A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter!

This part of the arc is going to take forever since I'm writing it differently for my other story. So sorry if the updates seem slow.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, I only own my OC.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: TOWER OF HEAVEN

Team Natsu are having a great time at the beach at Akane Resort.

Happy jumps around when he feels the hot sand under his feet. "Ouch! Hot!"

Erza and Aira are playing volleyball. "Aira!"

"All right!" Aira hits the volleyball hard.

Natsu is riding on a surfboard with Lucy while he gets motion sickness. "Lemme off..." He hangs onto the edge of the surfboard.

"You're the one who wanted to ride it!" Lucy said.

The crew are having a good time on the beach at Akane Resort using the tickets Loke gave them.

"Tch, you're pathetic, Natsu!" Aira said as Natsu was still recovering from his motion sickness.

"What did you just call me, water jerk?!" Natsu insulted, still trying not to throw up.

"No matter where we go, those two are always fighting..." Cain muttered as he sighed. Secretly, Juvia is stalking Team Natsu at the beach.

Later on, Erza relaxing in her room, thinks that the day was really fun, before falling asleep. In her dreams she sees a place known as the Tower of Heaven, and has a short flashback of all the pain she went through there. She wakes up agitated, and requips into her armor, concluding that she feels more at ease this way. Lucy then comes and calls her downstairs to the casino, saying that the guys are already playing. She changes and goes with her.

At the Casino...

A lot of people are having fun playing games at the casino. There is even an indoor amusement park inside the casino.

Natsu constantly slams on the #17 button. "17! C'mon, 17!" A large sphere is filled with balls with numbers on it, scramble inside the sphere. A projection of the #17 and other numbers show up on the screen. "Oh!"

"We got 17!" Happy said. The numbers scramble on the screen which makes Happy and Natsu irritated.

"What the hell?!" Natsu slams both his fists onto the buttons of the machine, hoping that he'll get 17.

One of the workers notices Natsu, trying to calm him down. "S-Sir! Please don't do that...!"

"But it stopped on 17 for a second! That's not fair!" Natsu looks at him with a sad and angry expression, a waterfall coming out of his eyes.

"Y-You don't need to cry about it..." The worker said.

Aira is seen at another table with Cain playing a game while hearing Natsu complain. He is wearing a black button up shirt and black pants along with his light blue scarf. "Man, he's a lost cause."

A woman walks up to him. "H-Hello..." Aira looks up and sees a former Phantom Lord Mage, Juvia. She is wearing a blue dress and a large gold Fairy Tail necklace.

"Y-You're that Phantom member...!" Aira exclaimed.

"One of the Element 4, too..." Cain added, sitting on Aira's lap.

"17! Come back!" Natsu continues to bang on the machine.

"Please, don't do that..." The worker tries his best to calm him down.

"Hold on, boy." A voice said. They turn to look at the figure. "Grownup entertainment spots should be enjoyed dandily. You know?" He has a square and angular figure.

"So..." Happy started off.

"...blocky!" Natsu said.

"Let me give you a tip, boy." The blocky man said. "There are only two parts a man can take." He uses his Magic to pin Natsu against a machine.

"Live dandily..." The man reforms his hand into a gun. A laser points directly at Natsu's forehead. "...or stop on your tracks and die. You know?"

"So, I hear Phantom disbanded?" Aira is sitting at a bar, chatting with Juvia.

"Yes. Juvia has become a freelance wizard." Juvia replied.

"So I take it you wanna join Fairy Tail?" Aira asked.

"Juvia wants to join!" She sweats nervously.

"I dunno, after all that happened... I personally don't mind, but who knows what the master will say..." Aira sighed.

"Juvia will do whatever it takes! Juvia wants to be reunited with her one true love!" Juvia clasps her hands together with hearts and sparkles surrounding her.

"Love?" Aira muttered.

A man makes his way to the two Mages sitting at a bar. "Airavata Mizuki." They turn around to see who's speaking. A Magic Circle appears from his eye, exploding the bar.

Erza and Lucy hear the explosion, taking their eyes off the game. "What's all that noise?" Erza asked.

"Perhaps the parade outside has started?" A man in a costume said.

"There you have it." Lucy responded.

"Hey, you okay?!" Aira sees Juvia slightly injured. A dark blue glow comes from his right hand as he helps heal Juvia. Cain stares in shock "This is the first time I've seen him use his healing magic..." Cain thinks to himself.

As Aira heals Juvia, he angrily glares at the large man in front of them. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Where is Erza?" Two men asked. One of them still pointing a laser at Natsu's forehead while the other is standing in front of Aira and Juvia. The Dragon Slayers don't know what's going on.

On a gambling table, Lucy congratulates Erza on her consistent wins, and Erza replies that luck is just on her side. Just then, a blonde dealer comes and takes his place as a new dealer. Erza says that she has a feeling she can't lose no matter who she's up against. The blonde dealer invites Erza to play a special game in which they'll be betting their lives instead of coins as he throws five cards on the table that read "DEATH" before calling Erza his sister. The blonde dealer says that it has been a while since they've seen each other while Erza asks Sho if he is safe.

"Where is Erza?" The large man asks Aira.

"You really think I'd tell you?!" Aira responded. A whirl of water appears in front of Aira.

"Juvia will be your opponent." Juvia stands in front of him. "Danger is closing in around Erza-san."

"Seems so." Aira said.

The man hears an incoming call. He puts two fingers on his forehead. "What? You found her already?! Ah, I see. So I can clean up things up here? Understood." Soon, his right eye turns red, shutting off the lights.

"What is this?!" Aira asked, not being able to see anything.

"Darkness Magic..." The man vanishes into thin air. "Dark Moment!" He appears behind them with his hands in the air to attack them.

"What the...?! I can't see a thing!" Natsu looks around.

"Natsu! Where are you?!" Happy asked.

"Over here! Wherever here is!" Natsu replied.

"Good night, boy!" The blocked man shouted.

"The hell with that!" Natsu shouts as he opens his mouth wide making the laser aim in his mouth. The gun goes off, startling everyone.

"A gunshot?!" Lucy covers her ears.

"What happened?!" Erza asked. The lights go back on and everybody is gone. Erza notices that Sho is gone as well. "Sho!"

They then hear Sho's voice, who says that he is at their backs, before dropping a lot of cards with people inside them, screaming for help. Sho asks Erza if she thinks that it is strange that they can use Magic.

Millianna suddenly appears behind Lucy and traps her with her Nekosoku Tube, which starts to squeeze her. Erza is shocked that Millianna can use Magic too, and Millianna says that it has been a long time since they've seen each other. Erza asks what's the reason for them to do this and says that Lucy is her nakama. Sho then asks Erza if she once was their nakama with Erza answering yes, and Sho adds that it was until she betrayed them. Erza starts to shiver as she hears his reply. Wally appears using Teleportation and tells Sho not to be too rough to Erza. Erza is again surprised that Wally can use Magic too before seeing Simon appearing as he tells her not to be too surprised as anyone can learn to use Magic. Lucy asks Erza who are these guys and why is Sho calling her as his sister. Erza explains that Sho is not really her brother, as they are her former nakama.

Lucy says that she thought Erza had been in Fairy Tail since she was a little kid, but Erza replies that this was before then and tells them to let Lucy go. They say that they had came to bring Erza back as Wally points his revolver at Lucy and says that if she refuses, her life will be in danger. Erza interrupts their conversation and tells Wally to stop his actions, but Wally's arm appears behind Erza, shooting her and causing her to fall to the ground. Wally claims it's just his Sleep Bullet as Simon grabs Erza and tells his team to retreat since the mark was already aquired. Lucy tells them to give Erza back, but Millanna moves her hand and the Nekosoku Tube gets tighter, and she says that in another 5 minutes, Lucy will be "cat food". Later, Wally tells Millianna that he has a present for her and gives her Happy and Cain. Millanna is overjoyed and plans to keep Happy and Cain as pets due to her love of cats. Sho comments on how they are finally bringing Erza back to the Tower of Heaven and Jellal will be smiling. As they are carrying her away, Erza asks herself about the Tower of Heaven as they teleport.

Lucy tries to summon her Celestial Spirits, but she is unable to do it since Millianna's Nekosoku Tube cancels her Magic. However, a man inside one of Sho's cards manages to cut the tube, releasing Lucy. Lucy gives a kiss to the card, leaving to find the others.

"Natsu... Aira... Please tell me you're all right!" Lucy thinks to herself, looking for the guys. She sees Aira unconscious. "Aira...! Oh, no!" His eyes are pale white. "Hey! Say something! She places her hand on his shoulder. "He's cold..." She gently shakes him, but he turns into water and is gone. She freaks out when she sees him turn into a puddle. "O-O-Oh no! I just killed him! I killed Aira!" She ends up freaking out more.

"You may rest easy." Juvia appears from her water.

"You're that Element 4 girl...!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Wait, Lucy!" Aira appears from under Juvia. "She's not our enemy anymore."

"That's right." Juvia said. "Love rival!" She glares at Lucy with her eyes wide open as Lucy freaks out.

"After it suddenly turned dark, I created a double so I could check out what's goin' on, but then..." Aira starts to roll up his left sleeve.

"Juvia protected Aira-san by using her Water Lock to keep the enemy from finding out." Juvia explained.

"I didn't need your lousy help. He got away 'cause of you!" Aira finished rolling up his right sleeve as Juvia stands there in utter shock. "Lucy. Where are Natsu and the others?"

"I dunno where Natsu is. But Happy, Cain, and Erza are..." Lucy gets interrupted when she hears Natsu spitting fire.

"W-What a jerk!" Natsu turns around when he hears his name.

"What happened?!" Aira asked.

"Who shoots people in the mouth?! That hurts! It could really injure someone!" Natsu complained.

"Uhh, I think that'd leave normal people completely down for the count..." Lucy commented.

"That's the Salamander for you..." Juvia added.

"That blocky bastard!" Natsu furiously screamed. "You're not getting away from me!" He sprints out of the casino.

"Let's go after 'em!" Aira said.

"How? We don't know where they are..." Lucy asked.

"Did you forget? Dragon Slayers have a good sense of smell!" Aira replied, running after Natsu.

Natsu bursts through the doors, sprinting to his target. "Blocky!"

Elsewhere, a mysterious man appears before Jellal. He asks him why he let Erza live, and Jellal replies that the world would be too boring a place without her. However, now that the Tower is done, she needs to die. Not only this, she will become a sacrifice to his end.

In the ship, Erza wakes up. She asks to be untied, as she doesn't plan to fight back. Sho denies her that, calling her a traitor. Erza then ask to at least be able to put on her armor, as she is afraid to go back to that place without it. Sho hugs her and tells her he doesn't want to do "this" and tells her he missed her. He then asks her why she betrayed Jellal.

Past...

Erza and the other kids are comtemplating something, and they have to hide. Erza, however, is too scared of what will happen to her if the guards find out. Jellal arrives, and tells her not to be afraid as they will get their freedom, their dreams and aspirations.

The Magic Council is discussing the probability of the existence of another R-System tower. They have a review of the eighth tower, and they suspect that the incident at the Akane Resort was the doing of the people now occupying the tower. Siegrain, a member of the council and Jellal's alleged twin brother, tells the council that the R-System is now called the Tower of Heaven. The council agrees that the Tower must be destroyed, but they flinch when they learn that the builder is in fact Jellal, Siegrain's twin.

"Hey, do you think the people trapped in the cards were saved?" Lucy asked.

"Someone must've alerted the army, so they're probably fine by now." Aira replied.

"I hope so..." Lucy commented. "But anyway, where are we?"

"Perhaps Juvia's group has gotten lost..." Juvia said.

"Natsu, are you sure they're in this direction?" Lucy asked. Natsu is hanging off the boat, nestling throwing up. "There he goes again..."

"Forget Natsu. I can still smell the guy who ambushed me." Aira replied. "We're heading in the right direction. Damn... I can't believe that Erza, Cain, and Happy were kidnapped while we were knocked out. How pathetic is that?!"

"But how did a wizard as powerful as Erza-san get defeated?" Juvia asked.

"She wasn't defeated! You don't know a damn thing about Erza!" Aira coldly said.

"I-I'm sorry!" Juvia apologized.

"Aira, calm down!" Lucy said as Aira "tsk" her. "They said they were Erza's old friends. Even we don't know anything about Erza, really..."

Natsu suddenly wakes up, looking around. "Something feels really dangerous..." They see birds in the sky, dying.

"What in the world is this?" Aira asked. They also see the fish floating on the surface of the water which means they're dead.

"This is not normal..." Juvia stated.

"This wreckage... It's from Fiore's military ships!" Aira exclaimed.

"I don't like this..." Lucy commented.

"Hey, look." Natsu and the others see a large tower in the distance.

"That's the Tower of Heaven?" Lucy said.

"Water Dome!" Juvia creates a dome in the water. "Let us camouflage ourselves this way and approach."

Erza sees the tower for the first time in eight years now that it is completed.

"I just can't..." Natsu whined.

"We're almost there, sheesh!" Lucy said.

"Don't you have any sense of dramatic tension?!" Aira asked.

In the meantime, Sho and Simon show Erza to her cell. Sho informs Erza that she has been chosen to be a living sacrifice to Zeref. Erza shivers, not because she is supposed to be a sacrifice, but because she is being held in the very spot she was captured and punished as a kid when her group of friends attempted to escape the tower.

Past...

Erza remembers the guards finding herself and her friends as they plotted to escape from the tower. The guards decided to punish only the mastermind of the escape plan, claiming that they would be "kind" and let the other children off unharmed. It was Sho who came up with the plan, but he breaks down into tears and refuses to confess to the guards. Erza is about to confess and take punishment in Sho's place when Jellal stands and states that he was the mastermind. However, the guards aren't convinced and reason that Erza was the one who came up with the plan. Though Jellal and Simon both try to defend Erza, Erza is carried off to receive punishment.

Present...

Sho interrupts Erza's remembering and apologizes for not being strong enough to confess to the guards. Erza asks Sho of the repercussions of using the Revive System, but Sho brushes them off. He says that they are trying to create Heaven, with them as rulers and as such do not care of anyone else. Erza frees herself while Sho is euphoric and then knocks him out, but not without remembering how he was when they were kids and commenting on how people can change so dramatically. Her mission now is finding and neutralizing Jellal.

The Magic Council is still arguing, and Siegrain calls the members weak because of their resolve. He proposes using Etherion, and immensely powerful Magic, the Council's Ultimate weapon. The Council reacts in horror, mentioning the severity of such an attack, but Ultear and another member concur with the use of Etherion. Siegrain sticks to his idea, even though it would mean the death of his twin.

Erza threatens a guard, asking him on where Jellal is located.

"There are a lot of lookouts..." Aira stated.

"Should we bust in?" Natsu suggested.

"No! Erza, Cain, and Happy are captured! If we don't do this right, we could put the three of them in danger." Lucy responded.

"That would put us at a disadvantage..." Aira commented.

Juvia swims up to the surface of the water. "I've found a way underwater. It's about ten minutes underwater."

"That ain't a problem." Natsu and Aira agree.

"No way! Impossible!" Lucy refused.

"Then put this on your head. It's oxygen trapped in a water shell, so you can breathe underwater." Juvia holds a small sphere of water.

"You're awesome!" Natsu complimented. "So... Who are you?" Juvia turns pale as she gasps.

They swim underwater, into the passage where Juvia leads them. They get to the surface, inside the tower. "So this is the base of the tower..." Aira said.

"Where's Erza, Cain, and Happy?" Natsu asked.

"These things are pretty convenient, if a bit tacky..." Lucy commented.

"I made yours a bit smaller, Lucy-san, so I'm impressed you made it." Juvia evilly said.

"Hey, wait a sec here..." Lucy pops the water sphere.

One of the guards is flying a beast and notices there are people. "Intruders!" Other guards surround them. "Who are these infidels!"

"Well then... guess there's only one thing to do!" Aira said.

"You're asking who we are? Your allies attacked us, and you don't even know?!" Natsu slams his flaming fist on the ground. "We're Fairy Tail, you idiots!" He blows fire at the guards.

"That's hot!" The guards start to burn.

"Water Dragon's Roar!" Aira shoots out ocean blue water from his mouth.

"That's cold!" The guards screamed.

Lucy jumps down in front of the guards. "A swimsuit!" They all admire her body. "Thank you very much!"

"Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Lucy summons Virgo.

"You called for me, Princess?" Virgo appears.

"It's a maid!" The guards get more excited. "Who needs bikini girl now?!"

"Punish 'em..." Lucy points to the guards, annoyed by them.

"As you wish..." Virgo digs underneath the guards.

"Damn, what is she?!" The guards face off Juvia. "Watch out, blades don't affect her!" They use their guns to shoot at her. "Take this!" The bullets go through her. "What the heck is with her?!"

"Drip, drip, drop... Water Slicer!" Juvia slices the guards.

The Fairy Tail crew easily take down the guards.

"We're almost finished here." Juvia stated.

"Seems like it." Aira said.

"After making all this noise, do you think we'll be... Oh, who am I kidding..." Lucy sighed.

"Do I need punishment?!" Virgo asked.

"Where's the blockhead?!" Natsu threatens one of the guards. A stairway opens up to them. "And..."

"They're telling us, "Come on up?" Aira asked.

Jellal himself opened the passage so they can join in his "game".

At the council, a fourth vote is raised for firing Etherion.

"Blockhead!" Natsu yelled.

"Don't yell like that!" Lucy yells at Natsu.

"We already made such a big mess downstairs..." Aira stated. "There's no reason for us to be sneaking around anymore." Everyone but Lucy is eating food.

"What are you eating?!" Lucy yelled.

"It looks like a meal has been prepared. Shall you partake, Princess?" Virgo said.

"Um, look here..." Lucy sweat dropped.

"That door from before was operated by remote control through magic. Our presence is completely known." Virgo stated.

"Maybe they're challenging us?" Aira said.

"A challenge?" Lucy questioned.

"Oh, yes, Princess... Do you think it is appropriate to eat in such attire?" Virgo refers to her swimsuit.

"Appropriate?!" Lucy shrieked.

"Let us change those clothes..." Virgo's mood turns dark as her eyes turn red, leaning closer to Lucy.

"Right here?!" Lucy feels uncomfortable changing clothes in front of people.

Aira sees her from the corner of his eye, blushing hard. "Hey, wait..."

Lucy is changed into a green dress with a green headband. "These are clothes from the Spirit World." Virgo stated.

"What do you think? I know, I know... I look good..." Lucy shows off.

"That's pretty cute!" Aira commented.

"He lllikes her!" Virgo teased.

"Please don't roll your tongue..." Lucy muttered.

"Where did you learn to mimic Happy?" Natsu asked.

"Princess, I wish you best of luck." Virgo shows her loyalty as she disappears.

"Thank you, Virgo. Speaking of which, are you sure you want to stay in those wet clothes?" Lucy asked.

"We'll dry them off in a sec." Aira uses Natsu's fire to dry off his clothes.

"Human drying machine!" Lucy exclaimed.

A group of guards find them in the room, charging at them. A mysterious person attacks the guards, easily taking them out.

A/N: There you go!

Hope you enjoyed!

~Kyle