You know what sucks? After going through my entire life without allergies, they decide to kick in on the one day I have set aside for relaxation. Haah… I see why people hate them.


Phoenix, we're all counting on you here, Natsu. Yea, I'm actually pretty happy with the way things are going. Hmm. ELA. Nah, I think END has a far more ominous ring to it, yanno? But, I mean, who knows what might happen? I'm sure the Gajeel and Laxus interactions will be electrifying. They'll really be up to date with current events, I imagine. The other people in the guild may have to steel themselves though. Whew, that's a bit of weight off my shoulders… Yeh, whadda coincidence! Haha. Hey, I call everyone buddy. Or pal. Or dude. Friendo if I'm in a weird mood. (Kinda like the word skedaddle. I'm surprised skedaddle hasn't appeared in my writing more often actually…) It just sorta slips out sometimes. I can try and avoid doing so if it bugs you. (What would a female version of buddy be, anyway? Buddete? Budda? Buddha?) and hey, I might have said this before, I don't know, but I too am a girl. Hey, I'm super excited to get this written up! Aww, you're making me blush again… (Is this a super secret plot to turn me into a tomato? I'm watching you…)


"Erza!"

"Natsu! What are you-"

"No time for that right now, I need you to take off the magic binding spell!"

The red haired warrior shifted, and crossed her arms, well aware of the other's confusion.

"Listen, if you don't undo that spell, Etherion, is gonna hit the tower!"

"… I trust you. To do the right thing."

And then the pink haired Mage was gone, rocketing up the side of the tower as quickly as he could manage, until he reached the top.

Pausing for breath, he remember what Kyu had taught him about reflecting magic. 'I have to get this just right…'

"Ice Dragons Reflection Shield!"

A mirror of ice spun out from where Natsu stood, expanding in a clockwise fashion until it was big enough to match the Etherion beam. Then, it began shifting, as if it were a trampoline and someone was standing on it, bending in on itself.

Parts of it cracked ever so slightly, and as quickly as he could manage Natsu began to knit the ice back together.

"Ice Make:"

Bewildered, he turned his head half an inch, still carefully maintaining the magic. Gray was next to him, a water Mage who must have propelled him up the tower at his feet.

"What are you looking at? Just keep the spell going."

Together, the two mages refined the ice until it was flawless, and concave.

And Etherion fired.

It slammed into the ice with all the force that the magic council could muster, enough force to obliterate a nation, but the spell held fast.

A humans magic was nothing compared to a spell created by Dragons, a spell created to reflect even the most powerful of Dragon spells.

Natsu gritted his teeth, and dug his heels in, barely holding back against the pure tidal wave of force directed at the Reflection Shield, and by extension, him.

But then there was steadying hands on his shoulders, and a watery pull around his feet.

And like a trampoline snapping someone into the sky, the Reflection Shield sent Etherion into the sky.


"My p… My Lord Zerefs plan… No! No no no!" This was the result of a decades worth of work! This! And yet single spell destroyed any and all possibility of

Wait.

Ooh, that was just positively evil!


Lucy nudged Erza's shoulder with her own, the requip Mage still holding perfectly still as Etherion disappeared from view. "You think he did that?"

A nod. "I think he did."

"You think he's alive?"

"I think he's tougher than he looks."

"Indeed. Natsu holds power inside him that none of you know of." Simon pulled himself out of the shadows, and took an apologetic stance. "I'm sorry, Erza, that I had to act the way I did. It was necessary to fool Jellal."

"Simon, you…?"

"Yes, I never lost faith in you."

Erza smiled softly. "Thank you."


He couldn't believe this. All of his friends, they had abandoned him! They had left him to… They had left him alone. That hurt.

Shu slammed his fist on the surveillance Lacrima, cracking it neatly down the middle.

He didn't even have Jellal anymore, that pink haired mage had planted too many doubts in his mind.

What should he do? Who should he believe? Erza? Jellal? Erza? Jellal? Erza, who had her eye carved out for him? Jellal, who sheltered and provided and protected him? Erza, who freed him? Erza, who burned the boats? Jellal, who enslaved him again, but taught him magic? Jellal, who sa

ved them from the burned boats? Erza, who had no reason to burn the boats? Jellal, who, with his new ambition, had every reason?

Shu clutched at his head. Erza? Jellal? Erza? Jellal?

… Zeref?


Natsu sat up, slightly out of it. "Geez man, you really gotta stop casting spells that knock you out, it's not a good battle strategy."

"Gray, wha… I thought you hated me?" Gray leaned back on the slanted roof.

"I did. But that was mainly because of the past families killed thing, not you personally. Well, I guess that's kind of personally actually. Uh… Juvia help me out here."

"Juvia thinks Gray should apologize."

"That's not helping. Uh, alright, listen man, I'm sorry. I acted like a total jerk because of something we have no proof that you did. I'll admit, I messed up big time."

Natsu chuckled. "You remind me of someone I knew once. He was stubborn as all hell, and had a temper to boot, but he was a good… Magician, and when he messed up big time or made a big mistake, he'd apologize in his own awkward way."

Gray shifted on the rooftop, thinking over what Natsu said for a minute or two. "What was his name?"

"His name was Kyu."

They basked in silence for a few minutes more, and then "Juvia thinks we should go back inside and find Gray and Natsu's friend."

"Oh crap, you're right!"


"I don't have entirely good news, I'm sorry to say." Simons remaining eye drooped, and he took a step back from where he had embraced Erza. "Jellal has Natsu under his control."

Lucy gasped, and Erza closed her eyes. After seeing the word Natsu had managed to carve into the wall as they fought, she had figured as much, and especially so after getting his diamond from Milliana.

"Jellal took his precious possessions, didn't he?"

Simon, ashamed, took another step back. "I'm afraid so. Together, we managed to get his ring and scarf back, but the other two… Well, Milliana has one, and Jellal the other."

Erza held up a small diamond. "I have Millianas."


Gray had gone back deep into the tower, with Juvia in tow, at Natsu's insistence. After all, Natsu had someone to 'report' to.

He entered Jellals room of choice, taken aback by the chaos that had spread through the room since his last 'visit'. The walls were crumpled like some strongman had a fit, the floor and ceiling much the same. Chunks of rock were sprayed over the floor, but the 'throne' Jellal was so fond of sitting in was untouched. By extension, the Lacrima in the centre of the room was pristine.

Jellal, who was in the corner of the room with his back turned, whirled to face him. "You. You ruined it! The magic council was going to be so so shocked when using their special little spell backfired on them! You ruined it!"

And he held up one hand, by extension the armband from Whirl, and he shattered it.


Dah daaah! Kinda short compared to last chapter, buuuut something tells me you guys won't mind. ~ShadeShadow