The cold air that blew into the darkroom sent a shiver down the boys' spine as he stood before the two people who had allowed him to live. The menacing men stood still as they waited for him to speak up, watching his every move.
A single sweat dripped from his forehead down to the right side of his face as he gulped, eyes trained on him at all times. This was it, the decision that would change his and everyone else's lives for a long time, if not forever. It wasn't going to be something that everyone would agree on nor would it make him feel any better to betray his friends but the outcome that he chose would ensure their survival over the other alternative. Still, it wasn't an easy choice to make and this decision weighed heavily on him.
"So you're saying it's true?" He spoke up, clenching his fists as tightly as he could to bury the nerves. "All those rumors about him?"
"Yes" the lean cultists confirmed with a sickening smile, "he's been pretending to be your friend so you could let your guard down and let his curse take its toll on all of you."
"It would be wise of you to not trust him" the stout one added.
"But he's not like that at all! I know he acts tough and likes to pretend that he doesn't care about anyone, but Sasuke hasn't done anything wrong to us" the boy rebutted, pleading eyes that hoped that all of this wasn't true. 'He's protected Shô and Millianna like an older brother, and he's always there for us when we need him."
The thought of something as unfathomably evil as Zeref's black magic being resided right within one of his cellmate disturbed him. And if what they said was true, then he'd be the end of them all.
"You would defend a boy who kills men without mercy or hesitation?" the cultists retorted, "Just think about it. Would a normal child do that? Or a cold-blooded killer?"
"You said it yourself, that he acts like he doesn't care about any of your friends, didn't you?" the fat one added. He moved in closer to the boy and whispered into his left ear, "You don't know what's going on inside that head of his, what he's thinking" he moved towards his right ear, "what he's plotting."
The boy's eyes widened as he heard those words. The more they spoke, the more they were beginning to make sense, despite all the terrible things they did. What if they were right? What if Sasuke was plotting something even worse than them? He always kept quiet and barely talked, on top of that, he was ruthless when it came to fighting and his magic was just as deadly.
"Maybe what he's showing in front of you isn't the real him. Who knows? Maybe, in reality, he's a monster planning to lure you and your little friends into a false sense of security before killing you all. That could be the reason why he's protecting you, so he and he alone can murder you all"
"But ….there's no way-"
"Do you want to put your friends in jeopardy?" the lean cultist cut him off.
His eyes lowered down, facing the cold concrete as he contemplated those words. The thought of a psychopath cursed with black magic parading around as a friend before killing everyone horrifically made him sick to his stomach. "No….." he reluctantly acknowledged those words.
"Good" the stout one nodded in praise, his grin growing larger by the second. "Then you know what to do?"
This was an answer that he knew he had to say but he couldn't muster to strength to push through with it. Every inch of his body was telling him to go against the grain, for it meant subjecting someone to a fate worse than death.
"Answer us boy" the lean on pressed on, pushing the boy further into a wall from which he could never back out.
"Yes," he answered, his was tone quiet and filled with uncertainty as he forced himself to say those words.
As the boy slowly turned around and walked away, being escorted by the guards, there was a strange feeling inside of his chest. It felt heavy and painful like it was weighing him down for the decision that he had just made. The feeling of guilt caused his heart to beat faster and faster like it wanted to overtax itself to death just so he wouldn't have to feel this way anymore. If he was wrong, then he would become no better than the bastards responsible for running this tower, it was going to be a burden he would have to carry for the rest of his life.
But he had already made the choice, and it was to either risk trusting the boy with the cursed eye, potentially dying by his hand, or to do what they instructed and ensure the survival of all of his friends in the cell block. He prayed to whatever deity was listening, hoping that his fears turn out to be correct.
The tower was filled to the brim with prisoners rushing about busily as always, perhaps even more so than before. While he may not know the exact reason as to why this was the case, Sasuke speculated that this was likely due to some deadline they were falling behind. It was that the case, then it seems they were getting desperate to achieve their goals for some unforeseeable reason.
However, it also meant that he and the rest of his cellmates had to move things ahead of schedule as well. It was starting to feel like a race against time.
That being said, there were always possibilities to consider when rushing into things like these. The most important of which was whether or not the kids were ready to undertake such a daunting task.
"Sasuke" Simon suddenly greeted from behind, snapping the Uchiha out of his thoughts.
He turned his head and gazed at the older boy with slit eyes before facing forward again as he carried on with his work, this time consisting of mixing concrete to create cinder blocks, which was a fresh change of pace from all the hammering and cart pulling.
Speaking of Simon, Sasuke noticed that he had been looking a bit more sullen and broody as of late: He'd spent hours in the cell pacing back and forth, and whenever the others would ask if he was alright he'd either shrug it off or reply with an answer that he didn't seem sure of either. At times, he'd see him stare at his meal or force it down his throat, and in the worst of times, he'd lash out before cooling off somewhere.
Sasuke wasn't exactly a people person nor was he the best at seeing inside another persons' heart, so the best he could make of this was that the continuous stress of the tower and their escape plan was probably getting to him.
"What is it?" he asked, continuing with his work.
Simon paused for a while as he closed his eyes, though Sasuke hardly noticed any of that with his back turned against him. "I was working in the west wing this morning when I heard some people talking" he began; his tone was serious enough that Sasuke considered it important enough to listen. "And it's something that you might wanna hear."
"And what did they say?" Sasuke inquired, his back still turned against Simon but his attention was now focused on his words as well.
Simon took two steps forward and continued to gaze at the Uchiha. "Remember what those prisoners said about you and your eye? Well, it looks like the rumors are starting to spread like wildfire around here and some of those guys are out for your blood."
Sasuke immediately stopped mixing the concrete as he rose to his feet and turned around. It seems his speculation had indeed come true: others were getting ready to kill him again. At this point, it was getting ridiculous but he nevertheless had to nip this issue in the bud. "Alright, you've got my attention" he stated, "Do you know who they are?"
"Don't know a thing about them" Simon quickly replied.
"Did you at least see how they looked like?" Sasuke inquired again. The more information he had on these would-be assassins the better his chances of stopping them.
"Like I said, I just heard them talking while I was passing by. The only thing I remember was that one of them was thin like Wally and the other one was fat" Simon answered again.
"A fat prisoner?" Sasuke expressed suspicion inside of his thoughts because the very idea of a fat prisoner seemed very contradictory. But then again, Simon might have been only simplifying it and what he really meant was that the prisoner was more rotund and out of shape, like Wally's brother Richard. If that was the truth, then that would be a stark contrast to the able-bodied men he and Jellal faced before.
"If you want, I can take you there later," Simon offered, his eyes remained fixed on Sasuke's, "once you're done here, that is."
Even if what he said was true, there were still too many variables to know for sure that there was a genuine threat here. Other than the physical descriptions of two of the prisoners, the rest of the information was bare-bones at best. "It could be a trap, you know?" Sasuke argued against the offer, "Something to lure us in."
"Maybe, maybe not" Simon argued back, "But at least it wouldn't hurt to know if it's true or not."
Sasuke remained quiet as he pondered on Simon's words. At the very least, the older boy was offering to go along with him so if the worst-case scenario ever happened; he'd have someone to watch his back. Next to him, Simon had always been the most mature one of the group and was reliable in a pinch, so Sasuke felt comfortable in trusting him that much.
"Alright" Sasuke agreed with a nod. He had to give Simon credit for coming to him directly and being discreet about it. If Jellal and the others had found out about it, they would've been up in arms and made things more complicated. Still, he didn't want Simon to risk his neck out like that just for nothing, so he had to ensure his safety no matter what.
"Then it's settled, I'll take you there later" Simon replied as he turned around and walked away.
"But if things go wrong and it turns out to be a trap" Sasuke added another stipulation that caused the older boy to stop in his tracks, "then I want you to run, no questions asked. Don't act like Jellal and pretend to be a hero."
"That's fine by me" Simon waved goodbye as his lips curved upwards into a smile.
Sasuke looked on as the other boy walked away before going back to his work, filling in concrete.
As they walked through the hallways, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency with each step that Simon took. It almost looked like he was in some sort of rush to get things over with as quickly as possible.
Normally he wouldn't find this behavior so out of place; after all, the sooner they went there, the better their chances of spotting the suspects before they moved to another spot. But there was always an aura of caution that was exuded whenever they were doing something like this, a precautionary measure in case things went wrong.
But the way Simon led the charge, it almost felt like he knew what was going to happen and that bugged the Uchiha.
"Simon" he called out to the other boy.
The sound of his voice must've done something because Simon stopped leading, almost as if he was taken completely by surprise.
"Yeah?" he addressed, turning his face to the side to glance at the Uchiha, "Is….something wrong?"
Sasuke stared back and grunted in annoyance at the sight of the other boy looking nervous. "I should be the one asking you that. You look like you're about to keel over."
Simon let out a gasp escape from his mouth. He stood still for a second or so before he regained his focus. "I'm fine."
The young Uchiha's eyes frowned as he heard those words. He may not be able to read people as well as others like Jellal and Erza, but this blatant denial was something he could easily pick up on. "You don't look fine" he spoke softly but firmly.
"I said I'm fine" Simon insisted, his brow furrowed and his gaze firmly rooted towards Sasuke's, as he stood his ground.
Sasuke's frown deepened as he continued to glare at Simon. It was painfully clear that he was hiding something from him and if it had something to do with this whole thing, then it would not bode well for either of them. He had spent years stabbing others in the back and getting stabbed in the back as well, so it was only natural that he would be inclined to suspect Simon of some sort of foul play here.
But a part of him just didn't want to believe that. After all this time, he'd come to see Simon and all the others in his cell as decent people just trying to survive. Simon had defended him from false accusations multiple times even when there was no benefit to be found from associating with the likes of him and he desperately hoped that if anything was going on, that it was something completely out of Simon's hands.
Sadly, since he couldn't figure out the older boy at all, the only thing Sasuke could do at the moment was prepare for anything that might come at him.
"If you say so" the Uchiha conceded in a whispered, hushed tone as he closed his eyes. While he could just turn tail and leave, he'd wager that if all of this conspiracy was true, then they'd just plot something even worse down the line. As such, Sasuke felt it was better to see this through rather than let it linger on, "let's get going."
Simon's expression softened as his face morphed into that of sadness, almost as if he realized that Sasuke was already on to him but was willing to play along just because he trusted him. It felt like he was breaching that trust. "y-yeah…. of course" he said, turning his face forward yet still not moving an inch.
"What is it now?" Sasuke inquired.
It was the moment of truth for Simon. What choice would he make: the life of one friend over the lives of others? This was not something he could just casually do on a whim, and yet, it felt like the world was pushing him to make a decision and quickly. Stop and turn back or keep moving forward and seal someone's fate.
With a deep breath, Simon weighed in on his choices before finally making his decision. "Nothing…let's go" he commanded.
He couldn't fathom why but hearing those words made Sasuke a little bit on edge as well. He started following in Simon's lead as they carried the lumber in silence once again, hoping that he was right to place his trust in him, to see the kind and reliable kid that he always knew him for.
Still, the bigger question that lingered on his mind was what course of action he should take if the rumors turn out to be true. A confrontation with the perpetrators? That would solve the immediate problem but then he would risk getting the attention of the guards and it would be him and Jellal all over again. Perhaps a more adequate option would be to spy in on their conversations, get some information out of them and plan accordingly. But then again, since he is the target, they'd probably be on high alert the moment they noticed his presence. So many plans with vastly different outcomes, each with its strengths and weaknesses. He'd have to improvise on the fly it seems.
Sasuke only hoped that he didn't have to encounter some new kind of magic, one that he'd have no means of defending against. If Rob's lectures on magic were any indication, it was the versatility of magic, from direct attacks to more subtle ones like hexes, curses, and incantations that were going to give him serious trouble.
The lumber they were carrying was quite large and cumbersome, but it served its purpose and allowed them to blend in seamlessly, making them look busy and providing a valid excuse to move from one wing to another. An idea Sasuke and Erik picked up on, and one that was kept working no matter the situation.
As they neared the end of the corridors and entered into the next section, Simon's steps began to slow down as his pace became more relaxed. "We're here now" he announced.
Sasuke remained quiet as the two gently placed the timber next to the others. As Simon walked forward, Sasuke followed behind, keeping a close eye on their rear to make sure they weren't going to be ambushed.
Once they had reached the section, Sasuke was greeted to a sight that he never thought he would see. His jaw dropped slightly as his eyes widened at the sight of a now-empty construction area. The Uchiha's eyes darted everywhere as it tried to pick up the faintest trace of life. But it was all In vain.
To say that it was devoid of life would be an understatement, as there was no one but the two of them. If experience had taught him anything, it was that a large open space with no one else around and surrounded by openings on all sides, coupled with Simon's nervous behavior meant only one thing: It was a trap set up for him.
As if right on cue, a small group of armed men with hideous beasts beside them began emerging from the shadows as they surrounded the two of them. A pair emerged from the troops, grinning as they stepped forward and one of them began to speak, "Well done boy! You've done exactly as we asked."
Sasuke glanced over to Simon, hoping to get an answer but the only response he got was that of silence.
"Indeed" the lean one spoke up, "We didn't think someone as young as you could commit acts of treachery like this but I must admit, your tenacity is admirable"
Sasuke curled up his fists into a ball as he clenched them tightly, his face morphing from that of concern to one of anger as his eyes narrowed and his frown deepened. His suspicions turned out to be completely validated after all this time, only made worse by the fact that it felt like a betrayal from the hands of someone he had begun to trust and respect.
He marched towards Simon, hoping he was still wrong. He hoped that Simon frantically pleaded and denied, he hoped that he was genuine in those feelings and was ignorant of all of this. But as he angrily stomped his way towards the older boy, there was no sign of worry, fear, or even concern on his face. Rather, Simon hung his head and seemed to be avoiding eye contact, his body looked passive as he wasn't even on his guard. All of this pointed towards a feeling of shame and only confirmed that he was planning to stab him in the back. He truly wished it wasn't the case.
"You've got some explaining to do!" Sasuke gripped Simon's shirt and snarled but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. "Answer me Simon!" he called out to him again, only to be shot back with silence.
"I'm sorry. I really am" the older boy whispered faintly. He was so passive to the extent that he refused to put up any sort of resistance against Sasuke grabbing of him, confused and frustrated.
"Don't bother" the fat one snickered, "He's made up his mind. In exchange for his and everyone else's lives, he's chosen to forfeit yours."
"What!?" Sasuke stiffened, completely taken aback by the revelation.
"Don't be so surprised" the lean one laughed maniacally, "After all, he's the reason we knew about the little hole that you and your friends have been digging."
With a snap of his fingers, the stout cultist ordered a group of armed men to come forward, each one of them carrying a child with their hands tied behind their backs. Sasuke let go of his hold on Simon as his eyes widened with terror while he looked on as the kids were dropped to the ground and their faces became clearer: the children that were brought forward were none other than his cellmates, beaten and bruised but alive nonetheless.
And the Uchiha wasn't the only one with fear in his eyes, as the sight of his friends in an unconscious state seemed to have brought Simon back to his senses as all feelings of guilt seemed to have vanished for the moment.
"We had a deal!" Simon shouted, "You promised me that you'd spare them if I did what you asked!"
The two cultists laughed as the others joined in. "We promised that we would spare your lives and so we did" the lean one answered, "But we never said we wouldn't punish you all for even thinking about trying to escape. In all honesty, we should've fed you to the beasts and be done with it, but since you were such a good little boy and told us everything, we're feeling quite generous, so we'll let you and your friends off the hook this time."
Simon gritted his teeth and growled, "No! It wasn't supposed to go like this!"
As the concerned parties bickered back and forth, all the locomotion seemed to have roused at least one of the kids from his deep slumber, as a blue-haired boy slowly opened his eyes. The world around him was hazy, confusing and a blur, he could barely make out what was happening at the moment or the events that had transpired before. All he could remember was the horrible pain he endured at the hands of these monsters, in retaliation for daring to get out of the tower unnoticed. How did they even get discovered?
With his vision becoming clearer by the second, Jellal could make out Sasuke and Simon standing in the distance as a group of armed men surrounded them. He tried his best to call out for them, but his voice just wouldn't escape him, causing him to let out weak grunts instead but they were enough to get everyone's attention.
"Oh, so this one's awake," one of the head cultists remarked.
"Jellal!" Sasuke and Simon both shouted simultaneously.
"You know, you should be thankful for your friend over there" the fat one pointed his staff towards Simon, "He's been such a great help, telling us everything about your little plan. He's the reason you're all still here."
Jellal was too weak at the moment to react to any of this, but if he could, his reaction would've been just the same as Sasuke's. "S-Si…mon?" he said weakly, mustering all of his strength just to say those words.
"Jellal…..I ….I didn't mean for any of this!" Simon pleaded, his right fist clenched to his shirt. "This isn't the way things were supposed to go, I swear" he continued justifying his actions.
Sasuke immediately turned around and furrowed his brow. He had a look of disapproval as he retorted, "Really? Then tell me, how were things supposed to end then?"
"With you by our side, of course" one of the cultists chimed in, causing Sasuke to look towards his way.
"In service to Lord Zeref, as the herald for his return and to lead us to paradise" the other one added.
'Zeref' was a name that they had preached many times over: their 'God' in whose name they committed every atrocity they could in the hopes of appeasing him. A God who had supposedly been dead for centuries and was the very reason why they were constructing this tower. But if he was truly dead and gone, then this was just another grand delusion as far as Sasuke was concerned; to him, the dead should remain dead.
However, the fact that they wanted him out of everyone was no longer a surprise at this point for Sasuke. It would seem his Rinnegan had caused him more attention than he ever wanted, and if he had to guess, they probably fell for the villagers' superstitions. Worse still, Simon probably felt that way too about his 'cursed eye' and it was probably the reason why he sold him out.
"Ah, I can see the look on your face, it tells me that you're contemplating on our words," the stout one said with a big grin.
"No" Sasuke shot back, "I just think you're crazy. If your god is dead, then he should stay dead."
The lean one let out a sigh and hummed in disappointment, "A pity. We were hoping you'd come with us of your own volition."
The young Uchiha raised his hands to his face as he widened his stance, readying himself for a fight as the lead cultists motioned for the rest of the guards to come forward to deal with him with a wave of their hands. However, as the troops marched forward, the ones riding on beasts seemed to be staying back. It seems like they were trying to either test him or take him alive. This was the one advantage that he was going to get as the armed men got nearer.
As the troops marched past him, paying no heed to his presence, Simon slowly backed away as he watched them surround Sasuke.
But even being surrounded by crazed men armed to the teeth, Sasuke was unfettered by such a sight. "Do your worst" the Uchiha dared them.
The first one complied and tried to take a stab at him with a short blade, only for Sasuke to grab his hand, twist his wrist and stab him through his eye with his blade by his own hands. As the man screamed in pain, the Uchiha kicked him away while taking hold of his sword as more joined in. Another raised his ax and tried to bring it down on Sasuke, who nimbly dodged to the left side, and immediately sliced his arm off causing the man to fall on his knees and cry out in pain. Without any wasted motion, Sasuke went straight for his head and snapped his neck, neutralizing him in an instant.
The ax was too large and heavy for him to utilize properly, but he had enough strength to swing it and toss it towards the armed cultists as many of them immediately jumped backward to avoid getting hit with it, giving the Uchiha a moment of breathing room. In that time, one of them charged at Sasuke and tried to thrust his spear towards the Uchiha, who stepped sideways in the nick of time before grabbing the handle of the spear. There was a brief moment of struggle between the two until Sasuke pushed the handle of the spear towards the man's face, taking advantage of the momentum gained and using it against him. As the man covered his face and winced in pain, the young Uchiha plunged the spear into his stomach, taking him out for good. At this moment, he weaved a few hand signs as two more Sasukes materialized out of thin air before charging forward to keep the bulk of the guards busy as the real Sasuke sought to take care of those who slipped through the cracks.
Four more decided to take their chance and approached the Uchiha. One of them took the lead and swung his sword but before it could even connect, Sasuke took him down to the ground by rolling forward and locking the man's legs with his own, causing him to trip. On the ground, the man turned around to face the Uchiha as he attempted to take a stab at the boy who snatched the sword from his hand and ran it through his chest. Sasuke quickly removed the weapon from the body and used it to block an oncoming attack from behind. Knowing that he couldn't win in a struggle of brute strength at his current state, Sasuke parried the attack and thrust the sword onto the opponent's thigh. As the man roared in pain, the boy snatched a couple of knives from the man's sheathe, climbed to his shoulder, and tossed it at the other two assailants before stabbing him in the throat.
As the fight dragged on, the look of fear in the guard's eyes became more and more apparent as their companions kept getting slaughtered one by one at the hands of a boy. It was at this point that the magic users began to intervene and conjured up spells that shot up some sort of energy beams from their staves. The Uchiha rushed forward towards one of them, dodging their attacks left and right as he did so until he reached his first target. Grabbing hold of the stave, he turned the end of the handle to face the user instead, the energy exploding in his face.
Sadly, Sasuke's clones had reached their limits and were eventually dispatched by the goons as they began to surround him once again. Outnumbered and without any support, Sasuke gritted his teeth as he realized that he was now backed into a wall. Having no choice, he weaved another handsign, puffed up his chest before letting out a volley of fire from his mouth. The intensity of the flames dispersed the crowd and forced many to flee for their lives. Others still, had the misfortune of getting caught in the crossfire as they screamed while getting cooked alive.
One brave soul decided to step in and grab him from behind, taking Sasuke by surprise. It was enough to stop the barrage of fire as the man began to choke the life out of Sasuke. Against a helpless prisoner, this tactic might've worked but on someone whose previous incarnation was as battle-hardened shinobi, it was nothing more than an inconvenience as Sasuke grabbed a few of the fingers from his right hand and slowly bent them in the opposite direction until they were snapped out of place. As he screamed in horrifying pain, Sasuke kept holding onto the hand as he used his shoulder like a fulcrum to dislocate his elbow by slamming it down.
"Well done" the stout cultist applauded. Bodies were everywhere, lying on the floor with some dead while others moaning in agony. No one else dared to take on the boy at this moment, as all of them were quaking in fear.
Simon was left speechless, sweat pouring from his face as he looked at the carnage around him. It almost seemed like the cultists were right all along; that Sasuke really was cursed with Zeref's power and that in truth, he was nothing but a murderous demon in the flesh of a young boy.
Sasuke turned to face the remaining cult members with a look of absolute disgust on his face. "You're next, I'm taking you all down, right here and now" he pointed in their direction as many of them began to back away in terror, shaking in their boots. Even the main two cult leaders were beginning to get nervous as they looked on with worry.
Weaving another sign, a strong current of electricity began to flow through the boy's left hand, a sound of a thousand screams emanating from it.
"He's getting ready to strike!" the lean cult leader's face tensed with worry as he glanced over to his partner.
As the boy kept charging his powers, the rotund one calmly grabbed hold of one of the children and placed her directly in his line of sight. "Don't worry" he reassured his partner.
Sasuke's eyes were wide open as he looked in horror at the sight of an unconscious Erza being held by her neck as she was placed directly in front of him. The Uchiha froze in place, gritting his teeth as he cursed under his breath, "Dammit!"
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice called out to him, one that he had no interest in listening to "This is your chance to kill every one of these bastards and you're going to stop now because you grew a conscience?"
Sasuke continued to ignore his counterpart as he used every muscle in his body to fight against the urge to charge forward and strike them down. If he did it right now, he'd have to go through Erza just to get to them and he wasn't going to let that happen.
"That's right" the man smiled as he continued to hold on to Erza by the neck, "Surrender now and she might just live. Fight back and she dies."
His breathing became heavy as his whole body began shaking. "Now what?" he said to himself as he desperately tried to regain his focus. He dreaded the very thought of what was going to happen if he did not comply with their demands. The image of his hand running through her as she fell lifelessly on the ground was something he did not want to imagine.
"After everything you did, now is the time that you wanna act like a good person? You were doing so well killing these idiots. I was even rooting for you"
"Shut up" Sasuke snarled as he coiled his left fist. His dark counterpart was eating away at his mind as the Uchiha clutched his head with his right hand.
"C'mon, stop acting like you care about people who got in your way. Heck, you could end those two leaders of theirs right now, and half of your problem would've been solved already. Are you that scared of hurting Erza? I find that hypocritical because you had no problem trying to kill Karin!"
Sasuke's face morphed from one that was recovering from shock to outright horror as he heard that name being mentioned. The whole world looked like it was beginning to change into one that was consumed by complete darkness as everything became pitch black. His body remained still as his heart pounded like it never had before.
Large steps walked next to him as Sasuke looked at the silhouette of his former self looming over him. Cold black eyes with blood dripping from his eyelids and his mouth, this Sasuke looked at him with a sadistic smile. Without saying a word, he turned around to face Erza whose eyes were wide open. Sasuke's face dissolved into disbelief as his eyes met the girls as she began to change into someone familiar.
"Karin?"
Long red hair with eyes that matched it, a face filled with dread and despair, as it pleaded to be rescued. Karin was standing right in front of him.
Her presence brought back memories, ones that he had suppressed for a long time. From the day he and Suigetsu met her in Orochimaru's hideout to the day he ran his lighting blade straight through her chest and into Danzo.
"You seem to have forgotten about what you did that day, so let's take a trip down memory lane" the other Sasuke stated, as lightning began generating from his hands. Sasuke attempted to run towards his counterpart, but for some reason, his body just wouldn't move.
"No! Stop it!" he shouted, but his warnings fell on deaf ears.
"Don't bother. Like me, she's just a fragment of your memory and we're going to reenact exactly what you did that day"
Before the words could even escape Sasuke's mouth, his counterpart placed his hand forward and thrust the Chidori spear right through her chest again. The Uchiha desperately reached his hand out to her, but it was an act of futility as her body began to slowly give out on her. "Sas…Sasuke…..was I just ….."
"Karin, no….I-"
"As I said before, if you're slow enough to be taken hostage, then you're just a burden Karin" the other Sasuke chimed in, a vestige of his past life, one that exemplified him at his absolute lowest. A scum who went beyond just abandoning his comrades for his own gain and one who outright tried to murder them.
As her body fell to the ground, Karin's glasses tumbled right next to the two's feet as the dark Sasuke crushed it under his heel.
His body shook, even more, as his breathing became more and more rapid. Sasuke was slowly losing what little composure he had as placed his hands on his head, clutching it as tightly as he could.
"Is that really enough to screw with your head? You do know that you're the one who did this and without hesitation, right?. Do honestly think that being nice to a bunch of kids is going to wash away the blood in your hands? "The other Sasuke knelt beside him and whispered close to his ear, "I think it's time we do it again, this time with Erza."
The lifeless body of Karin slowly began turning back into that of Erza as she looked at him, blood running from her mouth as she glared at him with a burning hatred. "So this is what you are" she accused him, "I thought you were a friend, but it turns out that you're just a heartless monster."
"I….I didn't…..I never meant to…."
"But you still did it, didn't you? You still tried to kill her"
"Erza….I" the words failed to escape his mouth. There were so many things that he wanted to explain why he did what he did: That he was broken, that he was coming from a bad place at that time, and that the darkness had consumed him. None of them felt like it would ever justify what he did. Instead, Sasuke began to close his eyes and clutch his head even tighter as he tried to drown out the memories, only for them to claw their way into his head even more.
"No! You're not real! Just leave me alone!" he yelled, the pain was becoming unbearable as each reminder of his misdeeds kept coming back in vivid detail. The pain of the flesh was something he could deal with, but the one that could harm his mind was the one that hurt him the most.
…..
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he screamed.
In the world outside, all that anybody could see was a delirious boy raving like a lunatic about wanting to be left alone. As he tossed and turned and screamed in every direction, the cult leaders watched with great interest as a dark, powerful and sinister aura began manifesting from his body.
Its presence was unlike anything that they had ever seen or felt before. It certainly didn't feel like magic at all but something else entirely.
"You see? I told you he was a sign from Lord Zeref" the stout one said to his partner with a gleeful smile.
"Indeed, I can sense a great evil from within him" the lean one smiled back.
What he was seeing couldn't have been real; everything that was foretold about Sasuke was coming true as Simon looked on. His feelings on the matter were confusing him more and more; he was afraid, so very afraid of everything that was going on, yet his heart was telling him to do something about it. But why? He was cursed, and it was clear to see but he was also his friend. Someone who trusted him and whom, he broke his trust with by luring him here. That state he was in right was entirely his fault, his conscience wasn't letting him forget that.
What should I do? Simon's mind was conflicted and it was tearing him apart. The rational side of him was telling him to stay away and let it play out, but his beating heart yearned to rush over to Sasuke and stop him.
It felt like a massive burden was beginning to weigh down on him, the gravity of his actions taking its toll. Was this what it felt like? This feeling of guilt?
Suddenly, without warning, his left foot began to move on its own and took the first step, followed by the right foot. The process slowly repeated itself as his legs began to move without his command as the rest of his body followed. Simon was taken aback by this recent development as he slowly began to pick up the pace.
Was this what he wanted? Will it ever make up for the treachery he committed? The answer was likely not and it probably never will, but at this moment he didn't care about any of that as he ran past the cultists. He was going to save his friend.
"Sasuke! Get a hold of yourself!" Simon shouted as he tackled the young Uchiha to the ground. The two rolled from the tackle before the momentum finally stopped with Simon sitting on top, looking down on a delirious Sasuke.
The dark aura also began to intensify at the sight of Simon as Sasuke began to grab him by the throat with both hands. His whole face seemed soulless and broken as he began choking the life out of the other boy.
Simon did not say a word in response nor resist Sasuke's attempt at strangling him. His face was turning bright red from all the blood flow that was getting cut off. Maybe he felt that it was a fitting end, to be murdered at the hands of someone who he betrayed. All semblance of sanity had been stripped away from Sasuke as he only sought to lash out at those who hurt him and Simon was at the top of that list.
"Sasuke" another voice called out to him. But this one was different; it was strong, commanding, but also gentle and calm.
"Do not give in to your hatred Sasuke" it called out again and this time, the Uchiha who it was; Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
It seemed like an attempt at futility as Sasuke had already chosen to drown out the voices in his head by appeasing them. It was vengeance they sought and it was vengeance he was going to give them.
"You are stronger than this, you must listen to reason. Don't let your friend Naruto's memory be tarnished like this"
"Naruto" he whispered that name as he let go of the grip on Simon, who fell to the ground and was desperately gasping for air. The dark aura around him slowly began to disappear as he looked at his hands wearing an expression on his face that made him seem like he had just snapped out of a trance. His hands wouldn't stop shaking as he looked over to Simon with fear and shame. As if all of these were just too much for him to handle, Sasuke soon lost consciousness.
Violent fits of coughing rage on as Simon looked at the unconscious Sasuke. "What happened to you?" he pondered, being just a confused as everyone around him was. One minute he was calm and composed, even in the face of danger, and then the next minute, he completely lost it. Was he to blame for all of this?
As the guards walked past him, Simon remained quiet as he only clicked his tongue in disapproval as they grabbed him by his arms and began taking him away alongside the other children who were being carried next to him. He could only hang his head in shame as he watched them take Sasuke away in the other direction.
An air of dread and misery filled the prison halls that night. Despite the hardships that they faced during the day, nighttime was usually livelier as they could spend more time in the company of their friends. But this time, no one was in the mood to even smile as they collectively tried to recover from the scars of their visit to the torture room; all, except for Jellal.
Sasuke wasn't the only one who felt the sting of betrayal. Jellals' rage could barely be contained as he rained his fists down on Simon, causing him to fall to the ground. "How could you do this to us? After everything we've been through together, all of us, why would you do this!" Jellal was infuriated by Simon's actions but even within that storm of anger and frustration, there was room for confusion as well, "I just don't get it! I know he doesn't talk much and I know he's not the friendliest guy around, but Sasuke doesn't deserve any of this! He trusted you and you stabbed him in the back!"
The silence was the answer that Jellal got as Simon remained quiet and wiped the blood from his mouth. The others kept their distance, feeling dejected and not even in the mood to intervene. Even Rob decided to let things be, feeling that they had to vent things out before they could recover from this ordeal. He was, however, on standby in case Jellal took things too far.
"You don't understand" Simon spoke all of a sudden, "Sasuke was my friend too. I didn't mean fo-"
Before he could complete his sentence, Jellal grabbed him by his shirt and pinned him to the wall, irate by his answer. "You don't get to talk about being his friend! You're the reason he's gone" he laid it out on Simon, "On top of that, you went ahead and told them all about our plans, didn't you? Why!?"
"Because if I didn't, all of us would've been dead" Simon shot back, startling everyone as they looked at him. That answer brought more questions than it resolved as nearly everyone looked his way to try to get some kind of justification. "And what does that mean!" Jellal questioned.
"You think we're the first ones to try to make a hole to get away from this place? People have been trying and trying for years only to go missing. If we'd gotten out of that hole, what then? Try to find our way out of the island only to get killed by sentries or eaten by monsters?" Simon explained, frustration in his voice as all eyes fell on him. "I made a deal with them so we could all live. If you wanna hate me for it, then that's fine."
Jellal let go of Simon as he dropped to the ground again. "You think this is living? Is that what being alive means to you?" he argued, baffled by the explanation that Simon gave him. "Look around you, Simon! Every one of us wished we were rather dead after everything they put us through!" he pointed towards the other kids.
Sad, broken eyes stared back at Simon, though not a word was uttered. Bruises and scars all over their body as they lamented on their pathetic state. It made him pause and pick his words out more carefully. "I didn't think they would go that far. They promised me" he softly answered, head hung down in shame.
"And what about Sasuke? What did they want with him?" Jellal questioned him sternly, seemingly no longer caring about why Simon did what he did.
"They said he was cursed by Zeref, that he was a danger to all of us" Simon murmured, "After seeing him go crazy and kill everyone, I almost believed him. But when one of those guys took Erza hostage, he stopped fighting back. He looked like he was in so much pain just from seeing her like that."
"I don't care if you had second thoughts about him. Right now, all I want to know is where they took him" Jellal stated as a matter of fact. He no longer had any interest in what Simon wanted to say except for whether he had useful information or not.
"I don't know, but if I had to guess, they took him to one of their main rooms. They said they had some sort of grand plan for him" Simon answered.
"And where can I find that room?"
"They blindfolded me every time they took me there so I can't say. All I know is that it's at the top of the tower" the older boy informed Jellal.
The blue haired boy stared back at Simon for a few more seconds before turning his back on him and walking towards Rob. "Grandpa? I have a favor to ask of you" he asked softly, his entire demeanor changed in the presence of the old man.
"What is it, Jellal?" Rob stroked his chin and asked.
"Can you take care of everyone here? There's something I'm going to do tomorrow" Jellal requested.
"And what would that be?" the old man raised a brow and asked.
In response, Jellal sat on the floor with his legs folded and his arms crossed. He was the same person, yet completely different at that moment: he was focused, determined, and completely serious.
"I'm going to save Sasuke"
The single answer drew the attention of everyone else, almost helping them forget about all the pain they were going through at the moment. It almost felt like the light of hope was shining down on them again. Even Simon was taken aback by this; he wanted to argue against doing such a thing, touting it as reckless and dangerous, but after everything that had happened so far, their trust in him was at an all-time low and he knew he was the last person to be saying anything about this.
Erza looked at Jellal with awe, for she had never seen him look this determined. It felt like a spark had been seemingly ignited from underneath him. She wasn't sure if this was the best course of action…..
But maybe this was what they needed at the moment. Someone to keep their spirits up and make sure they didn't lose themselves.
A fire to keep the dark, cold despair away.
AN: So I'm getting near the end of the tower of heaven arc, and honestly it's been quite difficult writing this one, but at the same time, it feels so satisfying when I'm done.
Anyways, hope you all enjoy this one and let me know what you think is going to happen next.
Black99174: Love triangle? Maybe , maybe not. Have to see where it goes.
Doortolight 47: Ah Wedge. I still don't understand how he's able to last as long as he did in Avalanche with all that girth.
Dxhologram: Yup, it's one of the things I noticed about Magic and Chakra.
Love-to-peace: It's mostly just fun and games writing this, but I'am planning to take things nice and slow, to build things up. That's why I took the slow burn route instead of popping him smack dab right into the heart of Fairy Tail.
dolo-solo: I really didn't think my world building was that great but thanks. Don't worry about the Ultear, you know she's gonna be here soon. It's inevitable.
Kaleidoscopes Beauty: And let's not forget that Madara was able to summon Susanoo without his eyes. So I think the requirements for the Sharingan are 80% chakra based and only 20% for the eyes, with the exception of the EMS. It's probably why he can still use the EMS in Boruto even after (spoiler alert) having his left eye be taken out.
Hatred and Love: Writing his interactions with others has been the most fun thing to do and it's only to get more interesting with later characters.
Gen2324: Yeah, there's just a lot that can be done, and it's actually in character for Sasuke to do this because he relies more on speed and creativity than Naruto, who can muscle through most attacks. Not saying Sasuke isn't tough or durable but he just doesn't have the insane healing factor of his rival. Speaks volumes of how he was able to fight him to a standstill.
The Loud Person: Yeah, her soundtrack is distinct but almost recognizable. In your Belief is probably my favorite so far.
RandomCoolGuy: Well he is getting stronger, especially when compared to chapter 2 (where he could barely fight one guy), 4, 6(knock out multiple armed men) and now. And there is a reason why he's hesitant to unlock his powers right out of the gate.
GameLooter: You're welcome.
Abc27: He feels uncomfortable with Shô calling him that not just because of his memories with Itachi but also because he feels he does not deserve to be looked up as such. He reluctantly accepts it to an extent but his self loathing gives him an invisible wall to stop Shô from truly getting close to him.
Hataraku: I got some ideas, but it'll take some time.
Danish78: They're also talented, attractive raven haired individuals with massive guilt complexes, a healthy dose of self loathing and a need to make things right.
Shiroyasha Rises: While that Sasuke will appear, I also want to explore his character a little bit more from a different perspective and add some more depth to him. Nothing so drastic and serious, but he IS in a different world after all, so there's bound to be some differences from his canon self.
Nearsighted: It might happen but it'll a take a while, but this Sasuke is still trying to find his place in this world.
Godo: Can confirm that I will have the Susanoo 100% appear. It's one of my favorite Uchiha powers and I ain't gonna pass up on that. Still, I was a bit disappointed during the Eclipse arc that the dragons aren't as big as a tailed beast. I would've love to write some epic dragon vs susanoo action.
Fisher: Yeah, I'm glad it's back but I hope Zaccheus doesn't overwhelm their story with too much going on there. It already feels like the start of endgame. Hopefully, they'll slow down just a bit for the next chapter.
Indra: I did some more research, I've found out that while Amaterasu is indeed powerful, it isn't nearly as broken as I thought. It dosen't actually spawn at the focal point but rather, travels in the users line of sight. That's why A was able to simple side step, Obito was able to counter with his orbs, Naruto could use his Chakra, Gaara blocked it with his sand, Maadara simply took off his armor and even Sasuke could outrun it, since Itachi had to chase him with it. It's probably why Sasuke uses Kagutsuchi since it's more effective. And yes, I agree, high level wizards do have strong counters for genjutus. Also, now that you mentioned it, I always wondered. Could Natsu eat Amaterasu?
Iri: Yeah, harem ooc god mode Naruto fics are dime a dozen. I can see why they got a bad rep.
HearthOfDestiny: At first I thought you were just kidding, but I checked your account and it turns out your comment was made just a few hours after your account was made. Wow! You absolute mad lad! Lol! I'm glad you liked my story, and I you'll stick around longer.