Rising Moon

Summary: A second chance wasn't something I, Aldrin Zevon, expected. I didn't expect to wake up in a five-year-old body in a forest, nor did I expect what would come after. A multiverse of possibilities has opened up to me, and I intend to take it for all it is worth. SI-OCxHarem, Fairy Tail/Multicross Story

This story is inspired by A Nascent Kaleidoscope by AStoryForOne. I HIGHLY recommend you go check it out. It's almost 1 Million words, still going strong, and definitely worth the read.

Chapter 10

"Listen up!" I called out, barely giving everyone time to process just what was happening as they all looked at me.

"All of you have suffered in this damned tower for too long! But no longer! Today, we are going to break free, and live our lives the way we should have! On our own terms!"

I lifted my hand, activating Requip and causing a massive pile of swords to drop on the ground, making everyone stare in shock.

"Those who can use magic, come to me and I'll rip off those shackles before they can inflict too much pain! Everyone grab a sword! And for those who simply want to escape…"

I lifted my hands and ripped at the air, creating a portal back to the forest near a big city, making everyone jump up in shock.

"This portal will take you to the forest near a big city. You'll be able to start your lives over. I'll say now, I will disparage nobody who decides to leave. Because, with or without you, I'm going to make sure this tower falls to the ground today."

"The choice is yours."

There was silence before, unsurprisingly, many prisoners scrambled towards the portal, rushing through and screaming about their freedom. True to my word, I didn't stop them, and I didn't blame them. They'd been trapped who knows how long, and simply wanted to leave and get back to their lives.

To my surprise, however, only half of them did so. I looked up at the other half, who looked from me to the portal… And then slowly walked forwards, each one picking up a sword.

"I lost my brother because of these bastards," one man said to me. "I'll do my part."

"My daughter is still trapped in this tower," a woman said. "I'm going to make sure that she gets out or gets avenged."

And many more stepped forwards and grabbed a weapon. Some give a short sentence or two why, others just remained silent, eyes blazing with rage.

Soon enough, Erza and the others stepped up, but I stopped them. "No," I told them. "I want all of you to go through the portal."

"What!?" Casey cried out. "You can't be serious!"

"Grandpa Rob," I looked at the old man. "Would you please take them through the portal? I can open a separate portal that is about 5 miles out from Magnolia, can you manage things from there?"

Rob stared at me before he smiled at me. "I believe that they have the freedom to choose. If they want to stay, then I won't stop them. I will help too, to avenge those who have fallen in this tower… It will be one last hurrah as a Wizard for me… A grand story to tell my good friends in Fairy Tail."

This man…

I looked at my friends determined faces… And I sighed. "Grab a sword. Casey, Erza, come here."

They all grabbed swords quickly, while Casey and Erza stepped forward in confusion.

I reached out and roughly ripped the cuffs off of their wrists, startling them as they barely felt so much as a shock before they were gone. "Both of you turn around. I'm going to stimulate your magic containers to pre-emptively awaken your magic."

"You can do that!?" Erza asked, eyes sparkling, while Casey looked just as excited.

"Not so much," I told them. "You both just have exceptionally high magical reserves, so I can do it for you two nice and quickly. Otherwise, I'd be doing this for everyone here. Now please, turn around."

They both quickly obeyed, showing their backs to me.

I started with Erza, placing my hand on her back and closing my eyes as I channelled my Sword Saint Slayer Magic.

Erza had a natural inclination towards 'Sword' based Magics, as shown from her Requip and her awakening in the original timeline allowing her to levitate a countless number of swords with barely a thought.

So, if I took a small strand of Kurnugi's magic and prodded her container with it…

Shiing!

A glowing light enveloped from Erza's body, glowing a bright scarlet colour. No doubt, her eyes widened as the power rushed through her body, and I saw her look down at her hands.

"This is… My magic?" She asked.

"Yes," I told her. "You have a natural alignment for sword-based magic. In the future, see about learning Requip. It'll be good for you. For now, get ready."

"Yes!" She looked back at me and gave me a wide smile. "Let's free this tower!"

I nodded in agreement and moved over to Casey, putting my hand on her back.

Unlike Erza, Casey should be naturally aligned towards Heavenly Body Magic… But I also didn't know if the possession she underwent in the original timeline influenced that or not, I wasn't aware of the inner workings of a magical container.

Regardless, she had a huge amount of magic even from a young age. As expected of a person who would go onto become a Wizard Saint. For this one, a small strand of Moon Dragon Slayer Magic… Prod her core and…!

Whoosh!

A breeze rolled through as Casey was enveloped in a golden glow, looking down at her own hands as she felt the magic power coursing through her veins.

"Magic…!" She smiled. "I have magic!"

"Yes, you do," I told her. "You have a natural inclination to one of my favourites too, Heavenly Body Magic. Look into it when you get the time, focus up for now."

"Yes!" She nodded as she grabbed a sword too.

I removed the shackles from a few more prisoners- Rob included- as we all got ready.

I looked over as everyone steeled themselves for what was to come. Some were hesitant, some were afraid… But all of them were ready.

"It's time," I told them. "Some of us may die fighting here. But we will give it our all to make sure that this tower falls before the day is done. They may take our lives! But they will never take our freedom!"

Everyone lifted their arms into the air and cheered in agreement with my battle cry.

"Now let's go to war!"

.

.

.

"Help! We need help! The Prisoners are- Gck!"

"H- how did they get so many weap- ack!"

"Eeek! I- I don't want to die- urg!"

With an army of armed prisoners following my lead, we began to tear through the tower, one floor at a time. I used my power to rip open cages and free other prisoners. I didn't hesitate to hand everyone a sword- it helped that we'd managed to find the armoury and I'd stored them in my requip space so there were plenty to go around. I would have liked to send the kids off, but with all the noise we were making it attracted more cultists. Instead, the kids stayed at the back for the most part, guarded by a group of adults, with that group only getting bigger the more people we saved.

It was inevitable that we'd finally come upon a cell that I knew that would be found eventually.

A cell with a young girl with short, silvery hair- though dirty from lack of care- and brown eyes… Six, if I had to guess.

I gripped the bars of the cell and ripped them open, before I gently offered her my hand. "Hey," I said gently. "It's okay. You're safe now, we're gonna get you out of here."

The girl stared at me and sniffed. "R- really?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Big bro is gonna make sure you get to safety."

She hesitated before she slowly got up and made her way over, slipping out of the cell. She dove into my arms and sobbed softly, and I gently rubbed her back.

I carefully lifted her up and carried her to the rest of the kids, setting her down. I turned to go save more, but she refused to let go, sniffing.

"Please, don't go," she told me. "I don't wanna be alone."

"You're not alone," I told her. "You have a lot of friends right here," I promised before I reached out and ruffled her hair. "We'll definitely see each other again, don't worry about that. Let's meet again one day, at Fairy Tail."

"F- Fairy Tail…?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "It's a Wizard Guild… That treats each other like family."

"Family…" She whispered. "But… I'm not a mage."

"Everyone can become a mage," I told her. "It's just a matter of hard work…" I gently crouched down to be a bit more on her level and lifted my hand. "Let's make a pinkie promise. One day, we'll meet again. At Fairy Tail."

She stared at me before she gave a tearful smile and locked her pinkie with mine. "Mm!"

I gave her a warm smile before I broke the lock of our pinkies and activated Meteor once again, shooting off to rip open the other cells and free the other prisoners.

Climbing the tower was a process. It took a long time, and I did have to send through some people in the end due to sickness, or lack of food. I dropped them off right outside of a city, hopefully they'd be able to get them proper medical attention and food, but I only sent through the ones who most desperately needed it.

Finally, we reached a high floor on the tower. Honestly, even I was starting to feel exhausted from how much I was expending my magic and exerting my strength…

But finally, I could only feel a few presences above, all of them much stronger than anyone behind me save Erza or Casey's power… I'd gotten all the prisoners out now, that was for sure.

Time to bring this to an end.

"Right," I looked over at them. "As of now, all of the prisoners are finally free… For that reason, I'm sending you all ahead," I ripped open a portal for them. "All of you walk through this portal. It'll take you out near a big city, where you can restart your lives. All of you have worked hard… It's a miracle we got here without losing anyone ,but now I need all of you to head through the portal. Your fight is over, and you can relax."

"But… What about you?" Erza asked.

"Like I said, I'm going to bring down this tower. I'm going to completely and totally obliterate it, so that nobody will ever have to suffer again."

"Then let us help!" Casey insisted.

"No," I shook my head. "The spell I plan to cast will completely destroy the tower and this island, staying here will only get all of you caught up in the blast. It's better for you all to go."

I looked over at Rob. "I'll meet you all again. At Fairy Tail."

Rob stared at me and smiled. "I'll make sure to stay alive long enough to see you there, Aldrin."

"Buy me a drink, and we'll call it even," I told him. "Now go, all of you… And be free."

The prisoners, one by one, all marched through. The adults all made sure the children got through, quickly leading them ahead to the city…

Soon enough, the only ones left were Rob, Erza, Casey, Millianna, Sho, Wally, and Simon.

"Will you really be okay?" Millianna asked.

"Of course," I smiled at her. "Didn't you hear what I said? It might… Take some time, I have a lot of things to do. But we'll definitely meet again at Fairy Tail. I promise."

The dam burst as Millianna, Sho and Wally ran towards me, hugging me tightly and thanking me for saving them.

"Hey, it's okay," I smiled as I gently pat their heads and backs, letting them get it out of their system. It took a bit of time before they pulled away, still sniffling.

Simon walked up to me and gave me a handshake. "Thank you," he told me sincerely. "I'll see you again at Fairy Tail… I'll introduce you to my sister, she's as cute as a button, and I'm sure you'll get along."

! That was right, Kagura! With her and Simon actively looking for each other, they might reunite and meet. Meaning Fairy Tail would receive another incredible powerhouse.

I didn't even consider that, but that would be a nice little side effect… I did feel a bit bad that I was weakening other guilds, but Fairy Tail was going to be Alvarez's main target thanks to Fairy Heart.

All I was doing was helping Fairy Tail become stronger. That was all.

… Huh, Laxus vibes.

"You two," I looked at Erza and Casey with a smile. "I'm sure you'll help take care of all of them with Simon… I hope on the day we meet again; you'll show me some wonderful magic."

"… Of course!" Erza nodded. "I'll become really strong! Super strong!"

"Me too!" Casey nodded. "We'll both become really strong mages! We'll both show you that we can be just as strong as you, so-!"

"We'll meet again," I promised with a smile. "At Fairy Tail."

They both gave determined nods. They didn't shake my hand or give me a hug, maybe because they thought if they did that it would really mean goodbye.

I looked over at Rob. "Take care of them."

"Hoho, of course," he smiled. "My final duty as a mage… It was a grand story that I'll be tell until the end of my days, Aldrin… Thank you."

"Thank you… All of you," I ripped open a new portal, one that was five miles out from Magnolia. "Head on through. I'll see you all again."

They all hesitated save Rob, who gently led them through the portal. They all looked back at me and waved, and I returned it before both portals snapped shut.

I took a breath as I grew serious, light surrounding me as I shot out of an open window, soaring high into the sky above the tower, staring down at it coldly.

I slowly lifted my hand, staring down at the tower coldly, my magical power building as I unleashed it full force.

High in the sky, the full moon came into bloom as my magical energy saturated the entire area.

Down-right.

This tower had been a source of suffering for so many years.

Up-left.

Even after Erza escaped from the tower, it served as a source of trauma. That was why she wore her armour at all times, refusing to let anyone else in.

Right.

The R-System. Magic created by Zeref in an attempt to resurrect his dead brother, an attempt that ended in failure like so many others.

Down-left.

And now… I would make sure it fell by my hands.

Up-right.

The pentagon star in front of me glowed brightly before it span and expanded, becoming a massive magic circle empowered by the five basic elements.

While my understanding of the elements was minimal, it was still good enough to let me use the heavenly bodies to fill in the gaps.

It wasn't as powerful as it could be… But it was enough for this tower.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Arts."

A combination of two powerful magics, resulting in the formation of something truly terrifying, but at this moment wonderful.

"Heavenly Body."

The nightmare for all those who suffered within this tower would finally come to an end.

"Abyss Break!"

.

.

.

I stood on a nearby shoreline, looking out as the waves crashed against the shores, and against each other.

Where once there was a tower far in the distance, now it was long gone, obliterated by the Abyss Break and whatever souls remained inside were long gone with it.

I'd changed into my preferred clothes again, a set of grey robes with white lining on them. They were the type of robes you might expect to see in a Cultivation Webtoon, but they were incredibly comfortable and provided a lot of breathing room for me.

Around my body was also a plain brown cloak with fur lining and a hood, just to help keep my appearance hidden as much as possible. I didn't want to become too well known and catch the eye of the magic council too soon.

With my actions, I'd completely shifted the fate of the world. Brain would no longer be able to just pick the kids he wanted from the Tower of Heaven, instead he'd have to find mages with that kind of potential and either force or convince them into serving him. On top of that, I'd greatly increased the chances of Sorano joining Fairy Tail when she was older, as well as ensuring Casey joined too.

A Wizard Saint, a mage who would have the skills to catch another Wizard Saint off guard, and who knows how many others… Midnight, Cobra, and Racer might have been in the crowd of kids and overheard me when I made my pinkie swear with Sorano and might go to Fairy Tail too.

It was just a matter of time until I found out.

I sighed and turned away from the shoreline, starting to walk down the path.

I had one more thing to do before I left this world, and that was pen a letter to Grammi in Alvarez. Both to make sure Layla Heartfilia didn't die, and to make sure Brandish joined Fairy Tail.