Chapter V: Revival
Outside of the Magic Council Fiore Branch…
"We did it!" Yukino cheered as her massive opponent had toppled forward, and she was beaming with pride as the resulting dust cloud settled until she heard Gray call out to her.
"Be careful!" He shouted as he leaned out the broken window while trying to find a safe way off the floating tier of the government building, "She's not done yet!"
The Fairy Tail wizard was glad to see his partner quickly turn to face the fallen Titan, and he started to create a slide on the outside of the busted window while Yukino continued to watch for any signs of danger. Pisces circled above her, waiting for the Titan to get up; and Libra was standing just to her left, waiting to ward off any surprise attacks that could occur. While he was sliding back down to earth, Gray only watched the celestial team for a moment before his eyes also locked onto the Titan; and they remained there as his feet finally touched solid ground. Yukino glanced at Gray as he started to jog over to her and Libra, until a rumbling noise emanated from the center of the Titan's wreckage; and she quickly turned back to see what was happening.
If Gray hadn't warned her, Yukino would have been surprised to see Cel Rhea's fist erupt from the middle of the Titan's back; and she watched as the God Slayer quickly climbed out.
"Well, that was annoying…" Cel remarked as she finished unburying herself, and she moved to stand on the back of the Titan's head as she looked at Yukino.
"Do you remember when I said that I wanted to kill you?" The God Slayer questioned with hate in her voice, "I'm going to do worse than that."
"You will not touch her." Libra immediately challenged the Slayer, who gave the spirit an annoyed look before raising her right palm at Libra's chest. A large black beam of ki blasted the spirit away the next instant, sending her a few yards back and exploding before anyone else could react; and Yukino shouted out of concern for her spirit.
"Libra!" She yelped worriedly; and then she felt Libra's gate close as she waited for the smoke to clear, which told her she needn't bother waiting for the dust to settle. She didn't have much time to feel sorry for her defeated spirit, though, because Cel hopped down from the head of her Titan and spoke up once again.
"That takes care of the first pest," the earth mage taunted as she looked over her opponents, "But I wonder, which one do we get rid of next?"
"Well," Gray replied coolly, "You'd save us a lot of time if you got rid of yourself."
Before Cel could respond to the Fairy Tail wizard's joke, the two giant fish above the three suddenly changed into their human forms; and the mother/son duo landed between the god Slayer and her foes, staring her down as soon as their feet touched the ground. Their entrance was impressive, but Cel only acknowledged it for an instant as something else made her look away and swear in frustration.
"You two are the luckiest wizards on Earthland, at the moment." Cel remarked as she looked back to her four opponents.
Gray and Yukino looked at Cel in confusion as they felt her magic power lowering, but they were still wondering if this act was some new mind game.
"I have just received word from my Master," Cel revealed as she tapped an index finger to the side of her head, "And, apparently, he's decided that you both get to live through today."
Still surprised by the sudden turn of events, Yukino and Gray were slow to react. Paying her enemies no mind, Cel turned around and walked towards the enormous pile of black rocks while the light guild wizards tried to figure out what was happening.
"That's it?!" Gray demanded with some anger as he saw Cel open a portal on the Titan's crumbled head, "You're just running away?!"
"Not exactly." The earth mage answered cryptically; and she walked into her portal without another word, just as Yukino tried to get Pisces to catch her. Neither of the celestial duo were quick enough; however, and the God Slayer's portal closed just as the mother and son spirits reached it.
"What's going on here?" Yukino wondered aloud, "Why did Edo tell her to just leave us here like this?"
"He's playing games with us," Gray replied with annoyance, "Like he always does."
The two suddenly heard a loud explosion; and they both looked to the source of it to see that Sting and Mest were still fighting Orga, who just blasted another large hole in the floating section of the Magic Council's building.
"Why is Orga still here?" Yukino questioned no one in particular, "I thought Edo was calling his God Slayers back…"
"What the hell is going on here?" Gray agreed with her wonder, trying to think of what Edo could be up to as he saw Mest and Sting reappear in the air above them, with Sting launching another roar down towards his opponent.
"They're really going at it up there." Gray remarked as the top of a white explosion could be seen over an obstructing, rocky ridgeline; and Yukino nodded quietly.
"I barely ever see Sting fight like this." She informed him as Sting and Mest disappeared from their sight once again, and she looked back to Gray before adding, "He must be using a lot of his magic power right now…"
"He might plan on using all of it." Gray suggested honestly, still looking at where he last saw the Dragon Slayer and the teleporter while he did, "It doesn't look like he's holding anything back, and he's been fighting for a while now."
"Do you think he and Mest have enough magic left to beat Orga?" The celestial mage asked, sounding slightly worried. Gray noticed her tone, and he looked back to her before giving her an honest shrug.
"I don't know, maybe." The ice wizard answered thoughtfully, "I may be wrong, but I think Sting's magic might give him an edge against Edo's."
"Really?" Yukino replied hopefully, and Gray tried to explain his thoughts to her.
"Don't get too excited; it's like I said, I might be wrong." He reminded her before making his point, "But Sting might somehow be disrupting the power that Edo is sharing with his goons."
"Because he uses a type of light magic?" Yukino guessed, and Gray shrugged again as they heard another explosion go off in the background.
"It probably has something to do with that." He agreed before adding, "But I'd need to get up close if I would wanna find out for sure. We might even need to capture Orga to test it."
"We need to rescue Orga, not capture him." The Sabertooth wizard reminded Gray, who quickly gave her an apologetic look in response before he realized something.
"Wait a minute…" The ice mage said with a hint of worry in his voice, "What did that crazy woman do with the hostages?"
Inside the ground floor of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…
Juvia Lockser walked through the empty halls alone, and she had been looking for anyone since she had seen all of her allies get thrown outside the structure in the midst of their battles. She had hoped she'd be able to locate the council employees and aid them in escaping; but all she had found were random items which she assumed belonged to the people she was tracking.
Assuming the people must have dropped everything while running from something, Juvia found herself walking down another empty hall, a couple flights of stairs, into another abandoned hall, and through the entrance to the main chamber of the structure.
The water mage was expecting to see the room to be destroyed by the two wizards who fought inside it, but she did not expect to find Cel Rhea standing in the center of it; and the earth wizard seemed to be making something large out of jet-black stone. Before Juvia could question her, the God Slayer spoke up.
"It's good to see you, Juvia." Rhea greeted her while continuing her current task, "I missed having you around."
"What are you doing?" the water mage demanded, ignoring the obvious taunt, "And what did you do with all those people?!"
Rhea initially ignored Juvia until she finished building a ten-foot monolith in front of herself.
"Well," Cel began honestly with a gesture towards her creation, "This should get rid of any evidence we were here."
"Should clear the area for a couple miles, actually…" She added with an amused grin before turning to a suddenly nervous Juvia and continuing her answer.
"And as for the Council's paid pets, I sent them back home. My lover wants them for some experiments he's got planned."
Cel mentioned Edo's relationship with her to distract the water mage from the important issue of the hostages, and she smirked to hear her ploy was working.
"Lover?" Juvia remarked tentatively, despite knowing that Cel was trying to distract her, "So he's letting you call him that now?"
Juvia's only interest in learning about the couple was the hope of finding a weakness, maybe even a way to manipulate Cel; and the bluenette feigned a nervous expression throughout the conversation as she listened to the God Slayer.
"It's nice to see that you remember some things from your time with us," Cel teased, "Maybe you'll come to remember all the fun we had, eventually."
Juvia decided to ignore Cel this time, and the God Slayer changed the subject thinking she was winning the discussion.
"Anyways, Master Edo finally realized my true potential; and now we're officially partners, playing his game side by side and getting stronger as we do. Take this pillar for instance."
The two mages examined the monolith, which began to heat up the air around it. The black stone's color started to change to a dark orange, and the change seemed to start from inside the rock.
"My love pointed out to me how I used my magic in such limited ways," Cel explained as Juvia started to slowly back away from the heat the monolith began to radiate, "He opened my mind to so many possibilities… I never considered controlling the heat energy stored inside the earth. I knew I could control anything from the earth: minerals, rock, metals, maybe even magma or lava; but I never thought I'd have this much control."
Finally deciding she needed to do something, and after seeing Cel take the bait so well already, Juvia fished for one last bit of information on the monolith.
"So," She questioned pointedly, "You're simply heating this giant rock until it's gathered up enough heat and energy to cause a massive explosion?"
As soon as she heard the question, Cel's smirk faded as she realized Juvia's logic.
"Don't try to stop it, Juvia; you won't be able to." the God Slayer warned the bluenette, "And even if you delay it, you'll never get away from the blast in time. This could evaporate you."
Juvia was initially ignoring Cel, gathering her magic energy as the slayer made her threats, until the Titan's demeanor shifted as she added.
"Seriously, Juvia." Cel seemed to be pleading to her, "Master Edo wouldn't allow me to simply use the building for this because that size explosion could've threatened the planet; and I don't know exactly how big this blast is going to be. Take your friends and leave; you don't have to die today, and neither do they."
"I'm leaving now." Rhea declared as she created a portal on the floor next to her before looking to Juvia as she started walking in, "And you should be too."
Juvia watched as Cel departed the room, and she turned toward the glowing monolith as the dark portal sealed itself. She knew she had a decision to make, and she was regretful knowing that she was probably choosing the dumb option. And after she gathered all the magical power she could muster, she began to flood the room.
Outside…
Sting and Mest stood a couple yards apart as they stared down Orga, who stood forty-five yards from them after having climbed out of another small crater. All three were beginning to show signs of fatigue, though for separate reasons. Orga's body was covered in bruises, cuts, and an occasional burn mark; but the only indication he was tiring was the fact that he was barely sweating, which was a fact that bothered the exhausted White Dragon Slayer.
"Dammit…" Sting panted angrily as he examined the God Slayer's condition, "I've hit him with everything."
Mest glanced nervously towards Sting as the dragon slayer added, "I'm not sure how long I can keep this up."
"I'm getting a little worn out myself." The teleport mage admitted before wiping sweat off his forehead. Sting was about to respond until Orga spoke up.
"I knew you'd get tired on me!" He taunted proudly, "Face it, Sting, your power is nothing compared to my new master's!"
"I thought I told you to shut up already!" Sting argued back, and Mest looked to the dragon slayer once again.
"This is getting bad, Sting." He pointed out, "If we can't wear him down, we need to find a way out of here. And if we keep up like this, I'm not going to have enough magic to get us away from here."
"We're not running from him!" Sting declared in frustration, "I can't! I have to save him!"
"And I thought I told you that I don't need any 'saving'!" Orga interjected in annoyance, "My power is more than magic and muscle now; my master has shown me the power of darkness. I have learned about the energy inside me; and now, I'm the pinnacle of strength in all ways!"
As Orga began his speech, Mest was beginning to grow very nervous about his current situation. He scanned his surroundings desperately, and as Orga declared his formidable strength; the Fairy Tail spy saw a faint glint of light that was flashing in a bizarre pattern. He glanced back towards Sting, hoping his partner had noticed the light as well.
"I'm going to show you just how wrong you've been, Sting!" Orga taunted as his lecture continued, "I'm going to beat down your annoying little friend here…"
Sting stopped listening however, instead focusing his senses on the strange glow; and to his delight, he could see Gray Fullbuster standing next to Yukino. The ice mage was holding up a small disc of ice and turning it back and forth until he made eye contact with Sting; and the pair nodded understandingly towards each other as Orga regained Sting's attention.
"…And after I crush you, I'm going to give my old guild a visit." The Lightning God Slayer threatened, "I'll show them all how weak they've become under your leadership; and then I'll erase them from this world!"
Mest noticed Sting's nod towards the glimmering light and quickly connected the dots as Orga shouted at them; and he prepared himself to act as soon as he saw an opportunity to strike, deciding to follow Sting's lead as he waited. The dragon slayer had heard enough threats, and he intended on showing Orga the error of his ways.
"I SAID, SHUT UP!" Sting finally replied; and as he did, a brilliant magical aura enveloped him before beginning to slowly expand.
Mest eventually needed to start moving away from Sting, as a great pressure in the air and a blinding white light forced him to turn and face the enemy from a safer distance. Their enemy merely chuckled amusedly before taunting Sting once again.
"This is it?!" He laughed, "This is all you've got?!"
"Here!" Orga added mockingly as he moved to fire another particle cannon attack, "Let's see whose power is greater ONCE and FOR ALL!"
"Now, Mest!" Sting yelled before bracing to take Orga's attack head on, planning to hold it back with pure magical energy. And as the god slayer fired his massive attack, the teleporting wizard warped towards his allies in the distance.
Sting's power was able to hold Orga's attack back for a second; but ultimately the white mage could only slow the threat's approach, noticing the lightning slayer was now adding more than magical power to the attack.
And just as Sting was about to become overwhelmed by the force of the blast, Mest appeared right above the god slayer with Gray appearing in between them. Before Orga could react, Gray landed with a grip on both of Orga's arms; and the Lightning God Slayer roared in confused protest before being frozen solid in a seven-foot block of ice.
The two wizards landed smoothly on their feet as the ice block landed face-down next to them while Sting's aura began to dim and dissipate. Before anyone could start celebrating, Gray quickly moved to their temporarily subdued enemy and gave out instructions.
"We need to get him to Fairy Tail, and fast." The ice mage ordered Mest quickly, "We might be able to help him there, but I don't know how long I can hold him in there."
Sting was doing his best to remain standing as he recovered from the fight; but Mest was about to agree, beginning to move toward the two people in front of him before he heard Yukino shouting as she ran towards them.
"Sting! Gray!" They heard her shout, "The building!"
Looking towards what remained of the Council's property, all three men saw that a massive amount of some light grey vapor was rising from the building.
"Is that steam?" Mest wondered aloud, causing Sting to finally speak up.
"I think so." He replied between deep breaths.
"But what's creating it?" Mest questioned Sting, "There's not enough water near here to make…"
Mest trailed off as he figured out the cause, but it was Gray who pointed it out first.
"Juvia!" He yelled with some concern before ordering Mest once more, "Take me there!"
Mest quickly complied; and the two found themselves just outside the main chamber of the Council structure, where a wall of water was preventing them from entering the room. The water was just transparent enough for the two to see Juvia was standing in an air pocket in the center, just a few feet in front of a large monolith that was glowing bright orange. The water was constantly flowing towards the stone, but Gray and Mest could see that it did not appear to be cooling in the slightest.
"Juvia, hang on!" Gray shouted, about to dash into the water before the water mage's voice came through the water.
"No, darling!" Juvia warned him, "Don't come in here! The water's current will trap you in here with me!"
"You have to leave!" She added, "I don't know how much longer I can contain this heat!"
"Then let me help you!" Gray argued, but he could see Juvia shake her head before hearing her response.
"You will be helping if you leave!" She pointed out, "I can't hold this back and protect you; and I know I can survive the blast!"
"Who's causing this?" Gray tried a different approach, "Cel? This is one of her little games, isn't it?!"
Quickly turning to Mest, he gave the teleporting wizard one more command.
"Take our Sabertooth friends to Fairy Tail," He declared as he readied himself to dive through the water, "We'll meet up with you back there when we can."
The two made eye contact one last time before Mest nodded and vanished after wishing his friend good luck.
Somewhere outside of Hargeon, at the edge of a nearby forest…
Iga bounced off the ground once as he tumbled into a tree, which halted his momentum before snapping in half and landing on top of him; and the immortal groaned as the leaves and dirt settled before slowly shoving the top half of the tree off himself.
"Well that's not how you greet someone…" He muttered as he stood and rubbed his forehead where Claris had punched him; and as he finished regaining his bearings, he heard and saw the grass a few feet ahead being compressed in two small spots.
"I hope you know, if you're worried about 'letting me get away'," The redhead pointed out with a forced smirk, "You probably shouldn't start punching me into the distance."
"Clever as always." The invisible Keeper remarked humorously before informing her quarry, "But ever since I took this light magic from the first Claris, I've been able to see everything everywhere. I can even see inside your Sanctuary…"
"And how does that work if you get older?" Iga deflected the vague threat, with his smirk only fading for an instant, "Would you only see somethings somewhere?"
The next instant Iga felt the toe of a boot slam into the left side of his ribcage before he crashed through two more trees; and the third tree, which stopped him, now had a cartoon-like imprint of the top half of his body inside it. Iga planted his feet and pried himself from the tree, which fell apart a second after he was free; and once again he could tell Claris had landed somewhere near him.
Iga shook his head at himself, slightly regretting that he used a good bit of his strength dealing with Goten. He knew that the only way he was getting out of this predicament would be by playing it smart. Claris however, upon seeing the Iga shake his head, assumed he was laughing at her.
"I know you've got a very broad sense of humor…" She questioned him curiously. "But I don't think you've got much to laugh about, given your current situation."
"Yeah?" He replied with a smile, "Too bad I don't really care what you think."
He was expecting to be hit again for his rebuttal, but Claris merely said two words:
"You should."
And before Iga could declare his surprise at not being hit, he felt all the air leave his lungs as Claris drove her knee into his abdomen at a very high speed. Iga had expected to be sent flying again, but the Keeper had created a wall of ki behind him when she struck; and the resulting pain in his gut instantly brought him to his knees as he gasped for air.
"I have to admit," Claris commented as she watched her enemy recover his breath, "I did not expect that kid to weaken you as much as he did."
"You keep… under…estimating… the Saiyans." He panted a response before standing back up and taking a deep breath.
"No, I didn't." The Keeper clarified, "I had overestimated your strength."
"I'm flattered." Iga said flatly; and he grimaced when he felt Claris grab the right side of his face and shove it against the ki barrier behind him.
"You should be." She told him as she squeezed his face against her energy; but before she could say anything else, Iga finally made an attack of his own.
Guessing the Keeper's location by the positioning of her hand on his face, Iga planted his arms against the ki wall before twisting his body and kicking at her; and he grinned when he felt his leg make contact, causing Claris to stumble backwards. Upon hearing her feet shuffle, Iga quickly shoved his hand forward and created a massive blast of magical fire and energy that illuminated the forest with bright red and white lights.
At first he was happy about landing his counter attack, admiring the cloud of dirt and smoke before him; but that happiness faded as Iga saw something he didn't expect. A few trees had caught fire from his attack, but the flames seemed to lose their color while small amounts of white light seemed to be flowing from them and gathering in the air. Iga gulped nervously as the light formed into a sphere that was slightly bigger than him; and he did his best to shield himself before it flew straight at him, causing a fifty-yard wide explosion when it collided with his energy.
Claris waited for the debris to settle before gently landing in the center of the crater she had created; and she was pleasantly surprised to see Iga was still standing, though he was clearly exhausted. The redhead was panting and sweating, and there were burn marks and cuts across his scarred body. She was going to reattempt to explain his situation to him once more, but Iga managed to speak first.
"Not bad." He complimented her as he intentionally lowered his guard before asking, "Was that's the Light Keeper's magic?"
"It sure is." Claris affirmed proudly, "I can take light from any source and make it do whatever I want; and that's just the start."
"But you can't control the source itself, can you?" Iga wondered as he recalled seeing the burning trees that used to be near him; and how the flames changed color but never died.
"Unless it's made of light, no." She answered honestly before adding, "Don't be trying to look for a weakness, now. I guarantee that by the time you find one, I'll have already beaten you."
Iga chuckled before taunting her, "That's real tough talk for someone that's been hiding throughout the entire fight."
"I think it's time I explain a few things to you." The Keeper said with a hint of annoyance, "And first of all, I'm hiding my face because I don't think you'll fight me once I reveal myself. I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of boredom; and I was expecting a satisfying fight against you."
Iga was slightly confused by what she said, so he responded by saying with a hint of amusement, "Trust me, if you dropped the camouflage; I'll have no problem with kicking your teeth in."
"Think so?" Claris questioned mockingly, to which Iga responded with a nod.
"Oh, yeah." He threatened, "It'd only be fair to return the favor. C'mon, show yourself; and let's see this ugly mug of yours before I make it uglier."
Claris chuckled once again, "Okay… Ask and you shall receive…"
Iga was about to make another joke about Claris until she suddenly became visible, and his jaw dropped instantly in shock and disbelief.
"Not so ugly now, am I?" The Keeper said smugly; but Iga, for only the second time in his life, was rendered speechless.
"And now that I've fully got your attention," She continued as she enjoyed the look on Iga's face; and she grabbed Iga by the throat and lifting him up before finishing her sentence, "This is where I remind you that I'm here for a fight."
Iga was only able to utter one word before she tossed him deeper into the forest:
"…Ves?"
In the main chamber of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch,,,
Gray Fullbuster ran full speed and splashed through the large wall of water between himself and the air pocket his partner was standing in; and she was not too happy to see him enter the room.
"No, my love!" She pleaded again in frustration, "You cannot be here! The blast from this will-"
"Would you shut up already?!" Gray nearly shouted in anger; and Juvia instantly complied, totally surprised by his response.
"I don't care if those creeps got into your head," He informed her aggressively, "But that doesn't mean they're all-powerful!"
Moving to stand beside Juvia, Gray faced the glowing monolith and began gathering his magic power while still talking.
"Everyone of those losers is just borrowing someone else's power to get stronger, they play head games with us instead of taking us on directly, and they hide behind hostages; because they're cowards!"
"Juvia!" He shouted pointedly over the noise of rushing and rapidly heating water, glancing towards her before using his magic, "What do you have more faith in?!"
"Do you believe in that group of freaks? Or do you believe in what we can do, together?!"
Juvia stared into her beloved's eyes in awe for a moment before regaining her composure and nodding. And without another word, Gray began to channel his magic energy into Juvia's, performing something similar to a Unison Raid on the monolith; and the pair's magic blended to supercool the water that was colliding against the massive stone. Within a minute, the stone's color began to return to black; and the pair grinned simultaneously before Gray told Juvia what to do next.
"I need a bigger hole in the ceiling, quick!" He shouted, and Juvia obeyed without hesitation by waving her right hand and causing a jet of water to widen one of the holes created from the previous fights that took place in the room.
As soon as the water cleared the new opening in the roof, Gray slammed his hands together before casting one final spell.
"Ice Make: Catapult!"
With every last ounce of his magic power, Gray created a siege weapon that was barely strong enough to launch the rapidly re-heating monolith; but Juvia knew what her partner was trying to do, and she quickly forced all the water she controlled into the underside of the once-again glowing stone. The force of their magic together was enough to launch it clear into the sky; and at the peak of its flight, it exploded in a large bright orange flash.
The resulting shockwave shook some rubble and debris loose, but the building held up while Gray and Juvia managed to remain on their feet. Totally exhausted from using their magic, the two looked at each other as they regained their strength. Juvia was going to start celebrating until she noticed Gray's expression suggested that there was something he was struggling to say.
"What is it, my love?" She asked curiously, "We just won, but something's bothering you…"
Gray gave her a reluctant look before speaking.
"We never talked about how we got you back from Edo," He began to explain, "How I got you back."
Juvia was nervously quiet, seeing that Gray was genuinely bothered by what he was saying.
"I gave into Edo's head games too." He confessed with quiet anger, "He said he'd bring you back to normal if I lied to everyone; and the lie was something very serious, it's something that I don't think I can be forgiven for… But I didn't care; I just wanted you back by my side… I… I needed you."
Juvia's eyes began to water as she listened, having never expected to hear Gray talk this way.
"I've got no right to talk tough…" He began to conclude, "And I certainly don't-"
Juvia interrupted him; however, by quickly moving to him and wrapping her arms around him in a meaningful hug.
"You don't have to say anything, Gray-sama." She comforted him while lightly squeezing his torso, "You saved me once again, and that's all I need to know. I love you, Gray-sama; and that's what matters."
She pressed her face against his neck to hide her tears; but she began to smile when Gray slowly returned the hug, tightening his grip on her before speaking.
"Please, Juvia," He requested quietly as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment,
"Just call me Gray."
In the city of Magnolia, inside Lucy Heartfilia's apartment…
The celestial wizard found herself suddenly awake after having a rather bizarre nightmare; and she rubbed her eyes before slowly sitting up and looking around her bedroom, wondering how long she had managed to sleep. From glancing out her window, she figured the sun was only starting to rise.
Guessing she had gotten as much sleep as she could, she sighed dejectedly before climbing out of bed and moving towards the bathroom. She was glad she wasn't having nightmares like tonight's frequently, or that she didn't sweat too much and ruin her pajamas; but she also knew that on nights where she did have the nightmares, she would never sleep comfortably. She turned the sink on and splashed cold water on her face before turning the faucet back off and exiting the bathroom.
Deciding to do what she usually did after having a nightmare, Lucy walked to her writing desk and sat in the desk's chair. She rifled through some papers atop the desk until she had all the parts of current attempt at a novel; and she briefly scanned a few pages to jog her memory, picking up a pen and getting to work as soon as her survey was finished.
She was writing for at least twenty minutes before realizing she forgot to grab a drink earlier when she began to feel thirsty; so she set her pen down and stood up, walking towards the small kitchen section of her apartment until she heard someone or something tapping the window by her bed.
Quickly turning around, Lucy saw an apparently nervous Happy was hovering outside and banging on her window; but he stopped knocking when he made eye contact with her, instead waving and shouting at her.
"Hurry up, Lucy!" He said impatiently, "Let me in!"
"What are you doing here so early, Happy?" She questioned as she began to open the window; but then she remembered part of her nightmare, and the reason why she had locked the window before going to sleep.
"And do you know how crazy you are," She added angrily when she was sure he could hear her, "Coming here after you embarrassed me at the guild like that?!"
She was about to slam the window shut in his feline face before Happy grabbed onto and used all his strength to stop her.
"Wait, Lucy…" He pleaded with some effort before trying to explain himself, "Please… it's important."
Lucy took half a second to consider his words before warning him, "If this is a setup for some kind of joke, I'm going to have you de-clawed."
Happy gulped nervously before swearing he was being honest; and Lucy finally allowed him into her apartment, closing the window behind him and asking him why he came over. Happy decided to give her the long version of the story.
"Well, after you chased me halfway across town; I ended up spending the day at the guild, enjoying some fish for lunch, and having dinner with Charle…"
"Happy," Lucy interrupted him, "Get to the point."
"Right." The Exceed said nervously, "Anyway, Charle went back to Wendy's place when it got really, really late; and since I didn't wanna go back to me and Natsu's place, I needed somewhere to sleep."
Lucy tried to hide her awkwardness with him mentioning Natsu, but Happy noticed it and decided to hurry along with his story.
"Mirajane let me stay at the guild, and I eventually found a really comfy spot on the S-Class floor. I was dreaming about the fish I had for lunch when a big commotion downstairs woke me up. I went to check it out, and I guess Mirajane was checking it out too; because when I got down there I saw her talking to Sting and Yukino from Sabertooth."
Hearing that a guild master and her fellow celestial wizard were in town piqued her interest, but what Happy said next took her by surprise.
"Yeah," He continued excitedly, "And get this: Mest, the teleporting guy that spied on everyone, he brought them here, along with Orga in a huge block of ice!"
"Wait," Lucy asked pointedly, "Do you mean Sabertooth's Orga? They caught one of Edo's guys?"
Happy was about to reply in the affirmative before Lucy angrily shouted at him.
"Why didn't you say that sooner?! Turn around, I've got to get dressed!"
By the time the two arrived at the guild hall, the commotion Happy described seemed to have quieted a while ago; but they did see Mirajane, Cana, and Yukino chatting by the bar, who stopped to see who was entering the guild.
"Good morning, Lucy." The takeover mage gave her usual greeting with her trademark smile before adding, "I guess Happy must have told you about our guests."
"It's so good to see you, Lucy." Yukino said happily as she got out of her seat to greet her friend, but Lucy noticed her wince as she stood up.
"You're hurt." Lucy pointed out the obvious with concern, moving quicker towards Yukino and asking about what happened while Happy landed on the bar beside everyone.
"Apparently Mest went by Sabertooth looking for help, and he picked up Gray and Juvia along the way." Cana cut in, now bored that she was hearing this for at least the third time, "That creep Edo had his goons attack the Council's Fiore headquarters and kidnap the workers there. We managed to grab Orga, but they got away with the workers."
"Okay…" Lucy replied slowly as she processed the information, finding a seat next to Yukino as she wondered, "But where's everyone at?"
"Gray and Juvia stayed behind to deal with some kind of trap Cel Rhea left for them," Yukino began to answer while retaking her seat, with a clear amount of concern in her voice, "And Mest went back to see if they need any-"
"We talked about this already. Trust me, they're okay." Cana interjected after she had finished another drink, "Those two are nearly unstoppable when they work together; you should be more worried about your friend that's passed out in the recovery room, or about the big guy Master Makarov brought downstairs."
Lucy gave the group a confused look before asking, "Why did Master take Orga downstairs?"
"Our first Master suggested it." Mirajane explained, "She said it would probably be a bad idea to keep him locked up with our other prisoner, and that she thinks that she might be able to help him by using the Lumen Histoire."
"Really?" Lucy replied curiously, "Did she say how?"
"Not really." Cana informed her as she held her mug out waiting for Mirajane to refill it, "She said it's only a hunch, but she thinks Edo's power can be blocked with it."
"It makes sense." The bartender agreed while pouring the card mage another drink, "Edo probably wouldn't have bothered to make his Dark Heart with Jose Porla if he could have just stolen Fairy Heart from us; and if he can't get to it…"
"He either doesn't know about it," Lucy finished Mirajane's sentence, "Or something's keeping him away from it."
"Bingo." Cana remarked before going back to drinking. Yukino was about to restate her gratitude for the Fairy Tail's help when Mest suddenly reappeared in the middle of the guild; and everyone was quick to notice he was alone.
"Where's Gray and Juvia?" Yukino questioned nervously while preparing to get up and offer to go help them; but Mest quickly replied.
"Relax, they're just fine." He reassured her, gesturing for Yukino to stay seated before telling them what he knew.
"Edo's crazy girlfriend tried to level the Council headquarters with a kind of bomb." He explained as he got closer to the bar, "But they managed to dispose of it safely. I went to take them back here, but the both said they wanted to take the long way back."
Lucy and Yukino were slightly confused by the choice, but Cana and Mirajane exchanged knowing glances before listening to the rest of Mest's statement.
"Gray did send back a message though," the teleport mage finished, "He thinks Sting's magic might be able to save Orga."
"He mentioned something like that earlier." Yukino mentioned the fact to the group, "He said that Sting might've been weakening Orga's connection to Edo without even knowing it."
"That's right." Mest confirmed her statement, "Gray pointed out that when he froze Orga, he could sense something was off about Orga's magic; and he remembered what Juvia's magic felt like when she was under Edo's control."
"Wait a minute, I do remember!" Yukino avoided shouting with hopeful joy as she spoke, "When they attacked our guild and fought Gohan, we were caught off-guard; and Sting didn't get a chance to use his magic until it was too late. Now that I think about it, Orga's magic energy did feel different. That night at Sabertooth, you could feel two kinds of magic in Orga and Juvia: one was clearly their elemental magic, and the other was clearly Edo's dark magic. But today, Sting did get to use his magic this time; and Orga's magic energy felt jumbled, like there was an imbalance."
"There is an imbalance, and it's what's helping me keep him restrained." The group suddenly heard, except for Yukino, as Mavis Vermillion appeared sitting on the bar near Happy.
"The effect of Sting's magic has worn off though, right now my power is the cause of it." She revealed to most of the attentive group. Yukino was slightly confused until she glanced around the room and quickly figured out what was going on; assuming she would eventually get the important details, she decided to remain quiet.
"However, my magic is different from Sting's. I don't use any light magic like his." the First Fairy Tail master elaborated, nervously fiddling with a nearby mug as she did, "It seems to me that the intense amounts of magic power prevent Edo's power from reaching my resting place, like blocking a signal; but Sting's white magic was suppressing Edo's power from inside Orga, like it was cleansing him."
"It's starting to sound like Sting was performing an exorcism on him." Cana remarked humorously.
"You're more right than you probably think." Mavis agreed with the card mage, "Orga is, in a sense, possessed."
"So we can't help Orga until Sting wakes up?" Lucy concluded, and Mavis nodded.
"I'm afraid so." The Fairy Tactician, "And even then, because Edo's magic has slowly seeped into Orga's body, he might need help from a healer: someone that can physically cleanse a body. If we somehow combine Sting's magic with the healer, we should be able to purge Edo's power entirely from Orga."
"Lucky for us," Lucy chimed in happily, "We've got a very powerful healer that even knows a bit about that 'ki' stuff that Gohan's family fought with. She would definitely be able to tell if anything we did to Orga was helping or hurting him."
"I'll go get her!" Happy quickly volunteered; and he rocketed out the guild hall before anyone could respond, even failing to notice the man he almost hit with the door on his way out.
"I was going to suggest letting her rest a bit longer," Mavis remarked with a sigh, "But I guess rudely waking her up is fine too…"
Lucy shook her head hopelessly while Cana smirked and took another swig of her drink. Mirajane was amused, but her attention was still set on her job; and she offered Mest a seat at the bar, though he declined it.
"Thanks," He said gratefully, "But there are people from the Magic Council that need to know what happened; and where some of the people have gone."
He waved goodbye before warping away, and Yukino spoke up next.
"Since we're waiting, I should probably check on Sting." She thought aloud as she stood up, walking behind the bar and out of sight the next moment.
Cana waited until the group could hear the recovery room's door close before wondering aloud, "So… are those two, like, a thing?"
Lucy was going to start arguing with Cana about gossiping when the whole group was surprised to hear someone loudly knock twice from near the entrance to the hall, but they were a bit more surprised to see Jellal standing next to one of the columns in the entryway.
"Sorry to interrupt." He apologized as he explained his appearance, "But I'm here to have a chat with one of your prisoners."
Back on Earth…
Trunks paced around the atrium at Capsule Corps. while his girlfriend watched him and finished eating one of the many untouched desserts, which was the only good thing about people leaving the party so early. After Goten returned through Iga's portal, he was clearly upset at whatever Edo had shown him; and the young Saiyan left with his only explanation being an apology for leaving. His family soon went to check on him; and everyone else slowly left after they finished what they were eating and thanked Bulma for hosting them, while Vegeta returned to the GR to train as soon as Goten left.
Lisanna Strauss wanted the comfort-food at the moment; and the abundance of desserts of all kinds of varieties was an opportunity she could not pass up. Her boyfriend, however; was in no mood to eat. At first, he tried sitting with her and talking to get his mind off the whole situation; but he was clearly concerned for a lot of his friends, eventually making the conversation about them and starting to pace about nervously. He mentioned how worried he was about Goten; because he never acted like that before, or how he worried that Iga was not back yet. He also started guessing at what Edo could have showed them; but Lisanna was done eating, and she had had heard enough of his negativity.
"Trunks." She said firmly, but not impatiently; and the demi-Saiyan recognized her tone immediately and spun around to face her as she spoke.
"We'll hear from Iga when we hear from him. It's not like this is the first time he's taken off while we're in the middle of something." She pointed out reassuringly, "And Goten… He might be upset with whatever Edo showed him; and it might be something bad, I agree. But I know he's going to be fine."
She smiled at Trunks before adding, "He's got friends like you to help him, after all."
Trunks started to smile and begin to respond before a rectangular spot on the table in front of Lisanna began to glow bright white; and upon closer examination, Lisanna noticed it was not part of the table glowing, but a piece of paper that appeared as soon as the bright light faded from around it.
Trunks darted over to the table and grabbed the sheet just as Lisanna figured out it was a note, and he read it quickly before sighing with some relief.
"Good news, right?" Lisanna questioned before her boyfriend showed her the note, which read:
Found a Keeper, am handling it -will signal when safe to travel.
Enjoy the food, and sorry for ruining the party.
-Iga
"For now." Trunks confirmed as she read, though he was still worried; and Lisanna noticed it.
"I have an idea." She declared as a wave of inspiration hit her, setting the note down and telling Trunks her idea after standing up.
"We should go out." She suggested, smirking when Trunks gave her a surprised look.
"Out where?" Trunks questioned blankly.
"Anywhere." She replied thoughtfully, "I don't know anything about Earth besides what you've told me. I've been in here the whole time."
"But the Keep-" Trunks began before Lisanna gently tapped the table impatiently and interrupted.
"I don't care about them, Trunks." She pointed out as she exercised her patience, "I care about you; and I want to know what we're fighting for. We're fighting so I can live here, aren't we?"
"We are, and I really like the idea of going out on an actual date." Trunks conceded, but he attempted to continue his argument anyway, "But we have no clue where-"
The takeover mage reached across the table and put a hand over Trunks' mouth in order to silence him.
"I get it, okay? I know how dangerous these Keepers could be." She pleaded him to hear her out, "They could be as strong as you; but they're probably much stronger, especially their leaders. But I'm not scared; and you shouldn't be either."
Taking her hand off his mouth, she continued making her point.
"Even if the worst happened to us, we have friends that would bring us back; and I seriously doubt they'd have to. We've got Goku and Vegeta on our side now, and you told me about some of the crazy things they can do when they get serious. I imagine that if something bad actually happened to you, Vegeta would probably take all the Keepers down in minutes."
Trunks took a deep breath as he listened, nervous that he was about to keep arguing; but he gathered his thoughts and chose his words carefully before actually speaking.
"You might be right, Lisanna." He said as calmly as he could, sit "But Goku and my father aren't perfect. Goku's very gullible, and my dad's pride sometimes gets the better of him; it makes him predictable. It doesn't matter how strong you are when someone that controls time itself decides to change your age with a simple spell. We have no clue what kind of tricks the rest of these Keepers might have."
"And we won't know them until we find out!" Lisanna nearly shouted in frustration, "Trunks, you of all people should know how it feels to be trapped somewhere! This might be your home, and you might know what's outside it; but I don't. All I know is that there is much more to this world than this building, and I'm tired of not getting to experience it!"
Trunks maintained eye contact with his girlfriend as she made an argument that he was more than sympathetic towards, but he still had one concern; and to him it was more important than anything else. He listened to every word she said before taking the seat across from her and holding her hands, speaking as he did.
"Lisanna, I can't let anything or anyone hurt you, I just can't; I wouldn't be able to handle it. Right now, I know that I'm not strong enough to protect you. And they could be outside right now, just waiting for us to step out. Iga's magic only works a certain way; they'll see you if they actually come here."
Lisanna calmly interrupted him again, this time by squeezing his hands roughly.
"And if that happened, then we'd face them together; and what would happen would happen." She made a final attempt at arguing, "But I'm not afraid to die if living means staying locked away and isolated from the rest of the world. Trunks, please…"
After a long moment of exchanging pleading looks at each other; Trunks finally caved.
"Okay," He sighed weakly, "If going out there matters that much to you, it matters to me too."
"Really?" She replied disbelievingly; and Trunks gave her an affirmative nod.
"Yes!" She exclaimed happily before literally jumping out her seat and tackling Trunks with a hug, causing them to tumble backwards over Trunks' chair, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Still laying on their sides and holding each other, Lisanna did not hesitate to place her lips on his in celebration; and he happily returned the kiss. After a brief moment they stopped kissing and Lisanna stood up before lifting a surprised Trunks onto his feet.
"C'mon," She ordered him as she took one of his hands and smirked with excitement, "Before we go out, we need to get you into the shower; and into some clothes that don't smell like sweat."
In a forest outside the town of Hargeon, minutes before Trunks received Iga's note…
The confused Dragon God tumbled through a few trees and shrubs before the person that threw him warped to a few yards in front of him and took a casual stance.
"Again," The Keeper reminded Iga, who was slowly getting up and gathering his thoughts, as she crossed her arms in boredom, "I'm here for a fight; and it doesn't matter who I look like."
"What does that mean?" Iga groaned as he finished standing up before adding with less effort, "Are you saying this is some kind of trick, and that you're not actually my dead wife?"
For the first time during their conversation, Claris did not respond with an attack; instead, she gave him a smirk.
"Wife or not," she teased him as she gestured to the empty space over her head, "Do I look dead to you?"
"Heh. Well, you pick my words apart like she did," Iga noted the fact aloud before getting back on topic, "Now, I'm gonna ask it again: who are you? Because you look and sound just like my wife did on the day she died."
The Keeper rolled her eyes in frustration before asking him, "Does it matter who I am? I'm here to fight you."
"It really does." Iga answered seriously before rubbing the large scar that ran along his throat, remembering in an instant all the pain he had felt the day he earned that scar; and Iga was doing his best to avoid taking that terrible trip down memory lane any further.
"I'd spar with Vesta if she would ask me to," He explained, "But I would never do anything to seriously harm her."
"And what if you didn't have a choice?" Claris posited, moving her right hand in an inquisitive gesture towards Iga, "What if she was trying to kill you?"
"Then I would die." He declared without thought or hesitation, "I barely recovered from losing her the first time; I wouldn't be able to deal with losing her again…"
The Keeper looked over Iga as he avoided making eye contact with her; and she slightly smirked at his awkwardness before sighing sadly.
"Well… if that's your final answer, then you can call me Claris." She said as she slowly started moving towards him, and she kicked him square in the abdomen before speaking again as he went staggering backwards.
"I'm the Keeper of Light, the Seer of All." She seemed to be chanting more to herself than to him, "And my job is to kill anyone that threatens the balance that I help keep!"
Iga was nearly finished recovering from her last attack when Claris suddenly grabbed him by the throat once again.
"But before we get to that," She spoke with a rather intimidating tone, "I need you to write a little note for me. You know, one that'll keep your friends from interrupting us."
Iga was going to attempt to decline; but Claris appeared to know his response before he gave it, tightening her grip on his neck instead of waiting for a reply. Instead, she gave him another reason to comply.
"If you don't do this," the Keeper threatened him gravely, "I will permanently take the eyesight from anyone that comes looking for you."
After an intense moment during which Iga tried to read the look on Claris' face; he gave in with a nod, seeing that she was clearly not bluffing.
"And don't try to write anything clever like coding your message." She gave him an additional warning as she released him, "I'll know if you do."
As Iga regained his balance, Claris reached to her right with one hand as a fist-sized portal simultaneously appeared in front of it; and she reached through it before withdrawing her hand from it as it closed and disappeared.
"Here, get to work" she instructed him as she tossed him a pen and piece of paper she had grabbed from the portal, "And be quick about it, I'm getting bored with this already."
A couple minutes later…
Iga was sitting awkwardly on the exposed root of a large tree behind him, staring at Claris as he examined every inch of the Keeper, who was sitting crossed-legged in the grass a few yards in front of him; and she was wearing the same smirk she had been wearing since she told him to sit down.
The only obvious difference Claris' appearance had with his wife was her clothing. Vesta usually wore a martial arts outfit that complimented his after she started living with him; but Claris was wearing a much different outfit: sporting a dark-green leather peplum jacket with the zipper halfway down to expose part of the bright red, form-fitting polyester shirt that was made of the same material as her jet-black pants. Iga did notice, however, that the shoes were very similar to Vesta's choice of footwear: black kung-fu shoes with white soles.
Finally no longer amused with Iga's nervously looking her over, Claris stood up and stretched her arms as she spoke.
"Well, it looks like your little note worked; I don't see anyone coming for you any time soon." She remarked with a satisfied tone before stretching her legs next as Iga slowly stood up, "So I guess that means we can finally get to down to business."
"I guess so." Iga agreed nervously before reminding her, "But you haven't answered my question yet."
He made no defensive stance as he asked her the question once again, but he did mentally brace himself to receive a violent response from her rather than an actual answer.
"Is this all some kind of trick, or are you actually Vesta?"
His voice might have sounded confident and forceful as he asked it, but Iga was far from confident at this point. He was currently too confused to process certain emotions at the moment, and fear was one of those feelings.
Claris however; was merely annoyed, thinking that they had covered this subject before. Iga sighed depressingly as she shook her head in amused frustration before pointing the palm of her right hand at him; and a red ki sphere half her size appeared before her.
"If you really want to know who I am," She offered him a deal, "Survive long enough against me, and maybe I'll tell you."
Before Iga could agree to her challenge, Claris fired the attack at him; and he only managed to get his arms between himself and the blast before he found himself tumbling backwards into the forest once again.
In the Shadow of the World…
Edo smirked merrily as he exited his laboratory, lazily waving a hand to make the doorway vanish into thin air; and the dark immortal walked down a small, unlit hallway until he reached the end of it. He waved a hand again while staring at the wall before him; and the wall transformed into an ornately sculpted archway that led into his bedroom, which was more like a small apartment in size.
At the very back and center of the room, on top of his ornate king-sized bed, Edo saw Cel Rhea was laying on her stomach with her head in her hands and feet in the air while looking at him with a playful expression, wearing a green bikini top and a very revealing miniskirt of the same color. He smirked, figuring that she was waiting for him and had jumped on the bed as soon as she sensed his approach.
"So?" She questioned him anxiously as he entered the room, "How're the guinea pigs holding up?"
Edo took his coat and shirt off before chucking both at the wall to the right of the entrance, which briefly opened into the doorway of a large walk-in closet; and he chuckled darkly before he answered her.
"Eh." He shrugged humorously as he stopped walking towards her, "We'll know in a day or so; but I'm pretty sure the first batch is doomed to fail."
The Titan looked at him curiously before asking him, "Fail? But haven't you made a demon once already?"
Edo replied first by waving a hand lazily; and the room began to shrink until the bed was at his feet, with Cel giggling faintly at him as she swayed with the movement of the bed.
"I have; and I've tinkered a bit with Zeref's greatest creation," the dark wizard agreed as his girlfriend began to sit upright, "But they're both bound to the books their curses are written into.
"I'm trying to create something genuine." He explained as Cel finished sitting up, "To make a form of life that's mostly reserved to urban legend and old wives' tales.
"You know, spooky campfire stories and stuff." Edo added with a chuckle while stepping out of his shoes; and Cel matched his smirk as she moved to reach for his belt, only just getting her right hand on the buckle before he surprisingly used his left hand to swat her hand away.
"No," He said mischievously as she remained still and gave him a slightly puzzled expression, "Let's try something different this time."
Cel sensed a small amount of magic energy appear behind her before feeling the strings around her neck and back spilt apart; and her top slid off as Edo climbed onto the bed, reaching for and gently touching her face as he did. She responded by moving closer until they were kissing, moaning in pleasure as he pushed towards her until she was laying down and he was hunched over her while sitting between her legs; and as soon as she was in the position he desired, he stopped kissing her in order to tell her something he forgot to mention earlier.
"You should know," He informed her with his best attempt at a serious tone while aimlessly running his right hand vertically across her body and down to her left knee, "We're entering the interesting part of the game at the moment. Our enemies are close to finding an advantage against us; and there are a few players on the field that are capable of throwing everything into total disarray."
"You're saying I shouldn't have let Orga get captured, aren't you?" Cel asked pessimistically, "That I should have helped him?"
"Not at all." Edo reassured her, much to her surprise, "It was a bit premature, but I planned on giving him back to them anyways."
"You were?" The Earth God Slayer replied curiously; and her boyfriend nodded before explaining some more of his plans.
"I was." He informed her, "Since we're getting towards the riskiest part of this whole venture, it's finally come time to see who actually deserves to have my power; and Orga was too single-minded to ever live up to my legacy, his getting captured proved that."
"And that's also why you traded off Juvia?" Cel deduced, and Edo nodded in the affirmative.
"And is Zancrow the next to go?" She guessed, and Edo shrugged before answering.
"He could be." The shadow mage said cryptically, "I've been playing around with an idea on how to test him, and its something that could benefit us however it plays out; for him though, maybe not so much."
"Care to share?" The intrigued earth mage questioned him, and he smirked before leaning down until he was whispering his plan into her left ear. She grinned evilly as he explained his scheme; and he matched her smile as he finished.
"And now that that's out the way…" He concluded as he slowly sat back up while running a finger down the middle of her abdomen, stopping it just above the top of her skirt, "We can get back to this…"
He nimbly ripped her skirt off the next second, making her smirk excitedly.
"Your mission with Orga might not have gone smoothly, but you did not fail to complete the main goal of today." He said as he slowly took his belt off and tossed it aside, "Like I asked, you showed restraint against Gray and his friends; and when I ordered a retreat, you swallowed your pride and obeyed, unlike Orga. And we both know that pride is one of your bigger weaknesses…
"Today was a test for you," He informed her happily while placing both hands by her sides and leaning over her again, "And you passed it, nearly perfectly. So, it's only fair that you should be rewarded for it."
He moved his lips to hers and briefly kissed her before beginning to kiss her neck; and she moaned as he started moving his mouth lower and lower onto her body while occasionally rubbing various parts of her body with one of his hands.
Cel's breathing was getting shallower as she laid back and moaned lightly, and she briefly held her breath when she felt his mouth reach the top of her dark-green panties. She was glad she looked at him just in time to see him use his teeth to rip her underwear off of her, getting more excited than she had ever been before; and the next instant, she jolted her head backwards in pure bliss as her lover began to work on giving her the best reward he could think of: a whole day of pleasuring her in every way he could think of.