A/N: Hey guys, sorry for any delays. Was trying to work on the next chapter for my other story which hadn't been updated in a while. That said, I hope you all like how things go in this chapter as we finally start the Tower of Heaven arc.

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pokeheroaadyn: Good to know. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about my work.

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Zoofan: I have approximately 8 more chapters planned out after this one, so don't worry about me not writing this story. Hope you like this latest update!

Akane Resort was the most popular tourist spot in the kingdom of Fiore. The large resort area consisted of a giant amusement park, a 5-star hotel, and a huge white sandy beach adjacent to the sea. The hotel itself also held a casino in the basement so visitors could enjoy themselves more fully.

The Fairy Tail mages had arrived a couple of days ago, and so far each of them were having a blast! Currently, Gray and Erza were passing a beach ball between each other while Happy danced around on the hot sand. Out in the water, a large fish was harnessed to a watercraft, Lucy holding the reins as she hollered in joy. Natsu however was on the back of the board, holding onto it with an iron grip and looking like he was about to hurl any second.

"I-I want off…" Natsu managed to say through a very queasy expression.

Lucy looked back at him with a smile. "But you're the one who wanted to ride it!"

"WhooooHOOOOO!" A loud holler got her attention then, and she looked to the side to see Sora on his Board riding up next to them. Unlike the others, his swimwear was apparently a dark wetsuit, stating that it would be easier to enjoy the beach if people weren't constantly looking at the 'hunk of shiny rock in his chest'. He then pulled up to their side with a wide grin. "Yo! How fast can that thing go?! Bet I'm faster!"

Lucy blinked once, before returning his grin. "We'll see about that! Hya!" She then used the reins to urge the fish pulling her forward to go even faster, Sora cheering loudly as he made his board propel faster as well, both not noticing how bad Natsu was getting from that.

After they eventually returned to shore, they all engaged in a series of activities. They played volleyball, they ran along the beach (or fly in Happy's case), and they even buried Gray and Sora and molded the sand around them to give them "beach babe" bodies. Sora laughed it off while Gray began to look flustered, not having agreed to that part earlier. Once they were let out of the sand, Sora used his board to pull everyone on a water raft to relax in the water (and Sora having provided a few Citrine bands to help Natsu power through his motion sickness to actually enjoy it). And when they got back to shore Natsu managed to steal Gray's trunks from him, the Ice mage being forced to use Happy to hide himself much to the cat's terror and Sora's amusement.

After spending the day at the beach of the Akane Resort, Sora was now in his room getting dressed to have some fun in the Casino. "Alright! Time to make back the money I spent helping renovate the guild!" He was now wearing a nice black dress suit, with matching shoes and crystal cuff-links he made himself.

Walking out of the room he had, he saw Lucy walking by in a red dress. When she saw him, she looked at him grumpily. "Oh, Sora."

Sora laughed a bit at the look on her face. "Hey now, you aren't still upset about me winning that race are you?"

"You used your magic while I was just getting pulled around by a giant fish!"

"Haha! Hey, in my defense that fish was pretty big and I was too impatient to get one of my own. And besides, you agreed to the race."

Lucy grumbled in annoyance at how he was right, before she walked a little further down the hall. "Anyway, I was just checking to make sure you and Erza were ready. Everyone else already went down to the game floor. We're gonna play lots and lots of games!"

Sora nodded with a grin. "Then what are you waiting for?! Go get her! I'll see you both down there." Sora then walked out while Lucy went the other way to where Erza's room was.

Keeping true to what he told himself, he spent a bit of time in the high stakes area and managed to leave it with more money than he went in with, surprising himself with his own luck. He had told himself that he wouldn't use his eye to keep things fair (and to not risk anyone looking for that sort of thing) and still managed to somehow make back some of the money he spent helping restore the guild. Sora then spent a good while simply enjoying himself down in the casino's more casual areas, and after playing casually in a few games he came across something with a prize that both shocked and excited him. That said, it was apparently one of the tougher games in the casino, so despite the dozen times he tried, he still couldn't get the grand prize. Afterwards, he decided to leave and return later, seeing as they still had several days left.

"Man, that's a tricky game. Now to see how the rest are doing…" Looking around, he saw a familiar pair of red and blonde hair and made his way over to the card table and the crowd forming around it.

"A straight! Way to go Erza!" Lucy cried out in amazement as Erza won yet another round.

Erza put on a confident look with a hand on her chin. "Hm. Today seems to be my lucky day."

"Not just yours." The girls looked back at Sora as he walked up next to them. "Aside from one troublesome game here, which I almost think is rigged, I seem to be doing pretty well myself! Hey Lucy, mind letting me take a seat?" Doing so, Sora looked at the new dealer that had taken over. "Mind dealing me in pal? I think someone needs to stop her winning streak."

Erza smirked at him. "Good luck with that. I feel like my winning streak is invincible right now."

"Yeah!" Lucy cheered for her. "Take him down Erza!"

Sora smirked back. "Keep that up while you can. Fortune tends to shine on me from time to time."

The new dealer began shuffling the cards like a pro. "In that case… How about we play a special game then?" As he spoke, he threw down 5 cards that landed in a row in front of the Fairy mages.

Giving the dealer a look of confusion, the three then looked at the cards in front of them, eyes widening in shock at the word that had formed in front of them.

D. E. A. T. H.

"Let's play a game where you're very life is on the line…" The three of them then got a good look at the dealer, olive-colored skin with shaggy blond hair with a small tattoo on the side of his chin. "Erza nee-san…"

"You're…" Erza looked at him in shock and recognition. "Sho… Is that you Sho?!"

"Been a long time, Nee-san."

Erza just stared at him, frozen in fear as Sora and Lucy looked at Erza in concern. "Nee-san?"

"You're… Safe?" She muttered, making Sora narrow his eyes at the now named Sho, who was beginning to look at her sadistically.

"Safe?"

"Oh… I mean…"

Erza was shaking at this point, barely able to say a word as the impossible looked her in the eye, increasing Lucy's worry. "Erza?"

Right at that moment, all the light disappeared, leaving all three in darkness. As they stood up, trying to see what had happened, they then heard a loud and recognizable sound!

"Was that a gunshot?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Don't ask me! I can't see anything, even with my eye!"

Then, just as quickly as the lights went out, they came back on, the three of them covering their eyes as they took a moment to adjust to the change in lighting. Erza immediately looked over to where her old friend was, but saw nothing. "Sho!"

"Huh?" Lucy looked around the table in confusion. "Where did he go?!"

"Forget him…" Sora looked at the entire table, noting a lack of something that was there before. "What happened to all the civilians?!"

"Over here, Nee-san." They all rounded to see Sho now standing behind them, scattering cards from his hand onto the ground, cries and screams coming from the cards as they saw the people from the casino trapped inside.

"W-what the…" "The people are inside the cards?!"

As Erza and Lucy looked at the cards in shock, Sora stared at Sho angrily. "So that makes him a mage then?"

Sho looked right at Erza as he held a card with yet another civilian inside as they cried out for help. "Are you curious?"

"You can use magic…"

"Correct. I can use magic now too, Nee-san."

"Just what have you…"

"Nyaaaa!"

At the feline sound, magic circles formed under Lucy and Sora, before an orange rope shot up and wrapped around them tightly, binding them with Lucy's arms above her head while Sora's were pulled to his side! The two bound mages looked at their predicament in shock as they tried to pry the bindings off.

"Lucy! Sora!" Erza looked at the both of them in worry as she then took notice of the girl now sitting on the poker table behind them. She wore a yellow jacket over a pink blouse with cat-like ears made from her brown hair, matching her feline looking face.

"Feelin' spiffy?" The girl said without a care in the world.

"Millianna?! You can use magic too?!"

"Long time no see, Er-chan!"

Sora cracked an eye open through the discomfort. "I take it you know her too, Erza?"

"Let them go! They're my friends!" Erza pleaded.

"Friends?" Millianna said childishly.

"We used to be your friends too remember, Nee-san?" Sho said, a cruel smile on his face.

Erza held her arm as she looked at him sadly. "Y-yeah…"

"Right?" His eye then gained a dark look in them. "Until you betrayed us, anyway…"

Sora's eyes widened along with Lucy's as they heard that. 'What the hell?! There's no way Erza would ever betray anyone!' Sora thought with confidence, yet also slight worry. 'Just who the hell are these guys?!'

"Don't be so hard on her Sho." The three of them watched in shock as a man began to form next to Sho, appearing block by block and making Sora have a double-take as a man with a very… blocky, appearance showed up in a suit with an arm around Sho's shoulder. "A dandy man must keep his emotions in check, you know?"

"Blocky!" Lucy cried out in shock, as surprised as Sora that anyone could have such an appearance.

The block-man then looked right at Erza through the sunglasses he had on. "Been a long time. You've gone and grown to be quite the lady."

"Is that you, Wally…?"

He reached up for his hat at his name. "I don't blame you for not recognizing me. Compared to the Mad Dog Wally you once knew… I'm a much more well-rounded person now..."

Lucy looked at him in shock as she let out a sound of disbelief, while Sora deadpanned at him. "… Please tell me you mean that metaphorically…"

"So you can use magic too?" Erza said, looking at Wally.

"It's nothing to be surprised about." At the new voice, Erza froze and Sora and Lucy watched in shock as darkness gathered behind Erza before dispersing, revealing a large man with a bare chest, a sash going across it and holding some cloth over his left shoulder. Sora however was more interested in the turban on his head, the eyepatch covering his left eye, and the metal plate hiding his jaw and chin. "Anyone can use magic, once they've figured out the trick. Isn't that right, Erza?"

Erza then stepped away and turned to the latest figure. "Simon!"

Millianna decided right then to push Sora and Lucy onto the ground, leaving them helpless in their bindings as they fell over, eliciting a grunt from Sora and a cry from Lucy. Sora then turned his head as much as he could to look right at the cat-girl. "Oi, watch it! You better hope I don't get out of these!"

Lucy meanwhile turned her attention to the redhead. "Erza! Who are these guys?! What is this "Nee-chan" stuff all about?!"

Erza looked away sadly before responding. "I'm not really their sister. These are… my old friends."

"Your friends…? But I thought you were a member of Fairy Tail since you were little?"

"This was before then."

Sora looked at the 'old friends' in in anger. "No offense Erza, but your so called "friends" could use a SERIOUS attitude adjustment."

"Very true. They were never like this! Why are you here?!"

"What do you mean why?" Millianna said in the same manner as earlier.

Wally adjusted the fedora on his head. "We're here to take you back, of course."

"Let Lucy and Sora go!" Erza demanded.

"Never mind them." Sho said, completely focused on her. "Let's go home, Nee-san."

Wally then aimed a finger each at Lucy and Sora. "Better do as we say, or…" both of his arms then glowed and pixelated, turning them into a pair of blocky guns, each pointing at their heads and confirming aim with a red targeting laser getting Sora to glare as Lucy quivered in fear.

Erza turned back at her old friends. "N-No! Please!" One of the guns then flashed away, and began to materialize behind her. "Stop!" Before Sora or Lucy could warn her, the gun fired and Erza began to fall forward, and into the arms of Simon.

The captive mages on the ground watched in shock at what had happened, Lucy calling out the name of her friend. "Erza! Erza!"

The rest of the group looked either at the trapped mages or the unconscious Erza. "Target acquired." Simon stated. "Let's head back."

"You sure you did it right?" Sho asked the block man.

"It was a tranquilizer shot, ya know?" He lifted the gun that was once again attached to his arm for emphasis.

"Hold on! Where are you taking Erza?! Give her back!" Lucy said as she tried to break out of the rope. "Natsu and Gray are SO gonna kick your butts when they catch you!"

"And if they don't, I'll be sure to do so!" Sora said, as he stared at them in calm anger.

"Unfortunately for those two, it was THEIR butts who were kicked, ya know?" Wally said condescendingly.

"Huh?!" Lucy looked at them in shock, while Sora put together the pieces from looking at Wally's magic gun.

"That shot from earlier. It came from you then?"

"Indeed. We destroyed them before the fight could even begin, ya know?"

"They were nothing but talk." Simon stated as if he were talking about the weather.

"Wh-What? Then they're both…?!"

Sora snarled at them. "I bet you hit them with a few cheap shots before they even registered the threat. If you hadn't hit them when they were off guard, then there's no way you could possibly have gotten away without a few bruises or burns!"

"I'd keep quiet if I were you, nya!" Millianna then pointed at them, their bonds getting even tighter. Looking at Lucy, "5 more minutes until your body is completely bent backwards…" she then looked at Sora. "And yours is squeezed until you pop like a cherry!"

As the two let out sounds of distress and pain, Wally walked up to the cat-girl. "That reminds me Millianna. I have a present for you."

"Nya?" Wally then held his hands up, and pixels formed in his hands, revealing a sleeping Happy! "NYA! Kitty kitty!" She then took Happy and stated tossing him into the air and hugging him in happiness. "I can really have this?!"

"H-Happy!" Lucy and Sora looked at them as they gathered up.

"Millia." Simon called out to her. "Tie Erza up." The girl was too distracted from playing to pay attention, so he tried again. "Millianna. Would you please?" That snapped her out of it long enough to place some bindings on Erza's arms and feet.

As they started walking, Sho stopped and spoke. "Nee-san…" He then turned and showed that he had tears forming in his eyes. "You're finally coming home… to the Tower of Heaven! I'm sure Jellal will be ecstatic too!"

The group then walked away a bit, Lucy calling out. "Erza!" The group then stopped, and a magic circle formed above them. "Erza!" They then turned into light and were absorbed by the circle. "Erza…" She then began to frantically try and escape her bindings. "ARGH! If only I could reach my gate keys, then I could get us out of here!"

"Not likely." Lucy stopped and looked at the now eerily calm Sora. "I already tried using magic to break out while they were talking. I can't perform any magic with these bindings on. I don't think you'll be able to do any better with your gate keys."

"What?! Then what are we supposed to do?!"

Sora then grinned at her. "Well, first I do this." Sora's body then flashed, before he became a figure of crystal that abruptly shattered, much to Lucy's shock.

"SORA!"

"Yeah?"

"Huh?" Lucy then looked to the side to see Sora pulling himself up and over the table, perfectly fine. "What?! B-But how?!"

As soon as he was by her side, he fashioned a knife and began to carefully cut through the cords. "As soon as we saw that Sho guy, I was preparing my magic for whatever happened. When the light went out, I used the opportunity to combine my Crystal Fake with the invisibility of my Citrine Heart, letting me hide behind the poker table when the lights came back on. No one was the wiser as I let a puppet take my place while I observed everything through him. I'm just glad those bindings didn't dispel the clone completely, or even reveal that it was a clone. Guess these cords only prevent the use of magic, not dispel their effects."

After a few more moments, Lucy was freed. As she relaxed her strained muscles and bones, she looked at him. "Then why didn't you try and stop them from taking Erza?!"

"Lucy, it would have been 4 against 1. Not only do I not know what they can do, but from what I've seen of them so far I don't want to challenge the entire group on my own. Besides, from how they were acting, I doubt they intend to kill Erza… At least not now. We have time to regroup with the others and figure out what to do next."

"Alright." Lucy then looked at the cards gathered on the ground. "What should we do about all these people?"

Sora looked around and started gathering them up. "I'll put them on the table for now. Neither of us know anything about this kind of magic, so for now we'll just have to leave them somewhere they can be attended to later."

"Okay, let me help really quick, then we can go find Natsu and Gray." After a minute of gathering people and laying them on the poker table, promising to send someone to help them, they ran off to the main game floor.

They quickly found Gray in front of a broken down bar. "Gray…! Oh no!" Lucy ran up to him as Sora looked him over with his eye, checking to see if anything was broken, but was surprised to find something else. "Hey! Say something!"

"Uh, Lucy?" Sora tried to say, before she placed a hand on Gray to check on him.

"Ah, he's cold…" She then tried to shake him awake, before he flashed into an ice sculpture, freaking Lucy out. It certainly didn't help when the sculpture then shattered.

Lucy cried out in fear thinking she just killed Gray, frantically trying to fix him, while Sora simply looked around and found what he was looking for with something extra. "Oh? I didn't expect to see you here."

Lucy stopped freaking out for a moment and looked where Sora was, seeing water form together and rising. "You may rest easy." A familiar voice spoke up, as the water eventually took shape, revealing a certain water mage.

Lucy stood up and reached for her keys. "You're that girl from the Element 4!"

Sora then held a hand in front of her, surprising her. "Relax Lucy. Look more closely."

"Huh?" Lucy then looked back at Juvia, seeing Gray revealed from underneath her.

"Thanks Sora. Wouldn't be good to start a fight right now, especially since she isn't our enemy anymore."

"That's right. Gray-sama was being protected inside Juvia." The water mage said.

"I-Inside…?" Lucy looked nervous from the way it was said.

Juvia seemed to interpret that differently than she was supposed to, as she then got up in Lucy's face with something of a victorious look. "He was inside Juvia, not you."

Lucy sweat-dropped at how things were going. "Y-Yeah… That's true…"

Meanwhile, Sora was making sure Gray was good. "Hey man, what happened?"

"After everything went dark," Gray was already getting out of the suit he was wearing, currently taking off the tie. "I took a page out of your book and made a double so I could check out what was going on, but then…"

"Juvia protected Gray-sama by using the Water Lock spell to keep the enemy from finding out." Juvia interjected.

"I didn't need your help." He said, now taking the shirt off. "He got away because of you!" Juvia was struck by shock at those words, as Gray then turned to Lucy and Sora. "Hey guys, where are Natsu and the others?"

Lucy and Sora shared a look. "We're not too sure about where Natsu is…" Lucy began.

"But that group made off with Erza and Happy, the former because they were apparently old friends and the latter because one of them seems to love cats." Sora finished.

Gray was about to respond, when a torrent of flames shot up from a small distance away, accompanied by a war cry.

"… Ah, there's Natsu." Soar said with a smirk before the four of them rushed to the source of the flames.

When they got to him, he was coughing something fierce as smoke trailed out of his mouth. "Gagh! Wh-What a jerk!" When the others called his name, he looked over at them.

"What happened?" Gray asked as they came to a stop at him.

"Who shoots people in the mouth?!" Natsu cried out. "That hurts! It could really injure someone!"

The others deadpanned at that, and Sora turned to the other Fairies as he pointed at Natsu. "Are you guys CERTAIN that he is actually HUMAN. Because that would leave any other human down for the count…"

"That blocky bastard!" Natsu cried out. "You're not getting away from me!" Natsu then ran out of the building as he roared.

"Let's follow him!" Gray said.

"But how? He doesn't know where he's going…"

"Lucy, surely you remember." Lucy looked at Sora's amused expression. "How did he find me when I was invisible?"

"That's right. Wild beasts have nothing on his sense of smell!" Gray affirmed, before they all followed the team's bloodhound. But before they left, Sora stopped and took a quick glance at something, and after a brief moment of thought went up to it.

After some time, they had found a boat and were out over the water, Natsu trying not to hurl while wearing a collar Sora made from Citrine that should help stave off the worst of his motion-sickness, at least for a while. While Natsu told Lucy and Gray where to steer, Juvia sat at the front of the boat while Sora sat in the back, now out of the suit and instead wearing swim trunks and a shirt, sweating slightly and working to make sure the collar didn't ease up and that the propulsion lacrimas were working at maximum efficiently.

"Hey, do you guys think the people trapped in the cards are alright?" Lucy asked after a while. At this point in time, the sun was high in the sky.

"We did let the military know before we left, so they're probably fine by now." Gray assured.

"I hope so."

"Not much we can do about it now anyway." Sora said, looking back in the direction they had come from. "We're way too far from the resort to go back now, and even if we did, we don't have the knowledge needed to help them."

"I suppose so…" Lucy then took a look at Sora. "Hey, when do you plan on telling us why you took so long to get to the docks? You were a little pale when you did make it too."

"Later. We have other things to focus on right now." Sora kept his gaze on the collar around Natsu's neck as his crystal eye gave a slight glow.

"Where are we anyway?!" Gray said impatiently as he looked around, seeing nothing but the water and the gulls.

"Have Juvia and her companions become lost?" She asked herself in worry.

Lucy turned to the resident Dragon Slayer. "Are you sure this is the right way, Natsu?"

He looked at her, his forehead dotted with sweat and a pale look to his skin. "Yeah. My stomach may be trying to kill me right now, but Sora's crystals are helping me keep my head. We're definitely headed the right way."

"But damn…" Gray looked back over the water. "I can't believe we let them knock us out and snatch Erza and Happy… Talk about pathetic!"

"Yeah, for once I agree with you." Natsu said, holding himself together as best he could.

"It's hard to believe someone of Erza's level was defeated…" Juvia said worriedly.

"She wasn't." Sora said firmly, getting Juvia to look at him. "She wasn't defeated. She never even tried to fight against them, and they used a tranquilizer on her the first chance they got by using me and Lucy as hostages. If she didn't know them personally, and if we weren't stuck in the position we were in, they would have had a much harder time trying to take her."

"Exactly." Gray said in response, having been irked by her words. "So don't act like you know anything about Erza!"

Juvia looked down regretfully. "I-I'm sorry…!"

"Gray! Calm down!" Lucy reprimanded. Gray looked away and clicked his tongue. Lucy then turned her gaze to the magic engine she was powering. "Like Sora said, they called themselves old friends of Erza, and she even confirmed it. We really don't know much about Erza ourselves…"

Each of the Fairies thought about that for a few moments, before Natsu perked up and stood up straight. "What the…?! What is this ominous feeling?!" Everyone else took a moment to try and feel what he was talking about, before they saw some of the birds in the air near them begin to plummet for no reason!

Lucy covered her mouth in horror at the sight. "The birds!"

"What in the world…?" Gray watched, unable to look away as he tried to make sense of it. They then hit something and they looked back at the water, Lucy letting out a yelp at the debris and dead fish in the area. "The fish too?!"

"Something's wrong here." Juvia said, feeling how wrong the water was from her magic.

Sora focused his eye to try and see anything that might help them figure this out. "… I think I see traces of dark magic here. Not enough to be able to affect humans, but it permeates in the area enough that the miasma is killing the wildlife in the vicinity."

As everyone digested that bit of information, Gray then noticed an emblem on some of the wreckage. "This debris… It's a Fiore Military ship!"

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Lucy said in worry.

"Good." Sora said, a serious look on his face as he took over both propulsion Lacrimas and sped up their progress. "It probably means we're headed in the right direction. Bad feelings are typically accompanied by bad guys."

Natsu then looked at the way they were going, and got the attention of the others. "Oi. Over there…"

They then looked where he was and saw a towering structure that looked like something that came from hell itself, pitch black with a spherical portion that was up at the level of the clouds.

"Th-That's… the Tower of Heaven?!" Lucy said nervously.

"Doesn't look very heavenly…" Sora commented, as Juvia raised her arm above the boat, a magic circle forming above her hand.

"Water Dome!" At her words, water gathered from the sea and covered them, effectively hiding the boat. "We can make landfall using this as camouflage."

"W-Wow!" Lucy looked about the dome in awe as the others did the same.

"Nice work Juvia!" Sora said. "I am very glad to have you on our side right now, or we would probably wind up like that military ship back there."

Natsu took a seat again, reaching a hand to touch the crystal on his neck. "Urgh, if it weren't for this band, I'd probably be on the ground by now."

"Don't think about that. Instead, think about being ready to track the scents of Erza and Happy to wherever these bastards are keeping them." Sora said, focusing his attention solely on the propulsion lacrima.

After some time, they made it to a wooden dock and began to quietly make their way further inland and to the tower. Sora was now using his eye to scout out the sentries and looking for points of entry. "… Man, they really have this place well-guarded. There aren't any weaknesses at all in their security. Even if I were on my own I would still have a hard time getting in there." He then looked at the others. "And this is coming from someone who has years of experience in breaking into places quietly and somewhat easily."

"Can't we just charge them?!" Natsu asked impatiently.

"No!" Lucy reprimanded. "They have Erza and Happy! We'll only put them in danger if we're not careful!"

"Not only that, but I see some interesting countermeasures around the tower." Sora said, sweeping his gaze around what he could see with his eye. "If we get their attention before we manage to get into the tower, we won't be getting in at all."

"Man, the odds are really against us today…" Gray said in annoyance.

Juvia's head then popped up from the water next to them. "Juvia has found an underwater entrance to the basement."

"Seriously?! Way to go!" Gray congratulated her.

That once again got Juvia in front of Lucy. "Juvia was praised! Not you!"

"Yes, yes…" Lucy tried not to look at her from the look on her face, Lucy's own face having a nervous look on it.

All of a sudden, Juvia felt a sharp impact on her forehead, causing her to yelp and backup, hands on her forehead as she looked at where it came from. Sora then lowered the hand he used to flick her forehead and looked at her seriously. "Juvia, we need you to focus. Friends of ours' are in danger, so please try to stay focused on getting us inside and helping us rescue them. Got it?"

Juvia blinked owlishly, before sheepishly nodding her head. She then cleared her throat before addressing them. "The entrance is about a 10-minute swim underwater…"

"Oh, piece of cake." "Yeah." Natsu and Gray were unfazed by the time it would take, thinking they could hold their breath that long.

Lucy however, quickly reminded them of the truth. "That's clearly impossible!"

Sora looked at Juvia questioningly. "I know you would be fine and I can breathe water for a small period, but what about them?"

"In that case, put these on." Juvia then raised one of her hands, and a bubble of water appeared above it. "There is oxygen inside, so you can breathe underwater with them."

"Oh!" Gray and the rest looked impressed, Natsu even more so.

"Man, you're awesome! Who are you anyway?" Juvia paled a little with a look of shock at how Natsu didn't know who she was.

Sora just placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just forget about it. She's a friend right now, and that's all that matters." Sora then looked over at her. "I'll be using one of those bubbles as well please. My thing for going underwater isn't really something I can do normally and this would help save my energy."

Juvia nodded, and minutes later they were all under the surface of the water, following Juvia to the entrance. After they made it in, they soon emerged from the water inside a large cavern, stone walkways spanning across and around the chamber.

Natsu had already removed his bubble and the others were doing the same. Looking around, Natsu searched for any threats. "So, now we're underneath that tower? Where are Erza and Happy?"

"I'm looking, I'm looking." Sora was already looking up, searching through every chamber his eye could show him. "There seems to be some obstructions so I can't get a complete layout, especially if I'm trying to avoid a headache. That said, I can now guarantee we are inside the tower at least. That takes care of the hard part."

Lucy held her bubble above her hand. "These sure are handy! Thought kinda silly looking."

Juvia turned her gaze right at Lucy, a gleam in her eyes. "I'm impressed you made it here. I made yours smaller than the rest."

Lucy's bubble then popped as her entire body seemed deadpan. "Oi now…"

"Ladies, play nice." Sora said as he kept searching. "This isn't really the time for-."

ROOOOOOAAAAR!

"… arguing… Son of a…"

The group then looked over at the source of the roar to see one of the soldiers in the air flying atop some sort of pink-skinned creature with a long neck, sharp teeth, and wings. "Intruders!"

"Oh no!" Lucy looked in shock at the soldier, and what flowed into the in the chamber with them. A large mass of soldiers soon filed into the chamber at the call of the airborne soldier. Each carried a weapon of some sort, most being spears. Several more soldiers flew in on similar pink creatures, while some of those on the ground led land-based versions of those very creatures on the walkways with them.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Guess our only option now is to fight!" Gray said, looking at the small army in determination, Juvia quickly agreeing with him.

Sora cracked his knuckles before donning his usual greaves and gauntlets. "Juvia, thank you for getting us in the tower before they realized it. Now, we can just deal with these grunts easily." A large smirk then stretched across his face. "And that typically means a massive ass-kicking."

Natsu stared right at the guard that addressed them, his magic flaring around him. "Who the hell are we, you ask?! You don't know a superior opponent when you see one?!" Natsu quickly sent a burning -fist to the ground, causing an explosion that obscured the mages.

"What?!"

"We're Fairy Tail, you idiot!" At Natsu's declaration, the five mages leapt out of the smoke and descended on the army, Natsu unleashing his roar on the soldier and striking down a sizable number of enemies.

"Ouch!" "Ow!" "Hot!"

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray sent a flurry of icy projectiles at another batch of soldiers, sending them everywhere and recoiling from the impacts and cold.

Lucy landed on one of the walkways, the soldiers on said path stopping with hearts in their eyes as they got an eyeful of the celestial mage. "Swimsuit!" "Thank you!"

Lucy then pulled out one of her keys. "Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

The Maid spirit appeared from the dust cloud that formed from her entry. "You called, Princess?"

"A maid!" "Get out of here, swimsuit girl!"

The way everyone began fawning over Virgo and telling Lucy to beat it, made her feel pissed. So, she felt no remorse when she pointed at the soldiers and gave Virgo a very simple command. "Punish them."

"As you wish." Virgo's eyes seemed to glow red, before she charged through the soldiers in such a way that they were sent flying off the walkways, the spirit showing no mercy.

Sora watched the display with a small sweat drop as he recalled the first time he met the spirit. "I suddenly understand what she meant back then about 'no mercy'." Sora then returned his attention to the whimpering grunt he was currently holding by the head with a single hand, a good number of other grunts unconscious around him. "Guess I shouldn't be slacking off either!" He then pulled the grunt back, let his gauntlet surge with purple light, then threw him at another group of soldiers on the end of the walkway, the gauntlet going with them. When the grunt hit the group, the gauntlet burst with Sora cheering at the blast that scattered the whole group. "Strike!"

Down on the lowest level, more soldiers were struggling to take down Juvia, only for their weapons to go right through her water body.

"Damn! She's…!"

"Watch out! Blades don't work on her!"

"How about this then?!"

"Blast her!"

A group of soldiers then lined up and started firing magic guns at Juvia, the shots passing through harmlessly. The soldiers stepped back in fear of how she pretty much ignored the attacks. "What's with this girl?!"

"Drip, drip…" Juvia said, pulling her arm back. "Water Slicer!" Her attack struck the group from the side, sending them flying with ease.

The rampage of the five mages and spirit continued unimpeded by every effort the soldiers attempted, quickly bringing the fight to an end. Once the last of the soldiers had been taken out, the group reconvened. "That takes care of most of them." Juvia said.

"Seems like." Gray said, looking over all the people they took out.

"I hope this won't cause us more trouble." Lucy then covered her face in defeat. "Oh, who am I kidding."

"Do I need to be punished?" Virgo said asked a little too eagerly.

Natsu had the last of the conscious soldiers by the collar. "Where's Blocky?!"

Sora meanwhile was looking around the room trying to figure out where they should go now, when he noticed the stone head in one of the walls was opening its mouth. "Hey guys, we got something."

A mere moment later, a bridge of sorts extended out from it like a tongue, extending all the way to the level they were on. "Huh?" Natsu looked at the path in confusion, while Sora was already tracing its path with his eye.

"Is this a way of saying "Come on up"?" Gray asked no one in particular.

"It definitely leads somewhere, but I don't see any opposition on the way up. It seems to be our best way through." Sora said after a moment.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Natsu shouted before running up the path with the rest hot on his heels.

A/N: And that's a wrap for now. I did rewrite parts of this multiple times before I was satisfied so I hope this lives up to the expectations people seem to be having for this. Please feel free to let me know what you think whether its good or bad, leave a review and a follow or fav if you haven't yet. Every little bit helps me get these out sooner.

See you all later.