Since her arrival in this hellscape of a guild hall Erza had known pain that made the pains of her past seem simple, trite, and unimportant. The entire time she'd been subjected to Kyoka's hospitality her body had felt like it was on fire with endless waves of pain. It was nothing compared to watching Lisanna open the door in front of them. One second the girl had been talking about finding her sister. The next she was flying through the air with a cry sharp enough to hurt Erza's ears. It was the kind of pained cry that spoke of serious injury. Lisanna hit the far wall in silence, either too stunned to make noise, or unconscious.
For a second that lingered like an eternity Erza was frozen. Then the demon in front of them spoke, calling Lisanna a rat. Lisanna flinched, breathed, and then hacked out blood, clutching her chest. Erza felt her face contort in surprise at first. Then rage and pain. Erza could take her own pain. She'd suffered at the hands of others since she was a child, but watching the demon woman strike Lisanna was somehow so much worse. It made Erza feel weak in a way that even the hours of torture had failed to do.
Lisanna was never the strongest mage in their guild. She'd never had Mirajane's sheer magical presence. She'd never pushed herself to be stronger like her brother. She been kind and she'd chosen a magic that showcased that kindness in its own quirky way. Watching Lisanna fall hurt Erza. It hurt in ways she couldn't begin to put into words. So, Erza didn't put it into words. She expressed her rage and pain through her fists.
She requipped with barely any conscious thought. She chose an armor that would deal ten-fold of the damage done to Lisanna. She wanted to drive the demon that called itself Kyoka into the ground and never see her move again. The suddenness of her movements and their ferocity seemed to catch the demon off guard and before she could so much as raise her guard Erza had smashed her through the wall opposite the room's entrance. Erza leapt and then drove the spear she'd chosen straight down. Kyoka went sailing straight through the floor beneath them further and further until she left Erza's sight. Erza's arms and legs shook. She wanted to pursue the demon. She wanted to drive her into the depths of hell itself.
A pained hiss stopped her from pursuing. Lisanna had pushed herself up against the wall. Her breaths rattled in a worrying way. Erza needed Harry or Porlyusica or Wendy. Anyone who could heal. Erza rushed to Lisanna's side but she'd never felt more useless. Her hands floated above Lisanna afraid she'd do more damage than good if she touched her. Lisanna took her hand weakly and Erza froze. The girl offered her a wan smile. Her face was pale.
"We have… to find… Mira…" Lisanna was clearly struggling to breathe correctly if her grimace and wheezing were any indication.
Of course, Lisanna was worried about her sister even as she was injured on a floor. Erza didn't know what the best option was. Was there even a good option? Erza had no idea where they were, or how to escape. She had no idea how far they were from Magnolia. She didn't even know if their guild mates were out looking for them yet. There had been many targets to keep track of and Erza didn't have a great grasp of how long she'd been prisoner. Had it been hours or days?
She scooped the girl into her arms and ignored the tears burning her eyes. She'd have to do what she could here. Mira had to be here somewhere and if she was here then Erza would find her. She'd kick anyone's ass that stood in the way too.
"We'll find her Lisanna." Erza assured Lisanna clutching her as tightly as she dared. They needed a healer more than they needed the girl's sister, but Erza didn't know how to get Lisanna to one right now. They were stranded as far as she knew. She hoped for a miracle.
Cana had really saved everyone's bacon with her quick thinking. Carla, Happy, and Lily had deposited the guild members outside of a huge castle that was absolutely teeming with soldiers. It took time to break their way through even with powerhouses like Natsu and Gray leading the way.
As Fairy Tail members filtered into the castle they broke off into groups. That was how Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Carla, and Wendy found a strange control room and the startling information that they had less than an hour left before Tartaros accomplished their goal. The Face bomb would detonate taking magic with it. Somehow in the interim of locating Michello and nearly being killed in the guild hall the wards had fallen.
Wendy's mind immediately went to Harry and she hoped he was okay. Erza and Mira had never reported back in to Cana at the guild. Harry had apparently called, but the conversation had been brief and should have resulted in him returning to the guild fairly soon after as he'd told Cana that he'd found Jellal. There was no sign of him even now. It was a bunch of red flags all rolled into one.
Lucy had voiced that she was certain there was no way to stop the bomb remotely which meant they had to get to its location to disarm it. Wendy offered, and had taken the nearest exit as Natsu and Lucy started up a fight with the two demons who had tried to interfere. Wendy had barely managed to make an exit with Carla through a window.
Wendy felt guilty about leaving them behind, but the Face bomb had to be stopped. Wendy was the lightest member of the group which meant the exceed would be able to carry her furthest and speed was essential so walking or running was out of the question.
"I think we've made it." Carla announced, losing altitude. "I'm sorry. I think I've used too much magic."
"That's okay." Wendy placated as they touched down in the bottom of a ravine. Wendy switched places, carrying the exceed as they progressed through the dark tunnels. "I'll take over from here."
Carla shifted a bit in her arms and Wendy glanced down. "Wendy… I…"
"What's this? Kyoka sent me a kid? I can't get full off this. Absolutely ridiculous." The voice was gravelly and deep and sent a chill up Wendy's spine.
"Wendy run!" Carla screamed and Wendy didn't need telling twice. A huge body crashed to the ground where they'd been moments before as Wendy pushed forward with as much speed as she could muster.
"We don't have time for this. Face will go off if I fight him." Wendy panicked. She narrowly ducked a swipe at her head from behind. The demon was huge, but it was also incredibly fast. One wrong move could see Wendy beheaded. "I have to do something though."
"Wendy, no!" Carla cried as Wendy quickly set her down and took a defensive stance in front of her. She had to amplify her abilities or she'd lose this fight before it had even begun. "Deus Corona! Deus Equus!" She could feel her body getting lighter as she went through every enchantment she could think of to bolster her body.
"An enchanter, huh?" her opponent mocked.
"Sky dragon ROAR!" Wendy let loose the strongest roar she could manage. It hit the demon head on.
"Ahahaha!" the thing plowed right through. It hadn't even scuffed the weird scales that littered the demon's body. "A tiny thing like you is gonna put up a fight. I might have fun with this after all! Come on pip squeak, show me whatcha got!"
"Sky dragon's talons!" Wendy droped her foot and let the whip of razor sharp air lance at the demon. Again, nothing. She bounced backward as he let loose an attack that nearly beheaded her again. This time she missed it by a hair's breadth. Quite literally. The hair on the left side of her head fell to the ground and Wendy kept moving. She couldn't stop. The enemy posed too much danger.
She put as much strength as she could push out into a series of roars and slashes, but nothing was working. They broke through cavern walls and smashed pillars, but even the attacks levelling solid rock didn't seem to be phasing her opponent. She landed after her last roar with a staggered step and failed to dodge the follow up attack from the demon. It raked over her skin, shredding everything it touched. She screamed in pain as a giant foot smashed into her, pinning her to the ground.
"Wendy!" Carla's voice was almost distant compared to the ringing in Wendy's ears from the blow. Her head bounced against the ground and she saw stars.
"Oh, looks like you knocked us into the room with Face." Wendy arched her head to the side where a pillar of light was stretching out of the cavern they'd landed in. "Disgusting. Makes the air reek of ethernano."
"You let go of Wendy!" Carla's voice drew Wendy's attention back and she panicked at what she was seeing. Carla was trying to scratch the massive demon with her claws.
Wendy felt her breath hitch. If she didn't do something and do it soon both she and Carla would die. Then magic would be wiped off the face of Earthland. Harry had said that was a death sentence for the world. Harry… What would Harry do?
Wendy found herself asking that question a lot more than she'd thought she would lately. Harry always seemed to have an answer to everything and it was usually outside the box. Harry had mentioned to her once that creative thinking was something that could solve a lot of problems for you. Learning to use things in ways that no one expected could be the difference between being trapped in a room with pebbles or being trapped in a room with deadly projectiles.
Ethernano. The demon had mentioned ethernano, the source of magic. He'd said there was ethernano in the air around them. Natsu had consumed ethernano by eating lacrima once and entered a powerful state called dragon force. Could she do the same thing with the air around them.
In the brief moment it took for her to flick through the thoughts she'd had the demon had plucked Carla off of him and was giving her a considering look. His mouth opened in a gesture that clearly meant he intended to eat the exceed. Wendy saw red. It was time to test the theory. She had nothing to lose in that moment.
Wendy pulled in air the way she would for a sky dragon roar, but instead of stopping she just kept pulling it in. It was cool, like breathing in mint. The power it filled her with whipped out and the demon was hurtled to the far wall.
Wendy felt good her entire body vibrated with raw power. She'd never felt more alive. She'd never felt more in tune with her element. She could hear every eddy of wind through distant caverns. She could feel the gentlest breeze as the air she'd displaced whipped back into place. She could hear the voice of the wind singing through the sky, feel the heartbeat of the very atmosphere. Right that moment she was the sky and the sky was her. The air in this room was hers to control.
She sped forward and landed the strongest hit she'd ever given to the demon. There was a boom as her leg collided with his head and he was pulling himself out of the rubble of a wall a second later. "Oh this is good! Put up a fight. I like that!"
Wendy landed another hit and the demon jeered.
"Wendy… the time."
Carla's voice barely made it through the strange high she was feeling. A timer just off to the side was slowly counting down to their demise right in front of them. Four minutes remained.
"This will decide it!" Wendy cried whipping wind around her target. It spun faster and faster. "Sky dragon slayer ultimate attack!" She bellowed. "Flare burst: sky drill!"
"I'll just cut it!" her opponent yelled back and did indeed manage to cut the attack to ribbons.
Wendy felt a beat of discomfort in her chest like a pulled muscle but sharper. She nearly fell, barely managing to catch herself as she glared at the demon who was approaching like he'd already won. He wouldn't win. She couldn't let him win. No matter the cost she had to end this.
She pushed past her limits. She spun the air, current after current. She couldn't fail and she wouldn't fail. Stronger this time. As strong as she could possibly make it. Past her limits. What did limits matter to her now? Everything went into the attack.
"Flare burst: sky drill!" she cried once more. The attack hit with the power of a hurricane. Her opponent went flying straight into the Face tower which was slowly making its way skyward. He crashed through, shattering the thing and leaving him a bloody mess in a crater behind it.
Wendy's feet touched back down on the floor and she barely kept herself from faceplanting as she grinned like an idiot. She'd done it. She'd won.
"Wendy." Carla's voice wasn't one of victory.
Wendy lifted her head. The timer still clicked on, counting them to their doom. "No, I… I destroyed the tower. Why is it still going?" she wanted to cry but even that was beyond her. She was so tired. Her body felt like a million weights were tied to it pulling her uncomfortably into the rocky ground. "I… I failed…"
Finally the tears came and now she didn't have the power or will to stop them.
"I didn't do it in time." She heaved. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
All their friends would die. The world Harry had spent so long protecting and powering would fail. His life's work ruined. Would Harry even survive a complete annihilation of magic? She desperately hoped so, but also desperately hoped not. Harry had seen so much death in his lifetime. Would it not be kinder not to have to witness the death of everything yet again?
"We're not…" Carla's voice barely broke through the existential dread. "We're not completely out of options."
Carla was staring at Face. Wendy couldn't see her expression, but she didn't sound hopeful at that moment.
"Face has absorbed a lot of ethernano. If we can change the properties." Carla stumbled forward and began to fiddle with the symbols all around the array. "We can create a self-destruct sequence."
Hope bloomed in Wendy's chest. "How do you know about this?"
"My prophetic visions." Carla admitted, and her hands paused. The timer near her read just over two minutes.
"You knew this would happen?" Wendy couldn't stop the vaguely accusatory note from entering her tone.
Carla just glanced back at her. She looked sad, incredibly sad. "It was one of many possible futures. I've seen a future where Face doesn't detonate. I deliberately sought it out." She turned back to the array and fiddled again. "Out of those countless possible futures I only found one where we stopped Face."
Wendy stared at her friend and felt the irritation soothe. Carla was trying her best. "Carla, you're amazing." She said gently.
"I finished the array in the vision… and then it ended."
"What?"
"The vision after this point is blank." Carla's ears had dropped. She looked dejected. Wendy could feel her breathing quickening again. "Once I push the final button Face will explode… but nobody saves us."
Wendy felt her breath catch. She felt cold.
"So… you should get away from here. Leave me."
"No!" The word ripped itself from Wendy's throat. "I can't… I won't!"
Carla looked shocked by the heat in her words. Wendy pushed herself up as best as she could.
"Always… we were always supposed to be together." Wendy sobbed, managing to make it to her knees. "You promised."
"Even now?" Carla asked, voice shaking. "I thought…"
Wendy made it across the short distance with a massive push of effort and pulled Carla into a hug. "I wouldn't go anywhere even if I could." She said, breath coming out shakily. "Our adventure ends here Carla, but that's okay."
She could feel Carla's breath hitch against her shoulder.
"It was better because you were here Carla."
Carla start sobbing. "I'm so sorry Wendy."
Carla had been distant from her since their fight after the promotion trials. Wendy thought Carla had just needed time to build back up to that usual level of confidence, but maybe she'd misread it. It seemed Carla genuinely thought Wendy had been keeping her distance out of spite.
"Together?" Wendy managed, pulling back from her oldest friend and motioning to the final button. Carla took her hand and they pushed the button at the same time.
The world shook.
Kosmos had been torn about what to do once the guild ended up on Tartaros' weird cube base. She considered staying behind to defend the unconscious guild members who'd been magicked up there as well from the infirmary, but a large portion of the guild was already hanging back to defend them including Cana. If the newest S class mage wasn't enough Kosmos doubted she would be.
So, Kosmos followed a wave of the stronger fighters into the castle to take the fight to Tartaros. She trailed along behind Gray for a bit. Then she'd found herself separated quite suddenly as a wall had caved in. She must've taken a few wrong turns trying to find her way back because suddenly she was alone and the sound of fighting had quieted. She passed a large hole in the ground and peaked down just to make sure one of her guildmates hadn't somehow been smashed through it. It wouldn't be the first time she'd found Natsu smashed through the floor. The hole continued down several more floors into a sort of sub-basement. She could descend and try to find who had been smashed through, but the floors got progressively darker further down. She couldn't tell exactly how far she'd need to go. There was a hole in the ceiling above her too. Whoever had done the damage was powerful for sure.
Kosmos decided to head up instead. She wasn't sure what her logic was, but honestly she was lost in a giant castle so there wasn't a lot of logic to be had for her at the moment. She was winging it for sure. She went up about three floor's worth of stairs before she found a door that wasn't locked or stuck in the stone frame for some reason. She pushed through and found an empty hall, but a smashing sound was echoing from a nearby room.
Kosmos ran forward as quietly as she could and peaked through the slightly ajar door. Inside was a lab of some sort. Huge tubes of liquid ran from ceiling to floor with tentacles poking through the top. Kosmos' nose wrinkled in distaste. These demons they'd suddenly been pitted against seemed wholly unbeautiful. What sort of aesthetic was this?
"Aaaand gotcha."
Kosmos found herself tackled forward from behind and she rolled with her assailant through the door and into the room. A small woman with rabbit ears ended their grapple kneeling on Kosmos' chest. Her bony knees dug into Kosmos' ribs uncomfortably.
"Another cute girl." The woman said, sounding disgusted by the revelation that Kosmos was indeed female. "Doesn't Fairy Tail have any attractive guys?"
Kosmos scowled up at the woman.
"Kosmos?"
Kosmos shifted her head and was just able to see Mirajane standing stark naked in front of another woman. Both seemed shocked at the interruption Kosmos and the smaller woman had provided.
"Oh, Mira." Kosmos shifted her eyes to the side slightly. "The guild's been worried about you. It's beautiful to see you're okay."
Mira gave a short laugh. "You too." She sounded too amused for Kosmos' liking, but it hardly mattered at the moment. Kosmos dug a finger into her pocket and retrieved a seed as the woman kneeling on her chest ranted.
"I'm going to take those cute faces of yours and make you both look like caterpillars." She said nonsensically and made a disturbing laugh.
Kosmos twisted just slightly, forcing the woman up further on her chest. Then she quickly looped a leg around the small woman's neck and pulled. The woman was flung off of her and Kosmos was back on her feet instantly.
"Oooh!" Mira's voice sounded from the other side of the tubes beside Kosmos. "That was a good move. I'm gonna have to steal it."
Kosmos heaved a sigh, but pushed power into her seed. It shot forward and wrapped the small woman in thick vines, suspending her off the ground. She flailed her legs, but couldn't gain traction.
"Ah! No fair!" she whined. "Seilah!"
"Cease your whining." The other woman, it must be Seilah, said. The woman Kosmos had trapped quieted instantly. Seilah seemed focused on Mira in front of her, but neither was moving to attack to Kosmos' surprise. "My macro has no effect on you, but the same cannot be said for your brother. Elfman, wasn't it?"
Mira looked shocked, then concerned and maybe a bit peeved. "What have you done to Elfman?"
"Nothing, yet." Seilah shrugged. "But I could order him to take his own life any second I wished to."
A cloud of bubbles erupted in the tube closest to Kosmos and she let out a squeak of surprise as she tumbled away from it. A weird beast looking thing had appeared in its confines. "THAT BRAT! Revive me!" It shouted petulantly. "I've gotta go back and kill that stupid brat with the white cat!"
"Revive?" Mira said at the same time Kosmos said, "Wendy?!"
"This is Hell's core!" the woman Kosmos had captured shouted excitedly. "It's Tartaros' respawn point."
"Such things are better not told to our enemies Lummy." Seilah heaved a sigh that sounded a lot like the ones Kosmos often gave when she was forced to listen to Natsu's hairbrained schemes on jobs.
"Well, I guess the first thing I should do is wreck the place then." Mira offered, looking at the tubes with renewed interest. She must have some basic level of requip magic because she was wearing a golden qipao now.
"You think it within your abilities?"
"Oh yes, it's easy enough." Mira nodded at Seilah's question and the tubes all burst simultaneously. "I used my takeover magic to take control of these tentacles earlier."
"You have the power to absorb demons? Is that why my Macro skill doesn't work on you?"
"I'm in the same boat. If I could just absorb you I'm sure this would be over quickly." Mira's eyes flicked to Kosmos' then back to the demon like she was trying to tell her something.
"A fight then…"
"Hand to hand."
"Fine." Seilah seemed to bow in on herself a bit. "I order my limiter released."
Power pushed Kosmos back a couple of steps and when she refocused on the two Seilah had already surged forward. She was sporting darker skin and glowing eyes and her power rolled through the room in waves. She must have been repressing her abilities until that point. She got a solid hit in on Mira and the takeover mage flew backwards. Kosmos surged forward. She drew out seeds she'd stashed in different places across her dress. She threw one and pushed magic into it to make it stick to both Seilah's ankle and the floor simultaneously. It rooted as deep as the floor would let it. The tile wasn't ideal, but it pushed through the smooth surface with a bit of effort.
Seilah stumbled and Mira got in a couple of hits herself, driving the demon back Kosmos' way. Kosmos took one of her larger seeds and forced it to bloom rapidly. A bright blue flower laced its way up Seilah's legs trying to tie them together. Seilah ripped through the quickly growing plant and sent a heated glare Kosmos' way.
Kosmos didn't hesitate. She took one of her most precious seeds and pushed power into it. Seilah opened her mouth. A flytrap sprouted and latched onto Seilah with a snap.
"I order you to kill yourself." Seilah seethed from her prison.
Kosmos felt a strange tension fill her mind. She blinked and stumbled backward.
"No!" Mira cried somewhere in the distance, but Kosmos could barely think.
It would be so simple. Weapons were everywhere. She knelt down and picked up a large, jagged piece of glass.
"Kosmos, please!"
The glass bit into her fingers, drawing crimson over its surface. Her hand shook. Why did she want to do this again? She couldn't remember. She must have a good reason. Why else would she choose such an ugly death? The glass bit into her neck. A sharp gasp came out of her own mouth as she dug in deeper and started to draw the line forward.
"NO!"
Kosmos' hand froze in place. Her eyes went wide as her mind cleared. The glass slipped from numb fingers and shattered on the floor. Kosmos took two steps away from it in horror. Her back collided with a column and she slid down it.
"You… how did you…?" the woman Kosmos had trapped sounded as shocked as Kosmos felt.
Kosmos lifted bewildered eyes from the glass that had nearly killed her. Mira was kneeling on the ground beside the flytrap Kosmos had caught Seilah in. Seilah was nowhere to be seen. Mira was shaking, arms wrapped around herself. Kosmos pushed down her own panic and scrabbled across the floor.
"What's happening?" she asked, hands hovering unsurely over the barmaid's arms.
Mira cracked one eye open. It was the same eerie yellow blankness Seilah's had been moments ago. Kosmos flinched involuntarily. Mira let out a sharp cry and clutched tighter around her chest, like something painful was trying to push its way out from inside.
"I don't understand what is happening." Kosmos let her hands come to a rest on Mira's shoulders after a long moment. "Are you okay?"
"She's fighting for control of the takeover."
Kosmos nearly hurled a seed in the direction of the voice on instinct. Her mind caught up though and she twisted a bit to see an approaching Elfman.
"She absorbed that demon?" Kosmos asked, awed. It had sounded like Mira had been unable to do it before Kosmos had entered the fight. What had changed? Surely the demon releasing her limiter hadn't somehow helped them had it? Mira's shoulders relaxed in her grip and she slumped forward onto Kosmos' chest, unconscious. "Is that a good sign?"
"It should be." Elfman nodded, but he still looked deadly serious. "Won't know until she tries to call on the power. Sometimes the takeover can go berserk if its will is stronger than your own."
Kosmos didn't comment that it sounded like he was talking from experience. She knew he was a takeover mage as well. He probably was.
Kosmos shifted Mira to rest more comfortably. It was strange to think that a few months ago this would have felt unnatural. Now it was normal. A few months ago Kosmos probably would've resented the casual intimacy of supporting Mira. She'd been jealous of how easily she'd gotten along with Harry. It had been ridiculous. She could see that now.
"You helped her." Elfman said, face twitching just slightly with an emotion that Kosmos couldn't identify. "Thank you."
Kosmos tilted her head slightly. "It's what guild mates do, isn't it?" she asked blandly. "Help one another? Besides…" Kosmos brushed the blood slowly dribbling down her own neck. "I think she might have done more for me in the end."
Lucy and Natsu had sent Wendy on her way to stop the Face bomb and somehow she had succeeded. The timing had come close. One of the two demons chasing them had been pulled off their tail by Gray, but the second had proved to be a bit of a problem. The demon they'd been stuck fighting had mocked them that their guildmate must have failed as the timer clicked closer to completion, but then it had stopped just shy of when it should have activated. It had stopped and the demon had thrown an absolute fit about it.
It could absorb powers by eating souls. It had pulled in two of Lucy's spirits and had tried to eat them as well. It was only by chance that Lucy had attempted to close Taurus' gate and succeeded. The loss seemed to hurt the demon and she'd taken advantage of his surprise to pretend that Happy and Natsu were spirits as well. Which had… somehow worked. Clearly the demon wasn't the smartest opponent they'd ever faced.
When Natsu dealt the final blow they witnessed just how many had fallen victim to the monster they'd just fought. Hundreds of souls drifted through the air, escaping his clutches. Among them was a former enemy, Hades, who told them to deliver a message to Makarov telling him that Face hadn't been the true goal of Tartaros and to 'release the light'. Which was a completely nonsensical statement to Lucy, but the message hadn't been for her so maybe it would make more sense to their guild master. Happy offered to take the message and disappeared. He was the only one of them with the ability to fly so travelling was certainly a simpler task for him than them.
They'd been about to head off in search of Mira when a voice cut in to both of their heads.
"Can everyone hear me?"
Lucy nearly faceplanted as she slipped on the rubble littering the hall. Natsu caught her arm and kept her up.
"Warren?" a second voice joined the first.
It was Warren's voice projecting to them via his telepathy magic. He must've linked the guild members present on Tartaros' guild hall together. If he had time to do that then the fight must not be going too badly for whichever group he'd followed.
"We've found Mira. She's safe. Elfman, Kosmos, and I are here with her."
Lucy and Natsu both gave a cheer of relief.
"This is Erza. Are any of our healers nearby? Harry, Wendy?" Erza's voice cut across the guild chatter and cheering that had gone up on the mental link. Lucy's cheer faded immediately. She'd seen Erza on death's door and not ask for a healer. What could have rattled the woman so much.
"We lost contact with Harry after he went on his mission to retrieve Jellal." Cana's voice supplied. She sounded serious.
"Wendy went off to stop the Face bomb from detonating." Lucy also chipped in. "She was successful, but she's nowhere nearby and we don't have any way of contacting her if she's out of Warren's range."
"Porlyusica is here if you can make it outside of the castle Erza. We'll send someone to help as soon as we can." Cana chimed in again. She sounded a bit out of breath like she was fighting, which would be unsurprising at the moment.
"It would be much appreciated. I have been pinned down. Lisanna is injured and has fallen unconscious. I don't kn-"
A weird buzzing filled the telepathic link with a sharp static. Then it faded back and a cold voice filled their minds instead.
"So, this is Fairy Tail, is it?" The voice seemed to hum with amusement for a moment like he found them laughable. Lucy felt anger swirl in her chest. "I am the Underworld King, Mard Geer. You needn't learn that name though. You won't be around long enough to use it. Alegria."
The last word must have been a spell, or a 'curse' as the demons seemed insistent on distinguishing. The second it echoed over the link the ground beneath Lucy's feet began to shift and she stumbled a few steps from Natsu who was also trying his best to stay upright. The walls began to turn a translucent pink and then a darkening red that was unsettling.
"Ah, Lucy!" Natsu reached for her as the world pivoted. She nearly grabbed his hand, but something was pulling the both of them in opposite directions.
"Natsu!" she screamed, terrified. The world went dark around her. It felt like the walls themselves were trying to devour her. Fear gripped her heart. She flailed her limbs and reached deep inside of herself in desperation.
"Come on! Anything! Please!"
A burning in her chest nearly took her breath away. It was sharp and sudden like a muscle spasm, but before she could even figure out what was happening, she found herself deposited back on the floor. The corridor was dimmer now and the walls were covered in a flesh-like substance.
"What was that?" she said with awe, unsure if she meant the thing that had nearly devoured her or the thing that had seemed to stop it.
Light brighter than Wendy could ever have described burned against her eyelids as the Face bomb self-destructed. She waited for pain, or a sudden nothingness to embrace her. Instead, she could still feel Carla's tiny body cradled in her arms. After a moment she realized she too was being held. A glimmer of hope lit in her chest. Was it Harry?
But no. It couldn't be. She was pressed against the person's chest and she could hear the faint thump of a heart beat there. How strange for that to be a distinguishing characteristic of the person she'd come to trust more than any other. The slight pang of sadness upon realizing it wasn't him wasn't lessened when her savior spoke.
"Made it just in the nick of time."
The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it. She wanted so badly to peel open her eyes, but she was so tired. Everything hurt.
"That was reckless. Wasn't expecting Fairy Tail to take out Face for me."
She should know that voice. Why should she know that voice? A loud pop echoed through the air and Wendy was finally able to pull her eyes open roughly half an inch. Doranbolt's familiar face hovered just inches above hers, but he wasn't looking at her.
"I don't know who you are, but you have five seconds to hand over Wendy or I will make you wish you'd never heard her name." Harry's voice was ice cold. She'd never heard him sound like that. It was wrong. It made her want to cry. She was just able to see him out of the corner of her eye. His face was pulled into a glare so intense he looked like a different person. His eyes glowed an ominous amber and his stance was so tense he looked like a statue.
"Who the hell are you?" Doranbolt sounded confused, and more than a little defensive.
"Five."
"I ain't handin' her over to some weird dude just cause he popped outta nowhere."
"Four."
Wendy had to stop this.
"Yeah, good luck buddy."
"Three."
"H-Harry…" her voice was barely more than a whisper, but there was a momentary pause.
"Two."
"S-stop." She managed, just barely louder than the first.
"Wendy?" Doranbolt sounded confused. "You know this guy?"
Footsteps approached and Wendy blinked open her eyes slightly wider. Harry was giving Doranbolt a look that dared him to complain about him getting closer.
"Harry." Wendy's hand fluttered just above her waist toward Harry and he caught it before it could drop back down. His eyes had bled back to green which was comforting. When his eyes glowed amber it reminded Wendy of those uncomfortable days when he'd been gone and she'd felt responsible for being unable to protect him in his helpless state.
"Give. Her. To. Me." Harry ground out, inches from Wendy. His eyes were pointed Doranbolt's way, but she could see the heat in them. This time Doranbolt acquiesced, taking a couple of steps back once Wendy and Carla were squarely in Harry's arms. She could feel the tension in Harry's chest slacken. She could feel as his magic pushed into her, probing, looking for problems. He made a low, involuntary sounding noise.
"I'm okay." She got out, eyes drifting in and out of focus. A small yelp was startled out of her as she dropped several feet in one go. She realized, dizzily, that Harry had fallen to his knees. He was clutching her like a life line. Clinging to her like she was his only tether to the world. Something wet hit her cheek and she realized he was crying. She brought a shaky hand up and barely managed to touch one of the arms holding her. His eyes opened and she could swear she saw something in their depths that she hadn't before they'd all parted ways at the guild hall. "I'm glad… you're okay."
He laughed. It came out wet and breathy and kind of gross sounding. "Yeah. You too." He said, tears still running down his face. "Maybe I won't let you off my team again, hmm?"
Wendy hummed in response, eyes drifting closed again. "I'd like that."
Hello guys!
I'm incredibly tired, but doing good. Updates will probably slow to once a week again for the foreseeable future. Sorry to do that right at the end of the story, but all the stuff coming after this story is massive in size. So, at least it'll make up for it.
I probably won't be updating again before it passes so Happy Halloween everyone! Cool, I'm gonna go take a nap.
~Kanathia