Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail. Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned something like that?
Beta Reader: volfwildman
Cover Art by KegiSpringfield
I let out a little hum as I put on my usual outfit. Currently, I stood in a hotel room in the Gold Ocean Hotel. One of the best hotels at Akane Beach. It had been two days since Erza got invited and we all made our way here after Mom had said she saw no problems with her children going on a little vacation.
I was still rather suspicious of the entire thing. If I remember right it was Loke that gave the team the tickets for the resort, but for some reason, Erza had gotten them for free all for some free advertising. It wasn't unheard of for a place to invite famous mages to help the popularity of said place up which was why none of my siblings saw the trip as weird. In the end, though I decided to simply just let things happen and intervene where I could.
I stopped my rather dull humming as I straightened up my tie and looked at my reflection. I hadn't changed too much over the years other than just the general age I looked. At this point, I looked like a standard man in his twenties, basically a young-looking adult but with some age starting to pile on. I took a moment to scratch my soul patch and contemplate growing a goatee or something when I heard a knock at the door.
"Hey, Bish! We're heading to the casino! Get out here and spend some time being social." The voice was that of Cana who sounded very excited to go to a place where she could gamble all her money away.
"I'm coming just give me a second." I replied with an annoyed tone as I neatened up my hair for a few seconds and made my way out.
Upon leaving my room I saw everyone else standing in the hallway waiting for me. They were all dressed up in their normal attire besides Erza who had decided to get a bit fancy and put on a very nice red dress. With little small talk, we made our way to the rather large casino which was one of the main attractions of the resort. Cana was all but drooling as she stared at the palace and I had to elbow her to get her to stop as we were getting looks from the people around us.
"Hey, Luce lets try some of the slot machines." I saw Lucy smile and nod at Gray's words as the two went off on their own. Natsu also headed off with Happy to hopefully not cause too much trouble. I was just about to back off into the background and ignore all the shiny attempts to steal my money when Cana forcibly grabbed my arm.
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere! You're going to be having fun with me and Erza." I opened my mouth to protest but Cana was already dragging me to a roulette wheel with Erza following close behind.
For the next few hours, I mainly just stood by and watched as Cana lost more and more of her money. Erza also played a few games but was doing better than her older sister and was actually making money, much to Cana's visible annoyance. I had also played a game or two and lost some jewels that I didn't need but for the most part, I just was moral support for the two.
Currently, Cana and Erza were playing some poker with a few others. Erza was getting lucky and as a result, had a rather large amount of chips before here. Something that Cana was not happy about.
"Dammit! How are you getting this lucky!? I know you're a decent player, I made sure of that, but you're beating me and everyone else black and blue!" A few other players were nodding along with Cana's words. During this, I notice that the dealer got a message from one of the servers and as a result walked off as another dealer took his place, one that had too much magic to be a normal person.
My eyes slightly narrow as I realize what's about to happen.
(3rd Person POV)
The other annoyed poker players had just got done complaining to Erza as the new dealer dealt out five new cards upside down. Once the players realized that a new round was about to be played they shut up and got ready for cards to come their way.
Which was why they were confused when instead of getting some cards they dealer flipped over the five he had placed on the table. Instead of your regular poker cards, each card had a letter on it that spelled out 'Death'. As everyone at the table looked at each over in confusion the dealer leaned over the table and looked right at Erza. Upon seeing this the Requip mage took a closer look at the man as her eyes widened when she started to recognize him.
"Hello, Big Sister." Said Sho
The man was tanned with wild blonde hair. Currently, he was wearing a standard dealer's waistcoat. Other than this he had a long earring with a diamond attached to his left ear and a tattoo of a fancy looking five on his jaw.
"S-Sho!?" Erza stood up as she stared in shock at her childhood friend. Cana upon seeing this stood up as well and Bishop stepped to his sister's side but before either of them could ask who this was a loud explosion was heard from the other side of the casino.
The explosion caused the three Fairy Tail mage to look back for a second, during this time darkness seemed to rapidly flow into the room and cover everyone's sight. The darkness snapped Erza out of her stupor and in a flash she was wearing her standard armor with a double-edged sword ready in her hands.
"Oh come now Big Sister! His a sword anyway to greet your old family? We came all this way to see you. Wally, Millianna, Simon, and I." Upon hearing Sho's words Erza's eyes once more widened as she heard each of the names that the blond said. She was just about to respond back when out of nowhere a polygon hand appeared beside her with the pointer finger pointed at her like a gun.
"Poly Shot"
Before Erza could react the finger turned into a gun barrel and shot a powerful ball of magic at the Fairy Tail mage. Once the ball impacted her it exploded and caused the women to get thrown back into a nearby wall as the explosion cleared the room a bit of the darkness. Erza stood up and took a moment to shake the dizziness from her head before she looked and saw the people in front of her.
"W-Wally, Simon, and Millianna!?" Before Erza stood Sho along with three new people.
The first was a man that looked like he belonged in an eight-bit game. His entire body was made with cubes of some kind. He also was a very mafia looking black suit with a white scarf around his neck and a boater hat. Even his face gave off an old tiny mafia looking fill with narrow sunglasses and his oddly shaped chin that had grey on it to implied facial fuzz. This was Wally.
Beside Wally stood a girl with cat-like features. Her mouth, eyes, and nose looked like a cat's and the very real looking cat ears that stood on top of her head helped. She wore a very small pink and white dress with blue cat paws on the midsection. On top of the dress, she wore a yellow with black lines jacket and had a collar with a bell on it to finish the outfit. This was Millianna.
And finally, a tall man stood behind all of them with his arms crossed and a hardened expression on his face. He had on a black robe that covered his lower half and the left half of his upper body, leaving his well-muscled body exposed on his right half. He had a blue and white sash with double-edged ax symbols lining the center of it over his left shoulder. He had an iron jaw, an eye patch on his left eye, and a white turban on his head. This was Simon.
Before Erza stood her old family.
"Hey, Big Sis!" Shout Millianna with glee at seeing her long lost family member.
"Been a long time hasn't it?" Said Wally in what he thought to be a cool and smooth way.
Simon said nothing, simply standing with his arms crossed as he stared at Erza with an unfeeling face.
The darkness that once enveloped the room disappeared and revealed the site before the Fairy Tail mage. Dozens upon dozens of cards lay on the floor with little people in them, all shouting and begging to be let out. She saw Gray and Lucy struggling against some kind of binding that prevented them from using magic. Cana groans from her place on the floor as she had been punched several times in the stomach and head by one of Erza's old family and was currently fighting the encroaching darkness in her vision. Bishop lay silent on the floor next to her, completely knocked out. Natsu was nowhere to be seen but his voice was heard with shouts from the distance.
"Wally you look...what happened!?" Shout Erza has her mind raced to comprehend the sight before her.
"Hehe well you see Sis I and the others learned some magic while you were gone. Mine allowed me to ...alter my appearance." Said Wally with a grin as his right arm disassembled and reassembled itself like it was nothing.
"But...Why are you here!?" Erza shouted.
This time it was Sho to answer but he did so with a nasty sneer. "You abandoned us before Big Sis. But Jellal stayed and helped better us. He gave us a purpose and we worked toward that purpose. We stayed at the tower and continued building it so we could use it. And now it's done."
Sho paused as he allowed the other to glare at the family member who had abandoned them. After a few seconds though his snarl turned into a smile, "But we forgive you, Big Sis. That's why we're here, to take you back and let you be with us once more...at least until you're sacrificed to activate the Tower of Heaven."
Erza eyes widened at her old family before hardening her expression and pointing a sword at them. "I don't know what Jellal told you but he's lying. He's the reason I left without you all and I'm not going to allow this little scheme of his to go on. Please stop."
For a second Sho faltered, so did Wally and Millianna but they stood their ground as the tanned blond spoke once more. "I had hoped you would come to willing Sis. To show remorse for what you've done but if that isn't the case then you force my hand."
With a flex of his hand, a card appeared in Sho's hand. Then just as quickly as it appeared it flew towards Erza who without missing a beat slashed at it. But the second that her blade touched the card there was an explosion of gold light. Once the shining light had cleared the card was back in Sho's had with a shocked and terrified Erza in it.
"Sorry Big Sister, I specially made this card to hold you. You're not getting out of it. Come on guys, we got what we came here for let's go. By the way, good working with the invitation Wally." Said Sho as he turned to his polygon friend.
Wally smiled at the praise before holding up a finger to speak. "You're sure we got to leave? The Pinkie that I dealt with had a cat with him but it got away before I could catch it. I'm sure Millianna would love it."
Millianna gained a hopeful and excited look in her eyes but before she could speak Sho shook his head. "No, we got to head out before it's too late sorry Millianna."
Said cat girl pouted and muttered out some words out Sho being a meanie. Wally just simply chuckled and Simon let out a grunt before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a rare teleportation lacrima. In a flash, the group was gone.
Just a few seconds later Natsu came running into the room with a bit of debris on his clothes from the pile that Wally had buried him under. "Shit don't tell me they're gone!"
Upon looking around the room the pink head spotted Lucy and Gray and freed them. At the same time, Cana was finally able to fight off unconsciousness and stand up. Once Gray's mouth was free of the rather tight binding he spoke, "They took Erza! We got to hurry after them and get her back!"
Not a second after Gray said that someone else spoke. "Calm down Gray, Erza is fine."
The area around the room shimmered and waved and soon reality was different. Bishop was no longer laying on the floor but instead standing.
And standing beside him was Erza.
After taking a moment to let his little siblings look at him and Erza in shock Bishop turned to his redheaded sister and spoke in an older sibling tone. "Erza what's going on?"
Erza stood in shock. She wasn't sure what happened, one moment she was talking to her old family then Sho throws a card in the wrong direction and then in a flash the card was back in his had with another her.
Her confusion didn't last long though as she noticed her family staring at her with concerned looks. She let out a sigh after a moment before turning to look at Bishop who was still staring at her with an expecting looking on his face. "I…I never told you all what happened to me before Fairy Tail did I?"
Gray was the one to answer, "You said you lived in a village that got raided then afterward you met one of Master Makarov's old friends who told you to head to Fairy Tail. Or at least that's what you told us. Did... did you lie to us?"
Erza's eyes widened a little as she hastily shook her head. "No! It's true but...I left out some details that I...hoped I would never see brought up again."
Erza paused to steady herself and once more looked at her family. Her family that deserved the truth. "The village I lived at did get raided when I was little. After the attack, I and other survivors were brought to an island where we were forced to build a tower. The...Tower of Heaven. From what I heard it was supposed to be able to bring someone back to life once it was completed and the guys that had us building it were of the Cult of Zeref and wanted to bring him back."
Erza stopped talking for a moment as memories she had long repressed flew through her mind but she refused to shed any tears and once more started talking. "There I meet the people who just attacked us. Sho, Millianna, Wally, and Simon. There were others like Rob, Master's old friend, and...Jellal. We were a family I guess, we didn't have anyone else but we had each other. But one day everything changed."
"I angered the guards and they tortured me as a result, they're the reason why I lost my eye. After I was brought back Jellal attacked one of the guards and was in turn taken to be tortured. I had enough of it and was able to incite a revolt to help my friend and free ever one. But when some of the guards tried to stop us...Grandpa Rob gave his life for me." Erza paused once more to fight back the tears that desperately wanted to leave her eyes. Everyone else was staring in shock, sadness, and anger. All but Bishop who emotionlessly looked at Erza.
"I...I...I broke after that. In my rage, I ended up using magic to defeat the guards and got Jellal back. The slaves, my old family, and I were free. We were just about to leave when Jellal...he was different now. Darker is the best way to describe it. He killed some of the guards and started talking about how there was no freedom in this world and that we would only find freedom if we brought Zeref back. He offered me a place by his side as they built the tower but I refused. He got angry and yelled at me before telling me to leave and never tell anyone about the tower or else….or else he would kill everyone."
Everyone stood in silence as they took in Erza's words. This silence lasts a minute before the redhead spoke again. "After that, I made my way to Fairy Tail. I joined, meet Mom, and found a new family. You guys know the rest."
After a few more seconds of silence Bishop spoke up. "Thank you for telling us Erza. Now then we should tell the local Rune Knights about thi-"
"NO!" Shouted Erza, "This...this is my problem and no one else's. I'll go to the island and fix the problem I left behind."
With those words said Erza made to head out of the building but didn't make it far before Cana got a hold of her arm. The Requip mage turned around to yell at her sister but upon seeing the utterly serious look on the Card mage's face her words died in her throat. "If you think we're letting you go to that island alone then you got another thing coming. You're my little sister and I'm going to be there every step of the way."
Before Erza could protest Natsu spoke up. "YA! I'm not letting my favorite sister go to that hell alone."
"I'm with Bro on this. You're not going there without us." Gray said as Lucy nodded determinedly at his words.
Erza was speechless as she stared too and from her siblings before her eyes settled on her biggest brother. Bishop stood impassively as he looked towards his sister. Eventually, he let out an annoyed sigh and spoke. "I would very much rather we leave this to the proper authorities but if you're going to run out towards the island then I'm not going to just stand here. We're a family and were going with you."
Erza swallowed some saliva that had been building up in her mouth as she looked down for a moment as she processed their words. Eventually, her head came back up with a smile and tears running down her face. "T-thank you. I'm sorry that I dragged you all into this but...thank you for helping me."
Cana just raised an eyebrow at her sister before a sharp grin found its way onto her face. "Were family. It's what we do."
(Tower of Heaven 3rd Person POV)
Jellal waited impatiently on his throne. His fingers were at this point rapidly tapping the armrest of the grand throne he sat on as he waited. Soon his plans would come to fruition. For so many years he built the tower, first as a slave than as a master.
He had promised the others that Zeref would bring them freedom and the blue-haired man truly believed this. He gave the slaves a new purpose, a promise of freedom the likes of which they had never known. Where they had been forced to work before now they worked with pleasure. And the results spoke for themselves.
The Tower of Heaven now stood completed.
A mighty and wondrous devious. One that would reach up to the heavens and take back what once belonged to this world. It could bring the dead back.
It was not easy. The tower required enough magic to easily destroy a city and even that was not enough. For life to be reborn another must be ended. A life that holds great power and magic.
The first was soon to be attained. Jellal's 'Twin' Siegfried would convince the council to fire the Etherion, one of two great weapons that the magic council of Foire held. A massive array of permanent magic seals that would fire an insanely concentrated beam of pure magic at a target from high in the sky, reducing anything within range to dust. It, along with all the magic that the tower had gathered over the years, would be enough.
And the second, the sacrifice would soon be here. Erza Vern-Scarlet, the Fairy Queen. Jellal smiled cruelly at the thought of his old friend. She would make the perfect sacrifice for Zeref and the thought of using her, the fool that denied his hand and sought false freedom, to obtain everyone's and most importantly his freedom.
The thought made Jellal smile so much it became painful.
"Are you alright sir?" Said a voice from Jellal's left. There standing in simple white clothing was Vidaldus Taka, a member of Trinity Raven. A group of assassins that Jellal had hired as a just in case for his plans. The other two members of the group were hidden right now but Vidaldus was chosen to act as Jella's attendant. Of course, he had to have a...makeover before he did but that didn't matter right.
Jellal waved dismissively at him, "It is fine, just simply excited to see my old friend."
Vidaldus nodded in a refined way that betrayed his true nature underneath. Before the assassin turned attendant could speak more he looked towards the small lacrima that was placed on a bracelet on his wrist. "It would appear you will be seeing her soon sir. The group had just captured her and is about to make their way back."
Jellal smiled but didn't say anything as he went back to waiting. He didn't wait long though as in a flash four people appeared before him. The blue harried man smiled warmly at them as he looked over them with his eyes, barley pausing at Simon before continuing. Jellal truly thought that his friend's little rebellion was rather funny, even more so that Simon thought Jellal didn't know about it.
"We got the traitor Big Brother. She's been quiet but then again I guess being trapped in a card can cause people to lose their voice." Sho said in a joking manner which caused Millianna and Wally to chuckle but Jellal's eyes only narrowed at the tan blond's words.
"Give her here." Jellal demanded rather forcefully much to Sho's surprise. After a moment the Card mage handed his friend the card. The blue-haired man looked at it as he stared at the silent and horrified Erza. Instantly he knew something wasn't right and pushed a rather large amount of magic into the card and soon the image of Ezra faded into nothingness much to the shock of the group of four.
Jellal snarled and turned his head to glare at slav-friends. His words were harsh and angry as he all but spit them out, "It was an illusion. I told you to beware of that damned Illusionist!"
The group was visibly panicking, even Simon, as Sho desperately tried to find the words to appease his friend. "B-but we took care of him! He was the first one we attacked when Simon used his magic. He was out cold!"
Jellal only becomes angrier as a dark aura appeared around him. "And you didn't check to make sure it was actually him and not a damn illusion! He played you all like the fools you are and now Erza and her 'family' know about us! They're going to upend all the work we put in to-"
"Sir," Interrupted Vidaldus, "You should probably see this."
Jellal's dark aura dropped as he turned to glare at Vidaldus but stopped when the man projected an image into the air. It showed a small magic-powered boat rapidly moving towards the island that the tower sat on. The boat was going so fast that it threatened to flip from the speed. The passengers of the boat all desperately clung onto it, trying their best to not be sent flying. All but one, the person driving has she wore a determined-looking expression.
Erza.
Jellal stared at the image for a few seconds before he let out a chuckle that soon turned into near-insane laughter. "HAHAHAHA! Those idiots! They're coming right towards us! Vidaldus drop the barrier around the island! Let our esteemed guest come!"
He got up from his throne as he stared at the image with a wide grin. Once the image faded he turned to look at his shocked friends before speaking in a more refined and friendlier tone.
"Come now my friends. Let's welcome our long lost sibling back home."
AN: Fairy Tail as got some weird-ass designed people. Erza's old friends took a good minute to look at before I could really put their appearances in words, like what the hell is Simon wearing and don't get me started on Wally. Of course, I got Trinity Raven to describe later wich is going to be fun. Anyway, this chapter is simply the beginning of the Tower of Heaven arc. It shouldn't be as long as the last one but still, be a good few chapters.
Thanks once again to volfwildman for being a Beta. This weekly shout out goes to Lordmaker, mainly because his review bring up something I should probably discuss. Romance with Bishop. I had no plans when I started this story for Bishop to get with anyone but after the rather large amount of curiosity about it ever since the beginning of the story, I decided to leave the option open. Still on the fence about it but the option is there if I feel like it.
You know you everyone hates? Jellal. I mean I don't really care about him but everyone fucking hates him. So clearly you don't want to be like Jellal. Do you know what Jellal would never do? Leave a review. So don't be a Jellal and leave a review. 'Sponsored by the national Hate Jellal club'
Have a great day.
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