A/N: Episode 244.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN: FRIENDS FOREVER

The wind harshly blew around Wendy as she stood up. Orion was able to stand up as Carla teared up. "Dragon... Force..." She thinks to herself.

"What the hell is this?!" Ezel exclaimed.

"I can hear the voices of the wind... I sense the pulse of the air... Right now I control... this space!" Wendy thought.

Wendy leaps up into the air at lightning speed. "Gone?!" Ezel said.

Wendy charged forward as she sent a punch towards Ezel. "Stripling!" He shouted as Spectre appeared behind him, sending a punch to his back.

The impact caused him to get sent flying, causing an explosion. Wendy landed on her feet as Spectre appeared next to her. Ezel appeared from the rubble.

"Now I'm having fun!" Ezel claimed, charging forward. Carla and Raden both looked at the countdown, which showed that they had 4 minutes remaining until Face activated.

"Crumble into nothingness! Five Peerless Swords!" A blue light soon appeared. "Ogre Circle!"

It slashed at the ground as both Wendy and Spectre moved at high speed, avoiding the attack. "You're naive! Rosary Circle!" Ezel shouted.

Spectre teleports to Ezel and moves around rapidly, hitting Ezel from all directions. Wendy kicked him as both her and Spectre were sent to the ground.

"Wendy... There's no time..." Carla informed.

"I know! I'm going to finish this now!" Wendy said as winds gathered in her hands.

A wind barrier soon surrounded Ezel. "What is this?!" He questioned. "Wind?!"

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art!" Wendy shouted out. "Shattering Light: Sky Drill!"

A blast of wind headed straight for Ezel. "My Curse blade cuts through everything! Curse Blade! Crescent Moon!" Ezel shouted, slicing through the wind as Wendy was sent flying back.

"Wendy!" Carla called out.

Ezel laughed as his hands turned into blades. "Slashing Mode!" He said. "My Curse Blade will become even more sharp!"

Face now had 3 minutes until it was activated. "Wendy! The time!" Carla exclaimed as Face began to power up.

Ezel laughed as he slashed at both Wendy and Orion. "I..." Wendy skidded on the ground. "...control... this space!"

Wind began to pick up around Ezel once more. "It's pointless! My Curse Blade can cut through anything..." Ezel said.

"More! Gather more wind!" Wendy told herself as Ezel continued to slash at the wind but it kept gathering.

"What?!"

"One gust after another... The wind is clinging to me!" Ezel noticed.

"All I'm asking is for a little bit..." A green glow appeared from Wendy's hand. "Give me a little bit of the power..."

Ezel slashed at the wind and charged forward. "Wendy!" Carla yelled.

"...like Natsu-san has!" Wendy finished her thought.

She extended her hands forward and caught Ezel's blade as she shattered it, sending Ezel through Face and destroying it in the process.

Wendy's Dragon Force soon deactivated as she looked relieved. "I did it!" She said.

However, that relief was cut short when the countdown continued to go down. "Why...?" Orion questioned.

"Even though Face is destroyed, the countdown isn't stopping!" Carla realized as Wendy fell towards the ground. However, Orion caught her before she collapsed.

"Huh? My body..." Wendy mumbled.

Smoke soon rose up from the cavern as Face was now at 2 minutes.

"It's not supposed to be like this..." Orion muttered, a bright white light appearing from the cavern.

Natsu was still facing off against Franmalth, who cackled. "He absorbed Natsu's Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"What the heck is he?!" Sebastian wondered.

"No matter what kind of attack you hit me with, I'll absorb the soul of the Magic!" Franmalth said.

"Then I'll kick your ass with more power than you can absorb!" Natsu claimed.

"Interesting! How much is that Magic soul worth? How much?" Franmalth asked.

"This was a previous foe you fought in the past? He doesn't seem like much." Sebastian commented.

"I don't remember Hades being anything like this." Lucy admitted.

"He was our enemy, but this really tarnishes his image." Happy added.

The Cube suddenly shook. "What's this?!" Natsu questioned as the violent shake sent Lucy, Sebastian, and Happy against the wall.

"It seems you're too late. The age of Magic has come to an end." Franmalth claimed.

Wendy was sobbing. "I'm sorry..." She apologized.

The shaking also gained the attention of the others. "What's causing these tremors?!" Makarov wondered.

Happy fell onto the ground. "What is this?!" Lucy questioned.

"It's in response to Face!" Franmalth answered.

"Dammit!" Natsu cursed.

"You probably have about three more minutes. Then Magic will disappear from the entire continent!" Franmalth informed.

"In three minutes?!" Sebastian quoted.

"Magic is going to disappear?!" Happy exclaimed.

"How much is the worth of a wizard without Magic? How much?" Franmalth asked.

Seilah threw her books at Mira. "This is a true demon..." Mira said to herself.

Lisanna was watching the battle from afar. "She and Mira-nee are evenly-matched?!" She questioned as Lummy latched onto her back.

"I'm your opponent!" Lummy laughed weirdly.

"What's with this one?!" Lisanna wondered.

"A cute face and cat ears! Who are you, the belle of the ball?!" Lummy asked.

"Huh?"

Erza continued slashing at Kyoka as Erza felt the tremble. "Has it begun?" Kyoka asked herself.

"Say goodbye, humans..."

"Porlyusica and the others are under attack?!" Makarov said.

"Don't let them gain ground!"

"Protect Laxus and the others!"

"Understood. You guys take care of this. But don't forget to also look for the guy who has anti-Magic particles. I'm going back to help them!" Makarov informed as he rushed off.

"There are more of the enemy than I thought! If Face goes off now, we won't have a chance at winning!" Makarov noted.

"Wendy..." Lucy thought.

"Orion..." Sebastian thinks to himself in worry. "I had a bad feeling wash over me just now..."

Ezel was knocked out. "We weren't in time." Orion stated.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry!" Wendy kept apologizing.

Carla carefully stood up. "There's still a way... to stop it." She informed as an image of her future self appeared in her mind. "Right now, Face is absorbing a vast amount of Ethernanos. If that energy can be converted to another kind, and a self-destruction Magic ring can be activated, Face should blow up."

"Where did you learn that?" Wendy asked.

"The future... My clairvoyance... The vision of a future in which Face didn't go off... No, more accurately, I searched for it. From the various possible futures, I tracked down a future in which Face didn't go off." Carla explained.

"Amazing..." Orion praised.

Carla stopped in front of Face. "Certainly, my future self set the Magic ring in motion like this..." She said.

"Carla, you really are incredible..." Wendy spoke in awe.

"I enter the characters like this..." Carla began pressing a few buttons before she closed her eyes. "I'm ready to transform the energy."

"Then we can..."

"It stops there. The rest of that future is a blank. There's nothing..." Carla said.

"What does that mean?" Wendy questioned.

Carla looks at her. "Don't get the wrong idea. Face gets stopped. If I touch these characters..."

"Then..."

"If I touch it, Face will self-destruct. In other words... we'll go up with it." Carla said.

"I do believe... we'd be able to live without Magic. Like Edolas, remember?" Carla reminded.

Wendy struggled to sit up in Orion's arms. "We can't... Not while everyone is in the middle of battle... If Magic suddenly disappeared now..."

"You're right. Wendy, I can't estimate... or foresee... the blast radius. Get as far away from here as possible. I'll do this." Carla said.

"What are you talking about, Carla?! Forget it!" Wendy protested. She tried rushing forward but collapsed once more.

"Wendy!" Orion shouted in concern.

"Please! Live! Wendy..." Carla said.

"No! I won't leave you alone, Carla!" Wendy argued.

"Get out of here right now! I can't activate this until you do!" Carla shouted.

"No!" Wendy slammed her fist on the ground. "We've always been together!"

Orion glanced at Face, seeing it had 2 minutes left.

"Raden, you still have energy to fly, right?" Orion asked, grabbing Wendy, Carla, and Raden's attention.

"Yes. With my Battle Form, I should be able to carry two people." Raden replied.

Orion nodded. "Good. Grab Wendy and Carla and bolt out of here." He ordered.

"Did you not here what I said? I can only carry two people! One will get left behind!" Raden argued. However, his eyes widened in realization as well as Wendy and Carla's. "Orion, don't tell me you're thinking of-"

Orion sighed as he stood up to walk towards Face, which had only 1 minute left until activation. "I won't let it end like this. Tell Seb I'm sorry." He said.

"Orion-san, you can't!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Sorry, but Aster wouldn't forgive me if something happened to you and I could prevent it." Orion claimed. "Go, Raden!"

Raden gritted his teeth, looking like he was going to protest. He changed into his Battle Form before grabbing onto Wendy and Carla, flying into the air.

"Raden, let us go!" Wendy shouted.

"I'm sorry, Wendy. But this is Orion's wish." Raden said, on the verge of tears.

Orion watched Raden fly out of the cavern with Wendy and Carla in tow. A white beam shot up from the cavern and into the air.

Orion looked back at the button. "Guess this is it. I just press this..." He said to himself as memories flashed through his mind, his training with Hyperion, and when he first arrived at Black Sun.

A younger Orion was walking through Bridgehollow, a town that he was passing through during his travels. He suddenly heard some nearby townspeople talking.

"Hey, did you hear about that new wizard guild, Black Sun?"

"They set their base on that small island, right?"

"Yeah. They only got the Master and a Dragon Slayer. But something tells me they're going to be huge in the near future."

"A wizard guild?" Orion mumbled before looking up at the sky. "Hyperion did send me down here to live my own life. Joining a wizard guild doesn't sound too bad."

Orion then thought of the Assembly of Ash members.

"Another job well done!" Sebastian exclaimed as the Assembly of Ash members were returning to Bridgehollow from another mission Souta had sent them on.

"'Another job well done,' my ass!" Massorao mocked.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that Massorao!" Sebastian told him. "We still got paid, didn't we?"

"That's not the issue here! You nearly burned the entire town down!"

"This is Sebastian we're talking about, are you really that surprised?" Nox questioned as Maxim grunted in agreement.

"That's cruel, Nox!"

"I'm sorry the truth hurts."

"You're not actually sorry, are you?"

"Not at all."

Sebastian yelped as Orion smiled. "What's got you smiling, Orion-san?" Aster asked.

"Huh? I was smiling?" Orion questioned.

Orion smiled sadly. "I've lived a good life. I have no regrets." He told himself. "Seb... I hope you'll be able to forgive me."

Orion soon pressed the self-destruct button before it exploded into a ball of light.

Doranbolt soon teleported away, supporting an unconscious Orion as Raden sets both Wendy and Carla down, transforming back into his Exceed form.

"Orion-san!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Made it in time." Doranbolt sighed in relief. "He really is reckless. I never thought he'd be the one to destroy Face."

Raden sighed. "Yeah. That's Orion for you." He agreed.

A/N: Yes, I had Orion destroy Face instead of Wendy and Carla. It wouldn't have made sense if those two did it while Orion was just standing there.

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.