The Sanctum

The large stone chamber was alight with a huge bonfire, the flames reaching up to high stone ceiling. Inside the chamber were many figures dressed in white, black, and grey robes. Their bodies cast strange shadows, some not even human shadows. There was an exit to the chamber behind an old woman wearing a white robe, her ancient eyes staring into the flames. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that all the figures in the room were female, besides a single male boy dressed in black robes and a black crown resting on his head. His eyes were different colors, one red and the other blue, a cocky grin on the blonde boy's face.

All eyes seemed to be fixed on the large bonfire in the middle of the stone chamber, the fire's crackling extremely loud. Within the fire, several scenes were happening. One showed Paco and Darius, both asleep. Another showed the underground facility in Merhaba, Bauer watching Malice playing with science equipment. The last scene was one that showed the group of Fairy Tail mages heading towards Merhaba. One of the women in white robes twisted her face in disgust.

"Why do we allow that facility to exist? Shouldn't we destroy it completely?" A blonde woman asked as the old woman looked at her, her shrunken face neutral.

"The facility cannot be destroyed. It is a reminder to us. We created the facility in a moment of weakness. We were desperate to find a way to replace the goddesses that were killed by Wales. We overestimated what humans could achieve in such a short time, and we eventually had to release a horrible creature into the world to shut the facility down. However, it must always stand, untouched by godly hands. It is like the Court of Nine…a reminder that even a goddess can be weak." said the old woman wisely as all the women in white bowed their heads at their leader.

One woman, dressed in gray with shoulder length red hair, looked at the fire and laughed to herself, looking over at the boy with the black crown.

"I am surprised that you are not stepping in. It seems like something you would be interested in, Evil." laughed the woman as the boy glared at her.

"Do not mock me, Death. I have no interest in the court. Do with them as you wish." said Evil calmly as the old woman nodded her head.

"Very well, we shall leave it to Fate to decide what becomes of this situation. If Fairy Tail is successful, humanity has proved its worth and will be allowed to continue on. If they fail, humanity must restart from its primitive beginnings. However, even Fate cannot choose for certain. By creating the court, and allowing them to live forever, we have lost control of them. Fairy Tail holds the fate of the world in their hands. All we can do is watch, for the first time in our life, truly helpless." said the old woman sadly as she watched the group of Fairy Tail mages reach the gates of Merhaba.

All the goddesses bowed besides Evil, and the fire was extinguished, the chamber flooded with darkness.

?

The town was burning. Ashes fell from the sky. Screams rang out throughout the city. Malice felt her heart hammer inside her throat as she ran, her footsteps echoing through the city as if she was in a cave. All around her, houses were burning, stone structures crumbling. She turned a street corner and froze in fear as she saw two figures. In the orange flames, their clothes were difficult to see, but Malice knew who they were.

One was wearing the white robes of a monk, and the other was wearing a three cornered hat. Noland had his hand planted on the man dressed in white's forehead, the man trying to free himself from Noland's grip.

"You are doing the wrong thing, Noland!" the monk shouted as Noland smiled sadly.

"I was appointed by Death to do this. I'm sorry." replied Noland as the monk suddenly stopped moving and Noland let go of his forehead, the body falling to the ground and not getting back up.

Malice saw Noland turn to look at her, and Malice quickly ducked into a burning house, praying that she had not been seen. She curled up into a ball, tears spilling from her eyes, fear building in her mind.

"I don't want to be devoured…please…no…"

…

Despite the commotion outside, the inside of the court chamber was quiet. A single person sat in the middle seat of the court, watching as a single person entered, the man's scarlet eyes giving him away. Hudson looked up at the single man sitting in the throne carved from stone and smiled.

"I know what you're thinking. I know you're a mute, but I know everything you're thinking!" Hudson shouted, losing control as soon as he saw the person sitting in the throne, looking down at him.

The man was dressed in a simple black cloak, his dark brown eyes watching Hudson as he paced around the court room. Hudson stabbed an accusing finger at the man.

"Luscious is gone, I devoured him, Father Ryuusaga has been devoured, and Mason Flarina is just a second away from-no, he's gone now. You're the only one, Jasif. You're the only one. You're going to be the last to be devoured. Last to be created, last to be devoured. You can finally rest!" Hudson screamed as he sprang up to grab Jasif's forehead with his right hand, his scarlet eyes brimming with triumph.

'I pity you, Hudson.'

Hudson took his hand away, Jasif's body falling back in the throne, completely limp. Hudson looked startled by the voice that he had just heard, but Hudson jumped down from where the other thrones were. He shook his doubts away and smiled as he left the court room behind.

"I have no reason to be afraid anymore. I devoured those who were a threat to me. You can blame Luscious, Hudson. I feared his power, and now I don't have to live in fear…"

The cackle echoed through the caves, mixing with the crackling of fire, and the screams of the innocent.

…

Malice woke up with a start, cold sweat going down her forehead. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked where she had woken up at. It was in a hallway, the concrete hallway perfectly rectangular, painted white with a yellow stripe down the middle. She looked to her left to see Bauer leaning against a door, watching Malice. The young girl smiled at the sight of her guardian and she stood up, Bauer grunting.

"Let's go. Hudson will want us to participate in his little game."

Outside Merhaba

The iron gate was rusty, most of the bars missing. In the distance, lay the ghost town of Merhaba. It wasn't as infamous as Delray, but it was certainly spooky. Justin noticed that the town looked fairly new, like it had just been abandoned yesterday. The buildings were in condition, but the insides were another story. Erza pushed the gates open, and the gates were halfway open when they suddenly detached from the hinges and slammed onto the ground, Athena and the others jumping at the sound.

They stepped through the gate and looked around the city, taking note of the ghost town's emptiness. There wasn't much to see besides old buildings, and a path led directly to the concrete cube that indicated the entrance to the facility. Karis shivered as they approached the concrete building, looking at up at its rough stony walls.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." said the long haired Tsubasa as he brother grinned as he pointed towards what appeared to be the entrance.

"Oh, come on, sis. It won't be bad at all!" laughed Garret as the group of Fairy Tail mages moved towards the entrance.

Erza was at the head of the group, so she pushed the steel doors open, a blast of cool air hitting the group as they peered into the dark room. Everyone stepped in, quiet as a mouse. It was probably the first time Natsu and Gray had ever been together and managed to stay quiet. Justin observed the room, trying to see through the darkness. The inside looked like a waiting room, but it was ransacked with overturned chairs, a half burnt reception desk, newspapers and magazines littering the ground, and a rusty elevator door next to the reception desk.

"Wow, what happened here?" Kory asked as they walked throughout the room, looking at all the damage.

"Probably caused by panicked people as they left the facility." answered Gray as Lucy and Natsu walked over to the elevator door.

Natsu didn't expect the elevator to work, but he pressed the button. The elevator rumbled for a second, and the rusted doors opened, revealing an equally rusted elevator car. Lucy turned to the others and called them over, the group getting into the elevator. It creaked as the group entered, but it held as Wendy pressed the only button in the elevator, down.

…

The elevator screeched as it descended into the underground facility, the car shaking as it went down. The ride was short, and the group exited the elevator and was surprised to see that the lights in the facility were still operational. They stepped into a large chamber with five pathways in front of them. The lights were still on in the pathways, and the chamber was empty besides work posters and a board that showed a ripped diagram of the facility. Mitsu took a look at the passages and scoffed.

"Five passages and eleven people, huh? We'll have to split up from here on out." said Mitsu as he turned to look at the others in the group.

Everyone nodded as Erza stepped forward to look at the group. Titania had taken the role of the leader, and she divided the group of eleven into five groups. Mitsu and Gray would go into the leftmost tunnel, Wendy and Kory would go into the next tunnel, Natsu and Garret would go through the middle tunnel, Karis and Lucy would go through the next tunnel, and Erza, Justin, and Athena would go through the rightmost tunnel. Every group had a Fairy Tail escort, and each group walked into their respective tunnels. It was time to face the court.

*Justin's POV*

I thought the tunnel was the scariest thing in my life. It was well lit, but the lights would flicker on an off occasionally, and it was generally scary. Athena was showing signs of getting scared as well, but Erza didn't seem fazed by it at all. I patted the pocket where I had put the lacrima and told myself that I would be fine. We had been walking for a little more than twenty minutes when I heard something from above.

Clang bump ssss

Athena let out a gasp when she heard that. I felt my heart race as I looked around the tunnel. What was that? Erza didn't even look back as she kept walking.

"Don't listen to the noises. It's just the building trying to trick you." assured the Titania as we kept walking.

Athena gave me a nervous smile and I tried to look strong as we continued on, our footsteps echoing through the tunnel. There were some steel doors along the tunnel, but we didn't bother to check them. I was walking when I suddenly heard the whispers, the hushed voices echoing all around me, Athena getting a scared look on her face, looking around the tunnel with paranoia.

That's when the tunnel's lights shut completely off, covering us in a blanket of darkness. That's when Athena completely lost it, screaming, the sound echoing throughout the entire tunnel. That's when I suddenly felt my knees go weak, my body falling to the ground.

*Kory POV*

The noises were terrifying. They seemed to echo through the tunnel and it sounded like someone was heaving for breath. Wendy seemed to have heard it as well, the sky dragon slayer starting to get scared. I was scared as well, trying to ignore the sounds. I suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming and a whimper escaped my lips, Wendy shivering and trying to get through it.

The sound of our footsteps echoed through the tunnel, and we passed several metal doors with faded signs next to them, and even another tunnel that connected with ours, the lights completely out. I was glad to have lights in our tunnel, and I was glad to have someone else around.

"D-Do you think we'll be ok?" I asked, trying to calm myself.

"I-I don't know. If we keep moving we'll be fine." replied Wendy and I nodded my head.

I wondered how my brother was doing. Was he scared at all? Probably not. I was thinking about how my brother would handle the situation when I saw the end of the tunnel, a door on the left side. Wendy looked at the door and saw the faded sign above it that read "Maintenance Corridor". I grabbed the handle and pulled it open, the door revealing a corridor that had a few boxes stacked on top of each other and a vent on the left side. The lights were working inside and Wendy and I stepped inside, closing the door behind us.

I looked towards the end of the corridor and I froze when I saw what was at the end of the corridor. I couldn't see what it really was because the last light was out, but it had a human like form. And one by one, the lights in the corridor started to go out.

…

This took a while to write. I'm pretty tired so I'll just end it here. I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you all later. FF