Alright guys, this will be the last update in Germany. Tomorrow morning I will get on the plane for America. I will probably keep on writing in the evening though like I said earlier I have no idea how much time I will have. I have a lot planned. So guys, enjoy this chapter! Which I know you will very much do so!
Will Erza and the others get to Kera in time before she disappears again? Or will they only find another trail?
Brainy girl: Then they need to hurry! Hurry guys!
Zwack15: A lot can happen in a year. But what exactly so that she changed so much is still a mystery. It seems the others will have to hurry if they want to get to Kera!
Natalie: Well they will have to hurry to catch up to Kera. Also the plot for this story will be revealed... soon ;) As for Sting and Kera in this chapter they aren't together since The Dragon Hunt didn't happen but it's clear that Sting still has feelings for her so there might still be a chance ;) Also everything will also be explained soon. This chapter is a major and important jump towards the plot and it will soon be explained why Kera has golden eyes instead of her green ones.
Rez: Oh, dark Kera, she sounds mean ;)
Chaos: Kera being badass and doesn't care what anyone says? Blowing up bars and kicking guys' butts! Kera is definitely badass now but she was always like that ;) Just this time a little different.
Marty: Yes she's still alive but she probably won't be in this story. I wanted to concentrate o the wizards. Also you will soon find out why Kera is how she is. Just hang on a little bit longer ;) I promise it will be worth it!
"Come on faster! Faster!" Erza shouted kicking into the animal's side. She as were the others were all riding on animals trying to catch up to Kera. Wendy was sitting behind Erza sniffing the air and pointing into the direction Kera's scent went.
Behind them Lucy was riding with Natsu while Juvia was riding with Gray. They were all trying to urge the animals to go faster as they were so close in finding the brunette. They were not going to lose her this time.
Wendy sniffed the air again and pointed slightly to the left. "There! It's getting stronger!" She shouted.
Erza quickly steered the animal to the left, riding down the road. Wendy held onto Erza's back as they rode even faster. Erza's eyes held so much determination in them that she was not going to back down now. She was so close in finding her little sister that there was nothing going to stop her.
Just one thought lingered in her mind. How the hell did Kera get so far so quick? Did she find another Exceed? Was she riding an animal as well?
"Erza! I can see a building up ahead!" Natsu shouted from behind her. The red head looked up and indeed saw a building standing up tall above the trees.
Wendy again tried to sniff the air and noticed that her scent was heading straight for that building. "Kera's scent is there. She must be there!" The young wizard told her.
Erza narrowed her eyes. "Let's just hope she's still there." She said urging the animal to move faster again. The poor animal would collapse after this.
Back at the Flaming Death's headquarters several members were lying across the ground knocked out, a lot of them dead. In the middle of the entire room Kera was standing tall holding Eldur by the collar of his shirt.
The man was now freaking out trying to get out of this crazy woman's grasp. "P-Please! I-I'll do anything! I can give you anything! Just please don't kill me! I… I can give you money! I have a lot of money!"
Kera snorted. "You think you can pay me?" With so much speed Kera smashed Eldur against a wall knocking the wind out of him. "It's pathetic to see that you resort to such drastic measures. You don't have any honor."
Eldur coughed and blood splattered out of his mouth. "H-Honor? Y-You… k-kill so many people… you… you h-have no honor."
"At least I don't kill innocent people." She sneered raising her hand ready to finish him off.
"W-WAIT!" Eldur shouted and Kera stopped right before hitting his face. "Y-You need me! Y-You're probably going to go after the others! If… if you let me live I can tell you where they are!"
It seemed that Kera was thinking it through. It wouldn't hurt to know where the others were, but on the other hand, she can find them on her own. "I'll pass." She sneered her entire arm bursting into flames.
Eldur's eyes went wide as he saw the flamed arm getting close to him. He was going to die.
Out of nowhere Kera's arm stopped and Eldur grew more confused. He looked up at the brunette and saw hesitation in her eyes. She was hesitating to kill him. The flames from her arm vanished and she stood up letting him go.
Kera turned around her back towards Eldur. The man smirked slightly seeing that the brunette was now distracted. He got back up and tried to strike at the brunette his hand thrusting forward.
The brunette turned around and quickly caught his arm. With her other hand she slammed against his chest causing several ribs to crack on impact. It was brutal and it had hurt like hell. Eldur screamed out in pain. Kera twisted his arm back, a cracking sound was heard. The brunette kicked him down while still holding his arm. Eldur could feel his arm pop out and it was excruciating pain. He hit the ground with a loud thud.
Kera smashed her boot against his chest again causing the man to scream again. The brunette sneered as she glared at him. "You think I was hesitating!? No… you have no idea how much I want you dead. You're a stain in this world, you and your stupid organization. I know you are working for Zeref and I'm here to end it."
Eldur tried to speak but it was proving to be difficult since his broken ribs were digging into his lungs. He spluttered out more blood. "I know your type of magic. Black Fire, me using my fire would do nothing to you." She raised her hand and suddenly Eldur was choking. "But a flame can't burn without air." She said simply.
The man on the ground kept on choking, gasping for air. For some reason he couldn't breathe. It's like there was no air around him. He kept on choking until his body finally gave up, slumping down, the life in his eyes vanishing.
Kera removed her boot from his chest and lowered her hand. "One down, six more to go." The funny part of this all was that this man was the weakest of them all. But she knew the others wouldn't be a bother at all.
"A remarkable job. They didn't even stand a chance."
"Can you sense were the artifact is?" Kera asked while looking at several doors in the room. It would take her forever if she didn't have Crystol's help.
"Yes, it should be in the room right from you. Go through the door, up the stairs and I believe down the hall. That's where I can sense the powerful magic coming from." Crystol explained.
Kera smirked. "Perfect."
The six wizards finally arrived at the building. Erza jumped down looking at the building in front of them. "I've never seen this place before."
"Neither have I." Natsu said as he walked up to the building.
Gray stood beside Wendy who was standing there with closed eyes. "Can you sense her?"
The young wizard nodded slightly as she opened her eyes back up again. "She's in there. I know it. Her scent is very strong in there."
Natsu concentrated and nodded his head as well. "Yea, I can smell her as well. She's definitely here."
Erza didn't need to hear anything else. She dashed towards the building ignoring everything around her. If Kera was here then this was her chance. She had to get to her here or else she'll lose her tracks and she had to start all over again.
"Hey Erza! Wait up!" Gray shouted as the others started to run after her but the red head was ignoring them. There was only one thought in her mind and that was Kera. She arrived at the door and noticed it was blasted open. Looking inside several people were on the ground, most of them probably dead.
She gritted her teeth. This was bad. Why would Kera do this?
The others arrived in the building and gasped at the sight. It looked like a massacre had happened. Natsu narrowed his eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? He noticed her scent on the right of the room. "She's close. To the right."
Erza ran through the door on the right, heading down the path. There was a set of stairs and she quickly ran upstairs. For some reason she knew where to go. Like there was this force pulling her towards her. Whatever it was she was definitely following it to get to Kera.
The force pulled her to the door at the end of the room. It was slightly ajar and that's when Erza knew that she was in there. So with incredible speed she ran up to it and threw it open, the door being knocked against the wall.
What she saw made her freeze. She doesn't know how or why but she couldn't move or speak, because finally, after an entire year of searching she found her little sister. The person standing in the room was wearing a cloak but with the hood down and Erza could see only her brown hair, because she was looking at her back. But she knew… this… this was definitely her.
But why was she standing there? And why was she… glowing? Was she glowing? She tried to take a step forward but her feet accidentally knocked against a box causing several items on top of it to hit the ground, breaking on impact.
The brunette snapped around and immediately her eyes went wide. "What the hell are you doing here!?" She shouted at her, thought it sounded more alarming than shocked.
That had hurt… the first time they saw each other for a year and she asks her what the hell she was doing here? Erza was about to speak but a squeak behind Kera stopped her. The brunette turned back around before taking several steps back.
"Kera!" Erza shouted as she felt an intense height in magical power but the brunette ignored her. Instead she quickly turned around and dashed towards her. "GET DOWN NOW!" She shouted before lunging at her, throwing her to the ground.
A powerful wave of magic was blasted throughout the room and it would have crushed anyone in its path. Luckily for Erza the brunette had thrown her to the ground, avoiding that pain.
A few seconds passed and the magic seemed to disappear. Kera noticed this and immediately got off of Erza. She didn't even look at her as she turned back to whatever she was doing. The red head gritted her teeth getting up to her feet as well. "What the hell was that?"
Ignoring the red head Kera kept on doing what she was doing. Erza, having enough of this started walking towards her. "Will you answer me for…" She stopped when she saw what was in front of Kera.
There was a small floating object in front of Kera. It looked like two cubes put together in different angles while a blue glowing dot was in the middle of it. It was looking around the place seeming to be nervous.
"What the heck is that?" Erza asked raising an eyebrow.
The floating cube was hovering over Kera's hands before floating up and stayed behind the brunette. Kera turned her attention towards Erza and that's when the red head finally saw her eyes. The people were right, they were golden.
"This… is an artifact from ancient times." Kera explained glancing at the cube behind her. She held out her hand and the cube landed on her palm. She slightly pushed something on its back and the cube went limp in Kera's hands. It then folded out revealing a glowing white crystal. Kera grabbed it and put it in a bag. "The ghost protects this powerful stone from the wrong people trying to recover it. I was concentrating on removing it without waking it but you're arrival woke it up." She said with a slight sneer at the end. She put the bag in her pocket and was about to leave but a hand stopped her.
Erza pulled her back making the brunette look her in the eyes. "I've been looking a year now for you."
"You shouldn't have." Kera stated simply turning her head around.
Erza gritted her teeth. "I was worried! You left all of a sudden without saying anything! You never do that and then you leave all this destruction behind! What's gotten into you?" She shouted slightly.
Kera's golden eyes glared slightly at her and headed for the door. "You don't need to worry yourself about this."
She was about to leave but sensed a mass headed straight towards her. Quickly she turned around and grabbed the person by the neck pulling them up. Her eyes though went wide when she saw familiar pink hair fall into her vision. "Natsu!?" She asked shocked.
In her hands she was truly holding the pink haired Dragon Slayer. Behind him she could also see the rest of the gang. What were they doing here!? She let the pink haired boy go and he stumbled back. "Man… y-you've g-gotten stronger…"
"What are you all doing here?" She asked her eyes narrowing down.
"Kera you're alright!" Lucy shouted charging up to her and trying to hug her. The brunette though quickly stepped out of the way letting the blonde run past her. Lucy looked a little confused but then saw Kera turn around. "You should all leave." She said simply before heading for the stairs.
Erza growled as she walked after her, passing her friends. "Will you stop!? I'm not going to leave after searching for you an entire year! At least let us talk about this!"
Kera stopped and hung her head. "Fine… you want to talk? We'll talk. Meet me in the abandoned house south from here in fifteen minutes. Don't be late." With that she left the group alone.
The others stood there shocked and confused. What had just happened? Gray looked down the hall where Kera had left. "Was that… Kera?"
"She seems different." Juvia said
The others nodded. This was going to be fun…
Kera gritted her teeth as she walked through the forest. What were they doing here? They shouldn't be here! She had this under control! She pulled at her hair as she walked back and forth. And why was Natsu back!? She thought he left! That's at least what Crystol told him.
And why were they all back together!?
"Gah! Why!?" She shouted causing a few birds to fly away.
"Calm down Kera. Freaking out won't help anything, you know that."
Kera took a deep breath and slumped against one the trees. Why was Erza following her? And why for an entire year? Well she did leave without so much as a word.
Maybe she should just leave. This was her chance to leave and it would take them a while again to find her… but she had a feeling that they'd just follow her again. They wouldn't just give up. For some reason they were doing their all to find her.
"You're right Kera. Maybe it's time to talk to them. It's been a year and so much has happened. They deserve an explanation." Crystol told them.
"You're right… but after this I'm going to tell them to go back and leave me to do my work." She said simply.
"You really think that's going to happen?" Crystol asked and Kera simply sighed rubbing her forehead out of annoyance. "No…" she muttered.
"We'll find a way. No worries."
"I hope you're right…"
"I think out of all of us Kera changed the most." Lucy said as she sat on the couch of the abandoned house they were supposed to go. It's been already fifteen minutes and there was no sign of the brunette anywhere. Some of them had doubts that she would even come but deep down they still had some hope.
Erza was standing by the window trying to find any sign of the brunette. Lucy was right. Kera did change… a lot. She didn't look like herself and there was something strange… about her. She couldn't explain it but something changed, something happened to Kera and she wanted to know now.
Natsu sighed as he laid his hands behind his head. "I don't think she's coming. It's been already fifteen minutes."
"Technically it's been thirteen minutes. She still has two minutes left." Gray stated looking at the clock on the wall.
Wendy sat beside Lucy worried about the brunette as well. She changed, that was clear but… there was something else that was bothering her. It was her scent. Now that she was closer to her she could catch it better. Her scent was different. Not completely but it did change. She wondered if Natsu had noticed it as well.
Erza gritted her teeth slightly. Did she really decide to ditch? "Damn it…" She muttered turning around. "I'm going to look for her."
"No need for that."
They all turned around and saw Kera standing at the doorway. The cloak was around her covering her clothes but at least she pulled down her hood.
"You came." Erza was actually a little surprised that she came. She really thought that Kera would just leave them causing them to run after her again. "I'd actually thought you'd leave."
Kera snorted slightly. "Believe me, I was about to."
"What changed your mind?" Lucy asked crossing her arms around her chest. Kera was definitely different from when she left. Something changed but she couldn't pin point it yet.
The brunette rolled her eyes slightly. "Just… because you're my friends and you do deserve some answers."
Natsu stood up and glared at the brunette slightly. "You've got some serious questions to answer."
The brunette sighed lowering her head slightly. "I know…" She said before looking up again. The others weren't used to her golden eyes yet.
Wendy blinked. "Why are your eyes gold?"
"I'll… I'll explain that as well. No worries." She said giving the little girl a small warm smile. She looked at the six people in front of her. She did feel a warm sensation inside of her, she was happy to see that they were all alright. Some of them changed a little bit but not as much as she did, but… she did it for them.
And she doesn't really regret much of it.
She could remember sharing a room with Lucy, talking about normal stuff for a change. She could remember Gray and Natsu fighting each other, her sometimes jumping in for the fun of it. Then there was Juvia who would be off to the sides spying on them or trying to get to Gray. Seeing Wendy made her smile again. When was the last time she smiled again? Probably forever. Well besides that little girl back from the town. She was glad that Wendy was alright.
And then there was Erza. The red head that was her older sister, making sure she was alright and safe for the entire time of her life. Half of the things she did in the past year she did for her friends. She knew that her friends gotten stronger throughout the year as well. It was clear as day.
Kera glanced at the red head. "Where do you want me to start?"
"From the beginning. Why did you leave?" Erza asked her eyes narrowing slightly.
The brunette sighed. "Well…"
I know this is a mean way to end this but I have to. This means next chapter will be the explanation as to what is going on and why Kera is acting like she is. So what do you guys think? They finally found Kera! Any thoughts? Let me know!
I will try to update as best as I can. I hope I got some time to write so you don't have to wait too long. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it!
Until next time! In America!