Sorry. It has been a little while, but here's another chapter. Enjoy.


The tower stood tall above them. The guild stood in a row looking up at it. It was intimidating. The building seemed to taunt them and dare them to enter. Fairy Tail's heads were tilted up, all in the fascination of the building.

Its height was impressive. It was several large trees tall. The whole outside was made of a shiny silver material. You could see the reflection of the forest on its glossy surface. It shined in the afternoon sun. If you were to touch it, you are met with a smooth clean surface that was warm from the sun. On the outside, the tower seemed to have several decks—or balconies rather—that were held up by pillars. Each section was exactly the same. So it was basically the same structure stacked onto itself seven or eight times. There were about six pillars around the perimeter of the towers. The pillars were large, round, and smooth. They seemed to act as not only decoration, but a made support for the balconies. At each deck, the Pillar would be cut off then continue. The decks/balconies were protected by no railing and it didn't seem like there was any way for you to get onto them by traditional means. The balconies themselves seemed to serve no purpose other than to make the exterior more flashy.

The tower was covered in designs. There was swirling features that look like plants and strange shapes and patterns etched into it. The were imprints that were a rectangular shaped that took the spot of a window put in patterned spots around the tower and the same on each section. The top of the tower was a dome shape. The whole thing stood on a base that was made from a pure marble. The base had a short flight of steps that lead to a large silver door that stood between two of the six pillars. Around the frame of the door was an unfamiliar writing in a different language. Levy probably could've translated, but in the moment, no one thought to ask.

"Wow," Lucy said dazedly. She knew better than to think it was a dream. It felt too real, to amazing to be a dream. Even considering it would make her quite sad. She refused to believe that a moment like this could be made up.

"Wow's right." Wendy agreed. The small girl wore the most amazed expression. Lucy envied her slightly. At her age, Lucy couldn't leave the house. Wendy was still so young and experiencing so much more than she had. But remembering the things Wendy had gone through, she knew she had been better of. Lucy felt guilty for the thought. She smiled at Wendy fondly.

"Shall we enter?" Laxus said. The guild nodded eagerly. It was apparent they were eager. The adventure they had waited so long for was right in front of them. So close they could almost taste it. It was like being at the starting line before a race, waiting anxiously for the starter pistol to go off.

The steps were wide enough for the guild to walk up them at the same time. They stood in a messy circle around the door. Elfman and Laxus pressed their hands against it. The rest waited in anticipation. With a nod of Laxus's head, they pushed the large door open. The door swung out revealing a large circular hall. The right side had a narrow staircase that traveled upward and spiraled. Its inclination was rather steep. Only two people would be able to walk side by side at a time even then that gave little extra space.

The room wasn't the same silver metal as the outside was, but rather it had a marble floor like the base the tower sat on. The walls were covered in a mural of many pictures of all sorts of things. They were truly exquisite and beautifully painted. Even grander than that of the delicate paintings on the walls of an old church. The colors were vibrant and combined together like a sort of sea. The collage of images depicted men and woman with white flowing dresses and large marvelous weapons. It showed creatures of many kinds and settings of flowers, stars, and could sit there looking at it for years and they'd still be more to stare at. The guild stared with wide starry eyes at the masterpiece. Surely no human could've mustered this with their hands. No, this was the creation of pure magic. It was clear not one of the guild members have seen something such as this inside a tower before. They very well might not see anything such as that again.

"For only being a Silver Tower, it sure has a nice interior," Cana spoke finally.

"Its simple in its layout, but its details are surely beautiful." Levy agreed.

"Too bad this beautiful thing will be gone once we beat all of its rooms," Erza said. This saddened them only for a moment before it brought a smile to their faces.

"It will have been worth it I say," Elfman said. The others nodded in agreement.

"It'll remain in the heart," Mira assured. Natsu was getting more anxious. He didn't care too much about the art. It was clear the others guys didn't either. They had acknowledged its beauty but didn't have any desire to stand around and gawk at it any longer.

"Can we go now," Gajeel grumbled. "I'm too fond of staring at a wall." Natsu shook his head in agreement. Leave it to Gajeel to stop a moment, but at this time, it was necessary.

"Right," Laxus nodded. "Come along then." Laxus headed for the steps. The others followed. They made their way up the narrow steps until they were lead into a dimly lit level. They all piled into the wide space. The only light was a series of lanterns the seemed to be lit by an unknown source. It reminded Lucy of the nightmare she had of the glowing orbs. Perhaps it was the magic power that brought the keys and towers to Earthland. The floor was hard and marble as before. Just like the floor below them, this one has a staircase leading up to the next level. The walls were the silver material like the outside and not nearly as interesting as the walls on the floor below.

All the members' eyes went to a fairly large door, larger than that of a front door you'd see on a house. Two lanterns on either side of the door made it the most illuminated spot in the room. The door was the same silver as the walls. Where a handle would usually sit was a small keyhole. In the center of other door was an imprint of a clock in made from silver. There was bold writing at the top of it in an unfamiliar language.

"Levy, do you know what it says?" Laxus asked.

"It spells H-O-R-O-L-O-G-I-U-M." Levy spelled. "Horologium, the pendulum clock." She gave a possible pronunciation and read the rest of the writing.

"What a strange name." Happy said. Lucy put her hand on her chin. She's heard it before. Mavis had said it but she'd heard it before then. It came to Lucy suddenly.

"Ah, it's a constellation. I hadn't realized before. It couldn't be a coincidence." Lucy said.

"Really? I wonder if the others are too." Wendy said.

"I don't remember their names, but I think that a fair possibility," Lucy said.

"I remember, but what it's called doesn't particularly matter," Laxus said. Lucy frowned.

"Right. Sorry." She apologized.

"Well, what're we waiting for, Lucy unlock it!" Natsu said impatiently.

"Slow down their Natsu," Gray said. "Its Lucy's first time. Let's take it slow." Natsu muttered something unkind under his breath but otherwise didn't argue. Lucy looked around her the others were watching her with patience eyes but hidden behind them they were eager. She hadn't expected to move so fast. She had hoped they take a moment before jumping right into a room.

"We should eat first," Laxus stated suddenly. Everyone looked at him with irritated looks. Though, Lucy was slightly realized. This seemed to please Laxus. He certainly did this on purpose.

"Eat? How can we eat at a time like this?" Happy stated.

"Oh, calm down. We want to be filled up before we go in. Plus we need to stretch. It's good to have your body warmed up. I learned this from my gramps." Laxus said. The other groaned and sat in a circle. The door seemed to taunt them as they did. The group ate small things since they needed to ration. Most everyone simply ate an apple and a piece of jerky. Lucy took a drink of her water. Laxus made everyone take their time. If he hadn't the guild would've been down in a less than a minute and would choke on their food as they scarfed it down.

"This is an interesting tower," Gray said before eating a bite of his apple.

"Is it different from the tower's you've been in before?" Erza asked. "I do wonder what others are like."

"Well, yeah," Gray said after swallowing his bite. "All towers are different. But I've never seen a mural like that before. It was pretty interesting. Most towers just have blank walls."

"You think there's a reason for it?" Levy asked.

"I don't think so," Cana said. Laxus nodded.

"It seems silly to assume whatever force made these towers appear had a purpose for the mural. It's simply just there." Laxus said.

"So the towers are generated randomly. By whatever makes them appear?" Lucy asked.

"That would be reasonable. After all, it's not the outside that matters. It's its contents." Mira said.

"What are the towers like that you guys have been in?" Happy asked. The question was directed to no one in particular.

"Well, there was one that couldn't even really be called a tower that I've been in. It wasn't very tall at all, and it was very long. It was made of stone. The doors of the rooms were gold." Gajeel said.

"We've been in one that was made of marble and copper. It was pretty neat." Elfman said.

"I wonder if gold key towers are any different," Wendy asked.

"I've never been inside one," Mira stated. The others nodded.

"Have you laxus?" Gray asked. Laxus shook his head.

"No, I haven't actually. The old guild only ever went on one gold key adventure. I wasn't old enough to go." Laxus explained.

"My father told me about some." Natsu offered up. "He said there was an all gold one that he went inside one time. Everything was gold from the floors to the ceiling, to the doors. He also said it was one of the tallest towers he had seen."

"Too bad we might never get to see one," Gajeel stated.

"You don't know that!" Lucy proclaimed. "We might!" Natsu raised an eyebrow at her suddenly passionate exclamation. Was she going to tell them about her gold keys then? Natsu also remembered the key around his neck and the key his father gave him. Of course, he'd have to tell the guild eventually that they had them if they were to find any more. Of course, he and Lucy could always find them by themselves. Natsu quickly got rid of the thought. They couldn't and wouldn't leave Fairy Tail. Though the keys are dangerous. More dangerous than anything any of them had even dreamed of. So maybe it would be better. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded to him. He had scolded Lucy for trying to leave the guild before, but he could now see where she was coming from. It doesn't matter. Just find the keys. It doesn't matter. As long as you and she reach me. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. Time is ticking, Natsu. Time is always tick-tick-ticking. Natsu shook his head and cursed mentally, replacing the words of the whispers. He didn't need to think about that now. He should stay focus on the task in front of him. Besides whenever he thought about that, the whispers liked to interject their opinions.

"Lucy's right!" Erza said. "We did say we were going to be the best didn't we?!"

"Right and to be the best we need to train. So let's get on that so we can complete our first room together." Laxus said.

"We should focus on the smaller picture. We haven't even walked inside our first room. We don't need to think about Gold Keys right now." Cana said. The rest of them laughed and nodded.

Elfman took the liberty of leading the group in some simple exercises. They stretched each muscle group, did some core exercises, simple upper and lower body workouts, and other various things. Wendy prepared some simple pain medications and ointments just in case. They all sharpened their weapons. Lucy noted that Natsu and Gray had slightly better swords that before. They were nothing as grand as Erza's or Mira's, but they were better than the dinky ones they had before. Lucy became excited to think about seeing the guild in action. They were all skilled fighters. She was excited to see what she could do as well.

The guild packed their things together again and then all stood in wait. Lucy took a deep breath. She pulled out the key that had the same clock symbol as the door. As her hand touched it, it began to glow a faint yellow. Lucy stared at this and paused for a short moment, only to bring the key toward the door once more. As the key got closer the glowing got more intense. Until finally in an almost blinding light, she put the key into the lock. It went in straight away. With a deep breath, Lucy turned it. The door seemed to disappear revealing a marvelous light like what you might see at death. The light made the guild squint, otherwise, their eyes would be wide with wonder. Lucy would've stayed frozen forever, but Mira lightly guided her forward. Lucy was the first to fully enter the light.

For a second, everything was white and she felt like she was nowhere yet everywhere at the same time. Like she was weightless and flying. The white slowly formed into colored orbs and those orbs slowly turned into shapes until Lucy was standing in a coherent place. A long wide endless hallway to be exact. Lucy marveled at the site. She didn't even notice her guildmates appearing from nothing behind her. The infinite wall was covered in clocks of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. There was an endless ticking noise that almost drove her insane upon only mere seconds. The clocks showed all different times, but they ticked and turned in sync. The clocks stopped ticking and stopped moving altogether. This startled Lucy. Her shoulders arched up at the occurrence and settle back down only moment later. There was a moment of complete silence. The guild waited for something to happen.

"Who dares enter and disrupt the movement of time!" A voice that trying to sound sinister had proclaimed. Its voice was deep and sophisticated. It had a posh accent. Rather than sounding serious like it was supposed to, it just came across as funny. The guild exchanged looks of confusion.

"Uh. Us." Natsu stated dumbly. Lucy was about to laugh. There was another pause.

"Hm, interesting." The posh voice said. "This group has unique pasts, they do. Many pasts."

"Pasts?" Lucy whispered to herself.

"Yes, pasts, Lucy Heart—" The voice began. It stopped midway through. Lucy's heart raced. The voice seemed to snicker. "I can see all of your pasts. Which ones should I choose." Once again there was a pause and complete silence. The guild was noticeably more uneasy with the thoughts of their pasts on their mind. If the voice, whatever it really was, knew their pasts, it knew their weaknesses, it knew them.

The silence was broken by not the voice this time, but by a deep full ring. The ring went on for several seconds until it stopped completely. Simultaneously, four of their guildmates collapsed onto the slick and hard floor. Gray, Erza, and Mira and Elfman were sprawled unconscious on the ground. Immediately, the other members rushed to them. Lucy, holding Erza's hand was almost on the verge of crying. Wendy checked their pulse. After a couple seconds, she let out a sigh of relief.

"There's still alive," Wendy said. This didn't make them feel any better.

"I'm afraid that doesn't mean they'll wake up anytime soon," Levy said with a dreadful look in her eyes. Lucy glanced to Natsu, who was noticeable furious.

"What the hell did you do to them?" Natsu demanded. He stood alert, ready to attack anything that might show itself to him. He hand was centimeters from his sword. Lucy could see he was itching to grab it. To do something.

"No, need to worry, Natsu Dragneel." The voice said. The clocks were at a steady tick now. A shallow quiet constant noise that tickled their ears. "Your friends are taking a trip. A trip to the past."

"Knock it off! Show yourself." Gajeel growled. The posh voice hummed mockingly.

"I need not do such a thing." The voice said. "If you're so anxious to die, then I shall have some friends to see to it, I will."

"Friends?" Cana said.

"Hickory, Dickory, dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one and down he'd run. Hickory, Dickory Dock." The voice sang. From up ahead from somewhere down the endless hallway three large shapes of brown approached them. Lucy's heart pumped faster. Suddenly, small mice came from the walls of clocks. They emerged from small holes that were previously hidden within the many clocks. They surrounded fairy Tail's feet. Lucy screeched and kicked them away from her. Behind Lucy; Levy, Wendy and Happy from a half circle around their passed out members and did their best to keep the creatures away. Now, focused on the numerous small rodents, Lucy and the others didn't notice the three figures rapidly approaching.

"There's so freaking many," Cana said kicking and swinging her weapon at the mice. Many of them lay dead on the ground.

"That's the least of our worries," Laxus said gravely. "Look ahead."

"What are those?" Wendy said. Her voice trembled at the size of the figures coming toward them. She inched closer to her defenseless unconscious friends protectively, but she didn't trust herself to protect them. She was terribly afraid. Happy seemed to stand fearless and angry, the way Natsu was. He stood tall, fist clenched, ready to face anything that would come towards him. The cat's confidence made Wendy gain a bit more herself. Surely if Happy wasn't afraid, then Wendy shouldn't either.

The figures were now discernible. They were three large gnarly looking rats. There backs arched unnaturally. Their feet naked muddied-pink feet sported long shape claws. Their long teeth jutted from their mouth. They were knife sharp. All three of the rats were a fair amount taller than Elfman. From head to tall they were longer than they were tall. The rat to the right had an ashy light brown fur that stuck up like an angry dog's. Its eyes were a sparkling amber color. If it was on any other creature might be described as pretty. The middle mouse's fur was a darker brown, almost black color. Its eyes were a deep black; noticeably darker than its fur. Its large round ears were pierced with gold rings. Lucy and the others noted this as odd. The last rat had a greyer fur with brown undertones. Its fur was longer than the others and slick. Its eyes were a lighter brown. The middle rat hisses and bared its teeth.

"Humans. Can we eat them, Horologii hissed yearnfully." The voice said. "To that, I say do what you wish." The right rat crawls forward slowly.

"It's been awhile since I've eaten, Lacaille grumbled ravenously." The voice spoke for the monsters.

"It will be a feast, my brothers, Christiaan proclaimed triumphantly." The voice spoke for the gray rat.

By this time, the guild members had their weapons raised against the creatures. Natsu stood against the middle rat called Horologii. Lucy and Cana in front of the rat called Lacaille. That left Christiaan to Gajeel. Wendy, Levy, and Happy kept the smaller numerous rats away from Mira, Elfman, Erza, and Gray.

Mira and Elfman were surrounded by flames. The place that surrounded them was familiar. They looked at each other, then down to themselves only to find they were much smaller and much younger. Mira's womanly figure was replaced with the small prepubescent body of a little girl. Elfman's muscle and manly physique were replaced with a stouter weaker young boy. The flames the burned around them and warmed their skin. They recognized the place as their old home. It was such a distant memory that they had almost forgotten it. Seeing it again made the memories flood back to them. They stood still afraid and sad. They had wanted to forget this. Why was it haunting them again all of the sudden?

A shrill scream rang out. Mira and Elfman looked around. The scream was their sister's. Elfman and Mira broke into a frantic search. They forgot about the flames around them. They only focused on Lisanna. They needed to save Lisanna.

Elfman heard her terrified desperate sobs and followed them to her hiding place. The house around them was falling apart. Elfman found her in the closet. Her knees were pulled into her chest. Tears ran down her face. She coughed several times before falling forward into her brother's arms in relief. Her sobs were reduced to only steady tears. She clung to Elfman tightly as he carried her through the burning house. Elfman, carrying his younger sister on his back, grabbed his older sisters had and dragged them out. The air outside was frigid and cold. The night was starless. The threesome slouched away from their old home that would soon be reduced to ashes. Their parents were still inside trapped in the flames.

Mira and Elfman jumped forward to a new memory. This one was fresher in their minds. Their child bodies matured into early teens. The yellow sun shone brightly above them. So bright they couldn't look directly at it. The sky was a brilliant blue and know clouds covered an inch of its beauty. The trees around them seemed greener than usual and swayed in the steady wind. The tower was barely visible ahead of them, but Lisanna spotted it immediately.

Lisanna, with a large grin, pointed ahead. Mira and Elfman looked in the direction of her finger to see what she was pointing at. It took them a second, but they too then saw it. A sliver of a building. It was made of smooth gray stone.

"There it is!" Lisanna exclaimed happily. "This is going to be a good one I can feel it."

"You say that every time," Mira argued.

"And every time is a good one isn't it," Lisanna stated a matter-of-factly. Elfman laughed.

"Oh, whatever," Mira grumbled defeated. Lisanna smiled at her small triumph and began to run towards the tower.

"Come on!" Lisanna called. Mira and Elfman took off after her.

They stopped abruptly at the tower in from of them. The base of the tower were several large smooth domed-shaped stones. From the center of them, a large stone tower with several evenly placed skinny rectangular windows was erected. Green ivy crawled across it in several spots. Lisanna was already making her way towards the door that was placed in the large stones. She waited for her sibling to approach the door as well. When Elfman and Mira were at her side she pushed the door open.

Inside the tower was made mostly of the same smooth stones that were visible outside. It was rather dark since the only light was from dimly glowing lanterns that hung from several places on the stone walls. There was a thin hall in front of them. Lisanna went forward and her sibling followed suit until the reached a flight of stairs. The stairs lead up to another hallway, this only took them through a series of turns until and the end of the hallway they found a door almost completely covered in ivy and tiny white flowers.

Lisanna pulled out a silver key. It glowed and she brought it to the door. I fit into the keyhole perfectly. The door erupted in a white light. Lisanna, Mira, and Elfman were taken somewhere else.

The air was cold and wet. It was uncomfortable to stand in and harder to breathe. The sky above them was a dark gray. Rain fell from the sky and dampened the atmosphere further. Ground the stood on was rocky and around them, large stone structures could be seen. The siblings stood together uncertain of what to do. A large roar erupted suddenly. The three huddled closer together in the moment of fear, before slipping apart, readying their weapons.

There was an another roar, louder this time. The ground began to tremble. The trio looked up, to see a large beastly demon. It was tall. Far taller than any creature they had seen before. It hands large golden horns sprouting from its large shoulder and forehead. Its legs were bird-like and sported large black claws each the size of Lisanna. It had a white mane around its head. Its eyes were glowing a fierce red. Its teeth jutted from its mouth and were stained yellow. Its hands were too large for its arms and in them, it held a large club with giant blacks spikes poking out of them.

"It kinda looks like you Elfman." Mira teased before running forward. Elfman did the same. Mira jumped up into the air, sword aimed for the beast. She jumped in too quickly. She didn't take the time to plan out her attack and as a result, she was knocked out of the sky easily by the thing's large hands. Lisanna rushed forward now. The creature was focused on Mira. It walked slow steps forward toward where Mira lay sprawled. Mira struggled to get herself up. Elfman hadn't noticed. If was focused on his own attack. He was coming up from behind the beast. He managed to jump onto it. The creature was so large, however, that Elfman had little effect on it with simply his bare hands. He crawled up the beast further, searching for a soft point for him to hit. Meanwhile, Lisanna stood in front of her sister, her hands holding onto a small sword. She wasn't afraid though. Her hands were steady. The beast's hands headed from them. Lisana swung the sword and its large fingers. She was able to make a cut, but it was merely a paper cut to the beast. However, it was enough to get the thing angry.

"Lisanna! Get out of the way!" Mira said, still trying to force herself to stand up. Lisanna didn't listen. The dumb girl never listened. The beast swung forward again and this time, Lisanna's sword did little. The beast flung Lisanna through the air until she made a hard impact with one of the stone structures and fell to the ground lifeless. Mira forced her body up desperately.

"Lisanna!" Mira cried out.

Elfman was still unaware. He managed to make it to the beast's head. He crawled onto its face and stared into its large red eyes. With only a small moment of hesitation, he shoved his fist into it. The beast roared and stumbled, swinging its head frantically. Elfman flew off of the beast and landed onto the ground on his feet. He noticed Lisanna then. She wasn't moving. She could see a puddle of blood forming around her. His eyes widen as he ran towards her. He scooped his younger sister up in his arms while scanning the scene for Mira. He spots her. Her eyes flamed with rage. She was a different person then. It was clear.

Mira rushed forward. She shoved the sword into the beast's ankles again and again. Thick dark blood leaked from them. The beast roared loudly shaking the ground around them. The beast stumbled more until finally it lost its balance and fell onto the ground. The impact nearly knocked Mira of her feet and it caused the structures around her to crumbled. Mira's fierce eyes were teary with rage and she climbed onto the beast stabbing it repeatedly without mercy until it stopped moving altogether. Mira's breaths were heavy. She ran to her brother and sister. Elfman had tears in his eyes as he held his sister in his arms. Lisanna's breath was so small. She managed to open he eyes faintly.

"I don't wanna go home, Elfman, Mira. I wanna go on adventures a little while longer. There so much I want us to see together—" Lisanna's voice faded and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Lisanna! Lisanna, don't leave us!" Elfman cried out.

"It should've been me. It wasn't your job to protect me. I was supposed to protect you. I'm the older sister…" Mira cried into her hands. "I should've protected you…" The room around them became bright and the two of them were transported back to the hallway. Along with them, there were piles of shimmering jewels. They didn't pay any mind to them though. Only one the missing Lisanna who disappeared into nothing along with the rest of the room.


Reviews:

Nalu and Inukag- Aw, thank you. :) Sorry, I didn't really update soon, but I did update.

ThatyetJade- That's fine, it was as good as the original anyway. Yep, no metal vessels and for mainly that reason. The spirits are probably gonna be really fun to write about.

the real narnia- Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I put a lot of effort into it and I'm glad it's paying off.

So originally, I was going to have everything that happens in the room in one chapter, but it was taking me a really long time to complete as life kept getting in the way, so it's going to be split up into three different chapters. Just a head's up, the next chapter might be like an OVA thing I mentioned before. But this is only if it's taking me a while to put out the next chapters to you.

I love you all! Thanks so much for the support. I have nearly nine thousand views now and makes me extremely that people are actually seeing my writing and enjoying it. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I so excited for the things t come!

As always, have a lovely day!