~~~Flashback~~~
Year X773
"Careful. You'll strain your eyes if you focus too hard." A young girl with an elegant voice warns. She had long white hair and wore a white sundress. She was sitting on a wooden chair facing another who was also sitting on a wooden chair.
A young boy with short green hair groans. He held the top of his face, feeling his eyes ache slightly. "This isn't gonna work…why do you insist on helping me improve my eyes when you can see the future perfectly?" He asks, looking up at the girl.
The girl places her hands on her hips, frowning. "Don't be such a downer, Hahlos. We're the only ones we know who were born with this power. That's how we became friends, right?" She giggles, now smiling. "We need to make a great example for Exahelm!"
A young Hahlos drags his hand off his face and gives an unimpressed look at the girl. "If you insist…Corrin."
"It's *Carine!* Dummy!" Carine playfully wacks Hahlos' head with a fist. Hahlos holds the top of his head in pain while the girl sighs. "This is why we need to improve your Clairvoyance, you're still getting knocked so easily!" She lets out a playful groan.
Carine leans back and turns her head to the left. As Hahlos' pain goes away, he glances back at his friend. Carine turns her head back to him.
"Hey Hahlos…have you ever been curious about the world below us?"
~~~Flashback End~~~
Smoke arose from the town in the sky, Exahelm. The castle especially, looked severely damaged. The peaceful country appeared a whole lot different than it usually does in the eyes of Hahlos as he stood far away and observed the chaos. He looked down and raised his palm up, holding the star shaped crystal necklace he'd worn.
"Why am I recalling those memories, now of all times?" Hahlos wonders.
Back in town, Jellal and Erza continued to dash through the streets. The former clenching the grazed wound he received earlier. They both were currently being pursued by a mob of the town's civilians who had discovered them earlier.
"This is bad…" Jellal muttered, clenching his teeth. "Their numbers seem to be increasing by the second."
"I'm worried the others are dealing with as much trouble as we are." Erza admits, briefly glancing back where the two heard the loud explosion earlier. "Especially since the townspeople are starting to flock where our allies are stuck in combat."
"I wish we could assist whoever is in dire need of it…" Jellal regrets. "But with this many people after us, it's almost impossible to reach them!"
During their conversation, one angel that was after them fired a magic beam directly at them. Before Jellal could react, Erza quickly slashed through the attack. She briefly faced the mob and held her sword tightly. While looking at Erza, Jellal didn't notice a bump in the road as his foot got caught in it and fell over. He lands on his side where his wound was and grips it tightly, clenching his teeth in pain.
"Jellal!" Erza exclaims, turning back to her friend and running at him.
Jellal grunts and begins to pull himself back up. But he senses someone coming right for him as he darts his head up. A young female angel with orange hair was standing right in front of the blue haired mage, holding a stone slab above her head.
"You're not going anywhere! Terrorist!" The woman screamed, clenching the stone tightly and swinging it down right at Jellal.
Jellal braced for the impact, but the stone was parried by Erza Scarlet. She sliced the stone in half which caused the angel to stumble back and fall over. The orange haired angel looked up, rubbing her head, and reeled back at Titania's intimidating expression. She quickly backed off.
Erza offered her hand to Jellal and helped him back on his feet. But right as he stood back up, the two were immediately surrounded by the citizens that were chasing them. The two faced their backs towards each other and kept on guard.
"You can't escape any longer you cowards!" A middle aged male angel shouted, pointing a stick at them.
"Apologies, Erza." Jellal regretted. "I slowed us down. It doesn't look like we can escape using my Meteor." He looked up and spotted angels flying above them.
Erza held her sword with two hands. "No need to apologize. I regret not helping you sooner."
"Stark gave us this chance to fight back! Let's not disappoint him guys!" A muscular angel encouraged the civilians. The rest of the angels roared in determination. Jellal and Erza prepared to defend themselves, but they heard something coming their way.
"Hey! Look over there!" A gray Exceed pointed ahead. They noticed a path of fire inching closer to the group. Some took note of an individual sprinting right at them who seemed to be creating the flames.
Erza follows their gazes and squints her eyes. "Is that…"
The same middle aged angel dropped his stick and took a few steps back. "H-hold up…! That guy looks like the one who destroyed the castle gates!" He recognized the man's pink spiky hair.
"He's producing a lot of flames there…" The muscular angel took note. "Everyone! We need to get outta here before we all catch fire!"
The civilians began to scatter while screaming, they were all clearly terrified of the familiar fire mage. Jellal lets out a sigh of relief while Erza lowers her sword and un-requips it, vanishing in yellow aura.
Natsu notices his two friends right in front of him and he skids to a stop. He extinguished his flames shortly after. "Erza! Jellal! Looks like you two are doing fine!" He relieves.
"Your timing couldn't have been better." Jellal compliments.
Erza crosses her arms. "But how come you're back out here? What's the situation at the castle?"
Natsu looks down and clenches his fists furiously. "Turns out…Wendy wasn't even there!" He seethed.
Jellal and Erza both gasp and widen their eyes. "Are you serious?!" Jellal exclaimed, swinging his arm. "So you're telling us this was a wild goose chase?!"
"So if she wasn't in the most secure place…" frets Erza. "Then did they somehow know about our plan of action?!" She eyes back at Natsu but notices him clenching something on his right hand. She spots blue strands of hair poking out from his fist, causing her to recall last night. She clenched her left fist in anger.
Natsu walks past the two and narrows his eyes ahead. "I may have a hunch on where she actually is…" He points right in front of him.
Jellal and Erza stood side by side by the pinkette and looked at where he was pointing at. They noticed the other cloudy island that inhabited wooden houses far ahead and placed the pieces together immediately.
"You have got to be joking…" Jellal huffed. "You're telling us she was in the farmlands all along?!"
"It's the one place we haven't checked right?" Natsu clarified.
Erza clenches her teeth. "How dare they make a fool out of us…unforgivable!" She fumed.
The three began sprinting as quickly as they could to the other island. Erza glanced over at Natsu who was in front of her and asked "By the way, did you see the others? How are they doing?" She then saw Natsu give a thumbs up with his left hand, signaling to the red haired woman that they're doing fine.
Erza took a breath of relief and smiled for a brief moment. But she glared at Natsu and he felt a slight chill up his spine. "By the way, we're going to have to talk later about your sudden change of plans earlier…" She warned.
"A-aye…" Natsu croaked.
As the three near the town entrance, Natsu's nose picks up several scents above the three. He looks up and he feels his ears twitch, as he hears someone yell out something. Erza and Jellal pick up the presence of multiple people as well.
"Now!"
Suddenly, another group of angels poke their bodies out from above the buildings that towered over the three and aimed their palms at them. At the same time, they all casted various elemental spells and blasted them right at the intruders. The three stopped in their tracks and saw the magic attacks about to hit them. The magic landed right where they stood and caused a small explosion.
One of the angels stood up and peeked down. "Did we get them?!"
As the dust began to settle, it revealed that the attack was blocked by Jellal's Hexagon Barrier. But the more shocking part to them was that Natsu was currently devouring the fire a few of them used. After he finishes, he lets out a burp.
"N-no way! Our ambush didn't even do anything to them!" Another angel gawked.
Natsu looks up and waves his hand. "Hey! Thanks for the meal! Really helped me out!"
"He ate the fire?! What are these monsters?!"
Natsu, Erza and Jellal stare at the group that attempted to ambush them. Noticing that they were too afraid to attack them after their plan failed, the three began to leave town. However, Natsu once again picks up a scent, and this one was very familiar to him.
"What do you think you're all doing?!" Far in the distance, flew Hahlos as his voice sent a shock of wind towards the group, echoing loudly. They all turned their attention to him and immediately recognized him despite being several feet away. His body was surrounded with a yellow aura.
"It's him!" Natsu growls.
Seeing Exahelm's guardian, the angels around the area let out excited cries of relief. His mere presence gave hope to the people of the sky country. Despite this, the green haired angel appeared furious. He lands right at the edge of town, spreading his wings out and unleashing a burst of wind.
"Citizens of Exahelm! Cease this fighting at once!" Hahlos boomed. "You are unnecessarily putting all of yourselves in danger in more ways than one!"
The angels felt the pressure of his voice. They immediately began to back off, showing signs of regret. Natsu, Erza and Jellal began to approach Hahlos.
Hahlos glares at the three, continuing his speech. "I am well aware you were all given permission by Stark. I will discuss it with him later! Right now, you all need to leave and find refugee!" He glances behind him and notices the stone bridge that connected both islands is currently missing.
"Please save us from these monsters! Hahlos!" A young female angel screamed while praying.
"Yeah! Give them the beating of their life!" A brown haired male angel encouraged.
Hahlos clenched his fists and sneered at the three humans standing before him. "Do not stress, civilians of Exahelm…" He unleashes a shockwave of air. "The other Tenhei may have fallen, but I will take care of the rest from here!"
Despite the harsh winds, the three didn't even flinch. The civilians began to leave the scene, leaving the three humans and Hahlos by the entrance.
A boy angel briefly turned around and shouted at the intruders. "You're going to regret attacking our home! Hahlos is gonna take you down, because he's Hahlos!" He shouts before running off.
Erza squints her eyes after overhearing the boy shout those words. However, she still kept her eyes on Hahlos. "I thank you for calling off the civilians."
"Do not give me your gratitude." Hahlos shot, glaring daggers at the swordswoman. "To think my brief absence would cause this much damage. I swear I'll avenge my fallen comrades."
Jellal glares at Hahlos. "So you *did* expect us to come back then…"
Natsu stomped one foot forward. "You better move it, slant eyes! We know that Wendy is up ahead!" He threatened.
Despite his threat, Hahlos didn't respond as he merely glanced at the fire dragon slayer. Grumbling, Natsu bends down and stretches his body back.
"Erza, Jellal. Keep this guy distracted, I'm going up ahead." Natsu requests, beginning to charge his magic through his palms.
Jellal looks down at Natsu. "That's reckless! He'll be able to predict our movements! We need a plan first!" He urged.
However, Natsu didn't heed Jellal's warning as he began charging right ahead. Erza widens her eyes "Natsu! Wait!" She shouts.
The fire dragon slayer shoots out flames from both his palms, using them to boost his speed. He sprints right at Hahlos, but the angel quickly steps out of the way. Using this opportunity, Natsu leaps over the cloudy island and manages to reach the other end. He lands and rolls on the ground before running off towards the farmlands.
Erza and Jellal flinch at not only Natsu making it, but Hahlos' action or lack thereof. In fact, the angel didn't even bat an eye at the fire dragon slayer while he ran further away.
"How come you're not going after him?" Erza wonders.
"Because there isn't anything he'll be able to do." Hahlos retorts, pointing at his sharp purple eyes. "After all, I can see all."
Jellal grabs his coat and removes it, revealing a black sleeveless shirt. "In that case, we'll take care of you quickly before giving you the chance to go after him." He declared, his jacket landing on the cloudy surface.
Hahlos slowly shut his eyes. "That is not what I meant…"
Erza narrows her eyes and readies her sword. "What do you mean?"
The two then witness Hahlos slowly open his eyes. He raises two fingers at them both, showing no signs of emotion.
While most of the rancher's stayed inside their homes to hide themselves from the chaos occuring at the main town. Some stayed outside to observe the events currently transpiring. Two of them were Henry, the blonde ranching angel and Alivia, the brown furred Exceed.
Henry sat on the cloudy surface while Alivia floated next to him. The Exceed took note of her friend's depressed state.
"There's no need to have a look like that. All of this will be over soon enough." Alivia comforted.
Henry didn't respond right away as he looked down at the clouds. He placed a palm on them and pressed down. "There's nothing about this that I like." He admitted.
Alivia sighs and narrows her eyes away from Henry. "...Ah' feel the same way." She mumbles.
While sulking, the two overheard some shouting up ahead. Turning their attention to it, they saw Natsu sprinting his way towards them. Despite the familiar face, neither of them showed any reaction.
"Hey…it's that pink haired land-walker." Henry pointed out.
"So it is." Alivia noted. "Brace yourself, Henry."
Natsu slides to a stop, leaving a trail of cloudy smoke behind. He completely ignores the angels near him as a few of them took several steps back. He darts his head all over the area, his nose twitching constantly. Natsu's eyes widen, picking up Wendy's scent as he narrows his eyes over at one of the wooden houses. It was Henry's and Alivia's home.
"She's there!" Natsu exclaimed, running past both ranchers. Neither of them looked back at the fire dragon slayer.
Kicking down the door, Natsu enters the small house. It was dark inside, as there was nothing that could light up the room. However, the fire dragon slayer spotted a small wooden bed laying in the middle of the room. All of the tables and chairs were moved aside in favor of this bed, as the younger sister figure of Natsu was laying right there. She was on her back with her palms resting on her stomach, she appeared to be asleep.
Natsu's eyes lit up. "There you are!" He beamed, the blue haired girl looked unharmed as there was no single wound or bruise on her. He began to approach her.
~~~Flashback~~~
"Natsu!" Wendy chirped as she ran up to an exhausted Natsu. She threw herself at him and gave him a big hug. Natsu was caught off guard but accepted the hug all the same.
"Thank you…for keeping your promise…" Wendy was relieved. She laid close to the pink haired mage, releasing her hug and letting her arms go limp.
~~~Flashback End~~~
"Two hours." Hahlos states with a straight face. "That is how long it has been since Wendy Marvell had fulfilled her duty and allowed herself to sacrifice her own being to revive Izanagi."