I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.

Antianti12: I didn't intend for it to be cringy, it was just meant to be an effective attention grabber, to get readers interested in my story.

Ragnas Bredvolts: Yeah, like I said Bickslow is by far the most underutilized member of the Thunder Legion, and since they're still here unlike Laxus, which is for reasons I'll be including in the arc after the Tower of Heaven. Yeah, Lucy did that in the actual episode so I didn't see any reason to cut it out. As for World War Pillow, there's nothing wrong with even the most serious of characters engaging in a little bit of mindless fun once in awhile. As for God Serena, like I said it's almost a full decade before his debut in canon so I decided to make the most of what I could with what I feel like he could've been back then, especially if he and Luke had a sort of master/student relationship going on. And for the record, he won't be as insane as he was in the anime, at least not to that extent. Also, I do intend to expand on the different types of Dragon Slayer magic he uses as much as I can. He'll be getting on hell of a showdown with Luke before he goes down, trust me. That's all I have to say for now, and I hope you have a nice day as well my friend.

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"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."

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"Akane Resort, the most popular vacation spot in all of the Fiore kingdom, where its citizens are able to relax and enjoy themselves in a number of ways. Both the amusement park and the hotel adjoined with it are rated as first class. One visit to its white sand beach will make you want to come back again and again. All of this is overlooking the ocean water as it sparks for as far as the eye can see. Using the tickets given to them by Loke previously, Luke, Cana and the others take some time off to enjoy some well deserved fun in the sun."

"FORE!" Luke (wearing a black t shirt and a pair of blue swim trunks) promptly spiked a volleyball full force, slamming it directly into Gray's gut and sending him flying "And that's how a Dragon Slayer does it, take notes."

"How about this for taking notes!" Cana (wearing a revealing two piece bikini, much to Luke's hidden delight) spiked the ball at him and it slammed right into his face, but then it popped upon contact.

"I think you need to do a better job of listening."

"Oh come on, being tough is one thing but how the heck does that make sense?"

"Probably the same way that girls try to kick certain guys in the crotch and they end up hurting themselves instead." that was a Bleach reference for those who weren't picking up on it.

"I hate that."

"Well I don't, women will never know the kind of pain that we feel down there whenever they aim for the forbidden zone." Bolt pointed out.

"Give me back my bathing suit you jackass!" Gray barked from a short distance away, having to use Bolt to cover his… aforementioned forbidden zone "You think I want to use one of the cats to cover my stuff?!"

What went mostly unnoticed was that Juvia was watching them, or Gray in particular, from afar with hearts in her eyes 'My beloved Gray, he's such a hunk!'

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Sunset came, and the day was winding down to a conclusion.

Erza was just sitting in a lounge chair on the balcony of her room, taking in the rays of the setting sun with her eyes closed and a content smile on her face 'I really did have a great time today… It was wonderful…' she didn't even realize it when she dozed off.

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Unfortunately, her dreams were nowhere near as pleasant as the mood she was in while she was awake.

Now I won't say what she dreamt about, just that it was forcing her to relive memories that she had long since tried to suppress.

But what she didn't know was that she was about to get, well in simple terms, a very painful blast from the past.

"Don't you see Erza? There is no such thing as freedom in this world."

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Erza's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright, panting heavily but she was able to calm herself down after a moment 'It was a dream, just a dream. I must have fallen asleep without even realizing it.' she made her way back into her room and stopped in front of a mirror, and then she promptly requipped back into her armor 'It's strange but I always feel more at ease wearing armor, although as a choice of wardrobe I suppose it really isn't the most feminine of outfits.'

That was when a knock sounded from her door as Luke poked his head in, wearing what looked like a red collared shirt and a pair of black pants "Hey Erza, you decent?"

"I'm dressed if that's what you're asking."

"Just making sure. Anyway why don't you get out of the room and come have some fun with the rest of us, Cana and the others are downstairs so do you want to go find them and play some games, and maybe stop Cana from getting too drunk?"

"Oh yes that's right, there's a casino in this hotel isn't there? Well in that case…" and so in a flash she requipped out of her armor and into a new outfit, consisting of a stunning purple dress covered in red roses, a pair of white gloves that went up to her elbows, and her hair was tied back in a bun "So how do I look?"

"A little bit on the glitzy side like you're overcompensating on some level, so yeah I'd say that's perfect for going to a casino. You know this kind of stuff feels pretty good, sure people like us can train until our bones shatter and wither away into dust for the sake of protecting the people we care about most, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves once in awhile now is there?"

"No, no I suppose there isn't."

"You just head down there and start enjoying yourself, I just have one thing I have to check on and then I'll join you." and then he disappeared in a flash, leaving Erza rather perplexed.

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Juvia stood in the hallway of the hotel, admiring her appearance and her outfit, which in this case consisted of a blue dress with a necklace with a golden Fairy Tail symbol hanging around her neck "I'm sure this will please my beloved, without a doubt."

"Your appearance however, well that's more questionable."

Juvia jumped and whipped around, only to see Luke standing before her "Oh, you're from the same guild as my beloved Gray."

"And you're from Phantom Lord."

"I was. If I recall, you're the one who defeated Master Jose in battle."

"I did what I had to in order to protect my guild. I heard Phantom Lord was disbanded, but even before that was actually made official you've been stalking our guild for the past few weeks."

"I haven't been stalking your guild, I've simply been admiring my beloved Gray from afar."

"Which raises the question, what do you plan to do?"

"I have no ill will towards you or your guild if that is what you're implying. After all, now that Phantom Lord is no more I'm free to join any guild that I want."

"And judging by the necklace I'm guessing you want to join Fairy Tail?"

"Yes, very much so."

"I see." Luke let out a sigh and gave a small smile "Well okay then, as long as you don't have any ill will towards the people of our guild then that's good enough for me. I'll put in a good word with the master when we get back to Magnolia."

"You would really do that?"

"It's how our guild works, it's what makes Fairy Tail Fairy Tail after all."

"Oh, well…" Juvia bowed to him "Thank you, I promise to do whatever it takes to prove myself to everyone. But at the same time, I do have one other request."

"Which is?"

"There's one other person I know of who's having trouble finding work, so would it be alright if he joined too?"

"Sure, who did you have in mind?"

"Well…"

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The scene in the casino was now in full swing, and everyone was having a good time. Well, almost everyone.

Gray glanced back to see Natsu throwing a tantrum "For crying out loud, how much of a sore loser does a guy have to be?"

"Gray my darling."

Gray looked up to see Juvia approach him "Aren't you…"

"I'm Juvia, do you remember me?"

"Yeah, you're the chick from Phantom Lord."

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Meanwhile, in another area of the casino…

"Alright asshats, I'll see your 10 chips and raise you 20." Cana (clad in a black cocktail dress with a pair of black heels) placed down a hand of cards "Who's next?"

"I'm all in." some random guy placed down his cards.

"I'm calling, reed them and weep. Full house, kings over queens. This game goes to me."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." another random guy placed down his cards "Four of a kind sweetheart."

"Again? Oh that's just bullshit, you have to be cheating!"

"Hey that's just offensive, show some dignity!" but then a card suddenly fell out of his sleeve, drawing a lot of attention "Uh… I have no idea how that got in there."

"He is cheating, get this son of a bitch!"

Luke promptly moved several feet away from the brawl that ensued "Honestly, a good chunk of the time it feels like I'm the only sane person in the entire guild."

"Better them being insane than a bunch of sadists."

Luke glanced over and his attention was immediately captured by a figure with a head of shaggy brown hair clad in a white collared shirt, a pair of black pants and a pair of black gloves "Wait a second, aren't you the guy from Galuna Island?"

"Name's Noah, how ya doing Thunderclap?"

"Just call me Luke, if not then I'm going to have to start calling you Aftershock."

"Aftershock huh? Not bad, I was gonna go with Quake personally but yours is actually a lot better actually." Noah looked around "Magic slot machine or cards and other bullshit forms of poker."

"There's also another room with a couple of pool tables. If we're both on vacation then you want to shoot a game or two?"

"Full game or 9 ball?"

"Whatever works for me."

"And then maybe spar down on the beach? It should be abandoned at this time of night."

"Sounds good to me." and so

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At the same time, Natsu was throwing a tantrum over his bad luck at gambling, only to be confronted by, restrained by, and was met with a gun pointed at his head courtesy of a guy in a suit with a block shaped face by the name of Wally.

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Gray sat with Juvia at a nearby bar, discussing the recent disbandment of Phantom Lord "So I heard about how Phantom Lord got disbanded and your master was thrown in prison, that had to be pretty tough on you."

Juvia nodded eagerly "At first it was yes, but now I'm a free wizard and I can join any guild that I want."

"I see, and judging by that super tacky necklace I'm guessing you're wanting to be a member of Fairy Tail then huh?"

"Oh yes, very much so."

"I don't know, after everything that just went down with Phantom Lord. I mean I personally don't mind, but who knows what everyone else is going to say."

"I promise I'll do whatever it takes to prove myself!"

"I'd be careful if I were you, don't rush into making promises like that one so soon or you might bite off more than you can chew."

"Excuse me." this was when another guy showed up, this one being a guy by the name of Simon, having an eye patch, a turban and an armored metal plate covering his jaw "You wouldn't happen to be Gray Fullbuster would you?"

"Yeah, and you are?"

"This isn't personal." and cue the explosion.

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Luke was now in a separate room with Noah shooting a game of pool, when he noticed the explosion sounding in the distance "What the hell was that about?"

"Probably the fireworks." Noah waved him off nonchalantly "After all tonight is the night they're supposed to have some big parade outside."

"Makes sense. So are you actually with a dark guild or something?"

"I do what I have to do in order to make a living, but I've never killed anyone if that's what you're wondering. At this rate all I'm doing is so I can see Jishin again, and maybe it's for this girl I'm kind of into."

"Romantic type huh?"

"If by that you mean the only one in that guild aside from the master who took it seriously when I said was raised by a dragon, then yeah. Plus she's got her own issues herself."

"Fair enough. Well whether you're from a guild of assholes or not they did a pretty good job training you."

"Nothing compared to what you've got going on, word on the street is that you actually went to to toe with one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"I was barely able to take him down, if it wasn't for my 6 months of training with the top ranked Wizard Saint then he would've killed me without hesitation."

"Which raises the question. How exactly do you know how to use Dragon Force at will? I still have to eat a crap load of rock and earth just to enter it once."

"Aside from 6 months of training with a Wizard Saint like I literally just mentioned, there are actually three types of Dragon Slayers. There's First Generation, which are Dragon Slayers taught their magic by actual dragons. There's Second Generation, which involve regular wizards being implanted with Dragon Slayer lacrima, basically making them artificial Dragon Slayers. I have no idea where the hell Dragon Slayer lacrima come from though. Then there's Third Generation Dragon slayers, they're taught by actual dragons and they have Dragon Slayer lacrimas implanted in their bodies, which allows them to activate Dragon Force at will, but it still requires a lot of training to be able to master."

"Educational as that may be, not exactly what I was talking about. I know enough about the top ranked Wizard Saint to know that he's a disappointment as a man."

"That is true."

"And he's a major drama queen."

"That is also true."

"My point is, what in the name of hell drove you to put yourself through 6 months with that lunatic?"

"...Shit, you had to ask didn't you?"

"Yeah, so what's your shtick?"

Luke gave a small sigh "I got a serious wake up call awhile back. There was an accident on a job and I couldn't protect one of my comrades. She and I were never even really friends but she still took a hit for me... she didn't make it. I can't take back what happened that day, but what I can do is make sure that what happened to her never happens again. And in order for that to happen, I had to get stronger, a lot stronger than I was. I knew that if I didn't, then I wouldn't be able to face any of them again."

"Well shit, sounds pretty rough."

"It's my life, all I can do is work with what we've been given right?"

"I guess that's all any of us can do." Noah looked down at the pool table, then promptly snapped his pool cue in half "You. Me. Out on the beach, 1 round of sparring."

"No way out of this is there?"

"What the hell do you think?"

"Fine, nobody down on the beach right now so that makes it perfect. Let's move." and so they did.

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Erza looked up from where she was playing cards with Lucy and Cana "What's all the commotion about over there?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Cana promptly downed a drink "From what I've heard it's just that parade starting somewhere outside."

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"Juvia!" seeing Juvia face down as the smoke cleared, Gray promptly rounded on Simon "What the hell is your problem?"

"Like I said, this isn't personal." Simon told him "I just need to know where Erza is."

"Erza? What the hell do you want with her?"

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Back with the woman in question…

Erza laid down her hand of cards "Well what do you know, it would seem that I have what they call a straight flush. It would seem that today is my lucky day."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Cana placed her hand down "Royal flush, bring in the chips bitches.

"And thus my hot streak has officially come to a brief hiatus."

"Dealer change." that was when a new dealer (one with blonde hair, dark beady eyes and a tattoo beneath his lower lip) showed up and sent the old one on his way.

"But you never know, my luck may turn around faster than you would expect."

"Is that so?" the dealer shot her a grin "If that's the case then I've got quite the special game for the lot of you folks tonight." he dealt a few cards in front of them, only for them to end up spelling DEATH "And while we're at it, what do you say we raise the stakes a little bit higher sister?"

That was more than enough to leave Erza shaken to the core "No, it can't be… Sho, is that really you?"

"So you do remember me after all."

"You… You're alive?"

"Alive, what's that supposed to mean?"

"No… I mean…"

Cana and Lucy shared an uncertain look 'What the hell is going on?'

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Gray found himself in a staredown with Simon "You really think I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you where Erza is?"

That was when Juvia materialized between Gray and Simon "I have no intention of allowing you to lay so much as a finger on my beloved, you'll have to go through me first."

"Juvia…"

"Erza need your help right now, I fear she is in grave danger."

"Yeah, I can't argue with you there."

Unfortunately for them, Simon was then contacted by Sho through telepathy magic "I see, so you've located her. Yes I see, so I should clean things up here. I understand." and then the room went black for everyone but him.

"What the hell, what happened to the lights?"

"This is magic of the dark lineage. Dark Moment." Simon promptly blitzed behind them and prepared another spell.

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Natsu was less than pleased about not being able to see "Hey what gives, who the fuck turned out the lights?!"

"I can't see, Natsu where are you?!" Happy cried out.

"I'm right here, wherever the hell that is!"

"Time for you to say goodnight boy." Wally shot a menacing grin at Natsu through the thick black darkness.

"No way, not a fucking chance!" and cue the gunshot.

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Cana and the others head the gunshot from across the room "A gunshot, what the hell is going on over there?" but then the lights came on.

Erza whipped around only to find that Sho was no longer behind the dealer's table "Where did he go?"

"Where else, I'm right here sister." Sho blitzed in front of them, revealing his deck of magic cards with everyone else from the casino trapped inside of them.

'He trapped them inside the cards?'

"What do you think, pretty cool huh?"

"You mean… you can use magic?"

"You got that right, you're not the only one with powers anymore."

"But who taught you that?"

"Meow meow." that was when a girl with cat features used what is called a Nekosoku Tube to quickly bind Lucy and Cana in some sort of constrictors.

"Lucy! Let her go!"

"Well aren't you all rosy." and then it registered with Erza just who she was.

"Miliana… you can use magic too?"

"It's been a while hasn't it Erzy-werzy?"

"Please, you have to let her go. She's okay, she's a friend of mine."

"Meow, a friend huh? We used to be friends of yours too remember, good friends."

Cana glanced between Erza and the others 'Looks like Erza has some bad luck in terms of the company she keeps.'

"Yeah we were really good friends, at least we were until you decided to betray us." Sho spat out, leaving Erza shaking as a result.

'Looks like Mr Personality here has some serious issues with her though.'

"Why don't you cut the dame a little bit of slack pal." that was when Wally materialized in front of them "Keep those emotions in check and everything will be just dandy.

'And now a blockhead too?'

"Very nice, life on the outside has been good to you huh doll?"

It didn't take Erza long to recognize him "Wait a minute… Wally, is that you?"

"Yeah I've gone through some changes myself, old Mad Dog Wally has seen a lot since the old days. You see, I'm a hell of a lot smoother now."

"You mean… you practice magic as well?"

"Why are you so surprised?" that was when Simon appeared behind her "All things considered, it really isn't that hard once you get the hang of it. But then again, you already knew that didn't you?"

"Simon…"

"Erza what the heck is going on?" asked Cana "Who the heck are these guys, why is the creepy blond kid calling you sister?"

"He's not actually my brother, but the truth is that we all grew up together."

"What do you mean? We were only little girls when you just joined Fairy Tail, I know because I was there."

"This was back before I joined the guild." Erza looked back over towards Simon and the rest of them "Why did you find me here, what is it that you want?"

"I'm sure you already have an idea, we came here in order to take you back with us." Simon told her.

"I'm begging you, please just release Lucy and Cana."

"Who cares about her." Sho shot her a wicked grin "You're the one that we want sister."

"Sho…"

"Listen to me bim, you don't want to make this ugly." Wally summoned a rifle on his arm and aimed it at Lucy.

"No Wally please, don't hurt her!" but then Erza got shot in the back by Wally in a dirty move, and as a result she was knocked out cold.

'I wish it didn't have to come to this.' Simon reached down and gently picked up Erza into his arms "We have what we came for, now let's go home."

"Are you sure she's okay?" asked Sho.

"She'll be fine, remember that he said we need her alive."

"Hold it!" Cana tried to free herself, only to end up struggling in her bonds "Where the heck do you jerks thing you're taking her? When I get out of these things, your asses are grass and I'm gonna mow it! You're gonna pay for this, I'll make sure of it!"

"Yeah hate to break it to you toots, but the two of them are gonna be licking pavement for a good long while." Wally told her.

"What?"

"The two of them were nothing but talk, now they're sleeping with the fishes."

"Natsu and Gray are tougher than you think, and even if you did get them while their backs are turned we still have Luke on our side."

"I think we'll see about that meow." Miliana promptly tightened the bonds that she was using on them, causing Lucy to cry out in pain and Cana to grit her teeth "Give it another 5 minutes or so and you're gonna be all twisted up like a yummy little pretzel."

"Hey Miliana, if it helps I scored a little something for you." Walla promptly summoned the unconscious forms of Bolt and Happy.

"Meow meow, a little kitty of my very own! They're both such little cuties!"

"That's enough, calm down and tie Erza up." Simon told her, only to be ignored "Okay time for plan B, Wally and Sho you tie her up."

Sho on the other hand had tears in his eyes "Sister, after all this time I can't believe you're finally coming home to the Tower of Heaven. I know Jellal will be happy to see you after all this time too."

"Where the hell are you taking her? Come back!" but Cana's cries went unheard as they simply teleported away "Dammit she's gone, now what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Dammit!" Lucy on the other hand was rolling around all over the floor "I swear I'm gonna get out of this thing somehow, and when I do you're gonna pay!"

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The scene on the beach was night and calm.

Luke found himself facing off against Noah, only to tense up as he heard a gunshot ringing from the casino "That's not a good sign." he glanced back at Noah "Let me take a wild guess, you liked through your teeth."

"Hey I didn't lie, I said I was on vacation." Noah told him "I just never got around to telling you that it's a working vacation."

"And you're not gonna let me go help them?"

"Last a minute or two against me and we'll find out."

"Fine by me, then come at me."

"As if you had to ask." Noah blitzed out of view.

'Looks like he's faster than he was before.' Luke blocked the fist with his own, blowing away the ground beneath them and resulting in the two of them trading even blows that sent out some powerful shockwaves across the shores 'He's got this huge grin, that must mean he's still holding back.'

'This is a guy who took down a Wizard Saint, I'm pushing him as far as I can in this fight.' a flash of light resulted in the two of them breaking away from their clash "Pretty impressive, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"You're no slouch either, whoever trained you in that guild really knows what they're doing in a fight. But at the same time, it feels like you're still holding back."

"I just wanted to see if you were gonna take this fight seriously, I guess I'll have to push you for now." Noah's body was surrounded by an orange glow.

"If that's what you want." Luke's body pulsed with electricity as his muscles bulged "Come at me bro."

"As if you had to ask." they both charged forward and began trading even blows.

Luke dealt Noah a palm strike to the chest, sending him skidding backwards "Lightning Dragon… ROAR!" he let out a lightning enhanced roar.

"Mountain Dragon ROAR!" Noah let out a roar of his own, the roars colliding and sending a series of explosions across the shore.

Luke flared his magic power slightly to clear away the flames and smoke, his fist crackling with electricity "Alright listen up Aftershock, my friends need me so we're gonna keep this brief, so one more attack from each of us."

"Fine by me." Noah's hand was covered in brown colored dragon scales "Come at me bro, if you can."

"Lightning Dragon… IRON FIST!"

"Mountain Dragon… TERRA FIST!" the two attacks collided, resulting in an explosion, and when the smoke cleared both of them had burn marks on their arms "Pretty impressive for a jackass from Fairy Tail."

"This coming from the guy in a dark guild, still pretty impressive though. I don't have any more time to screw around with you though."

"Fine by me, if we're gonna do this then you're gonna have to bring your A-game. We'll finish this up at the Tower of Heaven." and so Noah disappeared using teleportation magic.

Luke wasted no time in blitzing back in the direction of the hotel.

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"Come on, come on!" Lucy pulled one of her Gate keys out of her bag "Open, gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" nothing happened "Uh… okay Cancer come on! Fine, what about Taurus? No, what about-"

"No three strikes rule." Cana cut her off dryly "Whatever these things are, they're cutting off our magic power."

"Cana! Lucy!" that was when Luke flashed onto the scene and wasted no time in cutting both of them free "You guys okay?"

"Bent like pretzels but we're not dead, where were you?"

"I ran into another Dragon Slayer and we had to go a round down on the beach, then I came back here as fast as I could. So what's the situation?"

"Whoever the heck these guys are, they took down Natsu and Gray and they took Erza and the cats with them."

"Dammit, I told Bolt to keep out of the complementary liquor stache. Look just stache the people in the cards somewhere on a shelf or something, we'll come back for them after we know that the others are safe."

"Right." and so the three of them bolted, only to end up finding Gray lying unconscious amongst the rubble "Dammit, I guess you weren't kidding."

"Oh no, Gray get up!" Lucy tried to shake him awake, to no avail "Come on Gray snap out of it, talk to me please!" she felt his face "He's so cold." and then she reeled back when she saw Luke drive his sword into Gray, causing him to shatter into ice "Luke what the hell?"

"Sorry Lucy but we don't have time to be blunt, that wasn't Gray. He used an Ice Make magic to create a clone of himself, so the question is where did the real one end ip?"

"I assure you, there's no need to panic." that was when a mass of water materialized in front of them, revealing Juvia.

"And you're here, but seriously where the hell is Gray?"

"Calm down you guys, she's not our enemy anymore." Gray appeared from within the mass of water.

Juvia nodded "Yes that's right, I pulled my precious Gray inside of me in order to ensure that he would be safe."

"Is it just me or does that seem really weird?" asked Lucy, only to be met with a look of triumph and malice from Juvia.

"What's the matter, are you jealous that he was inside of me and not you?"

"Not really, he's all yours in that regard."

"Don't lie to me, Gray is mine!"

"This guy that found us cast some kind of darkness spell on us, so I used my Ice Make to create a decoy to distract him until I was able to figure out a plan to attack him." Gray quickly got things back on track.

"And I wanted to keep the real Gray safe from harm, so I pulled him inside of my Water Lock spell until I was sure that the danger had passed."

"Yeah but I couldn't do anything from there, thanks to you the creep got away." he was met with a yelp of disbelief "Do you guys know where anyone else is?"

"I have no idea where Natsu is, but whoever these guys are they took Erza and the cats with them when they left." Cana told him.

"GOD DAMMIT!" with a fiery roar Natsu burst up from within the rubble, but then the fire fizzled out "The nerve of that square assclown!"

"Well I think we know where Natsu is now." Luke noted dryly.

"What the hell kind of asshole shoots people in the mouth?! Someone could actually get seriously hurt!"

"I'm pretty sure that was meant to kill you, the fact that you're god knows what is the only reason you don't have a hole through your skull."

"WELL THAT'S IT, I'M GONNA SHOW THAT BLOCKHEAD! HE'S NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!" and then he bolted off like a rocket in some random direction.

"And there he goes."

"Should we follow him?" asked Juvia.

"No give him a minute, it'll take some time for him to realize he has absolutely no idea where he's going."

"But at the same time Natsu does have a nose for prey that would put most wild animals to shame." Gray pointed out.

"Which is counterbalanced by the fact that most wild animals are smarter than him."

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Meanwhile, with Natsu…

"I'M COMING FOR YOU BLOCKHEAD!" Natsu burst out of the hotel and bolted along the shore of the beach like a wild animal.

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Meanwhile, in the aforementioned Tower of Heaven…

A figure with crimson red hair, black eyes and a simple red collared shirt appeared in one of the highest levels of the Tower of Heaven appeared before Jellal "I just received a telepathic message from Noah, it seems that the mission to retrieve Erza was a success and they're on their way back as we speak."

Jellal smirked from beneath his hood and gave a nod of approval "Excellent Sanguine, thank you for telling me this."

"I have to ask though, what is it you hope to accomplish by capturing a traitor like that in the first place? Finishing her off would've been easy work for someone of your level of magic prowess." he was met with only a chuckle.

"In my opinion, such an approach to a problem such as this would be rather pedestrian. But with that being said, now that the Tower of Heaven is complete to allow her to live would prove to be quite a thorny issue indeed. So the time has come at last, Erza Scarlet is the perfect sacrifice to ensure that my dreams are made into a reality."

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A certain ship was sailing across the seas in the direction of the Tower of Heaven.

Erza opened her eyes and found herself tied to a thick wooden pillar "This place… where are we?"

"We're inside the hold of a ship at sea." Sho made his way into her field of vision.

"A ship?"

"That's right, and our course is currently set for the Tower of Heaven."

"...I see, I should've known. Would you please untie me Sho, I promise I won't cause any trouble for you."

"I'm afraid I can't, you've proven to us that you can't be trusted. I know what you're doing and it won't work, Miliana's bindings are able to conceal magic so you're struggling in vain and you'll find you have no luck in breaking free from them. The efforts will just tire you out needlessly."

"Fine, I won't resist. But please Sho, will you at least allow me to requip into one of my suits of armor." she started shaking "The tower, I'm afraid of going back there. I just want to have it on so that I feel safe."

"But the outfit you have on now is so lovely." Sho dropped to his knees and pulled Erza into a hug "Honestly, I didn't want to happen like this." tears started streaming down his face.

"It's okay, really."

"I missed you so much, it hurts me."

"I missed all of you as well."

"Please, just tell me why. Why did you do it? Why did you betray Jellal?!"

'Jellal…' and that was enough of a trigger to bring back some painful memories for Erza 'He once said that we would get back our freedom, our dreams and our aspirations.'

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At the same time, the Magic Council was holding a meeting in Era to discuss the probability of the existence of another tower for something known as the R-system. They had the view of an eighth tower, and they suspected that the incident at the Akane resort was the doing of people now occupying the tower, only to be corrected by Siegrain that the R-system tower was actually referred to as the Tower of Heaven.

The council agreed that the tower would have to be destroyed, only to be taken aback by the fact that the builder, Jellal, was supposedly the twin brother of council member Siegrain.

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Morning came, and the sun was shining over the skies of the seas.

Lucy and the others were sailing across the seas in order to save Erza "I'm pretty worried about those who were stuck in the card, do you think they're okay?"

"Well we let the military know about them before we left, I don't think we really have to worry about that." Cana told him without looking up from her book.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Trying to read up on this Card Dimension spell the blond guy used, see if I can make some use of it later on."

Gray looked around "Hey where the hell are we anyway?"

"I don't know, as far as I've been aware we've been following the Salamander and relying on him for directions." Juvia told him.

"Hey Flame Brain are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Gray glanced over, but his expression dulled when he noticed Natsu was busy puking out what little brain cells he actually had "For fuck's sake pull it together you idiot, we're relying on your sense of smell so we can track down Erza!"

"How dare you insult my beloved with your childish antics!"

"Now how are we supposed to find her?"

"We stopped following his nose about 2 hours ago, we've been following mine since he started puking out what few brain cells he has." Luke told him dryly.

"Oh. Well works for me. Still though, I can't believe how easily they were able to knock us out and kidnap Erza and the cats. We're pathetic."

"In our defense, they must have been very powerful wizards if they were able to defeat someone as strong as Erza is." Juvia pointed out.

"Try that again." Cana shot her a pissed off look "They didn't beat her, quit talking like you know her because you don't."

"Hey Cana take it easy, she didn't mean anything by it." Luke called her off.

"I know, I just… screw it. The guys that attacked us said that they were old friends of Erza from before she joined Fairy Tail."

"Looking back now, I guess we don't really know her that much better than Juvia does to begin with."

"Don't be like that."

"I don't want to be, but none of us know what her life was like before she joined the guild. For all we know this is a part of her past that she wanted to stay buried for as long as she could, but I guess it just came back to bite her in the ass." Luke glanced up and noticed some birds flying overhead, only for them to reach the ominous black cloud that lay ahead of them and for the birds to die instantly "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"It's a lot more than just birds." Cana pointed to several dead fish and wooden wreckage floating in the water "Even the fish too, I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I, and judging by the flag over there I'm guessing that's the wreckage from a Fiore naval ship."

"Hey guys check it out." Lucy pointed to the ominous looking tower that loomed overhead in the distance.

"That must be the Tower of Heaven."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to protect us." Juvia cast a spell and a water dome formed around them and the boat "My Water Dome spell should prevent them from spotting us."

"Good, the less they know about us coming the better. We're coming for you Erza, just hang on until we get there.'

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By this point, Erza had been taken to the shores in front of the Tower of Heaven, and she gazed up at it with a mix of horror and disbelief "The Tower of Heaven… you mean it's actually been completed?"

"I don't know why you're so surprised." Sho commented "We've been working on it since you left us almost 10 years ago."

"Has it actually been that long? It's amazing how much you've all changed since then."

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Meanwhile, with Team Dragon…

It didn't take long for Natsu to reach his limit "I can't take it anymore! Someone get me off of this death trap!"

"Just bear it for a little while longer, we're almost there." Luke turned to the others "You see I told you guys we should've knocked him out before we left, maybe next time you'll actually take my advice. I'm a Dragon Slayer, I know these things."

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By this point, Sho and Simon had escorted Erza inside the Tower of Heaven and bound her in a cell "There ceremony is going to take place later tonight, you're going to be staying here until then." he failed to notice Simon walk away

Erza froze at what she heard 'Ceremony? That means they really are going to activate the R-system?'

"I'm sorry but this is the price of betrayal, and although you've hurt him Jellal is going to be giving you quite the special honor. He's chosen you to be the sacrifice for the ceremony. Sure I'm said that I won't ever get to see you again, but you're going to help us get into Heaven. Oh I can see it, you're trembling. Are you afraid of being sacrificed, or does this cell just bring back memories?"

'Yes I remember it all too well, we attempted to escape from the tower but the guards caught us before we could get out. The guards decided to punish only the one who came up with the escape plan, they said they were being nice. Sho was the one who came up with the escape plan, but he was too scared to confess so I decided to take the fall for him. But then Jellal did it before I could, but the guards believed that it was actually me. Jellal and Simon tried to defend me, but the guards took me away to receive my so called punishment.'

"You're the one who ended up being punished, even though I came up with the plan, but I was too scared to say anything. I'm sorry, it was my fault."

"That's in the past Sho, but right now I'm worried that none of you realize how dangerous it is to bring back someone using the R-system."

"Oh wow, you know I actually didn't expect you to know what its purpose was. That's quite a surprise."

"The Revive System, in exchange for countless sacrifices it brings a single person back from the dead. It is inhumane forbidden black magic."

"Sure it's forbidden, but whoever said that magic had to be humane? I happen to believe that magic wears away at one's humanity."

"That's a philosophy of black magic, are you one of them now?"

"Are you seriously comparing us to those idiots? They thought this tower was only good for resurrection magic, but we know better because we've been enlightened. Jellal told us that he can use the tower to get us into Heaven."

"To Heaven?"

"Yep, you see once we use the R system in order to revive him the world will be reborn and we will become the ones who rule it. The cult members who kept all of us prisoner for all those years, the loved ones of the sister who betrayed us, the citizens who lived their entire lives blissfully ignorant, those fools on the Magic Council, we're going to put fear and sorrow in the hearts of every last one of them! They'll be stripped of their freedom and denied any rights once we're in control! They'll have no choice but to bow down before us-" his insane rant was cut off by a fist buried in his gut, causing him to fall to the ground and pass out.

"What in the-"

As it turns out, the one standing over the unconscious form of Sho was Noah, and he shrugged at the look he received from Erza "You know, even by the standards of these people that kid has some serious issues."

"He wasn't always like that. To be honest, I have no idea what could have possibly caused him to change so drastically."

"Well nothing you can do about it now but stick him in therapy. Oh who the hell am I kidding, there's not a shrink qualified enough to deal with that hot mess." Noah promptly made his way over to Erza and untied her.

"You're letting me go?" Erza promptly requipped into her armor.

"You would've freed yourself and decked the kid yourself if I didn't show up. Besides, I do what I have to do in order to see my father again and for the girl, but I'm no sadist and I don't slaughter people just for kicks. Go find your friends from Fairy Tail, but when do you see them tell Thunderclap that Aftershock is waiting for him."

"...Duly noted." Erza wasted no time as she bolted from the cell, her mind racing from pure anger 'Jellal, what has he done to them?'

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At the same time, Bolt and Happy had come to in the feline fun house that was Milliana's room, only for her and Wally to learn from the guards that Erza had escaped from her cell.

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Jellal only let out a chuckle when he learned about Erza's escape "Well what do you know, it would seem that little Erza has grown into an amazing woman. I must say that I'm quite impressed. I can't wait to see how all of this plays out, will I prevail or will it be her? We're going to have a game that interweaves the past and the future, life and death."

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The Magic Council continued with their argument over the Tower of Heaven, but this was quickly interrupted when Siegrain called those present weak fools because of their so called resolve, and then he suggested the use of Etherion, an immensely powerful magic and the ultimate weapon of the Magic Council.

The council only reacted in horror, mentioning the severity and inevitable devastation that would result from such an attack, but Ultear and another member of the council agreed with using the Etherion.

Siegrain didn't hesitate in sticking to the idea, even though it would mean the death of his twin brother.

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At the same time, Erza had beaten down a group of guards in search of answers "Start talking, tell me where I can find Jellal!"

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Luke peered up at the Tower of Heaven "Looks like they have a lot of guards, these guys aren't stupid I'll give them that much."

"I say we just charge these assclowns!" Natsu hissed.

"And speaking of stupid, there's no way in hell we're doing that Natsu. Keep in mind that these guys have Erza, Bolt and Happy so any reckless moves on our part could end up putting them in serious danger."

"Dammit." Gray muttered "This is going to be tricky."

"Perhaps not." Juvia popped up from underwater "I was able to locate an underwater passageway that leads into the tower."

"Seriously? Nice work Juvia, way to go."

"Yes! Did you hear that Lucy, I was just praised by Gray and not you!"

"Yeah yeah." Lucy just waved off her insanity.

"We should all be able to swim there in 10 minutes."

"That raises some problems." Luke pointed out "On one hand, most of us should be able to hold our breath for a decent amount of time but I doubt Lucy would be able to hold out for as long as that."

"If that is the case then I suggest you wear these." Juvia held up a water bubble in her hand "This is a water shell containing oxygen, this way you will be able to breathe while underwater."

"Wow you're awesome, and who the hell are you again?" asked Natsu.

"Um…"

"Don't worry, he's just stupid." Luke assured her.

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It didn't take long for Luke and the others to reach the end of the passageway "So I guess this took us beneath the tower. The only question now is, where are they keeping Erza and the others? I guess we're in for the long haul on this one."

Lucy, at the same time, was admiring one of Juvia's water bubbles "You know these things may look kind of weird, but they sure do work."

"I'm actually quite impressed that you made it here, seeing how I purposely made your shell smaller so that you would have trouble breathing." Juvia told her, causing Lucy to sweatdrop at this.

"Gee, thanks for that."

"Stay focused guys, we've got company." Luke pointed forward at what was coming next.

"INTRUDERS!" sure enough, within a matter of seconds the path ahead was blocked off by a large number of guards "Identify yourselves!"

"And now we're gonna do this. You already know the drill guys, beat the ever loving crap out of them and get this over with."

"Way ahead of you!" Natsu's body started radiating magic flames "You assclowns wanna know who we are? We're the wizards who are gonna pound your asses into the ground! WE'RE FROM FAIRY TAIL MOTHER FUCKER! FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" he let out a fire enhanced roar that scorched several guards.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray fired a barrage of ice lances that pierced through a considerable number of guards.

"Magic Card: Summon Lightning!" Cana summoned a large blast of lightning from her magic cards that fried several of the guards in front of her.

"I don't need magic to deal with the likes of you guys." Luke started punching and kicking out every guard that was in his path.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Lucy wasted no time in opening the gate.

From said gate emerged none other than Virgo "Did you summon me princess?"

"These pervs have been eyeing me since we got here and they're kind of blocking our way, so in short they need to be punished."

"As you wish." Virgo wasted no time in motoring through every guard that stood in her way with ease.

Juvia on the other hand, well she didn't even need to use any spells to avoid the attacks being fired at her by the guards "My body is made entirely of water, your blades will have no effect on me."

"How about guns bitch?!" they started shooting at her.

"No, that has no effect on me either."

"What the hell is with this bitch?"

"Drip drip drop. Water Slicer!" Juvia quickly incapacitated the guards with a barrage of water blades, thus ending the onslaught from the members of Team Dragon "It would appear that that has done the job."

Luke nodded "They should be out for a good long while, I don't think we'll have to deal with them after this. That works out pretty well for us, our mission is to rescue Erza and the others so we don't have time to waste." that was when their attention was grabbed by a ladder popping out of the wall and lowering itself to the ground for them "So what do you guys think the chances are of that being their way of inviting us in?"

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Sanguine glanced over at Jellal "I don't understand, why would you invite them into the tower so nonchalantly?"

"As I told you before, this is all one big game." Jellal told him "They were fortunate enough to clear the first stage, but they still have a long way to go. I'm just trying to make things more interesting."

"But shouldn't we be concentrating on the ceremony? It's only a matter of time before the Magic Council catches onto our plans."

"Come now Sanguine, how many times have I told you not to worry about them? The Magic Council only wishes that they had the power to stop me."

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Things with the Magic Council grew more grim as Siegrain gained the vote of yet another council member, and now he only needed two more.

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By this point, the members of Team Dragon had made their way into a room inside the tower that, to the delight of all of them but none more than Natsu, had food, which led to them deciding to take a break and relax. Well, most of them anyway.

"HEY BLOCKHEAD! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"For crying out loud, will you keep it down!" Lucy hissed at Natsu.

"Don't bother." Luke just waved her off "It's not like there's a point in sneaking around anymore after all of the ruckus we caused by beating down the guards downstairs."

"What the hell are you guys eating?"

"Relax, if it was poisonous then Natsu and I would've smelled it. Take my advice and join in before it's all gone, we're gonna need our strength for what we have to deal with up there."

"Thanks but no thanks, I think I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself." Luke glanced over at the doorway across the room "The door that let us in was controlled by someone who uses magic, which means that they already know for a fact that we're here."

"But why did they let us in, does that mean they're trying to provoke us or something? I have a bad feeling about this."

"Not to be rude princess, but your bikini leaves little to the imagination." Virgo pointed out.

"So then should I change?"

"Yes, I'll help you."

"Wait, you mean right now?!"

Gray's jaw actually dropped so far that the turkey leg he was about to start chewing on literally fell out "Woah…"

"Not so fast stripper, you cover the hell up." Luke promptly covered Natsu and Gray's eyes, while his were covered by Cana.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Virgo to dress Lucy up in a decorative green dress "I was able to bring this over for you from the Celestial World."

Lucy wasted no time in posing in her new outfit "So what do you think boys, do I look super cute in this outfit or what?"

"Yeah, I'll give credit where it's due when I say that Celestial Spirits apparently know their fashion pretty damn well." Luke noted.

"Well anyway thanks for the help Virgo, really."

"I wish you the best of luck princess." and so Virgo took her leave.

"Oh crap I completely forgot, did you guys want me to ask her to bring you a dry change of clothes too?"

"No thanks, I think this does the trick just fine." Gray told her from where he was drying his pants using Natsu's flames that were radiating off of his body.

"He's not a dryer you know!"

"The intruders, we found them now take them down!" that was when more guards showed up on the scene, only for them to be cut down almost instantly by a red haired figure wielding two swords.

"Erza, thank goodness you're okay!"

Rather than be relieved, Erza froze in horror when she saw them "It's you, but what do all of you think you're doing inside the tower?"

"What do you think, we came here to save you and our talking cats that can fly-"

"Just go home, you shouldn't be here. This place is far too dangerous."

Natsu wasn't having any of it "There's no way in hell you're gonna scare me into leaving, I'm not going anywhere until that blockhead gets a good feel for my foot up his ass! I'm gonna make him pay for shooting me in the mouth!"

"You have to go, now!"

"Your so called friends kidnapped Happy and Bolt, there's no way we're leaving here without either of them!"

"They got them too? It must have been Milliana."

"So where the hell are they keeping Happy?"

"I can't say for certain."

"That's it, this means war."

"Who exactly are you declaring war against?" asked Cana.

"Who else? I'M GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THE ASSCLOWNS THAT WENT AND KIDNAPPED MY LITTLE BUDDY!" and then Natsu bolted past them in a comical rage, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Luke let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose "For crying out loud, why do we even bother with him? You know what screw it, let's just go help him and then tie him up and knock him out."

"No." Erza held out a sword to stop them "You don't have to worry about Bolt or Happy, I know for a fact that Milliana is a cat lover and she would never do anything to hurt them. I promise I'll bring both of them, as well as Natsu, back to the guild with me, but the rest of you need to leave right now."

"Erza now's not the time for you to pull a Natsu or a me, whatever is going on the rest of us can help you."

"I don't need your help nor do I want it. This is my problem, it doesn't concern any of you."

"How can you say that? You saw Natsu take off like that, and you know that Bolt is one of their prisoners so I'd say we're all pretty involved already. Erza we need to know what's going on, what's the deal with this tower and who exactly is Jellal anyway? Look if you don't want to tell us then I get it. From what I've heard these people used to be friends of yours right? Well we're your friends in the here and now, and we're here because we want to help you. It doesn't matter what you have to go through, we're always going to have your back just like you've always had ours."

"...Dammit." Erza's grip on her swords tightened "You need to leave, now!"

"Okay now I'm getting sort of freaked out, this isn't like you at all. What happened to the woman who would tell us to shut up and come along whether we wanted to or not? We all want to stay here and help however we can, if there's one thing we've all learned from the master it's that even the strongest of warriors and wizards need help from others every once in awhile."

Slowly, Erza turned to face them, revealing tears streaming down her face from only one eye, much to the surprise of the others, but she quickly wiped it away "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do to help me now. The odds are stacked against me, win or lose this battle I'm staring death in the face."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's no point in being afraid of the inevitable." she gave them a small sad smile "But what I can do is share my story with you while I'm still here. This building is known as the Tower of Heaven, and it's also called the R system. Over a decade ago a cult dedicated to the use of black magic began its construction, it would be used to cast a forbidden spell that brings the dead back to life. The spell required multiple human sacrifices, so the cult abducted citizens of the surrounding areas and forced them to build the tower as their slaves. The only reason why I know this is because I am one of those people. Anyone who dared to resist the cult or tried to escape from the tower would mysteriously disappear. We never had any peace of mind, we lived in constant fear. But at the same time, we bonded and made friends we could trust despite that, even though we knew we wouldn't be together for very long. One of my friends in the tower was a boy by the name of Jellal, and others included Simon and the others that you've already met before, as well as Grandpa Rob, an elderly former wizard of Fairy Tail. At one point we had attempted to escape from the tower but the guards caught us before we could get out. The guards decided to punish only the one who came up with the escape plan, they said they were being nice. Sho was the one who came up with the escape plan, but he was too scared to confess so I decided to take the fall for him. But then Jellal did it before I could, but the guards believed that it was actually me. Jellal and Simon tried to defend me, but the guards took me away to receive my so called punishment. I was kept chained and guarded, but Jellal was able to fight his way through to come and rescue me. However, one of the punishments that I had received was losing my right eye, which for Jellal was the last straw. We both knew that since he had saved me there was no turning back, so we only had one option: to fight. But as he was carrying me to safety, we were caught by magic soldiers and they decided to take Jellal in place of me. But I remembered what Jellal told me about fighting back against the ones that kept us as prisoners and as slaves and attacked one of the guards, and started a revolt. Not only did we take a stand for our freedom, but we stood to save our dear friend Jellal. He was like the leader of our group back then, he had a strong sense of justice that I truly admired. However, while we were revolting something happened to him. It's almost as if he had become an entirely different person compared to the one I knew before. There was only one word I would be able to use if I were to describe Jellal's persona, and that was pure unadulterated evil. To my understanding, he was able to withstand the torture they were putting him through and when the guards left he was, for the lack of a better term, possessed by what he said to be the spirit of Zeref himself, introducing the likes of hate into his heart, wanting him to give into it, and Zeref's spirit would become stronger because of it. While that was happening, the other prisoners were considering entering the room where they were keeping Jellal as a prisoner, but then the magic troops appeared and everyone began to run for their lives. I pleaded for everyone to fight and save Jellal, but none of them had been willing. That was when I was suddenly targeted by the troops, but then Grandpa Rob got in front of me and shielded me with his body. Using the last of his magic power, he continued to protect me and blasted away the troops using his fire magic, but by doing so he had ended up succumbing to death. I remembered how Grandpa Rob had taught me that the ability for one to use magic comes from one's heart. I expressed my wish to become a witch in the future so that I would be able to fly freely in the sky, and I promised Grandpa Rob that I would let him fly with me as well. Just moments before his death, Grandpa Rob told me that I would be able to fulfill my wish. Facing the loss of someone I truly cared about, that was the first time I was able to use all of my magic power, and I manipulated all of the weapons in the area and used them to attack the guards, obliterating them in an instant. After that I rushed to the room where Jellal was being held, but by then it was too late. The boy that I had once known, was now nothing more than a memory. All of the prisoners were on the ship waiting for us to leave, but the two of us just refused to, claiming that there was no freedom in this world and that the only way to get it was by bringing Zeref back from the dead. He killed the two guards that were torturing him even though I pleaded with him not to. He wanted me to complete the R system with her, and when I refused he just blasted me away and told me to leave with my so called freedom, but not to tell anyone or approach the tower, or else everyone there would die by his hand. He told me that he would keep the prisoners there to help him build the tower, which he believed to be the way to get into heaven. I don't really remember what happened right after that, but the next thing I do remember is waking up on a beach and breaking down over how powerless I was." and so with a heavy sigh over the painful memories, she finished her backstory "I have to fight Jellal. I have no choice, I have to do it."

Luke frowned in thought as he processed what they had been told "This definitely makes things a lot worse, after all Zeref is a legendary black wizard known for being the most evil wizard to ever exist."

"Exactly, keep in mind that the demon that you defeated that came out of the Lullaby flute was a demon created by Zeref. Also I never mentioned this, but I suspect that Deliora was a demon from the Book of Zeref as well."

"But I don't get it, if this is the actual Zeref we're talking about then why would Jellal want to resurrect him in the first place?"

"I don't understand his motives either, however my old friend Sho said something to me earlier about how Zeref would be able to get them into Heaven, and when that happens the world will be reborn and they'll become its rulers."

Lucy frowned in thought for a moment "Okay so there's one thing that's confusing me about these people who claim to be old friends of yours, why exactly are they accusing you of betraying them? Don't they realize that Jellal is the bad guy here?"

"It's not their fault, I wouldn't be surprised if Jellal fed them all sorts of lies about me after I left the tower. But that doesn't change the fact that I abandoned them so long ago, so in the end I guess you could say that I did betray them."

"Because he threatened to kill them if you ever came back, there was no way you could've saved them." Cana protested.

"None of that even matters anymore, if I can defeat Jellal then it will all be over, so please just leave it to me okay?"

'Erza… Why do I get the feeling she's hiding something? Why would she say that she's staring death in the face, and what does that even mean?'

"Please."

"Don't lie to them sister, that's not true and you know it." that was when Sho appeared on the scene "Why, why are you lying to them?"

"Sho…"

"Do you think by making yourself the martyr you're gonna get sympathy from your so called friends? Tell them the truth, that's not how it happened and you know it! You blew up the boats we were going to use to escape, and then you left on your own! We would've ended up at the bottom of the sea if it hadn't been for Jellal, he saved all of us! He warned us not to trust wizards like you who haven't learned to use their magic properly! He said that you had become drunk with magical power, and you didn't want anything to do with your past or the people that you left behind!"

Cana, by this point, wasn't having any of it "Did it ever occur to you that he might be lying to all of you? If you truly knew Erza then you know that she would never do something as horrible as that."

"Shut up! You only think you know her, you weren't there back then! You don't know anything about us! After she left the words of Jellal were my only salvation, and that's why I spent all these years working on to finish the tower for him! I did it for his sake, and now you're trying to tell me that all of it was nothing but a lie? You really expect me to believe that you're telling the truth and Jellal has been lying to us this entire time?"

"That's right." that was when a black haze materialized in front of them, and it disappeared to reveal Simon in its place.

Juvia was quick to hold out a hand and stop Gray from attacking "Please wait for just a moment my dear, he doesn't pose a threat and he never meant you any harm. When we fought back at the resort, he knew that he was attacking your ice decoy."

"But how could he have known that?" asked Gray.

"Since he was the one who cast the Darkness spell it had no effect on him, I came along in the hopes of discovering why he had made the choice to spare your life."

"I would expect no less from a member of the Element 4 of Phantom Lord." Simon noted.

"I don't understand." Sho muttered.

"I had to fool you and the others into thinking that I had killed him, but I had hoped that our attack would lure them here."

"So that means you were lying to us too? How could you do that to me?"

"I'm sorry for that Sho, I truly am. Jellal had you under his spell and there was no way I would be able to convince you otherwise, so the only thing I could do was play along until the time was right."

"So you knew all along?" Erza murmured "You believed in me."

"Of course I did, I've always believed in you Erza and there's nothing that could ever change that. I mean those words from the bottom of my heart." he pulled her into a tight embrace, which earned them small smiles from the rest of the group.

"Simon…"

"I had no idea…" Sho muttered with tears streaming down his face "I can't believe I followed him so blindly for all these years… I doubted you because you left me all alone! You have no idea how much that hurt!" he slammed his fist into the ground and finally broke down sobbing "I don't know what to do, I don't even know which one of you I should believe anymore!"

Erza slowly stepped forward and knelt down in front of him "I know it must be difficult to take this all in at once, but Sho there's something that you should know. I know that it's been many years, but I have never once forgotten about any of you." she pulled him into a gentle hug "I'm truly sorry I wasn't able to stand up to him, but I was so weak back then. Please forgive me."

"But now you're stronger and ready to face him isn't that right?"

"Yes, it is."

"I've waited all these years for this very moment, when a group of powerful wizards would gather here."

"Which raises the question, what exactly do you have planned?" asked Luke.

"We're going take down Jellal, we can do it if we work together. But first, we have to prevent the clash between Wally and Salamander.

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As the council meeting progressed, Siegrain and Ultear received another vote in favor of firing the Etherion at the Tower of Heaven, so now only one more vote was needed.

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Meanwhile, with said Salamander…

By this point, Natsu had reached Milliana's room while searching for Happy "For fuck's sake what's up with this room? There are cats all over the place- Holy crap there's a gigantic kitty head, it looks like some kind of mask!" he promptly stuck it on his head "Alright then, now let's get going Happy! Aye sir, hell yeah I would make an awesome cat." he tried to pull the mask off, only to find that it was stuck "FUUUUUUCK! Dammit, the thing is stuck on my giant head! It must be because of my gigantic brain. Perfect, now what the fuck am I gonna do? Oh well, it looks cool so as long as the others don't see it, I don't really give a damn. Okay new though as long as Lisanna doesn't see it."

What went unnoticed by him was that Wally was standing in the doorway with his gun locked and loaded "Well ain't that fucking dandy?"

A/N:

And thus we begin the Tower of Heaven arc, and we see the proper introduction of what might be my favorite male character in the series, Jellal. I'm going to be real with you, Jerza is probably my favorite Fairy Tail ship. NaLu be damned, this one has actual depth and a shared backstory.

I know that adding in Cana along with Luke will make it difficult to avoid overcrowding the good guys team, so I added in Noah the Mountain Dragon Slayer that I introduced in the Galuna Island arc, as well another OC pitched to me by TheCarlosInferno, in this case a mage knowns as Sanguine (Latin for Blood).