"The Guild master of Silent Sanctum!?" Jellal narrowed his eyes at Jikan. He could hardly believe this. The one standing in front of him looked no older than 13! "What is the meaning of this?" But then his name reminded Jellall of something. Jikan Calium...Calium was the name of White Eclipse's guild master...what did that mean!?
"You heard me, Jellal Fernandes." Jikan said before also glancing at Meredy. "And Meredy."
"How do you know who I am...?" Meredy asked. She'd never seen this kid before. She was absolutely older than him, too! At least, she was pretty sure she was.
"You shouldn't let my appearance fool you. I know far more than you think I do." Jikan replied. "As of right now...all of us are within a little bubble of time of my own creation."
"Are you here to stop us?" Jellal asked. It made sense if Silent Sanctum was involved with Tartarus.
"Not quite. In truth...you and I are not supposed to meet for another six months." Jikan said while stepping around the two of them, circling the pair curiously. "But things are playing out a little differently this time. It got me thinking...you intend to go into that Tower to help Erza, don't you?"
"How..." Jellal's eyes widened.
"Like I said, I know far more than you think I do." Jikan shook his head. "I can already see it now. Your interference would not change the outcome of these events. This is something that is preordained, you see. I've seen it before."
"Seen!? Why do you keep talking like that?" Meredy questioned, a Magulity blade appearing in her hands. Jikan was clearly trouble. "We're going to help them, so please stand aside!"
"Don't you know that it's rude to speak when not spoken to? I thought your mother raised you better." Before Meredy could let out a response, Jikan snapped his fingers. Meredy's eyes widened before her entire form just...vanished.
"Meredy!?" Jellal turned to Meredy, then glanced at Jikan. "Why you-!" Meteor erupted from his body and he lunged forward, but Jikan held a hand out to stop him. Literally. Jellal froze. "Ngh!?"
"This is not a fight you have any chance of winning." Jikan said while gesturing to the pile of clothes that was Meredy. There was a baby there, with pink hair. That was Meredy. "With a snap of my fingers, I could do the same to you. My time magic is unparalleled." With another snap of his fingers, Meredy returned back to her rightful age, but she was without clothes.
"Ah-!?" Meredy was confused. She had no idea what happened, but blushed fiercely as she attempted to cover herself. "What did you just do to me!?"
"That was just a little minor preview for the future." Jikan said with a shrug of his shoulders. The time bubble they were popped, and everything started to move again for them. "Time moved on without the three of us for a little while."
"You stalled us!?" Jellal narrowed his eyes. Clearly, Jikan's power was something completely out of this world. He wasn't here to pick a fight, but Jellal could tell that they were being taunted somehow.
"Stalled? No. The world simply continued on without the three of us." Jikan said while turning around, slowly walking off. "I wonder if you'll like what you'll see when you finally catch up."
"Why!?" Meredy asked. None of this made any sense.
"Because I want to see what happens this time." Jikan replied, short and simple. "Now, shouldn't you be getting along? You're going to be late." With that, Jikan suddenly vanished.
"Ah..." Meredy blinked a few times.
"..." Jellal and Meredy were left stunned. They couldn't fathom the events that just played out for them. But Jellal shook it off. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but it sounded like they weren't late. Whatever Jikan did, he clearly had a reason for it. But that was something they could discuss later. "Come on, Meredy. There's still time left."
"LET ME CHANGE FIRST!" Meredy cried out, quickly grabbing her clothes to go change. Jellal looked away with an awkward expression. He forgot...
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"Juvia hopes Gray-sama is alright…" Juvia slowly wander through a poorly lit hallway, feeling slightly paranoid about what may come out and jump at her, but the water mage kept a determined face. "Juvia must focus on finding Cynthia-san…" Juvia nodded to herself quietly as she continued walking. The light in the hallway slowly improved, giving Juvia a sense of relief. Just when all seemed quiet, a burst of wind flew in Juvia's direction. By instinct, Juvia jumped to the side, watching as the powerful burst of wind destroyed the wall a few feet away. "What…?" Juvia looked in front of her, noticing a mass of guards holding a variety of staffs standing in front of her. "Guards…" Juvia pulled her arm back, turning it into dense water as she swung it forward, slapping a good chunk of the guards away with little trouble. "Water Cane!"
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"It's about damn time the help came…" Aiden sighed as he watched Juvia take on the mass of guards. "God, you'd think these idiots would come a lot sooner…"
"I-Is that Juvia…?" Cynthia's eyes lit up slightly.
"Juvia? Tch, you're guild has some weird wizards…you'd think by now they'd understand that you're just a weapon, nothing more," Aiden replied.
"J-Just a weapon…" The gleam in Cynthia's eyes faded and she frowned heavily.
"Hm…speaking of…" Aiden walked over to the cannon's control, upping the power to 70%. "I think I found my next target…"
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Selene dragged Aira through a specific part of the tower, staying silent the entire time. "S-Selene, where are we going!?" Aira asked, trying to keep her voice as low as possible but high enough so Selene could hear.
"I smell something familiar…!" Selene replied, making a sharp turn down a hallway. When the two made the turn, Selene stopped; her eyes wide at the destroyed corridor.
"W-What happened here!?" Aira's eyes widened as she looked around in the corridor. "S-Selene, look!" Aira pointed to a pair of unconscious bodies.
"That's…Heather…! And…Erza?" Selene and Aira ran over to the two. "They aren't moving…" Selene frowned deeply, biting her lip nervously.
"Wait…" Aira knelt down next to Heather, eyeing the girl carefully. "Heather is still alive…" Aira then looked over at Erza. "I don't know about Erza though…" Aira placed her hands over Heather's body, a soft sea green light emitting from her palms as the two gashes on Heather's sides closing slowly, the pain causing Heather to shoot awake and sit up.
"W-What happened?!" Heather started panting heavily, looking at Selene and Aira.
"We were going to ask you that question!" Selene replied. "What happened to you two!?"
"Two…?" Heather blinked, then looked over at Erza, her eyes widening as she remembered the events that took place. "O-Oh!" Aira didn't wait for an explanation; she just placed her hands over Erza's body and hoped for the best, her hands emitting the same sea green like as before as Aira started to remove the poison from Erza's body. After a few minutes, Erza's eyes slowly opened, and she sat up.
"W-White Eclispe…?" Erza winced slowly.
"Don't move…" Aira said. "At least wait a little before jumping off…"
Erza took note of Aira's words, looked over at Heather for a second, remembering how the girl took most of the Flame Dragon attack for her, which is the reason Erza was still alive. "Warren?"
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Warren was pacing back and forth, panicking due to the loss of Erza, Mirajane, and Elfman. "This isn't good…"
"C-Calm down Warren…I'm sure something just came up…" Cana said in a nervous attempt to calm Warren down.
"Warren?" Erza asked, reestablishing the link with Warren.
Warren's eyes lit up and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Erza! You're okay! Oh thank god! What happened!?"
"A White Eclipse mage and I ran into a Tartaros mage…he defeated us, but White Eclipse's healer saved us…" Erza replied.
"White Eclipse is here?!" Warren's eyes widened slightly.
"What are those bastards doing here?" Cana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Relax, they're…they're on our side," Erza replied. "I can tell they want to help us, and we could use the help. The mages here are very powerful…"
"So, what are you saying?" Warren asked.
"I'm saying to let everyone know that White Eclipse is on our side, and that it's okay to team up with them when needed. No one needs to take a chance on their own." Erza replied.
"Okay, stay safe, Erza," Warren nodded before Erza cut off that transmission. "Hey, everyone, can you hear me?" Warren called out to the active Fairy Tail wizards.
"What is it?" Laxus replied.
"Okay, first off, White Eclipse is here," Warren started.
"WHAT!? Why are THEY here!?" Natsu interrupted. "We don't need their help! And I don't remember asking for it!"
"Natsu, calm down!" Lucy shouted.
"Yeah, chill out, Natsu!" Warren replied. "Erza said they they're on our side, and that if you have to, team up with them."
"You're kidding, right?" Natsu groaned. "I bet we can take all of these mages on our own!"
"Natsu-san…please, let's give them a chance…this is for Cynthia, remember?" Wendy asked.
"Tch…fine…but only for Cynthia," Natsu replied.
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"So…what are we going to do now…?" Aira asked as Erza and Heather stood up.
"We're looking for Cynthia," Erza replied to Aira, changing into her Flame Empress Armor.
"Where do we start looking?" Selene asked, crossing her arms.
"We can split back up into the groups were we in," Heather suggested, rubbing her arm sheepishly. Before anyone could say their thoughts on that, several shadow lances shot out from the other end of the corridor towards the four girls.
"Look out!" Selene's arm turned into a diamond shield and she held it up, taking each and every shadow lance that came their way.
"Selene, are you okay!?" Aira asked, standing next to Selene as she looked forward to see who attacked them.
"That didn't turn out as well as I thought…" Kiora walked forward, dusting her hands off, eyeing Selene's diamond shield with interesting. "Diamonds…?"
"That's one of the ones who kidnapped Cynthia…" Erza brought her sword up, glaring at Kiora, who just gave Erza an innocent smile.
"You two go," Selene replied, changing her other arm into a diamond sword.
"Yeah, Selene and I can handle this one!" Aira said with an excited, yet serious tone.
"Be careful you two…" Heather said, running off.
"Hn…" Erza nodded to the two White Eclipse mages before running off as well, but in a different direction from Heather.
"That wasn't very smart," Kiora replied, slowly moving her fist into her palm, a thick black aura forming around her legs. "Then again, from what I've seen, you legal guilds aren't the brightest…"
"Hmph," Selene glared at Kiora, watching the dark aura around the female's legs carefully.
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Lucy wandered around a large clearing with multiple paths. The celestial blonde sighed heavily and frowned. "I lost them…" Lucy crossed her arms, looking around as she thought about which path to take. "I hope their all okay right now…" Lucy turned, just in time too as several fire balls raced towards her. "WAAH!" Lucy jumped to the side, sliding across the ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop. "Who..?"
"Damn…you're faster than I thought you would be…" Tobias walked forward, standing a few yards away from Lucy, tugging on his scarf. "Oh, I know you! You're the girl from Fairy Tail that did absolutely nothing to stop the kidnapping of your precious Cynthia.
Lucy balled her hands into tight fist, glaring at Tobias. "I couldn't do anything then, but I can do something now! I was chosen to help bring Cynthia back, and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" Lucy pulled out a key, the end of it giving off a bright golden light. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!"
"MOOO!" From the ground, Lucy perverted, yet trusted spirit emerged, his battle axe strapped to his back. "I will do my best not to fail Lucy-sama and her nice body!"
"…That cow's a pervert…she's not even that good looking…" Tobias sighed, shaking his head.
Tobias' comment angered the cow, causing him to take his axe and raise it high above his head. "What did you say about Lucy-sama's body!?"
"That's what gets you angry…?" Lucy then took a minute to realize what Tobias said. "HEY! I AM TOO GOOD LOOKING!"
"MOO!" Taurus slammed his axe into the ground, sending a powerful shockwave towards Tobias.
"Tch," Tobias smirked, jumping to the side, allowing the shockwave to pass him. "I'll give credit where credit is due, that's a strong attack you got there."
"Heh…Let's see how you like this then!" Lucy pulled out another key. "Gate of the scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!" The tip of the key gave off a golden light before Scorpio appeared next to Taurus.
"We are!" Scorpio grinned, pointing his stringer forward at Tobias. "Sand Buster!" Scorpio unleashed a vortex of sand towards Tobias. But before the sand could reach Tobias, Taurus used his axe, allowing the sand to swirl around it.
"Mooo!" Taurus then swung the Sandstorm Axe Aldebaran towards Tobias.
"What the…Barrier…" A faint light appeared over Tobias as he crossed his arms, the combination attack sending him back a few, feet, but he recovered. "Heh…not bad…I almost felt that one…"
Lucy's eyes widened at Tobias, who was seemingly unharmed in her eyes. "B-But how..?"
"Tell me, Lucy," Tobias said, smirking. "What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word magic? For me, it's spells…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing a red magic circle to appear in front of him. "Flame Dragon," A flaming dragon head shot out from the magic circle and towards Lucy.
"We are! Look out!" Scorpio pushed Lucy out of the way, and took the full force of the Flame Dragon, causing an explosion on impact. "W-We…" Scorpio fell to the ground, turning into golden fuzz before returning to the Spirit World.
"S-Scorptio!" Lucy's eyes widened as she stood up again.
"That was…unexpected…" Tobias merely shrugged off the fact Scorpio sacrificed himself for Lucy. Tobias looked up; just in time as Taurus appear in front of him, swinging his axe down at Tobias. "Whoa!" Tobias rolled out of the way, allowing Taurus' ace to hit the floor, shattering the steel floor quite easily. "Down boy!" Tobias smirked, placing his hands on the ground and moved his leg in a clockwise motion, tripping Taurus, causing his axe to fall to the ground somewhere near Lucy.
"EEK! Taurus! Are you okay!?" Lucy looked at the axe, then at Tobias, getting an idea in her head. Lucy ran forward, shifting all of her weight onto one leg. "LUCY KICK!" Lucy swung her leg forward, catching Tobias off guard as her boot went directly into his chin, causing him to stumble back a few steps.
"W-What the hell was that!? You don't let your spirits do all the work?" Tobias rubbed his chin, taking note that there was most likely a bruise on the spot.
"I don't use my celestial spirits as shields!" Lucy smirked as Taurus got up, picking up his axe and stood behind Lucy, hearts in his eyes as he just stared at her butt. "I will fight alongside my spirits!"
"Hm…different than Ruika, I'll give you that much," Tobias started, and then looked at Taurus. "…It's staring at your ass…"
"What?" Lucy turned around, jumping back. "T-TAURUS!"
"Your body is the best!" Taurus commented, grinning madly.
"Now's not the time for this!" Lucy shouted.
Tobias made use of Lucy and Taurus' arguing and smirked, whispering the words, "Aqua Laser," under his breath. A line of water appeared under Lucy and Taurus.
"What the…?" Lucy looked down, her eyes widening. "Taurus look out!" Lucy placed her hands on Taurus' chest, shoving him away as the water forcefully blasted Lucy into the air. "OW!" Lucy landed on her side, wincing every so often. "Ugh…" Lucy picked her head up, only to see Tobias coming in with his leg raised.
"MOO!" Taurus tackled Tobias before he could attack Lucy, causing the spell caster to slide back a few feet, shaking his body out.
"You are a stubborn one, aren't you…?" Tobias sighed.
"I don't forgive those who hurt Lucy-sama's nice body!" Taurus gripped his ace in both hands, swinging it repeatedly. Taurus' assault would've been excellent if Tobias wasn't agile enough to easily dodge each and every swing.
"You're too slow, cow!" Tobias smirked, shifting his body as Taurus swing again. While Taurus brought his hand up, Tobias placed his hand on the spirit's chest. "Raging Blast." A red burst of energy shot out from Tobias' hand, sending Taurus across the room and into the wall.
"I-I'm sorry…Lucy-sama…" Taurus frowned as he returned to the spirit world.
"This isn't good…" Lucy looked up at Tobias, who was fixing his scarf, seemingly without much care for the battle.
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Natsu and Wendy opened a door, stepping into a large room with multiple floating platforms. "Look, Natsu-san!" Wendy pointed up, revealing another door that head higher into the tower. "We're going the right way!" Wendy grinned excitedly, thinking it was only a matter of time before she could see Cynthia again, so she hopped onto a floating platform. "Come on!"
Natsu eyed the floating platform suspiciously, "…I'm not gonna get motion sickness from that, am I?" He asked as his face went pale from the mere thought of motion.
"I don't think so…" Wendy didn't even wait for Natsu; instead she just hopped on another floating platform.
"Oi…" Natsu jumped onto a floating platform, waiting for his body to go weak. After a few seconds of nothing, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Hurry up!" Wendy said in a slightly demanding tone, quite out of character for her, but understandable given the circumstances.
"I'm coming!" Natsu hopped onto another floating platform, and then stopped, sniffing the air. "Wait…"
"What's wrong?" Wendy looked over at Natsu, who kept looking around.
"Someone's here…" Natsu replied, looking around all the room. His eyes scanned the area carefully, eventually stopping at the entrance of the room, seeing a figure on the first floating platform.
Cobra crossed his arms, looking up at Natsu and Wendy. "Natsu…"
Natsu's eyes widened, and then turned into a deep glare. "Cobra…"