Turns out, the only way to even get to wherever Erza was by boat. Whatever it takes, I'd get my Mate back. I sat at the helm of the boat, my motion sickness gone as my determination to save Erza overwhelmed me. Natsu was hanging off the side of the side of the boat, with Gray, Lucy and Juvia sitting around the boat as well. Oh yeah, Juvia was at the casino as well, seemingly having followed Gray there. "I'm worried about those people in the cards." Lucy admitted. "You think they're ok?"
"We let the military know about them before we left, so I'm sure they'll be fine."
"I hope so…"
"Hey, Yui, where are we?" Gray asked, turning to me.
"Following Erza's scent." I said sternly.
"I can't believe how easily they were able to knock us out and kidnap Erza, Happy and Mizuki." Gray commented. "Were pathetic."
"In our defence, they must have been powerful wizards to beat one as strong as Erza." Juvia said. I turned my head and glared at the bluenette with as much anger as I could, which was a lot considering the circumstances.
"You weren't there." I snarled softly. "You don't know Erza like I do, so quit yappin' and let me do my job!"
"Ah! I'm sorry!"
"Calm down, what's your problem!" Lucy exclaimed.
"My problem?" I demanded, turning to Lucy. "My problem is that I'm sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean trying to track down the scent of my Mate over the stink of the ocean and you're all distracting me!" I turned back to the front of the boat to watch where we were going.
"Those goons that attacked us said they were old friends of Erza's." Lucy continued after a second. "Which makes me wonder…if we know her any better than Juvia does." Natsu then seemed to get better and stood.
"I just got a weird feeling." He said. I looked up as birds squealed overhead, only to fall…splashing into the ocean dead.
"The birds." Lucy gasped.
"What's happening to 'em?" Gray wondered lowly. The boat shifted, and we looked down to see the scraps of wood and a plethora of dead fish. "Not the fish too!"
"I've never seen anything like it." Juvia said.
"That's wreckage from a Fiore Naval Ship."
"Ok, I'm creeped out." Lucy whimpered.
"Hey, what's that?" Natsu asked, looking to the distance. I followed his gaze to see a massive tower looming ahead, the clouds seemingly darker around this building than the surrounding area.
"That must be the Tower of Heaven." I said lowly.
"I'll protect us." Juvia said, lifting her hand. A dark blue Magic Circle appeared over it, and water formed a bubble around us. "My Water Dome will keep us from being seen."
"Nice work, Juvia." Lucy said.
"I can't take it." Natsu groaned as he turned green.
"Chill out, we're almost there."
"That's it, next time we go somewhere, we're knocking him out first." Gray snapped. We pulled the boat up onto the shore of the Tower of Heaven, with a winding staircase up the side of the structure lined with guards and massive eyeless creatures on every plateau. "They've got a ton of lookouts."
"Let's charge 'em!" Natsu breathed.
"Don't even think about it!" Lucy hissed. "Remember, they have Erza, Happy and Mizuki. If we screw this up, we could be putting them in danger."
"This is going to be tricky…" Gray muttered.
"Erza can handle herself." I reminded them sternly. "I'm for the punching first asking questions later plan."
"I found an underwater passageway into the tower." Juvia said as the top half of her body lifted up from the ocean.
"Seriously?" Gray wondered. "Way to go." Juvia got out of the water and turned to Lucy.
"You hear that Lucy, I was just praised by Gray, not you!" Juvia bragged to Lucy, who was entirely unamused.
"Yeah, yeah…"
"We can swim there in ten minutes."
"We can hold our breath that long, right?" Natsu asked.
"Probably." Gray agreed.
"No, we can't." I snapped. "We'd die before we got there."
"In that case, I suggest you wear these." Juvia said, offering a bubble hovering above her palm. "It's a water shell containing oxygen, this way you can breathe while underwater."
"Wow, you're awesome!" Natsu exclaimed. "...and who are you again?" Juvia sighed. Juvia handed each of us a water shell, and changed into our swimsuits that we had brought just in case. We dove into the water and swam to the underwater cavern.
"So we're beneath the Tower now, huh? Gray wondered.
"Wonder where they're keeping Erza and Happy." Natsu muttered.
"They may look silly, but they sure do work." Lucy commented.
"I'm impressed you made it here, I purposefully made your shell smaller so you'd have trouble breathing."
"Gee, thanks." There was a roar of a creature, and I turned to see a battalion of guards pouring out of every crevice with the no-eyed creatures that had two rows of teeth.
"Intruders!" One shouted. "Identify yourselves!"
"I'm Yui Imai of Fairy Tail!" I roared. "And you took My Erza! You're gonna pay!" My feet lit up with silver flames as I shot toward them, ready to rain hell down on them. I ignored th others as I fought, and didn't stop until a hand grabbed my elbow. I turned with a snarl, only to see Natsu giving me a blank look with concerned eyes.
"They're knocked out, Yui." He said softly. "You beat 'em." I blinked myself out of a stupor and looked around to see that I had indeed disposed of the guards. There was a groan and shift of stone as the mouth of a statue opened, lowering a platform down toward us."What's that?" Natsu asked.
"I think it's their way of saying 'come on in'." Gray guessed. We headed up the platform toward a dining room.
"HEY, BLOCKHEAD!" Natsu roared.
"Jeez, would you keep it down?" Lucy muttered.
"I don't see the point sneaking around anymore." Gray stated. "Not after all that ruckus that went on downstairs."
"Do we really need the food break?" I demanded, pacing the length of the dining room, still clad in my bikini, a strapless number with alternating gold and silver stripes. "I want to find my Mate."
"The door that welcomed us in was controlled by a Magic User." Juvia reported.
"Then they are well aware of our presence." Virgo replied, I honestly didn't realise she was here.
"Why would they let us in?" Lucy asked.
"You think they're tryna provoke us?" Gray wondered.
"I don't know…"
"Well, that was their second mistake." I added, turning to the group. "The first was taking Erza." I went to pace again as Virgo changed Lucy from her bikini into a dress from the Celestial World and Lucy had the boys complimenting her with Juvia complaining that Gray was praising the blonde. Virgo approached me with some folded clothes.
"You're still in your swimsuit." She said. "I thought you would want to change."
"Oh, uh…thank you, Virgo." I muttered, taking it from her. I stepped behind a pillar to change. A pair of silver shorts and a gold sleeveless halter top with a dark yellow heart-like design over my chest. My shoes were heeled sandals, with wraps up around my calves and a bangle for my arm that represented a full moon phase from Waining to Waxing. After Virgo had left, there was a commotion from the door closest to us, troops were rushing toward us. I got ready to fight, but it was all for naught as Era burst through them, cutting them down with ease. My heart thundered in my chest. She was right there, safe. When she spotted us, Erza froze.
"What are you doing inside the tower!" Erza demanded.
"Erza…" I whispered as I approached her, throwing my arms around Erza and holding her tight. I buried my nose into her crimson hair, inhaling her scent, my muscles relaxing in her mere presence. "I'm so glad you're ok." I breathed. I pulled back and cupped Erza's cheeks, but she took a step back, out of my hold.
"Go home." Erza demanded.
"What…?"
"This place is far too dangerous." Natsu punched his fist into his hand.
"You're not gonna scare me into leaving." He said sternly. "I aint goin' anywhere until that blockhead gets a good taste of my fist! I'm gonna make him pay for shooting me in the mouth!"
"You have to go." Erza insisted.
"Why?" Lucy asked. "Why?"
"Your friends kidnapped Happy and Mizuki!" Natsu added. "We can't leave here without them!"
"They got them too?" Erza wondered. "It must have been Milliana."
"Where can I find them!"
"I'm not sure."
"This means war."
"Who are you declaring war against?" Gray asked.
"The jerks who kidnapped my little buddy!" Natsu raced off.
"Wait! Natsu!" Erza called.
"What a moron…" Gray muttered.
"Poor Natsu." Juvia added.
"Come on, Erza, we have to help him go find Mizuki." I said.
"No!" My Mate protested. "You don't have to worry about Happy or Mizuki, Milliana is a cat lover, she'd never do anything to hurt them. I promise, I'll bring all three of them back to the Guild with me. But you four need to leave immediately."
"Don't be ridiculous, we can help you." Lucy insisted.
"I don't want your help. This is my problem, it doesn't involve you." Erza started to walk away, and I followed her.
"I don't think so, whatever you've got going on, I'm with you Erza." I stated. Erza stopped walking. "We're all here for you, Erza." I added softly.
"What is up with this tower?" Lucy asked. "And who is this Jelall guy? I understand if you don't want to tell us, you said the creeps who kidnapped you used to be friends of yours, right? Well, we're your friends now, and Yui is even more than that, and we're here to help you. And no matter what happens, we're always going to have your back."
"Yeah, she's right." Gray agreed.
"Leave!" Erza ordered.
"Come on!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Your freaking me out, 'cause this isn't like you at all." Gray stated. "What happened to the woman who'd tell us to shut up and come along whether we wanted to or not? We wanna stay here and help you out. Master taught us that even the strongest warriors need backup every once in a while." Erza then turned to look at us, tears falling from her left eye. I took a physical step back, Erza rarely cries anymore.
"E-Erza?" I stuttered, stepping forward again. I reached my hand up and placed it on Erza's cheek, wiping the tears from her left eye. "Babe, what is it?" I reached up with my other hand and cupped Erza's face, tilting her head towards me. "You can tell me." I rested my forehead against hers and let steam escape from my nose. "I'm right here." I muttered. "Always. You're my Mate, I can't leave you alone when you're hurting."
"I'm sorry." Erza said softly. "But you can't help me now." She stepped away from me to address the others as well. "But the odds are stacked against me, win or lose this battle I'm staring death in the face."
"What…Erza come on, that's not true."
"There's no fighting the inevitable. I can't…but what I can do is share my story with you while I'm still here."
Erza went on to explain her life…here at the Tower of Heaven. The tower was constructed for one purpose, to be part of something called the R-System, a tower to resurrect a single person. Erza explained she was taken as a child, along with dozens of others, to work as slaves to create the tower, and become the sacrifices needed to power the R-System. The fear and the trust built between the slaves was strong. Jellal was a close friend of Erza's, who saved her from torture when Erza had been punished for making an escape route. When they did escape the torture chamber, they were cornered by Magic-Made soldiers. Erza was taken back to her cell, and Jellal was taken in her place. Erza's anger then grew and she decided that they needed to fight, to save themselves they had to rise up against the cultists, and that's what they did, taking a stand for their freedom. But, whatever happened in the torture chamber, Erza said that Jellal's personality did an entire 180, and he became, what Erza described, as pure evil.