Chapter Twenty-One: Heaven's Game

"If I stay in this crazy cat room much longer I'm going to go insane! I gotta get out of here right now!"

Marlow was staring at himself in a cat-shaped mirror with a disgusted look on his face. He had tried everything in his power but the penguin suit refused to come off. Every time he looked at himself he saw Pingu - it disgusted him.

"Pretty kitty. Pretty kitty. Pretty kitty. Pretty kitty."

"What the hell is that?!" Marlow snapped.

He turned around to see Happy and an orange cat robot.

"Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow." The robot repeated over and over again. Its head started to spring back and forth as it repeated the word "Meow".

Marlow was watching Happy. The blue cat looked ready to snap, which excited Marlow. He hoped he smashed it into a thousand little pieces! Marlow's hopes were let down when Happy, instead of smashing the robot, started to play with it; unacceptable. Marlow marched over to the robot, hissed at it, and slammed it into the wall over and over again, until it smashed into a thousand little pieces.

"Aw, we were just starting to have fun." Happy frowned.


"I don't know, maybe it's just me, but for some reason the name Zeref sounds familiar." Gray said as Erza wiped her tears away.

Noelle felt her heart break with every tear Erza shed. Noelle had little doubt that Erza was telling the truth, but it just didn't add up! The Jellal she was speaking of couldn't possibly be the same one she knew! The Jellal she knew is kind, caring, and would never do anything to hurt his friends. Sure he had his moments when he seemed a bit...off, but it was nothing like Erza has described.

"I'm sure," Erza said. "He was a legendary black wizard."

"Wait a minute, I remember someone mentioning that the monster that came out of Lullaby was one of Zeref's creations." Lucy gasped.

Noelle frowned as she thought back to her first mission with Team Natsu.

"I didn't mention it, but I suspect Deliora was a monster of the book of Zeref as well." Erza frowned.

Noelle glanced at Gray from the corner of her eye. He had stiffened and his eyes widened a fraction when Erza mentioned Deliora. Noelle moved closer to him and wrapped her arm around his. She smiled at him when he looked down at her.

"If this wizard is as evil as you say then why would Jellal want to resurrect him?" Juvia asked.

"I don't understand his motives either, however, my old friend Shô said something to me about Zeref getting them to heaven, and when that happens the world will be reborn and they'll become it's rulers."

"That doesn't make any sense to me." Noelle frowned.

"If these guys are old friends of yours then why are they accusing you of betraying them?" Lucy questioned. "Don't they realize Jellal is the bad guy here?"

Noelle flinched. He's not a bad guy.

"It's not their fault. I'm sure he fed them all sorts of lies about me once I left," Erza sighed. "That doesn't change the fact...that I abandoned them so long ago, in the end I guess you could say I did betray them."

"Because he threatened to kill them if you ever came back!" Lucy yelled.

"Lucy's right. There's no way you could have saved them." Noelle said to her.

"None of that matters anymore," Erza shook her head. "If I can't defeat Jellal then if will all be over. Leave it to me, okay?"

Noelle narrowed her eyes. The way Erza was speaking...made it seem as if she was hiding something. Why was she so reluctant to let them help? She couldn't possibly believe that they would all walk away from here and leave her to die, could she? It doesn't matter. There's no way Noelle is going to let anything happen to Erza.

"Sister. That's not true."

Noelle's ear twitched. All of them turned to see a dark-skinned boy with blond hair looking back at them. Noelle noticed the way Erza was watching him and figured he was one of her old friends.

"Why, why are you lying to them?" He demanded.

"Shô." Erza frowned.

"You think by making yourself the martyr you're going to get some kind of sympathy from you friends? Tell them the truth! That's not how it happened and you know it!" Shô yelled. "You blew up the boats we were going to use to escape, and then you left on your own - we would have ended up at the bottom of the sea if it weren't for Jellal. He saved us! He warned us not to trust wizards like you, who haven't learned how to use their magic properly."

Shô's voice started to crack and tears slowly built up in his eyes.

"He said that you had become drunk with magic power and that you didn't want anything to do with your past or the people you left behind!" Shô screamed between sobs. "You abandoned us and left us to die, just like that traitor Nicholai!"

Noelle's eyes widened. "N-Nicholai?" Does that mean that...Nicholai isn't here? Noelle felt her heart break.

"Did you ever stop to think that he might be lying?" Gray asked.

"If you truly knew Erza then you know she would never do something so horrible." Said Lucy.

"Maybe it's you who doesn't know Erza," Noelle said. "The Erza I know would never abandoned her friends."

"You only think you know her," Shô said. "You weren't there back then. You don't know anything about us. After you left, Jella's words were my only salvation! And that's why - I spent all these years trying to working to finish the tower for him. I did it for his sake. Now you're trying to tell me it was all a lie?! You really expect to believe that you're telling the truth and that Jellal's been lying to us the whole time?!"

"That's right." A voice echoed throughout the hall. Noelle thought it sounded familiar.

A thick-smoke filled the air and the metal-faced man from the casino appeared. Noelle and Gray immediately got ready to fight, but Juvia held a hand out in front of them.

"Please wait, Noelle-Chan, Gray-San," Juvia spoke. "He never meant the two of you any harm. He knew that he was attacking Gray-San's ice clone."

"But how?" Noelle asked.

"Since he was the one who cast the spell it had no affect on him. Juvia came along in hopes of discovering why he'd chosen to spare the two of you."

"I'd expect no less from one of Phantom's Element 4." The man said.

"I don't understand." Shô said.

"I had to fool you and the others into thinking I killed them," He answered. "I hoped our attack would lure them here."

"So you were lying too?" Shô asked. His body was shaking and the tears were freely falling from his eyes. "How could you do that to me?" Shô asked, staring down at the ground.

The man stepped up to Shô and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," The man said. "Jellal had you under his spell, and I couldn't convince you otherwise. So I played along until the time was right."

Noelle couldn't believe that he spent so many years pretending to be another one of Jellal's puppets. Had he truly known all along that Erza was innocent, or was there more to his story?

"So, you knew all along?" Erza asked.

The man turned around and looked down at Erza with a gentle smile. Noelle's eyes widened in the slightest when she saw the way he looked and spoke to Erza. He didn't just care about her...he loved her.

"I've always believed in you, Erza," He said to her. "And there's nothing that could change that."

Oh yeah, he was definitely in love with her. Noelle smiled finding it sweet that his love for Erza had lasted all these years. Noelle wondered if she would ever find someone to love her, the way that Simon loved Erza.

Noelle hadn't even realized that she had been looking at Gray, but Juvia had, and the blunette's face softened with a smile.

"I mean those words from the bottom of my heart." He said, taking Erza's hand in his own.

"Simon." Erza whispered and tearfully hugged him. Simon happily returned the hug.

Noelle felt warmed by the touching reunion. She hoped that Shô would come around too.

"I never knew," Shô said sinking to the floor. "I can't believe I blindly followed him all these years," Shô started to cry again. "I doubted you...cause you left me all alone! You had no idea how much that hurt!" He shouted at her.

There was a stinging sensation in Noelle's heart. Noelle wondered if her brother felt that way as well...like she abandoned him.

'No! It was his own choice. There was nothing I could do.'

Noelle shook her head and pushed the memories down. She wouldn't think about them - not here - not now.

Shô began pounding the ground with his fists as his feelings overwhelmed him. Noelle couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through his head; he had spent so many years being lied to and used, it would be hard to believe anything that anybody said. She could understand why he'd be doubtful of them.

"I don't know what to do!" Shô cried. "I don't even know which one of you I should believe anymore!"

Erza gently crouched down in front of Shô as he continued to cry.

"I know it's a lot to take all of this in at once," She said. "But Shô, there's something you should know," Erza whispered quietly. "Though it has been many years, I never once forgot about any of you."

Erza took Shô in her arms and gently hugged him. Shô cried against her shoulder as she held and comforted him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stand up to him, but I was so weak back then," She said. "Please, forgive me."

"Now you're stronger and ready to face him, isn't that right?" Simon asked, and Erza nodded her head in response. "I've waited all these years for this very moment when a group of powerful wizards would gather here."

"So what do you have planned?" Lucy asked Simon.

"We're going to take down Jellal," Simon answered her. "We can do it if we work together, but first we must stop Salamander and Wally from clashing."

"I hope Natsu has found Happy and Marlow. Erza said her friend wouldn't hurt him, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried about him - even if he is a little jerk."

Noelle sighed and reach down for Pingu, only to discover he wasn't there.

"Has anyone seen Pingu?"


Pingu wobbled throughout the halls of the Tower of Heaven, peaking his head inside of any room he came across. The fish was still wrapped inside of the napkins and safely tucked away in his arms. Pingu let out a frustrated quack as he came across another empty room.

Pingu sighed knowing he couldn't give up. Noelle was counting on him! With that in mind, Pingu set off to find his feline companions.


Marlow's eye twitched as he watched Natsu face off against Millianna and Wally...wearing a giant green cat head. The worst part of it all was that he was losing - to someone who could only make weird rope and a guy who could turn himself into blocks! How the hell was he supposed to rescue them if he couldn't even beat these freaks?!

"I hope you're hungry Salamander," Wally said, turning his arm to a gun and pointing it at Natsu who was trying to crawl away. "Cause you're about to eat lead."

"Ah man this is not good." Natsu grunted.

"Give it up. I've got a real dandy catchphrase I've been dying to try out," Wally grinned. "To bad things had to end this way, but from the moment you met me-"

"AH NOW MORE CRAPPY CATCHPHRASES!"

Marlow screamed and rammed himself into Wally, accompanied by Happy.

"Happy, Marlow, that you?" Natsu asked.

"You betcha!" Happy replied. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"It took you long enough!" Marlow scowled. "And what's with the cat costume?!"

"Just get this thing off of me!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy said.

Marlow scoffed. He wanted no part of whatever was about to happen.

"Look pal, no one interrupts Wally and lives to tell the tale!" Wally yelled and started shooting at Happy.

"No! I won't let you hurt the wittle-kitty-witty!" Milliana cried and latched onto Wally.

"Cats ain't no fliers! And they ain't no stinking gum-flappers either!"

"Come on little buddy, untie me!"

Marlow sighed. Why did he always get stuck with the idiots?

Wally tried to launch himself at Natsu but Millianna held him back by the scarf. Happy was having a hard time trying to get the rope off of Natsu who decided at that moment it was time for his "special attack".

"Sad kitty face," Natsu said with tears running down his mask. "Meow."

Marlow's eye twitched. If he didn't have the stupid mask on then he would have punched him. He could still do it, but it wouldn't feel as good.

"Meoooow!"

Millianna's eyes began to water and the rope restraining Natsu was released. Marlow couldn't believe that Natsu's stupid plan had worked.

"Why'd you let him go, ya dingbat?!" Wally yelled.

"Poor wittle kitty looked so sad!" Millianna cried.

One attack from Natsu's Fire Dragon: Wing Attack was all it took to put them down and not even a single drop of blood was shed.

How disappointing.

"Haha! You mess with the kitty, you gets the claw!"

Marlow groaned and smacked his face with his paw.

"So how long are you gonna wear that thing?" Happy asked.

"Until I can get it off." Natsu sweatdropped.


"Why do you have such a big head?!"

Marlow and Happy were tugging with all their might trying to get the cat mask off of Natsu. Either the mask was really small, or Natsu had a really big head!

After a minute the mask finally came off with a satisfying 'pop'. Natsu cheered as he was finally free from the mask.

"Hey look! Now it's stuck on boxy!" Natsu laughed.

"I'm amazed that mask was able to fit over his giant square head!" Happy said.

"This dance ain't over yet Salamander!" Wally said ripping the mask off. Wally grunted in pain and clutched his head as his knees knocked against each other.

"Well I already got my payback and since Happy, Erza, and Marlow are safe, there's no reason for me to keep wasting my time with you pal." Natsu said.

"Aye! You tell him!" Happy smirked.

"Talk all you want...but we're still gonna get to heaven," Wally grunted. "Jellal told us we'd finally have real freedom, and a world were palookas like us are calling the shots."

"I welcome you, to The Tower of Heaven."

"And there he is!" Wally said.


Noelle and the others were running up the stairs of The Tower of Heaven while Simon was trying to get in contact with Millianna and Wally. Noelle had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, she could practically smell it in the air.

"Something is interfering with my connection to Millianna and Wally," Simon said touching his temples. "I can't even tell where they are now."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"He's talking about Telepathic Communication." Juvia answered.

"Juvia, are you absolutely certain we can trust this guy?" Gray asked. "I mean I can understand that he actually wasn't trying to kill us back at the resort, but still..."

Instead of Juvia answering it was instead Simon.

"I won't make excuses for my actions." Simon said to Gray.

"I didn't think you could hear me." Gray replied.

Noelle rolled her eyes. Of course he could hear them, he was only a couple steps in front of them.

"Any mage who was incapable of surviving that would never have had a prayer against Jellal," Simon said. "I never doubted that Natsu or Noelle could have handled the attack. I was confident they would survive."

"Why only us?" Noelle asked.

Only she and Natsu would have survived? That couldn't be true. Noelle knew that Erza was a lot stronger than her, and Gray and Juvia were both powerful as well, and Lucy wasn't as weak as she made herself out to be.

"None of you aside from Noelle can comprehend the full extent of she and Natsu's ability," Simon spoke confidently. "Once they awaken the dragons power within, evil will fall in their wake."

Noelle stared at Simon. How did he know about her magic? She hadn't used it back at the resort, and she never mentioned it to him either. And what did he mean by their true power within? Was he trying to say that there is more to her magic than what Isoldeth taught her?

"I welcome you, to The Tower of Heaven. My name is Jellal and I am the ruler of this tower."

Noelle and the others stopped running as a voice filled the air. Noelle shivered. That voice, it really was Jellal. But how? How is that even possible?!

"I see the players have been arranged." Jellal said.

"Say what?" Gray whispered.

"So he knows we're here," Simon said. "He could be lurking anywhere in the tower, waiting for us."

"I'm delighted you've come all this way to see me, shall we play a round of heavens game?"

"So this is all just one big game to him?" Noelle scowled. "Jellal, what the hell happened to you? This isn't who you are!"

Erza and Simon stared at Noelle and shared a look of confusion.

"The rules are really quite simple," Jellal continued. "I wish to use Erza as a sacrificial pawn in a ceremony to resurrect Lord Zeref."

Everyone stiffened. Noelle could feel her canines digging into the fat of her lip. She would not let that happen - Erza was nobodies sacrifice.

"No, I won't let you!" Shô growled.

"If I succeed, the Gates of Heaven will open, crowning my victory," Jellal carried on. "However, if you can manage to find a way to stop me, then you'll be the winners, and to make things a little more interesting I've enlisted the help of four knights to battle on my behalf."

Noelle didn't like the sound of these "knights". She'd bet her life they were hired from some kind of Dark Guild.

"Four knights?" Simon asked. "Who could they be?"

"The only way you'll be able to get to me is if you can beat them," Jellal said. "In other words, a four on nine battle royal. And, there's one more surprise. The Magic Council has the Satellite Square focused directly on this tower, and it's highly likely they will attack. At this very moment they are voting on whether they should fire an Etherion Blast."

Noelle knew that if an Etherion Blast was to be fired at the tower that none of them would survive. Noelle could hear what sounded like a man arguing with Jellal but she paid no mind to it; she has other things to worry about.

"There's no telling how much time is left. Should the Etherion strike, total annihilation is emanate. No players left to win. Game over."

"What kind of messed up game is this?" Lucy asked.

"But that doesn't make any sense to me," Erza said. "Why would the Magic Council resort to such drastic measures?"

Something in Shô finally snapped and before any of them could react, he had taken Erza hostage within one of his cards.

"I won't let them lay a finger of her!" Shô exclaimed.

Noelle frowned understanding his worry; but they needed Erza in this fight.

"Let me out of here!" Erza yelled from within the card.

"I'll beat Jellal all by myself if I have to!" Shô yelled.

"No, you can't do it alone!" Simon shouted.

Noelle sighed as Simon chased after Shô who ran off with Erza. He was doing more harm then good for them, without Erza they were one person down, and who knows what kind of freaks Jellal hired to guard him.

"Some vacation this is turning out to be," Noelle sighed. "Gray, you go after Shô. We're going to need Erza if we want to win against Jellal. Juvia, Lucy, and I will go look for Natsu and prevent him from doing anything stupid - if he hasn't already."

Noelle smiled when she seen the concern on his face.

"You don't need to worry about us. We'll be fine, if we come across one of the knights we can handle them on our own."

"We can?" Lucy asked with a frown.

"Yes, we can," Noelle smiled and took Lucy's hand. "We don't always need Natsu or Erza to fight our battles, Lucy. We're mages of Fairy Tail - and we're strong. I promise you that we can do this."

Lucy blushed and lightly nodded her head. Noelle was right. They could - she could - do this.

"You're right."

"Juvia will gladly fight by Noelle-Chan's side." Juvia said.

Gray frowned. He didn't like the idea of them going off on their own, but he knew that Noelle could handle her own, and Juvia had been one of Phantom's strongest members. Lucy, admittedly, he was a little more worried about her then the others, but he knew her Spirits would protect her if anything went wrong.

"Alright," Gray grinned. "Be careful, Noelle."

"You too, Gray."

Noelle grabbed Lucy and Juvia by their hands and fought the blush down that was creeping up her neck. Now wasn't the time for a silly crush to get in the way. They had more important things to deal with like finding Natsu and taking down these knights and kicking Jellal's ass!

Wait...

Crush?!


Natsu!"

"Salamander!"

"Hey, Fire-Gut!"

"Aw man," Lucy sighed. "Natsu's got ears like a dog, so he should be able to hear us no matter where he is."

"Same as Gajeel-Kun, then," Juvia said. "Then his nose must be good as well."

"Gajeel-Kun, huh?" Lucy sweat-dropped.

"Juvia can't imagine why she was chosen to work alongside this blonde bimbo in the first place," Juvia sighed. "Juvia doesn't mind searching with Noelle-Chan, she's not a love rival to Juvia."

"Give me a break," Lucy said. "It's not like I want to work with you either."

Noelle was about to tell the two that they had more important things to do than fight with each other. But before she could even utter a sentence the sound of a guitar blasted throughout the the tunnel room they were currently in. Noelle whimpered and covered her ears.

"What is making that awful noise?!" Lucy asked. "Is that a guitar? It's so loud!"

"My ears!" Noelle whined. "Someone make it stop!"

"Juvia happens to think it sounds cool." Juvia said.

"You've got issues, girl!" Lucy said.

The noise continued as a tall, pale man, with long bluish-black hair appeared in one of the tunnels. His body was covered with black ink and in his hand he held a guitar that Noelle could only guess is what was causing the horrible sound.

"You babes dig my destruction solo?" The man asked, wiggling his tongue around.

"Check out that hair!" Lucy yelled.

"His hair? Really? That's the first thing you noticed?" Noelle sweatdropped.

"I'm an assassin with the Deaths Head Order," The man said. "Pretty rockin' name, huh? A death head is like a skull, get it?"

"Juvia takes it you're one of the four knights Jellal spoke of." Juvia said.

"I'm the wing of the Trinity Raven," He said as he shredded on his guitar. "When they scream Vidaldus Taka, they're screaming about me. ROCK ON!"

Vidaldus let out a piercing scream as his hair shot out towards them. Lucy started screaming and dodging the the hair as it pierced into the ground.

"Ice-Make: Wings!"

Noelle flew into the air just as a blade of hair sliced the ground where she once stood. Noelle swooped in and grabbed Lucy as Vidaldus began targeting her. She took Lucy to one of the tunnels and dropped her. She wasn't worried about Juvia, knowing that nothing could harm her Water Body.

"Lucy, you need to go find Natsu." Noelle said.

"What?! I can't just leave you guys!" Lucy objected.

"Juvia and I will be fine. Now go! I'm counting on you Lucy."

Lucy wanted to object but instead she nodded and ran off to find Natsu while telling Noelle to be careful. Once Lucy was gone, Noelle went back to Juvia as Vidaldus began to speak.

"Man I gotta tell you, both of you ladies are hotter than hell!" Vidaldus grinned. "Eenie-meenie-minee-mo-oh-no-I-just-got-to-catch-one-of-these-hot-chicks-by-the-toe!" Vidaldus sang as he moved his finger from Noelle to Juvia. His finger finally stopped and landed on Juvia. "You're it, babe! I'm going to make you my succubus!"

"Your succubus?" Juvia asked.

Noelle winced as the sound of the guitar playing bounced off the walls and into her ears. Vidaldus started to play faster and harder and soon, magic was shooting out of his guitar like crazy and had wrapped its self around Juvia.

"Rock of Succubus!" He screeched.

"What's happening to me?!" Juvia yelled. "No, leave me alone!"

"Juvia, what's going on?!" Noelle yelled.

"Stay back! He's too dangerous!"

Juvia screamed in agony as the magic invaded her body and surrounded her in a thick purple smoke.

"Juvia, are you okay?! Answer me!" Noelle yelled trying to see through the smoke.

"She's my slave now, babe." Vidaldus said.

Noelle glared coldly at him. The smoke faded away and a figure stepped out clad in a tight, low-cut purple top, and tight leather pants. Her hair was down and wild and she had on dark make-up. It was Juvia - but dressed like some groupie for a rock band.

"I'm gonna take you on a ride straight to hell, whitie," Juvia grinned sickly. "I'll show you the deepest and darkest depths of hell!"

Juvia said laughing crazily while waving her tongue around.

"Juvia..." Noelle whispered. "What did he do to you?"

"Rock on!" Vidaldus screeched and shredded his guitar. "My Succubus spell made this gloomy-groupie my slave! I got her like a dog on a chain!" Vidaldus laughed, whipping his hair around. Juvia mimicked his every move. "Oh yeah! I thought about making both of you babes my slave, but that wouldn't be as much fun," He tilted his head. "Cause there's nothing hotter than watching chicks in a cat fight. Give me some hair pulling and clothes ripping, down and dirty action!"

"You're sick, you know that?" Noelle glared. "I'm not going to let you get away with what you did to Juvia. So you better get ready, Cause I'm about to rock you world!"

"Oh yeah! That's the spirit, baby!" Vidaldus cackled.

"That little baby is about to get the spanking of her life!" Juvia said.

Juvia turned into water and charged at Noelle. Noelle frowned as Juvia surrounded her in a funnel of water. Juvia would strike out at Noelle but the winterette made no move to fight back. She didn't want to fight Juvia. Juvia wasn't her enemy, and she didn't wish to bring harm to her, but she couldn't stand around and do nothing either and let this creep use her like some cheap tool.

Juvia appeared in her watery form before Noelle with a twisted grin on her face.

"Now then, we need to work on your image if you really want to rock," Juvia grinned. "You gotta start by showing a little more skin - like this!"

"Juvia - wait - no!"

Noelle screamed as Juvia ripped her top from her body. Noelle quickly ripped the bandana from her head and tied it around her chest as she held her arms over her chest protectively.

"I don't want to hurt you Juvia," Noelle said. "So you better get a hold of yourself, Juvia!"

Juvia rushed at Noelle and headbutted her. Noelle hissed as she was knocked to the ground. She glared up at Juvia who still had the twisted grin on her face. It wouldn't be much of a challenge to fight her, Water Magic did nothing to Noelle...but she didn't want to fight Juvia. Juvia wasn't her enemy anymore. There's no reason to fight her!

"Juvia, I know that you want to join Fairy Tail," Noelle said. "But in order to do that you need to snap out of it! Don't let this guy use you! You're better than that!"

"Now we're really rocking!" Vidaldus whipped his hair around. "But I need more screaaaams in the mix!"

Noelle flipped back as Juvia began to whip her water around. Noelle hissed as the whip smacked against her skin and tore it open. Juvia's water could cut through steel - Noelle didn't even want to know what it could do to the human body. As Juvia cracked her whip again, Noelle reached out and froze it.

Juvia was so taken aback that she didn't even have time to act when Noelle rushed her and hit her with her Ice Dragon: Diamond Fist attack. Noelle's fist crashed into Juvia's face and sent the bluenette tumbling to the ground.

"I don't want to fight you," Noelle said. "But I will if I have to."

"Looks like the winter babe has got some fight in her!" Vidaldus grinned. "Let's send this babe to hell already! Hit it, baby!"

Juvia grinned and rushed at Noelle, sucking her into a wave of water. Noelle grunted as the weight of the water pushed her down. Noelle closed her eyes and tried to think of what she could do to free Juvia. Noelle frowned. There was one spell she could use, but she didn't know if it would hurt Juvia or not...but at this point she didn't have much of a choice, did she?

"Noelle-Chan, can you hear me?"

Noelle blinked. Was that Juvia she just heard, the actual Juvia?

"Noelle-Chan...Juvia doesn't want to do this. Juvia doesn't wish to harm her friends. I've grown to love everyone in Fairy Tail, even Lucy-San who is Juvia's biggest love rival. It's a friendly, fun, and heart-warming place. Fairy Tail wizards are like rays of sunshine that chase away the clouds on a gloomy day. Before meeting all of you Juvia had no idea a guild could be such a happy place. For the first time in my life Juvia thought she was making friends she could honestly trust. Juvia truly is...a woman who brings nothing but sadness."

Noelle was speechless. Juvia, she was crying. She could feel her tears on her face; even in all of the water Noelle could feel the warmth from Juvia's tears.

"Now Juvia, it's time for the big finale, baby!"

Juvia threw Noelle from her water and she landed on her side but was quick to get up. Noelle faced Juvia knowing exactly how she was going to save her.

"This is the end of the line for you!" Juvia said.

"I'm going to free you, Juvia," Noelle said. "You've done so much for us. I don't know if we would have got this far without you. I'm going to save you Juvia! I won't let any harm come to the people I care about. You don't have to worry Juvia; those who shed tears for their friends will always be welcome in Fairy Tail!"

Juvia stared at Noelle as tears gently flow from her eyes.

"Noelle-Chan..."

"What a load of crap," Vidaldus scoffed. "Hurry up and send her to hell, Juvia!"

"Oh I will," Juvia smirked. "My Water Jigsaw will cut you into little pieces!"

Juvia became a twister of water and rushed at Noelle. Noelle stood still as she gathered her magic into her hand. As Juvia appeared before Noelle in the water twister she stuck her hand out and pressed it against her head.

"Trust me, Juvia," Noelle said. "Touch of Frost!"

The water surrounding Juvia rapidly began to freeze over as she looked at Noelle in shock. Noelle continued to pump her ice into Juvia's Water Body until she was completely frozen solid.

"Whoa, what the hell did you just do?!" Vidaldus yelled. "My control over the water babe is gone!"

"Let's see how tough you are without a puppet at your disposal," Noelle glared. "Get ready, pal. I got a one-way ticket to hell with your name on it! Roar of The Ice Dragon!"

Vidaldus screamed as the twister of ice struck his body and sent his slamming into the wall. Vidaldus gave one final scream as he slumped to the ground unconscious, followed by his wig.

Noelle walked over to Juvia just as her magic faded from her body. Juvia collapsed to her knees and Noelle was quick to join her side.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Juvia," Noelle said hugging her. "I was really worried about you. Thank-you for all your help, Juvia."

"Juvia should be thanking Noelle-Chan. This is the first time a woman treated Juvia nicely."

Noelle hugged Juvia tighter hearing this.

"It doesn't matter what other people think of you, Juvia. I think you're amazing - and I know the others do as well. You're going to make a great addition to Fairy Tail. I know it."

"Noelle-Chan...thank-you."


"Natsu! Where are you?!" Lucy yelled.

She's lost track of how much time had went by since she left Noelle and Juvia to deal with that guitar-playing-weirdo. She hoped they were alright. Lucy shook the negatives feeling inside of her away. There was no way Noelle and Juvia would lose to that creep!

Lucy stopped running as she came across a large white and gold door. Curiously she stepped up to the door and gently pushed it open. It was a large room that was bathed in a golden glow. The room was eloquently decorated with shades of light blue, white, and gold. Various plants and pieces of art were stashed all over the room and in the center, on the back wall was a large marble fireplace with a fire burning. A chair styled like a throne was placed diagonal to it...and a man was currently sitting in it.

The man if standing would be 6'4". His skin is pale, and is figure is slim, but has an athletic touch to it. His hair is light-blue and piled neatly on top of his head in a bun; his eyes, are narrowed, and light green; a small mole rest under his left eye.

The man wears a white, peacock coat, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Underneath he wears a fitted, light-blue dress shirt, with a seafoam green tie. For bottoms he wears dark-grey, form-fitting pants, and white shoes.

The man had his hands folded under chin and was staring sharply at Lucy.

"All this time spent waiting, and you show up looking like that? How displeasing," The man scrunched his face. "I was expecting a wizard that would prove to be a challenge and instead, I'm greeted by a harlot playing wizard. How very disappointing."

"Harlot?" Lucy sweatdropped.

"I suppose you'll have to do." The man sighed and rose from his chair.

"I'll have you know I'm one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards!" Lucy said pulling out one of her keys. "I wouldn't take me lightly if I were you."

"A Celestial Wizard?" He tilted his head. "How delightful," The mans lips twisted into a smirk. "Allow me to introduce myself, harlot. My name is Cyneric Latif," Cyneric bowed to her. "And I too, am a Celestial Wizard."

Lucy's eyes widened as Cyneric pulled out his own key.

"Fear not little harlot. I'll dispose of you quickly," Cyneric said. "Filth like you isn't worth my time."

Lucy narrowed her eyes and got ready to fight. Noelle's words repeated over and over again in her head.

"We don't always need Natsu or Erza to fight our battles, Lucy. We're mages of Fairy Tail - and we're strong - I promise you that we can do this."

"You're right. I can do this. Thanks, Noelle."