~~~Author's Notes~~~
It's time for another "Hey it's been awhile" statement. Totally didn't take a break to play Persona 3 and FF7 Rebirth...
Today we have a bridge chapter, can't say I was 100% satisfied but I believe I did the best I could!
I should also mention that I began going back to older chapters and making some changes and additions. Not drastic changes to the point of retcons, but ones that add more impact and better flowing narrative. With the addition of grammar and spelling mistakes being fixed. So far I changed the first twelve chapters and I plan on doing more later down the line!
I hope you enjoy and please leave any feedback if you have any! Hope you have a good day\evening!
The air in the castle interior felt intense. The four Fairy Tail wizards got on guard, facing Izanagi who was currently rubbing his pink hair with his fingers while observing it. He smiled in satisfaction.
"Ah, pink hair. This is certainly more my style." Izanagi comments.
Natsu growled. "Hey!" He points at the god. "You're gonna continue flaunting around like that?! That magic and form don't belong to you!"
"I'm sorry." Izanagi scoffed, turning his attention back to the four. "Are you saying that the girl is in ownership of the heavens?"
Natsu lowered his arm and cocked an eyebrow. "What do you…?"
"And you, do you claim ownership of fire? You control the flames themselves and yet you didn't even create fire. Doesn't that mean that magic doesn't belong to you as well?" Izanagi retorted.
"What kind of logic is that?!" Lucy exclaimed, appearing annoyed.
"Man did not create air, neither did they create fire. Yet they use it as a tool for their own satisfaction." Izanagi continues, clenching a fist. "I may not have invented the air you breathe, but I come from a generation of sky gods passed down. Meaning I bear the right to use it, to retain the balance in this world."
"Tch, how arrogant of you." Erza scowled. "Those are natural resources to benefit the living. Every person has the right to use them."
Izanagi glares at the swordswoman. "You call me arrogant, yet you all believe you have the right to bear such powers…powers that only ten percent of the population have." He challenged, swinging an arm. "A mere ten percent that managed to rip away a world safe to live in. Because of that, you will never see any hint of world peace in the upcoming future."
"You keep going on about world peace or whatever. Honestly it's getting on my nerves." Gray provoked.
"And it's because we don't see eye to eye that you all pose a severe threat to the world peace that was worked so hard for." Izanagi condemned.
"Who cares about peace!" Natsu raged, channeling flames on both his fists. "We don't go on living for that! We live for our home and our friends! That's how Fairy Tail lives!"
"Then show me that way of living…" Izanagi challenged, gesturing a finger towards himself. "I'll show to you that your way of living will only lead to despair."
Natsu growled, stomping one foot forward and using the momentum to launch himself towards the god. The rest follow Natsu, charging and letting out a battle roar in preparation for their battle. Izanagi merely stared at the four charging at him with a sharp expression.
The sound of clashing could very easily be heard up above where Stark laid. He stared at the hole created by Natsu, noticing some flashes of magic casting reaching near the hole. Sync kept standing by the slender angel, stuttering in place whether to approach him or not.
Stark proceeds to pull himself up and dusts himself off. He quietly passes by Happy and Loke, not even looking at either in the eye.
Happy points at the male angel. "You better not try anything funny! We have our eyes on you!" He warned.
Stark stops in place, not even glancing back. "I am only going to correct a mistake I've made. I'm not taking any orders from scum like you." He barely turns his head, his sharp eyes glaring at the Exceed. "There's nothing stopping me from shooting a furball like you down again." He threatened, causing the blue cat to flinch.
Loke passes by Stark and gently places a hand on his shoulder. Stark lets out a hiss of pain in response. The spirit smugly smirks at him.
"With injuries like that, I highly doubt you'd be able to do anything to us right now. So play nice, will ya?" Loke quipped.
Stark grumbles and smacks Loke's hand away. The three begin to leave the hallway, but notice that one person wasn't present. Happy turns around and sees that Sync hadn't moved from her spot. The girl fidgets her hands with a lowered head.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Happy asked. "You should come with us!"
Loke places a palm on his chest. "Indeed, it isn't safe here." He advised.
Sync paused, narrowing her eyes away from the two. "...I can't." She admitted. "I'm not allowed to leave…b-because, people will be afraid of me…" She revealed, to the confusion of the two.
Stark sighed exasperatedly. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I told you to leave and never come back." He fully turned around and faced the girl. "You've been kicked out."
Sync's lips trembled while whimpering. Stark stared at the female angel and slowly shut his eyes.
"So come with me." Stark requests. "You still have your role, the one Hahlos gave you. We're gonna be needing it." He turns back. "If you're so afraid of scaring people, then don't be looking so glum."
Sync shot her head up and widened her eyes. She clenched her hands together and pumped her fists. "S-Starky…" Her eyes watered but quickly wiped them off with her arm. Her small wings fluttered and quickly zoomed past the group. "Let's go! I want to see what the future is gonna be like!"
Happy and Loke turned back, their confusion growing. They weren't sure how Stark's harsh words lifted the girl's spirits up. They watch her stare out a nearby window.
Stark approaches Sync from behind and opens the window. "Let's go." He says.
Torian and Juvia were currently stuck in a predicament. They both stared up and witnessed the castle tower that held the gardens slowly tilt towards their direction. Another stone slab slips and comes falling down where the two were standing. Juvia quickly destroyed the rock with a water-based magic attack.
"We need to stop standing around!" Juvia advised.
Torian quickly scans his surroundings, realizing that only he and Juvia were the only ones here. "Aaagh! We're the only ones here, are you kidding?!" He panicked.
"Our power won't be enough to completely destroy the building…" Juvia sighed. She then turned over at the angel. "Then, we should attempt to lean it back up!"
Torian turned to Juvia and his eyes shrunk in utter confusion. The water mage groans and points up.
"You have the ability to control Juvia's water. She can summon a great deal of water and you can use your Aquakinesis to wrap it around the tower." Juvia explained. "We can reduce the amount of debris to destroy in the process."
"Uh…" Torian glanced back up. "You sure that's gonna work?" He doubted.
Another large stone slab cracked off and began to fall, in which it was quickly vaporized by Juvia. She glared at the angel intensely.
"We *don't* exactly have much time! Now hurry and fly up!" Juvia demands.
"R-r-right!" Torian stuttered before spreading his wings out and rocketing upward.
Juvia raises both his hands, conjuring a large water tower which sprouts behind her from beneath the clouds. It grows higher and higher until it reaches the skinny angel. He placed both his hands inside the water and swung them both to the side. He began to control the water as it took the shape of several puppet-like strings. He began to use the water to wrap around the building and attempted to push it back standing upright. He struggles due to the weight, but he manages to tilt the tower back up with only a few smaller stone slabs falling over.
As the water begins to fade away, the angel pants in place. He and Juvia stared at the tower intensely, making sure it didn't budge. Realizing that it isn't moving, Torian swipes his forehead in relief while Juvia collapses on her knees.
Torian glances down at the water mage. "W-whew…you're not…half bad…" He huffed.
Juvia raises her head. "You're…not too shabby either…" She complimented.
Suddenly, Juvia spots a long round object roll off the tower. It was right above the angel, causing Juvia to widen her eyes and point behind him.
"Chore angel! Look out!" Juvia warned.
Before Torian could react, the object lands directly on top of his head. He crashes back down right next to Juvia, as well as the object.
Juvia scans the object and realizes that it appeared to be a large branch of a tree. She raised a brow while staring at it. "A…tree? But, how is that…?"
The water mage's train of thought got interrupted as she picked up the noise of loud cracking. Due to many stone slabs already collapsing earlier, the weight was getting unstable despite being straightened back up. Torian sat up and rubbed his head and noticed Juvia staring back up with fear in her eyes. Following her gaze, his expression begins to match the female mage.
Loud crashing could be heard as the tower was unable to support itself any longer. In an instant, the whole top part collapses. A large shadow covered the two as they watched the building about to crash onto the both of them. The two unintentionally huddled closer in panic.
"Roar of the…"
The two heard three voices. They then witnessed three powerful attacks come flying in and strike the tower.
"Iron Dragon!"
"White Dragon!"
"Shadow Dragon!"
Gajeel, Sting and Rogue hop in from out of nowhere. They use their respective roar attacks to demolish the large tower section, splitting it in several more manageable chunks.
Juvia shoved Torian off of her and gawked at the three. "Ga-Gajeel?!" She exclaimed.
"No talk! Use your water to stop the debris!" Gajeel demands.
Juvia widened her eyes before quickly attempting to cast another water tower. However, she wasn't even able to stand due to being completely out of energy.
"She's out of energy!" Rogue notices. "We gotta take care of the rest, quickly!"
"Right!" Sting agrees.
The three charge, but are caught off guard as they see a sudden large steel net appear out of thin air above the group. It manages to catch several chunks of stone as well as portions of the garden.
Sting recognizes this power. "Wait, this is…" He glances to the side and finds Arya who had both her arms raised up.
Gajeel glances back up and witnesses another section of the tower about to fall on him. He readies an iron fist, but sees a large shadow come crashing above him and crushing the stone with his body.
"HA HA HA! Fancy seeing you here!" Argus greeted in his usual jolly way.
Gajeel spat on the ground. "I could've handled that myself."
"Stone-Make! Bowl!" A third voice was heard, followed by another large creation appearing out of thin air. This time being a stone bowl. It caught more sections of the tower section. Argus lowers the bowl gently on the cloudy surface.
Torian shot up and his eyes glistened in happiness. "Everyone! You're all still around!" He exclaimed excitingly.
Juvia takes a deep breath and turns her attention back to Gajeel. "Juvia…apologizes…but thank you, for saving us…"
Gajeel crossed his arms. "We ran into face tattoo earlier, caught us up about what was going on." He explained.
Sting approached Gajeel to the side and patted his shoulder. "Me and Rogue ran into this guy while trying to escape the civilians here. We were all informed about that tower shortly after!"
"I wonder though…" Rogue held his chin, focusing on the Tenhei. "Were they informed by Jellal too…?"
Argus lands on the ground and smirks at the group. "You kidding?! We know this place front to back!"
Arya approached them and summoned a new smoke pipe. "However…we appreciate the assistance earlier. We would've been too late if you didn't show up earlier."
Argus makes the finishing touches in catching the remaining stone before gently lowering the stone bowl. He collapses on his knees shortly after, still exhausted from his encounter with Natsu awhile back. The group took notice of his burnt marks.
Gajeel then spots something in the pile. Trees, bushes and patches of flowers stuck out within the pile. "What's all of that…are those trees?"
"Juvia spotted them earlier too. Perhaps that tower held a garden?" She wondered.
"But…we're up in the sky. Why would there be a garden all the way up here?" Sting asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Lord Master Izanagi…" Argus heaved, managing to stand back up. "He bears an appreciation for thy world's beauty…" He turns his head at the group. "He made that room to preserve it."
"And now it's gone." Arya puffs out a smoke and glares at the mages. "Because you all took it away, much like the rest of the world." She shot.
Gajeel clenches his fists. "What do you mean *took*?! Don't go around blaming us!"
The Tenhei members stood side to side, facing the humans. Torian watched his fellow angels with slight worry, realizing that they may engage in battle again.
Gajeel helps Juvia stand back up as they alongside Sting and Rogue also stand side to side. The angels and humans stared at each other with intense force.
Arya squints her eyes. "Haven't you noticed…? Our ruler had been revived." She revealed. "Do you intend to continue this fight, because I highly doubt you'd last much longer."
"Wh-what?!" Juvia exclaimed. "Does that mean…Wendy is already…"
Gajeel growled, coating his fist into iron. "You better be lying…"
"HA HA HA!" Argus laughed, spreading his arms out. "Why would we lie about something like that?! We're sorry, but we had no other option!"
The four mages gasp in shock, appearing furious at the revelation. They prepare for battle, but sense a newcomer making their way towards the scene.
"Well now…you all took care of that much more quickly than I thought." Jellal praised, stopping in between the mages and angels. "It's not time for despair yet, as we still have hope." He reveals, glancing at Gajeel and the rest.
"...You really intend to continue? Haven't you taken enough from us?" Arya scolds, the hand holding the smoke pipe beginning to shake.
Jellal then turns his attention towards the Tenhei. "If you and your ruler appreciate the world's beauty, then why do you insist on staying in an isolated space away from the world?"
"You make it sound easy to move house there, bud." Argus huffed.
"Indeed, Exahelm hath been standing for years upon years. Why does thou think that will change now?" Balrus argued.
Jellal sighed. "The world is a constantly changing place. You can't base your viewpoints on it when none of you have even experienced it."
"Tch! Haven't experienced it huh?!" Arya snapped her smoke pipe before gesturing her arm behind her, showing the wreckage. "I say we've experienced *plenty* of what the rest of the world offers!"
"You still going on about acting like the victim in all of this?!" Gajeel sneered. Jellal lifted an arm and blocked Gajeel from getting any closer, to the iron dragon slayer's confusion.
Arya brushed her hair and glared at the group. "We have no time to argue, we still got a score to finish with you all." She challenged.
Torian stuttered in place, scratching his head. "Uh…you sure about this, guys?" He warned.
Jellal lowered his arm and head. He took a deep breath. "...Very well." He lifted his head and opened his eyes. He proceeds to clench both his fists, focusing on the angels. "If you insist on settling this conflict…then I'll take all of you on myself." He gets in a battle stance, to the shock of his allies.
"H-hold on!" Sting exclaims. "There's no way you can take them on by yourself!"
"Indeed. You're being unnecessarily reckless." Rogue criticizes.
"Yeah! We got a score to settle to! These punks messed with *our* guild!" Gajeel growled.
"A large-scale fight could potentially cause more damage to the structure around here." Jellal points out, not looking back at his allies. "Besides, I'll be needing your energy for something else."
Argus coats his right fist into steel with spikes poking out. "HA! You got a lot of guts there! Even I can tell you're pretty injured!"
Balrus slams his fists together, channeling his magic. "If thou intend to make a mockery…we shalt not stand for it!"
Arya begins to chuckle, crossing one of her arms and pointing two fingers. "We are still Tenhei, don't look down on our power. We've been chosen to protect our home and future!" She swings her arm, pointing her fingers directly at Jellal. "Jet Stinger!" She shoots out a beam in the shape of an arrow directly at the blue haired mage.
To their shock, Jellal completely vanishes from their sight. Before the angels could even attempt to look for him, they sense a powerful presence right about them.
Jellal, coated in his Meteor spell, prepares to land a kicking blow. Arya quickly notices this and yells out. "Scatter!"
The four angels all leap away right when Jellal slams his leg down. Arya manages to barely touch Jellal's leg before backing off. The angels spread their wings and took off in the air.
"What was that speed?!" Torian gawked.
Arya placed a finger on her head and activated her Intellect. She widened her eyes after discovering something. "This guy…he shares similar magic to Hahlos!"
Jellal quickly reorientated himself and pointed two fingers above him. "Pleiades!" He casts six rays of light, scattering and aiming towards the angels.
While most of them manage to dodge the attacks, Argus coats his entire body in steel and takes the hit. He emerges from the smoke and rockets towards Jellal, smiling widely. "Heh! Guess the world is bigger than we thought! That ain't gonna stop me!" Argus proceeds to crash where Jellal was standing.
However, Jellal manages to block Argus' steel body with a Hexagon Barrier. Without flinching, Jellal lifts two fingers up and summons a rock pillar from below, striking Argus' gut. He proceeds to use his telekinesis to push the angel back, knocking him down.
"Argus!" Torian panicked.
Balrus slams his fists together. "Stone-Make! Bunker!" He melds several stone walls surrounding Jellal, trapping him inside. He proceeds to meld a stone hammer and prepares to crush his opponent with it while inside.
Jellal proceeds to burst out of the bunker by kicking out of it. He dodges Balrus' swing and throws a kick towards his head, knocking him down where Argus laid.
Torian gasped in shock, witnessing two of his allies taken down so quickly. His shock didn't last long however, as Jellal zipped behind the slender angel and slammed both his fists on top of his head.
Jellal stretched out his fingers on his left hand. "You all still haven't fully recovered from your battles either…"
"Why you!" Arya shot, pointing both index fingers on her forehead. "Jellal Fernandes…Exahelm will not fall!" She proceeds to conjure several orbs of magic that surround her body. "Elemental Break!" The orbs shoot out various elements like fire, wind, ice and water.
Jellal activates his Meteor and swiftly dodges each attack. "Arc of Embodiment huh? I met a man who used that magic once…" He mumbled before stopping right in front of the female angel.
Arya gasped and quickly regained her composure by growling. She aimed a palm directly at Jellal's face. "Black Gale!" She summons furious black winds point blank. To her shock, Jellal had taken the attack as he emerged from the black winds.
Jellal retaliates by uppercutting the female angel, knocking her out of her spell. He zips right above her and throws a downward kick, sending her crashing back on the ground.
The four Tenhei all proceed to slowly pick themselves back up as Jellal lands back down. He watches them get back up, not showing any signs of backing out. Instead of continuing, Jellal suddenly drops his guard and slumps both arms.
Argus wipes his mouth while chuckling. "Ya think you can take us down that quickly?"
"We'll keep fighting...We won't let you take this country, like how you took the rest of the world!" Arya scowled.
Jellal stares at the four angels. He watches them shakily approach the mage, clearly noting their previous injuries and fatigue. He lowers his head and sighs. "What kind of future…do you intend to protect?" He asks.
"A future…where Exahelm maintains its peace." Balrus answers.
"I fail to see the peace…in a country with no freedom." Jellal retorts.
"What do you know, huh?!" Argus badgered.
"Do you intend to keep on living in isolation? There's a free world, full of life." Jellal lectures, slowly approaching the angels. "This land is nothing more but built entirely out of fear! The world is constantly changing, while this one continues to be still!"
Torian widened his eyes. He lowered his head, recalling how Juvia quickly changed from his enemy to a brief ally in a blink of an eye.
Arya glares at Jellal. "A free world doesn't make a peaceful world…Do you honestly believe we can adapt in an entirely new world?!"
"You are a living being. You are capable of adapting to new lands!" Jellal answered, blood slowly dripping from his mouth due to his injuries and magic usage. "Just like how we were able to adapt up here!"
Arya paused, clenching her teeth as she was unable to find a response. Jellal proceeds to grip the angel's collar and stares at her in the eye.
"Protect this country…by freeing it and its people! That includes yourselves!" Jellal shouts.
Arya gives a shaky breath, unsure how to feel about Jellal's words. He releases the female angel and begins to return to the rest of his group. The four Tenhei members ponder what just occurred.
Jellal dusts himself off and wipes his mouth. He returns to Gajeel and the others. "Apologies for the wait." He apologies.
"That was quite a speech." Rogue praised. "But what do we intend to do now?"
"Think it may be best to regroup with the rest?" Sting wondered.
"No." Jellal denied, glancing at the castle. "Carla and Chelia are currently in a safe area…while the rest are inside the castle, facing off against Exahelm's god as we speak."
"Gray and the others…they're fighting their ruler?!" Juvia exclaimed. "Juvia recommends assisting them then!"
Gajeel nods. "Yeah. We ain't just gonna stand around and wait till they're done."
"It's like I said earlier, I'm going to be needing your assistance. Our mission may only involve the rescue of Wendy…but there is still the matter of preventing the collapse of this country." Jellal explained. He proceeds to, once again, stare off towards the direction of the castle. "Besides…I highly doubt the rest would want our assistance."
Gajeel, Juvia, Sting and Rogue didn't show any change of emotion. They followed Jellal's gaze and stared off towards the castle. Jellal was prompted to continue.
"I saw it in Natsu's and Erza's eyes. Only *they* can handle Izanagi."
~~~Author's Notes~~~
You may notice that this is very similar to Jellal VS Oracion Seis. That's mainly because that's the last cool thing Jellal does. Poor guy has been done dirty after that point.