Sorry for the wait guys! Well I'm back from my little road trip and I have a bit more time to write. Also I'll be heading back to Germany next Friday. I had such a good time here! Well let's get back to the story here. Something interesting here. Unfortunately no action but that probably come in the next chapter! So hang in there guys!
Rez: So far it looks like it!
Luca: Yes definitely drama in the last one. Will Wendy save Kera? That is a question waiting to be answered.
Marty: Yep Natsu finally stepped up and maybe talked some sense into the brunette. Has it worked? We will find out. And yea, it's a little hard for the team at the moment. They want the old Kera back as well!
It's been almost a half hour since the fight she had with Natsu. She needed some time to be alone and think things through. What Natsu said to her… it done more to her than she thought. At the moment she was sitting in a tree not that far from her friends.
If she could even call them friends anymore.
After what happened she thinks she doesn't deserve them. They deserve someone better than her.
"You don't die for your friends Kera! You live for them!"
Kera closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. What the hell am I doing? She thought frustrated. She was doing everything that she usually hated. She was pushing her friends away when she should be in fact accepting their help…
I know I changed… but… hearing that from Natsu… Gritting her teeth harder she suddenly punched the tree she was sitting on. "What the hell have I become?" She asked herself as she looked down.
"Kera… if I may…"
"No… just no…" Kera interrupted Crystol. "I know you're there for guidance but… just leave me alone for now. Please." She whispered the last part.
She could hear Crystol sigh in her mind. "Very well… if you need me, you know where I will be."
"Thank you…"
Kera sighed as she looked at her hand. She sacrificed herself… so she could become stronger and able to protect her friends. She's able to reach her core of magic and execute incredible magic. She might even be able to stand up to Zeref himself.
But… was it wrong?
Did she sacrifice too much?
Was she going down the wrong path?
But… she had to do it… she had to because… she had to protect her friends from Zeref. He said it himself. He was going to destroy the world and he wasn't going to let anyone live. She was the only one who stood in his way.
She had to get stronger because of him. And this was the only way… she was the Queen of Dragons and she had to be in perfect sync with Crystol.
So why did her friends make such a fuss about it?
Because I done something completely reckless… because I'm not the same person I was before…
Because I'm a monster…
"Kera?"
Her head snapped around as she heard the voice. Her head went down to the ground and she could see both Lucy and Wendy standing underneath the tree she was sitting in. Her eyes went wide slightly. "Wha… what are you doing here? I said I needed to be alone."
Lucy played with her fingers. "We know that but… we got worried, you were gone for a long time and…"
Kera humpfed as she turned her head away. "So you were making sure I didn't run off." She muttered slightly.
Wendy shook her head. "No! We can sense you so we knew you didn't run off, but… it's been more than a half hour and we got worried. We knew that you wouldn't talk to Natsu or Erza so we thought that maybe we could help."
The brunette looked down at the little girl and sighed. She was a jerk to everyone. She yelled at Erza and threw her to the ground, she threatened Natsu and the others… but… she couldn't be that to Wendy…
Was that a sign that she still had some humanity in herself?
She jumped down from the tree so fast that it startled the two girls. Kera had a hardened glance as she turned her attention to them. "Lucy, Wendy… I need you two to be completely honest with me."
They both nodded their heads slowly, unsure as to where Kera was trying to go with this. The brunette sighed slightly. "Have… do Natsu and Erza… do they hate me?"
"No! They don't hate you!" Lucy immediately told her shaking her hands. "They… they're just worried about you. They don't hate you at all.
Kera nodded softly. That's what she kind of thought when she saw them. She turned her attention to Wendy. She was the only one who could answer this for her. "Wendy…" She spoke softly.
"Yes?" She asked a little unsure.
The brunette looked down at her, her golden eyes looking for some sort of answer in the young girl's eyes. She saw that she wasn't afraid of her. "Could you do me a favor?"
Wendy looked a little confused as she knelt down. "You said you advanced your training in magic, am I correct?"
The little girl nodded her head still unsure of what she was trying to have her do. Kera smiled softly. "Then could you use Milky Way on me?"
Both Lucy and Wendy looked shocked at her for a moment. Lucy understood that Wendy was able to see souls with that spell. They used it to see Zirconis during the Grand Magic Games and she was able to sense Atlas Flame's soul. But why should she use it on Kera?
"What?" Wendy asked confused. "I… I don't understand. I…"
Kera smirked softly. "I want you to see if you can sense my soul. I want you to see what's different about it, how it is… any information on it… alright?"
She looked a little scared. "I don't know… if I can do that."
"Please Wendy." Kera said grabbing her hand. "I know you can do this, I fully trust you with this."
She shook her head. "I… I only used it to see souls that… well… died… I don't know if I can sense the souls of the living."
"The only restriction you have Wendy is that you can't call upon the souls that already went up to heaven. I believe in you that you can call upon my soul. I'm alive, I should…" She stopped for a moment before she continued. "There should still be something inside of me."
Wendy took a deep breath but then nodded. "I'll give it a try."
"Great… thank you." Kera took a step back and stood up straight. Wendy took a deep breath. This was going to be a real challenge for her. She clasped her hands together as a green seal appeared around her. Lucy took a step back not wanting to interfere and stay a safe distance away.
The seal around Wendy started humming and started glowing. Kera had closed her eyes as she tried to stay calm so it would work. Wendy had her eyes closed as well but she was also starting to sweat. Her brows were knitted and Lucy thought that it was proving to be a little difficult for the young mage.
A few minutes passed before the seal under Wendy suddenly disappeared and Wendy slumped down. "Wendy!" Lucy called rushing forward.
Kera's eyes snapped open and she grew worried as well as she saw Wendy on the floor. Maybe she had pushed her too hard…
"I-I'm fine… I'm good." Wendy said holding her head.
The brunette lowered her head. What the hell was she doing? She pushed Wendy too hard and it was her fault she was like this. She shook her head. "I'm sorry." She said before disappearing into the trees.
"W-Wait!" Wendy called but the brunette was already gone. Lucy helped the little girl back to her feet. "Are you okay Wendy?" She asked.
Wendy simply nodded. "Yes, I-I'm fine just…"
"Just what?" Lucy asked giving her a worried glance.
She closed her eyes and tried to see if she could catch onto Kera's scent. It was still there so she hadn't completely left. Probably wanted to be alone again. Opening her eyes again she turned to Lucy a small serious expression on her face. "We have to get back to the others."
"We should go after her."
"Just calm down!"
"No you calm down!"
"Wendy and Lucy are checking up on her. There's nothing to be worried about."
"I need to get her back!"
"Just calm down you two!" Gray snapped at the two bickering wizards in front of them.
Natsu and Erza calmed down for once. After Kera had left, both of them kind of went into a crazy stage. They wanted to go after Kera, worried that she'd run off, but also to make sure she was alright. For Natsu and Erza, Kera was their little sister. They were very overprotective of her, but what surprised both Juvia and Gray was that Natsu grew even more overprotective after the entire Tartarus incident.
Erza was always overprotective about Kera. She was the one who took care of her.
Gray looked between both Natsu and Erza. "You two need to calm down. Kera won't be running off, she might have changed but she's not the one to simply ditch."
He took a deep breath. "Now I understand why Erza is reacting like she is. She's Kera's older sister and she'd do anything for her. What I don't get is why Natsu is so suddenly overprotective over her." The Ice Mage said glancing at the pink haired boy.
Natsu sighed as he took a step back. "I've always been protective of her."
"But not like this." Gray commented. "This is getting serious."
The Dragon Slayer sighed. "Fine… after… after the Tartarus incident I kind of blamed Kera for what happened to Igneel… remember?" He asked giving the others a glance. They all nodded remembering that day perfectly. It had been hard on all of them.
"Well… when I was on my own, I kind of encountered Igneel's spirit." He explained. "I kind of figured that he was protective of Kayeleth, not because she was his Queen. I think they were really best friends." He said looking a little sad for a moment. "Anyway, he told me to keep an eye out for Kera, to protect her, to keep her safe. That night I vowed not only to myself but to Igneel that I would make sure that Kera wouldn't have to suffer anymore."
Gray, Erza and Juvia stood there in complete silent. They didn't know about that at all. And if Natsu vowed on Igneel's spirit then he was dead serious. He really wanted to keep her safe.
Erza smiled softly. "That's amazing of you Natsu. It really is and I thank you for it."
He shook his head. "No it's not because I should have gone with her and not just simply left. I thought that training a year I could get stronger to keep all of my friends safe. But I never thought that she would do this." He muttered.
"I still have hope that we can bring her back. Maybe after helping her with this mess she's more of her older self. Maybe we can even find a way to bring her old self back." Erza said.
Juvia noticed both Lucy and Wendy coming back. "Guys." She called motioning to the two girls.
They all turned around and saw Lucy and Wendy walking towards them. Erza had some hope that they found out something about her. "Well?"
Lucy glanced at Wendy. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"
"I… I think I should. Also where are Carla and Happy?" Wendy asked looking around.
Natsu crossed his arms around his chest. "They are flying around, trying to see if they can find anything."
Wendy nodded. "Well… about Kera…" She took a deep breath not really sure how she should say this.
"We found her sitting in a tree." Lucy started making it a bit easier for Wendy. "She was thinking things through, but when we called for her she actually talked to us."
"Really?" Erza asked shocked. Why was it that every time Wendy was there she would talk and actually be civil? Every time she tried to talk to her they ended up fighting, yelling or worse. So where was the difference?
Lucy frowned. "She asked us if you and Natsu hated her. We told her that you didn't and that you were worried about her. Then…"
That's when Wendy took the lead and went on. "She asked me if I could use Milky Way on her."
They all blinked in confusion. Why would Kera want Wendy to use Milky Way on her? "And?" Juvia asked curious as to what happened.
Wendy sighed. "I… I was confused as to why she wanted me to sense her soul. I never used this spell on a living being, but… there was nothing."
They all stayed silent not really comprehending this. Gray on the other hand looked confused. "So? That means it didn't work… right?"
Unfortunately Wendy shook her head. "No it did work… because I was able to sense Lucy's soul and several animal souls around me… but with Kera… I couldn't sense anything."
"So she doesn't have a soul?" Natsu asked softly, not really understanding what this meant.
Erza didn't believe this. It had to be wrong. "This can't be right. Everyone has a soul, without one… well… you can't live without one, unless you're a soulless being walking around."
"I can't fully explain it either." Wendy said. "But… to get more answers on this topic we need to know more about the spell she used to fuse her soul with Crystol."
Juvia lowered her head. "I don't think Kera will tell us." She wouldn't even fully tell them what happened the past year. They had to coax it out of her and that took almost everything.
Erza put a hand against her chin. "Which means we will have to go to the library. But how are we going to get there? Kera is set on finding these people. There is no way she'd go out of her way and head for the library."
"Unless it might give her some answers too." Natsu said growing a smirk on his face. "We'll just tell her that it might hold more information on these Keepers of the Lost Soul. Or even how to stop them."
Gray chuckled. "That would gain her curiosity."
"Now we just have to wait for Kera to come back." Erza spoke looking at the trees where she had disappeared.
It was two hours before Kera was seen again. She had walked out of the forest with her head hung low. When the others saw her they were relieved that she was alright… well more glad that she didn't ditch them than that she was safe, but they were glad about that as well.
"Kera…" Natsu said standing up but Kera raised her hand silencing him. "Stop just… stop…" She told him as her voice got softer and softer.
Her golden eyes glanced at Wendy for a short time, making sure she was alright. She seemed fine, but of course looks can be deceiving. "Wendy… are you alright?" She asked.
The little girl smiled and nodded her head. "I'm fine! Are you okay? You didn't hurt me or anything."
Kera sighed as she looked away. "I'm… okay… no worries." She raised her head towards the others, mainly Natsu and Erza. "I still believe that you should leave… you shouldn't be involved in this…"
Erza was about to disagree but Kera raised her hand again, telling her she was not finished. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. "But… I also know that you won't take no for an answer. Of course I can simply leave, but… if I wanted to I'd be already gone."
"So you're going to let us help?" Erza asked raising an eyebrow while crossing her arms over her chest.
Kera nodded. "Yes… but only with this. I know your true reason in finding me. You said you wanted to revive Fairy Tail, correct?"
Everyone nodded their heads. Kera sighed, this was going to be hard on them. "After… after this is done, you all head back to Magnolia… without me."
Gray looked confused. "What do you mean without you?"
"You heard me." Kera said simply. "I'm not coming with you. I'm not going back to Fairy Tail."
"Kera…" Erza started but the brunette interrupted her yet again. "Erza I know what you're going to say, but nothing will convince me. I've changed, that's clear to everyone. I'm not the person I used to be. Yet… I've chosen my path and I will continue on it… to the very end."
Everyone stayed quiet as they heard this. She didn't want to be part of Fairy Tail anymore? But why?
"But you still have your mark." Natsu clarified. "That means you still hold something to the guild, to your friends."
Kera looked down at her covered shoulder where her mark is. "Yes… I still have it, but not because of what you might think." She closed her eyes. "It's a reminder for me. I might have left that part of my life behind, but it's a reminder for me why I'm doing this… why I have to do this."
Everyone knew that they couldn't convince her now. It was useless. She had her mind set. That is why they quickly changed the topic. But one thing was clear. They had to change Kera's mind, bring the old Kera back before this mission of hers ended.
Erza nodded slightly. "Alright…" It was clear that she didn't like the idea of Kera leaving Fairy Tail, but she still had some hope inside her that she would change back. Wendy was proof that there is still a little bit of the old Kera in her. They just had to get her out. "We thought about this and we believe that we should head to the magic library."
"Why?" Kera asked narrowing her eyes.
"We believe we can find some information on these Keepers." Juvia spoke up.
Immediately the brunette shook her head. "It's pointless, I've already been there and haven't found anything on them."
"You were just one person and…" Lucy tried but Kera interrupted her before she could finish. "Yes I was alone, but I've spent almost two weeks in that library and I checked the entire library. There is nothing on them."
"Then what do you suggest?" Gray asked.
Kera stayed silent for a moment. She had no lead on the others. Maybe killing Eldur was a rash decision. She would have been able to get some information out of him. He was technically begging her.
Draccus wouldn't tell her anything. He's a stubborn idiot and the Council has him. They'd rather take her in as well…
So what was the plan? The Keepers of the Lost Souls… there are seven of them… two of them are dealt with, one of them has it for my head. There was only one thing they could do at the moment.
She grabbed something from her pocket and revealed the stone she had grabbed from Eldur's base. It was glowing slightly.
The others noticed the stone and Erza immediately recognized it as the stone they almost died for. That's when she realized she had no idea what that stone could do…
Erza grew slightly uncomfortable. She had no idea what that thing could do and with Kera how she is at the moment, there was no guarantee that she was using it for a good reason. "Kera…"
"Calm down." She said simply as her gaze locked with the stone. She put a hand over the white gem and closed her eyes. She concentrated her magic energy on the stone and it started to glow even brighter. "I didn't want to use it this early but…" She muttered while releasing the stone.
A bright light shortly blinded everyone but when it died down the stone was gone and suddenly they were surrounded by a holographic map. Kera looked at it and noticed that it was a map of Fiore. "What the hell is this?" she asked narrowing her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked while the others looked at it.
"I was told that these stones held power and information. This… this is just a freaking map!" She snapped slightly. "And it doesn't even give us any information!"
Erza looked at the map. Kera was right, it was just a plain map of Fiore and a few other countries… but there was something different and she guessed that she didn't see it at all. "I'm surprised you can't see it." She commented a small smirk plastered on her face.
Kera glared at her slightly. "What are you saying?"
The red head pointed across the map, moving her hand from West of Veilfield down south below Magnolia. "It seems that they have been going down this line. Looking for… something."
Kera looked at the area Erza was showing and noticed the faint line as well. What shocked her slightly was that the line… was the way she had traveled. They were looking for her… but how did they get this information?
"Does it show anything about the Keepers?" She asked looking around.
Lucy put a hand against her chin. This was what she usually did, this, besides Levy of course, was her thing. She noticed something strange. There were a few lines going away from a desolate land and other places. But never towards it.
Looking at the map she grinned. "I think I know where two of them could be." She said. Everyone gave the blonde a shocked look, even Kera.
Lucy pointed to two areas. "Looking from the line flow, two of them should be there… and there. I can't guarantee it but it's a chance we could take." She said while pointing at the virtual map.
Kera gave the blonde a look. "Are you sure about this? I don't want to waste time and energy."
Erza shot her a glare, thinking what the hell she was saying, but it seemed it didn't affect Lucy at all. It looked like she was too concentrated on the map that she didn't even hear her.
Lucy sighed. "I can't say for sure, but it's highly possible that they could be there."
"It's a chance we can take." Erza replied. "Like Lucy said, the chance that they are there is fairly high."
Kera nodded. "Very well. We'll head to Bracka. It's closer to us than the other town. We'll start walking and if we find a way to get there faster we'll take it." She then glared at Natsu. "And no breaks. We have to move fast. We're still being hunted."
A guard quickly ran through the halls holding his helmet. He ran past other guards as he was headed for one destination. He rounded a corner and quickly knocked on the door he was standing in front of.
"Come in."
He opened the door and bowed. "Lady Lucretia." He said.
The woman frowned as she saw him. She was sitting at her desk twirling a knife in her fingers obviously annoyed that she was interrupted. "What is it? Have you found a trace of the Queen?" She asked.
He shook his head. "N-No my lady." He said a little nervous.
The knife flew past his face and hit the wall behind him. "Then explain to me why you have the idea to waste my time." She sneered narrowing her eyes at him.
The guard swallowed hard but quickly bowed. "I apologize my lady, but we received news. Domiel and Fernon are coming here wishing to speak to you."
Lucretia stopped and carefully sat upright. "They both are on their way over right now?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
The guard nodded quickly. Lucretia leaned back in her chair. "Did they say for what?"
"Recent developments. Mostly the death of Eldur and the capture of Draccus." He spoke quickly. He then shook his head slightly. "Nothing else was told to us."
The woman smirked slightly. "Very well, prepare a meal and contact Severina. We shall greet them together."
The guard nodded and quickly left the room so he wouldn't get killed. Lucretia chuckled slightly as she looked out the window. "Those idiotic men…"
It's not the greatest, but a bit more information on what's happening. Also what do you guys think Lucretia has planned? There's definitely something going on there. Also the guys found out Kera's has no soul! Or it's missing. What are your thoughts about that? Did Wendy do something wrong or is something serious going on?
Until next time!