Ivan still couldn't believe it. Bickslow had just sent a message out to him without meaning to. From the sound of it, Cetus was pissed and Bickslow was the one that caused it. Bickslow had killed Flare, which made Cetus's growing assault make more sense. Cetus wanted revenge for Bickslow's actions. "You know, now was not the time to get all pissy." Ivan said, to nothing. Bickslow was already gone.
Laxus shook his head. "So what are we going to do now? We can't just wait for them to come to us."
Makarov nodded at Laxus. "Laxus has a point. We need to move forward."
Ivan sighed. "There's a problem though. We have no idea what's even out there."
Makarov smirked. "You think that matters? Have you forgotten who you're working with?"
"Dad, I know that you are Fairy Tail, but that may not matter." Ivan started.
"We've faced plenty of enemies and didn't know exactly what we were facing." Makarov said. "And we always rise above it. Give the guilds a chance."
Ivan looked away from them. "We've already lost enough. Why give Cetus more lives to mess with? He will just use the dead as his soldiers."
"You really think that we will die that easily?" Laxus said. "If you think for a minute that we are going to be happy with standing around and doing nothing than you must be off your rocker."
Ivan sighed. "I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?"
Makarov smiled. "You've got that right. The guild is already prepared to attack."
"When did you…?" Ivan began to ask.
"Before we met up with you, I sent a call back home. All of the guilds are gathering towards the border. We have to protect what his ours." Laxus said.
Ivan looked up at the sky. "You realize that you've sent them to their deaths then."
"How do you know that they are dead?" Makarov asked. "If anyone knows about seeing a body it would be you."
Ivan continued to stare up at the sky. "Remy and I will be leaving soon. We have to take the army towards the fighting."
Laxus froze at that. "But you're so certain that anyone that goes towards that thing will die."
Ivan sighed. "This happened because Remy and I wanted to bring Bickslow into Raven Tail. We got selfish. He looked happy in Fairy Tail, but we just wanted some time with him." Ivan found himself staring at one star. "And now look where it's gotten us?"
"You can't take the blame for everything." Makarov began.
"But he's going to. He always does." Remy said, coming around the corner.
"Where have you been?" Ivan asked. "Last I saw you, you were running after Corwall."
Remy rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about that man."
Ivan wondered why Remy's voice caught on the word man, but decided that now was not the time for questions. "Are you ready to go then?"
Remy sighed. "Not yet. I still need to talk to Xenia before we leave. I wanted to make sure, she knew the route out of city."
"She's going to be fine." Ivan said. "Cetus and his forces aren't going to make their way towards the city."
"Says the man that was freaking out about it seconds ago." Remy said.
"Do you two have to act like a married couple right now?" Laxus stated.
"But we are a married couple." Ivan said.
"That's not my point." Laxus said. "We need to get going. This fight isn't going to be won by standing around."
"Laxus is right. We need to get going." Makarov stated.
Everyone nodded and without a word, grabbed onto Remy. Seconds later they were transported to the line. Blood coated the ground as a man began to pull himself towards them, his body was cut in half. "Get away from here…"
Laxus's eyes went wide as he stared at Ichiya of Blue Pegasus. He moved forward to try and help the mage, but his father stopped him. "There's nothing you can do. We have to move forward."
"But we can't just leave him." Laxus said.
"There are more people than him out there." Remy stated as he pulled back some brush.
Bodies coated the ground. Familiar faces were surrounding them. "I knew that we should have brought the army." Ivan stated.
"That is true, but this is personal." Remy said walking forward.
"Remy, we can still go back for them." Ivan said.
"What good would that be? They would all just end up dying like these poor souls did." Remy stated. "There's been enough blood shed today."
"That's where you're wrong." Ivan said. "You're forgetting about Cetus himself."
"We still need to get Bickslow out of him." Laxus said.
The ground was quiet around them as they moved forward. Darkness loomed over them and they came face to face with the zombified army.
"Get ready!" Makarov said.
Laughter broke through the air and they all looked up. Floating in the sky with a wild smirk on his face was Cetus. It was almost as if Bickslow's body hadn't even aged, but there were still signs. He was greying slightly, but that wasn't the only thing. Cetus's eyes looked very damaged, almost as if the body he was using was going blind. "Well, well, well, I didn't expect any of you to come this close. Seems like I was wrong."
Laxus stared at Cetus. His body felt cold as darkness came from Cetus's eyes. The bodies began to move forward and the battle had begun.
Xenia awoke and looked over at Ziph in shock. What had she been doing? Why did she stay here? Why did she allow Ziph to do those things to her? Why did she want him to do those things? She wasn't in love with the boy, so why was she drawn to him? At least, she didn't believe that she was in love with him.
She pulled herself out of bed and made to walk around. She was sure that she was dreaming. If felt as if someone else had been controlling her body. But it wasn't a bad feeling. It was like whoever was trying to control her, was trying to put her on the write path. She just didn't know what that path was.
"When did you get up?" Ziph asked.
Xenia jumped. "I don't know. I just needed to walk around." She said.
Ziph nodded. "Come back to bed, Cassie." Ziph said turning around onto his side.
Xenia froze. What had Ziph just called her? "Excuse me?" She said quietly.
"Cass, I'm trying to sleep." Ziph said.
Xenia was about to ask as images began to flash across her mind. Images from another time and place. Cepheus…Ziph used to be someone called Cepheus…and she was Cassiopeia. That meant that Flare wasn't the one that Cetus was looking for. She was.
But as she looked at Ziph or Cepheus, she couldn't help but feel unnerved. Wasn't Cepheus the person that Cetus used to be? That didn't make any sense.
Xenia left the room and walked down the hall. There had to be an answer for this.
The palace was in shambles. Everything looked like it was falling apart. What once was a beautiful place, looked like a dump. Could no one else see it? She looked out a nearby window and found that the air itself was filled with smoke, almost as if someone was trying to destroy the country itself.
"What good would that do?" Xenia jumped as a shadow from across the room spoke.
Xenia glared at it. "Who are you?" She couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine as it moved closer and formed into what looked like an old hag.
"That doesn't matter." The hag said. "What matters is what you want."
"What I want?" Xenia asked.
The hag smiled. "I can see it. In your heart, you want something." The hag tried to move closer, but Xenia backed up. "Come on now, let me have a peek. What do you have to lose?"
"My sanity." Xenia snapped at that hag.
The hag only laughed. "Why would you say that? Is it because of Cepheus? I only gave him what he wanted."
"You made him into a monster!" Xenia shouted.
The hag laughed. "He already was a monster, at least in his mind."
Xenia stared at the hag. "What do you mean?"
The hag grinned. "Hatred. From the moment that Cepheus was born, he was filled with it. He hated his father and killed the man for his power. He hated the non-magic folk and had them tortured and killed for his amusement."
Xenia froze. "But he also knew how to love."
"You're speaking of Cassiopeia." The hag said. "Yes, it is true that he loved her, but that was it. Cepheus only had enough love in his soul for one person. The rest of the world didn't matter as long as he had that person. He would kill whatever and whoever he wanted with ease. A man like that doesn't deserve to be rewarded, don't you agree?"
"Then why did you make him immortal?" Xenia couldn't help but ask.
"It was a punishment really. He needed to see the rest of the world. I hoped that he would find beauty in it somewhere. That's why I freed him from his bindings all of those years ago." The hag sighed.
"But why would you free him? He already killed so many people, why did you think he would change?" Xenia asked.
The hag smiled. "The world had changed, child. People had grown tolerant of one another. I hoped that when those two mages showed up in that cave that Cetus could learn from them, sadly, he didn't."
"Two mages?" Xenia asked. "Are you talking about my grandparents?"
The hag smiled. "Once Remington and Ivan. I say they were quite the sight in their younger days. So feisty and full of life. When they decided to make their guild there, I saw a chance and removed the bindings."
"And the Cetus possessed my father." Xenia grimanced.
"No, the two mad a contract. Cetus just broke the contract when he betrayed your father. The demon met Miss Flare and she reminded him of the love he had lost. Not because of her personality, it was only her appearance. Sadly, Cetus began to forget what he had truly fallen in love with before." The hag shook her head. "When I saw this, I moved to remove his soul from the pendent that Perseus had used. I knew that the real Cepheus could try again, but alas, he that soul was reborn from that horrid union."
"And Ziph is that soul." Xenia said. "But if that's the case, won't Ziph have to die?"
The hag sadly nodded. "Yes, the boy has to die. There is no way around it. But he can't just be killed. There is only one way to break the spell and free your father from Cetus safely."
Xenia was all ears. "But that's not fair to Ziph. There has to be another way."
The hag shook her head. "No, Miss Cassiopeia, Cepheus must die. He must truly die for there to be any chance of Cetus's destruction."
"You're not going to tell me how he has to die, are you?" Xenia said.
The hag shook her head. "You still love him, Cassiopeia. You wish to see him live, but that cannot be. Your fates are forever shrouded in darkness. Your love is cursed."
"I was never meant to love him? Is that what you are saying?" Xenia asked.
The hag only smiled at her. "Don't think that what I have done is horrible. I only did what fate demanded of me."
"I do have a question? Why did you have to kill Cassiopeia? If she had lived, Cepheus wouldn't have become Cetus." Xenia asked.
The hag sighed. "No one would have challenged Cepheus's ideas back then. The way he was, was just like everyone else. The world just needed to see what extremism can do."
"So you used him? You destroyed him to prove a point?" Xenia said angrily.
"No, fate chose him. I just stepped in where it told him to." With that the hag then changed forms and a small black and grey butterfly and flew off. Leaving Xenia with more questions than answers.
"What are you doing out here?" Ziph asked, giving her a confused look. Xenia couldn't help it as she burst into tears and dove into his arms. She clung to him and he couldn't help but asked. "What's wrong?"
"Just say with me like this." Xenia said. She felt guilty. She didn't want him to leave her yet.
"What has gotten into you? You look white as a sheet." Ziph said, but was caught off guard when she kissed him.
"Don't leave me." She whispered.
Ziph looked confused. "Why would I do that?" His eyes looked sincere. How could someone so horrible really could from this? Her mind flashed back to his treatment of her cousin, but she pushed that aside. Ziph wasn't evil. He wasn't Cetus anymore.
She laughed through her tears. "I don't know. I just don't want you to go anywhere."
Ziph looked puzzled. "But what about the fighting? My father is going to return after he's destroyed Fiore."
Xenia only shook her head, as she tried to come up with a reason for him to say by her side, but she was coming up with nothing.
"We need to go. Your family is in danger." Ziph said.
Xenia could see it in his eyes now. The change the hag had spoken of was there. She only feared what he was going to do with it now.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note
Only 3 more chapters until the end.