Well...I didn't get nearly as much screaming as I anticipated.
Let's up the ante, shall we?
And as for Laxus... That will be explained later.
Chapter Sixty Four - Tower of Heaven, Part Two
"One day, Zeref," a man said, gazing up at the stars. "We will finish this tower and bring you back."
"Oh?" a chilly voice asked from behind him, and a shiver of fear ran up the man's spine.
He spun around, and glared at the man who was invading the sacred space. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the one you're trying to revive," he hissed. "And I am most displeased."
The man's face drained of color, and he stumbled backwards. "L-Lord Zeref?"
"Yes," Zeref said, moving forwards.
The man was shaking, unable to move from fear, when a shout rang up the stairs. "Activate emergency protocol!"
And this spurned the man into action. He jumped to the wall, opening a door and pulling down a lever before turning and looking at Zeref eagerly.
Screams rang up the stairwell, and Zeref turned to look back at them, before he turned back to the man, pinning him to the wall with an angry glare. "What did you do?"
"M-Monster!" the man stammered. "H-How? Why aren't you affected?"
Zeref started stalking forward, his aura and magical presence growing too an unimaginable pressure. "You are hurting my nakama. If you do not stop what you have started, this will be a lot more painful than it needs to be."
It was only when the pain stopped that I managed to come back to my senses.
And still, the pain didn't go away - there were still aftershocks running up and down my spine, and even just breathing hurt.
We had collapsed on the floor, and out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Laxus down, too, which told me that whatever this was, it hadn't been electricity – it was something else.
"Do you like it?" a guard asked haughtily, coming up to look at me. A few ways away from Laxus and I were Lucy, Loke and Corvus. Looking around, I caught sight of the slaves, who seemed terrified about what happened, but other than that, relatively fine.
"Elle! Laxus!" Jellal cried, trying to move closer, Erza right on his heels.
"Stay back," I whispered.
The guard stomped just a little too close to me for comfort, barely missing my fingers. "I see that you're a smart little lady. In fact, I'd even say that you were leading this operation."
On the last word, he pulled back his leg and kicked me sharply in the ribs.
I couldn't help but scream as white-hot pain raced through my body.
"Elle!" Laxus, Corvus and Loke cried.
"Ellie-nee!" Lucy shouted. "Stop hurting her!"
"What are you doing to her?" Jellal yelled. Distantly, a part of me noted just how vocal Jellal was as a kid compared to how quiet he ended up being as an adult.
The rest of me was too busy mentally screaming to think much deeper on the matter.
"See, we had a nice visitor named Brain awhile back," the guard continued. "And he suggested we make some adjustments to this place." He smirked evilly. "The one we had for here was simple enough, and would also stop the slaves from being hit – it only affects intruders. And now that it affects you, any pain you feel will be heightened."
"Damn you…Mashima…" I muttered, serious for once, the pain starting to fade to a possibly-manageable level. Brain was becoming a much bigger problem than I thought he'd be.
The guard pulled back his leg again. "Isn't that just great?"
"Stop!" Rob demanded, moving forward. "I may be an old man…but I still have magic in my bones. I will not allow you to hurt these children!"
"Stop him!" I told Erza and Jellal, who exchanged glances and then practically tackled Rob to the ground.
"Now, where were we…" the guard muttered. His face brightened. "Oh, yeah!"
"Don't touch her!" Laxus shouted, struggling to stand.
"Another interruption?" the guard sighed, before smirking and turning to Laxus. "And what are you going to do about it?" He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up.
"Ahhh!" I yelled, my hands flailing as I tried to get him to let go. How was it possible for my hair to hurt? Not only where they connected to my skull, but at the tips where he was holding it?
Laxus was on one knee, but he was closer to standing than he was before. He looked the guard directly in the eyes. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art," the voice came out quietly, with an echo-ey feel to it, reverberating through the cavern. "Roaring Thunder; Elevated Impulse."
A small spark shot off of Laxus and hit the guard straight in the head. He laughed. "Is that all you got, kid? That barely even-"
He froze up, his body stiffening, before he arched his back and was screaming in pain. He let go of my hair and I began to fall, though Laxus luckily caught me before I hit the floor. If I simply landed on my knees, I'm sure it would hurt. Even the part of my arms where Laxus had caught me hurt, though nowhere near the level it would have been.
"What did you do to him?" I asked, as we watched the man scream and writhe on the ground, shaking in agony. Laxus ended the spell, and the guard was definitely out for the count.
"Exactly what he did to us," Laxus said in a dark voice. "I activated all of his nerve endings; our body runs on electrical impulses. If I didn't end the spell when I did, he probably would have passed out from the pain. Maybe even died."
"It would have been good riddance," Jellal muttered, kicking the man's unconscious body as they made their way over here.
"Open…Gate of the Phoenix…" Lucy said weakly, though Corvus was already up and trying to carry her gently. Loke was still down.
Phoenix appeared in a circle of flames. "Shit, guys, what happened?"
"These dicks aggravated our nerve endings," I said. "So if you could fix that, that'd be great."
There was an explosion that went off somewhere else in the building.
"Looks like Gildarts is back up," I muttered.
Phoenix sent a wave at Lucy, Corvus and Loke, and I visibly watched them relax.
Then Phoenix turned and sent a healing wave over Laxus and I, and I started to feel better before I even realized it. Since I could stand on my own, Laxus stopped holding me up.
"I'll go heal the others," Phoenix said, before turning to Lucy. "Don't be afraid to force close my gate if it gets to be too much."
She nodded. "Thanks, Phoenix."
"Attack!" a series of guards yelled, rushing at us as they entered the cavern.
"Venus's Reflective Shield!" I yelled, the golden wall spanning across the entire room and shuffling their attacks back at them.
"Are you guys alright?" Macao asked. He, along with Wakaba and Erigor, with Enno on his back, was running towards us.
"We're okay now. How about you?" I asked.
"Phoenix healed Enno and I," Wakaba said. "Erigor and Macao were flying when it happened, though."
"Enno got the worst of it," Erigor said.
I felt it before I heard it. "Shit!"
Turning around, I saw a series of explosions hit the shield, knocking it down and sending me flying a bit from the magical backlash.
"Elle!" Laxus yelled, catching me again. "You know, you're starting to get too heavy for me to catch so easily."
I gave him a glare of death. "Then you should work out more."
"They're open!" more of the soldiers charged forward.
"Wind Wall!" Erigor yelled, throwing up his own shield. It was a lot thinner, though, and not nearly as strong as it would be in the future.
"Jeez, is anyone else feeling a bit bummed?" Macao asked. "This was not as easy as we thought it'd be."
"If I had the right music, I'd be able to help," Enno grumbled. "But I still haven't found the right fighting song."
I froze.
I still didn't know much about Enno's magic, though the type of song she played could definitely enhance ongoing events. But if she needed a specific song in order to lift our spirits…
"Do you play violin?" I asked Enno.
She looked a bit surprised. "A bit. Not well."
I nodded and requipped it out anyway. Violin would be easier than her usual pan flutes for this. "Here," I handed it to her.
"What do you want me to do with it?" she asked. "I barely know how to play, much less any specific songs."
I requipped out one of Cana's Transplant cards – something that could essentially download information into someone's brain. An idea I'd gotten from seeing some of Hibiki's archive magic.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated, focusing on the music I had spent so much time listening to. It had been a few years since I've watched Fairy Tail – over three, to be exact – but that music would never leave me. Particularly the music you'd always hear whenever the tide of the battle was changing, and Fairy Tail was going to win.
I handed them both over to Enno, choosing the theme from the original and the 2014 version.
She held the card to her hand, downloading the music, and gasped when it was complete. Her eyes shot up to meet mine. "How…how did you know? That…it's perfect."
"I'll explain later," I said. "But you need to play." Reaching over, I turned up the dial for the area of affected magic from the violin, making it as loud as possible. "If we're lucky, this will reach the across the whole tower."
"Guys," I told Macao and Wakaba. "Make sure you cover her."
Enno took a deep breath and put the bow against the violin, before she began to play the 2014 theme rapidly, sawing her bow back and forth on the violin like her life depended on it.
The music filled every core of my body, upping my strength and shifting my power. Even mentally I got a lift.
"Holy shit!" Macao gasped.
"Amazing…" I whispered.
Looking around, I noticed that not only were the active Fairy Tail members glowing, but so were Erza and Jellal. Paying even more attention, I could see that the other kids were just barely glowing, having barely (if at all) started on unlocking their magic.
Laxus and I exchanged smiles.
"Erigor," I said. "Take down the wind wall."
He nodded. "In three…two…one."
The wall vanished and we both sprung into action. "Cyclones of Saturn!" I shouted, creating two or three miniature cyclones that mowed over the guards.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!" Laxus shouted, downing the other half.
And even though they kept coming, and more guards kept attacking, we felt on top of the world, as if nothing could stop us. The tides of the battle were turning, and the men who came at us finally began to slow to a trickle.
"It's countering the runes!" Wakaba said happily.
"Runes?" I asked.
He nodded. "It turns out that there are runes surrounding the entire building, that's been channeling out magic power to source the tower. It can't handle more than a certain amount at once, though, which is why we are still able to use magic."
"Certainly explains the difficulties we've had," Macao said, grinning before throwing a series of attacks at the guards. "Purple Rain!"
I laughed and turned back to the fight, shouting, "Jupiter's Shockwave!" A wave of electricity went through the guards, and Laxus even stopped his fight to get a bite to eat from the left over energy.
Enno's music continued to fill my soul, giving me the spirit I needed to easily continue the fight.
And then an angry screeching noise filled the air, and we all fell down.
"Get down!" a voice yelled, and someone tackled her to the ground.
Juvia opened her eyes to see Gray above her, and he held out a hand to help her up. "You…you saved Juvia…"
"Well, of course…" Gray said. "We're friends…right?"
He was blushing, and Juvia could feel her cheeks heating up too. In the beginning, Elle had pointing out that both boys were cute, but now that she really got a chance to see it – "Ahhh, your clothes!"
Juvia's hands flew over her eyes and she turned away from Gray, who had yelled over his loss.
"Oh, get over it," Lyon said from a corner where he set a wolf on two guards. "You know as well as I do that we fight better without it."
"Yeah, the two of you should stop your damn flirting and get your heads back in the game!" Cana yelled at them.
"Haha, nice Cana!" Lyon said, high fiving her.
"We're not flirting!" Gray and Juvia said at the same time, and both looked away from each other and went back to fighting, though they remained in the same vicinity.
"Water Slicer!"
"Ice Make; Arrows!"
"Yes, Gray-san," Juvia said. "You are Juvia's friend."
Gray smiled, and Juvia felt her heart stutter a bit. "Good."
A horrible noise echoed down the corridor as the inspiring music stopped, and the four of them exchanged glances.
"That's not good," Gray muttered.
"We need to put our faith in them," Cana stated. "They're Fairy Tail wizards, just like us. They can take care of ourselves."
The three of them nodded.
"But just in case…" Cana said, turning back to her opponents and throwing her cards in the air. "We should finish this up, quick!"
"Right!"
Even when the noise stopped, we were unable to get back up. Laxus was the worst out of it, though, with his ears actively bleeding.
My ears had stopped ringing, but even hearing a man speak hurt them. "Well, we try not to use that one. After all, our strategy that messes with your nerves leaves the slaves unharmed. Their shackles protect them. But they can only protect them with a slight sound barrier, so this one ends up affecting them as well. While we would prefer to get the slaves back to work...we can always get more."
Ghoulish skeletal beings hovered around near the man who was speaking. "Now, finish them!" he commanded.
The creatures opened their mouth to fire at us. We were unable to move.
And then two pairs of legs walked past me. Looking up, I caught a glimpse of the face they belonged too.
Before I could do anything, Grandpa Rob spread out his arms and braced himself, casting fire and throwing it back at them.
The smoke faded, the world went silent, and we all watched as he collapsed in front of us.
It was different this time – maybe because he was younger, or maybe because he used less power, but he didn't die, or crumble to pieces like before. I could hear Erza and Jellal and the others screaming, and saw flying swords go after the soldiers that were still standing. Jellal's arms were stretched out, beams of light exploding outwards and hitting the rest of the soldiers that Erza missed.
Hauling myself up onto my arms, I dragged myself forward to Grandpa Rob, grateful I was so close by.
He was still breathing, and I refused to let him die.
"You're an idiot," I said, readying my magic. "You have Magical Deficiency Disease, don't you?"
"Yes," he breathed, coughing.
Saturn's Healing Winds wouldn't work then. Phoenix had already spoken to me about it – healing magic, no matter how powerful, doesn't work on Magical Deficiency Disease.
But luckily, I had magic that matched his – Mars. As well as Venus, which could act as purifying magic. If I used that to resupply his magic and then Saturn to heal him physically, then…
Closing my eyes, I took the strength of Venus and Mars and let them merge with the other, slowly putting it into Rob's body; sort of like a magical transfusion. I could feel the remains and echoes of the magic he had just used, and pulled those towards me to shift them back to him. This seemed to strengthen him, giving him color, and I let a small amount of Saturn run over him in order to fix the cracks on his body. I didn't have to worry about him falling apart.
Erza and Jellal, who had charged ahead of us, turned back after fighting, crying, though their tears slowed when they saw Grandpa Rob. "He should be okay, at least for now," I told them. "We just need to get him to Porlyusi-ack!"
Pain, unlike anything I had ever felt (probably because there was a type of lingering phantom pain from my nerve endings) ripped through my side, which I clutched in agony before collapsing to the ground.
Something came up my throat, and the cough that escaped left a splatter of blood not too far away from me.
"ELLE!" Laxus screamed.
And then three strikes of something outside of the tower came roaring down, engulfing people. My screams rang out, in addition to Lucy's and Jellal's, and then everything went black.
"What the?" I asked. "Where the hell am I?"
I was floating in a sea of disarray, like something out of Alice in Wonderland.
I continued to float past all sorts of things before I hit a set of large, bulky ornate doors.
The world stopped moving, and I took that as a sign.
"Alright," I muttered, and shoved the door open.
Inside was a place that was infinitely familiar, rows upon rows of bookshelves.
In the middle of it all, was a woman who was even more familiar.
"Oh shit," I muttered.
"Hello, Eleanor," God said. "Welcome back to my library."
I'm not apologizing.