Xenia didn't know what to do. She was frozen as she stared at Ziph. How long had he been standing there?
He circled the two of them. She didn't realize that she was holding onto Gunner, which only seemed to make Ziph angrier. "Tell me, just want do you think you were doing with him?" His voice was thick and she could hear the venom in it.
"You don't get to control what she does!" Gunner snapped.
Ziph only chuckled and smirked. "How am I the one that's trying to control her? Your kind were the ones that have locked her away."
Gunner glared at him. "That was to protect her from monsters like you."
Ziph's smirk grew. "So I'm a monster, huh?" He continued to circle them like a crazed animal. "Then why don't you come after me? Be the white knight that saves that damsel in distress. That's what you want, isn't it?"
She could tell that Ziph was just egging on Gunner and it seemed to be working. She watched as Gunner made to move for the one of the guns that was strapped to his side. "No, Gunner. That's what he wants."
Ziph frowned at her words and she knew that something was up. "Quiet you!"
Gunner looked back at her. "What are we supposed to do? We can't just stand here. We have to do something!"
She felt her eyes start to tear up. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Gunner looked furious. "You think that I can't take him."
She shook her head violently. "No, I just know what he's capable of."
Ziph glared at her. "That's enough from you. Why don't you go and be a good little bride and shut your mouth?"
She made to argue, but found that no sound was coming from her mouth. As she looked over at him, she could see that his eyes were glowing. "What did you do to her?!" Gunner yelled.
Ziph grinned. "I'm just showing her, her place. Just like I'll be showing you yours." With that Ziph's eyes changed color, this time they were a blood red.
Her mind flashed back to a conversation that she had with her Grandfather. Those eyes were the eyes of a killer. Gunner's parents had those eyes. Miss Arma had those eyes. Her uncle Vik had those eyes. Her father had those eyes.
She ran forward and in front of Gunner, she couldn't let Ziph do this. Just as Ziph was about to unleash his power, she felt a strange feeling go down her spine.
Ziph stared at her in shock. "Where did you…"
She felt confused. Why did he suddenly look impressed with her? She didn't like it.
He chuckled. "I see." He turned his back. "When the time comes, you'll come to me."
"What are you talking about?" She asked, puzzled by his words.
He only laughed. "You're not my target right now anyway. I just wanted to check up on you. That's all. Excuse me." With that he disappeared from sight.
Now she only had more questions. What was he even looking for? And why did if fill her with dread?
"We need to report this." Gunner said, looking at her. Unlike Ziph, he didn't look fearful of her. Whatever it was, must have passed. That or Gunner didn't notice.
She nodded. "Come on, my Uncle will want to know everything." She said, grabbing onto Gunner's shoulder. Her eyes changed yellow and she found herself in the guild.
"Xenia? I didn't expect you to be back this early." Her mother said.
Everyone at the guild was staring at them, but she paid them no mind. She only wanted to talk with Laxus and Makarov.
Both guild masters looked at her in confusion. "Something has happened, hasn't it?" Makarov said.
She nodded, just as a messenger walked through the door of the Fairy Tail guild.
Vik sighed as he looked at everyone. Every plan they made looked like it would spell disaster for them. He had no idea what they were going to do. He knew Cetus better than anyone, but he still had no idea how to defeat him.
'You know that answer, you're just running form it. You're afraid.' Vik tensed up as he heard 55 speak within him. It had been a long time since he had heard that voice. 'The answer is within you. Why don't you have them tell you?'
'I can't.' He thought back to that part of himself. 'Sure I want answers, but now is not the time for that.'
The voice chuckled. 'Now it better than never. After all, you may find the answer you need.'
He didn't want to agree with 55. That side of him was a sick monster. He didn't care if he was considered a hero in his time. He was still a monster.
'You would be a monster too, if your father was like mine.' He paused as 55 continued. 55 had never talked of his father before.
'What about him?' He questioned. He knew that he was being rude to the rest of the meeting, but he couldn't help it. 55 may finally be giving him some answers and he wasn't going to let that go.
'He was a real savage. Hell, if he had left her alone, I would have never gone after him. But no. He was just so obsessed with bringing my mother back.'
'How did your mother die?' He asked. He hoped he wasn't being too rude, 55 may stop talking then.
'You're not being rude.' Vik sighed in relief as 55 continued. 'She died when I was still a baby. I don't remember much about her. My father cursed me because I looked nothing like her. I looked too much like him. I do know that someone had her killed. I just don't know who. It hurt my father more than he could bare. It didn't take long for him to become a monster. As I grew up, I knew what he was. We weren't the same. The love he had for me vanished as time went on. Even if I was my mother's child, I wasn't the same as her. I wasn't my mother; therefore, I wasn't good enough.' Vik had to agree that 55's father had to be a horrible man, but it could have been worse. He had seen worse. 'Then there was the fact that he never aged. He just stayed the same age forever, while I got older. He tried to convince me that I needed to become a monster like he was, but I refused.'
'Wait, was your father a demon?' He didn't want it to be true. What were the odds? But knowing his luck, it had to be the case. Was 55 really the son of Cetus? And if he was, would he know how to defeat him?
'I think you already know the answer, Viktor.' 55 laughed. 'My father's name was Cepheus, but he later became Cetus.'
'How did you get rid of him?' He couldn't help but ask.
'You will see with time. Soon, you will have your answer.' 55 said back.
He sighed, which caused everyone in the room to look at him. "Vik, do you have something to say?" The King said, looking very annoyed.
Vik glared at him. "What do you know about 55?"
The King was taken aback by his question. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I know that he's in me. So spill. How did he bring down Cetus before?" Vik said.
Everyone turned back to the King. They seemed to want to know this as well. The King sighed. "I didn't want to do this yet."
"Do what?" Remy asked, looking at the King suspiciously.
Half of the room looked like they were intrigued, the other half looked worried. Vik on the other hand, didn't know what to feel. He just wanted answers.
The King looked worried, but also sad at the same side. "I'm sorry, Perseus."
In that second, everything came forward. His head started spinning as he felt 55 start to laugh in the back of his mind. 'I wondered when this would happen.'
"When what would happen?" He asked, almost terrified.
'It's not going to hurt. We're just going to merge.' 55 said calmly.
He grabbed onto his forehead. It felt like he was being ripped open and then sewn to back together, only he wasn't being sewn to himself. 55 was being molded into him. Images of the past flashed before his eyes. They almost knocked the wind out of him. He took a deep breath as he looked over the table. All of the faces looked different, but the same. He looked down at his hands and slid them over the table. It felt different.
"Vik, are you okay?" His father asked, looking worried.
Part of him told him that Remy wasn't his father, but he knew that was true. Cetus wasn't his father.
His mind flashed back to an underground cave. He was looking down into a pool of water. "Do you think it will hold him?" A woman said to his side.
"Trust me, as long as someone doesn't give him a new body. Everything will be fine." Perseus said.
The girl put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard."
He looked at her and found himself freezing as he looked at her. Her face was beautiful, but it was a face that he already knew. A face that he hadn't been able to stay away from since he returned. He made to say Arma's name, but that wasn't what came out. "Andromeda."
The room came into focus around him and that scene disappeared. Arma was looking at him, but even as he said that name, her eyes changed. When he said that name. He could see her reliving that same moment and felt relieved. He wasn't alone in this. "Perseus, we need to go back." Arma said, clearly understanding what he did.
"What is going on?" Warner asked, looking very confused.
The King cleared his throat. "Both Arma and Vik have combined with the soul that was left in them. They now understand why they were made."
He really wasn't paying attention to the man. All he could think about was the tragedy that was his father. How far would Cepheus fall in his pursuit of power? Would his mother ever rest in peace? At this point, he didn't know.
He stood up and looking at Arma. "We have a place to be, excuse us."
Everyone stood up, they seemed to be wondering why he felt that they needed to leave. Arma had already stood from her place. "You'll all understand later."
He turned to Viktor's father, he shook his head. This was his father. Not Cetus. "Take us to the old Raven Tail guild."
Remy looked very confused but nodded.
"Wait a minute! Aren't you going to explain yourselves?!" Corwall said angrily.
He almost growled at the man. "There is no time. If you want me to stop Cetus, you're going to have to trust me with this. Now come, Arma."
She nodded went to his side and he grabbed onto his father's shoulder. With that they disappeared.
They reappeared in the old guild hall. He almost smiled as he looked up at the walls. He had forgot that Bickslow was rebuilding it.
Remy didn't seem to know that at all and was staring at the walls in awe. "How is this possible?"
"Bickslow was rebuilding it. He brought me to here to train before Cetus took over." He said, walking towards the lake. He wanted to look it over. He hoped that it would be good enough to work again.
"What? He never said anything about that." Remy said, sounding very confused.
"He wanted us to use it as a training ground. He believed that we could come back here one day." He said, leaning down and looking over the water in the lake. It was dark, which was different from what he remembered. He put his hand down into the water and saw that it was almost like a shadow over his fingers. It was almost as if the water had been infected by the darkness. Had Cetus done that when he left? How had he not noticed it before? Hell, how did Bickslow not notice it. Did Cetus blind him to it?
"Vik." He looked over at Arma and watched as she reached into a different part of the lake and pulled out an amulet. He remembered the pendent. He had found it in an old box all of those years ago.
He gave Arma a smile. She had found just want they needed.
Cetus left his dark palace with his jar in hand. He looked over the empty streets with a crazy smirk on his face. They were all gone. Every single one of his betrayers. All of those common folk were gone. The land had finally been purged of non-magic users.
He looked to his side at one unfortunate corpse. What was once Rosa, was now laying on the ground. He thought that death looked good on her.
He knew that Viktor would betray him one day. He wasn't stupid. He knew what Fiore was planning.
At first, he didn't want to believe it. He knew that Perseus had a grudge against him, but he didn't think that his son would go so far.
He did have to commend the boy on his efforts. He chuckled darkly. If Perseus was back, then so was Andromeda. He growled at that name. That woman, she had ruined everything. From the moment she appeared, he had lost his son forever.
He chuckled darkly to himself. This meant that he did have another chance to kill her.
He sighed. If only Perseus had stayed. They could have worked out their problems. He had been fine with Rosa until the woman showed her true colors. She had tried to kill Flare before Bickslow had succeeded. It did give Viktor and Lily a chance to escape though, so he had to give her credit for that.
He walked through the house that had belonged to Vik and smiled down. "You know, you could have been great, Perseus."
'He already is great and his name is Viktor.' Bickslow screamed at him in the back of his mind.
He shook his head. "My son's name was Perseus, that was until you all corrupted him."
Bickslow laughed. 'You think that he betrayed you? You're a menace to society. Hell, can you even remember why you did all of this?'
"I did it for power, you idiot." He called out into the darkness.
'What about Cassiopeia? I thought this was for her, or did you never really love her?' Bickslow questioned.
He froze as he heard her name. He had gotten used to being with Flare. Flare was Cassiopeia. He knew that…wasn't she? He looked down and found the jar with Flare's soul on the ground. When had be put it down?
'Just come clean, Cetus. The man that once loved, can't love anymore. You're a monster. A man without a soul or even a meaning. That's why you killed them. You can't feel anything. You just think that you can. If you can cause pain to others, then maybe, just maybe you'll be able to feel something.'
"SHUT UP!" He yelled into the darkness.
Bickslow chuckled. 'He's going to come for you and then it will be too late. You won't survive this time, Cetus. Just because you don't have a soul, that doesn't mean that you can't die.'
"I'm immortal, you imbecile." He shouted.
"Really? Then why are you afraid?" He had to cover his mouth. How had Bickslow been able to control his lips? Was he really starting to lose this fight?
He growled. "We'll see about that." He sped out of the house and looked at the tower of corpses. He began to work his magic, forcing more than one to their feet. Their eyes glowed a dark green color. "The Fiore will witness this and they will fall. The time for talk is over. The time for destruction has begun."
With that the bodies moved forward, some like perfect soldiers and others stumbled like the zombies that they were. He chuckled darkly to himself. Fiore wouldn't know what hit them. The war had just begun.
To Be Continued…