Chapter 47

Konsilisto- Yeah, I hope to use him more after the Tower of Heaven. That's the idea.

Ceithin-Har will make an appearance in the Oración Seis arc. That's the plan. Though I may be convinced to show him up earlier if people want it. I'll try to make it as in character as possible though.

Austin- I legit did not think of a love interest for Diederick honestly. Maybe Merudy or Kagura. I never put much thought into it. I was more thinking about Chaos and who to represent it first.

Diederick

"Okay, this is officially weird." Said Diederick as he looked upon the massive room they were in. After entering the weird mask, the group found themselves in a massive room with a big dining table in front of them with a wide variety of food. "First they attack us, now they're letting us in and treating us to a meal. What the heck is going on?"

"No idea." Said Gray as Natsu smelled the food to see if it was poisoned or not. When he realized none of it was, he immediately gorged upon it all, much to Lucy's surprise and protest. "These people got a few screw loose if you ask me. Still, getting kinda hungry. We should chow down while we have the chance." Diederick agreed though he suggested that they keep someone on lookout in case the enemy tries to sneak attack them. "Agreed. I'll keep lookout first. You get a meal with everyone else. And to get dressed up." Thanking Gray, Diederick went to a spot in the room where he can change into his armor in the piece while everyone else was either eating or guarding the door.

"Anyone find this odd?" Asked Diederick as he changed into his armor, which was just leather, unlike the armor of his mothers, which was a mix of leather and metal. "It's like these people are messing with us, right?"

"He has a point." Said Juvia as she ate with dignity, unlike Natsu, who was stuffing his face full of food. "The door that allowed us entry here was opened by a magic user, so they know we're here, which brings us to two questions. What reason have they to feed us and why haven't they moved to intercept us?"

"Maybe they're trying to make us lower our guard?" Suggested Lucy as she watched everyone eat. She was slightly worried at first that they were eating poisoned food or something, but upon seeing Natsu eat the food safely all her worries were abated.

"If they were, they would have poisoned the food." Said Gray as he guarded the door. "Or, at the very least, enchant the food so our magic power is weakened. But if Natsu is eating the food, then there's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, something is really weird about these people." Before they could speculate more on the matter, Virgo spoke up, having been summoned by Lucy during the previous fight.

"If I may princess, your clothes are unsuitable for the environment that we're in." Said Virgo, referring to Lucy's swimwear. As she took off her clothes in order to travel underwater, Lucy was showing a lot of skin right now. Upon hearing that, Lucy covered herself and asked Virgo if she should change. "Yes, allow me to help you."

"Wait! Right now!?" Yelled Lucy as Virgo immediately pounced on her, causing everyone to look. Before more skin could be shown, a smoke cloud was emitted from Virgo, preventing anyone from seeing, much to the relief of Lucy. Once the smoke cloud was dissipated, Lucy was revealed to be wearing a nice green dress with a matching headband.

"How is it, princess?" Asked Virgo as she looked at Lucy as she looked at herself in amazement. "I brought this over from the Celestial World. I hope that you're pleased with it."

"Oh, I'm more than pleased with it, Virgo. Thanks." Said Lucy with a smile before turning to everyone with a pose. "How is it?"

"Good." Said Diederick as he nodded in approval. Natsu also nodded while pursing his lips. Juvia looked at Gray, who gave a thumbs-up, causing her to crush the glass cup she was holding in jealously. Satisfied with everyone's reaction, Lucy looked at Virgo with a smile.

"Thanks for the clothing, Virgo. I really appreciate it." Said Lucy, causing Virgo to bow in thanks.

"I'm pleased to hear that you like it." Said Virgo before retreating back to the Celestial Spirit World until she was needed again. Smiling at Virgo, Lucy then thought of something.

"Oh shoot. I forgot to ask if any of you guys want clothes." Said Lucy, a bit ashamed at that. "Do you want me to bring her back?"

"Nah. We got Natsu for that." Said Gray from the gates, causing Lucy to openly gape at him, shocked at what he said. Before she could tell him how wrong that is, Gray suddenly heard some running and looked back at the entranceway he was guarding to see a bunch of guards coming at them.

"Get them!" Yelled one of the guards as he charged in with his fellow guards. Upon seeing them, Gray yelled out at everyone to get ready for a fight while readying his ice magic. Just before he could cast a spell, a blur showed up and struck down each and every one of the guards with a single slash, startling him. The blur then stopped before Gray, revealing it to be Erza, wearing her standard Heart Kreuz armor.

"Erza!" Yelled out Gray in astonishment upon seeing her alive and unharmed. Upon hearing her name, everyone went towards the entranceway to see Erza alive and well.

"You're okay!" Said Lucy in relief. "We were worried about you."

"So cool." Said Juvia with a blush as she looked upon Erza in awe at her skill.

Upon seeing her friends, Erza gasped out in shock before demanding them why they were at the tower, confusing them all.

"We came looking for you." Said Lucy in surprise at the hostility coming from Erza. "We came to rescue you." Seeing an opportunity to speak, Juvia spoke again.

"Um…hello. My name is Juvia. I came with your friends to help…" Juvia was interrupted by Erza, who glared at her friends with hostility and…fear.

"Go back home." Demanded Erza as she glared at everyone, causing everyone to look at her in surprise. Natsu then looked at her with ferocity and stubbornness.

"No way." Said Natsu before punching his fists together. "You're not scaring us into running away this time, Erza! I'm not leaving until I teach that blockhead a lesson for shooting me in the mouth." Despite Natsu's convictions, Erza still was insistent on them leaving.

"This place is far too dangerous for any of you." Said Erza as she looked upon them all. "You all have no idea what you're getting into." Upon hearing that last sentence, Diederick could hear the desperation and fear in her voice, which left him perplexed. Very few things can bring fear into Erza, one of those being Arahan's wrath or disappointment. Whatever this place was, it was something that really shook her up, but not enough to run away in fear. No, it appears she was willing to stay and fight, which begged the question. What the heck was she so afraid of? Before he could ask, Natsu spoke up again.

"Even if we trust you, they still got Happy." Said Natsu in anger. "I'm not leaving until my little buddy is safe and sound." Upon hearing that, Erza let out a small gasp.

"He's here too?" Asked Erza before thinking a bit. "Millianna must have taken him." Upon hearing that name, Natsu looked at her in anger.

"Where can I find him?" Asked Natsu, eager to get back to his friend and also eager to defeat anyone that got in his way. Erza just sighed at that.

"I don't know." Said Erza, truthfully. This caused Natsu to growl out in rage before declaring loudly that this meant war.

"Uh, who are you declaring war on?" Asked Gray in annoyance as he looked at the Dragonslayer.

"To the creeps that took Happy and that stupid Blockhead!" Yelled Natsu as he ran past Erza and out the room.

"Wait!" Yelled Erza, trying to stop him, but it was too late.

"*Sighs* What an idiot." Said Gray in annoyance upon seeing all this.

"We can't let him go alone." Said Lucy with conviction. "Let's go." Gray, Diederick, and Juvia agreed and were about to leave when Erza stopped them all.

"No!" Yelled Erza firmly as she looked at the other remaining people in the room. "You don't have to worry about Happy. Millianna is a cat lover. She'll never let anything happen to Happy. You have my word on it." Erza then looked towards the doorway that Natsu took with firm dedication. "I promise I'll bring back both Natsu and Happy to the Guild, but you four need to leave. This place is far too dangerous for any of you."

"What do you mean?" Demanded Lucy. "Don't be ridiculous. You stand a much better chance with us around! Let us help you!"

"I don't need your help." Said Erza firmly and stubbornly. "Now get away from here. This is my own fight and it doesn't have anything to do with any of you." Upon hearing that, Gray glared at Erza as she turned and began to walk away.

"How can you say that?" Demanded Gray as he glared at Erza with disgust. "You saw Natsu and how pissed he was. I'd say we're plenty involved."

"He's right, Erza. We all got involved when they attacked us and kidnapped you and Happy." Said Diederick. "If my mothers were here, they scold you for being this way, even Naestra would." Upon hearing all that, Erza stopped in her tracks.

"Erza, what's up with this tower?" Demanded Lucy. "Who is this Jellal and why are your old friends against you? Please, just tell us." Seeing she was still unmoved, Diederick pulled out his trump card in order to convince her to open up.

"Erza, Arahan would be disappointed with how you're acting right now because you are withholding information that may be the difference between getting hurt or worse." Said Diederick, causing Erza to tense up. If there was anything that Erza hated, it was disappointing her former mentor. "C'mon, just tell us what's going on so we can make our own choice. Please." Upon hearing all that, Erza sighed before turning to everyone. When she did, everyone was stunned to see her crying. Wiping her tears away, Erza began to speak up.

"Alright." Said Erza with resignation. "I suppose you all deserve the truth after everything we've been through together. And it doesn't really matter either really because, regardless if I succeed or not, I'll be gone."

"What?" Asked everyone in shock at this. But Erza refused to elaborate. Instead, she told them her story. The same one she told Arahan when she was a child many years ago.

One story later

"And that's what happened." Said Erza after finishing her story. When she did, she looked at everyone with shocked and sympathetic looks on their faces. But I could never spend a moment without thinking of my friends here." She clenched her fist "That's why I have to fight Jellal, to make him pay for everything that he's done. Both to me and those that he took their freedom from."

"That name you mentioned, Zeref. Are you referring to the black wizard of ancient history?" Asked Juvia, causing Erza to nod.

"The same." Said Erza. "Zeref is, without a doubt, the cruelest and darkest wizard in all of history. He's the one who created the plans for the R-System, as well as his Etherious…"

"The demons of Zeref's books. Like Lullaby." Said Lucy as she remembered Lullaby. "I remember hearing that it contained a demon of Zeref's own making in it."

"Correct." Said Erza. "And I never mentioned it before, but I suspected the Deliora was a demon that was created by Zeref as well." Upon hearing that, Gray gasped in shock.

"So, wait." Said Diederick as he tried to understand all this. "This Zeref, if the books are accurate on him, is so dark and so powerful, why does Jellal want to bring him back to life? Wouldn't Zeref just dispose of him after he's brought back from the dead?"

"I don't know what Jellal's motives are, but my friend Shô said that bringing back Zeref would bring them all to heaven. And that the world will be reborn and that they'll become its rulers."

"That still doesn't explain your old friends' actions." Said Lucy as she looked at Erza. "I mean isn't it obvious that Jellal is manipulating them? Why would they be so eager to hurt you?"

"I suspect that Jellal fed them countless lies after I left." Said Erza before sighing and adopting a look of regret and pain. "Not that it was difficult to do so. After all, I was the one that left them eight years ago. The betrayal in their eyes when they saw me again."

"But you only left because he threatened you with their lives!" Said Lucy. "If they knew the truth-"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Lucy. Once I've dealt with Jellal, we can sort everything out later when this is all over." Said Erza firmly, causing Gray to narrow his eyes.

"Somethings off." Whispered Diederick to Gray, also noticing it. "She's hiding something. I can feel it."

"Same." Whispered Gray, making sure Erza wasn't listening. "What isn't she telling us? She said before that she was going to be gone regardless if she succeeds or not, but what does that mean?" Before he could think about it, they all heard a voice.

"Sister." Upon hearing that, they all turned around to see Shô walking towards them. "Why? Why are you still lying?"

"Shô…" Said Erza, unsure if she can fight him as he looked at her with hurt and disgust, but mainly hurt.

"Are you trying to get sympathy from your friends?! Let them know the truth! That you destroyed the ships that we were going to use to escape eight years ago and left by yourself! If Jellal didn't find out what was going on, we would have been blown to bits! He told us that you grew mad with power! You threw us aside because of your magic!" Upon hearing all that, Gray looked at him with both disappointment and sympathy.

"Did you ever once think that maybe he was lying?" Asked Gray in sympathy as he and everyone looked at him with pity. "That he was manipulating you all?"

"If you truly knew Erza, you would know that she would never do anything like that ever." Said Lucy as she looked at Shô, trying to convince him to see past Jellal's lies. Shô, upon hearing all that, started to sweat nervously, but he shouted at them.

"You all don't understand anything about us! Jellal saved us! He gave us a purpose, and we spent eight years building this tower for him! For…" Shô then started to suffer a mental breakdown as he broke down into tears. "A lie. If what you're all saying is right, then does that mean Jellal has been lying to us this whole time!"

"That's right." Said another voice, startling everyone as black fog appeared from nowhere and the big buff man from before came out of them.

"Simon?" Asked Erza in shock at what he just said. Simon just nodded before explaining everything.

"You!" Said Gray as he recognized Simon as the one that attacked him. He was about to attack but Juvia stopped him.

"No, my dear. He doesn't pose a threat." Said Juvia before explaining the situation. "I didn't mean to withhold this from you, but back at the resort he knew he was attacking your ice decoy."

"But how?" Asked Gray in surprise as he looked at Juvia, to which Juvia explained.

"Simple, because he was the one that cast the darkness spell, he wouldn't have been affected by it. He would have seen what you did and thus figure out what we did to attempt to trick him. If he was truly against us, he would have attacked us again. That's one of the reasons I came along. To figure out why he refused to do so."

"That's correct." Said Simon, impressed with the intelligence of the blue-haired woman. "Just what I expect from one of Phantom Lord's Elemental 4."

"I don't understand." Said Shô as he processed this. "You lied to us? To keep these people safe?"

"I'm sorry for lying Shô, but Jellal had you under his thumb so deep that I knew I had to fool you and the others into thinking I killed them." Said Simon with regret. "I hoped that by leaving them alone after attacking them that they could come looking for us for either payback or to save their friends."

"But…but why?" Asked Shô, hurt at what he did. Upon hearing that, Simon grasped his friend's shoulder, ashamed at what he had to do.

"I'm sorry." Said Simon. "But there was no other way if I wanted to stop Jellal's madness." Upon hearing that, Erza looked at Simon in shock.

"Do-does that mean you…" Simon then looked at Erza with a smile that was hidden under his mouth guard before speaking.

"I've always believed in you, for eight long years." Said Simon before embracing Erza, something Erza returned with happiness and relief. "I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

"Thank you, Simon." Said Erza with a smile as she tearfully looked at Simon, who smiled again at her. Shô, however, was heartbroken.

"How can, how can you trust her?" Asked Shô as he knelt before the floor and began to cry, causing everyone to look at him again, many in concern. "Why… why can't I trust her as you do?!" He then collapsed to the floor as tears flooded from his eyes. "Dammit! Who's telling me the truth anymore?! Who can I even trust!?" Upon seeing just how broken her friend was, Erza knelt before him and tried to comfort him.

"I know it's hard to come to grasp everything, but just let me speak a bit." Said Erza as she held Shô close to her. "In the eight years I was gone, I could never forget about you guys. But I was too weak to do anything. And I regretted that fact every day since I left."

"But you're ready now." Said Simon as he looked upon Erza comforting their mutual friend. "Ready to defeat Jellal." Upon hearing that, Erza looked at him before nodding in confirmation. Confidence arising, Simon looked at everyone before speaking up.

"I've been awaiting this moment since the day that Jellal announced his plans to build the tower." Said Simon. "A day when a group of powerful wizards would be gathered in this accursed tower. With our combined strength, we can defeat Jellal and end one of the many legacies of Zeref." Upon hearing all that, everyone looked ready to fight and defeat Jellal, regardless of their relations with him. Even Shô looked ready to fight Jellal, though he looked murderous compared to everyone else.

"Of course, we're still missing a member." Said Simon. "We still require Salamander. His power will help tip the balance of power for us. And we'll need every ounce of power if we want to have a chance against Jellal. If I'm correctly guessing Salamander's personality correctly, he's going to face Wally, yes." Upon seeing the Fairy Tail wizards nod in confirmation, Simon hummed. "Then I know where he is." With that, Simon brought two fingers to his forehead and began to try to contact Millianna and Wally about the situation and how Salamander isn't their enemy anymore.

Meanwhile

Vilitch laughed to himself as his cultists began the ritual given to them by their master. The ritual will enable them to find the next Everchosen of Chaos. Or, at least, give them a clue on his whereabouts.

It's been some time since Khurze had told him what Tzeentch had instructed him to do. Since then, he had gathered up more followers from a wide variety of sources. From simple things such as bartering and acts of manipulation to more complex schemes that would have the Southerners scratching their heads at the mundane of his actions until they figure out too late what his end goals were. In the end, he acquired countless Chaos marauders from the tribes, who were eager to prove themselves in the eyes of one of the Chaos Gods, a fair amount of Chaos Warriors and Knights, who he acquired their loyalty after killing their Aspiring Champion for their allegiance or through promises of knowledge. And then, to top it all off, he acquired a few dozen Chaos Spawn of Tzeentch through a trap of his own design that eliminated a rival Warband that threatened his power. In the end, Vilitch built him a sizable Warband that, while not yet the size of the largest warbands of Tzeentch currently, was still a formidable force. And, after today, that Warband will only increase as Vilitch is now ready to enact his master's will.

After acquiring his Chaos Spawn, a pure white crow appeared before Vilitch. A crow with a piece of parchment in its talons. After acquiring the parchment, Vilitch immediately opened it. Upon doing so, its contents were revealed and he immediately knew what he needed to do next and how to do it. Thus, his Warband went to acquire the materials necessary to fulfill their master's grand plan.

To acquire the materials they needed, the first raided an Empire of Man village to acquire the bones and blood of several hedge wizards there that possessed above average prowess for hedge wizards. They then assaulted an ancient burial ground in Nordland for some ancient bones whose owner lived during the time of Asavar Kul. Finally, they attacked a group of Wood Elves from Laurelorn forest, home to the Eonir elves, an independent group of elves separate from the main group of elven people, that were traveling to Reikland, the current capital of the Empire of Man. The purpose of the elves was to conduct negotiations with the human Emperor regarding more settlements between the rivers Salz and Demst, but now, thanks to the Tzeentch Warband, those talks will never come to pass. A boon for Chaos, but minor compared to what they wanted. The blood and organs of Elves.

With all those materials in hand, the Warband returned back to Norsca, found a relatively safe spot to conduct their master's ritual, and thus began it.

Various cultists of Tzeentch were speaking in the daemonic tongue of the Chaos Gods. As they spoke, the bones and organs floated in the air of the circle that they created from the blood of elves and Men they killed. Around them, the ground and the circle glowed blue as the ritual was commencing.

As it began, Vilitch looked at Khurze and spoke to him.

"What do you think our master will do once we find the Everchosen? What rewards we will be given for our deed?" Asked Vilitch as he spoke to Khurze, who simply looked upon the ritual being conducted, sensing the power behind it along with Vilitch.

"I believe he will give us many rewards for the opportunity to mold the next Everchosen to his liking is a tempting prize for even the Chaos Gods." Said Khurze, wondering as well. Such an opportunity for Tzeentch to mold the next Everchosen to his liking was something that the Chaos God of change cannot resist and if they provide it to him, then the rewards will be substantial. Of course, they must be cautious for rewards from the Changer of Ways will always be a double-ended reward. Khurze knew this very well. Vilitch, however, doesn't and unless he realizes this, his own rewards and boons will be his undoing.

Moving on, Khurze and Vilitch look upon the ritual as it gathers power. As they watched, they saw the cultists performing the rituals begin to mutate into Chaos Spawn, screaming all the way. Everyone else then watched in awe as the daemonic circle they've constructed floated in the air and began creating various rifts around them that Tzeentch daemons began emerging from, adding their strength to Vilitch's Warband. As the mortal followers of Tzeentch were wondering about all this, they all felt a powerful and ancient presence arriving and subduing them with its presence. Some of them tried to fight back, but couldn't. The presence was just too strong. And while the rest of the Warband was fighting whatever came over them, Khurze and Vilitch knew what this presence was and were shocked.

Their God. Their master was taking over their ritual. To say they were stunned was an understatement. Would his presence here not attract the attention of the other Gods? Would his presence here not undermine his ability to mold the next Everchosen unimpeded? What was their master thinking? As the two thought about all this, they, along with everyone else in their Warband, were released from whatever held them in place. Along with that, the circle dissipated, and the bones and organs turned to dust. As the mortal followers of Tzeentch gathered amongst themselves, they all could have sworn they heard maniacal laughter from the distance.

Sure enough that maniacal laughter came from Tzeentch himself. Oh, how delighted he was with everything. With the ritual conducted by his most recent mortal follower, Tzeentch was able to use the bones of the woman of Man that gave birth to the next Everchosen to find the general trail of him. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for the Chaos God of Magic. Enough to leave a little gift for the Everchosen.

Meanwhile

Diederick

Diederick was running with everyone else when he suddenly felt something hit him. Looking around, he saw that nothing was around him that hit him. Confused at this, he heard Gray telling him to hurry up, causing him to run towards the group, not looking forward to being left behind.

Tzeentch

Chaos Realm

Crackling madly to himself, Tzeentch was eager to see what will unfold now that the Everchosen has a gift from him. And when he does, he'll know exactly where he is and his plans will advance. Oh yes.