I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and for getting this story to 17,000 views! Here's to 20,000.
YoshiChain: Thanks, I'm glad to see you like the story. I did have something else I used for scene transitions, in my stories, but for some reason it didn't go through when I started uploading my stories, so I had to come up with something else.
Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you enjoyed the chapter. Yeah, I've gotten some complaints about the scene transitions before, but if you say you're willing to deal, then thanks for that. Yep, when Luke brings the thunder, he brings the goddamn thunder, but just because he's the main character doesn't mean he has to do everything, and so I decided to have him take the bite from Cubellios for Erza, to give the others some time to shine. Xian is the second of four OC requests I decided to take. You've already seen the first in the form of Noah, the Mountain Dragon Slayer that was allied with Jellal and Ultear. I have two more planned, but they won't appear unti after the 7 year time skip. I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope I continue to do so, and you have a glorious day as well my friend.
Guest: I'm glad you like this story so much, and as much as I love Fairy Tail and writing this story, I like to take some time to work on more than one project at a time, in order to avoid getting bored with one story too quickly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Erza and the others stood with their backs to each other as they eyed the Naked Mummy monkey men while bracing themselves for a fight 'I can't believe we have to listen to these idiots go on like that, it's like listening to Natsu and Gray but even more idiotic.'
"Hey bro listen up, I just got a great idea. Why don't we show these guys just how terrifying the wizards of Naked Mummy can, what do you think about that?"
"That sounds like fun, that's a good idea but I'm afraid they won't even know what hit them cause it'd be over so quick."
"Yeah it will, but I'm thinking we show these dudes first hand just how scary Naked Mummy can be, sound good to you bro?"
"Isn't that what you just said, and I agree with you."
"So you're thinking what I'm thinking, about showing these here punks just how horrifying-"
"Let's teach these guys a lesson!" and so the Naked Mummy monkey men all closed in on the wizards of Fairy Tail at full speed.
"Well I know what I'm thinking." Gray let out a sigh "These idiots really need to do a lot of work on the crappy comedy routine, the whole "bro act" looks like it's kind of stretching it too when you think about it."
"All I'm hearing is blah blah blah, blow these bastards up! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" clearly sick of them talking like the rest of us, Natsu launched a fire enhanced fist at the wizards blasting at them with magic rifles.
"For once we actually agree, I say we ice these apes." Gray promptly sent a good number of the apes flying with a wall of ice.
"Alright you fairy fuckers, get yourself a taste of my magic shotgun! Yeah that's right, how the fuck do you like this?!" the angry monkey started shooting at them with a magic shotgun, promptly hitting Erza in the back but not hurting her in the slightest "Uh… that really should've worked better."
"No quite the opposite, it actually worked quite well for us." with a simple swing of one of her swords, Erza promptly sent the angry monkey flying "I think you apes will find that wizards of Fairy Tail are some of the last people in all of the Fiore Kingdom that you would want to underestimate, whether fighting them separately or all at once."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Wendy was being faced with Jellal Fernandes himself, quickly being reminded by Happy about all of the horrible things that he had done, only for this to be soon overshadowed by Brain reminding her that she owes Jellal her life.
Wendy was left paralyzed and unable to do anything, and in an attempt to motivate her to take action, Brain faked an attack on Jellal, leaving her to scream and fall to the ground, completely powerless.
Happy continued trying to persuade Wendy by mentioning the evil deeds Jellal had committed in the past, only to find that Wendy was inconsolable, leaving him with pretty much only one reasonable option left: Pray to the great gods above that Natsu and the others would get there soon.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Natsu and the others…
"I don't believe it, the terrifying Naked Mummy guild was defeated by a couple of puny wizards like them."
"It's unreal, Naked Mummy was taken down by those two little guys and that red headed chick of all people."
"Yeah he just got done saying that, and frankly I'm done with your shit." Gray promptly summoned an ice mallet "Anybody got a problem with that?"
"Nope." was the simultaneous chorus from Natsu and Erza.
"Good enough for me." he promptly knocked out the two main monkey men with a clean swing at each of their heads "You know maybe Dragon Ball overhyped my expectations for monkey men, but that was honestly pretty disappointing."
"Really? Seemed like a fair workout to me." Erza pointed out.
"Yeah but all they really had going for them were strength in numbers, still though they did put up one hell of a fight."
"Yeah tell me about it, that was one hell of a workout." Natsu promptly grabbed one of the monkey men by the collar "Alright idiot start talking, tell me where you guys' hideout is right now!"
"Forget it I ain't telling you squat." the monkey man let out a laugh, only to be dealt a comical headbutt by Natsu "Ow…"
"Fine, if you won't talk then one of your friends will!"
Carla watched as Natsu tried interrogating one monkey man after another for the next few minutes, to no avail "These Fairy Tail wizards are so reckless."
"Talk, where the hell did your guys take my little buddy?!"
"Forget it… Okay pal, he's all yours… have at em…" and then the last of the monkey men passed out.
"What the hell was that one talking about?"
"Well well, what do we have here? It seems that you pesky little flies still haven't learned to buzz the hell off." this was when a familiar figure revealed himself "I suppose that's the main reason why I've been sent to come and swat you down like the insects that you are once and for all."
"Wait a second, I think I know who this guy is." Natsu looked up at the figure, and then he gave his typical stupid grin "Hey there Cool Breeze how the hell have you been, it's been awhile hasn't it?"
"What? We're enemies you imbecile, I never knew that flies could have the attention span of brain dead squirrels."
"Wait what?"
"Honestly, why do we even bother?" Erza let out a sigh "That's Erigor the Reaper from the dark guild Eisenwald, he was the one behind the plot to take out Master Makarov and the rest of the Guild Masters with the demonic flute Lullaby?"
"Oh yeah, he's the windbag that Luke roasted in that epic bridge fight!"
"I was looking for him to get my revenge on, but I suppose the three of you will have to do for the time being." Erigor floated down towards them with a malice filled grin "After the fall of the Eisenwald guild, I used my expertise as an enforcer in the service of the Oracion Seis, biding my time until now, the day that I would finally have my revenge, the day Erigor the Reaper would at last rise again!"
"So you came looking for a rematch is that it? Sounds like a fun time to me, trust me when I say we don't need Luke here to kick your ass."
"We'll see about that!" Erigor unleashed a blast of wind from his scythe.
"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray quickly summoned a wall of ice to protect himself and the others from the wind "Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling this one is gonna be a major step up from that stupid pack of monkeys."
"No doubt about it. Requip!" Erza promptly flashed into her Flame Empress Armor "Listen up you two, I want you to take Carla and go on ahead while I deal with Erigor on my own."
"Bullshit!" Natsu barked "There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you get all the fun-"
"This isn't fun Natsu!" her sharp tone made both of them recoil "We're not doing this for fun, we have to rescue Wendy and Happy in order to save Luke before it's too late. Now go save them, I'll take care of this one and I'll join you as soon as I can."
"...Don't take too long or we'll have to come back and save you." so Gray grabbed onto Carla, then grabbed Natsu by the scarf and promptly dragged both of them off.
"Requip! Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!" in a series of swift movements, Erza flashed into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and unleashed a barrage of steel swords.
"Such a pathetic fly, you think that will be enough?" Erigor blocked each sword using his wind magic "You think steel blades will be enough for you to break through my wind?"
"One wouldn't normally think so, and Luke may have had a difficult time against you when you fought him, but if you think that he was using his full power against you then you would be in for a rude awakening! Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!" in a flash, Erza blitzed through the barrage of wind with one sword in each hand.
Erigor managed to get out of the way for the most part, but he still ended up receiving a nasty gash to the shoulder 'I suppose the so called Fairy Queen isn't as pathetic of a fly as the others are, she's clearly on a different level than that lightning mage was back when we fought. It seems that you are on a different level than you were before."
"I'm glad you noticed, but unfortunately for you I don't have the time to toy with you at the moment. My friends need me, and I have no intention of letting you stop me."
"Looks like having a big mouth is common for you, why don't I go ahead and shut you up for good! Emera Baram!" Erigor quickly unleashed his Emera Baram, engulfing Erza in the powerful blast of wind that followed, leveling a good chunk of the forest "There, now what do you say to that you pest? You flies aren't the only ones who've grown stronger, ever since I was defeated by that lightning mage I've been training nonstop to increase the destructive power of my magic, growing that much stronger for the sole purpose of bringing him down once and for all."
"That's just pitiful." the smoke cleared to reveal Erza, having requipped into her Black Wing Armor, which hadn't even been scratched by the blast "If you've spent this entire time since your defeat by Luke thinking about nothing but revenge, then you haven't grown in the slightest."
"What?!"
"People like you fail to realize that there is far more to life than something as simple minded as revenge."
"Oh please, you don't understand a thing. This isn't about what that wretch did to Eisenwald or on behalf of the Oracion Seis, it's not about him at all. This is all about me! I refuse to allow myself to be defeated!"
"We'll see about that soon enough. Requip!" Erza flashed into her Flame Empress Armor "If it's a fight you want, then I'll give you one, but it will be over in seconds."
"On that we can agree! Magic Wind Palm!" Erigor unleashed a massive tornado from the palms of his hands, engulfing Erza in an instant.
"Flame Empress: Soaring Flame Blade!" Erza easily burst through the tornado and quickly dealt Erigor an uppercut spiral attack with her sword coated in flames, the force blowing him away in an instant, leaving his unconscious form to crash to the ground with a thud.
'No… not again…' that was the last thought Erigor had before he passed out.
'That fight took far too long for my liking, I suppose I should've started with the Flame Empress Armor. But at the same time, if he was able to improve like this and he's only here on behalf of the Oracion Seis, it makes me wonder what the actual members themselves are capable of when they get serious. Now then, is it worth trying to wake him up enough to interrogate him as to where they took Wendy and Happy? No, for now I should try to meet up with Natsu and the others as soon as I can.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, the other group had concluded their fights, with the exception of Ichiya, him having been captured while ranting to his captors about his abilities and strength, as well as the fact that he was under 30.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, the other groups of the Alliance had been ambushed as well, with Ren and Eve both using their elements to defeat the Dark Unicorn guild with ease.
Elsewhere, the Red Hood guild had summoned some cute goblic creatures who were able to psychologically disarm Lyon and the others, forcing them to retreat, but in the meantime the guild had summoned a gigantic Wyvern.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Natsu and the others (Gray and Carla) had reached a cliffside overlooking the area being used as the enemy hideout "So is this the place? Hey Happy, Wendy, you guys there?! Say something!"
"Be quiet you foolish brute!" Carla hissed at him "For all we know our enemy may be hiding down there!"
"And that means Happy and Wendy are with em! Happy! Wendy!" and then Natsu and the others almost got blown off their feet by Racer blitzing onto the scene "Oh fuck no, what the hell is this guy doing here?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
About 30 seconds earlier…
Unfortunately, Brain and the others heard Natsu barking like a mindless dog, and he promptly sent Racer out to intercept them, and then he proceeded to incapacitate Happy while still trying to convince Wendy to use her Sky magic to revive Jellal.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back outside…
Gray whipped out of the way of one of Racer's attacks and shot a glance at Natsu "I can handle this dude on my own, you need to go down there and save the others."
"Gotcha, wreck his shit before I do." and so Natsu promptly prepared to bolt off.
'Now to see how he falls for this.'
"You're staying right here you little bastard!" Racer attempted to bolt after Natsu, only to slip and fall on the ice floor made by Gray.
"Huh, I didn't think that was gonna work. Anyway the cat's out of commission for now, so go ahead and use this instead." so Gray promptly used his ice magic to create an ice slide down the cliffside.
"Finally, your ice doing something that doesn't make me wanna punch you in the dick!" so on that rather crude note, Natsu promptly grabbed Carla and started sliding his way down the cliffside.
"Note to self, punch him in the dick for that later."
"You've got some nerve you little bastard." Racer blitzed behind Gray "There's no one alive that can put the breaks on me."
"Looks to me like you had a little problem with your traction." Gray glanced down the cliffside at the sound of wretching "And apparently even a slide can make him upchuck all over a literal woodchuck. And for the record Pinnochio, I can do a hell of a lot more to you with my Ice Make magic than just put the breaks on you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Natsu…
"Okay, okay I think I got it all out of my system. No hold that thought." Natsu promptly puked into a nearby bush, wiped the rest of it from his lip, and then started to make his way into the cave being used as a hideout, only for him and Carla to freeze in their tracks at what they were seeing "No way, you've gotta be fucking kidding me… But how?"
Wendy slowly turned to face them with tears streaming down her face "I'm so sorry… Please forgive me… I had no choice…"
"But it can't be… Jellal? Here? Alive?" Natsu looked over at where Jellal was standing in the middle of the room, his expression one of pure disbelief and a small bit of horror "But this guy is dead, I saw Luke bring the thunder and rip him apart!"
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… But I had to… I owe him…"
Carla on the other hand, was both mortified and outraged "Wendy what were you thinking, you used your healing magic on him? You know what that does to you!"
"I… I'm sorry…" and then Wendy promptly passed out.
"WENDY!"
As for Natsu, his attention, and more importantly his rage, was focused on Jellal "I don't have a damn clue why the hell you're here or where the hell you came from, but you sure as hell don't belong here! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he charged at Jellal at full speed and fired off a fire enhanced fist at him, only to be blown clear through the cave wall by a blast of golden colored magic energy.
"Excellent, it seems that your condition has done very little to deteriorate your magic power, which works out quite well for all of us." Brain gave a smirk, only for it to be wiped from his face by Jellal blasting him as well, leaving him to calmly and silently walk out of the cave completely unhindered.
"Natsu no!" Happy rushed to Natsu's side and tried to snap him out of it "Come on Natsu get up, you have to get up!"
"We will we will rock you!" Natsu suddenly bolted upright "Okay, where the hell have I heard that song before? Oh yeah, where the hell did Jellal go?"
"He just up and left." Carla told him flatly.
"That cowardly son of a-"
"Look, I'm aware that you apparently share some kind of history with him, but keep in mind that our first priority needs to be taking Wendy back to the others as soon as possible."
"But that guy is-"
"Focus on the task at hand, you do wish to save your comrade don't you?"
"...God fucking dammit I hate that guy! But you're right, we've gotta save Luke and then we'll go kick the crap out of Jellal. Come on guys, let's go."
"Aye sir!" so Happy grabbed onto Natsu, with Carla grabbing onto Wendy, and the group then set off.
Once they were gone, Brain pulled himself out of the hole in the ground he had been blasted into by Jellal "Well that was most certainly unexpected, but looking back perhaps I removed his shackles a bit prematurely. With that being said, this aggressive hostility he seems to harbor towards me now is definitely a recent development. Was he aware all this time, did he overhear us discussing our plans for Nirvana while he was unconscious?" his head suddenly snapped all the way up "No it can't be, does he intend to hoard the power of Nirvana for himself?! He must not do such a thing, it should belong to all of us! I cannot allow him to steal the power that we all deserve! Cobra I know you can hear me, listen well! Jellal has escaped with the intention of claiming Nirvana, so you must find him and stop him at once!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, far away from the hideout…
Cobra's head snapped up and he gave a smirk "Oh hell yeah, I'm reading you loud and clear boss man, just like I hear the footsteps coming from that coward."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Lucy and the others…
"The poor guy…" Lucy looked down at Luke's unconscious form, his expression showing that he was in a great deal of pain as the purple marks on his arm continued to slowly spread across his body "He's getting worse by the minute, the poison is starting to spread like crazy. Have any of the others been able to track down Wendy yet?"
"I don't have a clue about that." Hibiki told her flatly "I haven't been able to get through to any of the others."
"What do you mean you can't, what's the matter?"
"I don't know what's going on, but I promise you we're going to save Luke."
"I hope you're right about that, I really do. Please Luke, just hang in there for a little while longer. Please.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The battle between Gray and Racer raged on, with Racer making the forms of Natsu and the others escaping from the scene a higher priority, but Gray was quick to shield everyone using his Ice Make: Rampart, which leaves him physically fatigued, but he was still raring and ready to fight, telling Racer that regardless of how fast he might be, he'll always be eating the dust of Fairy Tail.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now that Erigor had been taken care of, Erza was bolting through the jungle after Natsu and the others as fast as she could, when she felt a chill go down her spine 'What is this sensation, this feeling of dread coursing through me?'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The Worth Woodsea, a large forest area whose tranquility has been disrupted by the presence of a lone man heading deep into its heart.'
Not far away from where Erza was making her way, Jellal had come across the heavily wounded and unconscious form of Erigor, and for some reason had stole his clothes, with only one thing on his mind 'Erza…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Natsu was carrying Wendy and the others, having been downed by Racer, though the forest of the Worth Woodsea on foot "Hey take it easy little buddy, you okay?"
Happy slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Natsu "Hey Natsu… where are we?"
"No time to talk, I need you to try and rest up for me okay?"
"But Jellal is out there somewhere."
"Yeah I know, but you don't have to worry about him. He isn't gonna stick around for too long, and if Luke can't make sure of that then I sure as hell will."
"Natsu, hey listen up!"
"What the fuck?!" Natsu screeched to a halt "No way, it can't be…"
"Can you hear me?"
"I think this tree is talking to me."
"Can you hear me Natsu?"
"Yes, I hear you great tree."
"...I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that. This is Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, anyway I'm glad that I could reach you because nobody else has responded to me so far."
"You mean you're a ventriloquist?"
"Would you cut that crap out, and make sure you keep your voice down. The enemy has a number of scouts throughout the Woodsea, so there's no way to tell who might be listening in on us right now, and that's why I'm using my magic to speak directly into your head. It's pretty neat isn't it?"
"Uh… Can you start that over, I didn't really follow."
"Oh for fuck's sake- You know what, nevermind. What's your status, have you found Wendy and your cat yet?"
"Yeah I've got them right here with me, Wendy is out like a light but Happy woke up already."
"Okay that's good, now hang tight for a second. I'm gonna upload a map into your mind and it will lead you to a temporary camp that we've set up. I was gonna send it to your cat too, but for some reason I can't seem to make a connection. That must mean he's running low on magic power right now.'
"Hold up a second, what the hell are you talking about with this upload stuff? I want you to stay out of my head." and then he received the map in his head "Woah, holy crap." and then he took off running.
Happy on the other hand, he was getting concerned "Okay seriously Natsu, I think it's time you sought professional help."
"Not now Happy, I have to follow this map inside my brains! Holy crap, I think I can even see where Luke and the others are right now! This upload stuff is pretty cool, thanks a ton Great Tree- I mean Hibiki."
"Oh dear god, he's even more far gone than I thought he was."
"Please just make sure you hurry, with the way things are progressing I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time right now"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Please just make sure you hurry." Hibiki glanced over at Luke, seeing the poison slowly spread across his body "With the way things are progressing, I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time right now."
"Hey hold on a second." Lucy glanced over at Hibiki "I don't get it, how did Natsu know exactly where to go all of a sudden?"
"I sent our location to him using the information compression magic that comes with my use of Archive, it packages the information so that it can be transmitted and shared with other people a lot faster than it would be using words."
"I had no idea that was even possible."
"Using magic to convert and transmit the data like this is a concept that's actually still fairly new, so it's not something I expect a lot of people to know about."
"Oh wow, that's pretty impressive. Did you hear that Luke? That means Wendy is going to be here soon, so please just hold out for a little bit longer? I know that if anyone can, it would have to be you. I may not be much of a fighter, but I promise I'll stay here and protect you no matter what." she was met with a small smile from Hibiki, which sort of creeped her out "Uh, just out of curiosity, what the heck are you smiling at? Don't you have some kind of work to do?"
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. It's just really nice to see some light in all of this darkness."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, the confrontation between Racer and Gray was about to erupt into a violent battle, in which the former taunted the latter with his speed, leaving him unable to keep up, and then he summoned numerous magic motor cycles, which he referred to as the Dead Grand Prix.
Gray was quick to mount one of the motorcycles and raced with his opponent, something that left Racer impressed, but he still had the upper hand since Gray was unable to race properly because he wasn't able to focus on both Racer and the motorcycle at the same time, which is a problem that Racer didn't have to deal with.
During the race, Gray ran into Lyon and Xian, and was quick to take Lyon with him on the Dead Grand Prix, leaving Xian on standby, while the two of them split the work, with Gray driving the motorcycle and Lyon going on the offensive. The two of them were undoubtedly fast, but still not quite on Racer's level.
Gray eventually ended up losing his cool, but Lyon was quick to calm him down, and the two of them simultaneously strip, firing off one attack after another, but Racer increased his speed and easily overpowered them.
While they were falling, Lyon took notice of the speed of the birds flying overhead, and he quickly came up with a plan.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back in Magnolia…
Cana was in the middle of having a drink in the guild hall and noticed Makarov reading a certain piece of paper, his expression deadly serious "What have you got there?"
"The investigation report has come in." Makarov told her.
"You mean the one about the Oracion Seis?"
"Yes, it seems that the fellow that calls himself Brain might have once worked for the Bureau of Magical Development."
"For the bureau huh? That doesn't sound good, do they know anything about who he is?"
"They're still looking into it, but what's even more troubling than that is this R system that was mentioned in the report. Apparently it has ties to that monstrosity, the Tower of Heaven. I can't help but wonder, will we never leave its shadow."
"And that means it's connected to Jellal in some way, so does that mean Brain is working on the same thing as him?"
"That kind of possibility certainly does exist, and if he is following in the footsteps of Jellal then the world as we know it may very well be in grave danger."
"...You know master, it might seem bad but I think it'll work out. Keep in mind that the strongest team in the guild is out there, and Luke will most likely keep idiots 1 and 2 in line, so that should be enough to keep things from getting too out of hand."
"Yes, well said Cana."
"For all we know, he'll probably keep them from destroying too much in the process."
"...Do you really believe that part?"
"Someone has to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Xian poked his head out from behind a tree to where Gray and Lyon were whispering 'Clearly they have some kind of plan, but what is their intention?'
Racer was less concerned than he should be about the situation "You assclowns can strategize as much as you want, it's not gonna do you any good."
Lyon ignored him and finished filling Gray in on his plan "And if all goes well then we'll have him for sure."
"What the hell dude, are you out of your mind?" Gray let out a scoff.
"That's the plan, too bad for you." Lyon suddenly froze Gray inside a block of ice "I can take him out without your help."
"Wait what the hell are you doing, let me go you jackass!"
"It takes one to know one, and no."
"Dammit man will you quit screwing around, you can't take on a guy like this by yourself and you know it!"
"Like I need to hear any of your endless whining, just sit back from up there and enjoy the show to come while I finish this one myself."
"Not gonna lie dude, that was kind of harsh." Racer pointed out "Is that how you goodie goodie weaker guilds are supposed to treat your friends?"
"Don't get the wrong idea, if you think the two of us are friends then you're in for quite the rude awakening. We simply studied under the same master when we were young, that is all."
"Lyon this grudge between the two of you has gone far enough." Xian appeared on the scene "I believe we're going to need his help."
"We can handle this on our own Xian, together we shall give the Lamia Scale guild its greatest victory ever. Now let's get to work."
"You realize this is a mistake."
"And you realize that I don't care."
"I'd be careful if I were you." Racer warned him "Let your arrogance get the best of you, and you're just asking to get your ass handed to you. But then again, it's not like you ever had a chance of beating me anyway right?"
"Now who's showing off arrogance?"
"Maybe, but mine is justified." Racer blitzed out of view and prepared to attack.
"To think you and your comrades underestimate how important balance truly is, so now I intend to show you just how wrong you are!" with his arm glowing gold, Xian leapt into the air and let a fist fly forward, coming close to striking Racer but missing by only an inch or so.
"Not too bad of a trick Iron Fist reject, but it's too slow to catch me, it's like you're practically standing still!" he blitzed away for another attack.
"Speed means nothing if your attacks are too predictable!" Xian whipped around to where his blind spot would be and let a kick fly, just narrowly missing Racer 'He's faster than I had been anticipating.'
"Oh yeah that's it, keep them coming!" Racer kept blitzing around, dodging Xian's attacks by very small margins, until he finally received a kick to the face that sent him skidding backwards a short distance.
"Like I said, if your attacks are too predictable then your speed means nothing."
"Okay, I'll admit you got me that time." Racer blitzed in front of Xian and dealt him an uppercut kick to the jaw, sending him flying backwards and causing him to cough up blood "But don't think it's gonna happen again!"
"Ice Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon attacked Racer with an ice dragon to get his attention, only to end up missing "In case you forgot slowpoke, I'm over here."
"I don't know what the hell you're getting at pal, but there's only one slowpoke here and that's you!" Racer blitzed towards Lyon faster than the eye was able to see.
"You may be fast but speed counts for nothing if your attacks lack the power necessary to get the job done! I can prove you lack the ability to land a decisive blow! Give me a moment and we'll see how you're able to handle this! Ice Make: Hedgehog!" Lyon promptly covered his body with spikes made of ice in order to protect himself, forcing Racer to freeze in place "You'd better be sure not to get too close if you don't want to be turned into a shish kabob. So what's the matter now Racer, don't tell me you're afraid that beloved speed on which you pride yourself may get you skewered?" he promptly took off and leapt into the air.
"Not a good idea for you to get too cocky kid. Gear Change: Red Zone!" with a flash of crimson, Racer blitzed in front of Lyon and dealt him a brutal kick that sent him crashing to the ground "You're way too naive kid, did you seriously believe I'd use my full speed from the get go against such a weak opponent?"
"If you want me then come and get me already!" Lyon took off on foot after losing the ice spikes on his back.
"You're on you cocky little bastard." Racer blitzed in front of Lyon and sent him flying with a kick, only for him to take off running again "And just where the hell do you think you're going, what happened to all of that brovado?" they continued this process a few times, kicking him down but him getting back up and running "God damn, this little bastard must be one hell of a glutton for punishment. No matter, that just makes this more fun for me." he continued their game of Cat & Mouse until they reached a cliffside.
"Ice Make: Eagle!" Lyon leapt back a short distance and fired a barrage of eagles made of ice from a magic circle.
"Oh come on dude, when the hell are you going to realize you can't hit me?" Racer promptly blitzed around them with ease and started dealing Lyon a rapid barrage of kicks "Don't tell me that's all you've got, that's such a waste of space! What the hell happened to all of that big talk from before?" he eventually sent Lyon crashing to the ground and started looming over him in a very ominous way "Do you honestly believe I don't have enough power to land a decisive blow on you? How about you give me a minute to show you." he grabbed a nearby ice spike and pointed it at Lyon's throat "I don't need power like that to put the brakes on this fight, as fast as I am I could easily take you out before you could even think about using any sort of fancy magic. I mean don't get me wrong, you've got some serious skills kid, and you would've been fine if you had never crossed paths with me. But I'm one of the Oracion Seis. 6 demons, 6 prayers, 6 pillars that never waver, and anyone who tries to cut us off will pay the final toll for their obvious lack of respect, so it's time for you to say goodbye."
"It's… It's just as I thought." Lyon spat out some blood "I figured out the truth behind the magic you use when Gray and I were fighting together. I looked up and noticed the birds in the distance were flying incredibly fast, and then I realized it. You were never as fast as lightning, you just altererd our perception of speed so it would look that way to us. You don't become faster, you just make us slower. All I had to do was get outside the perimeter of your magic, and then I realized what was going on. Despite your name, you're just as slow as the rest of us. I thought it would be harder to defeat you, but now that you've followed me all the way out here, Gray is outside the perimeter of your magic and he can take you down."
"Wait what?!"
"He should have a clear shot from up there."
"So that means the two of you weren't arguing, you were giving him a sniping post!"
"It's about time you caught on, fresh air and a stationary target."
"There's no way he'll hit me from there, he's over a mile away!"
"Oh believe me, he can do it. After all, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you should never underestimate a member of the Fairy Tail guild. You may be able to put up one hell of a fight, but there's no way you can stop them."
"Ice Make: Super Freezing Arrow!" sure enough, from within the distance, Gray fired off a massive arrow made of ice magic.
"How the hell is it so fast?!" as the arrow closed in and his shades shattered, Racer could see his life flashing before his eyes 'Yes that's right… my prayer was to be so much faster than anyone else… That's all I want…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few minutes later…
It didn't take too long for Gray and Xian to catch up to Lyon, noting Racer lying on the ground apparently unconscious "Not gonna lie, I can't believe that plan actually worked."
"What I have a hard time believe is that there are five more wizards on the same level as this one, if not a higher level." Xian pointed out "And on another note, I would appreciate if the two of you were to include all parties involved in your plans."
"Hey don't blame me, your bestie is the man with the plan."
"Yeah thanks." Lyon gave him a small smile.
"You think you can stand up?"
"I think I can, but I'd rather sit a bit longer."
"Go ahead, if you don't wanna die on your feet! I've got all of you now!" Racer suddenly bolted to his feet and ripped his jacket open, revealing something strapped to his chest "In the name of the mighty Oracion Seis, if I'm going down then I'm taking all three of you to the big slab in the sky!"
"Is that what I think it is?"
"This is bad." Xian muttered "He strapped to himself a lacrima bomb? What do these dark guilds do to inspire such loyalty?"
"Does it matter?! You're all dead!" Racer shot them a malicious and psychotic grin "We're all gonna cross the finish line together!"
"Not a chance in hell of that happening." Gray tried to prepare a spell, only to end up falling to one knee 'Dammit this is bad, I don't have any magic power left. We're all totally screwed right now.'
"Get the hell out of the way!" Lyon suddenly tackled Racer and pushed him off the cliff, leaving both of them to fall 'Gray… I always knew you were going to be the death of me…' and then the lacrima exploded.
'Lyon… this isn't happening… there's no way he can die like this… LYON!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the Oracion Seis hideout…
Brain suddenly stumbled slightly as one of the black markings on his face vanished "No, it can't be… Racer's been struck down? It's impossible… How could one of the Oracion Seis be defeated like this? No, it would seem that I've underestimated our adversaries." he looked over at where Midnight was sleeping in the corner "I never imagined I would be forced to send you into battle. Wake up Midnight, I have something I need you to do."
Almost immediately, Midnight bolted upright and his eyes snapped open "You woke me?"
"I did. I need you to locate our foes and toss them into your nightmare."
"Yes, I will do so… Father."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Natsu and the others…
Natsu screeched to a halt at the sound of the explosion set off by the lacrima "What the hell is going on back there? Hey, did you guys hear that?" he was met with only the sound of yawning from Happy "Yeah that figures."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield…
Gray could only stare down the cliffside in horror "Lyon…"
"Gray!" that was when Erza rushed onto the scene "I was searching for you and Natsu, but then I noticed the explosion and got here as fast as I could. What happened?"
"Me and Lyon, we fought Racer of the Oracion Seis. We managed to take him down, but… he had a lacrima bomb strapped to him. I didn't have enough magic power left to try and stop him, but Lyon, he… he tackled him off the cliff before the bomb went off." Gray gritted his teeth and clenched his fist until it started bleeding.
"So that means… is he…?"
"No, don't even think that for a second. There's no way Lyon would go down that easily, so let's track him down!" Gray summoned an ice slide and promptly slid his way straight down the cliffside, with Erza right behind him.
Xian on the other hand, was left frozen in place by the events 'Lyon… he gave his life due to such a heinous act by our enemy… That enemy cannot pay for his crimes… He disrupted the balance… blood must be shed…' a black energy slowly started radiating from his body, but it went unnoticed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Jura was on his own and had soon run into Hoteye, another member of the Oracion Seis, and once their battle began they seem evenly matched, for Jura's use of Earth magic made it harder, whereas Hoteye made it softer.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy was still looking over Luke's unconscious form, but her heaad snapped up when she heard some rustling from a nearby bush "What's that?"
"Here's Natsu!" that was when Natsu burst out from the bush "Doesn't have the same ring as the guy in the Shining, but whatever. You miss me?"
"Natsu!"
"Hey so how did you guys do that? All of a sudden your map popped right into my head."
"I'll explain it to you later." Hibiki toldd him flatly "Right now we have other things to worry about, is Wendy alright?"
"Yeah she's fine, hold that thought for a second." Natsu set down Happy and Carla, then promptly started trying to shake Wendy awake "Alright kid time to get the hell up, I saved you now it's time for you to save Luke!"
"Hey come on man, don't be so rough with her."
"Come on chicha, rise and shine, wakey wakey, all that good crap."
Wendy's eyes suddenly snapped open and she leapt away in terror "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry, I had to do it!"
"I'm not gonna say I get it, but that's the last thing I care about right now." Natsu suddenly bowed his head to her, taking her by surprise "Luke got bitten by a poisonous snake, he's in bad shape and we need you to save her."
"You mean… he's hurt?"
"I hate to admit it, but I can't defeat all of the Oracion Seis by myself. We need Luke if we're going to bring them down. Luke's the best of us, he's one of the ones I wanna strive to beat, and we need him now more than ever."
"Wendy please." Lucy bowed to her next "We need him now more than ever."
"I…" Wendy quickly found her resolve "Yes, I'll try to save him. No, I will save him. I'll do whatever it takes." so on that note, she made her way over to Luke and quickly got to work using her healing magic, her mind drifting as she did so 'I've heard that Jellal has done terrible things to hurt Erza and a lot of others in the past, and something like that is really hard for me to believe.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Cobra had caught up to Jellal and was silently and stealthily following him to wherever he was heading, due to not being able to read his thoughts like he could with everyone else.
Jellal eventually stopped in front of a tree that Cobra had never seen before, and when he touched the tree it caused a black light to burst forth from it, leading Cobra to realize that he had discovered Nirvana.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the Search and Rescue group…
Erza's head snapped up at the sight of the black light, a feeling of dread quickly washing over her as a cold sweat dripped down the side of her head 'This sensation… I really do hope I'm wrong about this…'
Gray shot a quick glance over at her "You feel that too?"
"Yes. I can't say what it is, but I doubt it's good."
"You think one of us needs to go investigate." it wasn't a question "Look, Xian and I can track down Lyon. Go find out whatever the hell that was."
"Understood, and once you find Lyon rendezvous back with the others." so Erza promptly took off, leaving Gray and Xian behind 'I just hope this isn't what I think it is. I haven't had such a chill go down my spine since the last time I saw him.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Wendy and the others…
By this point, Wendy had finished with healing Luke and turned to the others "Well that should do it, I got rid of all of the venom so now all we have to do is wait."
"What the hell do you mean wait?!" Natsu bolted upright, growing more impatient by the secnod, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows him, only to notice Luke's eye twitch slightly in his sleep "Oh hell to the yeah, Dragon Slayers take the win again! I say somebody give me some skin!"
"It sure as hell isn't gonna be from me." Bolt told him dryly "And a good part of it is because of you being an annoying moron."
"That's part of my charm."
"No, it's really not."
"Agree to disagree, anyway Wendy thanks a ton, I guess I owe you one."
"Uh… sure." Wendy shyly looked down at the ground "He's probably not going to wake up for a little while, but he should be back to normal when he does."
"Holy crap that's totally awesome, who knew your Sky magic was so strong?"
"Don't even try asking her to fight you." Bolt told him flatly.
"Hey come on man, she's a little kid! Why the hell do you think I'm some kind of battle-crazed fight-loving lunatic?"
"Because that's exactly what you are."
"Excuse me." Carla got their attention "Now that your friend has been healed, I would appreciate it if you refreained from asking Wendy to use her Sky magic again, she'll insist that she's fine but I can tell that she's exhausted just by the look on her face."
"No Carla, you've got it all wrong." Wendy was quick to protest "I'm just worried, that's all there is really."
"Don't try and put on a brave face child."
"But I'm not Carla, I'm fine really."
"You've got nothing to worry about." Hibiki assured her "As soon as Luke comes to we're going to strike back."
"R-Right."
"Hells to the yeah!" Natsu let out a fiery roar "Prepare to have your asses roasted Oracion Seis, if you wanna get Nirvana then you're gonna have to go through Fairy Tail!" this was followed by a sudden burst of magic power erupting from within the distance.
"Wh-What's that giant pillar of black light."
"What the hell is that?"
"This is really bad, it's been unsealed." Hibiki told them grimly "That thing is what it looks like when someone's unsealed Nirvana.
"You mean that thing is Nirvana, seriously?" asked Lucy.
"Yeah that has to be it, there's no doubt about it."
"But how the hell did the Oracion Seis beat us to the punch like that?"
"I think I know how…" Natsu muttered, his expression quickly twisting into rage "That pillar of light… No doubt about it, that's where Jellal is!"
"...Jellal? As in-" Lucy was cut off by the sight of Natsu taking off running at full speed in the direction of the light "Wait hold on a second Natsu, you can't just run off without bothering to tell us what the hell is going on!"
Wendy on the other hand, was growing more and more horrified by the second 'No… what have I done? This is my fault, all of this is because of me…'
What no one noticed was that Luke's eyes slowly opened as he regained consciousness taking in what they were saying 'Jellal… here…?' his awakening went unnoticed by everyone present except Bolt, and they shared a quiet glance between each other.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gray was forced to brace himself from the shockwave being released "What the hell, that beam just shot up out of nowhere! Dammit this is really bad, don't tell me that they already found Nirvana!" he failed to notice the golden aura around Xian's body turning darker and darker by the second.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Natsu was running through the Worth Woodsea as fast as his legs would carry him, his mind racing 'I can't risk letting Jellal run into Erza, someone's gotta take him down! No, someone's gotta destroy him so that he can never hurt her like that again, and if Luke can't then I will!'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Brain and Midnight observed the light shining from their place in their hideout "So it's finally happened, after all this time Nirvana is ours!"
"It seems congratulations are in order." Midnight noted "Now if you'll excuse me, there are some pesky guild wizards that I have to eliminate, so don't bother waiting up for me. You should go to the Light yourself Father."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Ren and Eve noticed something from where they were located, in the form of something coming out of the tree flowing towards the light, leading them to discover that it was none other than Nirvana, and so they tried to contact Hibiki, but had very little success in that regard.
From then onwards, the two of them split up,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gray continued his search for Lyon by pushing over a few fallen trees "Oh for the love of god, I know he's gotta be around here somewhere."
Xian on the other hand, he was standing a short distance away, his mind racing in a very unsettling way 'I can feel it… the rage coursing through my soul, my chi becoming unbalanced, but who can be held accountable for such a thing?'
"Dammit Lyon, where the hell are you?! Just spit it the hell out and answer me! Come on, can you hear me Lyon?!"
'This one…' and so as his Chi grew darker, Xian's warped mind came to a conclusion 'He is the one… Because of him, another good soul has been taken away from this world… One has lost, and my beloved has lost her sense of self because of it… No more… I can allow no more good souls to lose themselves because of the clutches of death… In order to do so… the good souls must be avenged…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, upon noticing the black light of Nirvana, Hoteye began acting even more strange during his battle against Jura. But then again, considering it's Hoteye we're talking about, that doesn't really say much.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hibiki quickly whipped around to face Lucy and the others "Come on, let's get going. We've gotta go after Natsu, and we've gotta do it fast."
"But I don't get it." Lucy muttered "I mean, why would he mention Jellal of all people out of nowhere like that?"
"I can't answer that but we can't worry about that now, for now we've gotta track him down before he gets himself into trouble." this was met with a yelp.
"What the-"
"Guys take a look!" Happy pointed to a certain empty spot "It's Luke, he and Bolt just up and vanished!"
"What the hell?!"
Carla wasn't as concerned for their disappearance, as she was pissed "I swear, where are the manners in that one? He didn't even bother to thank Wendy for saving his life!"
"You don't think he might have heard us mention Jellal's name? I know Luke was the one who defeated him, but…"
Concern aside, Wendy's expression was a mix of utter guilt and horror, tears streaming down her face to no end "How could do it? How could I have been so stupid? This is all my fault… What do I do now? I should never have healed him… It's my fault that Nirvana was found… It's my fault that Natsu ran off… It's my fault that Luke and Bolt disappeared… It's my fault… All of this is my fault…"
"Force Blast!" being quick to take action, Hibiki struck Wendy with an Archive spell, launching her high into the air and knocking her out cold 'That oughta do it, and just in time by the looks of it.'
"Wendy no!" Carla was quick to round on Hibiki in her rage "What do you think you're doing you ruffian, attacking an innocent child like that?"
"I did what I had to do."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I've gotta find Jellal, where the hell is he?!" Natsu was still running through the forest at full speed, only to notice something up ahead "What the hell?"
As it turns out, it was a bunch of Racer's followers raring and ready for a fight "If you assclowns think you're gonna get past Racer's Harpiya guild then you've got another thing coming, you're just as stupid as you look! I say we take you down here and now!" and so they all chaged at him in a blind rage.
"Get the fuck out of my way Speed Racer rejects! Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu promptly blitzed through all of them in a single attack and spat out on the ground "And that's why Speed Racer can't and shouldn't be considered an anime. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go track down Jellal and burn him to a crisp before Erza sees him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Hibiki and the others were running through the woods at full speed, the former carrying Wendy on his back as they did "Look I'm sorry about that, I never meant to scare you like that. She's going to be fine though, I just knocked her out.
"I don't get it though." Lucy commented "Why did you do it, and why are we in such a hurry all of a sudden?"
"We don't have time to waste, we've gotta catch up with Luke and Natsu. Just keep running until you reach the light."
"Oh please." Carla let out a scoff "Why should any of us have to take orders from a brute like you? I realize Wendy can be a bit of a whiner at times, but regardless that's no reason for you to strike her so harshly."
"It's like I said before, I did it because I had to. Look to be fair, I haven't been completely honest with all of you. I know a lot more about Nirvana than I originally let on."
"What, then why didn't you tell us?" asked Lucy.
"I wanted to, believe me I did, but I couldn't. Because of the nature of the magic, I wasn't able to say a word. Even just mentioning it now is pretty risky, and if I do then it might put all of us in serious danger, and that's why Bob, the master of the Blue Pegasus guild, only told me about it before this mission. Ren and Eve, and even Mr Ichiya, none of them have even the slightest clue about it."
"So what exactly did he tell you about it?"
"From what I heard from Master Bob, Nirvana is a terrifying magic like no other in the entire world, and it alone has the ability to turn light into darkness."
"You mean it can switch them just like that?"
"It can, but that doesn't happen until its final stage. The first thing it does when it's initially being unleashed is shoot off a black beam just like the one in front of us. Then it goes in search of those who are weak, it'll switch anyone wavering between light and darkness to the exact opposite allignment, even those who are only slightly wavering. In other words, a good guy who's feeling down and out will likely end up falling to the dark side."
"So that's why you knocked Wendy unconscious, you did it to protect her and make sure she didn't end up switching like that."
"Excatly. She was at high risk of becoming a target because of the guilt that she was feeling, and if I hadn't stepped in when I did then she easily could've switched over to the dark side."
"Now you've got me worried, so does that mean anger is a negative emotion? If that is the case, then I think Natsu might be in danger too."
"I can't say for certain in that regard. Under normal circumstances it would be, but because his anger is for the sake of someone else, I don't really know for sure if it could actually be classified that way."
By this point, Happy was growing restless "I feel like such an idiot, I don't know what you're saying, none of it makes any sense to me!"
"That's because you are a dummy." Carla told him dryly "Allow me to spell it out for you as simply as I can. Now that the seal on Nirvana has been broken, it has the power to turn those who have good hearts to evil and those with evil hears to turn good. Do you get it now, or has it gone beyond your simple mind even further?"
"Yeah, she about summed it up pretty well." Hibiki noted "I had to keep quite about it until now because if I told you what I knew, then you would be at risk. Thinking in terms of good and evil can bring negative emotions to the surface, and before you know it they've taken a firm hold of you. If only that person didn't exist, whose fault is it that I'm in pain, why does this always happen to me? Pessimistic thoughts like these are what attract Nirvana, and it uses that in order to take control."
"So what does that mean?" asked Lucy "Are you saying that whenever Nirvana is activated, everyone in the alliance could suddenly turn evil? And for that matter, if it ends up turning us evil then does that mean the bad guys will end up turning good too?"
"That kind of possibility does exist, but there's no way of knowing for certain, at least for the time being. What makes Nirvana truly terrifying is the fact that it can be controlled to do whatever the caster sees fit."
"Wait are you serious?!"
"Allow me to explain. Let's say that a wizard wants to use Nirvana against a guild, then they could have the members start killing each other or make them go to war with another guild for no reason, and they'd barely even have to lift a finger. We've gotta find a way to stop it and we've gotta do it fast, otherwise the light guilds will be wiped out."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Dammit Lyon, where the hell are you?!" Gray continued searching for Lyon, but when he wippe around he found a chi-enhanced fist slammed into his gut HARD, causing him to cough up a large amount of blood before passing out.
As it turns out, that attack came from Xian, his body radiating a sinister black energy "All of those who disrutp the balance shall pay the greatest price, and that price is their lives. It matters very little who it shall be, but if you disrespect the balance, this world shall be stained with their blood, and that of everyone they hold dear."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As it turns out, Xian wasn't the only one to switch because of Nirvana, seeing how Hoteye also switched his personality, and now instead of talking about money, he ended up talking about love and decided to join Jura and his allies to teach them about love as well.
Needless to say, Jura was as freaked out as the fanbase was by this.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Eve was running away from Midnight across the forest after finding out that his magic wasn't having any effect on him, only for Midnight to catch up to Eve and defeat him with ease.
A/N:
And thus we dive head first into the second act of the Oracion Seis arc. Sorry I didn't get this chapter out sooner, but I had relatives in town for about a week, along with a hell of a lot of work for college, so my writing during that time was pretty slow-going. But by no means have I lost my strive to make this story as great as I can.
I know Fairy Tail happens to have a lot of death fakeouts, though Lyon's was probably the first one, at least as far as I know. He survives a lacrima bomb at point blank range? I'm not going to change that because he's necessary later on, but there is going to be one noteworthy change in that regard later on.
One of the harder parts of this chapter to write out was Xian falling into darkness because of Nirvana. With someone like Sherry, it was easy because of the love she had for Lyon. With someone like Xian, someone who prides himself on tranquility and balance, it's meant to show another level of his character, and how warping his mindset could still be used to demonstrate some more of his character traits, which will be delved much further into after the time-skip.