Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 27: "Fury"

(Year: X784)

"Ahhhhhh…" Fu moaned in satisfaction as she reclined in a cushioned chair that was vibrating below her, "I. Love. This."

Gaara would have agreed, but he was too busy at the moment. He was lying in what could only be described as a fort of pillows built specifically for him. The red-haired man seemed to be fully enjoying the situation he was in, just like Fu. The same could not be said for Naruto, though.

"Do you wish for me to refill your drink, Saint Uzumaki?" One of the many robed church-goers held up a pitcher of water.

From his spot on a simple chair, Naruto grunted. He ignored the servant's actions of pouring water into the glass next to him on a side table. Instead, he kept his attention on the other side of the sitting room that had been dedicated to their luxury. Naruto continued to eye the door where he had been expecting Marissa to come through for the past week.

The servant didn't seem to notice Naruto's disinterest, "Do you want any food, Saint Uzumaki?"

"No," Naruto frowned, "I want your leader to finally meet with me again."

"I'm sorry, Saint Uzumaki," The servant bowed, "But the Head Priestess is still busy."

Naruto grunted in dissatisfaction. The servant took this obvious lack of interest as his cue to leave.

"Oh, come on, Naruto," Fu looked over to the blonde without getting up, "Relax and enjoy what we got. It's not often that we get to live in luxury, Mr. Saint."

"I don't want to live in luxury," Naruto grumbled, "All it will do is make me soft."

"Don't ruin this for me," Gaara groaned without opening his eyes, "I suffered for this. Years of sleeping on the dirt has finally built up enough karma points for me. Just relax and actually enjoy yourself for a day. We might not get another chance to enjoy something like this."

"You're not the one that just finished a war with your blood rival and learned that you're going to slowly go insane if you don't accomplish your goals," Naruto argued, "Wasting time isn't on the top of my priorities right now. I would prefer if Marissa would just discuss the God Slayer stuff with me so I could get some work done."

"Well, we all agreed that it would be best if we asked her to tell the jinchūriki about Akatsuki first," Fu noted, "That has to take time."

"I know. That's why I'm sitting here waiting," Naruto's attention was still on the door, "Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

Gaara scoffed, "You can't enjoy anything."

"Wrong. I just enjoy different things."

Before the conversation could continue, the door opened to reveal Roshi. The older jinchūriki stepped into the room with a small wave, "Hey, Number Nine. Marissa's free. She's waiting for you down the hall."

Naruto immediately got to his feet and walked out the door, "Arigato."

Roshi let out a low whistle, "Well, he's tense."

Fu nodded, "It's weird. He's never been like this before. Hell, even before we got here, he was pretty relaxed."

"Maybe it's a premonition," Gaara joked, "Like he knows in his gut that something bad has happened."

"Well, I hope talking to Marissa calms him down a bit," Roshi flopped onto a comfortable chair, "Oi, can I get a drink?"

The servants ignored him.

Fu let out a laugh, "Ha! No respect for you!"

Gaara smirked, "Well, not everyone can be the entourage for a saint."

Roshi grumbled and crossed his arms angrily, "Bunch of brats…"


Erza leaned against the railing of the balcony that exited her hotel room. Her eyes scanned the beach in front of her as she remembered the day of fun that she had with her friends. She had to remember to thank Loke…Leo…just stick with Loke…for the tickets. Because of his return to the Celestial Spirit World, he couldn't use the vacation tickets he bought, so he gave them to his new owner and her friends.

Besides a few flashbacks to a less favorable times involving the beach, Erza had greatly enjoyed her vacation. It was something that she greatly needed. Not just because of the stress from her impromptu mission to stop an illegal S-class mission and then dealing with the guild war with Phantom. No, there was also the factor of how she missed her chance to confess to Naruto.

"Of course he ran off as soon as he woke up," Erza muttered to herself.

It was predictable really. He never stayed in one place for too long. Naruto was like that ever since she knew him. For a long time, she thought that he was running from something in his past. As time went on, she learned that he was chasing something. Both of those things were something that she could relate to.

Kami only knew how much she was trying to run from and hide. Erza shivered as she remembered the sundress that covered her form. In a burst of magic, she changed back into her regular armor. This was always more comfortable for her. Even when she was a little girl with only one eye, she only felt comfortable covered in armor. It was something that everyone thought was weird. No one seemed to relate to her like that. Except Naruto.

Erza remembered when she first saw him. His attire intrigued her. He looked ready for battle at any moment. That intrigue only grew with each passing year as she read in the newspapers. Naruto Uzumaki went around helping people and defeated dark guilds. It was like something out of a child's story book, except it was real. He seemed like a knight in shining armor. That was why she always thought it would be nice…romantic…if they could has possibly started a relationship…kind of like Gaara and Fu except less publically open.

Erza's mind drifted to what would have happened if she got the chance to confess before he left. She imagined them on this vacation together. The storybook tale would transform into one of the romance novels she borrowed from Levy. They would spend the entire day flirting and enjoying the sight of each other's swimwear. Then, at the end of the day, they would have come to this very room on this very balcony. They would kiss and gently remove their clothes and…and…

A crimson blush spread across Erza's face. No. That was too much. She couldn't imagine any version of herself doing something like that.

A knock at the door behind Erza caused the crimson-haired knight to turn away from the balcony. With a quick shout that the door was open, she watched as Lucy stepped into the room, "Hey, Erza. Natsu and Gray already went down to the casino. I was wondering if…You okay? Your face is really red."

Erza mentally panicked, "I…er…I think the heat got to me a bit…I just need to…cool off…cold shower…"

"Oh, well then I'll let you rest," Lucy smiled, "I'm going to head down to the casino."

"W-Wait!" Erza quickly calmed herself down, "I can still go. In fact, I think getting of this room is a good idea."

Lucy tilted her head in concern, "You sure you feel up to it?"

"Absolutely. A quiet night of gambling is just what I need," Erza nodded. Best not to think about what could have been. It was just like her past and Jellal. Life was easier if she didn't dwell on it.


Marissa smiled to Naruto as he stepped down the hall towards her, "Thank you for your patience through all this. I understand how frustrating it would be to wait after you learn so much about God Slayers."

"Yes, but making sure the other numbers were safe is more important," Naruto mentioned, "So I didn't complain, but I wasn't going to wait happily."

"I didn't expect you to," Marissa tilted her head, "Come. Let us take a walk."

Naruto quickly met Marissa's strides as they stepped through the church, "So we should probably clear up the obvious things. You had Xion spy on me."

"Did you really expect me to ignore two God Slayers fighting?" Marissa questioned, "It would have hurt my cause if one of you died. I need all the God Slayers active when the time comes."

"I'm not judging. It would be pretty damn hypocritical of me to get mad you for being manipulative," Naruto mentioned, "I was just going to thank you. You saved April-sensei's son."

"Like I said," Marissa was smiling, "I need all the God Slayers."

"So what is this saint nonsense, anyway?" Naruto questioned.

"It's been a long standing tradition for the Church of the Rabbit Queen," Marissa explained, "We have named different God Slayers saints to give them more leeway from the Magic Council. It doesn't make people immune to the law, but it does make it a lot harder for the Council to inconvenience you and arrest you for no real reason."

"And that's done because the God Slayers are necessary for the end goal of the church," Naruto guessed, "You want to slay Kaguya and Zeref to free the path to taking the gods' places."

"Yes."

"Now, you know that I'm all for killing Zeref, but…" Naruto gave Marissa a side glance, "We'll need the God Slayer of Death."

"That's the point," Marissa noted, "I believe that this is the flaw that this is the biggest problem of why God Slayers have failed for so long. They have focused on Zeref first. There was a mindset that needed to open the seat of Death God Slayer up for another to use so that the seven could come together to fight Kaguya. I think that was the reason they failed."

"So you want to kill Kaguya first?"

"That is correct," Marissa smiled, "It was something I realized when I was studying a bit of history as a child. You see, normally there can only be one God Slayer per element. That rule was broken, once, though. Ankhseram chose a second God Slayer of Death in a desperate attempt to replace Zeref. You might know that Death God Slayer as the founder of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion."

Naruto's eyes widened, "No way."

"Indeed," Marissa looked extremely amused, "The gods' rules and Kaguya's seal prevented them from dealing with Zeref themselves. That's why they keep sending God Slayers, and why the Death God took a special gamble. She was meant to counter Zeref's immortality and death powers. Instead, Zeref's curse overcame hers because they made a stupid mistake. They fell in love."

Naruto scoffed, "Fell in love?"

"I thought that you'd react that way. But you'd be surprised about how stupid love maked Zeref," Marissa giggled.

"How do you even know this?"

"The Church has been keeping detailed notes on all the happenings of the God Slayers and shifts in the magic. Especially those of Zeref," Marissa explained, "We are always aware when a new God Slayer is chosen. Especially when the rules are broken. Like with Mavis…and you."

"Because I came from the Elemental Nations," Naruto reasoned.

Marissa nodded, "Yes. It was yet another desperate attempt by the gods. They thought that you might be able to make a big difference as both a God Slayer and a jinchūriki. There was another positive result, though. The path between our worlds was opened. That is how the Akatsuki as you call them managed to get here."

"Damn…" Naruto cursed at that realization,

"Yes…" Marissa led him into her chambers. She quickly took a seat and gestured at him to do the same, "But it does leave us with the opportunity to release Kaguya and then slay her. With the seven God Slayer using our full powers, we can defeat her. As a being that could possibly be classified as 'god-like' I think that slaying her would increase the potency of our magic and allow us to kill Zeref."

"I know that Zeref wants to die, but would he really be willing to work with us?" Naruto took a seat of his own.

"Possibly. But then there would be the issue of getting a new God Slayer of Death. It might take some time," Marissa reasoned, "Every god has a different requirement for their God Slayers besides the affinity with the element. The Water God requires an unparalleled calculating mind. The Sky God requires an unwavering mindset to climb higher. The Nature God requires a special connection to life itself—"

"Which the ceremony gave Arashi," Naruto interrupted her, "By the way, I've been wondering something. I get that the Nature God did bless Arashi, but I doubt that the gods can just teleport books to their chosen. How did Arashi get that book?"

Marissa gained a cunning look, "As I said, the Church has kept an eye on the shifts in magic around God Slayers. We knew about Arashi. It was only the matter of getting him out."

"I see…" Naruto seemed pleased with this realization, "I'm impressed with how far you're willing to go for this. Manipulating all the God Slayers like this. How do you plan to manipulate the Death God Slayer?"

"Well, the Death God's requirement is very simple. The Death God Slayer is cursed when they try to manipulate the power of death," Marissa explained.

"So bringing people back to life," Naruto nodded.

"Indeed."

"Hmm…" Naruto grinned, "Well, based on everything I know, it seems like our goals ultimately meet. Being a 'god' doesn't seem like something I'd want, but it's the only way for me to become one with the sky and keep my sanity."

"Exactly," Marissa rubbed her temples, "The weight of being a God Slayer is heavy. But I don't know if you're really willing to do what you have to."

"What?" Naruto looked amused, "Me? You don't think I have the will for all this? You've seen what I'm willing to do."

"I've also seen what you're unwilling to do," Marissa's eyes hardened, "You aren't willing to forsake those you care about. You aren't willing to hurt those who you view as innocent. You have far too much empathy for those that suffer. Those are not the quality of a god."

"So what? I have to change a fundamental part of myself?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"For the plan to work? Yes," Marissa gave him a look of steel, "The gods have to do what's best for everyone and everything. Sometimes, good people must suffer for that to happen."

Naruto frowned, "Like the jinchūriki?"

"Exactly," Marissa did not back down from Naruto's angered look, "And to resurrect Kaguya, we must make a world bleed to death."

"I don't care about the Elemental Nations."

Marissa looked to be ready to speak once more. Before she could, though, knocking came from her door. One of the church residents poked his head in, "Saint Uzumaki? We have an emergency call for you. It's from a guild called…Cait Shelter? Something about a girl named Wendy."

In the blink an eye, Naruto was already at the door demanding answers and to see the communication lacrima. The conversation was quickly forgotten in his mind. Marissa wasn't so quick to forget, though. When she was left alone, she whispered out, "Who said it would be the Elemental Nations?"


Erza was content as the card dealer dealt her hand. By her side was Lucy, who seemed to be delighting in the fact that she was able to actually gamble for the first time. She was aware that Gray and Natsu were currently off on their own playing the slots and roulette respectively. They were pretty loud, but she didn't feel the need to quiet them. No, today was dedicated to fun.

As the round passed, Erza laid down her hand to reveal a royal flush. Everyone around her gasped in shock. Lucy seemed overjoyed despite her own loss. The blonde praised her with her kind words and gentle smile. Erza could only smile at that. Perhaps her luck was turning around now.

"Right now, I feel that I can't lose no matter who I'm against," Erza boasted playfully.

"If that's the case, then why don't we enjoy a special game? Except we won't be betting with coins."

Erza blinked as strange cards were dealt in front of her. Oddly enough, the cards spelt out DEATH. Blinking, she looked up to see that the old dealer had been replaced by someone new. Well, new to everyone else. To Erza, when she looked at his new dealer, all she saw was the past.

The dealer leaned into her causing his suit to ruffle. A brilliant smile flashed white teeth that shined above a tattoo of the number 5 right below his lip. Shining blonde hair held a deep contrast to the man's darker toned skin, "Let's bet with our lives, Erza-neesan."

Erza trembled in shock, "Shô…"

Shô tilted his head to the side, "It's been a while, nee-san."

Lucy's head whipped around in confusion as she tried to figure out what was going on right now.

Sweat poured down Erza's body, "You…you were safe?"

Shô scoffed, "Safe?"

In that instant, darkness shrouded the casino. Screaming rang out through the entire building. Through the shouting, Erza thought she heard the sound of a gunshot. Just as quickly as the darkness came, it faded from the light. Blinking, Erza noticed that the crowd of people that had been around her were gone except for Lucy. Even Shô had disappeared.

"Over here, nee-san."

Erza and Lucy turned to see Shô dropping a bunch of chards. To their shock, the cards held the civilians that had been around them.

"Card magic!" Lucy determined, "Why would you use it on them?! They didn't do anything."

"It's much easier to trap them than trained mages," Shô eplied.

"Shô…" Erza looked on in shock, "When did you learn to use magic?"

"It's been a long time, nee-san."

Before Erza could ask another question, a familiar noise made her freeze.

"Meow!"

A strange black whip wrapped around Lucy and pulled her back. Tangled in the strange, magical whip, Lucy looked up to see a strange neko girl with brown hair pulled up into almost cat ears. Strange triangle symbols pointed inward to a small nose and curved lip. The fabric of the girl's yellow jacket and pink skirt brushed up against Lucy's trapped from.

"Millianna?" Erza turned around to face the new woman, "You can use magic too?"

Before Millianna could respond, Lucy pulled out a knife and cut herself free. She then quickly rolled away back to Erza. Her newest key shined in her hands. Loke had enough time to recover. This would be the perfect chance to test him out. These two seemed like competent mages. Not anywhere near a real threat, but it would still be a good test, "Come on, Erza, we can take them!"

"No!" Erza objected, "We can't fight them! They're my friends!"

"Your friends?" Lucy looked over her shoulder to the red head.

"Yeah, it was…a long time ago…" Erza mumbled.

"A long time ago? You…" Shô glared at her, "Before you betrayed us, you mean?"

To Lucy's shock, Erza actually flinched at this. She couldn't believe it. The brave and noble Erza betrayed her friends? That didn't sound anything like the woman Lucy knew, "Erza…what does he—"

BANG!

Suddenly, Lucy felt exhausted. With a moan, she tumbled to the ground. As she fell into unconsciousness, she heard Erza shouting out her name along with the name Wally. Then, there was nothing.


Naruto eyed the communication lacrima, "Roubaul, what is it? They told me that something happened to Wendy."

Roubaul nodded, "Yes. She's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?!" Naruto felt rage boil in his stomach, "When?"

"A week ago."

"And I'm only hearing about this now!?" Naruto raised his headband to show his gleaming red eyes, "Why didn't you contact me earlier!?"

"I've been trying to call you on your communication lacrima as soon as Carla woke up to tell me what happened," Roubaul explained, "All I got was static."

Naruto paused in thought for a second before responding, "Marissa told me about that. The church blocks any outside signals to make sure no one spies on their activities. I didn't think much of it because I knew Fairy Tail would be caught up in red tape for a while. So I knew that Master Dreyar wouldn't try to contact me. I didn't even think about you, though…"

"Yes, it took a while to track you down. I tried with everyone that I know you have contact with," Roubaul explained, "Neither Makarov nor Yajima had a clue where you disappeared to. Neither did your number friends. And the church members I contacted earlier acted like they didn't know either."

"There's a reason for that. Only the higher ups and most devote members of the church knew I was here," Naruto sighed, "The others didn't because I decided to go off the grid. Really bad timing."

"Why go underground? What happened?"

"It's complicated. Gaara, Fu, and I are being hunted down by dangerous criminals—"

"Hey! You finally got a hold of the dumb blond!?" Carla pushed Roubaul out of the way, "This is your fault! The guy that looked like Jellal captured Wendy to get you out of hiding! He must be working with the criminals that are after you!""

Naruto blinked, "Jellal? No, the people after me wear black cloaks with red clouds and don't use magic. It's not likely that they would work with a dark mage they don't know…Just tell me what happened."

Carla recounted the tale of Wendy's capture. When she was done, she added, "He knew that she was trained by you! This is your fault! You have to find her!"

Naruto nodded, "I will. You can count on that. I'm going to hunt that asshole down and beat him to a bloody pulp."

"Good! Get over here and we can track him down!"

Naruto shook his head, "That won't be necessary. If he captured Wendy, then he probably wants to use her as bait for a trap or leverage to get me to do something for him. Either way, he's probably been trying to contacting me into for a week now. I just need to get out of the signal jammers' range."

"Then I'll come to you."

"No need. I won't be here when you get here. You'll only slow me down," Naruto stood and turned to exit the room.

"Wait! I have to be there for Wendy!"

"No," Naruto's face twisted with rage as he stepped out from the room, "Don't worry. I'm going to bring Wendy back safe and sound after I kill that son of a bitch."


"Lucy…LUCY!"

Lucy's eyes snapped open to see Gray looking down at her. Groaning, she sat up while clutching at her head, "Ah…What happened?"

"I was hoping you could clear that up," Gray grunted as he tried to dry himself off.

"Um…" Lucy blinked, "Why are you so wet?"

"Juvia protected him in her body."

"In your—WOAH! Phantom Lord!" Lucy quickly jumped to her feet with a key in hand.

"Lucy, wait!" Gray held a hand out to her, "She's not here to fight."

"Yes," The Water Woman of Phantom Lord stuck her chest out proudly. Without anything else really to do and enamored by Gray, she had been spying on them, "Juvia saved him not you."

"No," Gray frowned, "I could have handled him. You just let him get away."

Juvia collapsed in shock and disappointment.

"Oh…I remember…People Erza knew showed up," Lucy rubbed the back of her head, "Shô… Millianna…and Wally, I think. That last guy got be from behind while I was distracted. Damn, I can't believe I got taken down so easily."

Gray snorted, "That's okay, you should see—"

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Fire erupted from the center of the casino causing the room to shake and slot machines to fall over. Natsu erupted from the fire and flew high into the air. He clutched at his mouth and shouted in pain, "It hurts!"

He landed on the center piece. His face twisted with anger, "What normal person would shoot a gun into someone's mouth! That bastard! I thought he was just playing around cause he got unlucky at the roulette like me! If I knew he was actually going to shoot me, I'd have bit his gun in two!"

"Wait…" Lucy blinked, "He pointed a gun at you, and you thought he was just messing around? That's uh…"

"That blocky bastard…" Natsu leapt from the center piece and ran towards the exit, "DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Gray was quick to chase after him, "Quick! Follow him! Erza has to be with those people! Natsu will track them down!"

Sharing a look, both Lucy and Juvia followed after the men. They all ran into the darkness of the night, not knowing that they were heading into the most dangerous situation in which they had ever been.


With his headband back in place, Naruto sat on the ground outside the church compound with his headband raised to his forehead. His personal communication lacrima lay before him. It only took a few seconds for his call to go through. The face of the blue haired Wizard Saint appeared in the orb.

"Why hello, Uzumaki," The man known as Seigrain to the Magic Council smiled at the blonde, "Nice of you to finally get back to me. I figured that after the war you'd want to lie low, but who thought it would take so long for you to start caring about your apprentice? You should have heard her so far. She keeps going on and on about how you'll beat me. She's lucky that she's beneath me, or I might have silenced her annoying babble."

"Cut to the chase, Jellal. And before you mention Seigrain, know that I've known that the twin thing was bullshit for years. There was just no way to prove it," Naruto's rage filled eyes glared at the dark mage, "You want something from me. Tell me what it is before I lose my patience."

"Very well. As fate would have it, everything falls in place at the right time," Jellal smiled wickedly, "All I want for you is to come to the Tower of Heaven and try to rescue her."

"The Tower of Heaven?"

"Yes," Jellal gave Naruto the location of the Tower, "Come get her."

"So it's a trap, eh? Better than coercion at least," Naruto rubbed his temple, "Fine. Not like I have a choice. But just so you know, for every injury she has, I'll cut off a finger before I cut open your stomach and strangle you to death with your own intestines."

"So violent and rash," Jellal seemed amused, "Don't you even want to why I'm doing all this?"

"Doesn't matter. All I know is that you're threatening one of my precious people and that I'm going to kill you."

Jellal burst out laughing, "You really are arrogant. I've known that since the day I met you. You do realize that you could have avoided this? If you showed me the respect I deserved, you never would have become more than an annoying blip on the side of my radar."

Naruto actually sneered, "Wait? This is what it's about? Are you really that petty? Do you know how many people disrespected me over the years? Kami, the world will be a better place when I kill you. One less idiot in the world."

"It's not just that," Jellal's amused look fell, "There's also all the work you've done to oppose Lord Zeref. You are his enemy, so it's proper that you be punished and used for his glorious return."

"You're deluded and misinformed," Naruto shook his head. He knew about the Tower of Heaven's function. Jellal was obviously going to try to bring Zeref back to life. Normally, he would have rubbed Jellal's nose in the fact that Zeref was actually still alive, but he needed to be careful with his information as long as Wendy was in danger. Who knew what Jellal would do to her if he realized his entire life's work was pointless? Best to just play along, "But I don't really care. I never bothered to oppose you, but now you've made me your enemy. If you just left me be, you might have had succeeded. Now, though, you're going die in the rubble of your own damn tower. I'm coming Jellal."

Jellal glared at the blonde, "Be at the tower in three hours. I don't care if you're halfway across the country. Fate has decided that is time for everything to fall into place. Soon, the entire world change. We will finally obtain the freedom that only Lord Zeref can provide."

With that said, the signal cut off. Naruto just shook his head and stood, "Jellal, you are the biggest fool I've ever met. Touching my student…talking about freedom so stupidly…worshiping Zeref…I'm going to enjoy hurting you."


The three other jinchūriki at the church all looked up as the door swung open. Naruto strode into the room with a look of rage across his face. He immediately looked to his friends, "We're leaving. Now."

"Leaving?" Gaara instantly sat up.

Fu raised an eyebrow, "I thought we were going to lie low for a while? Why do you want to go?"

Naruto took a deep breath to force himself from snapping out in anger, "Wendy was kidnapped."

Both Gaara and Fu instantly stood. Gaara was frowning deeply, "What?"

Naruto quickly explained the conversations he had with Cait Shelter and Jellal.

Fu let out a low whistle, "Wow, that guy is stupid. Guess we're going to tear down a tower today."

Roshi was eyeing the trio, "Hey, what about Akatsuki? Leaving leaves you vulnerable to attack."

Gaara shrugged, "Please, what's the chance that Akatsuki members will be at the tower? The risk of that is minimal."

"But the risk of that psycho hurting Wendy is high," Naruto agreed, "We have to go now. Gaara, can you fly us over there in time?"

"Yeah," Gaara nodded, "I'm going to be tired as shit when I'm done, though. That's a three day trip. I'm going to have to go all out to get us there in three hours."

Fu smiled, "Good thing you've been sleeping for a week then, hon."

Gaara hummed in agreement.

"Thanks, you two," Naruto forced down his anger at Wendy's situation and smiled at them.

"No need to thank us," Fu smiled, "We all care about Wendy."

"Yeah, now let's go before…" Naruto turned and saw Marissa at the doorway, "Marissa find outs."

"Oh please, Sky God," Marissa smiled at him, "Nothing happens in my church without me finding out about it. I know you're going into a dangerous situation, but I also know that you care for the Sky Dragon. Go with my blessing. If the situation was different, I would go with you, but I cannot just leave whenever I want."

"No, it's better if you stay, but I do have something to ask from you," Naruto handed Merissa his communication lacrima, "I have a friend in the Magic Council. Yajima. Contact him and tell him to look out for Seigrain. He's actually Jellal who's infiltrated the Council. I have a gut feeling that Jellal is going to try to manipulate them, and Yajima will be discrete enough to keep an eye on him."

"And the lady friend of his. Ultear," Gaara warned, "I met her once. She's smart. Incredibly so. And I don't think she'll play second fiddle very well."

"Very well," Marissa nodded, "I can deal with the Magic Council. Perhaps Roshi can go with you, though…"

"No," Naruto shook his head, "If I know some of the jinchūriki, they'll grow suspicious if no one they know is here to greet them when they arrive. Roshi needs to stay here for that."

"Fine with me," Roshi lifted a bottle of sake up to his lips.

"With that settled, let's get going," Fu ran to the exit, "We're burning time just standing around."

Naruto nodded, "She's right. We'll be back, Marissa."

Marissa smiled as she watched them run to the exit, "Oh, I know you will."


Jellal chuckled as he sipped his wine and leaned back into his throne. He looked down to the chess board in front of him. It looked like all the pieces were about to fall into place. The sound of heavy footsteps alerted him to the presence of one of his hired assassins.

"The jewels have been counted," Han noted to the smaller man, "We'll fight and kill whoever you want. My mages are already ready to go. You sure you don't want more?"

"No, no," Jellal waved the Steam Bull off, "That won't be necessary."

Han huffed, "No offense, kid, but we're going to be outnumbered. I can handle any of the Fairy Tail mages or any of Number Nine's group alone, but there is power in numbers. They'll overwhelm us."

"You don't need to worry about Uzumaki," Jellal was well aware of the strange way Han referred to the members of Naruto's group. He had asked about it, but Han had said that there was no amount of money available that could get him to talk about his past. So, Jellal just brushed it off, "She will make sure that he won't bother any of your group."

Han looked over to whom Jellal was referring. Wendy was tied up, gagged, and tossed into a cage which limited her magic, "I ain't the judging type, but kidnapping a little girl…even I think that's cold."

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Fair enough," Han shrugged, "But we still won't be enough to stop all of them. Some of them will sneak past while we're distracted."

"Don't worry," Jellal gained a big smile, "We have some new guests outside the tower that will be very beneficial to us."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. I've been listening to them. They seem to want Uzumaki and his group," Jellal pulled out two figurines. One was a crow while the other was a shark, "I think they will be very beneficial to our plans."


Marissa entered a room that her followers had prepared for her to comfortably use a projection. She couldn't make it to the Magic Council in time, so a magical projection was the best option. The Water God Slayer stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, "Need something, Roshi?"

Roshi quickly stepped around the woman, "This tower thing worries me. At least with the guild war, Xion and Yagura were on standby. This is a lot more dangerous without them. Itachi and Kisame are on a different level of power than Deidara and Sasori. Add in Jellal and Han…Things might not go well this time."

"I doubt it will go perfectly," Marissa noted, "Not even I can predict everything that will happen. But I do know that Itachi will meet his end, possibly Kisame too. I'm not sure on him. But if he does survive…well, I have complete domain over his element. A weakened Kisame is absolutely no match for me."

"True, but…" Roshi paused, "Gaara will be exhausted, and Fu will be distracted by that. What if one of them dies?"

"I don't think that they will. Akatsuki is not trying to kill the jinchūriki, and Han has already instructed his guild to leave them alive," Marissa explained, "So they will be fine."

"And what about Wendy? Or the Fairy Tail members? They have to be chasing after Titania," Roshi questioned.

"Wendy…The possibility of her death is unfortunate, but it might work in our favor," Marissa stroked her chin, "But I care nothing for the Fairy Tail mages. They are of little consequence."

"But what if one of them dies, and the guild finds out that you could have stopped it?" Roshi argued, "They will come after you."

Marissa giggled. Shaking her head, she continued her walk to get ready for her projection, "Please. They could barely handle Phantom Lord. My resources and I are hundreds of times more powerful than Phantom. They would have an easier time fighting off Tartaros. If they want to challenge me, then fine. I'll crush them in seconds."


Once again, big thanks to Night Times for being this chapter's Beta.

I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I'm extremely disappointed in the Alvarez Empire arc. It started out so strong, but the excessive use of fan service (it's war time, not porn time), the unexplained plot twists and deus ex machinas, the terrible shifts in tone, and all the fake death scenes have ruined it for me. Big disappointment overall.

I wish you all a happy Halloween. Thank you for reading and please remember to…

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