Hey guys. After this I'll be taking a break for a few weeks. Sorry.
Also I switched the song (I like this one better). The previous singer was going to be Cana, for those of you who guessed right.
And I would like to remind you, that there is a connection between Slayers and Stellars - and that the Celestial Realm also deals with time.
We've already acknowledged that Elle isn't the only one to remember the last timeline.
And something needs to balance all the good she caused.
Enjoy! :D
Chapter One Hundred and Four - Heroes
Loke was angry with me.
With good reason.
I mean, I kinda ran into the training room on October 1st shouting, "GUYS I PICKED A NEW SONG."
"You WHAT?" Loke screamed.
"Our opening number. I picked a different song," I said.
"BUT I WORKED SO HARD."
"Shush," I told him. "You'll like this song more. Plus, we'll just move this song to next year, alright?"
"AHHHHH," he screamed. "FINE!"
And then he stomped off angrily.
The kids didn't really care. Our choreography didn't change much, and everyone really liked the new song.
So we changed it, and our singers (because they didn't really care, anyway).
And that was that.
But yeah, Loke was pretty pissed for a few days.
"You ready for this?" Laxus asked me.
It was the day of Fantasia. Our clothes were set, our floats were done, and our songs were planned out.
The choreography was perfect, any sort of illusions were recorded on cards ahead of time in case we were unable to do them live, and everything was in place.
I nodded.
"Are you sure?" Laxus asked. "We're throwing down a gauntlet to the dark guilds. And the council."
"I'm sure," I said, curling deeper into him.
Like last time around, we all camped out in the training room. The adults left, however, so the twins or Maxie didn't wake us up.
Most of us curled up on the floor together, and I laid my head on Laxus's chest as he played with my hair.
I smiled.
So much improvement from the previous year.
"You think we'll blow their minds?" Laxus asked, his chest rumbling as he talked.
I tried to stifle my giggles. He sounded like a giant cat.
"I think the Council will be upset no matter what. They always are," I reminded him.
He made a scoffing sound. I ignored it.
"Still," I said quietly. "I'm looking forward to it."
Though, to be honest, I was a bit worried about the dark guilds. Laxus wasn't kidding when he said we were throwing down a gauntlet, and I wouldn't be surprised if Brain and Ivan took it as a personal challenge.
But it wouldn't matter. We'd take them down in the end.
Our alarm went off so we could take a nap; that way, we'd be refreshed when the parade came around.
"Come on, guys, time to settle down!" I shouted.
Anyone who wasn't in the training room came in, and we all laid on the ground, cuddling into one another.
My head was on Laxus's chest, and Lucy came around to my other side, where she sat near Natsu.
I smiled to myself on the sights of Lucy and Natsu, Gajeel and Levy, Jellal and Erza, Gray and Juvia, Kinana and Erik, and Erigor and Macbeth together. Max and Laki were next to each other. And, of course, there was a puddle of tiny tots made up of Wendy, Sting, Rogue and Yukino, while they were monitored by Orga and Kagura. To my surprise, I also saw Simon and Ultear lying next to each, as well as Cana and Lyon and Brandish and Sorano. The last few couples (alright, and Gajeel and Levy) weren't nearly as affectionate with one another, but it was cute.
And Simon and Ultear, Cana and Lyon, and Brandish and Sorano were unexpected developments.
More than a few other kids bunched up, and I noticed that the way Millianna, Wally, Sho, Sawyer and Richard positioned themselves near their friends was a little odd. Sawyer was holding onto Jet's hand and Sho also seemed to hover near Cana (for all of their bickering over magic, the two were still pretty good friends). And of course, the rest of them stayed as close as they could to the other people who were trapped in the Tower or by Brain with them.
I bit my lip but didn't say anything.
I didn't want to be right, after all.
I twisted my head and curled myself up in Laxus's side, and Lucy shifted a bit closer to me.
Lucy. I was worried about her.
Before I started planning Fantasia, (hell, before I even asked the rest of the kids what they wanted to do this year), I asked Lucy if she wanted to do anything in the parade.
Last year, the parade helped me.
But Lucy didn't want any changes. Maybe next year, she had said. Or during your plans for April.
But she didn't want to sing this year. More than that, she didn't want to use any magic, either.
And I hadn't seen her use her magic at all for awhile now.
My eyes narrowed as I clutched Laxus's shirt tighter.
I hadn't seen her use it in almost three months, actually.
The only spirits we've come in contact with were Loke (who doesn't count) and Virgo, Corvus and Phoenix.
All of which can come out on their own.
I was worried about her.
But I bugged her (several times), and she told me she didn't want to be a big part of it now. I even handed her a song I think she could do (it was actually more in Erza's range, but it fit Lucy more, circumstance-wise) and she told me hands down that she couldn't sing that now.
Because she'd be lying, and to her, lying is almost as bad as breaking a promise.
So we agreed that she wouldn't sing it now.
And I chose a different possible softer song instead, before presenting choices to everyone else.
Not that it mattered; after all, we ended up with the more alternative rock songs.
And then I kinda switched it again.
I rolled my head over, peeking at Lucy, who was already asleep next to Natsu, who was using her as his personal teddy bear.
I rolled my eyes.
She'd be alright.
We all would.
We're Fairy Tail, after all.
"Is everyone ready?" I asked as we got on our floats.
They all nodded, and someone shouted, "HELL YEAH!"
It sounded like Gajeel but I couldn't be certain.
"Well, then let's do it then!" I shouted.
There were whoops of joy, and then we got ready to start.
The streets were dark, and silent. Our speakers were hooked up, and I could tell that the cameras were rolling, ready to stream us to the LS.
…I really need to change that name.
And then the music started up.
"Oceans too shallow," the music started off slowly, and Brandish's unique voice echoed through the air as our illusions of waves formed and Juvia did her thing. "The stars too weak." Lucy lit up, but barely. "It's deep inside us, you seeeeeee." We all glowed at that line.
"We never follow," Sorano started, joining the other short-haired girl. And that phrase, right there, was the gauntlet to the council. "Instead we seeeeek…..Nothing can break us…you seeeeeeeee…"
The 'nothing can break us' was the gauntlet for Ivan and Brain.
They sang together now: "This is how we out. Run. The shadows." A crowd of monsters shaped by shadows hovered behind us.
"This is how we Rest. From. The battles
Be forever one, we know" On 'forever one", the Fairy Tail symbol was flung into the air.
"We know, we know, we know," the rest of us sang, divided into sections and each singing one of them.
"We'll be standing when it all falls down," the two of the sang, as different colored lights fell from the sky.
"Steady on a broken ground," I knelt down and, using Earth, made the ground shake.
"We know, we know, we know we know
We'll be standing when it all falls down." With these lyrics we repeated the same pattern.
Time for the second verse.
"There ain't no distance…..We can-not reach..." as Sorano sang this, we all reached out, and the shadows behind us echoed our movements, reaching out for something that wasn't there.
"With height as long as...we breathe..." Bubbles made of air floated up around us.
"We never fol-low…the ones who le-ave," as Brandish sang this, the outstretched shadows vanished.
"Nothing can break us….you seeeeeeeeee," and again, there's the gauntlet for the dark guilds.
And we returned to the Chorus, with the same effects.
"This is how we out. Run. The shadows
This is how we rest. From. The battles
Be forever one, we know we know we know we know"
We'll be standing when it all falls down...
Steady on a broken ground...
We know, we know, we know, we know
We'll be standing when it all falls down."
On the last verse (a repeat of part of the chorus), the stronger music faded and the girls' had gentler voices.
"This is how we out...run...the shadows..." Brandish sang quietly, before she was picked up by Sorano.
"This is how we rest...from..the battles."
And together, they sang: "Be forever one, we know…"
"we know, we know, we know," our words were whispered from each section.
We'll be standing when it all falls down," on down, shadows appeared in the air and covered us again, blanketing the lights and the music.
It was time for the finale.
It was still dark, but the music started, with each beat another flicker of color.
I was careful (I didn't know if anyone got seizures in the universe, but I didn't want to cause one) and they appeared in each corner, in soft colors before fading, and not too sudden.
"I can hear the lost, cry-ing…." Erigor's voice echoes around us again.
I didn't (and Erigor, agreed) want Erigor to solo again, but everyone agreed that his voice matched the previous singer's the best, so he ended up doing it anyway. At least no one was mad.
"I can hear the truth, hid-ing….hid-ing..." There was a light now, from behind us, illuminating our silhouettes.
And the sha-dows are co-ming out…." The shadow monsters appeared again.
"I see the fear….ri-sing…"
"Yeah, but my hoooooo-pe is burn-ing….."
"The shadows are calling us out…." The shadows all turned towards us.
And now the Chorus:
"We are heroes!
Heroes in the dark…est times.
When there is…no light. Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh." At the chorus, all of us were busy fighting our shadow monsters, the world lighting up around us in fireworks.
"We are heroes
Heroes in the dark…est times.
But we'll rise…above Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh.
We are heroes!"
"It's feeling like the sun's….hid-ing..." The light darkened.
"But we're gonna keep mo-ving..." the remaining lighting turned a reddish orange, like a sunset. "…sur-viv-ing…" We all crouched down, as if hiding from something.
"No we won't go qu-iet tonight….
"Stand up and shout….louder!" We slowly began to stand up.
"Oh no we won't be si-leeeeeent!
The shadows are calling us out!"
The lights appeared, and we were back to fighting, doing the same thing again.
"We are heroes!
Heroes in the dark…est times.
When there is…no light. Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh."
We are heroes
Heroes in the dark…est times."
But we'll rise above…Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh.
We are heroes!"
And now it was time for the bridge.
"When the night is star-less," at this, the light went out with only tiny dots – our 'stars' which began to blank out.
"Only we can spark it," a small flame appeared on Natsu's finger.
"Light it up, in the darkness,…" It lit up a bit more, before vanishing.
"We the night is star-less. Only we can spark it." Now Natsu's flame was larger, much larger, showing not only his face but several people around him.
"Light it up in the darkness…Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh!"
On those words, the light expanded, and all of the other lights showed up too as we returned to the chorus.
"We are heroes!
Heroes in the dark…est times.
When there is…no light. Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh
We are heroes
Heroes in the dark…est times."
But we'll rise above…Ooooo-woah-hhhhhh.
We are heroes!"
The music continued it's beat and the lights continued with it, before the final line was sung.
"Oh we are heroes!..."
The lights went out, before they came up again, the crowd bursting into applause.
In the shadows of the crowd, a feral man smirked.
He should have stood out, with his vivid, wild hair, tattered cape, and necklace made of teeth. He wore no shirt and no shoes, but he didn't care about service.
He didn't need any.
He looked at the mages, dancing and singing on the stage, and laughed to himself.
His eyes finally spotted her; the anomly. She had long dark hair and looked to be in her early teens.
Watching her, he scowled as he saw her use her Planetary Magic.
It's always the Stellar Mages…he sighed to himself. Of course it's a Rigby.
But he had found the difference; the one that stuck out. The one he was searching for, because the world was changing.
"Oh, We are heroes!" he heard them sing.
As the crowd cheered, he sunk into the shadows more, and began to exit the town, walking along a deserted street.
Heroes, huh? He thought, and smirked.
The man lept into the air and transformed, flying away.
Guess that makes me the villain.