Lucy inwardly groaned as she felt the water mage next to her glare at her. It's not as if she really hated Juvia, but her claiming Lucy as her love rival was a bit much. She really held no feelings towards Gray. He was more like a brother than anything else. But it seemed no matter how much Lucy tried to explain this, it went through one ear and out the other.
Lucy turned to Juvia with a small glare that rivaled the water mages. "I can't take that staring you're doing." Juvia crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. As if Lucy hadn't said one word to her.
"Love rival, I can't believe I'm stuck with you. Sad to say, we might have to fight for Gray-sama's love." Lucy rolled her eyes at the dramatic way Juvia worded her sentence. Lucy rubbed her temples and looked around the room they had just entered. It was rounded and empty, it was definitely suspicious.
"I don't love your precious Gray." Lucy said simply. She slid her foot back and grounded it. She felt as if she was going to be caught up in a pretty serious fight. And she could smell something...someone. It was a man, and he was getting closer.
"I don't believe you, I mean who wouldn't be in love with Gray-sama?!" Lucy made a pained face at her words. Gray was good looking of course, but not everyone felt the same way as Juvia. Lucy seriously didn't see Gray as her type. And she was sure Gray didn't like her like that either. But Juvia was obviously oblivious to that.
"Trust me Juvia, I hold no feelings for the man. You can have him," Lucy sighed. Just as Juvia was about to say another thing, Lucy quickly shushed her. "I hear someone." The blonde whispered. Juvia sucked in a breath, though it did no good. A man, long hair, tight leather pants, and a white painted face appeared before them.
"Hell yeah! Two rockin chicks! This'll be the most fun I've had in ages!" He screamed loudly as he played on his electric guitar. Lucy gasped at the ear bleeding sound and covered her ears. Lucy's mind went blank as she unconsciously took a step back. Her sensitive ears couldn't take much more of this. She couldn't move, or speak.
Lucy used the last of her strength to turn to Juvia who was covering her own ears. Lucy grunted at a sharp pain that came from her ears. Something warm was trailing down her ears. She touched it. It was blood.
He stopped playing his blasted guitar. Her limbs dropped in relief. Damn, she didn't have much strength left. He looked to both of them, eyes darting between both women. He laughed maniacally and pointed his guitar at Lucy.
"Who should I choose outta both you rockin rollin babes?" Lucy would scoff at his word choice, but she could barely hear what he said. He pointed his guitar at Juvia, then at her, then back at Juvia. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a chickie by the toe. I'm going to pick the very best one. And you are it." Landing solely on Juvia, his hair wrapped itself around the blue haired mage. Once the hair left, Juvia sat there for a moment.
Then she laughed darkly and stuck her tongue out. Her outfit was completely changed into something more revealing and her hair was long and straightened out. Lucy shook her head, snapping out of her trance, and stood up. Her ears rung harshly. But she had to save Juvia.
It was obvious the man had used his powers to take control of her. Lucy glared up at the man as he just laughed and played his guitar once more. "Aw yes! Two rockin sexy chicks fightin to the death! What I live to see!" Lucy took a deep breath and waited for Juvia to make the first move. She didn't want to hurt her friend if she didnt have to. Juvia giggled obnoxiously.
"Aren't you gonna start blondie?"
"Snap out of it juvia! This isn't you!" Lucy tried to reason. Though Juvia was deep under a spell.
"Well if you aren't going to, I will!" Transforming her arms into water, she propelled the blonde back on the ground. Lucy would probably be a pretty good match, but that man weakened her when he played his guitar. Just as she was going to stumble back up, Juvia was on top of her. "How about we take off those pretty little clothes of yours!" Lucy gasped as her green dress was torn to shreds. The only this keeping her dignity was a small piece of cloth covering her chest and a small part of the dress covering stomach to her upper thighs.
"Dammit Juvia, get off!" Lucy screeched, kicking the water mage off her and using her celestial dragon iron fist to punch her across the face. Juvia wasn't even phased. Lucy assumed the magic he used to control her gave her an extra boost as well. Juvia then threw blades of water at her, cutting up her stomach and arms. Lucy gave the blue haired woman a hard look.
But it softened when she saw tears run down her face. Despite the shit eating grin plastered on. Juvia was still in there! But before she could speak, Juvia made herself into a water torpedo and sucked Lucy inside of her. Losing air quickly, she looked up to see a way out. What she found though, was Juvia's face in the water.
"Love rival, I can't control my own body. I don't want to hurt any of my new friends anymore. I'm so sorry, you need to defeat me in order to live!" Lucy huffed and brought the water Juvia close to her. Though it seemed impossible, she could feel the water mage's body.
"I'll get you out Juvia, I promise," Lucy yelled, bring out her Aquarius key. The spirit was going to kill her, but she had to do this! "Open! Gate of the water bearer, Aquarius!" Lucy grinned when the mermaid appeared in front of her. Though her grin dropped at Aquarius's angry face.
"You stupid girl! How dare you call me from someone's body!"
"Just help me!"
"Fine." Using her incredible power, Aquarius got control of Juvia's water and her own and washed both her and Lucy away. This took Juvia out of her trance and water form. The man standing on higher ground only laughed as he stuck his tongue out once more.
"I'll just used my flawless hair to suck it up!" His hair grew longer in an attempt to suck up the water. But it was a lot of power. He panicked as too much water was used on his hair. "Okay, you can turn off the water now!" He screamed as his hair was so full of water, it fell off completely. Leaving him bald and defeated. Lucy sighed and laid on the ground.
"Next time you two decide to be stupid, leave me out of it!" Aquarius screeched before disappearing to be with her boyfriend. Lucy shook with fear alongside Juvia.
"She's terrifying."
"Now you know how I feel," Lucy groaned. Juvia twiddled her thumbs and looked down at the watered ground. She turned to Lucy with a soft look in her eyes. Lucy hummed and turned to her as well. "What's wrong?" The blonde asked innocently.
"Thank you...Lucy." Juvia mumbled. Lucy was surprised Juvia could even use her name. But the blonde smiled and hugged Juvia close to her.
"Of course, you're my friend you know. I would help any friend in danger," Lucy let go of her and stood up slowly. Her legs wobbled violently from their fight but she was able to balance herself pretty quickly. She reached out her hand to Juvia. "We should find the others." Juvia's eyes filled with tears as she took Lucy's hand.
"Yes, we should." Juvia whispered. Lucy eventually let go of Juvia's hand when the water mage could stand on her own. They left the entrance where that man came from and used Lucy's sense of smell to try and find Erza.
From at the top of the tower, a cloaked man hummed in amusement. He turned towards a chess board filled with peices. He grabbed both the key piece and the urn piece. Using them, he knocked over a very familiar guitar piece. He chuckled to himself.
"Those two are more powerful than I originally thought. I should keep an eye on them."
...
Erza banged on the card she was trapped in while Shô carried her throughout the tower. She growled and took out a sword, trying to slash through the card. She cursed when it hadn't worked. "Shô, let me out of this card! I can take care if myself!" The man ignored her for some time, continuing to run to his heart's conent. He only stopped for a moment to take a right.
"I can protect you!" He told her as he kept running. He only stopped once more when he safe a beautiful maiden standing quite gracefully on the other end of a bridge he came up to. She had her hand on her sword while she gave Shô a rather elegant smirk. He backed up in fright as she stepped forward. She chuckled quietly at his fear.
"Give me Erza Scarlet. I won't ask twice." He hardened his gaze at her words and grabbed his cards in his pocket.
"No! I won't let you have sister!"
"Shô, listen to me! You can't beat her. Let me out and I can fight!" Erza pleaded desperately. Though Shô ignored her and threw his cards at the beautiful pink haired woman. The woman did not flinch and pulled out her sword, cutting the card in two. Shô gasped, surprised his trick didn't work. Erza was not, on the other hand.
But her sword did not only cut through the card. Shô fell to the ground suddenly. He couldn't move his body. At all. The woman put a fist to her lip to hide her smile. "This sword I wield can cut through most everything. I cut the nerves of that man. He may live, but I doubt he'll be moving for quite some time." Erza grunted as she was pulled out of the card and into the real world. She huffed and tossed Shô to the sidelines.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you."
"E-Erza..." Erza requipped into her haven's wheel armor and charged at the beauty who stood there. She had not moved so far. Erza brought her swords down on the woman and slashed past her. Standing behind the woman. Erza coughed as her armour was ripped to bits. She collapsed on her knees.
"I told you, Erza, there's nothing this sword cannot cut."
"Shut up." Erza puffed. She transformed into many types of armor, though none of them were the victor. She was running out of power, and quickly. She sighed and took out her last resort. She transformed into large spiked armor and glared at the pick haired woman. "No one has ever lived after seeing this armor" Erza told her, confidence waving in her voice. She cut through it just like all the rest. Erza sat there, stunned for a minute.
"I'll remember that when I kill you." A thought then dawned on her. She was silent for a moment as one last piece of armor crossed her mind. It wasn't even really armor though. More like two pieces of fabric. She transformed into it and turned back to the woman. She wore bandaged around her chest while she had on flamed pants. She carried two katanas in her hand while she stocked towards the pink haired woman.
"You think that will defeat me? That's just regular fabric" she was a little shocked at what was brought out.
"I forgot what armor really meant to me. It meant security, something to shield my heart away from the world. But watching as each of my armor was torn to pieces by your sword, I realized something. That no matter how many chest plates I have on, nothing can shield my heart from the world. So I've decided, instead on shutting my heart away, I'll use my strength and my friend's strength to protect it. And I'll use this outfit to defeat you."
"I would like to watch you try" the woman's calm persona disappeared in an instant at Erza's speech. She and Erza went into a running stance, swords clasped securely in their hands. Erza was confident this time, truly confident she would win. They ran to each other and crossed swords. Once they passed each other, it was not Erza who fell. "H-How!?" The other woman yelled.
"Because, while your sword is impressive, you aren't fighting for anything other than money. My friends and I are determined to defeat Jellal. So with the little strength we have left, we will." Erza explained, walking right passed the woman and bending down towards Shô, who passed out during the middle of the fight. She picked him up with a smile and walked until she found a safe place. She laid him down and turned to the staircase she was at. She ran upstairs until she found him. Sitting there, unfazed.
"Good job erza, you defeated my finest," He clapped as it echoed around them. Erza glared at him while he stood up and circled around her. "Why such the sour look. We finally meet again after all these years and this is how you treat me? Typical Erza."
"What happened to you..." Erza trailed off as he laughed. "You were so full of life. You wanted to leave this tower, but then that night...you changed, you kept our friends in this horrible place and made them finish this awful tower! What was the point? The magic council is only going to blow it up anyway!" Erza yelled. She tried to keep him occupied in order for her plan to work. She had a feeling he knew what she was doing, but he kept quiet. He had something up her sleeve, she knew it.
"You're right...this tower meant so much to me and now it's all going to disappear. But if you really want to know who drove me to this point, I'll tell you," she held her breath as he turned around and gazed at the wall. "Zeref. Lord Zeref. He promises such good things, if we revive him, we'll be like royalty. Life won't be so meaningless!" Stuck in his own world, Jellal laughed and laughed. Erza took in a sharp breath. He sounded so evil. She looked passed that as tears left her eyes, she embraced him from behind and brought him down to the floor.
"Please. Just stop. Let's just die...together..." He stopped his talking and turned to her with a sad expression written on his face. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. So tight she couldn't even move. The tower crumbled as Erza heard the etherion blast charge above them. Then a large blast of light surrounded them. She shut her eyes as tight as she could until the light dissipated. Opening one eye, she realized she hadn't died. Then her eyes widened at the sound of Jellal's crazed laughter.
"That's just what I needed to charge the Tower of Heaven!" He laughed. That's when Erza noticed the tower was just a giant lacrima. The magic council was just part of the plan! Erza bit her lip when she saw siegran standing there.
"Siegran! I knew you were part of his plan. You had the magic council agree to use the etherion blast, didn't you!?"
Siegran laughed and came up closer to the redhead. Lifting her chin to look at him better. "Well, Erza dear, you see...I am Jellal and Jellal is me." Erza watched as Siegran became much like a hologram and fuse into Jellal. He was always one person?! Erza was going to move, but a snake like magic wrapped around her, enabling her movement. It squeezed her just for good measure. She squeaked from the pain, falling over.
Jellal walked over to her, picking her up and leaning her against lacrima. It began to suck her in. "What are you doing Jellal! You can stop this, please, you don't have to go through with it!"
"You see...to revive Zeref, we need a pretty strong mage to sacrifice. And well, I thought of a member of the magic council, even thought of that old fart Makarov. But that would be pretty hard to do. But Erza, you're already up there in the ranks, and it would be easy if you saw your old friends again." Her mind began to grow blank as she was sucked deeper and deeper into the lacrima. Only to be pulled out by dainty hands. It was Lucy! And Natsu, he was glaring at Jellal fiercely. His back to them.
"What are you...what are you two doing here?" Erza said weakly, but a small smile graced her lips. Lucy hummed and pulled her out fully, setting her carefully on the ground.
"To save you!" Lucy yelled, upset that Erza could even ask such a thing. She stood up and turned her back to Erza. "I know that thing on your body won't allow you to move, so let us help you. Please." Erza's eyes filled with tears as she nodded. Lucy smiled and stood next to Natsu.
"The hell you do to Erza?" Natsu growled, fists flaming. Jellal raised his brow.
"Nothing...yet" he smirked at them, causing Natsu to grow impatient. And attack Jellal head on. Jellal dodged and kicked Natsu in the stomach. Prompting Lucy to run passed the dragon slayer and use her roar at him. He hadn't even moved from his spot. Lucy scoffed and landed behind Natsu.
"Let Erza go!" Natsu screeched, charging at Jellal. This time, he actually landed a punch. This distracted Jellal, and the spell trapping Erza was lifted. The redhead sighed when she felt her body relax. Seeing as Natsu and Lucy were also focused on Jellal, she stood up and waited for her time to act. Jellal laughed suddenly, it was so loud no one could stop him. Magic swirled in front of him, growing bigger and bigger.
"I'm done playing with you children. After I kill you, I'll sacrifice Erza and revive Zeref! Yes, I see it all coming together!" Lucy and Natsu braced for impact, only for Erza to run in front of them and hold her arms up as if she was protecting her children. Natsu and Lucy gasped in surprise.
"Get out of the way, Erza!" Natsu pleaded. He was weak, which is why he couldn't push her out of the way.
"You protected me so now it's my turn to do the same," Erza closed her eyes peacefully as Jellal blasted the ball of energy her way. But she felt no pain, she felt nothing. Opening an eye, she saw a body fall in front of her just in time. It was Simon! She thought he left already! "Simon why did you do that!" She sobbed, holding him to her chest.
"You deserve to live." Is all he could say, before he looked to the sky and smiled. He was truly happy in Erza's arms when he took his last breath. Erza's arms shook violently as she held the bigger man in her arms. Why would he do something like that? After working his entire life away, he died not knowing what true freedom was. She cried for his pain, and his suffering.
"You made Erza cry?" Natsu breathed slowly. He pushed Lucy back suddenly, making her fall to the ground. He grabbed a stray piece of lacrima and bit into it. Lucy furrowed her brows and went to stand, only for Natsu to look at her. "Stay here with Erza. I'll take care of him." The blonde pursed her lips, but she did as was asked. Natsu seemed to get so much stronger as he charged at Jellal at lightning speed. He went spiraling after he punched him so hard. He tried using grand chariot, but it did little to nothing to help him. Natsu suddenly stopped his attack to see some of the towers falling.
"What are you doing you idiot!" Jellal screamed, he was suddenly very serious and kicked Natsu right in the gut. Though Natsu wasn't even a bit fazed. He looked into Jellal's eyes and smirked, despite being all beat up. He punched the ground with monster strength. He managed to destroy most of the tower while dodging Jellal's angry fists. The tower was crumbling and they were slowly falling.
Lucy grabbed Erza's hand and ran towards the staircase to get away. "What about simon!" Erza sobbed. Erza saw some tears in Lucy's eyes.
"T-There's no time,"The redhead blinked blankly at Lucy's sympathetic expression. Tugging on the mage, Lucy ran away. Lucy looked back briefly at Natsu, he was unconscious and ready to fall. Jellal was nowhere in sight. Letting go of Erza, Lucy ran back to Natsu and grabbed his arm. "Natsu you need to use the last of your strength. We need to get out of here!"
Natsu opened his eyes to look at Lucy. He groaned as he went to stand, losing balance as a piece of lacrima fell into the ocean. Lucy looked between Erza and Natsu and bit her lip. She put Natsu on her back and ran back to Erza. "Are you sure you can carry him?" Erza asked, after noticing Lucy stumbled as they ran.
"I'm fine. We just need to get to the boat quickly. Everyone is waiting."
...
"Promise us Erza that you won't do something crazy like that again." Natsu heaved as laid in the ocean along with Lucy. Erza sat there too, they barely made it back with the others. All three too tired to move. Wally, Millianna, Shô, Gray, and the cats had sat on the beach. They waited for the other three to get up and walk back to the resort.
"You know I can't promise that-"
"Promise me!" Nstsu yelled, startling both girls. Tears rolled down his face profusely as he waited for her answer. Erza cried too and put a hand on his head. She nodded, wiping her tears away.
"Okay...fine then. I promise." She smiled. Lucy sighed and looked out on the beach. The others were tired she supposed. She stood up, legs like jelly, and turned to the both of them.
"We should go in and rest, huh?" Everyone, including the others in the beach, agreed to this. They all trudged their way back to the resort and went to their respective rooms. Though Erza didn't notice how Wally, Shô, and Millianna snuck out at the last minute. It was around an hour of being bandaged up, that Erza decided to get up and look out on the balcony. She took a sharp intake of breath when she noticed her old friends setting up a boat and climbing in.
She ran as fast as she could to the beach. She put her hands on her knees and looked up at the surprised face of her friends. "Where are you going?"
"I'm sorry Erzy, but we've been trapped there for years so we want to see the world and explore." She clenched her fist. She wanted to be selfish and beg them to stay and join Fairy Tail, but that would be cruel. They needed to experience the world for themselves without feeling tied down. Because that would mean they would truly be free.
"Then...three things to remember when leaving our guild; never leak any personal information that the guild has, never contact clients you met through the guild for personal gain, and always remember to live your life day by day as if its the last you'll ever see." Erza wiped the last of her tears while the rest couldn't wipe them away fast enough. From behind her, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu stood silently. They waited for their cue. Lucy the only one who shed a bit of tears.
"Now guys!" Erza yelled. Lucy, Natsu, and Gray then set off their own fireworks as a solute. Erza smiled sadly as she watched them float off and wave. Then, she turned to her other friends and her smile turned happy.
Erza really was back home.
...
"He hasn't woken up for three days now..." Lucy sighed and she sat on Natsu's bed and watched him sleep. They had to stay in the resort after Natsu fell asleep and hadn't woke up. Gray and Erza weren't all that worried, but Lucy wouldn't leave his side. Gray rolled his eyes at her expression. Crossing his arms, he set down cards he had in his hand, he and Erza were playing a game.
"Its because he was stupid enough to eat lacrima. That idiot is lucky he ain't dead." Gray scoffed. Lucy huffed, but didn't bother looking back at the ice mage. Lucy then gasped when Natsu woke up for a second, sitting up in his bed.
"Natsu!"
"You wanna go, stripper!" Was all he said before falling back down and going to sleep. Lucy's smile dropped and she crossed her arms in irritation. Gray's mouth dropped open at his words as he clenched his cards in his hands.
"That punk woke up just to pick a fight with me!?" Erza giggled at his reaction and studied Natsu as he slept away as if nothing happened. She shook her head and touched Lucy's arms. The blonde was upset now.
"Don't worry Lucy. He'll fully wake up soon. Though I am in shock. Lacrima is very dangerous and should of blew him up from the inside out. So it's much impressive that he survived his." That didn't do much to calm Lucy's nerves. Happy then flew over to Natsu and snickered. Lucy raised a brow at his mischievous expression. He put his hands to his mouth. Having even Marie look over to see what he was going to say.
"Hey Natsu, you really should wake up. Lucy's dancing in her maid outfit! It's really funny!" Lucy screamed and was about to tell the blue feline off, only for Natsu to puff up his cheeks in a amusement while he slept. Lucy blushed from head to toe.
"Stop dreaming about that!"