Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!
In the infirmary of Domus Flau, Zale was still unconscious from his sudden fever as Porlyusica examined his condition while Callista watched.
"Grandma, have you figured out what's wrong with Zale yet?" Callista asked.
"Call me that again and you'll get a shoe where you wouldn't want one." Porlyusica growled. "To answer your question, aside from the fever he is completely healthy."
"How do you explain the fever?"
"It's entirely possible that this fever is a result of chronic stress."
"Why would Zale be stressed?" Callista chuckled. "He's got a beautiful, devoted girlfriend."
"Have you noticed any unusual behavior from him lately?"
"Hmmm… When we got here, he seemed bummed about not being in the games, but he was fine when the fights were going on. I know he spoke with Juvia and Erza, though. They'd probably know more than I do."
Porlyusica sighed. "We'll just have to wait, then…"
Callista looked at Zale's pained expression and winced a bit.
*I wish we didn't have to wait, though…* Callista thought.
Zale was still trapped in his nightmarish fever dream, no one in the guild taking notice of his existence and Juvia was nowhere to be seen.
"This can't be happening!" Zale was clutching his head. "Why won't anyone pay attention to me?"
"It's what you fear most."
The sudden voice responding to him and quickly turned to it to see Juvia sitting on a nearby stool, wearing a pure white dress.
"Juvia!" Zale ran up to her and wrapped her in his arms. "Thank the gods you're here! I was about to lose my sanity!"
"… I am not Juvia." She said. "I am just a spirit taking her form to guide you to recovery."
"… Wait… A spirit?" Zale was rather confused. "That's… random… And what do you mean by 'recovery'?"
"Recent events have left you conflicted about your place in the guild."
"H-how do you know that?"
"Your mind tells it all."
"Where did you even come from?"
"I can't tell you." 'Juvia' smiled innocently. "But let's just say someone who knows exactly what you're going through asked me to help you with your predicament. And I can't tell you who it is, either."
"Of course you can't…"
"You're afraid that nobody acknowledges your abilities. Does that sound right?"
Zale went silent for several heavy seconds. "… Somewhat… 'Acknowledgement' isn't really what I want…"
"… Appreciation, then?"
"… Yes. I just want to feel like I mean something to my friends in the guild."
"Perhaps they do appreciate you. You just need to ask."
"I never bothered to think about what I mean to the guild and my accomplishments. All that mattered to me was just being strong enough to make ends meet… But then I met her."
"Do you mean Juvia?"
"I defeated one of the S-Class mages of Phantom Lord, one of the most powerful guilds before they disbanded. My confidence was boosted significantly and I wanted to get stronger and fight and defeat more powerful foes. Maybe I wouldn't be questioning myself now if I never met her."
As Zale looked down at the floor, the spirit looked like she was about to say something, but quickly retracted and turned away from him with her arms crossed.
"U-uuuummm…" The spirit stammered. "That's not a good idea."
Zale looked back up at the spirit and leered at her. "You know something that you can't tell me, again?"
"Eh… heheh…" The spirit nervously chuckled and turned back to him. "I don't know if I should tell you."
"Just tell me! Please!"
The spirit hesitated to answer him. "Ehhhh… Do you know how the flow of time works?"
"What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"
"Each decision a person is confronted with creates a split in a timeline. And it just so happens that…" The spirit became nervous. "This is the only timeline in which you have a love life."
"… Of course…" Zale muttered in dejection.
"There's more than that, though."
Back in the real world, Lucy and Yukino were locked in the castle dungeon. Lucy was lying on her stomach on the bottom bunk of the beds in their cell while Yukino was sitting against the wall.
"Lucy…" A voice whispered. "Lucy?"
Lucy looked up and saw Natsu, Flynn, Wendy and Mirajane outside of the cell.
"Natsu! Flynn!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "And Mira and Wendy, too!"
"Shh!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's mouth to keep her from alerting any guards.
"Forry." Lucy's muffled voice said through Natsu's hand.
"We're here, too!" Happy said with Carla and Happy behind him.
"You guys…" Lucy smiled as Natsu let go of her face.
"How did you get in here?" Yukino inquired.
"Just get back." Natsu clutched the bars and they began to sizzle.
Once the bars were melted enough, Natsu tore them apart effortlessly and the two girls stepped out of the cell.
"Thanks so much, you guys!" Lucy hugged Natsu.
Flynn looked at them and he could feel a bit of pain in his heart.
"Flynn, you came, too?" Lucy asked.
"Don't be surprise to see me." Flynn said. "There's no way I was going to sit down while they had you."
Lucy looked at Flynn in silence for about a second and then smiled. "Thank you, Flynn."
"Here, Lucy." Mirajane walked up to Lucy and held out some folded clothes. "We brought you a change of clothes. You, too, Yukino."
"I do not need them." Yukino said.
So Lucy could change without Natsu and Flynn looking, Mirajane, Wendy and Yukino held up a tarp that she could get behind for some privacy.
"Now all that's left is to escape." Carla said.
"It'd be best if we get out without anyone noticing." Pantherlily said.
"Wait a second!" Lucy called out as she finished putting on her new top. "They took our keys away! I'm not leaving until Yukino and I have our spirits back!"
"Where would the guards put items confiscated from prisoners?" Flynn wondered. "Bah! Why can't I be as smart as Zale?!"
Suddenly, the floor beneath everyone opened up and they fell down a deep, dark pit, screaming all the way. It didn't take too long for Flynn to hit the floor face first.
"I thought that hole would be dee-"
Natsu fell on top of Flynn, followed by the girls and the Exceeds. The weight crushed Flynn to the point he could feel his life being squeezed out of his body.
"Where are we?" Natsu wondered aloud.
"Welcome to the Palace of Hades!" A voice echoed throughout the cavern the wizards have now found themselves in.
"Who's that?" Happy asked.
"Thank you falling directly into our trap." The voice continued. "Just look around you. This is Hades, city of the dead."
They got up and saw a projection of a young, green-haired woman accompanied by royal guards.
"The final taste of freedom for the guilty." She continued. "However, no one has ever made it out. You have my leave to rot here as punishment!"
The projection dissipated without another word.
"Who's that?" Natsu inquired.
"The princess of the palace." Yukino answered.
"Princess?!" Mirajane exclaimed.
"She didn't seem too happy about us barging in uninvited." Flynn said.
Everyone started wondering if there was an exit.
The scenery of Zale's dreamscape had completely changed to what looked like a prison.
"Where is this?" Zale asked.
"This is the prison underneath Era." The spirit answered.
"What are we doing here?"
"Is asking questions all you can do?" The spirit joked. "In some timelines, you chose to stay on the ground when Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail. Two of your guild members were killed."
"Tell me who it was. Who killed them?"
The spirit couldn't answer with words, so she simply pointed at one of the cells. Zale looked to where she was pointing and was shocked at what he saw.
"That's… me…" Zale gasped.
In the cell was a much older Zale, wearing a straitjacket and looking down at the floor in a trance.
"My other self must have done this…" Zale said. "He doesn't care who gets hurt…"
Zale continued looking at himself, lost in deep contemplation.
"… Juvia…" Zale finally spoke up. "I wish I could take back what I said here…"
"The fact that you regret saying that is enough." The spirit assured him. "I'm sure she appreciates you."
"She's the one person I know for sure appreciates me… You know… The more I think on it, if I never met Juvia, I wouldn't have acquired God's Wrath and conquered my other self."
"There's the positive thinking you desperately needed! Now let's wake you up and set things straight with your friends!"
"Before we go, can-"
"Nope."
With a hard punch to the face, the dreamscape flashed out of existence.
Zale's eyes shot wide open and instantly recognized the ceiling of the infirmary. He tried to sit up, but he felt a pair of hands keep him down and saw Callista was the one doing so.
"Whoa, there!" Callista said.
"Callista? Why am I in the infirmary?" Zale asked as he felt something cold and wet on his forehead. "And why is there a wet rag on my head?"
"You got a fever yesterday after you got back to the lodge." Porlyusica answered.
"I've been out THAT long?" Zale questioned. "Where is everyone?"
"They're watching the finals." Callista replied. "Natsu, Flynn and the others already left to save Lucy."
"Take me to them." Zale requested. "I need to ask them something."
"Not in your condition you're not." Porlyusica advised. "You can't just go walking around with a fever."
"I'm sure I'm fine-" Zale took off the towel and felt his forehead to find that it was still rather warm. "Yeah, you're right. I'll stay put."
"What is it you want to ask them?" Callista inquired. "I can go in your stead for you if you want."
"Thanks, Callista, but this something they should hear from me." Zale declined. "It'll just have to wait until I recover. By the way, how well is Juvia doing?"
"I don't know." Callista shook her head. "I've been here keeping watch over you this whole time."
Zale sighed. "I hope she's not up against any of those Sabertooth guys…"
"I'll go check on things so you don't have to worry so much." Callista said as she got up and left the room.
Floating outside the window and unable to be seen was a transparent young woman with short dark green hair and wearing the same white dress as the spirit in Zale's dream.
"Well, looks like I've done all I can here." She said to herself, her voice unable to be heard by anyone else. "Guess I should report back now."
She floated off in the direction of Mercurius.
Underneath the castle, a group was ready to mobilize for duty.
"It's nearly 15:00." One of them said as he grabbed a pair of small sickles. "The time for the hunt is nigh."
"Geh-heh…" A large man chuckled.
"This is your first gig, rookie." A woman said. "Don't disappoint us now."
"Come to think of it, you never gave us your name." Another woman said.
"Tai-tai!" A strange man spoke up.
"You're right, I haven't."
The person one of the women referred to as 'rookie' was the cloaked figure that had crossed paths with Zale the day before.
"You may call me… Zexal." The figure stated.
A/N: And I'm going to end it there, guys! I've kept you waiting long enough for me to stop procrastinating! I realize the name I gave our mystery man is the same as the worst Yu-Gi-Oh anime, but there's a reason I chose that name that I'll reveal later on. I'll also reveal more on the spirit in a later chapter.
I'm also curious if you found the fact that Zale only finds love in this timeline funny or depressing. Please let me know if you review.
In better news, I finally got a Nintendo Switch! Now I won't have to worry about it constantly being sold out when Mario Odyssey releases! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!