Aaaand we've reached 100 followers! I'll not give any shout outs, because each and everyone of you helped me get to this point. And for that I'm super thankful to each and everyone of you.


Phoenix, Jellals got leverage, so Jellal is gonna use that leverage. Although, he may have leverage in a different way than you think… They might have inside help, but Juvia strikes me as someone who's pretty loyal… yea, I was kinda gunning for the family dynamic, but I didn't really lay out places for each dragon. (Except Igneel. Igneel is the dad, and that's that. Dadneel?) oh hoho! I have got something big planned for the Ice Dragon Slayer Magic! It's gonna be a real game changer. Maybe. Who knows how things'll go? Not me! Ah, let's not put the show on the road, it might be hit by a car. You gotta have proper road safety, yanno? At least look both ways first.

Guest, well I was thinking of skipping right ahead to sixteen, but then I realized I didn't like sixteen too much, so I thought about it for a bit and I was gonna go straight to 24 because that's my favourite number, but if you insist, fifteen chapters it is! So you challenge me to do it in seven hours seven minutes seven seconds, but also to get it done as soon as possible, eh? I typically write a chapter in a bout an hour or so, so seven hours would be a real challenge, I might just take you up on that when I'm more experienced.


The last ice ape shattered, and Gray sank back onto a pile of ice shards, letting them hold his weight as he regained his breath.

"Juvia is glad the attack stopped." Juvia pulled herself out of a nearby puddle, though she remained standing instead of slouching back.

"Yeah, but I'm a little worried as to what's coming next. He wouldn't stop attacking for no reason… Unless-" and then it dawned on him, they had been after Erza, and if Lyon had stopped attacking then…

Juvia, while not fully understanding Grays sudden taking off like a bat out of hell, joined him, and together they raced from the casino to the hotel, past a rather flustered receptionist, and up several flights of stairs, and into a ruined hotel room.

"Dammit!" Gray kicked a loose bit of ceiling, watching in grim satisfaction as it froze over.

"Juvia wants to know what's wrong." The water mage had let her bottom half dissolve into water to propel herself easier, but now she let her legs slip back into being, and she placed hand on Gray's shoulder.

"Those damn bastards took my friend." He crouched down, and picked up a now-dusty book. Ice quickly spread across its pages.

"Juvia might know where your friend is…"


Jellal smiled grimly. Here were his little pawns now, with the great Titania bound by rope. He didn't let them see him, oh no, that was reserved for when that was done, but that didn't stop him from enjoying himself.

Truly, the look of despair on her face was something he'd treasure.

The blond pawn, he'd never really bothered to know his name, broke off from the group, and no one even faltered in their strides. Perfect.

Neither did the blond one falter as Jellal appeared in front of him. "Have you completed your mission, Shu?" Oh, look at that. He did know his name.

"Yes sir." The blond pawn reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, handing it off rather smoothly. Jellal never really cared for names. Except Zeref. And… Scarlet? No, Zeref was the only name the blue haired pawn deigned to know.

When Jellal returned to observing the other group, he was disappointed. The sacrifice had escaped. How… Boring. She was in no place to deny him, surely when it was that time she'd make her way to him.

So, why not make it interesting? With a flick of his wrist, he let his magic push his new pawn out. The pawn was, of course, disoriented, and so Jellal took that opportunity to begin his, oh, what was the word? Monologue?

But then he paused. Who was he to explain his masters plans? No, Lord Zeref deserved the honour of explaining his genius plans.

Oh, the pink haired pawn was standing now. Jellal smirked.


Natsu wasn't exactly sure that being on top of a tower with a presumed mad-man was much of an improvement over the card. Shaking the disorientation that comes from going from 2D to 3D off, Natsu pulled himself to his feet, and adopted a fighting stance.

The mad-man smirked.

Not a good sign.

"I think you'll want to co-operate with me."

"Oh yea? Why's that?"

The man began moving slowly, as if he was sizing Natsu up. "You wouldn't want your little Fairy-Friends to find out about that, would you?"

Natsu turned to follow him, keeping his fists raised. "Find out about what?"

The man sighed. "Is it so hard to comprehend? You helped fund this tower, or at least your father did." He paused to catch Natsu's fist. "Ah ah ah, that's no way to treat me."

Natsu growled. "Like hell it isn't. I couldn't give less of a damn if you told them, I'm not responsible for his actions."

"Oh? Well, I suppose you wouldn't know." He jumped over Natsu's attempted kick, keeping his grip on his fist firm, before landing and pulling Natsu over his shoulder and onto the ground. "The great Erza Scarlet was a slave in this tower."

Natsu grunted, but rolled away from Jellal and the fist he had planted where Natsu's face had been. "And how do I know you're not lying to get under my skin?"

Jellal sighed. "I suppose you're not going to co-operate easily then."

And then he disappeared in a whoosh of air, letting one of his spells move him faster than the human eye could follow. Natsu recoiled, feeling a light breeze brush past his neck-

His scarf was gone. Frantically, Natsu groped for it, and found that the necklace from Kyu was gone, and the arm band from Whirl and the ring from Grotee were gone too. The only thing he had left was the book from Empra, and even that was out of his reach.

The blue haired man held up the precious objects, and watched the horror grow on Natsu's face. "Now, I think you'll find you have to co-operate." He held up the ring between two fingers, and flicked it up before catching it again. "Or else."


The rat was flying now. It had already pretty much been established in her mind that this rat was not a normal rat (the inflated size and maid costume gave it away), but not quite to this extent.

Lucy shifted in her card, grateful for once that she was stuck in it.

As things in the world typically seem to go, namely karma, bad timing, and bad luck, it was at that very moment that the enchantment on the card wore off.

Lucy flailed wildly for a moment, before fighting off nausea and clinging to what she could reach.

Clinging to a giant rats foot as it flew to a tower in the middle of the ocean had to be something for the history books.


Erza ducked down an all-too-familiar hallway, past a couple of guards who seemed to be drunk out of their minds. She was half tempted to join them.

She paused at another familiar corner, and surveyed a small niche in it. She remember hiding in there to take small breaks when the work grew too hard. Shaking off the memory, she turned to move down a slightly less familiar hallway, only to have to dodge backwards as a fist flew at her face.

"Natsu!"


sore throats are the bane of my existence. Oh yea, the poll results are in, and it's three to one, there will be original arcs in this. I'll mark each arc with an OA in front of a chapter title, so if you don't want to read the original arcs you can skip right over them. I also might not end up doing original arcs after all, it really just depends on if I can think of any that would be a good inclusion. ~ShadeShadow