouldn't be as fun, now would it?"
"What the hell kind of game are you playing?!" Haru questioned.
"I have provided myself with 3 knights and you cannot reach me without defeating them first. In other words, this is a battle royale! Oh... and there's one more special rule: there's a very real chance that the Magic Council will attack this tower with a satellite magic circle. That would be their effective wide-area destruction magic known as 'Etherion'."
Haru, Wally, and Millianna all gasped in horror while Natsu just tilted his head in confusion.
"'Eat-here-onion'?" he repeated.
"What's Etherion?" asked Haru as she looked at Millianna gulped.
"W-we heard about it, once," she answered in a fearful voice. "It could wipe out the entire area and anyone in the vicinity... but there's no way Jellal's serious about that!"
"I think he really is!" Wally exclaimed.
"I am, indeed," Jellal confirmed. "I can't exactly say how much time we have left... but the moment Etherion comes down, everyone here will die. That means that the game will have no winner."
"What are you thinking?!" asked Haru. "What if the Council really does use something like that?! Aren't you worried about your friends?! They'll be caught in the blast, too! Are you seriously planning on sacrificing them as well?!"
"Friends?" Jellal repeated. "Don't be ridiculous... everyone here is nothing more than a mere pawn in my game. You, Salamander, your wolf and cat, those other Fairy Tail wizards you brought with you, Erza, Wally, Millianna, Simon, and especially poor naïve little Shô... that's all they are: just pawns."
Haru and Blue Fang growled viciously, his fur bristling while Happy clutched at Natsu's arm, a look of anger appearing on his face.
"With that being said... let Heaven's Game begin!" Jellal declared before he began to laugh maniacally, and soon after, the mouths began to disappear.
"That bastard...!" Haru hissed. "Who the hell does he think he is?!"
"I didn't really get any of that," Natsu began as he smacked a fist into his palm, "but basically, all we gotta do is take out this Jellal guy and we win, right? Heh! Now I'm fired up!"
"He's probably somewhere at the top, right?" asked Happy.
"That's probably our best bet," said Haru. "Let's go!"
Before they could get a move on, however, they were stopped by the sound of sniffling... and as they turned around, they saw Millianna down on her knees, whimpering and sobbing as Wally held her, just as teary-eyed as she was.
"I... I don't understand," Millianna said, sadly. "We never wanted any of this!"
"Yeah... we just wanted to live a life of freedom!" Wally added. "That's all we wanted!"
Haru felt her heart sink as she watched the two. She knew that this wasn't really their fault. They, along with Shô, were just some lost souls that had been through so much suffering that they wanted to find a way to live in peace... and they wanted it so much that they were willing to believe anything, even the words of their former friend.
"Hey," Natsu spoke up, causing Wally and Millianna to look up at them. "I don't know what kind of freedom it is that you're lookin' for..." He then gave them a grin. "But if it's freedom you want, then you should come to Fairy Tail! We got lots of freedom!"
Wally and Millianna both stared in awe at Natsu, who turned and walked away.
"Come on, Happy!" the Fire Dragon Slayer said. "We're goin' straight to the top!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed as he grabbed Natsu by the back of his vest and flew out the window.
"I'll meet you guys up there!" Haru called as she hopped onto Blue Fang's back... but before she left, she gave Wally and Millianna one last look.
"Hey," she told them, causing them to look at her. "Listen... if what Jellal said is true about the Etherion, then you two better get outta here."
"But... what will you do?" Millianna asked.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" asked Haru. "We're gonna stop Jellal and put an end to his little game."
"What?!" Wally asked. "You can't be serious!"
"Yeah! Jellal's way too powerful!" Millianna added. "You'll never win!"
"Oh, we will!" Haru replied. "Trust me."
"But this has nothing to do with you!" Millianna cried. "Why risk it?!"
"...This has everything to do with me," Haru answered, her expression turning serious. "It involves Erza... and therefore, it involves Fairy Tail. Even if she says she doesn't want our help, we won't leave her in the lurch... so we're gonna show Jellal what happens when he messes with us."
With that, Blue Fang ran off, carrying Haru on his back and leaving Wally and Millianna behind, both of them staring after her in disbelief.
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