I reorganized my bookshelves and my room is a whole lot nicer now.


Guest(1), chapter sixteen has been fired away! Hey, I'd like to update everyday but I've got a whole bunch of kiddos staying at my house, and the eldest of them is five. They're very attention demanding. You're welcome!

Erza Ashley, birbs :) well, considering you posted your review on chapter 14 I'm lead to believe that's the chapter you just read. Hey, I forget things a lot too. Yea, I got caught up with the manga inbetween updates, so no spoilers for me! (I GOT A WHOLE HALF HOUR OF SLEEP LAST NIGHT IM RARING TO GO) I imagine that things will be quite different when I get to it…

Guest(2), B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and BINGO was his name-o! That's gonna be stuck in my head for a long time now, isn't it? Before seven? Challenge accepted. (Aaaaand challenge failed. I'm so sorry, but to make up for it, here's the longest chapter I've ever written for anything, ever. :)Let's not have team Natsu cry, yes? Twenty-Four is mine! There was an author who had a story, and The Five Dragons was its name-o! The-Five-Dra-agons, The-Five-Dra-agons, The-Five-Dra-agons, and Igneel was a name-o!

Phoenix, hey, a psychopathic possibly possessed man gotta do what a psychopathic possibly possessed man gotta do. (Thank you!) I was kind of wondering how to make him smarter without having him completely rub it in anyone's faces, so I'm glad to see I did well. Hmm. He miiight have. And hey, I'm sorry buddy, but I'm just gonna toss this where. While I think having Mavis and Zeref be the parents of Natsu could be interesting, and maybe something warranting another fic entirely, I'm not going to be doing it here. I've been thinking on it since you first brought it up, and that's the answer I'm going to give. Sorry :(

Yeah, I'm not the fondest of romance either, so I do typically shoot for the sibling/ closer than family bonds. Hmm, now there's a thought. (Hey, just because they aren't gonna be parents doesn't mean there's not going to be something else going on there…) Sting… Isn't something I've put much thought into yet. I have one conversation planned out, and that's about it. Layla still exists! I'll tell ya that much! I really haven't thought about that yet, though I have Empra pegged as someone who'd rather be a hermit with her books, and I imagine Whirl wouldn't deal with all that attention too well. (I hear nearby water sources start boiling when she gets embarrassed). Kyu… I think Kyu being in charge of anything would lead to disaster. And Grotee is very old, so who knows with him? Natsu might learn how to combine DragonSlayer magic, buut he also might not. (Laxus)

You know, I imagine Natsu much the same! Imagine that! (Eh? Ehhh?) yeah, who knows where Natsu got the idea to join Fairy Tail. Hmm. Hey, I'm loving the attention over here! (Honestly though, seeing all the theories you're thinking of really brightens my day.) and that just makes me blush. You are too good.

Guest(3), yeh, let's get it going! Cmon authordude! Oh, wait, that's me. Uh. Yeah, life is like a bubble floating on the breeze, before you know it, pop! It's gone. I think the story is quite going by the end of this chapter. Thank you, and I plan to!


"Erza! Thank goodness, you're alright… What happened here?" Lucy hurried across the ruins of the corridor, and superstitiously glanced over her shoulder.

Erza let her blades fade from view, and shifted her gaze away from the ceiling. "Nothing too big."

Lucy shuffled for a moment, "you haven't seen Natsu or Gray around, have you?"

Erza paused. "No, I haven't. As for what happened here, there was some minor disturbance. Nothing to worry about. Anyway, you should leave. What's going on here is no business of yours."

Lucy balked. "What! No way! This is concerning you, and you're my friend, I'm not just going to leave you here! Besides, what if Gray and Natsu are here as well?"

Erza winced slightly, a brief shudder in her counter acne, and then she was standing tall and proud once more. "If I come across them, I'll tell them to leave as well."

"You're missing my point here! I'm not just gonna let you take this on alone, whatever it is you're trying to do!"

"… Alright. But promise me, if anything happens that's out of your league, or if you feel like you're in danger in any way, then you will leave."

"I'm not gonna-"

"Promise. Me."

"Y-yes ma'am."


This room was creepy. Just… Just creepy. Granted, cats were adorable but…

This was a bit much.

There was cats on the floor, cats on the walls, cats on the furniture, cats on the ceiling… They weren't even real cats, just cartoony renditions of them.

"Ooh, someone's in my room, nya~"

This was someone's room? Someone willingly chose to live in here. Natsu made a split-second decision and ducked out a nearby door. He was not going to deal with this today.


Gray turned his back to the demon that had ruined his life twice over, away from the remains of the mentor that had raised him from that darkness and then plunged him into it again.

He wouldn't let his life be ruined again, whether it be ruined by the demons of his past, or by a pink haired mage who was clearly hiding something.

So he turned and walked away.

Juvia took one last look at the imposing figure, and turned to follow.


Lucy gripped her key tightly, not uttering the chant, but keeping the words on her tongue.

Erza held her blade steady, and held her gaze much the same as she kept a woman pinned to the wall. "Erzy~! Let me go~!"

The cat eared lady squirmed, but immediately stopped when Erza's blade inched closer to the biggest cat plush. "No! Don't hurt Mr Whiskers!"

"I won't, so long as you listen to what I have to say." Milliana wiggled against the wall one last time, before giving in and holding still.

"I'll listen."

And Erza explained. She explained the sins of Jellal, the mistakes she had made and the threats that had been crafted.

And Milliana listened.


"You are powerful, aren't you?" Natsu stood firm, the tall metal-jawed man across from him doing much the same.

"What's it to you?"

"You just might be able to free Jellal."


"Ice Make: Spear!"

"Water Slicer! Water Lock!"

"Ice Make: Geyser!"

Juvia let the water lock drop with a cry of pain, and Gray grimaced as he readied his next attack.

"Ice Make: Gavel."

A hammer of ice smashed down on his opponent, and Juvia gave in.

"Juvia cannot move…"

And then their assailant joined in with a sigh. "To battle so furiously… That must be Love…"

"Undo whatever spell you cast on Juvia!"

"But the battle between you was so full of Love…"

"Listen, I don't know what 'love' is to you, but this sure as hell ain't love to me."

"But… Love…"

Gray growled in annoyance, before decided to deal with matters himself. "Ice Make: Saucer." A buzz saw crafted from ice pulled itself from his hands, and went flinging across the room.

But then it stopped, and shuddered, and that was all the warning Gray got before the saw was flinging itself back at him, forcing him to hastily create a shield.

"Damn."

"My magic lets me take control over things! It's almost like … Love…"

"Ice Make: Floor!"

And she slipped.


"I… Can't believe it, nya~! Why would Jellal lie to us~!"

Erza let her blade vanish, and moved towards Milliana, placing her hands on the sobbing girls shoulder and pulling her in for a hug.

Even Lucy had tears in her eyes, though she had heard the tale from Erza before.

"Jellal told us you burned the boats! He told us you left us here to die!"

"I'm truly sorry, Milliana. There was nothing I could do, he promised to kill you if I came back."

"N-no way…"

"Wally! Please, I don't want to fight you. Hear me out?"

"I… I already did. My room is right next to Millie's, and the walls are kinda thin. What Jellal did just ain't dandy."

"Thank goodness." And then she pulled Wally into a hug too.


Jellal frowned. Now, that wasn't very nice. He even let Wally watch movies on his break!

Ooh, the magic council was almost ready to fire Etherion. He just needed two more votes! How exciting.

Some part of him idly wondered if the Tower actually would survive Etherion.

Another part wanted a sandwich.

He ignored them both.

…He wanted a sandwich.


Now with Milliana and Wally at their side, Lucy and Erza continued on their trek up the tower.

"What has Jellal done since I had to leave?"

Milliana shuffled awkwardly. "Well, he made us finish the tower, but he let us learn magic! Nya~ But, he also kind of…"

"Wasn't dandy in the head no more, you get what I mean pardner?"

"Not really, no."


Natsu gripped the ring Simon had given him tightly. As it turned out, Jellal had given one of his possessions to each of his main underlings, and kept one for himself. The very thought made him want to burn something. Or electrocute something. Bury it, freeze it, douse it thoroughly in water.

Maybe the last one a little less than the others.

Now with Grotees ring securely in his possession, he ducked down another hallway under the pretence of looking for his friends, but really staying as far away from their scents as he could manage.

Though, being trapped in the crazy cat woman's bathroom and hearing Erza and Lucy come in was half relieving, because it meant crazy cat woman likely wouldn't find him in her bathroom.

Thankfully, he had found a sizeable vent he could stage his escape in, and it was in there that he came across Simon. Turns out Jellal didn't monitor the vents.

Simon had promised to try and get his other precious objects, and Natsu decided to help with that in the most obscure way, namely, being very distracting to the blonde haired man named Shu.

"So, Jellal told you she burned the boats and you believed him just like that?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think about how Erza didn't have fire magic before that, did you?"

"…No?"

"And you didn't ask why Erza would escape by herself after leading the rebellion that freed you all?"

"What are you trying to do, exactly?"

"Distract you."

And with a flourish, Natsu dropped into the closest vent.

A card with a white scarf on it slipped out of the shadows.


Gray helped Juvia to her feet, and apologized for the- frankly- brutal attack earlier.

"Juvia will be alright, Juvia just needs some time to recover. Gray is very strong."

"We gotta stop you doing that."

"Stop Juvia doing what?"

"That. Speaking in third person."

"Juvia is speaking in third person?"

"Nevermind."


"Oh, Erzy I almost forgot! I have something from one of your friends."

Erza tilted her head. "Oh? What?"

"It's this, nya~"

A small diamond glittered brightly from the chain on which it dangled.

And something very important clicked into place for Erza.

(Does that mean I'm not one of Jellals main underlings? That ain't dandy!)


"Jellal is speaking in third person?" No, he should not indulge in such pleasantries as mockery! Only lord Zeref was deserving of such pleasures.

Was mockery a pleasure?

If it was, it mattered not because the magic council just agreed to fire Etherion, the fools, the fools!

Jellal bounced on the balls of his feet, and turned to face the sky, much like everyone in the tower did.

Because glowing brightly in it was several magic circles.


"Is that?


"That's…


"No way, it's…


Etherion."


Back in the magic councils headquarters, a single cry was heard.

"FIRE!"


I never really thought of my hair as heavy until I tipped my head back in the shower and I actually struggled to get it upright again. Etherion has been fired~

~ShadeShadow