A bright new day shines down on the land of Exahelm. The cold air breezes in, like a soft tune. The town was already out and active as many of its residents began setting up stands, decorations and flags.
Today is the day the kingdom's God and ruler; Izanagi, will be brought back from the brink of death. In celebration, a festival in honor of their dangers being prevented was started. Flower streamers were set up between buildings and on statues. Angels sang, laughed and danced.
"I'm so happy things are finally returning to normal soon!" A young male angel was relieved. Various civilians began to mingle.
A yellow furred Exceed was sitting on a table as she overheard the male angel. "Yea! I don't know how much longer I can deal with all this stress!"
A female angel who was sitting next to the Exceed smiled. "And for a land-walker of all people to commit such a selfless act…" She looked at the castle. "She'll be truly remembered as Exahelm's hero."
"I do wonder though…" The male angel held his chin and observed activity from several soldiers who were all over the place. They looked like they were searching for something as they peeked in every corner.
"What's gotten the soldiers here all worked up?"
Back in the meeting room of the castle, Hahlos and Stark were currently present. The former with shadows under his eyes, looking sleep deprived. The latter chuckled as he was writing down on a piece of paper.
"So it's true then? They're all gone?" Stark asked while snickering.
Hahlos rubbed his eyes. "Indeed, everyone has been searching for quite awhile and have yet to spot even one of the humans…"
Stark continued writing with a quill. "Heh, they must have truly left then. Goes to show how foolproof my plan was, hm?" The slender angel bragged while wiping some extra ink off the paper.
"The only reason things went smoothly was because I had to step in." Hahlos countered. "I had no choice but to send everyone out to search the kingdom."
Stark ceased writing for a moment as he crossed his arms and leaned back. "So what if some mishaps happened? The fact of the matter is that the land-dwellers are gone and were convinced by their friend." He then narrowed his eyes at the tired Hahlos. "Speaking of, how is the little hero?"
Hahlos sighs and looks down on the floor. "She has been extremely difficult. She's currently locked herself in her room. I decided to respect her wishes and leave her be for now."
"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe you're being way too soft on her." Stark scoffs. "Don't forget that this was *your* plan in the first place. You should've expected this, Hahlos."
Hahlos peered his eyes at Stark and gave him a glare, in which the slender angel chuckled again in response as he leaned forward and went back in writing his paper. Hahlos continued staring at Stark for a moment before standing up and pushing his chair in. He turned his back and began to leave the room.
"I should get ready for the revival process." Hahlos decided as he opened the door. He looked back at Stark one last time. "I will leave the responsibility of the castle to you." He leaves the room, closing the door behind him as the noise echoed in the room.
Stark paused once again while staring at the door. "Tch, it's about time I get some time to myself…" He thought out loud before proceeding to return to writing once again.
Gossip and rumors tend to spread quickly in the country in the sky. Especially in the rancher's land across the way. While most were prepping to set up shops near town, some were more focused on something odd.
"Did'ja hear? There was a big fight last night!" A black haired male angel was sitting on a barrel talking to two other ranchers.
One angel, who was female, raised an eyebrow. "Ya kidding? Since when has a big fight happened here?"
"I swear it's true! There was screaming and wind blasting too!" The male angel swore.
"If that's true then what the hay is taking that land walking girl so long anyway?!" Another male angel asked before all three of them began laughing.
Alivia flew past the three before glancing at them. "Hey! What are you slackers doing?!" She growled as she clenched her rake tightly.
The three angels retracted before getting up and running off. "S-sorry! We'll get back to it!" The black haired angel said.
Alivia groaned before hoisting the rake over her small shoulder. She proceeded to float towards her home. The brown Exceed opened the door and saw her roommate Henry sulking by the window. She hung her tool by the entrance and placed her paws on her hips.
"Don't tell me you're slacking too Henry…" Alivia grunted.
Henry didn't respond. He briefly looked at the Exceed before looking away again. Alivia flew towards the blonde angel and sat by the window, both of them looking out as they saw the town in the distance.
"Word has already spread about last night." Alivia mentioned. "Seems like we're the only ones who witnessed it." She crossed her arms and huffed. "Ah' had a feeling those suspicious people were land-walkers."
Henry leaned back in his chair and sighed. He continued to be stone silent which was unusual to the brown feline. She turned back to him.
"But you knew they were land walkers too huh?" Alivia challenged. "Ah' saw how oddly friendly you were to them and tried to get me off their backs."
"...Yeah." Henry admitted. "I-I couldn't really believe land walkers came up here, but I had this…feeling in my gut y'know?"
Alivia paused before shutting the window so the two couldn't see what was outside. "Come on, we have a festival to prepare for." She flew up and hovered away.
Henry however, didn't make any movements. "...This ain't right ya know?"
"I'm well aware." Alivia responded. "But if this is what needs to happen in order to save our country then we can't complain."
Henry turned his head at the Exceed and glared at her. "M-maybe…it's for the best. That this country just…goes away!"
Alivia immediately turned at Henry and rocketed towards him, grabbing his collar. "How could you say something like that?! This is our home y'know?!"
Henry swiped away Alivia's paws. "You hardly know *anything!* These stupid laws take so much away from us! Even those precious to us!" He shouted which caught the Exceed off guard.
"I-it's for the sake of peace ya know!" Alivia argued while stuttering.
"WELL MAYBE WE DON'T NEED PEACE!" The blonde threw his hands in the air and stomped towards his bedroom. He slammed the door which knocked over a framed photo that was hung directly next to the door.
Alivia hovered towards the frame and looked down at it. She glanced over at the door before gently picking up the frame and hanging it back up.
Back in town, Arya was taking a quick break at the local bar. She sat by the counter as she puffed a smoke from her cigar, the smoke traveling outside the window. The bartender approached her while scrubbing on a glass cup.
"So miss Arya, how have things been going along?" The bartender asked.
The gray haired Tenhei slumped her back on the chair and let out a groan. "Oh you have *no* idea how much work is on my back right now! It's too much stress for a young woman like me."
The bartender chuckled. "Oh don't be like that! Come on, how about a drink on the house? Will that help?" He slid another glass of wine which Arya caught with her palm.
"Oh you're too kind." Arya complimented before taking a sip. She playfully hung her glass and leaned forward. "Although, the procedures are going rather smoothly."
"Oh so now you give me good news after I give you a free drink?" The bartender sarcastically asked with a smirk.
Arya winked at the worker. "No take backs~"
The bartender let out a laugh before moving on to the next customer. Arya took another small sip of her wine before her ears perked up commotion behind her. She narrowed her eyes towards a group of customers sitting at an average sized table who seemed to be talking about gossip.
"It was just outside of town, I saw some harsh winds and fire out there!"
"Are you sure you're not just seeing things? When was the last time you had a good night's rest?"
"No no, I remember hearing something violent last night too."
The three angels chatted while Arya overheard. She looked back at the counter before spacing out. She drew a circle in the liquid of the remaining wine as she recalled her conversation with Wendy from yesterday.
She puffed out another smoke and sighed.
For the first time since several weeks, the castle was starting to have some soldiers around. While not inside, there were several stationed by the front entrance with Balrus of the Tenhei in command. He pointed in targeted directions for areas to scout while he guarded the entrance.
In the corner of his eye, the obese angel spotted Torian making his way towards him with his hands in his pockets. The slender angel looked like he was spacing out a bit as he looked down.
"Master Torian sir, thou should watch where he is going." Balrus advised.
Torian shot his head up and shook it. He brushed his spiky hair back slightly, trying to keep his cool. "Oh, heh heh. Guess I spaced out a bit there."
"Is something troubling you master Torian sir?" Balrus wondered before pointing in another direction.
Torian leaned his back on one of the front entrance walls. "How long are we gonna keep searching anyway? They're more than likely gone."
Balrus crossed his arms and exhaled steam from his nostrils. "Tis probably true, however tis best to be on guard until lord Izanagi is fully revived."
Torian sighed and began walking off, passing by Balrus. "Yea yea, I'm gonna stop by one of the forts and get a drink." He said with his body bent down in an awkward position. Balrus watched the slender angel walk off before going back to his duties.
Despite his associate's advice, Torian began to space out again. It wasn't just the search he was thinking about. He was recalling the girl from yesterday afternoon; he and Sync seeing her tears of happiness, then being attacked by Stark, the meeting after that. Then that night, seeing that same girl who looked so full of kindness and hope suddenly showed a face without any emotion. Like all color was sucked out of her.
Torian smacked his face with both palms. "Quit thinking about that! There's no point in feeling bad!" He criticized himself, he looked down again and stopped in his tracks. "Besides…this is all for the sake of our future, right?"
He looks up and sees the fortress he was walking to. A large shadow from the building covered the front area while the sun above it shined down.
The lights were shut off and the small window was covered with blinds. On a bed sat the small angel girl Sync as she hugged one of her little white orbs like a teddy bear. The bed she was sitting on was split in half, making a huge mess of foam spilling on the bedroom floor. Her large scythe was sticking out from the front end of the bed.
Every so often, the yellow haired girl would let out a whimper. She hugged her orb tighter, reciting a sentence she has said to herself multiple times already.
"I'm sorry…Wendy. I'm such a horrible friend…"
"HA HA HA! Oh you crack me up!" Argus laughed. He was currently at the fortress that was near the front entrance of town. He had just gotten a report from a soldier.
"B-but sir! That big gash in the clouds out there wasn't the usual holes we've been seeing!" The soldier sputtered.
Argus took a swig of some beer he was holding before speaking.. "Oh come on now pal. Even if one of those land-dwellers made that, they still haven't been found, right?"
The soldier rubbed the back of his helmet. "Uh-no sir…"
"Then it's fine!" Argus threw one hand down. "One of them probably got all huffy before they all left! Things are already calming down now!" He proceeded to pat the soldiers back. "Once Izanagi comes back, he can fix those clouds in a jiffy!" The muscular angel proceeds to accidentally knock the soldier over.
The soldier pulled himself up rather quickly and saluted at Argus, like nothing happened. "Of course sir! You do bring a valid point!"
Argus plopped himself on a bench and took another drink of beer before exhaling. "Look son, I know a lot is stressful. But today is a day full of excitement and hope for us!" He reassured as he pointed at the soldier. "Now go ahead and do some more patrol. He ordered.
The soldier saluted before flying off, leaving the muscular angel alone. He leaned his head back and swiped his forehead, he was beginning to feel hot. One of Argus' ears perked up as he looked to his right and briefly saw a shadow move behind the building. Curious, he stood up and decided to check it out.
Stark was making the finishing touches on the paper he was writing, it appeared to be a detailed report of everything that transpired while Izanagi was bedridden. The door slowly opened as Sync poked her head in, however the slim angel didn't notice her come in. The small angel quietly entered the room before closing the door behind her. She tried to speak up and get Stark's attention but the words escaped her.
There was one more sentence to write down for the gray haired angel while in the zone. However, one of the windows abruptly swung open.
"M-master Stark! We have a problem!" A soldier flew in and got the attention of the two, spooking them both.
Stark slammed one fist on the table, not looking at the soldier. "Can't any of you get my attention without storming in?! What is it?!"
"One of them was one we met at the bar, he had a unique smell to him with bushy looking hair and beard. He made mention of mingling around town and checking by the fortresses."
Argus grabbed the corner of the building and peaked over. The first thing he saw was bright yellow and red, it was fire.
"Eh?" Argus blurted right before the fire came hurling towards him.
"I spotted a woman with long gray hair who carried that same title. She also wore a monocle and carried a cigar which emitted pink smoke."
Arya finished her wine as she leaned back. She puffed another smoke and curled her lips in boredom. Suddenly, she heard a loud boom which knocked the glass she placed over. Arya abruptly stood up from her seat and glanced outside as she saw some civilians pointing somewhere.
"What was that?! An explosion?!"
"Look! There's smoke!" Two angels blurted.
Arya booked it out of the building immediately.
"This one stood out. He's a tall individual with spiky hair and a pointy nose."
Torian raised an eyebrow as the shadow began to move in an unnatural way. It began to shrink as three silhouettes hopped out of it. Followed by a burst of water and ice. The slender angel backed up and fell on his bottom, widening his eyes.
"W-what the-"
"It's the land-walkers! They appeared out of nowhere and began engaging in combat with the soldiers and Tenhei!" The soldier reported in panic.
Sync held her mouth and let out a gasp. Her heart began racing as she slowly peered over at Stark who was still looking down on his report. He clenched his pen tightly where it began to crack and spill ink all over the table. He clenched his teeth hard where she could hear slight cracking. The male angel shot his head up as he sweated profusely, eyes widening in anger.
"What the hell did you just say?!" Stark exploded.
Argus laid his back on the ground with a flame imprint on his chest. Onlookers watched in horror, seeing the cloudy path he was sent through filled with charred marks, they shortly after saw three figures walk out, revealing themselves as one clenched his flamed fist and another sneered at him.
"Oy! I said I wanted the first strike, Salamander!" Gajeel chided as he glared at a certain fire wizard.
Natsu popped his neck and extinguished the flames from his fist. "Heh, couldn't help it. You're just too slow!"
"What did you say?!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"Are you two already bickering…?" Happy shrugged.
Arya slammed the bar door open as she ran out. She got a good look at the smoke coming from one area and ice coming from another. Before she could investigate, she felt an unusual magical presence as civilians began running away in the opposite direction. She turned her head towards an alleyway as someone began to walk out of it.
A spiky blonde haired dragon slayer revealed himself while crossing his arms. He gave a grin as his teeth shined brightly. "Heya, nice to meet ya." Sting greeted.
Arya squinted her eyes as she stared at the man. "He's human…" She thought.
Torian blinked several times as he quickly pulled himself off the ground. He got a better look at the three as he realized that many soldiers in the area were downed as soon as they popped out.
He saw a shirtless man with black hair, a long blue haired woman with water channeling through her arms, and a blonde girl holding a key. These three matched the descriptions he was given last night.
"You've got to be kidding me!" He said out loud while holding his head in disbelief.
"W-we're being invaded!" A male angel shouted as he and many others began to run away from a red haired woman and a blue haired man with a red tattoo on his face.
The two had their backs against each other as they were already surrounded by many armored angels pointing spears and swords at them.
Another shadow began to make its way towards the castle without being spotted.
Silence was met as all the civilians in the area had already ran off. It was just the soldiers, Argus and the three intruders.
"A-Argus sir! Are you okay!?" One soldier panicked, seeing the wound on his chest.
One soldier pointing a spear at the three. "You! Identify yourselves!"
Natsu ignored the noises as he glanced over at the castle. "...Wendy, I know you were fighting to protect us. But you don't have to worry now, leave the rest to us…" He thought before cracking his knuckles. He then noticed Argus pull himself up as he rubbed his head.
Ignoring the pain, the muscular angel glared at the three. "And who the hell do you think you are?!" He asked as the three began to get surrounded with soldiers.
Natsu cracked a smirk, showing his sharp teeth. "Heh, we're Fairy Tail wizards! We're here to take our friend back and put an end to this phony ceremony!"