*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT BOTTOM*
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 35: "Choices"
(Year: X784)
Ultear leaned back to relax in her bubble bath. Her communication lacrima was set to sound only in order to allow her to give her guild master her report without giving him an eyeful of her nude form, "I see. So Uzumaki used the tower to bring back a girl who fell in battle. That's unexpected from him. Maybe he sees potential in Lucy Heartfilia."
"I can't say for certain. By that time, our ability to see into the tower had been compromised by the Bug Bomb. While his thought process might've been unclear, his actions weren't," Hades's voice flowed out of the crystal.
"Well, that was his choice," Ultear shrugged uncaringly. "It won't influence our goals, and if Heartfilia has so much potential, then it would be best for her to be alive. Magical blood is precious after all."
"True, but it does make you wonder," Hades noted. "Naruto claims to be an enemy of Zeref, yet he acts with a similar mindset to the Black Mage."
"You always did want him on our side," Ultear mentioned. "We'll just have to see where he goes from here. Nothing we can do about it, unlike our other goals. With the Magic Council spread so thin now, we can do what we want. Unsealing Zeref's power will be simple."
"Excellent. Make sure to return soon. Meredy might be hurt if you stay away longer than necessary."
"Will do, Master."
"Oh. And one more thing. Jellal is most certainly dead. You don't have any…hang-ups on what happened do you? You spent years with him after all."
"I spent years manipulating him, pretending to be Zeref's voice in his head. I was in no way his friend. Nor did I ever care about his wellbeing. If I did, then I would have gone out of my way to keep him safe," Ultear rose from the tub and grabbed a nearby towel. "His death is meaningless. All he ever was to me was a means to get what I wanted. You can tell Bluenote that his pet project will be safe from me. Besides, I'm not dumb enough to attack a fully developed God Slayer."
"Good."
"But," Ultear slowly dried off her sensual form. "I would suggest coming up with some sort of backup plan for Uzumaki in case he remains an enemy. His jumps in ability are frightening."
"Are you suggesting that he could defeat me?"
"Of course not, Master," Ultear giggled. "But if Uzumaki destroys half our forces before you get to him, then we would be set back a lot."
"Fair argument. I have been looking into neutralizing all mages associated with Fairy Tail. Natsu Dragneel especially. And I think that I've come up with an excellent strategy to deal with all of them. Even their ace, but I'm going to need your help with that one."
Ultear paused, "I'm not strong enough to take on Gildarts of Fairy Tail. You should leave him to Bluenote."
"You misunderstand what I mean. I don't plan to overpower him through direct combat. Tell me, Ultear, do you think that you could drink that man under the table."
Ultear scoffed, "If I had to, I'd just use my magic to enhance his drinks while neutralizing mine."
"Excellent."
Makarov took a deep inhale from his pipe. The familiar buzz of tobacco brushed against the front of his mind. Releasing the smoke from his lips, he looked around the currently abandoned guild hall. Even the most frequent patrons had returned home for the evening. Despite the late hour, he felt no urge to leave what was essentially his second home. He would suffer for the late night tomorrow, but his mind was too busy to calm down for a restful night's sleep.
Many things had happened during the day. Almost all of it was far outside of his control. The Magic Council had crumbled from betrayal according to Yajima. Naruto and his companions had been pulled into the madness when a dark mage kidnapped a little girl. In fact, more of his kids got yanked into the fire. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't get ahold of Erza's group. They refused to respond despite being reported to all be healthy and alive. There was something big that he was missing, but he had no clue as to what it was.
"You're here late," Makarov noted without turning around.
Laxus stepped up to his grandfather, "You're one to talk, old man. I'm surprised that the retirement home isn't dragging your ass out of here."
"Not tonight," Makarov shook his head.
"Hmm," Laxus frowned. "What's wrong?"
"The Magic Council is done for," Makarov noted.
"And…that's bad for you how?" Laxus questioned.
"It isn't. For now. I won't have to worry about them nagging me for a while," Makarov stated. "But the reason why worries me. Something happened between Naruto and Erza's group. Something serious."
Laxus snorted, "Of course they're involved."
"Yeah," Makarov shook his head. "None of them will respond to me, so I'll have to wait to find out what happened."
"No point in dwelling on it now," Laxus shrugged. "Besides, they're grown ass adults now. They can handle their own bullshit."
"They're still kids to me," Makarov argued.
"Please, they're all old enough to have kids of their own if they wanted," Laxus chuckled. "Not that it would be a good thing. Can't imagine any of them as parents."
"People said the same thing about me," Makarov muttered. "But maybe they were right considering what happened with Ivan."
"My old man made his own stupid choices. Don't let them weigh you down," Laxus grumbled. "Is that why you let Gajeel into the guild? I overheard your spy shit."
Makarov nodded, "We need to be ready for when he acts, and he will act."
"If you really want us to be ready, then we should make sure that we're strong enough to deal with him. Light a fire under everyone's asses," Laxus smirked.
Makarov sighed, "This again…"
"Come on. We could do it with no consequences now that the Magic Council bit the dust," Laxus cracked his knuckles. "Freed could contain it so there would be no collateral damage. Plus, we could charge for it. Think about how much money it would bring in too. It would be a win-win situation."
"Well," Makarov stroked his chin. "You do have a point. It would certainly bring in some good PR if we could show that we can contain our strength."
"So is that a yes?"
"Sure. Why the hell not? With Gildarts still gone, it could actually work. The Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament to see who the new ace of the guild is. It would be one hell of an attraction for the Magnolia Harvest."
Naruto stared down at the communication lacrima in his hand. His crimson eyes shined with the light of the moon. He sat on a balcony overlooking a small town which had long since fell asleep. The glass doors to the room behind him remained firmly shut so that his slumbering companions wouldn't be awakened by his conversation, "Wendy's safe."
Roubaul smiled, "Ah, I knew that you could do it, youngster. Good job."
Carla suddenly thrust herself in front of the Cait Shelter guild master, "Oh? I don't see her. Where is she?"
"Eating. She wasn't exactly fed well by Jellal," Naruto explained. "I thought that I should call as soon as possible to ease your worry. We should get to your guild in a few days."
"Where are you, child?" Roubaul peeked over the cat. "Are you all safe and well?"
"Former Magic Council member Yajima offered us a place to stay," Naruto noted. "With what happened, the current Council is done for now, so he hurried back to his home to avoid the trouble. We should be safe here for the night. As for well…Wendy wasn't hurt, but Gaara and Fu got roughed up pretty bad. This might be the first time they actually fall asleep on their bed without any fun beforehand."
"Don't be so vulgar, fool," Carla scoffed. "Imagine if Wendy heard you."
"She's not stupid, cat," Naruto argued. "She knows that they have sex. They're not exactly subtle about it."
"Then they should get control over themselves."
"You sound like such a prude. Let people have their fun. No one's getting hurt."
"Wendy's mind is getting corrupted! I consider that hurting her!"
"They have enough control to not hump each other in front of a young girl, idiot."
"You're calling me an idiot?! Wendy was only kidnapped because of you, moron!"
"You were there, kitty. Talk as big as you want, but you couldn't do anything to stop Jellal."
"Enough!" Roubaul stated firmly. "Imagine how Wendy would feel if she heard you two bickering over her."
Both of them fell silent for a brief moment before Carla sighed, "I suppose that you did well in keeping Wendy safe."
"And your desire to protect Wendy from the darkness of the world is admirable," Naruto admitted. "Don't forget, though, that I care too. I want her to be safe."
"Then we'll leave off on that," Carla bit her lip and decided to remain civil. "I wish to speak with Wendy…please. I have to see that she's not hurt. It will help me sleep better until you get here."
"Fair enough," Naruto stood up on the balcony. He looked back to see his best friends hugging each other close in their sleep. Not wanting to wake them, he jumped down from the balcony to land on the ground. "She should have eaten enough by now. I'll go get her."
"Thank you," Roubaul carefully examined the blonde's face. "I noticed that you never said how you were doing, Naruto."
"I'm fine," Naruto looked away. "My injuries have already healed."
"That isn't what I asked."
Naruto lowered the lacrima to hide his face from them, "Yeah. I guess you didn't."
"It's almost time," Brain noted. "Soon, our plan will come to fruition."
"Will it?" Racer growled. "It hasn't been our plan for long damn time."
Angel shivered in fear, "That woman has hijacked our lives."
"Things can always turn around," Cobra argued. "I've been listening for a weakness. Chaos is coming. It won't just be Marissa and the self-righteous 'legal' mages joining the fray. I don't think any of the groups really know what's about to go down, but it will be huge."
"Then we can take advantage!" Hoyete declared. "Put the different groups against each other, distract that vile woman, and take Nirvana for ourselves! That power will be our key to fortune and control!"
"Then not all hope is lost," Brain nodded. "Cobra, we'll need to expand your hearing as much as possible. Knowledge is the ultimate power. If we know what everyone's moves will be before they do it, then we can stop them."
Cobra smirked, "Can do."
"…Father."
Brain blinked upon seeing his son awake, "Yes, Midnight?"
"…I've been thinking…Everyone has something they care about…something that makes them weak. What would be Marissa's?"
Angel hummed, "Her church?"
"No. That's just a means to an end," Racer scoffed. "The old man that hangs around her?"
"She wouldn't give up any power for his safety," Cobra shook his head. "From what I heard, the only thing that she gives a real shit about are God Slayers."
"Exactly," Midnight smirked. "Marissa might be untouchable, but her kin aren't."
Kami looked down from his throne to the four people who had been by his side for all of his life, "What do you all say?"
Saint clenched her fists. Her entire body was covered in golden holy robes, "Maybe we should consider a preemptive strike. Cut off their heads before they can even get here."
Preacher shook his head. Black armor protected every section of his skin, "Despite Kami's sight into the other world, our information is limited. Who is the enemy? What are their full abilities? What exactly do they want? There are too many unknowns. Plus, we'll be going into a new world. Their customs and laws will be lost to us. Instead of just fighting one group, we might have to fight an entire government. Or maybe an entire world. Are we prepared for that? It's illogical to attempt that, especially with how much power radiates from that planet."
"Not to mention how many innocents would get involved," Shaman began to play with the staff in her hands. Her doctor's coat was filled with emergency pills, needles, and medicine. "Do we really want to hurt people just trying to go about their lives?"
"Yosh!" Prophet pumped his fist. "Don't forget about our people, though! Do we want to put our people at risk by waging inevitable war here?!"
Kami looked to Prophet, "It's surprising to hear you wishing to start the fighting, Prophet."
"We've seen too many friends die!" Prophet argued. "I'm just looking at things from every perspective! If the person that's been watching you is determined to attack, then war is inevitable. Our forces are prepared for battle, but we don't know enough about the enemy! We should be ready to take the offensive if necessary! But the others are right to be concerned about making more enemies than necessary, so I suggest some reconnaissance!"
"You mean like going to Earthland?" Saint pulled out a knife so that she could start spinning it in her palm. "Interesting."
"If anyone should go, it would be Preacher," Shaman argued. "He's the one most likely to blend in."
Preacher hung his head, "People keep forgetting me…"
Kami slowly nodded. His Rinnegan eyes shined in thought, "Very well. Let's prepare for your travel. But I refuse to let you go alone. You will need a guide who is familiar with that land. Call for Fairy Tail. I believe it's time to call in the life debt that the Earthland mage owes me."
Naruto walked into the building to find Wendy sitting at a table with Yajima. The inside of their current rest stop was set up as a restaurant. Dozens of tables and booths were spread out throughout the room. A larger bar stood at the end of the room to give any customers a view into the kitchen. Moving over to his student, Naruto held up the communication lacrima so that Cait Shelter could see her.
"Wendy!" Carla cried out.
Said girl paused in slurping her bowl of ramen. Her voice was muffled by the noodles in her mouth, "Marlma?"
Roubaul grinned, "It's good to see you, girl."
Wendy beamed, "Sorry to worry you, but Naruto-sensei saved me."
"Of course I did," Naruto handed the crystal to her. "Here. Take this and go have the private conversation that I'm sure the cat wants."
"Arigato," Wendy took the lacrima. Before she stood, she glanced at her unfinished bowl of ramen. After looking back and forth between her two desires, the Dragon Slayer grabbed the food before rushing out the door without giving anyone a chance to protest.
Yajima chuckled, "You've taught that girl well, Naruto. She understands the preciousness of the gift of ramen."
"That she does," Naruto slid into Wendy's abandoned seat. "I'm surprised that you already had all this set up already."
"Meh, I figured that I would have been forced to retire soon for supporting you and Fairy Tail so much," Yajima shrugged. "Opening a ramen shop was always a dream of mine. I'm glad that I'll get a chance to do it before my old heart gives out."
"Please," Naruto snorted. "You've got a good twenty years left."
"God forbid," Yajima shook his head. "Hey, you want to stick around and give the gift of ramen to the world? I'm probably going to need help."
"As tempting as ramen is, I'm going to have to decline," Naruto stated. "I'm close to my goal. Plus, I doubt that you'll want me around. I've got plenty of more enemies besides Jellal ready to attack."
"I can handle myself, boy."
"Not from these people," Naruto warned. "If you see red clouds, then get away from them. They're from my old home."
"Ah. The other world," Yajima stroked his chin. "Well, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for them. What about the girl, though? I assumed that you were going to drop her off at her guild. If Jellal found out about her, these red cloud people will too."
"That's why I'm not going to leave her alone," Naruto noted. "Cait Shelter doesn't know yet, though. I figured that's an argument to have in person."
"Indeed," Yajima nodded. "What about Fairy Tail? Your relationship with them isn't exactly hidden either."
"They're all fully capable fighters. Plus…" Naruto looked away. "I doubt that any of them want me around now."
"Because of the Jellal sacrifice thing?" Yajima sighed. "Give most of them more credit. You saved a family member. They won't forsake you for that. Makarov would welcome you with open arms. Those youngsters that you were with haven't lived long enough in this world to make judgment calls like that."
"But I don't even know myself if I did the right thing," Naruto admitted. "Messing with death…that's how Zeref got started, and from I understand, he had good intentions too."
"Perhaps. We'll have to wait to see. Maybe you did make some sort of mistake," Yajima shrugged. "Learn from it. Change. Get better. The others will come around eventually. Give it time for the wounds to heal. Those friends of yours will get over their naivety eventually, and you'll be laughing about it one day."
"You think so?"
"I know so. Now, how about some ramen on the house?"
"You already know my answer."
Hinata sighed in exhaustion as she reclined into her chair. She looked across her office. For once, the buzz of shinobi life had died down to leave it empty. Her desk lacked any of the normal stacks of paperwork. The pictures of her predecessors looked down at her with heavy gazes of judgement. Sighing, she turned away from them to look out the window.
Night had fallen over Konoha. For the most part, the village had been saved from the scars of the war. Most of the buildings remained intact, even if most of the population was gone. The only lights throughout the entire area seemed to come from the shining stars above them. An eerie silence hung over the entire village as people tried to get a peaceful night of sleep to prepare for the chaos of tomorrow.
Moving her gaze upward, she spotted the carvings of the previous Hokages. She was the only village leader to not have a memorial. Even the late Godaime Kakashi Hatake had his face carved into the mountain. With things being the way they were, Hinata didn't want to spend resources on a memorial for the sixth and worst Hokage.
"Hello, Jiraiya-san," Hinata stated without looking back.
The aging sage moved to lean against her desk, "Your sight always impresses me, Hokage-sama. You didn't even have your eyes activated. When did you first see me coming?"
"Since you entered the village," Hinata turned around to look at him. "I see everything that happens."
Jiraiya grinned perversely, "Everything?"
"Don't be disgusting. I choose to respect people's privacy. Not everyone is as depraved as you," Hinata shook her head.
"Oh? Actually calling me out on it? You've grown," Jiraiya chuckled.
"I had to," Hinata mumbled unhappily. "My role is one of necessity not desire. Out of all the shinobi of my generation, I should have been the one to die. Yet I keep adapting and surviving."
Jiraiya frowned, "Don't say that. A beautiful young woman shouldn't be talking about how she should be dead."
"Beautiful?" Hinata scoffed while running a finger over her scared face. "That's a terrible lie, Jiraiya-san. If you're going to compliment my appearance, go with your natural instinct and compliment my body. It's not my face that people stare at in lust. No one's enjoyed looking at my face for a long time."
"I'm just trying to be nice," Jiraiya held up his hands defensively.
"Uh huh," Hinata sighed. "If you really wanted to be nice, then you would have taken this damn job in my place."
"We both know that would have been a terrible idea," Jiraiya defended himself. "I'm not cut out to be a leader."
"Neither am I, but I adapted," Hinata glared at him bitterly. "That's what we do now. Those that don't end up dead."
Jiraiya thought of the woman that he thought would have ended up as the first female Hokage. Her fear of blood ended up leading to her demise early into the decade long war, "True."
Hinata shook her head, "Why are you here, Jiraiya-san? You rarely visit to give me updates. Did you find out something important?"
"In fact, I have," Jiraiya nodded. "You remember the Akatsuki?"
"The group of mercenaries? Yes. What about them? Are they on the move?"
"Yes, but not in the Elemental Nations."
"Excuse me?"
"Tell me, Hokage-sama, what do you know about interdimensional travel?"
"Four of our own are dead," Zetsu looked around to the remaining Akatsuki. "Deidara blew himself up while fighting the Ichibi. Sasori was killed by the Kyūbi. Kisame was overcome by the Nanabi using a combination of magic and chakra."
"And Itachi?" Pain questioned.
"I'm not sure. There was a huge heat wave that forced me to retreat. When I could return, Itachi was burnt to a crisp," Zetsu explained. "If I had to guess, the Dragon Slayer that he was facing ate his Amaterasu flames."
"Ha! Serves the moron right!" Hidan burst out laughing.
Kakazu growled, "Hidan, shut up before I kill you."
"This is unexpected," Konan frowned. "Almost half of our numbers have been taken out before we could capture even one jinchūriki. Perhaps we underestimated this world."
Tobi slowly nodded, "Yes. It seems that their ability to use magic has given them an advantage over us. From now on, we'll need to be as prepared as possible. Any more mistakes might leave us too weakened to attack. Perhaps we should consider learning more about magic."
"We don't have time for that," Pain argued. "It would take years for us to learn the basics. We would be little more than genin in our skills with magic. Instead of fighting harder, we should fight smarter. Wait for the right opportunity."
"To do that we might need help from the Marissa woman," Konan noted. "Zetsu, are you sure that we can trust her?"
Zetsu nodded, "She appears genuine in her desire to rid the world of the jinchūriki. Perhaps too much. When Itachi demanded to know where the Kyūbi was, she readily gave him the information. She thought that it was for the organization. That we had a plan."
"Then from now on, we need to make sure that we're all on the same page," Tobi declared. "No more moving without confirmation. No more risks. This world seems to have its own problems with these dark mages. The best course of action would be to wait until the next conflict and then pick up the scraps while the jinchūriki are weakened."
"Wendy?" Naruto approached the young Dragon Slayer. She had moved up to the roof of the building. Like he suspected, the conversation with Cait Shelter had long since ended. The communication lacrima laid cold and unused next to the girl. "It's late. You should get some rest."
Wendy turned to look at him, "Oh? I guess you're right. Sorry."
"No need to apologize," Naruto sat down next to her. "Did Carla give you a hard time?"
"No! No!" Wendy rapidly shook her head. "She was so relieved. I feel terrible about worrying her like that, but they were both so happy that I couldn't get an apology in."
Naruto looked up to see the shining stars above them, "They don't want an apology. They want you safe."
"Like you?"
"Yeah, like me," Naruto sighed. "So why are you still up here then?"
"I was thinking about everything that happened," Wendy hugged her knees to her chest. "I hate that I was kidnapped like that. I was so useless."
"Wendy, Jellal was a Wizard Saint. Ninety-nine percent of the mages would have been easily destroyed by him," Naruto gently patted her head. "No one expected you to be able to fight him. You're strong, Wendy. Especially for your age. But don't put too high of expectations on yourself. If it makes you feel better, you're stronger than I was at your age."
She slowly nodded, "I guess."
"Besides, you were the reason that I spanked Jellal so easily," Naruto rubbed her skull for a moment before removing his hand. "Don't forget that."
"Right," Wendy gained a small smile, but it quickly dropped. "How about you, sensei? Are you still bothered by what happened?"
"I'm not bothered by killing Jellal," Naruto answered.
"I know. I'm not either. He was a bad man. I meant how do you feel about how those Fairy Tail guys scorned you?" Wendy corrected herself.
"I don't care."
"Don't lie, sensei," Wendy poked him on the cheek. "You don't get mad at things you don't care about. Their words hurt you."
Naruto turned to look at her. His objections died on his lips, "Yeah. I guess that you're right."
"Of course I am," Wendy wrapped her tiny arms around him as much as possible. "Don't worry. You were completely right, sensei. They were wrong."
"No. I don't think it's that simple," Naruto admitted. "Don't think of the world as black and white, Wendy. Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things. You want to know why? Because we're all human. There is rarely just good and evil. In some ways, I understand why they were upset. I think that some of their arguments were sound. It wasn't a simple choice, but I did what I thought was right. Now we'll see how things work out."
"How can things not work out?" Wendy questioned. "Jellal's dead."
Naruto thought of Zeref and his followers. Most of them started out as good. Jellal might have been a righteous person once. Hell, Zeref couldn't have started out as a monster. The desire to do good led them down the path of destruction. The first step to all the madness started with trying to defy death, "I don't know, but people never see the consequences until their choices are made."
Mard Geer glanced around the island that had been close to obliterated by the use of the R-System. The heavy magic hid every hint of what they were looking for after the battle. Glancing down to the scarred book in his hand, he muttered, "It was Master E.N.D. Mard Geer is sure of it."
"You're definitely right!" a circular demon with one eye stepped over to the more human looking demon. The top portion of his body was covered in heavy steel. "I went over the scans over two dozen times! It was him!"
Mard Geer nodded, "The book pulsed in that time. Power drained from it. How?"
Kyôka smiled lightly up to the sky, "Do I even need to say who was involved here?"
"Oh yes! That pet human that you claim is a demon!" Franmalth smiled. "He does seem to cause interesting reactions!"
"The God Slayer Naruto Uzumaki," Mard Geer stroked his chin in thought. "It was not him who drew Master E.N.D.'s power, but you are correct in him bringing out interesting situations. Who else was here?"
"From what I heard from our spies, Jellal was using the Tower of Heaven to resurrect Master Zeref!" Franmalth explained. "Obviously, it was a pointless endeavor, so we ignored it. He was intending to use Uzumaki but got sacrificed instead. Oh! And there was another one involved! A former slave turned human mage. The Titania Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail."
Kyôka shrugged, "It's doubtful that it was her. Master E.N.D. was said to be male. But we could bring her in for interrogation…"
"Mard Geer finds your tendency to play with worthless humans tedious," the head demon noted. "The girl means nothing to us. If there was anyone that we should capture, it would be Uzumaki."
"That might not be the best idea!" Franmalth declared. "He's at the center of a lot of the Balam Alliance's movements! Plus, the Shepard of the Rabbit Church has declared him a saint."
"The Water God Slayer," Mard Geer scoffed. "Mard Geer tires of these strange slayers, but you are correct. For now, we should stand back and watch. Until then, let us build up our forces. Tell me, don't we have a Devil Slayer in our forces?"
"You mean Silver?"
"Indeed. Perhaps it's time for a promotion."
"You're one piece of work, you know that?" Han looked across the table to his host.
Marissa giggled into her cup of tea, "Yes. I do know that."
Han huffed. He looked over to Roshi who was currently drinking sake, "You deal with this on a daily basis? No wonder you drink all the time."
Roshi grunted, "Now you know my pain."
Shaking his head, Han looked back to Marissa, "I've pretty much overlooked this whole god nonsense. Didn't really care, but things are working out too well for me not to get curious. You're smart, girl, but not smart enough to predict everything."
"I merely throw out the dice," Marissa noted. "It is the gods that decide how they should land. At least when it involves them. They are tired of being stagnant for so long. It's time for change. That's why they allowed the jinchūriki to transfer here in the first place. The time for drastic measures is now."
"Yeah. I believe it. Normally, I'd haul ass away from this shit, but now I'm sure that I'd just get dragged back in," Han huffed. "I need you to tell me everything if you want me to be effective, though."
"Don't worry. I plan to, but not now. The jinchūriki have been called to deal with the Akatsuki problem."
"A problem that you caused."
"Indeed, but it won't hurt any of you," Marissa argued. "Everything will work. Just wait and I will explain. When Naruto returns, the beginning of the end will officially start."
Lucy slept alone for the first time since they had started their vacation. Erza had the habit of slipping into her bed to sleep with her. From what she heard from Levy, this was a reoccurring trend that often happened in the female Fairy Hills dorm. For the most part, Lucy didn't mind Erza's intrusion. In fact, it made a lot of sense now that she knew of the knight's past. Who wouldn't want comfort throughout the night after being made a slave? The only part which really annoyed her was how touchy Erza's hands tended to get, especially around her breasts. Erza didn't know her own strength, and Lucy felt the effects on her already sensitive mammary glands. The pressure on her back was enough already without both sides hurting.
Fortunately for her bosom, Erza decided not to come to their hotel room that night. Lucy didn't know where she was. Despite how strong the other woman seemed to be, she seemed totally shaken by what happened. She looked close to breaking down since Naruto stormed off. There was a solid chance that Erza was going to spend the entire night crying. For the goodness in Jellal that had long since been lost to time. For the view of Naruto that had never existed from the start. For the innocence that was permanently shattered in minds.
If she had to guess, the others probably weren't going to sleep either despite their exhaustion. Gray was obviously was the person who exerted the least amount of energy at the Tower. He had had a constant look of deep contemplation from the moment that they returned to the hotel. Lucy knew how sensitive he was to demons, but he also had a soft spot for humans who sacrificed them to contain monsters. This jinchūriki nonsense seemed to be twisting at his heart. As for Natsu, she had no clue. He was a walking contradiction right now. While overjoyed at Lucy's resurrection, he seemed illogically angered by this Itachi guy and Naruto's role in getting the mercenary's brother killed. He took Happy to find a place to bury the dead enemy in a place which was supposed to be "worthy of a brother."
As for the former slaves, they had left to start a new life. From what Lucy heard, they were going to search for lost siblings. Wally had a brother, and Simon had a sister. She hoped that they would find them. They deserved happiness after what they went through, but it was a dangerous world. The assassins were a clear example of that. They had gotten away on the back of the Steam Bull. Ikaruga was still at large…
Sighing, Lucy flopped over to look up at the window seal above her bed. Moonlight flooded through the glass to give a spotlight to the tiny plant in front of the closed window. Clenching her eyes shut, Lucy tried to dismiss her wild thoughts. There wasn't much she could do about the situation. Not even her own death. She shivered at the memory of her mother holding her in the afterlife. Part of her missed that feeling of peace, but she now had the chance to live. Life was too precious to waste.
Forcing the memories away, Lucy slowly allowed the exhaustion that she felt from the day drag her into the realm of slumber. After a solid fifteen minutes, her mind calmed enough for her to start dreaming of better times where she went on innocent adventures with her friends where no moral conundrums could weigh them down. As she slept, a dark energy rose off her slumbering form. The magic reached up to gently touch the plant on the window seal. Upon impact, the once lush green stems of the plant shriveled into an unhealthy brown before settling into a blackness which matched the death magic that would forever be tied to Lucy Heartfilia's soul.
A tower of life and death left behind,
With the weight of the world pressed down on each mind.
Friendships shattered forever more,
To leave only corruption in the core.
Reprieve calls the soldiers back so they may heal,
Only for the taste of blood and ash to ruin the meal.
While the curtain of history opens to show what it conceals,
A guild will commence a tournament of ideals.
*IMPORTANT NOTICE*
Like my fanfiction work? Please consider reading my original work which will be updated EVERY WEEK on my Fictionpress account. I'm extremely proud of my work and would like to share it with you. I feel extremely unsatisfied with trying to sell books in my free time, so I decided to go down a different route. Links are in my profile page.
Monday- The P.R.I.D.E.F.U.L.
The journey to reaching one's true potential is a harsh road full of failure. For April, her decision to better herself through diligent training is made all the more complicated when criminals, crazy people, and a string of tragedy gets involved, but what else could she expect from getting involved with a supernaturally strong boy claiming to be the Rage of the P.R.I.D.E.F.U.L.?
Tuesday- Caged Demons series
Entertainment has become engrossing to the point that people literally upload themselves into their games. On the day when hundreds of thousands of players excitedly jumped into the newly updated Paradisus, what was once a distraction from life becomes a harsher reality than anyone has ever known.
Wednesday- Dragon Skin
Perception was supposed to be a gift, but when people begin to notice things that they shouldn't, life tends to get complicated. This was what Eli figured out the day the that he saw his first dragon. Now with the elite of the supernatural world wanting to enslave him, a young man with sharp eyes has to adapt with his new reality while learning that freedom is always paid in blood.
Thursday- Sleep Jump
Dreams often feel like being transported to another world. While the new reality eventually ends for most people, some exceptional few find that the journey doesn't end so quickly. Sam has long since lost track of the number of new lives that he...she...it...they have jumped to every time that consciousness is lost. Not even death seems to end the curse of the sleep jump.
Friday- In Heart and Mind
Thrust into a situation that he doesn't understand, a desperate father must work his through a city full of monsters, soldiers, and crazy people in order to save his daughter from a terrible demise. With each passing moment, he begins to question everything that he understands to be good and true as the Hive Mind responsible for the insanity corrupts every aspect of his existence.
Yep. Going to let you read it all for free. Truth be told, I'm not a 'MUST MAKE ALL THE MONEY' kind of guy. I want as many people to read my work as possible, and I spent the summer working on being able to keep up with this kind of schedule. Got the hang of it along and moved on to adding my fanfiction to the work load too. Will it work? Who knows. The idea has been jumping around in my head since I wrote my first book. So forget about buying Caged Demons. It will be up there on Fictionpress for you to read on a regular basis. Full disclosure, I'll probably put up a P_a_t_r_e_o_n or P_a_y_p_a_l (woah, this site doesn't like those words) for my original work ONLY by the beginning of next year when I show that I can keep up the schedule of quality updates. I spend a lot of time working on my writing and have bills like everyone else. Not planning on cussing anyone out over it, but I want to spend my life writing. So why not try?
Oh. And when I do try to plead for money, it won't be on here. Fanfiction is for fun and practice. My belief is that no one should make any money off of other people's work. All I will do from now on is give updates on my original writing. REPEAT: IT WON'T BE FOR FANFICTION. I WILL NOT ADVERTISE IT AT ALL ON HERE.
SERIOUS STUFF OVER!
Hoped you liked it. I know the wait for the end of this arc was kind of long, but now's when things get really different.
Spider-Man was a game that came out and consumed the little free time that I have. Not perfect. Puzzles suck. The characters other than Peter are boring to play as most of the time. But the rest was fantastic. And the ending. I loved the ending.
Night Times is still the most excellent Beta of this story.
Thank you for reading and please remember to...
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