Episode 9; Mystery of the Starry Sky Keys!
The Fight with Grimoire Heart was intense, I didn't think we would go through so much to get to this point. Plus we were almost done for if the Spell Fairy Sphere hadn't been casted to save us from certain doom at the hands of the Black Dragon Acnologia. After we were trapped inside the sphere we were put into stasis for 7 long years. Now our Guild that was once the top has now reached the very bottom rank. As time passed lots of things have changed, but we will have to worry about that another time as we are about to face some new and old enemies along with some old allies!
Outside the windmill of the current Fairy Tail Guild base, Crystal has changed into a new outfit. She now wears a dark blue shirt, over it is a white trench coat with blue trims that barely reaches her knees, she wears her normal black shorts with light blue on the ends, she has black stockings with blue strap shoes on, she also has a silver belt around her waist.
She is outside looking at the sky thinking about the 7 years she had missed, as those days passed she and all the other girls are dead broke because of rent payment. As many things happened the biggest part was that Bisca and Alzack had gotten married 6 years ago and also have a girl which they named Asuka. Romeo was also now old enough to now be a Fairy Tail Wizard, so his uniform resembles Natsu since he looked up to him. However the thing that hit one of the members the hardest missing those 7 years was Lucy. She had learned her father had passed away last month. Crystal felt heartfelt and sorry for Lucy, especially since Crystal had no memories of her past. But now, she thought about what her parents were like before she lost her memories.
"Thought I'd find you out here." Sakore says getting her attention. "Still thinking about the 7 years that passed for you, huh?" He walks next to her looking to the sky with her.
"Yeah… All that time we lost can be very unexpecting. Sometimes happy moments happen, other times it can be heartbreaking, and finally you just wonder how much has changed while you haven't been there to support everyone." She explains to him. However she also remembered that the clone of her sister is also still roaming out in the world.
"Also, while you were gone I was told what you have been through." He said suddenly and he explains about knowing her lost memories, as well as the clone of her sister.
"I see… so she is still wandering around after 7 years." She mumbled wondering what to do if she were to encounter her again. "She had probably 7 years of experience while I was gone so she might be stronger than I would be. But thanks to Ur some of my power is opened." She thought that she would have to prepare for the worst to come. "Going off topic, you became a member of Fairy Tail last year yeah? Why didn't you join any of the other guilds?"
"It's because I wanted to meet you, Crystal. I would have expected you to be older than me, but although you were gone and in stasis slumber. We are technically near the same age now." He explains and Crystal realized he was right. For some reason her heart was beating slightly faster and she had to look away for a moment. "Say, could you do me a favor?"
"What would that be?" She asks, shaking off the sudden feeling she felt for a moment. Sakore stepped away a bit and looked to another area.
"I'd like to ask you to spar with me of course!" He said suddenly which Crystal was surprised at his request. "I know it's kind of a sudden request after you and everyone else had returned after being gone for 7 years. But I wanna see how strong you are!" She wondered what the reason was behind his request, but she accepted anyway. The two get some distance away from the Windmill Guild Base to a wide open area. "This spot should do, so you ready?" She nods, readying herself. Sakore brought his hands out and flames swirled around his arms.
"So he uses fire magic? This may be very interesting to test on this guy." Crystal thought to herself as she took her fighting stance. "Ice Dragon's Wing Attack!" She sends cutters at him which he leaps over and unleashes a blast of fire at her and she forms a shield of ice blocking the incoming attack. The view in front was obscured by smoke so she can't see his position, however having senses of a Dragon she turned to her right and blew a twister of ice out of her mouth as Sakore was coming from that direction and nearly dodged the attack. He regained his footing and then charged at Crystal with his arm now covered with lightning. "He has lightning magic as well?!" She counters the attack with her Crystal Fist, causing a blast of smoke from their collision.
"You are really amazing! But I still have some more tricks!" He says as he slams his fists on the ground causing parts of the ground to raise and then one launches Crystal into the air surprising her. She then took this aerial as an advantage, diving down towards Sakore. He casts a twister to divert her course.
"Even Wind Magic? Is he able to use more elements than other people could?" She questioned as she uses her magic to freeze the twister. Sakore was taken back seeing the entire twister get frozen. Crystal continues diving down then flipped and landing a kick at Sakore's stomach, making him cough and sent flying for a bit and then stops laying on his back. Crystal stood there for a bit then hurried to him. "Sakore! Are you alright?!" He slowly sat back up with a smile.
"Amazing, you are still strong after 7 years. Heck, maybe stronger than before!" He praises her and she blushes from the compliment. She was having a hard time trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. "I'm glad that I was able to meet you in person Crystal. Perhaps you'd like to have me as a secondary partner along with your Exceed friend Frost, when you go on jobs? I haven't shown everything I'm able to do yet."
She was taken back from the request he was asking, but she does travel a lot with Frost a lot. She does wonder how much Sakore has yet to show, so he could be a helpful partner if she wanted to.
"Excuse me." A lady's voice spoke up, getting their attention. "I'm looking for Lucy Heartfillia. Do you happen to know where she is?" They see a woman in a bright pink frilly dress with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, she is also carrying a case.
"Lucy? She should be in the windmill which is the guild base over there." Crystal points to the Windmill with the words 'Fairy Tail' partly left hanging over the entrance.
"Thank you so kindly." The woman thanks her and walks towards the current guild base.
"Who is that woman?" Sakore asks Crystal curiously.
"No idea. I've never seen her before." She replied but was also curious about the mysterious smell coming off the woman. "Who is she? How does she know Lucy? Maybe an acquaintance of the family maybe, perhaps I should observe what happens." Crystal decides to follow with Sakore following behind her as they get to the opened doorway and hear the woman say 'Big Sister Lucy' the whole guild shouted in disbelief.
As everyone took a breather the woman says her name is Michelle Lobster who worked as an assistant for Lucy's father doing errands for him and now the case she brought is something for Lucy to have while on his deathbed.
"Well that was a surprise to hear how she worked for Lucy's father." Crystal says next to Sakore and Frost as he is sitting on a table. "I guess it makes sense why she called her Big sis, but man I almost felt confused hearing that." The two nodded in agreement. "Hey Sakore, do you have any siblings?"
"Oh I have a brother and sister. And I am the oldest of our family. I've really grown a lot over the 7 years." He tells her which confused why he specifically mentioned being 7 years ago. She was about to ask why before Natsu spoke up.
"Open it up!" He tells Lucy. "Don't leave her hanging like this. Seriously, she busted her butt getting this thing here. The least you could do is let her see it, so hurry up everyone's waiting." Lucy acknowledges and opens the case to see something wrapped in old cloth. She picked it up and unwrapped it as Crystal went over to see it looking like some sort of piece of metal which might look to be a part of some large machine?
"Michelle, what is this exactly?" Lucy asks the woman what the object is. "I assume it's something Mister Jude is fond of. Does it look familiar?" Michelle asks her and Lucy replied "Not really, I don't remember seeing anything like this around the house." It seemed like a mysterious object, but later Lucy leads Michelle to her home where her father sent a letter with money to pay off her debt of being away for 7 years.
Over the time Michelle stays at Lucy's place as she helps out at Fairy Tail, sure she is clumsy at times. She did join on a job request with Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Erza. Though Crystal, Frost, and Sakore took a job themselves without them so it wouldn't get chaotic as it normally does. So they take a job about some bandits that had been trouble for couples walking through a forest path.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Crystal asks him as she has a cloak over her head to shadow her face. "I'm kinda skeptical of the plan."
"It'll be fine, we pretend to act like a couple going down the path and if one of the guys captures you, you freeze them and the rest is simple." He explains to her. "And if things turn for the worse there is your buddy who can always turn it around." Crystal does have faith in her Exceed companion who nods knowing things will turn out ok. So she decides to trust him for this.
So for the short part of the event it was a whole group of females who have been manipulating women saying how men treat them like tools and expose how men usually will leave the girls for another. However Crystal smashed the one who was holding her into the ground and removed the cloak looking pissed off and declared she will not be swayed by them and will not get mocked for what people say especially to her guildmates and freeze all of them.
When they returned Lucy was given the idea by Michelle about requesting searching about the mysterious object her father left her, which was a genius idea then suddenly Michelle tripped holding the object when suddenly it floats and on it reveals glowing writing on it which looks to be in an ancient language no one could read. Levy could decipher it but she is currently out on a job so it'll be a while until we find the purpose of the object.
Time goes by until there is news where Natsu challenges Laxus who has been wandering the forest for a good amount of time that it became some sort of festival when the news had spread about to the people.
"Of course Natsu starts picking a fight when he gets the chance to." Crystal says walking with Frost by her side. "Well you know how he is. He always tends to get into fights whenever he feels like it." He replied snacking on an orange while Crystal just sighed knowing that is very true. Not only Natsu but Gajeel also wants to throw down against Laxus and each would rather fight 1 on 1 unlike last time when the three of them teamed against him from his actions trying to take the guild for himself.
Once it becomes daylight everyone gathered around at the tree to see the fight they've all been waiting for. Natsu was first up to fight against Laxus who stood up from his chair. "Is Laxus really that strong of a Wizard?" Sakore asks, seeing the two fighters staring at one another. "Well before he was banished he was considered as an S Rank Wizard. And seeing how calm he is right now, I think Laxus will win without any effort." Crystal assumes seeing the expression of the said Lightning Dragon Slayer.
"Let's do this then." Laxus said as Natsu grins in excitement. "Bring it!" He answered, getting fired up as always. "I'm gonna warn you I'm not gonna hold back." Laxus warns him. "I don't blame ya!" Natsu replied as the two combatants surged with their respective elements. The town watches carefully as the two increase their power of Fire and Lightning, then Natsu leaps at Laxus with a punch, who also returns with his own punch and smashes Natsu into the ground with only a single hit. Lots of the people were dumbfounded seeing Natsu beaten into the ground with just a single hit.
"And there it is! Won with just a punch knocking him out!" Crystal said amused knowing this would exactly happen, not only that but it seemed Gajeel made a run for it realizing Laxus is stronger than he intentionally thought. The people start going around to look for him as Laxus turns to see Crystal walking towards him. The two stare at one another. "You've gotten better since then. Know that I've also gotten stronger on Tenrou Island." She says to him with a straight face. "You wanna go at it then Crystal?" He asks her. However Makarov arrived in which both him and Laxus only stared at each other for a while, then Laxus left without saying anything to him. It took Crystal a moment until she realized. "He… actually called me by name." She mentioned, as it was the first time he ever said her name.
Over time Lucy had brought Levy to figure out the mystery of the device she received. Though back at the guild there were 3 mysterious or rather somewhat familiar figures as everyone was returning back after the events. Coco, Sugarboy, though not exact but the third looked to be Hughes but this one is a woman.
"These guys look like the Royal Guards from Edolas but they don't know us?" Crystal muttered to herself when she started to realize something. "Uh-huh we ain't taking orders from slobs with no style." Sugarboy says to them. "I'm only saying this once, so listen. I demand you give me Lucy Heartfillia right now!" The Woman who was called Mary Hughes demands them for Lucy for some reason.
Sugarboy summons a wooden stand singing having slime appearing from under his clothes and attacks everyone. Coco has incredible speed which is impossible to hit even though unlike Racer who slowed others down she really is good with running and very acrobatic.
Even though it was difficult and while Crystal held back from using her magic wanting to figure out the trio. It suddenly becomes clear to her who they are.
"They are the Earthland versions of the ones we met in Edolas. Makes sense why neither of them remember us. I guess I should have realized that a bit sooner." Crystal muttered to herself since she was mostly trying to understand the situation.
"You're wasting too much time Lucy! Hurry up or we will show your little friends what we're really capable of!" Mary calls out to her though since these are the Earthland versions they don't know exactly who Lucy could be. "Sugarboy would love to play another solo." She laughs as most of the guild is knocked down or worn out from trying to defend. Natsu tells Lucy, Michelle, and Levy to find gramps so he can fight them off. He tries using his fire however Mary uses some kind of stick to control his aiming.
"She's able to control another person?!" Sakore asks in shock as she aims Wendy's attack at Natsu. Everyone is in a corner since the trio were able to easily knock most of them down. Though Crystal had an idea in mind when. "I'm the Lucy Heartfillia you're looking for!" Michelle spoke up when Lucy was gonna give herself up. The trio looked at her now that they supposedly found who they needed. "Be a good girl and park it right here." Mary tells her as Michelle steps up. Mary tells the details of Lucy making sure about being a Celestial Wizard and being a Fairy Tail Wizard. "That is correct, I am the girl of which you speak." Crystal smirked knowing what she is planning, while Lucy tried to retort she is really Lucy Heartfillia.
"The real Lucy Heartfillia is supposed to be over 20 years old ain't that right? Aren't pigtails a little on the young side?" Sugarboy questioned the two girls as Michelle nodded in agreement. "That's because we spent 7 years sealed away on an Island!" Lucy retorted. "Lucy! Get back! I'll make sure they don't lay a finger on you!" Natsu says to Wendy. "Way to use your brain Natsu. Guess you can be smart to confuse an enemy." Crystal mutters to herself. "Right because I'm Lucy!" Wendy says knowing what Natsu is getting at.
"You mean her name's Lucy too?!" Coco questioned seeing the scene. "Come on Lucy! We should help out!" Sakore says to Crystal. "Right! Since I'm the Real Lucy!" She said with a smile and the trio looked at them. "What's going on here?!" They asked in unison. Everyone else joined in with the idea to confuse the enemy with the girls being called 'Lucy'. Everyone fights against the trio allowing Michelle and Lucy to get away only for a distraction.
Though Coco noticed, she uses her freestyle running to search for them. Crystal also saw this as the gang tried to stop Coco but were stopped by Mary. The gang still tried to stop them but it was futile and the other two decided to seek the two that ran most likely being the Real Lucy. Until Night came the 3 current Dragon Slayers went to search for Lucy and Michelle while Gajeel was still nowhere to be found. Wendy, Carla, and Pantherlily get attacked by Coco while Natsu and Happy are attacked by Sugarboy and then Byro makes an appearance of an elder man taller compared to his Edolas counterpart. As Crystal, who is carried by Frost, was having trouble sniffing out where Lucy and Michelle are.
Meanwhile Gildarts is facing Byro who went looking for Lucy when he encountered said man feeling his immense magic power. He learns from the Reporter Max about how Byro and the others are a part of the Legion Platoon of Zentopia who take orders from the Archbishop.
"Ice Dragon's Roar!" Crystal blows a twister of ice between Natsu and Sugarboy from above. Right as Gray also arrives, which he then notices Sugarboy and Crystal tells him he's the Earthland version then suddenly a greenish blue signal flare shined in the sky showing that what the group was after has been claimed.
After that everyone was spared and they all return to the guild and Gildarts explains to them about who they are and talks about a Holy War. And also the part Lucy had been holding onto was a piece for a clock apparently. "A series of church attacks just before the Zentopia Founding Festival. A Mysterious Clock Hand inscribed with an ominous phrase which is also sought by the Legion Platoon. And now there's talk of a Holy War." Makarov lists what they learned from Gildarts and how Lucy lost the Clock hand.
"Well I'll tell you this much. Those guys made a big mistake when they chose to mess with a member of Fairy Tail! This thing is just getting started, that's for sure!" Natsu claimed, and Happy nodded in agreement. "Was anybody able to follow them and figure out where they were going?" Gray asks. "Well according to Warren, every single search team lost sight of them. But I agree with Natsu, it's not over. Not by far." Erza agrees on what Natsu said. "Let's hunt 'em down and teach them a lesson they'll never forget!" Natsu claims, smacking his fist into the palm of his hand.
Everyone tries figuring out the reasons behind why these events happen and the mysterious phrase on the clock hand. 'Time ticks forward, on toward inevitable chaos.' It seemed like a mystery at the moment, but it could mean that some sort of danger is coming. Hopefully the Guild's faith together will perhaps stop this from ever coming to fortune.
So as of now the group consisting of Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Crystal, Frost, Wendy, Carla, and Sakore gather at Lucy's old house to find any clues about the Clock pieces or some similar inscriptions. Michelle and Lucy found a book labeled 'To My Daughter' which is something left by Lucy's father to find but there was nothing written so Lucy had her celestial spirit to take a look about it and think the letters may be a clue. Everyone gathered and Natsu had sort of messed it up until they were able to spell 'Myth' among the letters. They arranged the letters for them to make 'Duo Great Myth' which Lucy realized there were two books. Lucy showed one labeled 'Key of the Starry heavens'. The picture on the front is of what looks to be a young girl with a key floating above under the night sky. "Maybe my dad left some kind of message for me inside this book." Lucy assumed while Frost and Wendy noticed Carla's expression.
"Did Carla just experience a vision? She hardly tells any of us what she sees until she understands what it means." Frost thought to himself sitting on Crystal's head. "Would you be so kind as to hand over the book?" A voice spoke up which surprised everyone. They look towards the door as it gets broken open. "What's going on?!" Natsu questioned. "The Door handle just blew up!" Gray exclaimed as they. "What a rudimentary understanding. What happened was the handle expanded to twice its size which in turn broke down the door." The voice explained as the group notices a figure from the smoke, though it wasn't a person rather it is an Exceed. Everyone was surprised seeing him, they didn't recognise seeing him before in Edolas. Then they realized this one might be one of 100 that was sent to Earthland hatching out of eggs. "Tell us who you are!" Natsu demanded.
"The brains of the Legion Platoon. The name's Samuel." He answered. "I consider this an amazing feat really quite spectacularly played, I mean I was certain that you would do exactly as I predicted by coming here and finding a clue. So of course you found one. I amaze myself." The group readies themselves to fight. Gray unleashes his Lance attack, Erza attacking equipped with her Lightning Empress Armor, Natsu unleashing a Roar, and Crystal doing Rosen Krone. However someone arrived and took the attacks but it rebounds destroying parts of the house. Lucy yelled at them for their destructiveness and mentioned she was gonna buy the house again. "What just happened?! It looked like someone just came in suddenly and redirected all those attacks!" Sakore exclaimed as there was another figure appearing from the smoke. "Someone? I'm the spearhead of the Legion Platoon! My name is Dan Straight! So check me out! You guys saw what I did with my shield, right? It's called ricochet. Get it? This baby takes any attack you can throw at it and sends it right back at ya!" He explains to the group.
"A shield able to rebound attacks? We are in trouble against something like that." Crystal grumbled seeing how their element attacks would do nothing against it. Samuel tells Dan that the book Lucy is holding is what they need and when Dan saw her he instantly was bewildered by her looks and started complimenting her. Everyone was dumbfounded seeing what was happening. "What just happened?" Crystal questioned. "I think when he saw Lucy he instantly felt like in love at first sight. Ahem well she does have charm, but there is only one girl I would look to." Sakore looks away while Crystal looks at him confused. Erza attacks Dan who dodges getting them away as she tells the two girls to escape while everyone else helps them get away. However when they tried escaping when Samual was able to predict their movements being a step ahead, Dan had shrunk Natsu with his Lance which can make anything he hits with it big or small. The group even tried to confuse them with getting the book, however Samuel knew where it was easily and read through it with magic in an instant. Samuel leaves the book since he was able to memorize what it had and he takes flight carrying Dan away.
Sure their efforts of finding the book were worth it, but since the Exceed read through it the Legion Platoon will most likely find what is needed. So they bring the book back to the Guild as Lucy reads through it carefully and explains how the girl in the story went looking for six keys to gain happiness but it instead brought sorrow for her and those around her. And one key was the clock hand Michelle brought which took a journey to the guild. Over the time when Lucy read the story as a young child she started to realize some places looked real in the picture book. Makarov does assume that the upcoming chaos must be stopped so he agrees that they should look for the other pieces before the Legion finds them. Erza decides to assign teams to seek the pieces, Shadowgear team along with Pantherlily are one group searching for their Iron guy Gajeel. Gray and Juvia as a team though they did meet up with Lyon suddenly. Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Michelle, Crystal, Frost, Sakore, and Romeo take a boat. There is also a team of Erza, Wendy, Carla, and Cana. The Strauss siblings are also teamed up.
Meanwhile with the group on the boat they are encountered by archeologists and somehow know that Fairy Tail is seeking the pieces like in Lucy's storybook. Which seemed suspicious how different kinds of people know. They try telling them to not look for them but Lucy retorted that her Father left this task as his final wish. They were moved by her words as Natsu was flown overboard then the four guys dived grabbing Natsu and tossing him back who grew back to normal thanks to them.
After the long boat ride the group ends up in a desert and finding some floating ruins and noticing the center has a keyhole. "Allow me." Crystal uses her magic and forms a key made of Ice. "I guess having an Ice wizard is really helpful!" Lucy comments as Crystal inserts the key and twists it causing the ruins to shine and suddenly they fall into some pit and they find a door with no key. Lucy suggested trying phrases hoping it'll open though most of it was no luck. "Aren't you gonna help out Romeo?" Natsu asked him, who felt unsure about this and tried one. "Hey mister door, would you please open up for me and my friends?" He said and it actually opened. "That actually worked?!" Crystal asked in disbelief. They walk in and find a pedestal with a stone emblem of Zentopia. Lucy tried turning it but it didn't work as pillars from the walls start closing in on them, and then suddenly Virgo showed up in a bikini (for some reason) and Lucy asked her to dig a hole to escape the trap and they ran away from a large boulder but they got trapped by another from the other direction. Natsu, Romeo, Crystal, and Sakore were able to jump high while Happy and Frost carried Lucy and Michelle. However they were falling and the two Exceeds got hit in the heads by rocks. "Looks like It's my turn to help out! Earth Platforms!" Sakore casts magic pulling out flat platforms from the rocky pillars for all of them to land on. "Nice work on your quick thinking!" Lucy complimented him. "Well I of course had to do something for all of us instead of falling to certain death!"
They carefully go down to what looks to be a city then both Dragon Slayers smelled something and looked up seeing a certain pair, specifically Dan and Coco. "Great, of course it wasn't gonna be easy." Crystal groaned seeing the pair. "How'd you even find out about this place?!" Natsu demanded. "Thanks to the Key of Starry Heavens! Samuel told me from memory!" Dan answered.
Natsu tries to attack him though using his shield it makes it tricky though with his attacks rebounding it lands in places destroying parts of the underground city. Also Dan got love struck seeing Lucy again, and he accidentally hit her making her tiny which he apologized but he realized he could keep her close to him by hanging her on part of his armor. Romeo then uses a 'Special' type of fire into Dan's armor that makes a horrible smell. "Oh god my nostrils are burning from this horrible smell!" Crystal exclaimed, plugging her nose as did everyone. While this happened the band that was holding Lucy snapped and Happy caught her while Dan tried using his lance but it also hit both of them making Lucy normal size while Happy went giant. "Now this is one of the craziest things I've ever seen!" Frost shouted seeing how big Happy is. So Dan finally hits him again to make him normal again Natsu decides to hold Dan off as the others run away from Coco though Crystal and Sakore launch attacks to try diverting her. Lucy tries to figure out where the piece would be until they stopped and fallen into a pit as did Coco who used up her magic power. Lucy tried to have a hand out while Coco neglected the offer so Lucy grabbed her arm when part of the small platform she was on broke and both tumbled downward. Crystal and Sakore were able to get Michelle and Romeo out from falling like the two girls did. "Sakore, can you use your Earth Magic to get them out?" Crystal asks him. "Sadly no, with it all dark down there plus my range of casting my magic would depend how far it is." He answered. "You guys find the clock piece!" Lucy echoed to them.
"Well she does have her Celestial Spirits, so I'm sure Lucy and Coco will be alright when they find a way out of there." Frost mentions as they walk around looking for the piece for some time then part of a floor gives away and they see Lucy alright although the rubble landed on Coco knocking her out cold. Crystal and Sakore jumped down as Crystal picked up Lucy since she wasn't a very skilled leaper. Sakore uses his Earth Element magic to raise the boulders and carefully moves them away as Crystal leapt down again to pick Coco up and back to the others, once done Sakore leapt up as they noticed a bruise on Coco's ankle. Using her Ice Dragon Healing, Crystal heals the wound though still leaving her unconscious as Lucy wraps a bit of cloth on her. "She might be out cold. Even if we are enemies, Fairy Tail cares about the lives of others and helps out when needed." Crystal quotes with a slight smile as they leave Coco to rest.
The group enters a building seeing the crest of Zentopia on the wall. "Is this the right one?" Sakore asked the Celestial Wizard. "Yeah I think so. There's a line in the Key of the Starry Heavens. 'Long and Silent have the key rested embraced by the sound of reverent Prayer'." She quotes looking at the book pages. "Well based on what it means, it has to connect to a church." Crystal assumed. "Yaah, but there aren't a lot of places to hide stuff here." Romeo mentioned looking around the place. "We'll get an Exceed's eye view and see if we can spot anything!" Happy exclaimed, meaning him and Frost as they used their wings and looked around. As they were, Natsu crashed down into the building through the roof, which Dan had followed and found the group. Natsu tried punching him but Dan countered with a touch from his Lance making Natsu small again. It was a difficult situation since if they were to launch attacks at him he could rebound them, so if any attacks they throw might damage the building collapsing on them. So Happy suggested that Lucy would bait Dan away, giving Happy a chance to have Natsu land on the lance and return to normal. "When it comes to strength, you may have an advantage on me 1 on 1. But when we all work together, even the strongest Wizards can't hold a candle to us! Romeo!" Natsu claims, as he lights his fist with flames and Romeo tosses Purple Flare to mix with Natsu's Flames. "Crystal!" Sakore uses his magic casting Ice as she encases her left fist in ice and Sakore's power mixes with hers.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist/Ice Dragon's Crystal Fist!" The Two Dragon Slayers punch Dan together launching him into the wall signaling his defeat against them! "This is Bonds of the Fairy Tail Wizards!" Crystal exclaimed in excitement as she and Natsu high fived together with wide grins. "I liked him much better when he's passed out." Lucy says, when suddenly the crest on the wall shines and something big appears. "Is that what we are looking for?!" Sakore asked, surprised seeing the size of it. "Yeah! It's the Clock piece!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly that they found it.
Dan awoke and admitted defeat and he started explaining his life story and they questioned everything. After that Dan went chasing Lucy again, when suddenly. "How disappointing I expected you with the Clock Piece." The voice of Byro spoke as the building broke revealing said man with his Octopus partner Kanaloa. That was when the Octopus shoots ink out of its mouth and it dissolves the floor which is like acid. "Careful where that Ink shoots! It'll melt you if we touch it!" Sakore exclaimed seeing the damage it had done. Natsu tried punching the big Octo only to get smacked by it. Then tried a Roar attack, in which some of the rubble almost crushed Dan and Coco if it weren't for Natsu and Lucy who got them out of the way. "Hey you should watch were you having that thing firing! You almost hit your comrades!" Crystal yelled at Byro who turned to her. "I realize that. But as proud members of the Legion Platoon. They are prepared to sacrifice their very lives to win this Holy War." He proclaims to them. "Holy war my ass! You have no right to speak for her! She isn't your slave! She doesn't belong to you or Zentopia or anyone else! She can make her own decisions!" Lucy argued. "You are in no position to chastise my actions. You fail to grasp the severity of the situation. There are many more lives that are at stake in this war than you realize."
The group continues their battle as Natsu is squished under one of the Octopus' arms, Lucy summoned Aquarius from a little puddle as per state she can only be summoned where there is water. Using her water abilities she prevents the octopus from shooting ink at him "Nice save Lucy! And good work Aquarius!" Crystal complements the two. "Ice Dragon's Crystal Blades!" She sliced the tentacle arm as Romeo uses his Purple Flare to yank Natsu away, making him land on a pillar. Natsu had Romeo use a way to open its mouth wide but he gets caught before Natsu can blast fire into it. The two were gonna leave after Natsu started getting motion sickness from being held by the octopus.
"Hold it right there! My father left that Clock hand to me which makes it mine! It's the only thing left to remember him by! You don't have any right to take it!" Lucy declared angrily. "What's so important about these clock pieces that you would go to such lengths to steal them?" Michelle asked. "We are not stealing them. We are taking them into our care." Byro answered. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy questioned not getting what he was saying. "We're gathering these pieces because they belong to the Infinity Clock. The Archbishop of Zentopia has demanded that we retrieve them. We're simply following his orders." The others wondered what this 'Infinity Clock' is, that is until Byro tells them that once they gather together the world would end. "Time Ticks Forward on toward inevitable Chaos. That's what the phrase means, makes sense now." Crystal quoted now understanding the meaning of the phrase. "Seems like everything has gotten from bad to worse!" Frost says now that everyone understands the meaning. "I cannot give this back to you. A megar wizard guild doesn't have the will to protect the world from destruction." Byro claims.
"Sounds like crap. If you say that once gathering the pieces starts the chaos, then it would be best to not even gather them in the first place." Sakore mentions which Byro looked a bit surprised. "Yeah you don't know what to do with it anymore than we do! Who says that you guys won't make a dangerous mistake?!" Lucy exclaimed which Byro wasn't sure if what they say may be true. "I can assure you our teachings are not mistaken!" He says with justifying claims, a bit offended by their accusations. "How dare you question the Archbishop! He's infallible!"
"That's not true! Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes. That's why we can't find world peace. I thought everyone knew that." Michelle says which is true at times. "I don't buy it! You're trying to play the hero, but I can tell you're up to something!" Natsu claims to the old man. "You can't fool me man! Someone's a jerk either you or that Archbishop you keep talking about! He might think he's calling the shots right now!" Byro got annoyed with his talking so he had his Octopus companion shake him to shut him up. "I've thoroughly explained the purpose of this holy war. Yet you still insist on imposing us." He said, displeased with the group getting in the way.
"Honestly, I don't know if I believe all that stuff you said about the end of the world. I just care about keeping my dad's memento safe! So that's why we're taking the hand and the other Clock Pieces! We're gonna do our best to gather them all!" Lucy declared. "Enough of your sinful drivel." Byro had his companion attack them until. "Ice Dragon's Wing Attack!" Crystal launches her attack, cutting two of the tentacle arms one of which landed on Lucy and the other freeing Natsu. "Sorry Lucy! But let's do this!" Lucy uses her Celestial Whip, Romeo using his Purple Flare wrapping around the Octopus. "Shadow Whip!" Sakore casts black straps in a dark purple aura grabbing all the remaining tentacles and holding them down causing Byro to leap away surprised at the sudden actions. "Now Natsu!/This is your chance!/Finish it!" Romeo, Lucy, and Sakore shouted as Happy carried him diving going full speed. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He lands the hit on the Octopus causing the trio to lose their grip and knocking it out.
Natsu is face to face with Byro ready to fight him when the Clock piece in his hand under the wrapping starts glowing. Not only that the Clock piece that was still stationary was also glowing as well as the other Pieces held by members of Fairy Tail. Natsu tried using attacks but Byro only neutralizes it even when Natsu having Happy carry him Byro neutralized Happy's magic causing the two to fall. "He can cancel any type of magic from a far distance. Even if he is old, he has skill in hand to hand combat." Crystal notices seeing how trained Byro is. "Then I guess I'll give it a try." Sakore said, stepping forward, in which Byro turned to him. "Since you neutralize magic I guess I'm gonna have to fight without it." Sakore leaps above for a diving strike which Byro moved and strikes him in the back with a kick. Sakore lands on his feet, annoyed he is unable to use any attacks otherwise he's left vulnerable. "Wind skill!" He slams his hand on the ground to form a dust cloud. "Trying to conceal yourself? What nonsense." Byro says as Sakore jumps at him which Byro catches his fist and knees him in the gut. "Tch. You and your team are prepared to sacrifice your lives for your mission huh? What bunch of bullcrap! Life ain't something you toss aside like garbage! You should protect it!" Sakore tells him, gripping his fists. "We fight for the lives of those who we call friends! The bonds of what we share are what drive us and push us to be better! Don't you know that friends aren't things or tools?! You can't just them however you please! They are more important than that!" Sakore launches to try to hit Byro but still no effort even Natsu joined to try only to have the same result.
"The reason I joined Fairy Tail wasn't just because of being strong. I joined because I was inspired. 7 years ago I tried protecting my sister from dangerous monsters, and at that moment we were saved by a Wizard. When I asked her name she said Crystal, and at that point I wanted to meet her again! Now that I have, I wanna grow the bonds with her and everyone of Fairy Tail!" Sakore explained when Crystal finally realized why he looked familiar.
"Wait! What he said is coming back to me. I remembered going to a town for a job after we returned from Edolas. A woman was looking for her children as she was concerned where they disappeared to. Then a young boy who came out of the forest said his siblings had encountered a Vulcan which are monkey like beasts. After hearing that I was able to get a whiff using my Dragon senses to find a boy and girl, to which the boy tried beating it with different kinds of element magic but it was futile until I knocked that beast down. It had gotten back up and I froze it in place and brought the two kids back to their mother. She thanked me for saving them, and as I was living the boy who protected his sister asked for my name, but I had forgotten to ask his name." Crystal started to remember such events while both Sakore and Natsu were trying to one up Byro. Natsu did use the flames on the candles to regenerate his strength. Still it was not enough since Byro is skilled and can't be beaten.
"That's enough stop now! You call this righteous? I don't see any of that!" Frost called out walking forward a bit. "This is exactly what we all saw in Edolus. Those in power make everyone else suffer and give up their freedom in the name of some fake righteous. Any path that hurts people will never lead to the greater good! In fact it's nothing but a dead end. If you are willing to follow that path then what does it say about you?!" He questioned when Coco looked shocked. "All living things are free to choose! It's the same for Guild members such as us! We decided to use our magic to help those in need. The people call for us in need and we help out so that they can live a good life! That is how we got to where we are, that's how a Guild works! Fairy Tail will not lose to guys like you because your fake righteousness isn't helping anyone!"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Byro looked bewildered at what Frost declared. "You dare to ridicule the followers. No. All of Zentopia to that extent?!" He demands angrily. "You bet I am! Cause you all should be ashamed!"
"I'm amazed, Frost. You know how to tell it straight to him." Crystal complimented. "Exactly, Fairy Tail members listen to what's in our hearts!" Sakore says getting help from Crystal. "Our guild is about helping anybody who needs it!" Romeo declares. "Enough of this nonsense!" Byro raises his staff as it glows. "Time for your divine punishment!" As he prepares a spell with a strong force coming from it while Happy, Frost, and Romeo charge at him.
"Lord Byro! Are you mad?!" Dan asked in shock and horror. "You can't use Divine Arrow on people! You'll kill them!" He casts and launches it however the attack was moved causing it to miss. This was caused by Coco hitting his staff. She comes to reason that their actions of attacking innocent people are wrong and that they should help those who can't defend themselves. But Byro was angered and tries to kill her but Erza blocks the attack, and the group looks around seeing everyone else including Gajeel. When suddenly all 6 Pieces glowed very brightly and then floated into the air which all combined together creating the Infinity Clock and it started ringing.
Then suddenly Natsu and Crystal got a whiff of some familiar smells. "Guys, I think we got extra visitors!" Crystal mentioned. "She's right. Keep your guards up!" They looked to a direction seeing a group of familiar faces, 5 of which were familiar while the last was mysterious. Those being Midnight, Cobra, Angel, and Racer from the Oración Seis, there is also Erigor from the Eisenwald Dark Guild which was the first group Crystal encountered when joining Fairy Tail. The last was not known or seen by anyone before.
"No way." Natsu says seeing the unexpecting group. "It's the Oración Seis!" Lucy says bewildered to see them. "Never thought we'd see these guys again." Crystal exclaimed though realizing with time going by they would have escaped from prison while during the 7 year stasis. "And it looks like they have new members as well." Erza notices seeing the two not originally from the Dark Guild. The new character with a bear-like mask pulls a level showing the emblem of the Dark Guild. "You've met them before, but things have changed! May I present to you the Neo Oración Seis!" He introduces the group. "Did he say Neo Oración Seis?!" The crew who faced the Dark Guild before asks surprised.
"You seem surprised. A great deal has changed since we last met." Midnight says seeing their expressions. "I know you! You're Midnight!" Natsu claims. "I no longer go by that name. From now on I prefer you to call me Brain the Second!" He replied. "Forget that! Tell us why you are here! You wouldn't be here for no reason!" Crystal demanded. "I have but one single wish. To make my Father's dream a reality! And that is to destroy all which has formed in this world." He answered. "I can't believe you're still spouting the same nonsense." Erza exclaimed while he just smirked. Suddenly the emblem of the Dark Guild forms on the Infinity Clock as Natsu, Byro, and Dan charge at the group. Though Midnight attacks with his newly gained power similar to what his father had and Dan tried reflecting it but it was surprisingly ineffective, even when Byron tried facing him he gets blasted like it was nothing. Everyone was surprised by this, they tell the group that whatever has their insignia becomes their property. Originally they couldn't touch the pieces so they had all of them gather them until the moment for them to take it came by. Natsu tries a roar attack then the guy with the scythe and clock blocks using wind magic which he seemed familiar until the guy with the slot machine mentions the guy used to be from the Dark Guild Eisenwald, Erigor. "That's Erigor?!" Crystal asks in shock seeing how much he changed but he says he goes by 'Grim Reaper'.
Everyone tries facing the new Dark Guild, with Racer his speed was unreal hitting everyone. Originally his magic was slowing everyone but it didn't feel like it this time. Cobra was able to use the voice of his opponents and make a soundwave against them. Erigor had his wind magic enhanced which made it tough to deal with. And Angel uses what is called angel magic to summon something and cause an attack on the whole group. At that moment Sakore casts his Earth magic to raise a wall to cover from the attack which knocked some of the Fairy Tail guild members. "It's been 7 years. Will you be able to pursue the hidden darkness of your memories Crystal? Perhaps it is unwise to go against you while there is the rekindled Oración Seis and as well as the Legion of Zentopia." A voice in the darkness spoke witnessing the scene and then took off their mask revealing the piercing yellow eyes. "But sooner or later, the time for our final clash will come. You had better get some good training until then. My little sister."
Over time the Fairy Tail members are rescued and brought to the Blue Pegasus Guild Hall using their Ship. Natsu was the last to awaken and Lucy went to find Michelle. "Crystal, is the Master of Blue Pegasus always like this?" Sakore asks, a bit creeped out seeing as this is his first time meeting Master Bob. She only chuckled a bit at his expression seeing him. "You'll get used to it someday." After a bit Lucy came back as she wanted to reread the book as if she figured something out. She reads the Key of the Starry Heavens book now finally realizing something. "I'm sorry guys, but I got it wrong." She mentions while the others were confused. "Lucy, what are you talking about?" Erza asks her. "I understand now. It makes sense. We weren't supposed to gather the Clock Pieces!" She answered. "What do you mean by that?" Crystal asks her. "I was wrong. I reread the book and finally figured out its message. It was trying to warn us not to assemble the Infinity Clock. It seemed so obvious. I don't know how in the heck I missed it before." She says. "Perhaps we didn't think clearly before. But now since we made this happen, we helped the Oración Seis with this." Sakore assumed seeing how things have now turned for them. Lucy felt upset, but Natsu argued that her dad should have given out the answer simply but had to make things complicated which did cheer her up a bit.
The gang is then returned back to their Guild Hall thanks to the Blue Pegasus guild giving them a lift back quickly. Once returning they explain to everyone how they encountered the Oración Seis and they took the clock themselves for their own use. They needed more assistance, though Gildarts is with another member checking out on something. That is when the Thunder Legion trio had returned, they explained the situation happening and Fried talked about how he overheard some Soldiers mentioning two guys one with a big cloak and the other with incredible speed. Those descriptions would lead to Erigor and Racer. He also mentions the increase in attacks on churches over the days.
Then Kinana who is a girl that was found by Makarov and few of the others when she was apparently cursed as a snake. She walked down into the hall grabbing a fork looking like she was in some sort of trance. She started muttering while chipping on the wall making some kind of message. After a while she stopped and then passed out suddenly. The writing was exactly similar to what is on the Clock Hand and it mentions Will Neville who is the Author of Key of the Starry Heavens.
"Will Neville was once a great wizard who made contracts with many Celestial Spirits and was remarkably skilled in using them." Levy translates. "Celestial Spirits?" Frost questioned. "So not only was he an Author, but he was also a Celestial Wizard. That's quite interesting." Sakore assumed. "And it goes on to say 'In life Will Neville had numerous followers. However after he fell into his eternal slumber his pupils scattered in all directions to places unknown." Fried continued with the writing. That was when Lucy brought out a biography looking for the Author's name and read that Will Neville was an Author and a cardinal of Zentopia! She continues to say he was a dedicated member as well as a researcher of Zentopia's history until he left and went missing for quite some time. There is no mention as to why he left, it then explains how he reemerged as Will Neville a writer among children's literature. However there was nothing about being a Celestial Wizard or anything about having followers. "This is freaking me out, how in the heck did Kinana even know how to write that? And where did this message even come from?" Crystal questioned while Sakore felt a burning pain in his eye. "Hey are you alright?" He looks at her with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's nothing to worry about." He looks away while keeping his left eye closed which was burning in slight pain. He had a worried expression while Crystal looked at him confused. Cana then wakes up who had strangely been tired for a long while, Crystal assumed the journey before could have been what tired her out. She pulls out a deck of cards as she could do her fortune telling to show where the Oración Seis may strike next.
They set a map up as she focuses and tosses the cards onto the map landing on 6 different locations leaving 6 teams to go at specific locations. One team paired with Gray and Fried, next was Erza and Evergreen along with Max. "What? That's the weirdest set up there." Crystal thought to herself. The next team is the ex Phantom Lord members Gajeel and Juvia, the fourth team is Wendy and Bickslow. "Again? Another weird combo to go with? Wouldn't Wendy be good with Carla, why is this all jumbled up?" Another team was all four of the Exceeds together. The last team is Natsu, Lucy, Michelle, Elfman, along with Crystal and Sakore. "I'm so out of it! This has to be the most jumbled up Teams I've seen! Shouldn't the Exceeds go with their Dragon Slayer partners? I've never been much without Frost at times. Why do I feel this is completely off key with what Cana is foreseeing?" Crystal continued to question her thoughts, however Sakore carefully looked at Michelle giving out a suspicious look to her for some reason.
The groups head to their respective locations as the group of 6 encounter Byro the Leader of the Legion Platoon, and the newcomer who goes by Jackpot of the Oración Seis. "So we got Byro and that guy with the Oración Seis. Let's take the weird guy first!" But before Crystal could assist Natsu and Elfman, Sakore grabs her by the shoulder. "I'd advise we just watch what happens." He says which confused Crystal. He looks towards Byro who is standing on a higher part of the field who watches the fight. "I don't think he will be fighting. Let's watch out for everything and see if we can devise a proper plan." He suggests, in which Crystal realized what he meant. Observe your opponent and then surprise attack. She decided to play along with his idea, however Sakore did that for a completely different reason. The fight doesn't go well since Jackpot was able to summon a way to counter the group's attacks and only rebound at each other. "Yikes. Now I'm going back to me questioning Cana and her selection of teams. She said that these were on point, but it makes me think that somehow it has gotten all jumbled up."
The struggle continued until a group of soldiers who went to the church mentioned that the Oración Seis aren't going for the churches but rather Celestial Wizards under the guidance of Will Neville. That was when Sakore grabbed Crystal and quietly he used his Earth magic to go underground which surprised her but made a space to make it like the ground wasn't messed with. "Sakore? What are you." but before Crystal could say anything. "Be quiet. We need to get to Elfman since he has the communication card Cana gave him." He says as he slowly uses his magic while having his left eye closed for some reason. He makes a small hole above. "Can you get Elfman's scent from the rain?" He asks her and she uses her scent to see where Elfman is as he is currently unconscious. She points to where he is and once they were right where he is, Sakore uses his magic to bring him into the underground hole.
Up above Natsu was having tricky times trying to hit Jackpot until Byro was able to neutralize his magic allowing Natsu to land a hit and destroy the machine.
"Sakore can you please tell me why we aren't up assisting them." Crystal questioned as Elfman started to wake. "We've been set up." He said as the two looked shocked. "Remember when Cana started getting tired all of a sudden? When she predicted the teams each of them were off balance. None complimented each other, I would suggest why the Exceeds without their Dragon Slayer partners? And something else that bugged me." Then suddenly the ground shakes, Sakore makes a larger hole so they could see what was happening as the skies darken and some sort of vehicle launches chains down onto the lands. "Oh no, could the Infinity Clock have been activated?!" Crystal questioned seeing the current events as from a distance they see something familiar come out from Jackpot. "That's that talking staff the Original Brain held 7 years ago." She mentions and suddenly Michelle glows a red color and her appearance changes. Crystal and Elfman were bewildered at what they witnessed.
"You see? I truly am a member of the Neo Oración Seis. The Mistress of Deception, they call me Imitatia." She says who wore a black rose designed outfit. "She's with the Oración Seis?!" Crystal was surprised to see such events happen until Sakore pulled her down. "So it was true. She lied to all of us." Sakore says as Elfman holds the card since they were a far distance away. "We have to get back to base now." Unknown as how Sakore was right on what he thought they agreed that they needed to get away from here.
Once the trio returned to Fairy Tail they explained the current events that happened for them. Explaining how Michelle was disguised, being the last member of the Oración Seis known as Imitatia. Plus they took both Natsu and Lucy away, unsure of what they needed Lucy for but they knew it meant trouble. Then the 4 archeologist guys from before arrived wanting to speak to Lucy, but since she was taken they had no choice but to explain the reason they arrived.
"Can you explain it to us? We desperately need to know everything." Crystal suggested. "Actually with the situation unfolding as we speak there's no reason to keep it a secret!" The tallest guy understands that he has to tell them anyway. "You see, I suppose it is safe to assume you know the name Will Neville? You see I'm actually his great Grandson. My name's Jean-Luc Neville." This surprised everyone unexpectedly to see a relative of said man. "And what's more I knew Lucy's father as well. Jude Heartfillia and I were quite good friends and all."
"You know her dad? How does he fit into all of this?" Sakore asks the descendant. "It's a long story. But let me begin by stating, "It's my duty to keep watch over the Infinity Clock for as long as I live." He mentions. "If that's true are you a Celestial Wizard?" Makarov asks Jean. "No sir. I'm not, but as a Neville I'm immensely familiar with the history of the Clock. Actually my life long goal was to stave off the chaos it can bring and to sound the alarm should the threat become reality. I remember when this started it was several months ago." He starts to explain how he found the Clock Hand one day. "The Hand of the Infinity Clock was discovered on a dig at an excavation site. Apparently it was buried in the ruins to contain its true magic power. By the time our archeological society received word that it had been unearthed it had already been taken off the premises. The hand eventually ended in Jude Heartfillia's possession. He was a collector of such things you see. Thankfully it wasn't difficult to detect because of its immense magic power. We were quite fortunate because in the wrong hands it could be extremely dangerous. I contacted Jude Immediately in the hopes of preventing any impending chaos from actually happening. To contain the power emanating from the hand I carefully wrapped it up in a magical cloth. At that point Jude and I made an agreement. He would take steps to ensure its safety and move it to another location entirely." He finishes the story with how the Clock Hand was in Jude's hands and then being brought to Lucy. "So that's why it ended up being sent here to Lucy. It's starting to make sense now." Makarov says finally putting the pieces together from this mystery. "Can you please tell us what makes the Infinity Clock so dangerous?" Erza asks Jean.
"The Clock has the power to bring about something quite horrific, a Grand spell that is known by the name Real Nightmare." He answered. "And what happens once that spell is cast?" Makarov asks, a bit concerned about what would happen if the spell is used. "It can dramatically alter humans' perception of time, you see. That being the case, I suppose you could say that it actually has control over time itself." He continued. "It is a rather difficult concept to explain, because it doesn't actually manipulate time." One of his partners explained. "But it does in fact greatly alter our perception of time." Another partner mentions. However some of the guild didn't quite understand. "This control over time is what the inscription refers to as the inevitable Chaos."
"And you're saying this is gonna bring about the end of the world? It doesn't make any sense to me." Gray mentions not fully understanding what it does. "Just think about it for a moment. 'What time is it now? What is it that you are actually doing right now? Who are you having this conversation with now?' Imagine what would happen if all concepts of what means. You would lose your understanding of all time related concepts. A person's sense of self is derived from their memories and past experiences, if they were suddenly thrown in disarray." Jean explained carefully. "Then we would lose our very identities." Erza finished now understanding the horror of what would happen. "It's much more dangerous than you would begin to imagine." Crystal said, a bit frightened, now understanding what kind of power this is. "The Infinity Clock is hovering right above Zentopia's Grand Cathedral. From what I understand their doctrine is heavily intertwined with it." Makarov mentioned. "According to Legend Zentopia itself was founded by a group of survivors of the Clock's past Chaos. They sealed away all of its pieces and forbid any discussion of its existence. To this very day it has remained a well hidden secret known only to the churches. Throughout History, Evildoers have sought to harness its power." Jean finishes as he turns to everyone in the hall. "Therefore I have a formal request. A Job that I hope the Fairy Tail Guild will take on! Please stop this from happening! Stop the Infinity Clock!"
"Whether you would have asked or not, we were planning to do this anyway." Sakore mentions and everyone else agrees. "Alright sir. We'll gladly take the job! I promise we'll stop the Clock or die trying." Macao tells him. Jean-Luc then explains how the Celestial Wizards and their links, and when that happens they are put into a 100 year stasis. After explaining Jean brings them out as he wanted to give Erza a special weapon against the Infinity Clock's effects which looks to be a large hammer.
After some time the Christina of Blue Pegasus arrived allowing a few members of Fairy Tail a lift straight toward their destination. Piloting the ship is Ichiya, and the people in Fairy Tail are Gray, Erza, Crystal, Wendy, Elfman, Mira, Warren, Gajeel, Sakore, and the 4 Exceeds. They get attacked by Racer, which Mirajane and Elfman went out to face him, but Mirajane tackles him off the ship to face him alone. As they get closer they see some of the Council try firing a cannon at one of the chains connected to the Infinity Clock but it turns around back at them blowing up on them. Also the gang is affected by the Clock's power causing them to change their appearances. "Whoa this feels weird." Sakore says as he looks at himself seeing how small he looks. "You're telling me, this is weirder than I could imagine." Crystal says which Sakore looks to her seeing her look more grown up. "Holy moly!" Sakore shouted, seeing her divine beauty in his eyes. Out of everyone, Erza was the only one unaffected. She then realized that she must be normal because of the weapon given to her. She hits everyone hoping it would work. "You could have let us touch the hammer instead of hitting us!" Crystal shouted at her as the others returned back to the way they were, which they sigh in relief.
Zentopia tries to stop the group firing at them, then Byro has his Octopus companion to destroy the ship so Ichiya uses chains to hold the beast as everyone else jumps off. They climb up to get on ground level when Warren heard Gildarts say that the Archbishop is being controlled by Lapointe the Cardinal of Zentopia and the true mastermind behind everything which Byro overheard and looked angered so he went there quickly neutralizing Lapointe's magic and Gildarts hits him sending him flying through the roof and knocking him out. Everyone gathers in the Archbishop's quarters finding Gildarts, Laki, Natsu, and Coco face to face with Byro. Crystal looks to Lapointe as he mentions as he plans to revert everything back to what it used to be. He also mentions the only way to stop everything is to kill Lucy, and since he knows they would never do such a thing all would go according to as he plans, however he starts vanishing as he was nothing but an illusion and puppet. They see a wrapped bundle of hair fall which both Natsu and Crystal smelled and recognize it belonging to Zero the Leader of the Oración Seis.
Now that he is gone Byro now plans to end Lucy's life, Natsu tries to punch him but he gets tossed like nothing. Gildarts steps up, deciding it is now time for him to finish what he started long ago so he tells everyone he will deal with him while everyone searches for Lucy. However Samuel overheard everything and takes a plan of action, Erza tells Warren to stay with Wendy, Laki, and the Exceeds while everyone else follows her as Coco leads the group on how to get into the newly renamed Infinity Castle. Warren then gives them the message of a theory by Happy where if they defeat the Neo Oración Seis they will stop the Infinity Clock permanently. "Of course! They branded it with their sign, if all of them are taken out, we can save Lucy!" Crystal says understanding the idea. "With this idea let's not hold anything back and take each of them down! We've got a time limit and if it's gone we lose! Let's show how Fairy Tail doesn't give up!" Sakore shouted. However they stopped where they encountered Cobra. He demands to face Erza which she obliges while everyone continues forward though they encounter Angel which Gray decided to fight her. They encounter Brain the Second which Gajeel takes to face him as everyone continues forward. They reach a big area where they see Lucy getting absorbed into a Lacrima similar to Erza back in the Tower of Heaven. However she is guarded by Michelle or Imitatia of the Neo Oración Seis.
She wasn't gonna allow them to get near Lucy but the Fairy Tail group would never back down. "Coco! Focus on finding a way to get Lucy free, the 4 of us will face her." Crystal tells the plan and they agree, ready to take action. Natsu tried a roar which she dodged. Elfman tried a punch but got kicked easily. Crystal uses her Wing Attack and Sakore unleashes Lightning but Imitatia dodges them without flinching. She does get hit by Natsu, but she claims that she won't even feel pain, as well as not being phased with human emotions either. "If they're so ridiculous. Then explain the look in your eye!" Sakore shouted. "What look?" She questioned what he was getting at. "Don't play dumb! People who fight for something they believe in. Even those with darkened Hearts have some kind of brightness in their eyes. It's different then that spaced out look you've got now." He explains. "How would you know?" She questioned again. She takes her stance with her shield and sword. "You're trying to confuse me. But my heart is unwavering. I'm doing this for my Big Sister!"
"That goes for all of us!" Crystal shouts as she and Natsu are surrounded in their element. "Happy had mentioned a theory. And if it's right then we must defeat you to save Lucy! So you're going down you hear!" The four tried to land hits but it wasn't working. As time counted down Lucy then spoke like she is a machine saying one of the seals has been broken meaning 3 of the Neo Oración Seis members are currently defeated which leaves half of them left. "Just hang on Lucy! We'll get you out and we can continue going on adventures like we always have!" Crystal shouted to her while they were still trying their best to beat their current opponent! They then notice her right eye has changed to Orange color similar to the Lacrima she's being absorbed into. Then Midnight appears showing that he had done away with Gajeel. "Great so now we have to deal with her and Midnight!" Crystal thought grimacing at their situation.
"You say you wanna be with Lucy forever? Have you ever had any idea what she may want?" Sakore questions Intitatia. "I know you betrayed her, but I can tell she can forgive you! Why won't you understand that?!" He continued. "Don't confuse the issue. Imitatia is simply attempting to reclaim what she once lossed. aren't you?" Midnight said. And Sakore tries to say more but she tosses her shield and he dodges as she claims she was together with her before. Which confused him and the others until his left eye slightly changed when purple fire blasts her away they look to see Romeo who had snuck onto Blue Pegasus' ship the Christina and climbed up to where they are. He questions her and her actions on why betrayed Lucy, but he gets heavily struck and gets knocked to the side which now angers Natsu . Then suddenly Samuel appeared charging at Lucy but he haults his action when Coco gets in his way and luckily Happy and Frost hits him before he could strike allowing Pantherlily to fight Samuel again. That is when Happy, Frost, and Coco noticed her left eye she is seeing the events and cries. "She can hear us!" Frost exclaims. "That means she's fighting harder right now!" Crystal assumed, as both her and Natsu power up and break out of the vines from Imitatia and continue the 2 on 1 battle. That is when Warren connects with telepathic and has the Archbishop explain the Clock to fully merge with Lucy it has to combine with her memory. The chains not only cause the Real Nightmare spell, but it also absorbs the magic energy who dwell on it. So everyone who isn't fighting went outside to start destroying the Chains connected! Plus not only that but Erza fought hard and defeated Cobra in combat leaving only Two seals left. Which only leaves Midnight and Imitatia left to finally put an end to all of this. Midnight blasts both Natsu and Crystal while Sakore is focusing himself carefully.
Midnight claims that Lucy is already gone and says that she will become one with the clock and herself entirely with her mind and body merging into the Infinity Clock, where she would fade from everyone who loved her and completely erase her existence. This shocked everyone including Imitatia who didn't expect to hear such words, she felt frightened from what she heard and then leapt to where Lucy is and tried destroying the core holding the Celestial Wizard which surprised the members of Fairy Tail and Coco to see her sudden change of actions. She was even crying when she tried her hardest to get Lucy out. Midnight casts a spell on her and suddenly her form changes to a small doll. Midnight stepped on it and Crystal realized the truth. Michelle was originally a doll which must have been a present to Lucy and how it made clear sense why she called Lucy her 'Big Sister'.
"You absolute, bastard!" Crystal declared. As she is now truly angered, same with Natsu. Romeo gives Natsu some Purple Flare to power up as Sakore casts cold air for her to consume. The two land their hits on him, knocking him away. "Do you really think that other people suffering is something to laugh at?! That its a joke?! Get ready! Cause things are about to get really funny for you pal!" Natsu declared! As both he and Crystal are gonna have the final clash against the Leader of the Neo Oración Seis!
"It won't be long now! Once I fulfilled my father's wish. Everything will cease to exist!" He claims as Natsu and Crystal fight against him. "You won't take her away from us! Hang on Lucy!" Crystal shouted as the 2 Dragon Slayers continued the fight against him. His reflector magic made it difficult then he cast Genesis Zero which was the same move Zero used on Natsu before as it consumed both Natsu and Crystal at the same time.
As they fell into the void Crystal started to see something only she could see.
In what looks to be a large bedroom Crystal turns to see a large bed with a woman resting on the bed who looks gravely ill and standing next to the bed is Crystal's sister Ice. "What's going on?" Crystal said quietly seeing this. "How are you feeling right now?" Ice asks the woman. "You shouldn't be worried about me. I'll be fine as long as I rest." She answered. "How can I not be worried?! We asked the best doctors to search for any way to help you! How can I take responsibility when you are gravely sick?!" Ice asked as Crystal was shocked to see this. "But there wasn't. And now you are just moments away from the last bit of life you have left!" Ice started to cry knowing the condition the woman is in. "I suppose I can't argue with that. Just promise, you'll be the shining beacon for your sister when she needs you most." Crystal was shocked at the next words her sister then said. "I will… mother… I promise I'll be there for her!" She exclaimed as Crystal could see the resemblance of the woman with the hair being darkened and the near soulless eyes. "M-mother…" Crystal quietly said as she started to cry. "Take… care…" The woman's hand fell showing that her life had finally come to an end as Ice started crying sad that their mother passed away. Crystal then turned to the doorway seeing her younger self had over watched the scene.
"BRING NATSU AND CRYSTAL BACK!" Lucy's voice fully echoed as the orange Lacrima glowed and Midnight was taken back noticing his seal was unable to handle her might. At the same time reality cracks started to break bursting with Fire and Ice.
"You bastards won't take away our friend!" Crystals shouted in anger. "We heard you Lucy!" The two shouted as they punched Midnight. They fought again as they were gaining the upper hand while Midnight thought giving up the future was the way to power. "You've lost all sense of yourself. I had lost my past due to some memory loss. If you think giving stuff up is gonna make you stronger, you're wrong. I'll pursue my past even if everything is dark! I'll keep on going and destroy the Nightmare hiding in my shadow!" Crystal claims as she starts wailing on Midnight who was starting to get scared. "Lucy opened up to her dad, and Michelle opened up to her! You shouldn't punish them just because you got it wrong! You may think you're smart but you've got a lot to learn!" She starts running and lands the heaviest blow in his face sending him flying into the wall destroying it and making him fall.
Once that was done however it seemed when Lucy wished to bring back both the Dragon Slayers back she had combined with the Clock. Then they got a telepathy connection with Jean and Levy saying if the person were to revert the time on the Celestial Wizards they could reverse the curse and spread the Clock Pieces. Though it was risky as Lucy would be also sent flying, however she was willing to take that risk since she is a Fairy Tail Wizard! The Large structure glowed and vanished.
Over time the gang were being carried by the Octopus with the help of Ichiya who had survived the crash and with both Natsu and Crystal's senses they pointed in the direction where Lucy is and were able to finally get her back safe and sound!
After we finally brought Lucy back home, all of Zentopia had realized what they had done and will walk a new path after the defeat of the Dark Guild known as the Neo Oracion Seis. The Legion Platoon also offered their apologies after realizing the errors of their actions. We had forgiven them since misunderstandings do tend to happen. And on that note I am certain to find that dark clone of my sister and destroy the nightmare that shadows upon me. At the moment things were calm, but that is until we learned that an event called the Grand Magic Games is about to start and we take part in order to reclaim our title as the Number 1 Guild in all of Fiore!
Next Time; The Grand Magic Games!
Hello guys, I know it's been very long since I have worked on this. Sad to say I lacked motivation to continue this. But after getting messages from uploading Kingdom Hearts chapters I wanted to get back to this and hopefully maybe finish it all! Might be difficult but as long as I'm motivated I'll do the best I can! Just a side note and spoiler, the Grand Magic Games might become into 2 parts. So then it'll be time for Crystal to meet the Dragon Slayers of the Sabertooth Guild. Also I did want to at least give some action for the newest character but there weren't many opportunities so possibly maybe the GMGs will change that!