Chains of Heaven's Past

A/N: We've finally reached the start of Tower of Heaven proper, but things won't be exactly the same as usual in this version of events. Erza's past finally comes to haunt her, but she's not the only one who's painful past will come back to haunt her.

Make sure to comment your thoughts, I love hearing reactions to my ideas, both positive and negative.


(Flashback…)

Dark cloaks…

Masks…

Chains…

Pain…

More pain…

"We have to fight…"

Intense pain…

A man's back…

A deranged smile…

Hisfinal words to her…

"Erza… Freedom does not exist in this world."


"Ah!"

Erza sits up from her bed after reliving her nightmare of a past. "Why am I thinking about that now of all times?"

Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Ur had all gone to Akane Resort with the tickets that Loke had given them and the 6 of them had a great time at the beach.

Natsu and Lucy had fun as a couple, taking this as their first date. Despite the fact they had their friends with them, the two of them spent a lot of time by themselves and enjoying each other's company (and ogling their partner's bodies.)

Ur was wearing a dark blue slingshot bikini that attracted a lot of attention from fellow beach enjoyers. Almost as much attention as when she and Gray kept ending up losing their swimwear to various levels of outrage and cheers from onlookers.

Overall, it was very enjoyable, and Erza simply went to her room to take a nap after all was said and done, but instead ended remembering her traumatic past that she tried not to think of much.

Erza got up and walked up to a mirror, still in her two-piece bikini and looked at herself and tried to strike a pose.

Erza then frowned and reequipped into her normal Heart Kreuz armor. "It's still the same. I always feel more comfortable in my armors."

Erza had thoughts that if she ever told anyone, they would think she's either the biggest idiot in the world, or the funniest comedian in history.

Erza did not think she looked pretty.

No matter how strong she gets, no matter how much she spends time with the guild, no matter how many armors and outfits she acquires, and no matter how much her strength is recognized and envied, she could never think highly of herself.

Erza had plenty of outfits that ranged from eye widening to pants popping in their sex appeal, but not because she thought that she was especially hot. Rather it was because she simply didn't think that she had much to offer.

Erza knew that people thought she was attractive. She had never told anyone this because she had plenty of admirers across the spectrum that praised her beauty in person and in the media. If she ever mentioned it, she knew people would just tell her to be more confident.

Despite that, she could not help but think of the first time someone called anything about her pretty.

'I like your hair. It's really pretty. The color scarlet is just like my mother's.'

She cringed at the memories of those words, unable to separate her own vision of beauty with the pain she was given by the first person who got close to her heart.

It was what a woman like her deserved; she was no better than him after what she did.

She was brought out of her thoughts when a knock on her door happened. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Lucy and Ur in dresses. Lucy's was a maroon dress and Ur in her normal outfit. "Come on Erza, we're going to check out the casino! Do you wanna come with us?" Lucy asks.

"Well, if everyone else is going, then so shall I." Erza is then surrounded in a flash of gold as she reequips into a fancy dress with flowers on it. "This may be appropriate."

"Do you even know how to change clothes without magic?" Ur quips while rolling her eyes. "Come on ladies, let's go get rich!"

Ur and Lucy walk away, Erza taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror. 'Every once in a while, it's nice to treat myself when I have the chance.'

Even a despicable woman like her deserved that at least.

Right?


In the casino, Gray was sitting at the slot machines, mindlessly gambling his money away. Not too far behind him, Ur was talking to a certain blue haired woman behind a pillar.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Ur explains. "He's been gambling for about half an hour, so he's probably lost a lot of money. He'll be so upset that he'll be ecstatic when you show up in that tight dress of yours and he won't be able to ignore you if he wanted to."

"Juvia is not sure of this plan." The water mage explains in a light blue dress and wearing a golden Fairy Tail necklace. "Juvia attacked her darling Gray not too long ago, but do you think he would forgive me so easily?"

"You told me he saved you right?" Ur asked. "He wouldn't do that if he didn't think you were a good person in some way, so you'll be fine. Now go get him, tiger."

Ur's pep talk succeeds in pumping up the water mage as she gives a salute. "Yes, Love Master!" Juvia says before walking towards Gray with a bashful look on her face.

"Gray sure knows how to pick 'em." Ur watches them interact with a smile on her face, laughing at how awkward the two of them are. "Man, it really has been a long time since I was teaching that kid Ice magic, huh? Well, hopefully he isn't stupid enough to refute a bombshell like that throwing herself at him."

Seeing a child that she raised makes Ur nostalgic about the time she spent with Gray and Lyon. She then remembered her life before meeting them and frowned. "Ultear… I still miss you. I think about you every day. I wish you could be here, if I wasn't such a failure of a mother."

While Ur laments the loss of her child, she senses someone watching her and immediately starts walking outside the gambling hall.

Eventually, she reaches a secluded area and calls out to her spy. "You can come out now! I can tell that you've been following me, so come out already!"

A female voice answers her. "Hmm, well I guess that your skills weren't all exaggeration. I'm glad that you haven't lost your edge after so long, old hag."

"Old hag!" Ur shouts. "Who the hell do you think are to call me that, brat!"

The mysterious voice then laughs. "Oh, I have every right to call you that…" A green orb flies to the back of Ur's head, but she tilts her head to the side and dodges it. The orb then floats in the air before it disappears in a flash of purple light.

Out of it emerges a woman in a kimono with purple hair and brown eyes. She smiles at Ur, who looks at her in a faint sense of recognition, until her attacker speaks again.

"…Mother dearest."

Ur's eyes open wide as she realizes who she's looking at, her mind not able to believe what her heart knows instinctively. "Ul…tear…? I-it can't be you? You're supposed to be-"

"Dead?" Ultear finishes. "No, I'm still alive and kicking, no thanks to you.

Ur is appalled at the venom in her long-lost daughter's voice. "W-w-what? What are you talking about?"

"Don't act so innocent!" Ultear replies, her voice full of vitriol and fury. "You left me as a child in that living hell, and never looked back! I was subject to experiments every day that made me feel like I wanted to die, but I kept thinking that my mother would come back to take me home when I 'got better,' but she never did."

Ur manages a weak rebuttal, her world crumbling around her. "Ultear, no! I don't know what you mean, I never meant to-"

"Never meant to what, forget me!" Ultear yells. "Did you do that before or after you replaced me with those buffoons you call students!"

Ur's eyes are full of tears, a rollercoaster of emotions getting caught in her throat, making her take a moment to respond. "I-I-I never – replace you? I d-d-didn't-"

"Just admit it!" Ultear shouts, her eyes glowing red for a moment along with her magic power raising. "Admit you abandoned me and chose those pieces of shit over me! You joined Fullbuster's guild as soon as you came back after all, but you never even spared a moment to think about me! in fact, if you ever did, you could have found me easily, but you cared more about him than me."

Ur can't handle the feelings swelling up inside of her and falls to her knees, the pain and guilt leaving her unable to stand as she is left a sputtering mess. "My daughter… I can't believe… so much pain… I'm a god damned idiot… how could I!"

Ultear walks toward her mother, her face now one of cold apathy. "So that's it? A few harsh words, and you crumble so easily? You truly aren't one of the woman that was said to rival the last Wizard Queen. Killing you in such a pathetic state wouldn't even mean anything to me."

She then summons her green orb again and uses it to knock Ur out. "Just wait, mother. There is much more pain in store for you."

As Ultear teleports away, Ur loses consciousness, the only thoughts ringing through her head admonishing herself for her grievous failures.


(Flashback)

'I apologize. There was an accident and your daughter… perished.'

Ur was sitting in her house, still stunned by the information given to her by the dark-skinned man in charge of the Magic Development Bureau. She still couldn't believe that her daughter was truly dead.

She had left Ultear there when she suddenly started getting sick. She had too much magic in her body at such a young age, and she was getting more ill by the week.

Ur knew that her daughter would grow up with a lot of magic power, she had a lot herself. What she didn't know was that her inherited power would end up being too much for a young body.

When they told her the unfortunate news, she had begged for hours for a chance to see the body, but they claimed that the body was not fit for viewing and she was eventually escorted out of the facility.

Ur then screamed her vocal cords raw and slammed on the door to the building so much that her hands bled, the whole time begging that she would wake up from this horrible nightmare.

It just couldn't be true.

Her daughter couldn't be dead.

She had so much more love to give her.

But she never woke up.

That love now had nowhere to go anymore.

Ur sat in her house for an entire day, her body numb to everything around her as she wallowed in her misery and staring at a picture of her and her daughter. 'I heard Acy died not too long ago. Laya's sickness isn't getting any better, so she probably isn't gonna last much longer. And now that I've lost Ultear… what do I have left anymore?'

At that moment, a bag on the table starts moving around until something flies out of it. What emerges is a blue three-leaf grimoire that then opens up to a page with unique writing on it. The characters then glow before a tiny figure appears out of the grimoire.

The figure has pale white, almost snow-like skin, including his unkempt white hair. His eyes are light blue, and he has a young-looking face. His body is covered in a sky-blue long-sleeved shirt with sleeves slightly too big for his arms. The bottom went over his knees which looked to have dark blue jeans on, and his feet were bare.

(A/N: I didn't realize it until after I came up with the design, but this is basically Jack Frost from the movie Rise of the Guardians if you need reference.)

This was Skald, the Ice Spirit of the Four Great Spirits, and Ur's partner for years. They had met one day when Ur was young and still new as a wizard. He appeared in front of her one day and proclaimed on the spot that they would be partners.

Ur thought he was a weird bug and tried to swat him for thirty minutes straight.

Despite their rocky start, when the two of them started working together, they ended up achieving great things, and Ur quickly became more and more popular in the wizard community.

That eventually led to her first meeting with Layla Heartfilia and Acier Silva for the first time, but that was a story for another time.

At that moment, however, Skald did not have a look of joy that those who knew him associated with the frost spirit. His face was instead a frown as he looked at Ur. "Ur, I know that it's hard, but you can't just sit there forever."

Ur does not respond.

"Come on, Ur. You're stronger than this, you can recover. Let's go do an S-Class mission or something, that'll make you feel better."

Ur does not respond.

"Ur, are you really gonna just quit on everything just because one little girl died!"

This time, Ur responded.

The response was not nice.

BOOM

Half of Ur's house exploded at that moment and Skald flew out and hit a tree. As Skald slid down it in pain, he noticed Ur walk out with tears streaming down her infuriated face.

"Ok, I finally got a response out of you." Skald says as he floats of the ground again. "Now that you're listening to me-"

"Leave."

Skald stops in his tracks, absolutely flabbergasted at Ur's interruption. "What? 'Leave?' Why would I-"

"I'm done being a wizard." Ur says. "So that means we can't be partners anymore."

Skald looks at her as if she said the sky was green. "What do you mean you quit?! You can't just quit! You're a fighter Ur, and you can't just be done with that!"

"I'm done with all of the people I care about dying around me!" Ur cries, her face one of pure anguish. "Acier, Layla, my daughter, everyone I know I care about is either dead or dying, and despite all the power I have, I couldn't do a thing to save any of them!"

Skald stares at Ur, slack jawed and unable to form a response, which Ur takes a cue to keep talking. "And to top it off, you tried to motivate me BY MAKING FUN OF MY DAUGHTER'S DEATH! I know you make jokes all the time, but this is just too far! I'm done being a wizard, so go find yourself a new partner and make jokes about their dead family members!"

Ur turns her back on the frost spirit who lingers for a moment before turning into mist and disappearing. Ur then plops back into her seat, before slamming her head into her hands.

She wept for her friend Acier, who died shortly after giving birth to her second daughter.

She wept for her friend Layla, who she knew was dying of an illness that no one could cure.

She wept for her daughter, who was doomed to death at birth because of Ur's mistakes.

She wept for Skald, her last connection that she burned a bridge to just now, hoping he would find a better partner than this sad broken woman.

Finally, she wept for herself, as she was now, truly, alone.


"Master… Master Ur… Master Ur wake up!"

"Gah!" Ur gasps and punches Gray in the face as she wakes up, Gray going flying in response.

"What the hell was that for!" Ur shouts as she gets up.

"I'm the one who should be saying that! You're the one who punched me in the face!" Gray responded while using ice to stop his face from swelling.

At that point, Juvia walks over and notices Gray's injury. "Gray my darling, are you alright. Why did Love Master strike you?"

Ur looks at her in confusion. "Oh, hey Juvia, do you know what my idiot student was waking me up fo?."

While Gray is still hung up on the 'Love Master' comment, Juvia explains that a strange group had come and kidnapped Erza and Happy.

"Damn it! Was it those Midnight Sun guys I keep hearing about?" Ur asks.

Gray shakes his head. "No. Lucy was with Erza when she was kidnapped, and apparently, Erza knew who theses guys were. I guess they did their research since they managed to knock you out before they got to us."

Ur remembers her encounter from before and chooses not to mention that at the moment. 'Based on what I sensed earlier, if Ultear was working with that group from earlier, she could have easily taken us all on by herself, so she would have no reason to separate us and work with these guys.'

Putting aside her now alive daughter, she realizes two other members are missing. "Hey, where are Lucy and Natsu? I'm sure he's not too happy about his friends being taken."

A large blast of flames streak through the sky at that exact moment. "Yeah, he's pretty pissed off. Lucy's keeping him in check until we come back, but he might combust at any moment. If Erza and Happy being taken wasn't enough, apparently one of them shot him in the mouth." Gray explains nonchalantly.

Juvia and Ur stare at him in utter bewilderment of his casual dismissal of his friend(?) getting shot in the mouth.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Dragon Slayer lungs, remember?"

The two then sigh in relief. "I'm glad he's alright, but don't go getting any ideas to get shot in the mouth either." Ur warns.

"Hey, Devil Slayers work differently, remember? Besides, I would never get into a situation like that in the first place." Gray remarks. "Though that does make me wonder what other abilities Devil Slayer have?"

Juvia shyly interjects. "Um, Gray my love, shouldn't we be going to help your friends?"

Gray realizes that she's right and the three of them head off to go join the waiting couple and rescue their favorite S-Class swordswoman from her captors.


While normally tracking Erza would be hard, thankfully they had a Dragon Slayer with a nose better than a bloodhound.

"Uuuuugggghhhh…"

Unfortunately, said Dragon Slayer was currently trying not to lose his lunch because of his motion sickness, his head in Lucy's lap on the boat ride to find Erza.

Gray was not doing much better, as he was fighting off his Devil Slayer induced drowsiness. "Man… this sucks." Gray yawns. "It's even harder… to stay awake now… after the island."

"Oh no, my darling Gray is suffering, whatever shall I do?" Juvia moans.

Ur's eyes glint as she seizes the opportunity and immediately pushes Gray headfirst into Juvia's lap, causing both of them to yelp in shock. "Oops, my hand slipped."

"Gah, what the-" Gray's exclamations are muffled due to being face first in the water woman's thighs before he starts drifting off into sleep. 'Man… this is actually pretty comfy… I guess this is why Natsu does it all the time.'

As Gray falls asleep on a now steaming Juvia, Ur turns to look at Lucy, who has a forlorn expression on her face. "What's wrong, Lucy? I know that look, it's the same one Laya had whenever she had something on her mind."

Lucy sighs. "I've been thinking about those goons who attacked us. They obviously knew Erza, and she seemed utterly shocked when her old friends showed up. It makes me wonder if we know Erza that well at all."

As the three women ponder Lucy's words, Natsu suddenly stands up from his spot on the boat as he senses something foul in the distance. "Woah! I just got a weird feeling guys!"

The girls then turn to notice birds falling out of the sky midflight, fish laying dead in the water, and the wreckage of navy ships nearby. "What the hell happened here?" Ur asks.

Things only get more obvious as they move farther to their goal, only to find a giant tower that looks to be made of machinery and scrap metal, the dull grey color making the atmosphere more oppressive.

"That must be the Tower of Heaven those guys were talking about." Lucy says.

"Well, we can't just sail up to the island." Ur says. "If those ships earlier are to be believed, they might spot us soon."

"Don't worry." Juvia raises her hand as she surrounds the ship with water. "Juvia's Water Dome will let us blend in with the surroundings."

"Thanks, Juvia." Lucy says but is unnerved by the look she gets in response. "Um, did I do something wrong?"

Juvia shakes her head. "No, it's just, I remember Gajeel talked about how romantic relationships worked for him once. Can I assume based on your hair that you and Salamander are together?"

Lucy looks at her in befuddlement. "Uh, yeah, but why are you asking me that?"

Juvia suddenly gains a smug smile for no apparent reason. "Well, now I know I won't have to eliminate a love rival for my darling's affection."

"What the hell are you on about?!" Lucy yells.

Ur puts her hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Juvia here is just very passionate about her feelings."

Lucy got the distinct feeling that it was more than just passion.


Erza was ashamed of herself.

That was how she felt every day for the past 8 years now.

That shame only increased a hundredfold when she saw her friends from her past in front of her. If it was anyone else, she would have fought back with everything she had, but she didn't want to hurt the people she cared about.

But she had never felt worse than being tied up in front of her old friend Sho as he madly ranted about their plans to resurrect the Dark Wizard Zeref with the now fully constructed R-System and use Erza as a sacrifice.

The worst part was the look of absolute glee and ecstasy Sho had discussing it. He truly believed that what he was doing was righteous and just.

When in reality he was only becoming the same as the people who oppressed them all those years ago.

Thankfully, Erza easily escaped the bindings that were placed on her while he was distracted by his own mad ramblings and knocked Sho out with a quick kick to the face.

"I'm sorry, Sho. This is all my fault." Erza then reequipped into her Heart Kreuz armor, her face one of fury. "Jellal, what did you do to them?"

Erza then proceeded to head through the tower in search of Jellal, taking down many slavers in the meantime.

It wasn't every day you got to attack people who are part of the same group that made your childhood a living hell, and scarred you for the rest of your life, as well as the people you used to call family.

But it was today.


After mowing down a few rooms of slavers, Erza ran into a banquet hall where she saw her friends and Juvia sitting down eating food. (Lucy warned them not to just eat the bad guy's food but was promptly ignored.)

This was bad.

She didn't want them here.

Jellal was here.

She never wanted her friends to be anywhere near that madman, much less in his own fortress.

She knew what Jellal did to the people she cared about.

Erza would be damned if she let the same thing happen to her new family.

"What are you all doing here?!" Erza demanded.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Lucy asks, now in a nice green dress given to her by Virgo.

Juvia anxiously tries to introduce herself to Erza. "Um… Juvia is-"

"Go home!"

Everyone flinches at Erza's reaction, her voice filled with not just anger like when she usually scolds them, but also something else.

"We came here to get you and Happy! I'm not leaving until I get him back!" Natsu shouts.

"Damn it!" Erza curses. "Milliana must have taken him. I'm not sure where he is, but he's probably fine. Milliana would never hurt a cat."

Natsu growls before running off to find Happy. "Those jerks are gonna pay! No one shoots me in the mouth and kidnaps my little buddy and gets away with it!"

"What a moron." Gray moans.

"Let's go and help him!" Lucy exclaims.

"No!" Erza says while holding her sword in front of them with her back turned to them. "Natsu can handle himself and Happy will be fine. The rest of you need to go back to the guild immediately."

"Don't be ridiculous Erza!" Lucy says. "We're not weak, we can still help you!"

"This is my problem, I don't need you getting involved."

"That's a load and you know it." Gray says. "Those guys attacked us and kidnapped you, I'd say that makes us pretty involved."

Erza gives no response, leaving them all in silence.

"Erza, what's up with this tower, and who is this Jellal guy?" Lucy asks. "I can understand if you don't wanna tell us since the people who kidnapped you were your friends, but don't forget we're also your friends, and we'll always be willing to help you."

"Leave!" Erza simply grips her blades tighter and orders them away, hear voice full of not anger, but sadness, desperation, fear even.

Emotions they never imagined Erza Scarlet of all people would show unless they were in the middle of a fight.

"This isn't like you Erza." Gray comments. "What happened to the woman who tells us to fall in line and follow her to the ends of the earth whether we want to or not. We want to stay and help you. Didn't Gramps teach us that even the strongest warriors need back up once in a while."

In response to her friend's heartfelt words, Erza turns around, showing them something no one would ever think of seeing in a million years.

Erza Scarlet, considered by most to be one of the most badass woman in the country – Was crying.

By no means did Fairy Tail members think she was an emotionless machine. Erza shows a lot of emotion everyday in a variety of ways, but sadness was one that she rarely expressed. Usually, she would be the one to help someone else out of their sadness, but this time she was the one who needed help.

"I'm sorry." Erza apologizes as tears come only from her left eye. "You can't help me now. No matter what happens now, I'm staring death in the face. You should forget about me and-"

SMACK

Once again, something that no one ever expected happened to the legendary, lest the perpetrator be skewered on her sword.

Ur just slapped Erza across the face.

The trio watching the event had their jaw's dropped to the floor, unable to believe someone had the balls to slap Erza.

"Are you done being melodramatic and ready to talk to the people who care about you now?" Ur scolds through gritted teeth.

Erza looks at her with wide eyes, still in shock from the slap. "What do you mean 'melodramatic?'"

"I mean you need to get out of your own head for once and listen to your friends!" Ur shouts, shocking everyone else. "I understand what you're trying to do Erza, really I do. You want to carry this burden and keep your family safe because you don't want them getting hurt because of you. But let me tell you from personal experience, that will never work, for your friends, or yourself."

Ur flashes back to her last conversation with Skald and her using Iced Shell to save Gray and Lyon when they were kids, and her recent meeting with her estranged daughter.

"Don't push away your loved ones when they're trying to help you, all you do is make everyone upset. Don't sacrifice yourself for your family just because you think there's no other way, you'll just leave those left behind with guilt. And don't try to face your past by yourself, no matter how painful it may be because otherwise you'll crumple under your own doubts.

"I may not have known you as long as Gray, or even Lucy, but I do know from the time I've spent with you all that you have a bond just as strong as the one that me, Acier, and Layla had back in the day. Unlike me, however, you still have those bonds to lean on in tough times like these."

Ur waves her arm, gesturing to Lucy and Gray who both give great big smiles to Erza in support. "So, are you ready to talk to us now?"

Erza sighs. "I guess you're all right. Let me share my story with you while we still have time."

Erza then explained her tragic backstory to her friends. She was an orphan in a small village when she and a few others were taken and sent to the 'Tower of Heaven' also called the R-System which was meant to resurrect the Black Wizard Zeref. A black magic cult that worshiped Zeref went around kidnapping poor villagers in the Forsaken Realm since they knew the government wouldn't put as much manpower into it because they were peasants.

Those that were taken here were used as slaves and forced to construct the tower under threat of punishment. She saw countless slaves funneled in that died under the harsh conditions, and had even heard of some being taken away if they had strong magic power.

While living in that tower she met her first family. Among them were one old man named Rob and several kids some even younger than her. Wally, Sho, Milliana, Simon, and most importantly, Jellal.

Jellal was their leader, and he inspired them to keep their hopes up even despite their terrible situation. One day, they tried to escape, but were caught and Erza was then tortured as punishment, losing her right eye in the process. (The one she had now was a prosthetic from Porlyusica.)

Jellal then came to save her, but ended up getting caught, leaving Erza to find their friends and inspire them and the rest of the slaves to revolt. It was all in hopes of saving their friend Jellal, the one who was always there to give them hope with his strong sense of justice. There were many who were injured like Simon, and many who died like Rob, but they eventually won against their captors.

However, something happened to Jellal during his time being tortured. When Erza eventually got to the torture chamber Jellal was being held in, he was darker than before. He had a deranged smile on his face as he slaughtered his torturers and spoke of how he would create a world of true freedom using the tower.

"In this world of humans, there can never be true freedom."

Obviously, Erza refused, unnerved by his insane ramblings, so Jellal threatened to kill their friends if she ever told anyone else about the tower or tried to approach the tower again. She then fled the tower, joined Fairy Tail, and the rest is history.

"I have to fight Jellal." Erza somberly explains. "I lived the past 8 years in constant fear that the people I loved were being used by him, and I must stop him from resurrecting Zeref. I don't know why, but my friend Sho mentioned that when they do revive Zeref, they will somehow reach heaven."

"Now that you mention it, there's something about your old friends that confuses me." Lucy says. "Your friends said that you betrayed them, but if Jellal was the one who betrayed them, why are they mad at you?

"8 years is long enough for a child's mind to be filled with many things, and I assume Jellal wasted no time indoctrinating them into his hellish plan." Erza responds. "That doesn't change the fact that I still abandoned them for that time, so I may as well have betrayed them."

"But that's only because Jellal threatened your friends' lives!" Lucy cries. "No one could blame you for the decision you made then, you were only a child anyway!"

"Enough, Lucy. It doesn't matter. Once I defeat Jellal it will all be over." Erza declares. Her teammates look at her with doubtful expressions, her ominous words from earlier hanging over their heads.

Their discussion is interrupted by Erza's friend Sho, who accuses Erza of being the one who betrayed them by blowing up the ships that they would have used to escape.

"Let me get this straight. Jellal told you that Erza betrayed you?" Ur countered with a sarcastic tone. "And you just believed him without questioning him at all?"

"You're Erza's friend, you should know that she would never intentionally betray you like that." Lucy said.

Erza's other friend Simon showed up too in support of fighting against Jellal. Juvia explains that she noticed him intentionally not trying to hurt them when he attacked, convincing them of his honesty.

After both of Erza's friends join them against Jellal, the lights go out and an ominous voice rings out throughout the room.

"I welcome you to the Tower of Heaven. I am Jellal, the ruler of this tower. Thankfully, all the players have been assembled."

"Shall we play a game?"


New year, new chapter, and it's honestly not one of my best. I pretty much skimmed over the canon material because there wasn't much I wanted to change in my version, and I didn't just wanna copy the original material word for word.

Most of the changes this time come from Ur being present in this story, and I'm excited to delve more into it later on. We found out that she was the host of the Ice Spirit Skald before she died, as well as having her own grimoire. Their connection was shattered when Ultear 'died' and they haven't talked since, Skald having seemingly disappeared from our world and hasn't been seen since.

I also enjoyed having Ur and Ultear reunite here, though it wasn't as heartwarming as some may have expected. Ultear still hates her mom for seemingly abandoning her and moving on without any issue, can Ur one day convince her that she was wrong?

Another thing I want to comment on in this chapter is Erza. I know that some may not agree with my version of her character, specifically in how she views herself, but Erza is someone who is always harsh on her own faults, whether that be accidentally forgetting someone on the train or leaving her friends behind in a slave tower. Also, she doesn't really care what people that aren't her friends have to say about her positive or negative, so all the magazine articles about her pretty much go over her head. She says herself that the title of Titania was just given to her anonymously at some point, and she has little attachment to that name.

Also, Ur has slapped most of Team Natsu in this story. I had her slap Lucy earlier because I remember her doing the same to Gray when he was younger, so I guess I just defaulted to that again. I don't see a future where she slaps Natsu though, there are other characters I'd have do that before her.

Next Time: Frosted Hearts, Broken Armor