Broken Fairies

by EnergyMageFrea

Light Magic has won over Dark in the battle to decide the Balance of the world, but shadow has never settled so thickly over the Fairy Tail Guild as it has now, and that darkness does not seem to want to leave. Is it possible, after all the evil and the pain suffered, lived through and triumphed over by the Guild- that Fairy Tail has finally broken? {Fourth Story in Series!}

27. Chapter 27- To Feel

Chapter 27

To Feel

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas

.:+:.

... It... It got cold...

... Am... I there... Now...?

... Dead... The Reach... D.. Drowning...

... Drowning... Cold... Cold and... I..

... S..still... Burning...

... Am I... Burning...?

Or is... Are they...?

N..no...

...p...please...

.:+:.

Her pulse... It... The irregularity went away... Did I imagine it...?

He shut his eyes, rubbing at his eyelids with a hand before pinching the bridge of his nose, and letting out a low breath that was meant to ease the headache and the dizziness... But really did little.

... Or was it just... The strain...? A byproduct of MDS setting in... Or infection...?

N..no... The Table keeps infection off... But her immune system is still so weak...

She's still so weak... Even what I managed to fix was little more than a band-aid... But if I push her body harder right now trying to deal with anymore, her heart might give out.

His tired eyes opened slowly, sluggishly reading through the words and diagrams afforded by his Glasses and the screen, and the light of them making his eyes sting terribly. He'd been looking at it much too long, and much more than was recommended.

... Did I imagine it...? Or did the Magic from the Collar... Set it off...? Could it...?

His hand fell from his nose and settled instead over his mouth, blinking several times before letting his eyes trail away from the screen and toward that terrible, terrible Collar... His terrible creation.

... Yes, I think it could... But... Even then I'm not sure I did see it... There's too many warnings popping up... Too much damage to sift through...

... It was probably... Just from the shock... Stabilizing her condition must have done away with it...

He could feel his legs shaking, his feet ached from standing so long and his entire body hurt. His arms and hands were the worst of the lot, along with a throbbing in his temple, and he felt just about ready to pass out.

But I can't... I still have more things to do

"Some of the color has returned to her face." Seyre's soft voice echoed in his head, the Keistae's hand moving forward toward the unconscious Energess lying on the table, before pressing her hand gently against the Energess' forehead. "Her temperature has gone down too." Seyre's green eyes trailed quietly away from Frea's slightly flushed face and further down, tracing along the faint white lines scoring across her skin along her arms and shoulders. The pale white of the burns turned hotter red and purple around the Energess' neck where the Collar was still fastened securely.

Talarr, with help of a slew of freshly made potions and concoctions, Magically-imbued bandages and the Healing Properties and Tools attached with his Prototype Table- had been hard at work for the last two hours or so. The burns stretching along the Energess' body had been dulled down to those faint, white marks for the most part, losing the heat they gave off but still holding to it in the ones around her neck and under the Collar. The severity of the ones on her neck had been more than Talarr could do away with entirely, and what little he managed to treat them had only managed to make them dark in color and probably fairly painful still- but healed to bruising enough the risk of infection had dropped significantly. And with the work on the burns, he'd also managed to fix what hairline fractures had appeared along her ribs, arms, and whatever else... As well as contend with the newly snapped muscle fibers and other internal damage that had been wrought during the whole fiasco.

He couldn't fix anything that had already been there though, all the countless areas of scar tissue and damage done to her body and had been there for months now after her fight with Mordren. Lasting imprints of injuries that should have killed her and yet had failed to... And these old internal injuries looked all too similar to the ones she earned anew tonight, comparatively less severe however.

At any rate, he had fixed all those new injuries enough they weren't life threatening. And he'd also been able to mend the fracture in her left wrist, it had been a fairly simple break, and easy enough to fix given a small metal pin infused with Magic connecting the fracture together. The break in her right shoulder was more complicated though, and even with another pin to stabilize it, it wasn't going to mend as quickly as the wrist could, or even for another few weeks probably... Though that was all pending how well she recovered from any of the shock or the sickness at all after this.

Her wounds weren't infected no, but Pestilence's Magic had left her still so ill even after it's effects had already worn off. Her body couldn't fight it off so quickly, and less so now after having her Magic stripped from her so violently- and especially not after the injuries and the pain caused by the Siphon and the Collar both. And because of all of it, her pulse was low and her breathing too, coming in quick, rushed, shallow bursts... But nothing so serious as to worry him they would halt altogether again. She was just extremely exhausted, and frail, and the lack of Magic in her body wasn't helping anything.

And that was his fault... So much of this was his fault.

He sighed, nodding slightly as he waved his hand to the side and the screen he was staring at disappeared from view. He rubbed at his eyes again, the thin shell of blue Magic that had been risen out of the Table to surround the Energess faded as the Table seemed to power down, the Lacrima attached to it giving off no small amount of heat from the extended use. To be entirely honest, it was something of a miracle it had stayed powered on as long as it had, though now that he had let it turn off he was sure it wouldn't come back on anytime soon... He'd also probably have to replace the Power Lacrima- but that wasn't important right then.

"... Yes... Her condition is stable again..." Talarr announced softly, earning relieved sighs from the Fairies and the Cougars in the room alike. He let his hand drop from his face, taking his glasses off and slowly moving toward a table that had been cleared and was now full of phials, cups, herbs, and other miscellaneous things needed in potions making. He set the glasses down on the table and rubbed the back of his neck, the other hand leaning against the table top as his posture wilted. "... I don't expect her to be on her feet anytime soon though... She's going to be very weak for awhile now, regardless of what I do... It won't be a good idea to move her very much. She needs rest more than anything and time to just... Let her body try and work through all of the strain and sickness..." Talarr went on softly, sighing again as he turned back around and caught the eyes of the rest where they were standing along the edges, eyes fixed to him as they listened with their utmost attention.

They'd all shuffled into the small space after Freed had finished writing the Runes around the perimeter of the workshop, and had been standing there fidgeting, all worried gazes between the lot of them and flicking back and forth as he and Seyre set to work on Frea. They'd said very little as they did so, every once in awhile asking a question or two, or murmuring things amongst themselves- catching themselves up on what was going on and what had happened, from what Talarr understood. Though he paid them little mind through his work.

About an hour in Seyre had moved from helping Talarr and turned her time and attention on the Mages, gently beckoning them to her and beginning to treat and wrap their own wounds. They didn't complain much to the Keistae's assistance, and focusing on her for a time was actually a welcome distraction in the utter tense and quiet of the room, and just waiting... waiting, when sitting there while Talarr did his work with Frea lying on that table, so pale and so hurt again, looking for some word- it all felt so very familiar to that day after Mordren had hurt her, and their hearts ached for it.

"... I didn't know how much it would affect her health, to have her Magic stripped away." Talarr admitted softly, his eyes moving from the Fairy Tailers and to just about anywhere else. "... I apologize for all of this... I wish I could undo it... But I can't, so for now I will do what I can to keep her condition from getting any worse... I'm hoping I can put together something that will help her Magic regenerate faster, and perhaps stave off any complications from Magic Deficiency Syndrome... But it'll take me awhile to create it, I've never made a potion like that before."

"You should take a break, Talarr." Seyre's soft voice echoed in his head, the Keistae moving up to him and gesturing toward a chest nearby. "Please sit down, and let me look at your wounds." She told him, settling the King's Ilaen with a calm, steady stare, and Talarr wilted.

"A-alright..." Talarr mumbled, slowly taking a stiff seat on the lid of the chest, letting out a quiet sigh. Seyre smiled slightly, before quickly bringing bandages and supplies closer to where he was and setting in on unwrapping the ones he had thrown on his arms earlier. Silence fell for a few moments as Seyre set to work, Talarr sitting quietly and letting the Keistae do as she will and giving absolutely no indication of pain or discomfort as she treated the injuries. He just watched her, before his eyes slowly trailed from Seyre's hands and back toward the Mages.

"... Forgive my asking this, but how exactly did you all get inside Okeal?" Talarr murmured softly, "The Barriers are created to withstand a force equal to that of your Magic Council's Etherion, and there's millions of fail safes and nullification charms that are meant to guard against interference of any kind... So I'm curious how any of you actually got here...?"

"We came in two different groups." Shae murmured, raising a bandaged paw as she smiled wearily, gesturing toward the Thunder Legion. "I managed to muck with the frequency of the Barrier enough usin' my Disruption Magic and create a hole for us." She hummed, Talarr blinked. "Not gonna bore everyone with the specifics Ilaen, but big picture- my Disruption Magic is like super good at messin' all the fancy Magic tools in Adgnei, comes in mighty handy." She purred, and Talarr nodded slightly, though he looked like he wanted the boring details.

"And as for us, one of our S-Class Mages managed to punch a hole through the Barrier with a Spell of his." Gray mumbled, and Talarr's eyes went wide, blinking several times over as he processed the-

"W-what..?!" Talarr stammered quickly, "O-one spell...? E-even a Spell cast by an S-Class Wizard shouldn't be enough to break through the Barriers..!"

"Y-yeah it kinda threw me too..." Corbynn mumbled, "But it's totally the truth though, that Laxus guy is a total powerhouse and he was like super pissed, so that probably helped..." The boy chuckled nervously and Talarr blinked, recognition flashing across his face for a moment.

"... Laxus... Dreyar...?" He asked slowly, the Fairy Tailers blinked.

"Yes." Freed answered quietly,

"Man, Adgnei is really into the GMG, huh?" Gray mumbled, "Seems like everyone we run into from here knows all of us that played in the Games..."

"I mean yeah, pretty much everybody in Adgnei watches it." Shae commented, shrugging. "It's like the only thing all the Castes enjoy equally. Seein' all you fancy Caster-Magic Wizards goin' at it and throwing shiny spells every which way is pretty amusing~" she purred, Gray and Juvia bit the inside of their cheeks, looking a little embarrassed.

Talarr's eyes fell from them though, staring at his hands as Seyre finished up with his wounds and his mind whirling slightly just trying to imagine what that would have looked like. To have Laxus Dreyar from the Grand Magic Games break through Okeal's Barriers with one single Spell... He couldn't imagine it, or even just how 'pissed' that man would need to be to do it.

That's... Insane... That much power... Even for someone able to defeat a Wizard a Saint in the GMG, those Barriers are...

He shivered slightly, his eyes flicking away from his hands and over toward Frea.

... Someone able to defeat a Wizard Saint... And so angry they managed to blow an impossible hole through the Barriers... Angry because of what's been done with the Energess...?

Talarr swallowed, flashes of the images of that Lightning Dragon Slayer in his harrowing battle against Saint Jura coming to the forefront of his mind.

Gods... If that man finds out I had a hand in it... I'm dead...

"... W-where is... Is he now...?" Talarr stammered, his eyes slowly moving back to the Fairies and his thoughts spinning with images of lightning, and a rage-filled fist headed in his direction.

"... He and Lord Nirav began laying into one another." Corbynn told him softly, and Talarr stiffened. "They got really heated, really fast. Lord Nirav forced them both through a Bean, but I have no clue where it took them... probably somewhere within the Barriers boundaries, but we've not seen either of them since." Talarr nodded slightly, looking less than relieved with the answer.

"I.. I see..." He mumbled,

"... Seyre, you mentioned you had an idea about disabling the Barriers?" Freed asked softly, steering the conversation a different way and earning Talarr's interest once more. Seyre dipped her head, clasping her hands together in front of her softly.

"Yes, I managed to locate a way into the central hub that controls what the Barriers around Okeal." Seyre's voice began in their thoughts, the bracelet on her arm glowing as she faced them calmly. "The warding there won't allow us to simply destroy the power source and turn the Barrier off completely, and I would not trust allowing Shae to use her Disruption Magic on them either, lest it set off a very unpleasant explosion."

Shae smiled wryly at the mention, chuckling a little nervously. "Ah, yeah probably..."

"So, barring being unable to take the Barriers down completely, I think it may be possible to alter the restrictions on what is allowed to pass through them." Seyre went on with a soft smile, "Potentially I might be able to change the settings to allow Lady Aisha and your Guild through without hindrance, and perhaps limit any more Kullui entering from the outside."

"... would that really be possible?" Evergreen murmured,

"Yeah, you make it sound easy." Gray mumbled, and Seyre shook her head slightly.

"It would not be an easy task." Seyre replied, "Getting there would be difficult enough, and altering the controls in the mainframe for the Barriers will be even more so. It will likely take me a fair amount of time to even access the controls themselves, and then reworking the restrictions will be even more complex. I risk locking the system and trapping all of us inside and everyone else out if I slip up... I would also risk being caught by any enemies still in Okeal while staying stationary as I work."

"Meaning you would need some extra protection." Shae murmured, her ears twitching. "People to help get you there, and then to keep anyone off of you, so you have enough time to do what you need to do, and not muck up, yeah?"

"Correct. My Pups will do their best to keep the Kullui occupied, but we will need extra help." Seyre replied with a dip of her head toward the wolves that had moved up to sit at her side.

"... am I the only one wondering how you know how to change the settings?" Bixlow hummed to the Keistae,

"No, I am wondering that myself..." Talarr mumbled, and Seyre smiled pleasantly at them both, though her eyes only found Talarr.

"I've been studying your designs since Lady Aisha asked me to help locate the Energess." Seyre replied, still smiling so sweetly at the Ilaen, her hands folded in front of her and completey at ease. "I have a base familiarity with the way in which you program your tools, and I have studied the design of the Barriers in the other levels of the city quite extensively in order to assist Lady Aisha and Sir Therigist with their endeavors over the years." Talarr blinked, his expression falling blank as he tilted his head at the Keistae. "With enough time I am confident I can navigate the controls, and change them as I need."

"... you are... very surprising... Seyre..." Talarr murmured after a moment, and Seyre smiled a bit more. "... you are no ordinary Keistae..."

"But of course I'm an ordinary Keistae, I'm nothing special." Seyre's voice replied with utter ease, and Talarr's head tilted even further, "I simply aim to help those in need, and to keep balance and harmony in our world. If doing so can be achieved through my exploits with Lady Aisha, or by altering the Barrier, or even by going against the God-King's wishes... if it means peace is kept and lives can be saved, then it is my duty to do whatever I can."

Talarr's eyes widened slightly, stiffening as he stared.

... for peace... and saving lives... hmm...?

His eyes dropped, narrowing as he twined his fingers together in his lap.

... I suppose... I did the same thing... didn't I...?

... I went against my own God-King... the one I'm sworn to, as an Ilaen... in order to try and save the Energess...

... so many people are dying right now... so much chaos, and destruction... and for what...?

Senselessly following someone... even when deep down... I knew it felt wrong...? Even when she warned me... pleaded, even when I'm the one that made something that caused her so much pain...

He let his eyes close, letting out a low, long breath as his hands clasped together a bit tighter.

"... I can help you." Talarr murmured softly, earning a blink from Seyre. "Even though I'm the one who maintains and constructed the bulk of what runs the Barriers in Okeal, Drennios has full access and control of the system, and it's His decision on who is allowed in or out, but... I left a few backdoors in the mainframe, so I would have an easier time of making repairs if need be, without having to rely on Drennios to give direct consent... I can show you how to access them, maybe it'll speed up your work, make it easier on you." Seyre looked surprised for a moment, her green eyes glittering as she stared, and Talarr glanced away, his tired eyes trailing toward the Energess.

"... even altering the Barriers restrictions won't allow the Energess to leave Okeal as long as the Collar remains locked, but allowing your Guild to enter the Palace is probably for the best... I cannot imagine how upset all of you are with what's gone on." Talarr mumbled, "... and perhaps being able to regroup will make sorting this mess out all the easier... this mess I have done so much to help create."

The Fairy Tailers and Cougars blinked, their expressions softening slightly as they saw the guilt work its way into the Ilaen, and how readily he offered to help Seyre with Barriers- and even how quickly he had been ready to help Frea. He'd not hesitated even more than a few seconds when they first found her, he'd gotten up and ignored his own wounds and rushed into trying to save her life, and he didn't back away even under Gray's anger either. He admitted what he'd done and what fault he was at, and still he was trying so hard to just... help, as much as he could.

To be entirely honest, when they had been told by Aisha of Drennios and his Ilaen, this ragged looking, stammering, and entirely flighty dude was not what they imagined. And quite frankly, Talarr didn't seem as unsure or weak-willed as Aisha and Seyre had described him to be. He was going against the very thing he was supposed to be utterly loyal to, and seemed to have been loyal to, up until the last few hours... and they couldn't help but wonder what had changed?

Was it all just because of what happened to Frea up in that Tower...?

Seyre smiled, her head dipping toward Talarr as he glanced back her way in surprise at the gesture. "Thank you, Talarr." Seyre's pleasant voice echoed in his thoughts, "Your help is greatly appreciated. I am sure the Gods see that you are trying to do what is right, and that is all we can ever strive for."

Talarr didn't reply to it, other than nodding just slightly, his eyes falling to his hands again, and swallowing once.

I hope

.:+:.

Earlier-

"... are you okay..?" Aisha panted, her violet gaze trailing left and toward Chase beside her, both of them out of breath and fairly worse for wear- though Aisha was a bit more than he was.

Chase cast a glance up at her, him leaning over slightly with his hands on his knees and blue eyes glittering as he saw the blood dripping down from her shoulders, several cuts scored into her skin now as she did her best to keep the Kullui at bay, while also keep him from as much harm as possible. He frowned, his hand lifting to hold on to the Collar around his neck and sighing.

Not being able to use Magic sucked... But even if he couldn't use his Magic, he could still feel everything, Magic coming their way, Energy Signatures... Aisha's pain every time she took a hit. She'd been doing most of the heavy lifting for about an hour now, casting Magic every which way and whittling the Kullui down at a constant rate. And yet no matter how much Magic Energy she wasted, or how many she took down, more just kept coming... and if it was possible, they were getting more and more violent as time went on.

He was doing what he could to help out, even without Magic he could still dodge fairly well and his fists worked too- but there was just very little contest to be had between him and Aisha, on who was being more effective at the moment. And honestly he hated how hard she was having to work to pick up his slack, even if her Magic was relatively easier to use with it being nighttime... Though the moon was still blocked off by the clouds and Magic in the sky both, and that didn't help anything.

They just hadn't had a moment to pause and give Aisha time to pull out a Skeleton Key and try to get the Collar off him, and though Chase offered to do it himself, he had to relent that he hadn't much clue how to use one of those things, or even be able to see what he was doing if he tried.

"... Yeah, what about you?" He murmured, she nodded slightly, looking away again and wiping a bit of blood trickling down her jaw from a cut on her forehead.

"... I'm fine... I just wish these goddamn Dolls would quit." She muttered hotly, casting a glare at the new line of Kullui advancing toward them from the direction of the city.

"... Oi, anybody there..?!"

Chase and Aisha both jumped slightly, Natsu's voice washing over their thoughts via the ChatterBox's Body Link. He sounded a little far-off and out of focus, a result of some amount of interference happening that had been going on since the Magic shot up out of the Tower.

Aisha let out a slightly annoyed growl, "... What do you want, Salamander?" She asked curtly, whilst also keeping a wary eye on the approaching Kullui.

"Finally! Where the hell have you been?! Did you guys get in the castle?!" Natsu snapped quickly,

"If we had, you wouldn't be hearing me." Aisha muttered coldly, Chase sighed.

"Gray, Juvia, Corbynn and Laxus got in." Chase imputed with a bit more patience. "... No idea on Shae and the Thunder Legion, but hopefully."

"... Tch... Well that's somethin' at least..." Gajeel's low grumble cut , Chase bit the inside of his cheek. "Why the hell are you two not with the rest of them?"

"... That's my bad... I got Collared and we couldn't get through the Barrier before it closed up again." Chase explained softly,

"Are you alright?" Laki asked quickly,

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Uhm... Guys, all that Magic pouring out of the Tower... Do... Do you think that they actually forced Frea... To really open whatever is up there...?" Wendy's soft and shaking voice asked next, and everyone listening felt their hearts drop, and twist all at once.

"... It isn't just the stuff coming out of the tower, all these old ruin things around the city are going haywire too." Max mumbled lowly, "And is it my imagination, but all these Kullui guys getting near them are powering up- like a hell of a lot?"

"No, they are gaining power from these ruins, without a doubt." Erza replied lowly,

"And they're getting more violent." Mirajane mumbled,

"... What the hell is going on..?"

"I will save you all speculation, and assure you that the Energess has indeed opened that Tomb... At least part way, for now." The Wizard Saint Saige Balthan's voice echoed over the Fairies thoughts, cutting off further debate.

"... No way...!"

".. Shit.."

"If it's only open halfway, there's still time to keep from opening it all the way right-?" Natsu started,

"No, there is no way of stopping it." Saige cut him off, "I warned all of you of this, the Energess does not have a choice, she will open the Tomb. And there is nothing you, nor I could do that will change it."

"Since you seem to know so damn much about this, why don't you tell us what the hell happens if Silver does open that thing all the way?" Gajeel muttered hotly,

"If it is not sealed quickly, the Magic in that Tomb will lay waste to all of Adgnei and everyone in it." Saige replied lowly, "Eventually it will fester and spread beyond this country. And what influence it wreaks on the rest of the world will bring little but strife, pain, war... Darkness in a whole, brought to the surface from within every living soul."

".. T..that sounds... Super bad..."

"... You mean like everybody? Everyone... Gets killed...?"

"Not cool...!"

"... What the hell do you mean Darkness from within people...?!" Natsu snapped,

Aisha and Chase stiffened though, their hearts skipping a beat at those last words Natsu was yelling about- and just what sense they made.

".. You're... You're not saying that people will Fall into Darkness, are you...?" Lucy asked, her voice hushed.

"Yes." Saige answered solemnly, "Not everyone, no, but many will... There are so few people on this planet capable of withstanding that call into the Abyss."

".. What the hell kind of Magic is in that Tomb...?!"

"It's a Force of Creation, yeah..?! Frea said there was Energy, and Time and Death-"

"-t..this isn't the Tomb that has Death, is it..?!"

"No. That is not the Force of Creation that sleeps here, of that I am very certain." Saige answered evenly, "I will not say that I really know what lies in store, or even that I completely understand what this Power is and is meant to be... But this is my candor, and my understanding of it, take it for what you will." Saige murmured, "What sleeps here is Soul, and it may prove to be a far more destructive force than the Tomb of Death ever could be."

That sounded ludicrous to many of them- because how could anything ever be worse than actual Death-?

They hadn't anytime to question it though, they all stayed absolutely quiet, and Saige kept on, calm as can be, but so utterly grim too.

"Soul is Judgment. The wicked and the evil that lies in the hearts of all mortal beings cannot hide from it, and Soul preys on those darkest portions of all living things, twists them and tests all of them for their will and their true selves... Soul renders a verdict on what truly rules in your deepest self, and exploits it- whatever the outcome may be. It renders Judgment on what you truly are, be it Light or Dark... Good and Evil, Wicked or Innocent, or even just Neutral." Saige explained softly, the Fairy Tailers found themselves stiff in their spots, minds racing. "It's a fickle and dangerous Power to begin with, maybe even more so than the other Forces of Creation... But it's been made worse now, because things here in Adgnei have been unbalanced for so long." Saige continued on, his voice dropping to something more serious. "The Tomb has remained sealed for more than an age, but it wasn't sealed properly. It's been boiling, tainted by a hand that opened and thrust it shut with no right to do so a very, very long time ago... And for it, this Power has become unhinged, and volatile. All of the Dark things sleeping inside of that Power were awakened when the balance inside of it was disturbed, and they have been vying and festering and pressing against the Door for a very long time... And now they are spilling out. All of them, true Evil."

Shivers ran down their spines, cold and biting.

"What is happening with the Kullui is a result of this. Most of them are nothing but vessels, so what evil things that are being released from that Tomb are taking hold of them, and wreaking havoc on a physical world that they cannot otherwise meddle in." Saige grumbled,

"Woah, woah you're saying there's like... Like ghosts or something coming out and possessing the Kullui Dolls...?!" Gajeel snapped,

"Call them ghosts if that helps you, but they are more accurately the Souls of the Damned." Saige murmured, "Souls of the most wicked and dark caliber you could fathom, trapped in a section of reality that can only be accessed by a rare few... And of which I believe, these ruins dotted around the city and the Tomb itself, serve as a gateway to it. Those Souls are taking advantage of the breach, and spilling out into our reality. But what are managing to get through now with the Tomb only part way open, is surely nothing like what may get released if the door opens all the way... And the longer it remains open, the more likely it is the worst of the evil in the Crossroads will manage to break free."

"... Why do you know so much about this?" Makarov asked lowly,

"My family has spent many generations studying this particular Force of Creation, trying to understand it's power and capabilities, and its reasons why for what events it has caused over time." Saige replied softly, and rather vaguely. "It's taken several hundred years to piece together even what little I know, or can guess about- but it is the combination of hundreds of minds, and all passed along and improved as years went by."

Aisha and Chase exchanged glances, their expressions tense and shaking slightly, they couldn't help it. And they even almost completely forgot about the Kullui at that moment, because...... This old guy... What he's saying about the Tomb, what's in it... What it can do...?

"..s..shit... This really is... What turned Mordren into...?" Chase stammered, his voice breathless, though he was careful enough not to let his words get picked up by the Telepathic Link of the ChatterBox. Aisha did the same, though she was just as stricken as Chase was, and rightfully so.

"... Does Saige know, about Frea...?" Aisha whispered, and Chase shook his head uncertainly, trembling still.

"I don't know... But probably... He knows so much about this, I wouldn't be surprised..." Chase mumbled, and Aisha swallowed a bit, her eyes narrowing to slits and glittering like mad.

"Say it does get opened, how do we close it again to keep all those super evil ghost things from getting out?" Natsu asked quickly, diverting their attention again.

"Yeah, if we shut it right away there won't be time for worse things to get out, right?"

"And the ruins around the city should be cut off from the main source of the Tomb then, yeah...?"

"No, I doubt even sealing the Tomb itself will deactivate the other ruins dotted throughout the city." Saige replied, "I think the Ruins serve as tears in the fabric of this reality, given life through the overflow of the Power in the Tomb- but I doubt closing it will mend those tears. I don't believe they will close back up on their own, not even if the Tomb gets shut again." Saige murmured, "I am also certain that none of you have the means to shut the Tomb, or the Ruins themselves. And surely no one in the teams that were sent to Okeal have that capability either... Not even the Energess could close that Tomb once it's opened."

"So what the hell are supposed to do?!"

"We gotta try something!"

"We can't just sit here and do nothing! Not even if you think we don't have what it takes!"

"Why couldn't Frea close it again? Especially if she's the one that opens it in the first place?!"

"The Energess is opening that Tomb through sheer force, prying it open where she has no right to open it at all." Saige replied evenly, "Places housing the Forces of Creation are sealed and meant to only be opened by someone who is a true master of the Magic inside... While clearly an ample amount of Magical Force can manage to get them open, doing so only makes the Power in the Tomb unstable and volatile, and upsets what balance it has inside of itself. If that internal balance is disrupted, the Power lashes out, with terrifying consequences."

"... Tch... So that's what's happening now? Because these guys are forcing Silver to open it? When she ain't supposed to, cause she ain't a 'Soul' Wizard or whatever?" Gajeel muttered,

"Indeed."

"All these people getting hurt and killed... Why would Adgnei's King have ever wanted this...? Did he know this would happen..?" Wendy stammered,

"He likely thought He could harness the Power for Himself. Theoretically there are tools here in Adgnei that could possibly contain some amount of the Power in the Tomb... Though I really doubt Drennios was prepared for what amount of turmoil and resistance it would stir up, or prepared for it. And to what end all of this is for, I cannot say for sure... Only that it likely wasn't done in the best interests of everyone in Adgnei." Saige replied lowly,

"So all of this shit, just to gain some power?" Natsu hissed,

"... It's a common enough reason why so many, have done such terrible things." Erza muttered lowly. And she was right- how much suffering had come to pass, just because someone was grasping for power? Like all the horrors of the Tower of Heaven, all in the pursuit of reaching for Zeref? Or the damage done by the King's Councilor, the Eclipse Gate, the Dragons in Crocus and Future Rogue? Trying to grasp at a power that could wipe out the Legendary Dark Wizard? Even Grimoire Heart and their attack on Tenrou Island? Or Death Bolt and all the terrible things done by them?

And all that happened with Mordren? Between Nvindorr, Hilshine, and that fateful day up on Frea's mountain? All the people he hurt on the way to doing it, the destruction he let loose? All the damage he did to so many, and to Frea especially?

All of it, just a grab for more and more power... Regardless of what awful befell others in the process.

"It's bullshit." Gajeel huffed lowly, and everyone else had to agree, though they didn't do so out loud.

Aisha cast Chase a sideways glance, her eyes narrowing when she found him staring at the ground, absolutely rigid and blue eyes glittering. His fists clenched at his sides as he hissed, his eyes shutting tight and shaking his head a little roughly. She could tell he was scared, she was too, and Saige's words and the reality of the situation was growing quickly heavier and heavier on them both... Because this was real, and an outcome of Frea falling into Darkness was very likely to happen.

If she'd been in pain for months already from what Darkness was eating away at her, to be thrust straight into the midst of the Power that had created that Darkness? What amount of agony would come with that? Even outside of the pain caused by having her Magic stripped and forced from her?

Frea could take an insurmountable amount of pain and strain, but even she had limits... More so after all the damage that had been done to her by Mordren.

Chase grit his teeth, silent and rigid and only faintly aware of Aisha and the Kullui still coming closer. He knew it was useless, but he couldn't stop himself from stretching his Senses outward, desperately trying to break through the cloud of numbness surrounding all of Okeal and keeping Hidden any and all things he should have been able to feel from there... keeping any shred or glimpse of his old Mentor from him, and that bright, strong, silver flame he was oh so used to.

Even if he could find it now, would it still be silver? Or would it have already been consumed in sickly, pitch black...? All that constant warmth already unending, spine-chilling cold...?

He hissed, catching himself and his thoughts and shaking his head rather roughly, cursing himself a few times over. He hated himself for those thoughts, but- shit, he was terrified, and he couldn't help it. And it was getting harder by the second to keep up his resolve and faith in his old Mentor... And that might have been just as bad as everything else.

He halted though, his heart skipping a beat as the fear got interrupted by something else- realization. His thoughts stopped spinning quickly enough to allow them to pull together, and on his mind rung Saige's words.

Wait a minute-

His head snapped around, his blue eyes locking to that distant and dark tower as he bit the insides of his cheeks and swallowed, and Aisha blinked at the change.

"... what..?" She mumbled, Chase shook his head slightly.

"It's just... even if no one on the teams can close it up again like Saige says, that doesn't mean there isn't anyone who can close the Tomb." Chase told her quickly, his voice somewhat hushed and blue eyes glittering as he glanced away from the Tower and toward her. And what Aisha saw getting brighter in his eyes was... steadiness, and maybe hope too...?

"Because there is one person who can close it, without a doubt. Because she's the one person in the whole world who is allowed to mess with it." Chase told her steadily and Aisha blinked, looking a little lost for a moment, before realization trickled into her expression.

"... Jynx...?" Aisha mumbled, her voice hardly above a whisper.

"Right you are."

Both Chase and Aisha jumped, Saige's voice invading their thoughts out of nowhere, they hadn't even been aware the ChatterBox Link was broadcasting what Chase said at all, let alone that the Saint was listening in... Though instantly they realized it wasn't the ChatterBox Body-Link at all, instead it was the Saint projecting his thoughts all on his own, and had made it so only Aisha and Chase were listening in for the moment.

"The Seleyn has been in this city far longer than any of you have, and I am sure she's been doing her own preparations for what is coming... I don't doubt she is up there now, ready to seal the Tomb shut again once it's been opened all the way." Saige told them coolly, both Chase and Aisha stiffened, their eyes widening.

Seleyn...? That... that sounds like Aisha's-

"-wait a minute, what did you just call her?" Chase asked instantly,

"And why does that sound like my last name-?" Aisha asked too,

"It is her Title, as Malurey is for the Energess- as a Mortal Embodiment of a Force of Creation." Saige answered coolly, "Jynx is the Seleyn, the Mortal Embodiment of Soul... Your Family Name is spelled differently, Lady Aisha, but it does sound the same, though it is likely only coincidence." He explained, but Aisha and Chase blanched slightly, their eyes widening, because they both realized it in an instant.

"... that means... Carla's Vision..." Chase mumbled, Aisha hissed.

"... It was never my name at all, it was Jynx." She muttered lowly, her eyes flashing. "... this whole time, it was a warning about the Tomb, about what was in it... and who's supposed to be the only one messing with the damn thing... shit...!" She hissed,

"I am afraid that is true." Saige told them solemnly, "Though I think even if you were aware of it before now, it would not have made a difference. What is happening up there in that Tower is far beyond any of us, it is up to the Energess and the Seleyn to contend with, and they alone. It always was... all the rest of us can only hope to deal with the aftermath to the best of our ability, whatever may come."

Chase and Aisha grimaced, shivers running up their spines as chilly cold lumps fell into the cores at the grave, and utterly dire words... the words that weighed a million times heavier with the utmost surety of it- unspoken as it was- they all knew.

They were the only ones that did know, save those two up in the Tower, as Saige said... and the only ones in all of Adgnei and the Guild, and of everyone fighting in the city and the streets- for their homes, their lives, their loved ones, all of it... all the rest of them so very unaware of what was awaiting them. What terrible, terrible thing might be coming, something likely a million times worse than whatever that Tomb could spit out.

"... tch, she won't Fall, damn it!"

Chase and Saige jumped, their hearts jumping and thoroughly surprised to hear Aisha say the words so suddenly, and with so much conviction. Chase glanced her way, eyes wide and lost for words as she shot him a steely, halfway annoyed glare.

"The Screw-Up is nothing if not royally stubborn, and she can take hell and back, so she can sure as hell take whatever that damn Gate throws at her, you best be sure of that." Aisha hissed at him lowly, and Chase blinked. "She isn't gonna Fall into Darkness, not today or any other day- so quit working yourselves up already! Focus on yourselves and everything we can actually fix on our end, right now." Aisha muttered hotly, and Chase's expression softened slightly, his blue eyes glittering as he held her gaze.

... Aisha...

He knew she didn't fully believe what she was saying, or at least, she couldn't get rid of her own fear and worry all the way. He could still feel that from her, and even still she was looking at him, so calm and steady and her voice was too- she was telling him to stop working himself up and to focus. She was doing her best to assure him that what he was most afraid of, wasn't going to happen. Even if that meant putting her hopes and her trust in the one person she was always at odds with. Even if it meant putting that much faith in Frea of all people... and she was doing it for his sake, more than anything else.

He swallowed, a bit of warmth flooding his core where icy cold fear had settled so deeply-,and he nodded at her, once and firmly as she nodded back.

"... You're right." He told her softly, "Teach will be fine... she and Jynx will find a way to close the Tomb again, and everyone else in Okeal will make sure they're alright." He murmured, and Aisha nodded.

"... I have faith in the Malurey and the Seleyn too, as well we should." Saige told them quietly, "You are correct, for now we leave things to those in Okeal... we have plenty here in the city to look after in the meantime... and quite literally, all of Adgnei to fight for, and protect." He murmured, before letting out a small breath. "I trust the full might of the Fairy Tail Guild will be more than enough to save this country... and I am certain you will be more than capable of rising up to the call of Adgnei's people afterward, Lady Aisha." Saige added coolly.

Aisha's eyes flashed, her gaze sweeping away toward the bottom of the Valley and the burning sights of the city, Chase's eyes locked on to her and quiet in place as he just watched her... How steady and tall she was, even under everything, and all the chaos and the fear and the uncertainty- and under what daunting an outlook all of Adgnei would be faced with once all of this was over... if ever it was over, or whenever it may be.

Aisha nodded her head, once, and firmly, and Chase smiled faintly at her, his heart warming and aching a little all at once.

"This is the most stubborn Guild in the world, so of course we'll manage it... And you can be damned sure that I'm gonna fix this country when the fighting's done. I swear on all the Gods I will."

.:+:.

Earlier-

Laxus huffed, panting and out of breath, his body aching from the constant buffeting of explosions so strong they rattled his bones to the very core.

Damn this guy is a lot tougher than I thought

He hissed at the thought, his fangs gritting and lightning sparking off his person in sheer agitation. He hadn't intended to be stuck fighting Nirav for any more than a few minutes at best- it had been his every intention to fry him in an electric hellstorm and just be done with it after the bastard ran his mouth off about Frea... But hell if he wasn't a Vaide and one of 'Adgnei's most elite warriors' for nothing.

Every move he made Nirav matched it, and he went further too, never relenting with barrage after barrage of knives and swords and massive explosions left and right. It was never ending, and no matter how many times he dodged or destroyed the incoming attacks, there seemed to be infinitely many more.

The attacks were powerful, the blades notwithstanding, the explosions were the worst part of it. He could take a few cuts here and there, and he already had- but the explosions were wearing at him faster than he would ever like to admit, and no amount of jumping around in his Lightning Form was doing him much good.

Laxus cast a glare to their surroundings, growling under his breath when he didn't see the city anywhere, and he could only see the smallest portions of the tower attached to Okeal above the ridge of the top of the valley. He'd been knocked through one of those Magic Beans by Nirav a few minutes beforehand, and it seemed to have transported them to the other side of the damn mountain entirely... and now they were darting among the mountainside, knocking trees over and tearing up the landscape everywhere they went, fighting hard and fast and with near every inch he had- and still it wasn't enough to get the upperhand on the Vaide.

He grit his teeth so hard they threatened to crack, his expression darkening and and the sparks jumping off his shoulders increasing.

This is such bullshit

"... this is disappointing." Nirav's voice reached him from somewhere back among the trees, and Laxus stiffened. "You defeated a Wizard Saint, so I expected more from you... though I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised. If your Energess turned out to be such a disappointment, what hope was there for you?" The man sighed, and Laxus growled, low, angry.

His inability to gain an upperhand with the Vaide was made all the more infuriating by the fact that the bastard couldn't keep his mouth shut. And the more Nirav kept talking, and the longer he went without even getting a decent hit on the asshole, the angrier Laxus could feel himself getting... and the more he was getting angrier at himself for taking as long as he was, and being so damned useless.

"Shut the fuck up." Laxus hissed, "You ain't got a clue who you're talkin' to, asshole."

"You really are so full arrogance... is your mind so consumed by vanity that you've failed to realize it?" Nirav sighed, Laxus turning to the sound of his voice and eyes narrowed as he scanned the dark trees for sign of the Vaide. There was no light here, the moon was hidden with the sky so black, and this side of the mountain seemed choked in a thick blanket of shadow it couldn't seem to shake. Even with Laxus' eyes as sharp as they were, he was having a hard time even seeing the blades being sent his way, let alone Nirav. Even the light of his lightning seemed somehow dulled here, struggling against a darkness that just seemed to eat it up the minute it came to life.

It was so dark he was starting to think it wasn't at all natural. And his suspicions grew sharper every time he caught a whiff of something dead and decaying, buried somewhere out here in all the thick, gnarled trees. Not just one something, but many somethings...

"... You're already struggling against me, you are already beaten and bleeding- and I have yet to break a sweat. You've not even managed a hit on me, Dreyar." Nirav went on, and Laxus huffed. "You don't stand a chance against me, based on your performance so far."

"Tch, get rid of all your fancy Magic Tools and face me with just your body. See if you don't break a sweat then." Laxus snapped back lowly, Nirav sighed.

"... How base... The extent of one's capability has nothing to do with using Holder or Caster Magic." Nirav grumbled, "You Caster Wizards are all the same, you think power is only born of how much Magic you can produce from within yourselves. A true measure of Power is not what sort of Magic or what sort of Tools you use- it's your ability to use them effectively... And much more effectively than your opponent can use their own Magic, whatever form it may come in."

Laxus heard the whistle of the blades through air long before he ever even caught a glimpse of them coming through the trees. But they were not coming from the direction Nirav's voice had been, they were the complete opposite- right behind him.

Shit-!

He moved and only one second too late to avoid the brunt of the explosion, his body a yellow blur for only a moment before the shockwave rammed into him, and he lost any amount of momentum or control he'd had. He hit the ground and slid back, flipping back onto his feet in no time at all and Magic flaring around his fists, hissing.

If not being able to see Nirav was nuisance enough, the constant thundering of explosions and splintering trees made it difficult to even hear Nirav's movements, or anything else he might be sending his way.

He moved again, darting away in his Lightning Form and avoiding the small daggers that struck hard into a tree a few yards behind where he previously been. They detonated as soon as they sank in and the tree was rendered nothing but splinters and embers.

"You are quite fast, I will give you that." Nirav went on as another few minutes passed and all Laxus managed was dodging left and right. He was trying to pin the Vaide down but every time he thought he got close to pinpointing the man in all the trees, he was gone in the next instant and all that was left waiting for him was another massive detonation. It didn't matter how fast he moved, or how quickly he moved from place to place all over the area, he never saw the Vaide, not once. Not between the suffocating, unnatural darkness all around, and not around the constant plumes and clouds of smoke and debris floating on the air from the blasts.

Laxus jumped back and came to a pause, panting slightly now and teeth gritting, eyes narrowed against the dust and smoke alike, tense.

What the hell... is he Teleporting or something...? That quickly...?

He hadn't a clue, and he wasn't sure he really cared either- he just wanted to find him and flatten him into the ground so he could be done with this. He'd already wasted enough time dancing around, but hell.

... I'm totally flying blind here... Why can't a get a bead on this guy, but he seems to know where I am all the time...?

"... you are also withstanding blow after blow, and still keep going... Many would have succumbed to the backlash of the explosions long before now." Nirav was still talking, still so calm, so non-bothered, so- damn it!

"I wonder how much you can take before your body gives out on you?"

He got knocked back again, skidding over the ground and hissing at the sting of pain that ran through his core, and the ache of his bones rattling under his skin. He coughed, coming to a halt again and stumbling back a pace or two, only to freeze when something snapped under his foot, and was quickly followed by rattling and a huge waft of rot and decay hit his nose.

Laxus' head whipped around, his heart skipping a beat and mouth snapping shut, wrinkling his nose against the stench as his stomach flipped a little at the sheer intensity of it. He froze without meaning to, his eyes going wide when he found himself standing at the edge of a large pit dug into the earth, the edges of it surrounded by brambles and weeds and bones. The bones persisted all the way down into the pit itself, but at the bottom of fifteen foot drop there was a mass of twisted, ripped apart, mangled bodies.

There were hundreds of them, fresh and old, rotting and putrid, shriveled, falling apart, some more mush than solid... Some of them were in pieces, limbs hacked off or blown, organs spilling and the ground soaked in so much blood and death, the corpses were practically swimming in all the filth. Where the clothes hadn't already rotted away he saw filthy white in the most abundance, followed by a hundred more greens, tan, yellows and other such hues. Under his feet were bones, brittle and broken underneath his weight, but he didn't move again, he stayed absolutely still, eyes fixed to the image of such unbridled, unfathomable atrocity.

Nirav had already been boasting about killing plenty of people, and about no one ever escaping him.. Is this where he'd brought them?

Laxus jaw clenched, his shoulders hunching and fists balling at his sides, his head bowing and a shadow falling across his face, hiding his eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, I see we've managed to stumble quite a ways in, haven't we?" Nirav hummed quietly, the constant onslaught of blades and explosions coming to a halt just as the Lightning Dragon Slayer did. "Few have ever seen this little secret of mine, it's rare anyone has ever evaded me in my wood long enough to find it... Of course, all those who have made it here before, they are all lying there among the rest. I expect you'll join them soon, now that you've seen it."

So, that was it...? This whole place, his hunting grounds...?

"Have I upset you, Dreyar? Does death disturb you?" Nirav murmured, "Usually I earn a shriek when someone finds this, or at least they begin to sob... not you? Are you indifferent, or simply shocked into silence? I would like it if you gave some sort of reaction at least, give me something to see..."

... He stole people away, cut them down, and left their bodies to rot, buried deep in a wood where they would never be found again...? For what...?

"... give me something to enjoy, would you? Terror, disgust, shock, anguish, anything really... I would very much love to see you shaking, see you crumble, see that arrogance in you drain away... I really was hoping to break you, Dragon Slayer."

Laxus stiffened, his lips pulling, fangs grinding further and still so utterly silent.

... For what? The sick pleasure of seeing people crumble? To rip them apart..?

"Does this not do it for you? Hundreds dead, forgotten, decaying where not even the Gods can see them?" Nirav's voice was getting lower, colder as something sickly sweet and so utterly twisted seemed to works it's way into his tone. Laxus' head twitched to the left, faintly, imperceptibly so... because even fainter still, he felt some new sort of cold seeping into the air.

"... I suppose you probably wouldn't care much for the suffering of such inconsequential souls as these... but I wonder, what if it were the Energess you saw lying there?"

Laxus' fists clenched harder at the words, but still he didn't move. His eyes were shut, his ears ringing with the voice and from the explosions, but he was pouring his focus on anything but. He couldn't smell anything beside the rot, he couldn't hear, and he couldn't see... But maybe he didn't need to. He thought... Maybe he did feel it, getting heavier, sharper.

"Would it move you then? To see her? Her body ripped apart, her bones poking up through the skin? Organs ripped from her frail, weak little body...? Or maybe to have her torn to pieces, her head separated from the rest of her? Floating there lifeless, in pond of blood and gore, and hundreds more like her?" Nirav hissed lowly, Laxus let out a low, rumbling growl.

"... Tch... You know, I've seen a lot of monsters, but you..." Laxus grumbled lowly, "... You are a whole new kind of sick and twisted... Makes me wonder how a monster like you has managed to keep getting away with all of your bullshit for this long, Gods or no Gods." Laxus moved finally, his head lifting and the shadow across his eyes disappearing as he looked left, straight out into the darkness, and burning bright, electricity flashing in his gaze. "You think these people aren't worth a damn? That they're 'inconsequential'?" Laxus hissed lowly, fangs bared and expression darkening by the second, while his eyes blazed even brighter.

This time Nirav didn't answer, he didn't speak, he didn't even dare- because that Dragon Slayer couldn't have been... But... Was he looking directly at him? How could he-?

"Maybe it's time you get thrown in this hole like them, because you are definitely worth a hell of lot less than they are." The Dragon Slayer hissed, low and cold, lightning sparking off of his shoulders and voice so full of venom and hatred.

"I guarantee ain't nobody gonna miss a worthless monster like you... Hell, I'll probably be doin' the whole world and your damn Gods a favor."

Laxus moved at last, lightning fast and bubbling with anger and Magical Pressure. He went directly left, and Nirav faltered, his mind reeling and failing to do anything at all- because that Dragon Player was headed directly at him.

Laxus' fist slammed into Nirav's jaw, the Vaide immediately sent flying backwards to smash through a few trees- but not before Nirav had already swiped his hand forward, digging three small blades into the Dragon Slayer's arm and shoulder the minute Laxus' fist made contact. Laxus hissed as the blades sunk in, drawing up short on the follow through of the punch and quickly shaking the daggers loose by changing into his Lightning Form. He only had three seconds to move before the blades imploded, and he circled around the edge of the blast, darting straight back toward Nirav as the Vaide stumbled to his feet, grimacing and pulling a dozen more blades out between his fingers.

"How in the hell did you locate me..?!" Nirav snapped, his hands darting forward and sending the blades streaming through the air toward Laxus' bright yellow figure dancing through air. Lightning struck out, ramming into the blades and causing them to implode, and dust and smoke creating a barrier between Nirav and Laxus again. "There are a hundred Detection Repressers scattered in this forest, everything about my presence should be completely hidden from you- you cannot find me for any reason!" The Vaide snapped, before hissing, his body blurring as he spun one of the rings on his fingers, Teleporting himself to the other side of the cloud and already ready to send more blades out.

Lightning arched over the trees, dancing through the dark clouds engulfing the sky, and still the light of the storm couldn't break through the canopy- of course it couldn't, that's what the Repressers were for. It wasn't just hiding his movement, it was cutting off senses and sight of anyone that entered here that were not the Vaide... so how in the hell had that damn Fairy managed to come straight for him and land a hit?!

Nirav blinked once, and flinched in the next instant, because that blur of gold was already three feet in front of him with a lightning encased fist aimed for his face.

"W-what-?!"

He cut off in a pained gasp, knocked back again and cheek bloody and jaw feeling like it shattered under the hit. He slammed into the ground, his body wearing a trench into the earth and hissing, struggling to roll back over onto his feet again and regain his balance.

"Your Repressers ain't gonna do shit for you now." Laxus growled lowly, "Dodge around as much as you want, Teleport, whatever. I will still find you."

Nirav grit his teeth, coming to a halt at last and pulling a longer blade off his back, eyes narrowed and glaring daggers as Laxus landed on his feet again. The Lightning Dragon Slayer looked right at the Vaide, expression dark, and piercing. Lightning flared overhead, breaking across the clouds and outlining the Dragon Slayer's figure among the dark, looming, steady.

"Your bloodlust is giving you away." Laxus rumbled lowly, Nirav's expression twisted further, and Laxus' head twitched, just once. "... right there, it's getting stronger. You can't help yourself, can you?"

"Tch... it doesn't matter if you can sense me." Nirav hissed, tensing, ready. "You're still outmatched Dreyar... but at least now it'll be more enjoyable to kill you!"

There was another series of explosions, the woods shaken to their very core, whole trees torn up, lightning running rampant through the forest, the earth cracked, smoke a constant, thick blanket as heavy as the unnatural dark. They were raging, tearing everything apart and giving no mind to the destruction, all focus was on each other, fast paced and violent, no holding back. For every flash of lightning there was the glint of a blade, every roll of thunder another blast of fire and unrelenting force.

The whole mountain was shuddering underneath the violence, trembling and groaning under the nonstop beating it was taking... For the first time in a very long time, Laxus was going full out and he wasn't gaining near any headway at all. And as the minutes ticked by, the more he felt his movements getting harsher, more haphazard, more rushed. He couldn't be stuck here fighting this guy, he'd been fighting too long already- every minute here was another minute she was up there in that Tower, screaming fighting, hurting. He couldn't see it, but he knew the Magic spilling from the Tower was getting stronger, her knew she was losing her fight against it and- shit.

He didn't care about his blood being shed, or the burns. He didn't feel the pain from any of it, not the stab of the blades or the rattling sensation brought on by the explosions. He didn't even feel the ache and strain of his muscles and body from moving and fighting so much, the amount of Magic Energy he was having to expend. All he did feel was the anger, the rage, and the need to go.

Finish this, be done with it, get to that Tower and get to her... Get to her and put an end to all this fighting and war and senseless murder and mayhem all around. Get to her, find everyone in the Guild, get them all out of this shit alive and just go home.

The mountain shuddered again, fiercely this time around and it wasn't because of their own little war being waged on this side of it.

The air boomed, waves of pressure, force and air cascading out from the head of the mountain and the Tower there, flooding both sides of the peak and the Valley on the other side.

Just over the cusp of the mountain they saw the stained glass lining the edges of the Tower blow outward, a shrill, and high-pitched burst of noise sweeping out from the inside of the Tower and over the whole of the Valley below it, sending everything and everyone skidding to a halt. The earth shook under their feet one last time, deep and rattling, the clouds amassed above the tower shredded by that burst of power that had erupted from the inside of it, and the Magic that had stained the sky and been quickly consuming the land below it suddenly ripped apart and shredded into millions of wispy, trailing pieces... And the tower collapsed

Laxus froze, his head snapping around in the direction of the noise and his heart sinking when the top of the Tower disappeared from all view in literally four seconds time. And then he felt his heart stop, because above even the booming and the crack of stone and structure, he heard one last heart-wrenching scream from it's depths, and then it cut off abruptly.

He stopped, completely. Any thought to the fight or Nirav wiped away by the sound of that scream, so far away, and his mind stalled under a wave of complete and utter cold of the like he hadn't felt since-

"-Seems you weren't fast enough after all, Dreyar!"

That single instant of stopping in the fight was all Nirav needed, and Laxus couldn't shake off the hesitation or the icy cold in his core fast enough to counter at all. He tensed, immediately aware of the movement behind him and the glint of three long blades headed directly for him, the metal pulsing in Magic bright and hot, thrumming and ready to blow- Nirav's eyes reflecting the light of them, wild and intense.

Blood sprung up into the air, the sound of flesh tearing and sizzling as the red hot and razor edge of the blades struck hard and fast across Laxus' back. They dug in deep, scoring straight through the skin and the muscle, shredding and charring all at once- and the blades glowed bright the second the swing was done, exploding.

Laxus got blown forward, a storm of smoke and ember mixed in blood rising up passed the canopy of the trees, and his yell of pain so loud not even the boom of the blast could drown it out. He hit the ground hard, fangs grinding and hissing, plumes of smoke rising up off his bloody and blackened back, his shirt tattered and crumbling off his body.

"The entire Tower has fallen, with your Energess in it." Nirav hissed, smiling wickedly, his lips curled and looking somewhere between giddy, and absolutely full of rage. His gaze locked straight onto the Dragon Slayer, Laxus still on the ground, trembling slightly as he stifled the hisses of pain trying to break through. Nirav slipped another few blades out from their sheathes, holding them between each finger and green eyes blazing. "If she's not already dead she will be. She'll be crushed under the weight of the stone, or her body will break when she slams against the ground from the height. Any way you see it Dreyar, she's dead- you were too slow to save her."

Laxus sucked in a breath of air and held it, hunched over on his knees and forehead pressed against the brittle grass and earth, eyes shut tight. He felt like his entire back was on fire... And it sort of was, the blast had burned him in too many places to count, the skin blistering and charring especially around the three slashes cut into the skin. The cuts were deep, easily sliding through the muscle and probably even nicking bone in a few places- he'd have probably been losing a lot of blood because of them, but the burns had closed them somewhat, and what blood there was, was oozing, blackened and thick.

It hurt, like hell, and so much so he was having a hard time breathing under the ferocity of the pain running rampant through everything inch of him. His ears rung, the smell of his own skin burning heavy on his nose and shaking, winded even. Every little movement hurt, breathing hurt too, and he barely heard Nirav talking, the Vaide's voice was a low drone. He growled, hunching slightly further and his fingers digging into the earth.

He'd frozen damn it, the second that Tower started to fall and disappeared from view altogether. He didn't mean to, he didn't want to, but his body had seized up all the same, and the icy cold panic that had followed... It was the same dread and fear he'd felt rush through him when Mordren's final three shots had gone through her. And just as it had back then, he'd frozen in place, unable to do a damn thing to change what was happening. Just watching, and helpless, and too far away.

He hated the way he'd reacted, hated it more it had left him open to getting hit like that... But he couldn't care about that right then, he heard what Nirav said, faint as it was on his ringing ears. He knew the Tower was collapsing around her, he knew she was impossibly high up if she fell, he heard her scream, heard it cut off, and knew... Damn it

He shook his head, pushing himself up with a low growl. Drops of blood splattered the ground underneath him as he grunted, trying to pick himself back up and bringing a knee up underneath him, panting slightly and wincing at the pain of moving.

... He knew what this feeling was- fear, unwanted, impossible to shake off... But still he could feel it... Or rather, he didn't feel it.

He huffed, straightening up a little more and pushing against his knee for support as he forced himself off the ground and back onto his feet again. He staggered as he straightened up, but he kept his feet, panting still before grumbling, his hands fists at his sides.

That one feeling he could never forget... He didn't feel it now, not even with the hesitation, or the fear.

"... Tch... She ain't dead." Laxus growled, his tone flinty and Nirav blinked, slightly taken back by how steady the Dragon Slayer's voice was. "... The Thunder Legion, and everyone else... They found her, I know they have. She ain't dead, and she ain't gonna die here either."

"... Have I rattled your brains so much already?" Nirav huffed, clicking his tongue at the words. "If you're meant to be the best among your Guild, do you honestly think any of your other Fairies could contend with the hundreds of Kullui inside of Okeal, standing between them and your Energess? Or have any hope of beating them, as well as the full might of Lord Tuvral and the God-King Himself?" He huffed, Laxus just let out a low growl.

"I guarantee there ain't a damn thing you assholes can throw their way that'll stop them." Laxus muttered lowly, his head tilting back and eyes narrowed as he settled his attention on the distant peak of the mountain. "... They'll get to her, they'll keep an eye on her... She ain't dead, and she's gonna be fine."

"... Is this you breaking on me, Dreyar?" Nirav grumbled, quirking a brow. "... Is denial your way of crumbling? That you can't accept the truth, so you just keep insisting otherwise?" He grumbled, "... I must admit it's disappointing... I was hoping for more of a show."

"... It isn't denial." Laxus grumbled lowly, almost too quietly for Nirav to hear him at all. Laxus let his head drop down, his eyes closing and quiet for a few long moments. The sky filled with darkness was gone, the clouds wrenched apart... but they were swirling above them now, massing once more, thunder rumbling low, and heavy from the depths.

... It didn't make sense, at least not much sense anyway. He wasn't like her, or her stupid brat, he couldn't feel things like they did, emotion, Energy, whatever. But even still... This was something he just knew, instinctively, deep down in his soul, and he didn't waver on it. Not even for a second.

He would know, even if he didn't know how he knew it, he just knew. He would always know, because he would never forget what it had felt like, ever.

"... I know what her dying feels like. This isn't that... She's not dead." Laxus mumbled lowly, his fists clenching harder at his sides and eyes flashing. "Tch... But you're about to be." He growled lowly, glancing over his shoulder toward the Vaide, eyes blazing and flinty. Thunder rumbled loudly overhead, lightning flashing and bathing everything in an eerie yellow-white glow. "I've wasted enough time with you, I've got other places to be, so let's get this over with."

Nirav's lips curled, tensing. "... You still intend to slay me, Dreyar?" The Vaide hissed, Laxus' lips pulled into a tight line, expression stony and utterly lacking any hint of anger or rage. But Nirav felt the air thicken, the storm raging faster by the second over their heads. The forest tensed around them, rigid and holding its breath, the air crackled, dry and full of such electrical charge in so little time- Nirav was afraid to move, lest the action set off the sheer mass of static surrounding them, Laxus growled lowly, eyes flashing.

"I plan to wipe you out of existence."

Thunder boomed, deafening and shaking everything to the core. The dark and dim of the wood was shattered, washed out in a blinding yellow glare as the storm overhead swirled in the center, a massive vortex full of lightning spreading outward from the center and stretching to a radius that easily covered the whole of the forest they stood in. Hundreds of orbs bursting with concentrated lightning flared to life in a circle over their heads, Nirav's expression falling slack and paling slightly as he looked to the sky.

"W-when did you...?!" The Vaide hissed, cutting himself short and stiffening, instantly aware that Laxus had pushed himself forward and was now only a few inches in front of him, his fist swinging forward encased in bright, jolting electricity. The Vaide swung out the blades in hand, and Laxus twisted to avoid them- mostly. One blade struck into his side, slicing as it went before missing him again once Laxus twisted the rest of the way out of the way. It earned a hiss from the Dragon Slayer but little else as he continued his movement.

"Lightning Dragon's Demolition Fist!"

Laxus' fist made contact with Nirav's chest, sending him flying backwards and skidding across the ground with terrifying speed. The blades he'd been holding were knocked from his hands, clattering to the ground before beginning to glow, but Laxus was already moving forward again.

Nirav had hardly come to a halt after getting thrown before the Dragon Slayer was on him again, and when he tried to move his muscles seized, electricity sparking off his body still and paralyzed. He hissed, eyes flashing as he locked eyes with Laxus', the Dragon Slayer darting into air above the Vaide and hands clasped together over his head, a beacon of flickering light.

"Lightning Dragon's Jaws!"

Laxus' intertwined fists swung down, aimed straight for the paralyzed Vaide's center. Nirav's fingers twitched, spinning one of the Ring's on his fingers and he disappeared from sight right before Laxus' spell made contact. He Teleported himself away, but left four blades where he had been, already burning and ready to blow.

Laxus' Spell carried out on the blades just as they exploded underneath him, sending up a massive cloud of smoke, ember and electrical discharge combined.

Nirav reappeared several hundred feet away from the detonation, hissing and shaking as the paralysis wore off and he forced his body back into doing as he wished. The Spell and the orbs were still hovering overhead, looming and supercharged- whatever it was, it clearly needed time before it was ready to be set off, so he had to kill that Dragon Slayer long before that time came. Nirav twirled several of the other rings he was wearing, a multitude of Gravity Wells and mines and bombs of all caliber bursting to life in air around him via Requip-like means. Nirav swept his hands forward, the Gravity Wells and the explosives following direction.

The Gravity Wells activated with unfathomable amounts of force over the explosives, sending them meteoring down toward the earth in a line miles long. They exploded on contact and created a path of destruction of a caliber not unlike that of Etherion, blasting several story crates and pits into the earth and moving out in a trench. Huge chunks of earth and debris were sent flying only to get slammed back down again by the Gravity Wells, adding a second wave of chaos and demolition that had everything shaking worse than even the Magic out of Tower had.

Nirav recoiled halfway through all the chaos, his jaw snapping shut and eyes wide when he spotted the blur of yellow darting in and out of the carnage and quickly headed for him, again. The Gravity Wells did not seem to be doing anything against it- tch

Nirav sent out another battalion of mines and explosive blades alike, pushing himself backwards to maintain distance, furious.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

The new wave of explosives he had sent forward was demolished, swept up and swallowed whole in a tornado of wild lightning and electricity that carved a line through the woods with just as much ease as Nirav's mines and bombs had. And the Vaide barely jumped to the side fast enough to avoid getting caught in it's path, it came so close he felt the sharp sting and burn ram into his body from the biting edges of the lighting vortex.

Where had all of this come from so suddenly...?!

Not ten minutes before he'd had the Dragon Slayer on his knees, bleeding... Before then they'd been matching one another blow for blow...!

Nirav stiffened, struggling to gain traction after jumping to the side and seeing the bulky form of Laxus upon him once more. The Fairy Tailer was ragged and bloody, his whole body burned and cut in too many places to count, his arm riddled with stab wounds, his back sliced open three ways, his side sliced through too, and his hands were torn up to all hell. He was surely halfway dead, could hardly move, and must have been in so much pain it was blinding. He had to be struggling to breathe now under all the beatings and the damage, and with what amount of Magic Energy he'd been spending through this long, very heated two-man war between them... So how?!

How was he still moving this fast?! How was he still this strong?!

Laxus' lips curled, fangs bared and eyes blazing. He swung his leg around, slamming it into Nirav's jaw and sending the Vaide flying one more time, the hit so devastating Nirav's jaw snapped shut, and his teeth threatened to shatter.

How was he... Overpowering him...?! It shouldn't have been possible- he was a Vaide! He could decimate armies on his own, how could he be bending underneath just one man?!

Nirav yelled, smashing through broken trees and upturned slabs of earth alike before his body came to an abrupt and agonizing halt. He coughed, fighting for air and green eyes glittering as he locked gazes with Laxus one more time, and he saw not even a shred of exhaustion in the Lightning Dragon Slayer. Terror struck straight through to Nirav's core, the anger and the bloodlust shattering in the quake of it and eyes wide.

He's... He can't be human-!

Laxus' feet hit the ground, catching himself and panting as he swept his hands up above him, palms pointed at the sky and fingers curling. His eyes locked straight to Nirav, lightning spiraling around his arms as the orbs in the sky crackled over their heads, the air dancing with a thousand tons of stormy pressure. "Thunder Palace:" Laxus hissed lowly, his voice nearly drowned out by the hundreds of separate rolls of thunder igniting overhead. He swept his arms downward, the orbs shattering and the Lightning striking down in a million, jagged, arching bolts.

"Single-Point Impact!"

Every bolt struck down at the same time, all focused on one single spot- engulfing Nirav in a massive funnel of white-hot, electric hell storm. The entirety of the mountain shook, the earth shuddering violently under the hit and Nirav's yell of pain quickly overtaken by the boom and the cracking of the ground in a hundred feet around where he had been. The whole mountain got white-washed from the glare, shadows and darkness disappearing from the overabundance of light. Even the city and Palace on the other side of the mountain could see the glow reaching past the highest reaches of the summit.

Then the lightning died off near as quickly as it came, the place where Nirav had been only a steaming crater now, and the wood groaned under the cruelty it had sustained, settling again after all the wind and the flying debris... And it all went oddly, almost impossibly quiet, the wanton destruction and battle finally reaching a close.

Laxus sucked in a ragged breath of air, panting and covered in muck and gore, his whole body shaking as he fought for air. He could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage, feel the deep seated ache and strain all through his body and sinking further into his bones every second now the fight was done, but he didn't care. He hissed, forcing himself up as straight as he could.

Even those thirty seconds of standing there felt more than enough, he had to go, he had taken way too long. He turned toward the rise of the mountain, stepping forward and intent on the top and the Palace sitting there beyond the top- but the minute he took that single step, he faltered, pain and exhaustion alike stopping him dead in his tracks as his knees gave out underneath him.

He groaned as he hit the ground again, barely catching himself with his hands and his body shaking so much now he couldn't even begin to force himself back up. And he tried, with everything he had, he growled and attempted to force his body to move, but it wouldn't, his body hadn't the strength nor the energy left at that moment to do what his mind wanted. He grit his fangs, hunching a little and anger making his body tremble more, cursing himself several times over and that damn bastard Nirav too.

"... Tch... Damn it... Move..." He growled furiously, attempting to push himself up one more time, only to cringe when a sharp stab of pain rushed through him. He doubled over, panting and his entire figure swaying under the harshness of the breaths.

He'd used way too much Magic, he'd gotten hit too many times and taken too much damage, and he'd probably lost too much blood too... So much so, even he couldn't force himself passed it like he wanted to, and he hated it. He'd stopped caring about the pain or the wounds, he'd been too focused on trying to finish things and get moving... But his body couldn't let him not care, not anymore. Being dragged into a fight that hard had been the last thing on his mind, and the last thing he expected. Despite all of the warnings from Aisha, Balthan and the other Adgneins alike, he had never even considered he'd end up like this... Beaten to hell and not even able to force himself to his feet again.

Shit... I'm an idiot... I underestimated how powerful that guy and his Magic Tools were... And now I'm paying for it... Tch...

He swallowed hard, his teeth gritting further and expression twisting in agitation.

... I can't even move... Damn it, I have to move... I can't sit here...

He tried again with no more luck than the first time, and he had no choice but to force a shaky, deep breath, his hands balling into fists. He cast an agitated, weary glare up at the top of the mountain and frowned, shaking his head at himself hotly and letting his eyes drop closed again.

He didn't have a choice, not if his body wouldn't listen and he couldn't force himself up. As much as he hated it, and as much as he felt the urgency to leave grow sharper, he grit his teeth and stayed still. He had to give himself a little time, just long enough to calm down and shake off the dizziness and the exhaustion.

As soon as he could get up, he would force himself up that mountain and tear Okeal apart for as long as it took... And he wouldn't stop once he started, not until he found them. Frea, the Thunder Legion, all those in the Guild up there right now, everyone.

"...tch... You'll have to wait a little longer on me... shit... All of you better be fine when I get there..."

.:+:.

Earlier-

"H-holy shit...!"

"Oh n..no...!"

"... Isn't that where...?!"

"Frea..!"

Everyone in the streets of the city, both Fairy Trailers and Adgneins, whether they were fighting, fleeing, whatever- every single one of them stopped dead in their tracks, their heads snapping around to the head of the valley and hearts sinking into their feet. They stood utterly still, petrified as they watched the Tower shudder, the windows blowing out in a blast that rumbled all the way down the Valley, and the Tower crumbled, breaking apart and shattering, quickly falling to the earth.

"... The Tower freakin' blew up!"

"F-Frea was in there, wasn't she...?!"

"S-shit...! Is she...?!"

Terror rammed into them all like a train, their minds and hearts in a whirl and eyes glittering. They couldn't breathe, they couldn't think- Frea was up there and the whole thing just exploded.

Was she...?

Could she be...?

"FREA!"

"... S...she..."

"... She has to be okay...! The others, they had to have gotten to her, right...!?"

Icy cold fear and pain struck the Guild of nearly the same caliber as what they'd felt that fateful day Frea and Mordren had gone head to head. They couldn't see her, or hear her- but they were still forced here, unable to do anything but watch. Watch while she was taken away from them, maybe for a second time now and they felt themselves grow cold.

They didn't want to believe it, they couldn't believe it, and even still... After having her Magic forced from her? And whatever else she was suffering through to have her screams ringing down from the top of the Valley..? And now the Tower blew up, destroyed, and as far as they knew with Frea still in it, Magicless and maybe hurt...?

... She... She can't be...? R..right...?

Carla shuddered, teary-eyed and fur standing on edge as she watched the structure collapse, the Magic pouring from it ripping itself to a million pieces, and the clouds it had gathered too. She gulped, frozen and watching the image from her Visions playing out terrifyingly similar... But only similar.

"... It... It collapsed... Just like I saw..." She stammered, swallowing again and looking around the city and the chaos. Saige grimaced, his eyes falling closed from watching the crumbling Tower and all too aware of the horrified and pained faces of the Fairy Tailers all around him, as well as Carla's stammering not far from where he was. He sighed,

... So in the end it happened... One inevitable outcome... One we couldn't change...

"... But... The Magic was... It was supposed to consume everything..." Carla kept on, and Saige's head tilted slightly in the Exceed's direction, one eye cracked open and narrowed at her. He'd anticipated he would see that, the very same thing Carla had seen a dozen times over now. A wash of pitch black that flooded down from the Valley and overtook everything in it's path. Deep, dark rage and Evil of a caliber that could be scarcely imagined... Darkness paired with an insurmountable amount of Power that would have stopped anyone's heart. So much overwhelming Darkness that he knew not the Fairy Tailers, himself, Adgnei, or even the whole of the world would have any hope of stopping.

Saige expected to feel it, feared he would really... the dread, the suffocating pressure, the cold and the Evil... The feeling of something once so bright and light, to be suddenly plunged into shadow, and that would soon enough drag the rest of them into the Abyss with it... But that did not come, and he glanced away from Carla and up to the Palace so very far away.

There was no great wash of Magic headed their way, there was no lurking shadow that looked to maim and to destroy and to kill. There was no newly born beacon of Darkness, a storm of it living inside something that could lay waste to all of them so easily... There was nothing coming down from that Palace, full of cold, unfeeling rage and intent to throw everything into chaos.

Saige let out a long, low breath, his orange eyes glittering and posture wilting a little too.

... Perhaps then... We've avoided history repeating itself...

He should have been relieved, and in a way he was, but he knew better than to let himself latch on to that hope too quickly. Because even if he felt nothing now, that didn't mean it was over... And perhaps he felt nothing, not because the Energess had saved herself the Fall, but instead because she was no longer left alive after her Magic had been stripped so violently to open the Tomb.

Saige's stomach knotted at the thought, the Fairy Tailers growing anguish and fear making it worse by the second, their calls and their denial and worry making everything in him ache.

"... She has to be... Okay...!"

"... Frea..."

"...n..no..."

Chase stopped, his lungs failing him and completely fixed on the crumbling Tower. He could hear the Guild in his head, feel their fear and pain even though they were so far away from where he and Aisha were. He thought he would feel it too, the Darkness growing, the Evil spreading, all that Power coming for them... He couldn't though, and he didn't know if that was because of the way Energy has been Hidden inside Okeal, or whatever else.

And then his mind went where everyone else's had- Frea was up there and she was probably hurt and had her LifeForce stripped down to nothing, and now... He would have felt it, right? Even with the Hidden Energy?

If she'd... If her Energy Signature snuffed out, if she was gone... He would have felt it......right...?

He didn't know and he shuddered, his breathing quickly getting ragged, Aisha beside him paling slightly, her hand catching his arm, afraid.

She can't be- they couldn't have been too late...!

Frea had to be... They couldn't have lost her again... Could they...?

"... no..." Moon stammered, blue eyes glittering and ears pressed flat against her head, standing rigid in her place, peering through the arching window's in Banore toward the crumbling tower, and uncaring of the mass of people moving and rushing through the whole of the Temple around her. She sucked in a sharp breath of air, shaking her head at herself furiously and gritting her teeth, tears pecking at the corners of her eyes despite herself.

"... no... no... she has to be..."

"She is alive."

The calm and solemn voice of Jynx ran through the minds of the Fairy Tailers without warning, halting the fear and the sorrow in it's tracks, their hearts racing.

"... J... Jynx...?"

"... Y... You... She is...?"

"... H..how do you...?"

"A-are you sure...?!"

"Yes, she is alive. I promise." Jinx replied calmly, earning shaky gasps and sighs of relief from everyone- well, almost everyone.

Chase and Aisha didn't dare breathe, they didn't dare move, not even when their hearts leaped at the news. Because in the same instant relief wanted to crash over them at the confirmation she was alive, Jynx's earlier words rang through their heads louder than ever;

'... I can promise, and say...Energy Dragon... she will not take her last breaths today. Whatever happens, she will leave this place.'

Even if she was alive, did that mean she was still... Frea...?

"Well where is she?!"

"Yeah what the hell just happened?!"

"And where have you been this whole time, huh?!"

"How do you know...?!"

"... The Gate has been closed. I was able to Seal it shut again once Energy Dragon opened it all the way, but the backlash was significant. It was enough to destroy the Tower, but the Thunder Legion have Energy Dragon with them now, you needn't worry over her for the moment. She is unconscious, but she is alive." Jynx replied lowly, breaking off the sudden rush of questions and demands for answers. Chase and Aisha swallowed hard, letting out shaky breaths of air and casting one another unsure looks.

... If she was unconscious, and the Gate had been closed, that had to mean... she hadn't Fallen, right...?

Did she... Manage to resist it...?

"... However given the intensity of the backlash from Sealing it, there are still many Rifts dotted around the city that the Magic of the Tomb are still spilling from. Dark Souls that have been trapped away are still flooding this Land and taking control of the Kullui, and they will continue to wreak havoc until all the Rifts have been sealed again, and all the escaped Souls dealt with." Jynx kept on, not pausing even a moment to let the information on Frea's condition sink in. "There is still a war being raged here, the fight is nowhere near done with. There is still a long road ahead before the crisis is averted, and you must all keep on." Jynx murmured grimly, and the Fairy Trailers paused, tensing.

"... So what do you intend us to do?" Master Makarov asked quietly, "... Given what Saige said before about those meant to be manipulating the Tomb, and those not... If you managed to Seal it shut now, then I suppose that you are the one person meant to tamper with this Magic, correct? And it is you who should know how to deal with the backlash of it now?"

"That is correct." Jynx replied steadily,

"... Wait seriously...?"

"... That was you the whole time...?!"

"Why the hell didn't you say something?! Have you known what was going on here the whole time..?!"

"Why didn't you say anything..?"

"What in the hell have you even been doing while we've been out here fighting?"

"Yes, I have known what was happening for some time now. I began to realize the extent of the situation as soon as I set foot here in Adgnei, and I have been preparing for it in my own way." Jynx replied quietly, "Please do not jump to the assumption that I have been idle, because you have not seen nor heard from when when since this all began. The inner-workings of this place and this Magic are complex, and much more complex than I have time to try and explain to you right now... Much of this is fairly new to me, and I am doing that best I can in what capacity I am able, and you must trust me." Jynx murmured, "Saint Balthan was correct, there is only one person meant to be tampering with the Magic from the Tomb, and only one really able to manipulate it at all- that is myself, and I have been doing my best to right the imbalance here in Adgnei, and dispell what terrible effect it has been having on the living world. I will keep doing what I can- and right now that is to try and Seal up the Rifts around the city, and stop more of the Damned coming through. I will work as quickly as I can, but it will take some time regardless... And I will need all of you to continue to fight back the Kullui Dolls that are being possessed."

The Fairy Tailers grimaced, silent for now as Jynx continued her explanation, and what she needed from them.

"Once I have the Rifts Sealed again, it will stop any more of the Damned from escaping, but those already out will need to be dealt with. I can banish them back where they came, but I cannot do that, and Seal the Rifts at the same time. So for now, I leave them to you- fight them as fiercely as you have been, continue on for however long it will take, do not bend... but be wary."

The Fairy Tailers looked upward toward the sky, surprise washing over their faces as a Magic Circle appeared over the whole of Adgnei, deep purple and red with a crescent moon in the center. Everyone stopped, their eyes turned to the sky and intent, all of them... the members of the Theives Guild, the Middle Caste and Lower, the Barren, Kesitae, and all those scattered in Adgnei's burning, choatic reaches. The Kullui even seemed to falter, dark glittering eyes under their hoods, turning to the sky and rigid under the feeling of Magical Pressure that suddenly ignited out of nowhere. Ancient, powerful, pulsing.

"People of Adgnei, I understand you do not know me, but I ask you to listen, and listen well."

Jynx's voice suddenly washed out over the whole of Adgnei, no longer limited to the Telepathic Link connecting the Fairy Tailers together, and everyone down below stiffened at the sound.

"My name is Jynx, I am the Mortal Embodiment of Soul, and here now in your country- the Souls of the Damned are moving among you freely, corrupting your world and taining everything they are able."

A shocked ripple moved out among the Adgneins, terrifed and instantly on edge, the Keistae's expresssions pulling and grim.

"Your Kullui are being possessed by these wicked beings, long since trapped away and barred from your waking world. They are hungry, and they will do everything in their power to harm you, manipulate you, feed off of your inner fears and darkest desires, and drag you down into the throes of Darkness along with them. I know you have already fought hard, your home is burning around you, the people you hold dear hurt, or already gone. I am asking you not to give into despair, do not give into rage, or wrath. I ask you to fight, but do so for those you love... not out of vengeance, but of need, and survival. And most of all, do not lose yourselves, do not allow your hope to die."

The Magic Circle hovering over the city glowed, deep red and crimson. All around the city the Ruins spilling wanton Magic and Souls from the Crossroads glowed in tandem with the Circle, burning and getting brighter. The Magic pouring from the Rifts began to rise up off the ground, spirling upward into the air and connecting with the Magic Circle, dozens upon dozens of spinning vortexes of Magic attaching themselves to the Circle's like black and red strands of thread.

Wind moved all throughout Adgnei, winding through the streets and around everyone standing in them. Through rubble and fallen stone, and around the fire, dousing the flames where they did not rage too much to quell. They stood buffeted by the gentleness of it, the calm, and yet the weight behind the wind. The warmth and energy it held and the way it seemed to lift them as it washed over them, thrumming. They all felt the pressure rising, the air laced with Magic and the wind thick with it, warm and dancing, full of voices and whispers too far off to make out what they said... but there, and alive.

The whispers were getting louder, the wind getting stronger, and with it they felt the ache and exhuastion of constant fighting the last few hours lessen. They felt it deep in their cores, a push forward, and call to stand strong as the Seleyn was asking of them, and a steady wind at their backs filled with such strength and such power... it was lifting them. Making the resolution and the will to fight in their cores stronger with every second, and with every word of the Seleyn ringing on their ears.

"Fight for your home, for those you love, for your lives, and fight to remain true to yourselves. Do not back down, give it everything you have and know- all those you lose here tonight, and all those you have lost before are here now, standing with you."

.:+:.

She heard the thunder roll overhead, felt the reverberation through her core... But it wasn't right, it felt subdued, it didn't hit her all the way... She was numb to it.

She felt their bodies fall apart under her hands, she heard their screaming, pleading, crying- but all of that was muffled too. She knew they were in pain, she knew they were terrified, breaking... But she didn't feel it, she felt nothing... She felt...

Another one fell, right in front of her, their body torn in two, their armor shattered, swords clattering to the ground... She fell in a mess among the many, her hair as red as the blood so thick on her hands... Thick but...

... It's... Cold... Cold like... Everything... I'm cold... Numb...

... What... Why am I... What am I doing...?

Why don't I...?

She swept her arm out, slow, purposeful, an ocean of terrible pitch black following her quake and tearing through the next few. They screamed, blood washing up into the air and falling like rain, adding to the dozens of oozing pools and puddles already littered about. There were countless of them, bodies torn apart and blasted through, holes in their chests, blood dripping from the wounds, from their mouths, their bones shattered... They were all mangled, twisted, and their faces filled with horror... Betrayal...

The streets were flooding in red, the stone roadways torn up, the buildings crumbling, ash and fire heavy on the air. It was complete chaos, a massacre, and she was just... Walking through it all, unfeeling, unbothered... The faces pale and bloody and blurred... But... Familiar...?

... What am I doing...?

I'm...

Her slow march through the mayhem slowed up, quiet and still, standing in place and looking around slowly, her eyes dull.

The red hair, the armor... Her face... Was that...?

She looked back around, glancing among the mangled flesh in a world so hazy and so far away... Small things poked through, just at the edge of everything, small bits of desaturated color.

A white scaled scarf torn and shredded among the rocks, bits of metal from keys shattered into pieces scattered everywhere... A head of wild black hair buried under the rubble, an arm littered in piercings draped over something smaller, thinner, and with blue hair... the mangled figures of two tiny creatures pressed together, dark grey and black, tails twined and mostly submerged in a pool of blood.

There were pillars of ice, jagged and broken at the edges, a head of raven hair sprawled across the icy film, turning it muddy red, a second body a few feet away... There in a crater was something blue and utterly ripped to pieces.

Silver hair stained crimson, lying beside someone pale as a sheet and once bright blue eyes hazed over and grey. Three heads of white hair all fallen in line with each other, a sword shattered in two, runes cracked, all lying among broken tiki dolls and a pair of glasses too, littered between three more forms splayed out on the rock... A small figure holding tightly to a blob of white, tracks of tears down their faces and eyes dead, frozen and terrified.

She turned slowly, looking over the people and the faces, the clothes, all of it... So many of them were unfamiliar, strangers... But still many more... I know them... Right...?

There were guns broken in half, two people lying apart, their hands reaching for one another but never getting there... A broken paintbrush, and a shattered smokepipe, a young boy slumped against a father and a friend, not a single breath among any of them... Not from any of them, the dozens of people, all broken and mangled and... Familiar... I know all of them...r...right...?

There was a small old man shaking ahead of her, beaten and bleeding from so many terrible blows and still trying to get back up. She turned to look at him lazily, her expression never wavering, never changing, not a hint of disgust, or pity, or anything at seeing him so broken, so small.

She didn't feel anything. Not a single thing... I'm supposed to be feel... Something aren't I...?

Not just... Cold...? Nothing...?

He said something, pleading but she didn't hear it, the words wouldn't make it passed the heavy air of silence and blanket of non-feeling that seemed to have swallowed her whole. Her hand was moving up without her thinking about it, sickly pitch black Magic rising off her skin and eyes locking with the old man's, she saw the pain there, the terror too... But she didn't feel it.

I'm supposed to feel it... Aren't I...?

I'm supposed... To... Aren't I supposed to... Not want... To do this...?

I'm... I'm going to...

Her Magic shot out, fast and intent, headed straight for him and tearing through the old man's body like paper. He fell, silent and covered in gore, the light gone from his eyes in a second.

... I... killed him...

Her hand fell again, scanning the bodies and the faces she knew, unperturbed, icy... She should have felt something, right?

I shouldn't... I shouldn't have done that... Doing that should have... I should have felt something... R...right...?

I just... I killed him... I killed all of them... W..why...?

She should have been panicking, she should have been afraid, and losing her mind, and hating herself- she should have been in agony right?

She just... Just... murdered Master... Makarov...

... I killed the entire Guild... Cold-blooded murder and I..... I don't feel anything...

N...no... No, no... I can't... I didn't...

... I couldn't have... I... I fought it... I fought with everything... Everything I had... I didn't... I didn't let go e-even when...n...no...!

... It closed... Jynx closed it, it was over... I didn't...... B...but... Why would I be doing all of this... I...if...?

... I... I don't remember anything after... I don't... P...please...

... I don't want to... I'm not... I didn't... I didn't Fall... Please... I don't want to do any of this... I... I can't be...

She should have been hesitating, she should have been shaking and fighting- sobbing even, but her body wasn't reacting. Her mind was in a whirl and yet it was impossibly still, nothing was getting through, even her own terrible, pleading thoughts weren't eliciting any emotion at all. She was moving still, uncaring of the blood or the people- her family- she had just slain, and done so with the most neutrality and lack of feeling.

... I don't remember what happened... I know I... I got so close to just letting go... B..but.. but I thought...... I thought... I thought I managed... Not... To...

... Oh... Oh no...... I can't... I can't stop...

... I wanna stop...

She wanted to cry damn it, she wanted to scream, she wanted to do something other than stand there, her mind trapped in a body she didn't recognize and couldn't control. She wanted to feel the horror of her own actions, the pain of what she was doing and the guilt- she wanted to feel their pain and she deserved to... But even the feeling of the Energy Signatures snuffing out of existence didn't come with that terrible, crippling sense of loss it should have.

Still there was nothing... How could... How could she have Fallen so far, without even... E..even knowing...?

...s...stop... P...please...

Gold flickered in the corner of her vision, catching the unnaturally cold and neutral attention her body couldn't shake out of. She turned, settling an icy, unwavering stare on the Lightning Dragon Slayer who was covered in blood and barely on his feet, shaking from the effort of staying that way and panting. He looked ready to fall over, his body was riddled in gashes and holes, blood dripping from a blow that ran straight through his torso... A wound she'd put there, along with all the others. He'd been fighting hard, just as hard as all the rest, and maybe even more so... There wasn't horror in his eyes, not like everyone else. Against all of it, all the hurt and the murder... He looked...

He said something, and she couldn't hear it- but he still said it... He still tried, he kept fighting, taking everything she threw at him, and he got back up, even when she... S..shit...

... Stop...

He was doing it, the same thing that Reyan had. He kept trying, kept trying to talk her down, get her to come to her senses- kept trying to reach out and find a piece of her that just... Wasn't there anymore.

... I can't... I can't myself... I feel nothing...

... I... I failed... I couldn't... Do it...

... I became... S..shit...

... I don't want this... I don't want... Want to be... Him... P..please...

...stop... I have to stop... Please...

Her hand raised, slow, deliberate, unfeeling.... So why did it feel like her soul was getting torn in two...?

... S..stop...!

Sickly black Magic swirled around her arm, stretching down toward her hand and he stayed still, his posture wilting, eyes searching, tired and hurt.

...n...no...! I can't... Stop...!

... Please, stop...!

I didn't want to... I never wanted any of... Everybody... I... I...

... I didn't wanna be... Be this... B..be him...

... D...damn it... Don't...!

He let out a breath, his eyes dropping closed, the Magic around her hand spinning faster, the pressure rising.

... Stop...!

... I... I don't want to...! N..not anymore... P..please...!

..s..stop...!

P-please...!

D...don't...!

The Magic swept out, high-pitched, shrill, straight for him, and he didn't move.

She couldn't move

"D-DON'T...!"

.:+:.

The exchange of words being held between the Fairies, Cougars, Talarr and Seyre alike came to an abrupt halt from where most of them were near to the door. The calm, quite atmosphere of the Ilaen's Workshop was suddenly ripped apart by a sharp gasp, and the hoarse sound of the Energess' voice as she yelled out, pained and panicked out of nowhere. Everyone jumped, their hearts leaping into their throats and heads snapping around, reeling and immediately on high alert.

Frea lurched up off the table with a terrified gasp, starting forward out of the deep oblivion that had gripped her mind for near two hours now with no warning, heaving and panting. But nearly as soon as she sat up half of the way she cringed, her breath catching and letting out a shaky yelp of pain, rigid and hugging herself out of instinct. But moving her arms sent agony racing through her in a new wave, the broken bone and muscle grinding, the burns littering her skin pulling terribly, the Collar around her neck shifting and making it all the harder to breathe... She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, everything was a blur of terror and pain still hanging over her heart tenfold. The Guild dead at her hands, the destruction, massacre, all of it... On a terrible, blurry, fever-driven repeat.

She didn't have the strength or the mind to keep herself up after jolting forward, and she'd have slammed back against the table if not for Bixlow jumping forward to catch her, grimacing and a little frazzled- they all were. She'd been so far out of it for so long now, to have her suddenly awake and alert was the last thing they'd expected, and so soon too... Though she didn't seem really 'alert' even if she'd jolted back into the waking world.

"... Woah...!" Bixlow mumbled, barely catching the Energy Dragon Slayer before she hit the table again, and stumbling a little he'd had to move so quickly. Frea hissed at the contact, cringing under his hands and her breath hitching with it, a shaky hiss making its way passed gritted teeth, before she couldn't hold the breath any longer and they came out ragged, heavy, wheezing, and terribly uneven. She was shaking badly, her fingers digging into the table and eyes fluttering open for only a few seconds and several times over, struggling to bring her mind back into reality... and instead getting trapped in some non-reality stuck between the nightmare that seemed too real, and the waking world that didn't feel real enough.

"... N...no..." She muttered, her voice cracking and immediately trying to push herself back up, even against Bixlow's gentle hands trying to stop her from doing so. She was struggling right away, and as much as her body would allow, fighting against Bixlow's attempt to get her to stay laying down, her body curling and arms shaking as she tried to reach for whatever was holding her down or something else. Every movement was more pain, a million times worse in her wrist and her broken shoulder, and with every new inch more of pain, was another inch she was losing any chance of bringing her mind out of the whirling storm it was trapped in.

Talarr stiffened, his heart skipping a beat and completely stunned. He couldn't fathom how she'd even managed to wake up what little she had, given how short a time it had been after everything... But what shocked him more was how much she was struggling the minute she even reached the edge of wakefulness. She was fighting instantly, clearly disoriented, her fever still hanging over her head, and panicked too- not that any of them were sure why... It wouldn't be hard to imagine she was still strung out after what had happened up in the Tower, and he assumed she didn't remember anything that had happened afterwards... She was too hurt, this was too much, she shouldn't have woken up, at all.

Talarr swallowed, shaking his shock off as quickly as he could and starting forward almost immediately. "... She can't be moving that much...!" He said quickly, a few warnings flashing in the eyeline of his Glasses already as he darted toward the table, winding through the mess as swiftly as could be managed.

"... She's going to cause more damage if she doesn't lie still..!"

"... Yeah, I got that but..." Bixlow mumbled, still trying to keep her held down without being rough, but Frea didn't seem to notice it, or even realize.

"... S... Stop...!" She hissed, pushing against Bixlow again and Gray too as the Ice Mage darted forward to try and pin her down as well.

"... Hey relax, you're fine Frea...!" Gray murmured quickly, his eyes glittering and frowning as she still fought, hissing in pain and shaking her head, eyes scrunched closed and heaving. "... You gotta quit moving so much...!" He pressed again, grumbling when she tried to push him off haphazardly.

"...n...no... I... Don't..." She gasped, her voice ragged and breaking off in a cough, her face twisting and her voice cracking painfully, before dropping to something just shy of a whisper. "... P...please... I... I don't... Please... I didn't... Want... I... I... P...please...s..s..top..."

Gray and Bixlow reflexively stiffened, their hearts dropping a little at how pained she sounded when she said the words, how scared.

... What... Was she...?

They didn't have time to keep thinking on it, she started fighting harder again and they had a harder time trying to get her to lie still. She was panting, shaking her head constantly and muttering over and over, a string of words too hushed and broken by winces and shows of pain. Talarr came to a halt at Gray's shoulder, everyone else quickly moving up toward the table, but keeping their distance for now. Talarr's hands came down on Frea's right shoulder, blanching slightly when he felt the bone pop a little under his touch and Frea yelped at it, her whole body going rigid underneath them and trembling all the worse.

"E-Energess, please...! You need to lie still...!" Talarr mumbled,

"... I don't think she can hear us, dude..." Bixlow mumbled, Talarr grimaced, biting the inside of his cheek.

"...tch... She's totally out of it..." Gray mumbled, grunting slightly as Frea struggled harder still, and he grit his teeth against it, pausing for half a second before jerking Talarr toward him. Gray pulled the Ilaen into the place he'd been standing and let go of Frea, "Switch places with me." The Ice Mage ordered sharply, and Talarr complied, though his face pulled in question.

"... What are you...?" He mumbled quickly, Gray didn't answer, he just moved around the Ilaen and took a spot at the head of the table, his lips pulled into a tight line and eyes glittering.

Gray stopped at Frea's head and grabbed firm hold of either side of her face, forcing her to stop moving so much and grumbling under his breath. His eyes locked with her, her eyes fluttering open and closed without end and still struggling against his hold, but he didn't let go and he let out a small breath.

"... Okay, easy Frea, easy..." Gray mumbled softly, his eyes dropping closed and pale icy-white light appearing around his hands. Frea shivered, her breath catching slightly and faltering for a moment in her fight against Talarr and Bixlow's hold. "... You gotta quit moving... Everything is fine, just quit fighting and calm down..."

It took a few long minutes, Frea still trying to break free, gasping for air and floating in and out, never quite above the surface of the torrent of pain and whirling emotion, but never all the way underneath it either. Nothing was making sense, the images of destruction and murder were getting overlapped by too many bright lights and took many flashes of Energy and emotion in a million colors muddying together. She felt the cold slowly creeping through every inch of her, wrapping her up, chilly, slow, and she resisted it immediately... but it wasn't the same mind-numbing cold that had taken hold of her, and kept hold, keeping her from feeling anything even as she massacred everything she held dear.

No, this was cold, but it was... Gentle, calming, and it cut through the haze and the turmoil, slowly pulling her down out of the haze and toward somewhere less fractured, less stormy, and the franticness in her mind and soul settled just a little too. She stopped struggling underneath them, her body relaxing and sinking against the table all the way, still trembling and panting for air, but it wasn't the panicked gasping and wheezing. She winced, coughing a few times and letting out a groan, her eyes dropping closed one more time and staying that way this time around.

Gray looked up, pulling his hands away slowly and letting his Magic fade, Bixlow and Talarr pulling their own hands back finally too. All the rest of them standing back from the table all seemed to relax too, a collective sigh of relief being let out once the sudden, quite nerve-wracking atmosphere faded.

"... Dude, that was a pretty impressive trick." Bixlow mumbled wearily toward Gray, and the Ice Mage grimaced slightly, running a hand along the back of his neck with a sigh.

"... It was the only thing I could think of..." Gray mumbled,

"... It was a good idea... She's calmed down again and her vitals are stable still too..." Talarr murmured softly, shaking his head a bit and eyes closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "... I can't fathom how she was conscious at all, even if she was mostly delirious..." The Ilaen sighed, the Fairy Tailers grimaced a bit. "... She can't move like that again... She needs to rest more, and stay as still as possible..." He grumbled, and for a few minutes nothing but heavy silence could be heard in the room, and nobody dared move as they tried to settle again... until finally the quiet was broken, though a little grudgingly.

"... Not to be pushy or anything, but we can't spend much more time here." Shae mumbled after a while, the she-cat standing beside Corbynn as the young boy fidgeted slightly. "... We've been in here a long time, we gotta get to the Barrier Controls." She explained, earning frowns among everyone else.

They had been in the midst of setting up and getting everything ready to head out, so they could try to make a go at messing with Okeal's Barriers, and they had been moving quickly... Until the interruption of the Energess waking up out of nowhere like that.

They knew they needed to move, every minute here tucked away in Talarr's workshop was another minute the war was still going strong all throughout the rest of the Palace and the city. They had no contact with the rest of the Guild and no way to get Frea, they needed more hands and so they needed to get going. They knew that, though after the sudden and unexpected (sort of) awakening of the Energess, they felt themselves hesitate where they shouldn't have been.

Talarr cast an unsure look at the Energess, silent for a few moments as he read the information in his eyeline, only to break off when Freed caught his attention.

"Shae is right." The green-haired man murmured, moving up to stand at the Ilaen's shoulder. "We can't wait too long. We need your help with the Barriers, with you assisting Seyre we can make contact with everyone else that much sooner... Don't worry about Frea for now, we'll take care of her while the rest of you go ahead with the plan." Freed told him softly, earning a firm nod from Bixlow and Evergreen alike. Talarr hesitated for moment longer, before nodding slowly.

"... Alright."

Seyre and her wolves herded the Cougars forward back to what they'd been doing before the interruption, Talarr trailing after them slowly after murmuring a few things to the Thunder Legion about keeping an eye on the Energess, and where things were if the needed them. Gray was slow to move away too, frowning to himself and pulling away grudgingly, Juvia waiting for him and casting Gray an unsure look. The Ice Mage noticed it, and Juvia's eyes glittered.

"... Are you alright, Gray...?" She asked, and he nodded stiffly.

"... Yeah... I've just never seen Frea so out of it like that before..." He mumbled quietly, Juvia stiffening a little at the words, the Thunder Legion too. None of them ever had seen the Energy Dragon Slayer like that before, and it made their hearts ache to think what might have happened up in that Tower to have her so panicked and confused.

The quiet conversation from before started up again, everyone outside the Thunder Legion moving near the door, going over plans and picking up things they planned to take with them. Evergreen took a heavy seat down on a table near to the one Frea was at, Bixlow leaning against it beside her. Freed stayed where he had been next to the Energy Dragon Slayer, his eyes dropping closed and letting out a low breath. Bixlow's Tiki Dolls floated over their heads slowly, circling and uneasy, silence falling between them all for a long time as they left everyone else to do what they needed. The Thunder Legion weren't going to leave, not even as everyone else eventually made way their way to the Barrier Controls. They'd made a promise, both to themselves and to Laxus to keep an eye on Frea and to get her back safe, and they intended to do so... So they would stay, though they couldn't help but be worried.

Frea being as hurt as she was, and in no condition to go anywhere aside- they had not seen, nor heard anything of Laxus at all. And outside of the distant rumble of thunder, they hadn't seen any sign of him or what he was currently doing. He'd been facing against a Vaide, one of Adgnei's most formidable opponents, so it made sense to think it might take Laxus some time to finish with that fight... But this long? This long away, even with being as worked up as Laxus had been? They hated to wonder what was keeping him, especially against what drive he'd had to get here and get to her.

"... You think everybody's okay?" Bixlow asked quietly, finally breaking the silence.

"... I'm sure the rest of the Guild is doing just fine." Freed replied softly, "... Samuel's strategy was sound, and all of Therigist's people seemed quite capable... The Guild can handle whatever is thrown their way." He murmured, and Evergreen nodded quietly in agreement.

"... Yeah..." Bixlow hummed with a sigh, his head tilting backward and glancing up at the ceiling. "... And the Boss?" He asked slowly, Evergreen and Freedom both stiffened faintly at the question. Evergreen shifted, raising a hand as she smacked Bixlow roughly on the shoulder with back of it, huffing. Bixlow jumped, looking a little stricken as she gave him a small glare.

"What is wrong with you..?!" She snapped lowly,

"It was just a question Ever..." Bixlow mumbled lightly,

"It's a stupid question, of course Laxus is fine...!" She muttered sharply, Bixlow wilted slightly.

"I wasn't saying he wasn't, I was just asking...! The Boss has been AWOL for awhile ya know..."

"... It is a fair question, Evergreen." Freed interrupted quietly, sparing Bixlow anymore of Evergreen's ire. "... Bixlow is right, we've not heard nor seen anything of Laxus since he broke through the Barrier and met Nirav... I would have thought he'd have caught up with us by now." Freed mumbled, sighing. "... But I am sure he is fine, if anyone is capable of handling the best Adgnei has to offer, it is Laxus. We need only be patient, he will rejoin us, I am sure." Freed finished coolly, and Evergreen and Bixlow nodded slightly, slowly even... Though hearing how sure Freed was when he said the words did help to unwind the biting worry in their hearts for the Lightning Dragon Slayer, just a little.

"... You know, I bet the Boss is probably totally pounding that Nirav guy to a pulp right now...!" Bixlow smiled slightly, attempting to lighten the mood up a bit. "He's gotta be in a real bad mood... Kinda feel bad for whoever gets in his way right now~" He hummed and both Evergreen and Freed wilted at the thought,

"... he's going to be in an even worse mood when he sees what happened." Evergreen mumbled under her breath, and Bixlow winced a little at the comment, his smile fading a touch.

"... yeah..." The Seith Mage mumbled, before shaking his head a little. "... But Frea's gonna be fine though, she's strong as hell, even with all the stuff that's gone on, she'll pull through, yeah..?"

"... I certainly hope so." Freed answered softly, his eyes flashing as he cast the still very pale Energy Dragon Slayer a quiet glance. He sighed again and his eyes dropped closed, "... This is all very unfair... she shouldn't have had to be put through all of this so soon after what happened with Mordren..." Evergreen and Bixlow swallowed a little at the mention of it, nodding stiffly in agreement, their hearts clenching along with Freed's.

The trio didn't say anything further, they resigned themselves to silence with only the sound of Frea's still uneven breaths to be heard, and the murmur of everyone's voices on the other side of the workshop. The distant glow of fire in the city at the bottom of the Valley remained persistent, as did the sound of booming and fighting going on all around the Palace and behind the Workshop's closed door.

Frea could hear it, far-off and muffled still, slowly pulling her mind and focus back out of the calming chill that had fallen over her... she could feel the Energy Signatures, all the Magic, all the emotions, fear and pain and worry... she recognized the voices, and the scents, and the Energy Signatures too. But it was taking a long time to put names to them... a longer time to figure out how they could be there... she'd... killed them all... hadn't she...? They were gone... all gone... so how...?

... I hear them... I feel them but... I... it was so real... it had to be real, right...?

... or is this... real...?

Had she actually managed after all? Was the reason she couldn't remember anything after the Tomb closing because... was it not because she'd Fallen so far into Darkness and become numb to it all...?

... did I... not...? Did... I felt like I was falling so... how...... are they... real...? Alive...?

She was doing her best to come up above the waves of unconsciousness, and to shake off the haze and disorienting weight of all the Energy and emotion pounding against her head... her aching head.

Everything hurt, badly. Everything ached, and throbbed, and reached all the way down to her very core... but it hurt.

I'm not... numb... I feel it... I...

Her lungs felt like they were on fire, every inch she managed to pull herself up into some focus on the muffled noises made the cold fade away, and be replaced with a deep burn. A fire that had moved through every inch of her, and scorched as it went... It was getting hotter the more she tried to force her mind to focus, more uncomfortable, and the harder it felt to breathe.

But it wasn't like before, it wasn't wild and uncontrolled and too much for her mind to deal with- she felt terrible, but she wasn't drowning under the weight of it all.

She sucked in a breath of air and held it. Her lungs hated her for it, but she was more focused on the scents that flooded her nose when she did so... the familiar scents, ones she knew so well and ones that went with those Energy Signatures so bright on her Senses... so real.

... are they... did I... I didn't... do it...?

She let the breath out again, panting and uneven, her fingers curling against something hard underneath her, and forcing her eyes open with everything she had. The world was blurry to an extreme, the roof tilting sickeningly above her and muddled in color that made her head hurt worse. She shut her eyes tightly again, willing the fuzziness and the multi-color to go away, and then tried once more, struggling to make anything out... but slowly the blurriness faded, enough to make some things out, and her eye caught something green to her right, paired with the scent of paper and stone, and something else barely there, and prickling... but she knew it.

"... Freed..."

Her voice was rough, her throat burned when she said it, and she swallowed back at the pain that followed, panting again and groaning lowly. It was enough though, Freed's eyes snapped open from being closed and he looked her way quickly, surprise washing over his face and unfolding his arms from over his chest, turning to face her all the way. Evergreen and Bixlow glanced up quickly too, their eyes shinning and on their feet in no time at all, a mixture of both concern and relief washing over Frea from all three.

"... Take it easy Frea, don't try and move." Freed murmured softly as met her tired, slightly unfocused eyes that she seemed to be having a hard enough time keeping open at all. Evergreen and Bixlow stepped up to the table on the other side from Freed, frowning slightly and tense, especially when Frea seemed to wince and her breathing hitched for half a second. Her attention moved from Freed and over toward the other two, dazed still but recognition lit up in her silver gaze too,

"... you guys are here too...?" Frea panted softly, and Bixlow and Evergreen swallowed, nodding quickly.

"Of course." Evergreen murmured,

"Yep, we came to get ya back." Bixlow hummed, Frea paused, her eyes narrowing slightly and swallowing when her vision cleared a little more, and enough that she saw the bruises and the bandages littering their persons, all three of them.

"... you're hurt..." She mumbled breathlessly and they stiffened at the assertion, before shaking their heads a little.

"Don't worry about us, we're fine." Evergreen said quickly,

"Yes, we're more concerned with you right now." Freed said quietly, Frea's eyed dropped closed again and she shook her head a little, and Freed paused, as did Bixlow and Evergreen.

"... No... You're all hurt... And... E...everybody else... I... just... W...what happened...?" Frea asked softly, her voice terribly uneven, "... What... happened...? To you... Everyone... Is... E..everybody else... O..okay...? What happened... W...when the Gate... Closed...?" She panted, her voice still so rough and clearly struggling to breath and say anything at the same time. The Thunder Legion faltered for a moment, their eyes widening and a little taken back by the questions... Did she not remember any of it..?

... Maybe that wasn't a surprise, she hadn't exactly been awake (or breathing) when they found her falling with the Tower, and since then she hadn't been awake or aware of anything at all. The Thunder Legion exchanged slightly pained glances between themselves, before looking back to the still panting Dragon Slayer.

"... We do not know many of the specifics about what happened up at the Tomb, we did not manage to make it there before the Tower collapsed. We had been doing our best to fight through the Kullui to get there, but we weren't fast enough..." Freed started slowly, his compatriots grimacing slightly at the words. "... We spotted you and Talarr among the falling rubble, and caught you both. You were in very bad shape, and the Collar was damaged badly too... Corbynn and Shae had to remove the Lacrima that was attached to it, to avoid it causing you more damage." Frea's eyes widened slightly at the names, confusion and question washing over her face.

C...Corbynn...? Isn't that...?

"... They're members of Iki and Uno's Guild." Evergreen explained softly, and before Frea had a chance to try and ask. "They're here with us, they helped us get passed Okeal's Barriers."

"Gray and Juvia are here too, they're working with Talarr and Seyre to get ready to bring the Barriers down for the rest of the Guild." Bixlow chimed in,

"We are in Talarr's Workshop now." Freed explained too, "... We came here so he could try and heal you, you've been unconscious for a few hours now... But everyone here is alright, we aren't in any serious condition, you suffered the worst of it." Freed told her quietly, "And as far as we know, the rest of the Guild is fine as well. Most of them are down in the city fighting... We simply don't have contact with them for now, so I can give you no further details, I am sorry."

Frea blinked slowly, her eyes dropping closed and nodding a little in understanding as her expression pulled and she seemed to let out a shaky breath of relief.

... So I didn't... Do it... I didn't Fall...

Her lips pulled into a tight line, her breathing stalling for a few moments and her heart twisting in too many ways to count.

... I... I didn't kill everyone...

... They're not dead... It was... A nightmare...

... But still one that might someday come true, and that fear kept her from being able to be relieved all that way. She stiffened against it, shaking worse now.

... D...damn it...

Evergreen laid a gentle hand on Frea's left shoulder, her face pulling in worry when Frea let the breath out and ended up coughing for it. Every shake from the sputtering caused pain to race anew through her broken body, and Frea winced harshly at it. The Thunder Legion as a whole flinched at every cough, their stomachs knotting and eyes glinting in worry at the shaking, pale, and so very frail looking Dragon Slayer struggling for proper air in front of them.

"... A...and... M... Moon...?" Frea stammered breathlessly after the coughing ceased for a few seconds.

"She's alright." Freed answered quickly, and sort of only as a half-truth. But he didn't see a need to worry Frea over Moon getting sick right then, so he kept it to himself. Frea swallowed hard, nodding once more to the answer, before coughing one more time and hissing at it. Evergreen bit the inside of her cheek, frowning and light bouncing off her glasses.

"... alright enough. Stop trying to talk so much, save your breath." Evergreen ordered lowly, curtly almost, but her voice was just as gentle as her hand on Frea's shoulder still. Frea shot her an exhausted look through only halfway open eyes, looking almost ready to argue, but Evergreen returned the look with a stern stare of her own, shaking her head firmly. "Enough, you need to save your energy, you're in no condition to push yourself this hard." Evergreen grumbled,

"Evergreen's right, you need to rest. You're still in bad shape, despite Talarr's efforts... You need to lie still and give yourself time to recover from everything, for now don't worry about anything else. Just rest." Freed murmured, earning the Energy Dragon Slayer's eyes again.

"Yeah, take it easy, okay? We've got everything handled, so you just kick back and relax. We're gonna keep an eye on you, and next time you wake up everything'll be totally good~!" Bixlow murmured lightly, and Frea paused, her face pulling for a moment, before nodding faintly, her eyes dropping closed, panting still.

"... right..." She breathed, so low they barely heard her. She was fading fast, they'd been able to see it, that had been half of the reason Evergreen had called any conversation to such a quick halt. As hard a time Frea seemed to be having talking at all, she was still very weak and they didn't want her to push too hard right now, lest she make her condition of course Frea seemed as stubborn as ever, even with how terribly she felt-

"... I'm... sorry..." Frea breathed, wispy and barely audible at all before she fell all the way back into unconsciousness, but the Thunder Legion heard it, and they stiffened.

"... Sorry...?" Freed mumbled quietly, looking quite confused, while Bixlow grimaced faintly, biting the inside of his cheek.

"...tsk... What does she have to be sorry for..?" Evergreen grumbled lowly, looking both agitated and a little confused as well. Evergreen crossed her arms over her chest, huffing and shaking her head. "... It's not as if any of this is her fault..." She muttered, and though she tried to sound cross when she said it, her voice wavered a little and gave her uneasiness away.

Why would Frea apologize...? None of this was her doing... Not willingly anyway, she must have known that... But then again, the first thing Frea had been concerned about was that they'd gotten hurt, and she'd immediately asked if everyone else was okay as well.

... Did she... Feel guilty, about all of it? All the energy and time and fighting the Guild was doing for her? To get her back...?

In some way that didn't seem like something Frea would be worried about... But then it kinda did, but usually they wouldn't have ever thought they'd hear her apologize for it like that, at least not out loud. And they grimaced at that fact she had.

This was more their fault than hers, the whole thing. They should never have let her get taken in the first place... They should have stopped this, should have been there. They should have been together and out on that job they'd planned, and not sitting here in the middle of a war in some other country... they should have been there.

This is on us

.:+:.

"... Alright... That... Was all of them... for now..." Aisha stammered out between heavy breaths, the Moonlight Mage bent over and shaking badly, her knees threatening to give out on her, sweat dripping down her face, and no small amount of bloody and bruised. Her clothes were ragged, her hair a mess and blood smeared across every inch of her, and her skin was scored over by dark painful bruising, burns and cuts. What Magic she had left now was much too little, she'd been fighting too long, they both had- and for too long before now she'd been trying to make up for Chase's lack of Magic.

Aisha had gotten the Collar off of him an hour before now, but they'd been overrun by round after round of Kullui since then and with no time to even really breathe. There was a constant stream of them, dozens at a time and each new group all the more fierce than the last. The Kullui were getting stronger my the minute, urged on by all the chaos and the death and the Magic still spilling from the Old Ruins connected with the Tomb- that Magic that Jynx was working so hard to reign back in, to Seal the Rifts once more.

Jynx's Magic Circle was still burning bright over their heads, the Magic from the Rifts funneling up into the Circle faster and faster as time went on. The glow of the Rifts dotted among the city were like huge pyres against the darkness of the night, and they even outmatched the fire running rampant everywhere and destroying as it went.

Chase could feel the pressure of Jynx's Magic heavy over the entire Valley, thrumming and so full of such deep, ancient Power of the likes he would never have anticipated feeling from the ghost... and exactly the sort of immense and ancient Power that should have been owed to the moral embodiment of Soul. The Seleyn, and she was more than in her element here, and even coming into her prime in a way. It was like Adgnei had awoken something in her that had been sleeping for far too long, and it probably had... given what Magic the Tomb here housed.

Jynx was expending so much Magic, trying to slam shut the Rifts all around the city and stall anymore of the wicked things that were attempting to rush through the tears. And she wasn't the only one fighting hard, the whole of the Guild was, and every citizen of Adgnei too- they were fighting with their all and they were doing everything they could not to bend under all the chaos. Even as the hours dragged by, even when they were constantly on edge and constantly expending all their energy and their Magic combined. They had to keep going, they had to keep fighting, no matter what... but it was taking a toll regardless.

Chase cast Aisha a slightly anxious look, his heart twisting at the state she was in and knowing he wasn't much better... everyone else in the Guild probably looked as haggard and was as worn out as they were.

"Aisha, are you okay..?" Chase mumbled breathlessly, shifting closer to her and reaching a hand out to place it gently on her shoulder. She nodded a little, still panting for air and bent over as she tried to regain herself.

".. yeah... I'm just... a little out of breath..." She replied softly, he frowned slightly at the not at all convincing answer. "... what about you...?" Aisha asked, casting him a sideways glance, her purple eyes glittering as she looked him over and the blood dripping down from a deep slice made into the top of his shoulder. Chase realized immediately what she was looking at and smiled faintly to reassure her.

"I'm good." He hummed lightly, "... honestly I'm more worried about you, you've been using up a lot more Magic Energy than I have... I can tell you're drained, Aisha." He mumbled softly and Aisha shook her head a few times,

"... I'm fine..." She mumbled again, straightening up from being bent over and forcing a small sigh as she did so. She faltered once she was all the way up though, and quickly took a step to the side to catch herself when dizziness rammed into her, making her stumble. Chase's hands shot out to catch hold of her arm, steadying her and frowning as his blue eyes glittered.

"... easy..." He murmured quickly, and Aisha grumbled under her breath, eyes falling closed and pinching the bridge of her nose. He held on to her, quiet in place and chewing on the inside of his cheek. She looked a lot more pale than he was comfortable with, and he could feel how tired she was. She couldn't keeping fighting at the caliber they had been for much longer, and he probably couldn't keep going for too long either. They were up here all alone, in a very easy place to be surrounded, and with no one nearby to lend a hand or even realize they were there. They would probably do well to try and move from here and back down into the city, to try and meet up with the Guild at least. And he was about to suggest doing so, but never got that far.

"... your new Ilaen seems very fond of you, Lady Celene."

Both Aisha and Chase went rigid, fear coming off of Aisha in waves the instant she heard the voice, and recognized it. Their heads snapped around in tandem with one another, eyes wide and immediately tense when they spotted the man standing there, his clothes torn and covered in dust and small flecks of rubble, sword in hand and yellow eyes narrowed as he looked over both Fairies in silent, barely muffled distaste.

"... E... Edryd..." Aisha stammered breathlessly, and the Vaide's eyes hardened at the sound of his name on her lips. He glared, his lips curling at the edges as true and deepset hatred sparked off the man in the next second, ramming into Chase and causing the Energy Mage's heart to skip a beat. Chase shifted, taking a single step forward and to the side to put himself between Aisha and Edryd, earning a blink from the Vaide at the deliberate move, and the hatred whittled down slightly.

Edryd straightened up, the calm coming back into his face though his eyes remained stony as ever, and he tilted his head in Chase's direction. "We have not been formally introduced, though I am sure you are already aware who I am." Edryd murmured lowly toward the Energy Mage, "I will not waste my breath on the introduction, though I will apologize for the unpleasantness to follow... my fight is not with you, but with your Lady." Edryd murmured, his eyes leaving Chase's and dropping down to the Dyann around the the Energy Mage's chest, pausing. Chase felt the pain that followed when Edryd saw it, the sorrow and the longing too- memories surely flooding the Vaide's mind at the sight of it, and the memory of who it once belonged to... there was anger there too, but none of it directed at Chase.

Edryd seemed to force a small breath and looked away quickly, his eyes leveling with Chase's once more and steady as could be. "I would suggest you leave. Abandon your Lady now, if you wish to keep your life." Edryd murmured lowly, Chase stiffened. "As I said, I have no quarrel with you, so I do not wish to kill you... but I will do so if you get in my way." He growled, his flinty stare moving from Chase and toward Aisha, the MoonLight Mage flinching slightly under the look, though she did her best not to let her fear show through. Chase's hold on her arm tightened, his eyes narrowing to slits and posture growing instantly more defensive, Edryd's hatred bubbling quickly as he glared the MoonLight Mage down, and so potent it was suffocating.

"You Lady Celene, owe me a very outstanding debt... I intend to make you suffer tenfold for every bit I have suffered at your hand."

.:+:.

"... Hey, we're about ready to go."

The Thunder Legion glanced around at the sound of Shae's voice, the group previously at the door now standing at the edge of the little clear space they were in, and tense. Most of them were now holding on to bags filled with supplies and whatnot, including the wolves, and they were all straight-backed and alert, more than ready to get going... but uneasy at doing so still.

"... Are you sure you'll be alright here?" Juvia asked softly of the trio,

"Yeah, we can stay back with you if you want." Gray mumbled,

"We'll be fine." Freed replied evenly, "You needn't stay, Seyre and Talarr could use as much as you can give."

"Yeah, go bring those Barriers down and let the rest of the Guild come join the party~" Bixlow smirked, "That way we can all go kick the King's ass, and get that key to the Collar from him~!" The Seith Mage hummed, earning tense looks from the Cougars, Seyre and Talarr alike- especially Talarr at thought of going head to head with Drennios, though the Ilaen kept his mouth shut.

Talarr frowned, casting an uneasy look toward the Energess, his hand tapping the edge of his Glasses and reading the dialogue that popped up, and he scrolled through quickly. He was not at all comfortable with the idea of leaving, even if he was doing so to assist Seyre with the Barriers. The thought of going made his stomach churn, because he was worried about the Energess and her still very shaky condition. The dialogue from his Glasses told him she was still stable enough right now, and he knew she needed rest now more than anything, and there wasn't much for him to do at the moment... But leaving her like that felt wrong, he felt guilty still and he couldn't help himself.

"We will work as quickly as we can." Seyre's calm voice floated though all their thoughts, "And we will return as soon as we are able, hopefully with some of your Guild-mates in tow." She added with a small smile, and glance toward Talarr. "... The Energess will be fine until we return, she's safer here than anywhere else, she'll have time to rest while we're away." She hummed toward him and seemingly all too aware of his reservations. He paused, before nodding slowly.

"... Y...yes... I know... In the meantime... I am more useful helping alter the Barriers... I will do my best..." The Ilaen mumbled, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets and eyes on the floor. Seyre smiled gently at the man, but said nothing further.

"Don't worry about Frea, we'll keep an on her." Freed murmured with a quick glance at Talarr, and the Ilaen nodded stiffly but didn't look up again. Freed let out a quiet breath, looking toward everyone else next. "All of you please be careful." He told them lightly, and they nodded.

"Yeah." Gray murmured lowly,

"We will." Juvia replied softly,

"We'll do our best~" Shae hummed, Corbynn nodding stiffly beside her.

"... Uh yeah...and... I.. If... We run into that Laxus guy again, we'll send him your way..." The young boy murmured a little nervously, the Thunder Legion nodded slowly, "...uh... And don't forget to reset the Barriers on this room when leave..." Corbynn mumbled quietly, almost as an afterthought, and Freed nodded.

"I will."

The group headed to the Barriers turned and started toward the door in silence, Freed lagging behind and drawing his sword in anticipation of rewriting the Barrier of Runes he'd put up earlier, once everyone left. The group halted at the door, casting quick, uneasy glances back, before shaking their heads at themselves and looking ahead again, Shae at the lead.

"Alrighty, everybody ready to fight our way to the Controls~?" Shae hummed, and received only grim faces and stiff nods in return. She flicked her tail once, orange eyes flashing. "Good, now stick close and don't get left behind."

Corbynn brought down the Barriers on the room and Shae headed out, Seyre and Talarr close behind, Juvia and Gray next. The young boy cast those inside the workshop one last glance, before biting the inside of his cheek and closing it shut behind him. The room fell into a stiff silence the minute it did, Freed quickly raising his sword up into the air and eyes narrowing in concentration as he started quickly writing the Runes in air before him with practiced skill and ease. Evergreen and Bixlow's attention on Freed setting to work got sidetracked when a glow of red caught their eye, gazes snapping downward to the Energy Dragon Slayer on the table and blinking several times.

The Runes on the Collar around Frea's neck were suddenly glowing dark crimson red, the light quickly getting brighter as they wavered and began to rewrite themselves into something new. Evergreen stiffened, her mind stalling for half a second before panic and confusion hit her like a train, Bixlow a few steps behind her looking around quickly too.

"... Why are they doing that?" Bixlow asked quickly, Evergreen shook her head once, Freed stalled in his Rune writing at the question, his head snapping around and eyes widening as he read the newly formed Runes in rapidity.

"I don't know-" Evergreen started, but got cut off near right away.

"-It's a Transportation Sigil!" Freed hissed, whirling on his heel and already darting back toward his companions and the Energy Dragon Slayer unawares on the table.

"Grab onto her quickly before it activates!"

Evergreen hissed, shutting her eyes tight and wrapping her arms firmly around Frea's head and shoulders, while Bixlow grabbed hold of her arm, his Tiki Dolls floating forward to press under his arms. The red glow of the Runes were getting brighter by the second, filling up the whole room with a terrible muddy crimson light, rising up around Frea, Evergreen and Bixlow all, and consuming them. Freed hissed, reaching forward as far as he could and just as the light reached an all-time high, his fingers brushing against Frea's shoulder.

The whole world get swallowed up in red, the floor under their feet disappearing in a swift, nauseating sense of everything turning upside down. They felt like they were falling, with no sense of direction or anything at all, their stomachs flipping and their breath snatched away. Evergreen held tighter to Frea, Bixlow's grip of the Dragon Slayer's wrist getting tighter too and wincing internally at the thought he might be hurting her. Freed's fingers remained barely touching her skin even as they felt like they were plummeting down into an abyss, almost suspended in air after jumping forward and heart sinking.

The Teleportation Sigil could have been centered on that Collar hours ago, but with Barriers in effect it didn't activate... Not until they were taken down when everyone else left. And the instant they were down, the Sigil started working, and there was no time to try and stop it. There was no time to do anything but make sure she didn't get whisked away right out from under them.

Not a second time

The world opened up again, the red ripped apart by cool grey and blue, the air chilly and damp, and the sound of falling water washing over them. The ground came rushing up to meet them, smooth and polished stone underfoot and Evergreen scrambling immediately along with everyone else to break Frea's fall to the stone now that the table was no longer there. And they managed it, sinking quickly onto their knees in the midst of it and supporting her on either side to avoid her hitting too hard, but Frea hissed a little at the sudden movement regardless, though she didn't pull back into the waking world.

"... What the hell...?" Bixlow mumbled, his eyes darting around them to take in the new surroundings.

The room was vast and stretching out on all sides, the roof far, far above their heads and dotted in glass that showed the dark and hazy night outside. Pillars of stone dotted the perimeter, trailing ivy crawling up their lengths and the walls, the walls themselves painted to mirror a wood or forest of some kind. It was clean and neat, and the floor was cut into dozens of sections all around, massive pools of water lying near level with the small pathways winding around each of them- and all pools lined up to create one single, larger pathway up the middle. The water rippled gently, the surface disrupted in some of the more outlying pools along the edges by small fountains and waterfalls being let in through spaces carved into the walls. It was chilly, and smelled of moisture and few growing things, and the pools themselves stretched down deep... Deep down into pitch black with no chance of seeing the bottom.

Evergreen's arms wrapped around Frea's shoulders firmly, holding the Energy Dragon Slayer to her chest and keeping her steady, partway in her lap as Evergreen spared a few quick glances around.

They'd been dropped closer to one end of the room. Across the long way a huge, heavy-set and shut door was standing silently on a half-circle of stone free of any other pools of water- much like where they were. The space they were on lead further up to some stairs and a platform pushed against the wall, lined by freestanding columns on either side and shouldering another door, halfway hidden by dark drapery pulled in front of it... It was not the door that caught their attention, though.

They stiffened, instantly on edge and Bixlow and Freed on their feet, stepping forward to place themselves in front of Evergreen and Frea. Evergreen held Frea closer, protectively so as the Thunder Legion's eyes landed on someone.

Someone, a stooped, thin figure standing at the edge of the platform and the top of the stairs, covered from head to foot in dark robes that were ripped and shredded all over. They could not see the figure's face, it was hidden by a hood, but they did see the pale skin, and the slow drip of blood down their arms, speckling the otherwise clean stone flooring.

The figure hissed, their hands balling into fists and shoulders growing rigid as they lay eyes on the Fairy Trailers a dozen feet from where they stood. "... Tch... Four was much more than I intended brought to me." The figure grumbled lowly, their voice cold and hissing. "... I expected perhaps my Ilaen would be clinging still to the Energess... However I see not him, but three puny Fairies instead..."

The Thunder Legion felt their hearts skip a beat, their eyes flashing in the dim of the room and their blood running cold.

... His Ilaen...? Talarr...?

Then that would mean... This person is...?

"... I don't have a need for you three, begone from my sight at once." The figure muttered lowly, extending a bloody hand toward the Thunder Legion, sending drops of crimson in a cascade to spatter against the floor. They stared, their minds whirling and frozen, staring.

This tiny... Fragile looking person... Is... The King...?

They felt their breath catch in their throat, urgency and panic ramming into them in the course of a single second. They saw the figure's eyes flash under the shadow of their hood, cold and flinty.

God-King Drennios

"The Energess and I have things to settle."

---

Hello!

I hope you enjoy this super long chapter! Please forgive the cliffhangers, but there will be plenty of battle to be had in the next installment!

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Thank you so much for reading and your patience! I appreciate every single one of you! qwq