Broken Fairies

by EnergyMageFrea

Light Magic has won over Dark in the battle to decide the Balance of the world, but shadow has never settled so thickly over the Fairy Tail Guild as it has now, and that darkness does not seem to want to leave. Is it possible, after all the evil and the pain suffered, lived through and triumphed over by the Guild- that Fairy Tail has finally broken? {Fourth Story in Series!}

26. Chapter 26- Burning

Chapter 26

Burning

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas

.:+:.

Weightless again... floating in emptiness, nothing but darkness on all sides, stretching into oblivion... and she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

... Am I... back in the Reach...? Back... even though...

... the Reach was so cold, icy... this... I'm not cold... I feel... like...

... I'm burning...

... but why... is it... so dark...?

This... doesn't smell like... the Reach... it's... why do I feel... like I'm...

... Falling...?

... did... Did I...?

... is that... where I am...?

...The Abyss...?

... Did I... Fall...?

... Is this what it is...? Nothingness... emptiness... forever falling... further and further...?

... not... feeling...? Not even... when I...? If I...

... I don't... I'm... no... my... body... I'm...

... I feel like I'm... on fire...

... falling... and burning...

... fall...in...g...

---

There was none of the marble flooring left, it had been stripped, leaving bare ancient stone that had stood there since the beginning, and not walked upon in more than an age. Air flowed freely through the now empty pillars and archways stuck along that flat, circular platform etched into the mountainside and acting a vestibule to the Door and Gateway that had been there far longer than even the whole of Adgnei... And now sat, shut and still outside the dull glow of Magic from the Runes and carvings along it's edges. What had been built of Okeal's tallest tower and attached to this solitary standing atop the mountainside, was crumbling quickly beneath the ledge it made up of the terrain, separating itself once more from the stairway and paths that had been built to allow human-kind to grow near it.

The Seleyn stood there before the Door, silent and unmoving, her red eyes fixed to the sheer and smooth cliff-face that gave no indication of ever splitting apart and allowing itself open. The wind kept up, harsh, cold and biting- but she did not feel it, nor hear it at all, or even the crash of the tower's pieces falling. She heard none of the outside world, nor cared to- her ears filled with thousands of voices and whispers, both bodiless and belonging to those faint, indiscernible figures pressed in on all sides around her, crowded and so close there was no room to shift- and yet they seemed an ocean, softly pulling and pushing, rippling like waves... And all of it, only for her own eyes.

To think she had never been drawn here before, never felt this many burning bright in a world they were not allowed form, never heard all these voices and countless of them so very, very old... How long she had never known... to realize now, so clearly, there had been so much she hadn't known.

How many years spent, chasing whispers and flailing with non-answers? With riddles and musings and guessing-games, and never getting anywhere close...?

How many years spent as little more than a pale imitation of what it was she was meant to be? Or meant to do? Could do..?

She blinked, her eyes flashing when among the many voices and words, warnings and information- there became one voice more clear than the rest, and she felt her heart speed up.

"... There is a way to fix it..." She breathed, her red eyes glittering wildly, before her neutral expression broke across by something terribly, and utterly somber, the voices continuing, and another repeating several times, low, even, and so utterly firm.

Jynx's eyes dropped closed, her head bowing slightly as she felt her heart twist, but she didn't... She knew she couldn't, and she wouldn't argue either.

She knew

Jynx looked up again, turning away from the Door and looking among that sea of movement all around her, her expression unreadable again, her red eyes growing hard.

"Do not let them leave the city." She ordered lowly, "And contain the Pathways as much as possible, I will repair and close them as quickly as I can."

They moved, bits of color and distorted bodies sweeping up in sudden motion, voices rising in tandem with one another and pressure too- energy and power and motion all so tangible, and from things that- to this world- were all so intangible... Or usually should have been.

"... Yes... Yes... Seleyn... We will stop them... Hurry... So many have gotten out... Yes..."

Jynx looked out passed the edge of the space and toward the city far below, the glow of fire and Magic a constant theme against a very dark and still stormy night sky.

"... Send them back, Seleyn... Fix what the Black God started... Mend the balance he left broken... "

Jynx's shoulders sagged slightly, her eyes flashing.

"... Render judgment..."

---

She was falling

They felt their hearts leap and drop all at once, their eyes widening as they saw something break free of the cloud of dust and destruction swirling around the crumbling tower, something smaller than the large sections of building crumbling off- and though they were a fair distance away still, they knew in an instant what it was. Who it was, falling quickly toward the earth and entirely at the behest of gravity.

"S-shit..!"

"Go!" Shae ordered in an instant, already back in her Exceed form and Aera coming to life as she lifted off in air, the Thunder Legion not a heartbeat behind her. "Watch yourselves, flying over the castle will trigger some of the airborn defenses! I'll do my best to ward them off for you, but be wary of them! I can't get them all!" Shae warned, the four of them already up in air and passed the supports of the now empty glass roof.

"Get back down into the building as quickly as you can, if we stay in air too long we are screwed!"

The reaction to them in air was near immediate, and they hadn't pulled above the building any more than a few dozen feet before they heard several alarms go off below them, and were quickly followed by the sound of some sort of weapon firing.

They glanced between each other for little more than a moment before Freed and Bixlow pulled ahead, Shae and Evergreen pulling up and immediately whirling about in air and ready to face the attacks hurtling their way. The Guard on Shae's wrist came to life and the gold-white glow of Evergreen's Magic burned bright against the still utterly stormy sky hanging over their heads.

There was a loud boom and sound of things breaking apart behind Freed and Bixlow, aware that both girls were doing their best to ward off whatever attacks intended them harm- but neither of them looked back, not right then.

They had no time to hesitate or falter, they had to keep forward as fast as they possibly could, because every second they were climbing in air was a second she was falling faster and faster. And they had to reach her quickly enough to be able to move amongst all the other debris storming around her, and catch and save her from a fall that would without a doubt kill her.

Shit... Was she even awake? Even..?

She was limp in air and entirely quiet, and she didn't seem to move at all from what fleeting glances they were allowed of her in the middle of all the rest of the destruction and rubble falling. It might have even been easy to miss her entirely among all of it, and from the distance they had been at, if not for the faint and unnatural red glow that encircled her form. And as they got closer they felt their hearts begin to sink, panic and fear rising as quickly as their heart rates were.

Oh no

There was another series of booms behind them, closer now as Evergreen and Shae did their best to keep up witht the two of them, while also warding off the projectiles sent toward them.

They reached the edge of the storm of destruction falling down, both Bixlow and Freed quickly weaving in and out of the large slabs of stone and whatever else, growling as more than once or twice they had to redirect their paths to avoid getting caught under the rubble and risk getting dragged down. And all the while so terribly aware that the ground wasn't very close given the height of the tower- but even then it was too close for comfort and they had to get to her, quickly.

Freed's sword cut cleanly through a large chunk of building that cut across his path, opting to destroy it rather than redirect- while Bixlow nimbly jumped from his Tiki Dolls and on to the falling debris itself using the scattered sections as stepping stones while his Dolls found their own path through the mess.

She was above them, falling quickly and closer with every second, and they saw specks of crimson seemingly falling upward... And there was something else in air near to her they hadn't seen until then, someone else.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Bixlow asked aloud, Freed grimaced.

There was someone else falling, a man with rust colored hair and covered in cuts and burns, his arms and hands bloody to the point his skin could scarcely be seen- and just like the Energy Dragon Slayer, the strange man was as still and unmoving as she was. Both of them completely unaware of what peril they were in or even that they were hurtling toward the earth.

"Watch it!"

The warning came near too late, both Bixlow and Freed stiffening as Evergreen's call got drowned out by the sound of something moving through the air so quickly it whined. Freed hissed, his heart skipping a beat as he started to turn and confront the blow coming for them, but halted when Bixlow jumped straight passed him, darting between the rocks and his Tiki Dolls streaming along beside him.

"I got this thing! Get her!" Bixlow yelled back at him, his eyes flashing under his visor as he glanced over his shoulder toward Freed for half a second, before jumping down further. Freed sheathed his sword once more and quickly moved the opposite direction.

"Alright babies, Baryon Formation!"

"Yes! Yes!"

The blast of Bixlow's Magic crashing against the bright-hot metal mortar that had been hurtling toward them was bigger than the ones that had been set off by Shae and Evergreen alike- and the wind and force churned up from it was powerful enough to buffet several of the pieces of falling debris, and shatter their edges. Freed hissed, his eyes narrowing against the wind and the dust both, but he never looked back, his attention locked ahead of him and up. The purple-black glow of his Magic in the form of wings behind him clashing against the muddy crimson glow he was headed straight toward, and the Energy Dragon Slayer enveloped inside of it.

He drew up just a little as he reached her, his arms moving forward quickly as he caught her bridal style, and felt his heart skip a beat at how much dead-weight she was for him in the minute he caught her. For a minute he almost faltered in air, quickly trying to regain himself and make sure he didn't lose his hold on her... On her and her motionless and near lifeless form.

There was a split second he saw the strange man falling through air pass his steady flight by, falling still for a few moments, before Bixlow reappeared and easily scooped the stranger up by not so gracefully slinging him over his shoulder- but it was better than falling to his death.

Freed gulped, grimacing as he held her closer, adjusting as much as he could (or would dare), his arms hooking under her knees and around her shoulders. His heart skipped a beat, worry and fear setting in deeper at just how hot her skin was against his own. It was almost like her skin was on fire... And it might have been close to that, given the terrible, jagged white-crimson marks running across her body, crawling over her flesh like hundreds of reaching, twisted branches- or more accurately the twisting edges and turns of electricity running through flesh and burning as it went.

The burns zigzagged across her body haphazardly, stretching from a starting point underneath the Collar around her neck and twisting down her shoulders and her arms, and even starting across her chest and down her back. Though the further the burns drew away from her neck, the shallower they seemed, though only just... And a lump fell into his stomach when his fingers pressed against some of the ones curling over her arms and he felt the heat sparking from the marks all the more intense than the warmth she was giving off in general.

He'd seen electricity and lightning leave marks like this before on their enemies, courtesy of Laxus usually- but never any this bad.

This was... He felt his heart stall for a minute, his eyes widening as a sharp and icy pang of terror struck him straight to the core.

Is she...? I don't know if-

"Freed man, we gotta go!" Bixlow's voice snapped him from his thoughts, his eyes darting up from looking at the Energy Dragon Slayer and quickly realizing his friend was right. He'd hesitated too long already, and he swallowed back the lump in his throat, holding the unmoving Dragon Slayer closer to him and silently apologizing for any sort of pain or discomfort his hold on her caused... And surely it would have, but there was no reaction from Frea at all, and that only made his stomach knot, the terror settling in deeper, colder.

Both Freed and Bixlow started down, angling back toward the earth and quickly doing their best to dodge back out of all the destruction still falling passed them and over their heads. They broke passed the cone of destruction raining down over their heads, intent on heading toward the nearest open portion of the palace for landing, but they immediately struggled to draw up in air near the instant they broke free of the field of destruction.

"Ah crap-!" Bixlow's voice cut off, panic racing through him and Freed as their attention immediately found a series of small, shining metal spheres headed straight toward them in a high-speed cluster... and surely sporting a more devastating amount of power than any of the single ones they had thus far encountered. And those had not been small blasts.

There was no time for either of them to try and block the attack nor retaliate, and little time to move anywhere in an attempt to dodge. Bixlow growled, a few of his Tiki Dolls moving to try and set up a barrier while Freed turned, holding Frea closer to him and doing his best to adjust enough the attack wouldn't hit her directly. Shae and Evergreen growled, whipping around once they realized they'd missed the newest attack and failed to keep it at bay like they meant to. They immediately moved, ready to try and race over and try and do something- but they never made it very far at all.

They all stiffened, Shae and the Thunder Legion alike, feeling the air shift suddenly around them and a sense of pressure suddenly igniting on the air that had not been there a few seconds beforehand. A pressure that was so heavy it was almost hard to breathe, and the air seemed to vibrate with it as their eyes quickly snapped toward the incoming attack and the sudden high-pitched noise that washed out over everything.

The incoming projectiles were rammed into by an invisible wall of force, the air rumbling as they instantly imploded on contact, the cloud of dust, smoke and debris outlining and unseen sphere that has suddenly leapt to life between Freed and Bixlow and the attack.

A small smirk managed its way onto Shae's face for the first time in awhile, her attention diverting from the sudden destruction and down toward the palace.

"Corr!" She purred brightly, her orange eyes locking with the icy blue of the young boy and fellow Twin Cougars member from where he stood below them amidst a small closed in interior garden, his hands raised to the air and huffing slightly as he let his Magic fade. The Thunder Legion blinked, entirely surprised at Corbynn's sudden appearance, and not entirely sure how-?

Another boom echoed as the next series of projectiles was sent out, only to be quickly dispatched in a series of explosions and clouds of glittering water and ice alike.

"Hurry the hell up and get over here!" Came a new voice, their eyes snapping toward where two more familiar faces were perched along the shackles of the roof above the boy. Their magic flared as both Gray and Juvia sent off a barrage of Magic that halted the next attack before it ever left the cannon on the roof they were being shot from.

There was no time to ask questions, the group of Shae and the Thunder Legion quickly dodged down in air and headed straight toward where their (unexpected, but appreciated) compatriots were. Bixlow drew ahead of Freed, while Shae came up behind him, Evergreen pulling up next to Freed's shoulder before they reached the small terrace where Corbynn stood. Evergren's eyes darted toward Frea in his arms and her face fell once she finally got a good look at the Dragon Slayer.

She saw the burns and the terribly pale color of her skin outside of them, the dark bruising and cuts worn into her wrists and arms where bonds of some sort must have been, and then to the stain of crimson across the bandages around her stomach, and the fresh crimson dripping passed the edge of the Energy Dragon Slayer's lips. The Collar around her neck was blackened where a Lacrima stone seemed mostly fractured than whole, and the burns stretching underneath it were worse than all the rest- and all manner of other small cuts and bruises and damage littering her limp body that were so much more than could be counted- and so much more than any of them would have feared.

"S-shit...!" Evergreen hissed under her breath, paling slightly as her eyes flashed. Freed swallowed, his eyes narrowing though he didn't give Evergreen a spare glance, his eyes locked on to where he intended to land and a shiver ran up his spine as his earlier train of thought before being interrupted came back to the surface, and it was as chilling as before. And the fear he saw on Evergreen's face from the corner of his eye was enough to tell him she had the same thought too.

"I-is she not...?" Evergreen stammered, Freed grimaced.

"... I don't know." he muttered lowly, and Evergreen gulped. They slowed up a few feet above the landing, and Freed bit the inside of his cheek, Evergreen beside him shaking slightly as they both touched down on the floor.

"... Is that the God-King's Ilean...?" Corbynn asked as Bixlow passed him by, the young boy's eyes finding the unconscious man Bixlow had slung over his shoulder, glasses crooked yet firmly still on his nose and looking no small amount of ragged. Shae's ears twitched at the question, her gaze finding the stranger too.

"If it is, he's a mess." The Exceed mumbled, pausing a moment to watch Bixlow shrug the 'Ilean' from his shoulder and let him lay on the floor, before her eyes moved toward Freed and Frea both. "... Tch... Though not near as much as the Energess..." She added lowly, and Corbynn stiffened a little at it, his icy blue gaze glittering as he found her too.

"Hey, is she okay?!" Gray snapped, he and Juvia quickly making their way back down off the roof and toward where the Thunder Legion, Shae and Corbynn had stopped. Freed shook his head a little, his eyes moving toward the Ice-Wizard as he and Juvia dropped down from the roof and onto the same level with them,

"We need to stop a mom-" Freed started, only for the words to cut off when jagged red electricity suddenly came to life from the Lacrima on the Collar around Frea's neck, sparking faintly for a few seconds before jumping into full-blown rage.

The haze around Frea's body intensified, swallowing her and Freed whole- sparks shooting across her body and skin and striking hard against him, coursing through his hands and arms where he was holding her and snaking through his body in rapid, burning, agonizing movement. He tensed, his jaw snapping shut against the pain that ignited through every inch of him, his legs shaking and quickly struggling to keep a hold of Frea and stay standing both. Evergreen beside him jumped, her and everyone else on the landing whipping around at the yell that Freed let out, eyes wide and glittering at the sheer red and heat they could feel buffeting them in waves- and out of near nowhere.

"Freed-!" Evergreen gasped, her hands moving forward to reach toward Freed on instinct, only to snatch her hands back when the electricity rammed into her hands with an agonizing jolt that rattled her bones. She yelped, recoiling instantly and her eyes glittering like mad as she watched Freed crumble a bit, teeth grinding down on each other and groaning against the pain that gave no indication of letting up anytime soon.

"What the hell is that-?!" Gray snapped, him being the next one to dart forward toward the green-haired man with Juvia right at his shoulder, only for them both to draw up abruptly just about two feet from Freed and Frea when Shae blocked their path with a blood-covered arm, now in her human form again.

"Don't!" Shae snapped, and Gray hissed, shooting her a confused glare. "You gettin' caught in it too ain't gonna help anything." She muttered lowly, and Gray hissed, his eyes darting from Shae and back toward where Freed fell to his knees, wincing harshly and shaking from head to foot as he struggled not to double over, and instead held tighter to the silent Dragon Slayer in his arms. And even as she stopped him, the intensity of the haze and the heat around the both of Freed and Frea was starting to subside, as was the crackling of the Magic spilling from the Collar. So Gray grit his teeth, relenting to staying where he was for the moment as the heat finally died off again and the Magic did too- leaving Freed panting and quite a bit paler than he had been a few moments beforehand, and all the more shaky.

Freed swayed a bit, sitting on his heels and quickly moving his arm from holding underneath Frea's legs and letting her rest in his lap instead, hugging her slightly to him with his other arm as he leaned over a bit and supported himself on the floor with his now free hand. It took no small amount of effort for him to just stay sitting up, and he hissed under his breath, his body aching and feeling like it had been set alight- even in those few moments.

"I'm gonna ask again, what the hell is that thing?" Gray snapped lowly, aiming the question at Shae and earning a grimace from her as he waved a hand at the Collar around Frea's neck. "And what the hell did it do to her..?! She's-!" He broke off though, his teeth gritting again and eyes glittering as he cast another glance toward Frea, and what a mess she was. "Tch... What the hell did these assholes do to her...?"

Evergreen dropped down to sit on her knees beside Freed as soon as the haze died off enough she was sure the Magic wouldn't bite at her again. Her eyes glittered as reached out toward Freed, one hand landing on his shoulder while the other found the arm he had wrapped around Frea. Bixlow was next to his two teammates in little time at all, dropping down onto the balls of his feet on Freed's other shoulder, "Freed man, you okay?" Bixlow asked quickly, and Freed winced again, but nodded stiffly.

"Yes... I'm fine... I'm not the one that needs be worried over at the moment..." Freed replied a bit breathlessly, shaking his head to rid himself of the swimming motion his vision seemed to have taken, before straightening himself up a little and letting his eyes drop to the Energy Dragon Slayer who still felt so heavy and limp in his hold.

The pain inflicted by the Magic in that Collar was... Considerable, and he had expected it must be to have worked against someone with as much willpower as Frea had- but feeling it was something entirely different. Everything hurt, every bone and tendon and muscle in his body, and his lungs hurt too. He felt like he'd been dipped in a vat of lava so hot it was icy cold- and he'd only felt the effects of that Collar one time, and only for a few moments... What had it been doing to Frea all these hours? Enough to have burned her like she was, earn that blood on her lips? Have her feeling as if she was burning alive in her own skin? How much pain would that have caused? Even now?

... But she hadn't made a sound, even as the Collar reactivated just then. He didn't hear anything, not a short intake of breath or a wince, no twitch of her fingers or unconscious stiffening of her body as the electricity started anew- nothing.

His eyes flashed, his heart dropping further and further and aware that both Evergreen and Bixlow and followed where his eyes went, and they grew rigid beside him when they realized what he had a few minutes before. Juvia, who broke away from Gray and moved to stand in front of Freed, she froze too, taking in the damage quickly and her hands clasped together tightly and pressed to her chest.

"F-Frea..." The Water-Mage stammered, her voice breaking slightly.

Freed's hand lifted, his hand gently finding Frea's cheek and then moving toward her face, letting his hand pause under her nose for a few moments that stretched into dreadful years.

"... She's not breathing." Freed breathed, his voice wispy and anxious, fearful- and his words paralyzed all of them, terror settling in in a seconds time, all other thoughts and questions and whatever else- shattered, with three words.

"W-what...?!" Gray whipped around, and Juvia sucked in a sharp breath of air, her hands falling over her mouth to try and stifle it. Shae paled, and Corbynn took a few shaky steps back, his hands holding on to his arms unsteadily, his wide blue eyes locked on to that broken and mangled figure of the Energess.

"S..shit..." Bixlow mumbled under his breath, swallowing hard as Freed's hand pulled back and he adjusted slightly, lightly picking Frea's hand up in his, and pressing his fingers to the underside of her wrist as his eyes dropped closed, tense.

... Flitting, and terribly uneven, and weak... But there.

"... She's still alive, though barely." Freed murmured lowly, his eyes opening again as he gently let go of her wrist.

"Lay her down." Evergreen ordered softly, her hands reaching up to help Freed ease Frea on to the floor and out of his hold, Evergreen's hands holding lightly behind the Dragon Slayer's head before carefully letting it down all the way.

"Well if she's alive then why ain't she breathing..?!" Gray asked quickly, panic in his voice though he did his utmost not to let it be there. The Ice Mage stepped up, bringing himself closer to them, Freed grimaced and shook his head.

"... I don't know." Freed muttered lowly, his voice wavering a bit and hating his answer- but it was the truth, he did not know, and just by looking at her... He could only guess the extent of these injuries was even worse than the terrible they appeared to be, and that was why. Maybe the burns around her throat from the Collar were why, or maybe the shock of having her Magic drained, or any other manner of awful thing. But he had no real clue, and no real clue on-

"W-what the hell do we do...?" Gray hissed, and what could they do?

None of them knew Healing Magic, and what they did know of medicine and injuries was limited and nowhere near what would be needed for wounds this severe. And right then their minds were in a whirl, desperately trying to come up with some answer, some plan- anything that might help, or manage something, where time was quickly running out.

What could they do to help? Do something? Before her heart stopped along with her breathing-?

Corbynn's eyes flashed, the terror on his face breaking off slightly into something firmer, his hands releasing his arms as his attention snapped away from the broken Dragon Slayer and toward that man that Bixlow had set down a few minutes beforehand.

"J-juvia can try and see if her lungs are clear." Juvia stammered quickly, casting off a bit of her own fear and settling on something- something she had done already on the part of the Energy Dragon Slayer before, after what happened with Mordren... And something she wished to never need to do again. But right then it was something, to try and at least see if there was blood pooling in Frea's lungs like it had so many months before, and had made it difficult to breathe.

Juvia quickly shifted, dropping to sit down on her heels and her hands raising- only to recoil and jump back when the Magic in the Collar flickered back to life again with renewed vigor- and almost more vigor than three minutes before. The heat rose, the wafts of air it sent up blistering and uncomfortable to them as they leaned away from it reflexively, the electricity sparking up off the Collar and circling over her body in rapidity, jumping high and scoring shallow cuts into the stone of the floor where they made contact. Everyone stiffened as the watched the electricity sparking down her skin begin to leave new burns in it's quake, and the metal surrounding the damaged Lacrima of the Collar blackened further.

"Tch... That thing is totally wrecked." Shae hissed under her breath, "And it's just gettin' more volatile-"

"We need to get that damn thing off her!" Gray snapped lowly, and Shae nodded, though she grimaced.

"We can't." She hissed and Gray's eyes narrowed,

"What do you mean we can't? Use one of those skeleton keys Aisha was on about earlier-"

"-it won't work." Shae cut him off quickly, "And we can't break it off either, it's too strong. There is only one key that'll get it off, and the God-King has it."

"How do you know that?!" Gray grumbled, before deciding it wasn't worth it to wait on an answer. "Tch, if we don't do something that thing is gonna keep burning her- and we can't even help her if it's going crazy like that!"

The electricity subsided for a few moments, receding back in on the stone and flickering there, before slowly rising again- and the haze of heat never went away.

"Shae, can you not disrupt the Magic in the stone?" Freed asked quickly, and the she-cat hesitated.

"Don't do that, the Lacrima in that Collar is gonna blow on it's own. Shae'll just make it blow up faster." Corbynn's voice broke into the conversation and everyone's heads snapped around toward him, only to see him kneeling down beside the strange man and shaking him roughly.

"B-blow..?!" Juvia and Evergreen stammered,

"The pressure is building up super fast, I can feel it." Corbynn went on without looking at them, his hands gripping tight around the collar of the jacket of the downed man and hoisting him up roughly. "Hey! Ilean guy! Wake up I need you to tell me how you made that stupid thing!" Corbynn snapped loudly, shaking the guy back and forth none-too-gently and earning a groggy groan from him, his purple eyes fluttering open slightly behind his glasses- to which the lenses were cracked almost entirely, and seemed fairly useless to see through.

"... Mm... w...what...?" He mumbled, his eyes dropping again, before jumping and letting out a hiss as Corbynn smacked his cheek rather harshly, causing the man to start forward and sit up on his own. He sucked in a sharp breath of air, his eyes glittering like mad and blinking rapidly as he did his best to focus on... Well, anything.

"... What... The...?"

"Oi! Ilean, focus on me!" Corbynn snapped, and Talarr's wandering eyes snapped to the boy still holding to his jacket. "The Lacrima in that Collar you put on the Energess is damaged and overloading." Corbynn started quickly, and soon enough the dazed expression on Talarr's face focused into something panicked and serious. "We don't have time for a full rundown, tell me quickly how you attached it and what sort of fortifications are built into that Collar to avoid tampering with it!"

"... O... Overload..." Talarr stammered, his eyes darting passed Corbynn and toward the crimson glow and flurry of electricity sparking again.

"Quickly dude!" Corbynn pressed again, and Talarr swallowed, his fractured thoughts clicking together as fast as he could manage.

"I-It's attached to Lacrima-Line that's set and embedded within the center of the Collar and wraps around the length of it... C-creating half a dozen continuous conduits for activation of pain inflictors, guards against Skeleton keys, Nullification against high-order Magics, a-and layered 5th-Level Bite Spells and... And attached to every Rune is an Eiren Wire that folds in and wraps around the edges of the Amp-Lacrima attached on top... T-that discharges the electricity a-and the heat... And some of the pain stimulants..." Talarr stammered breathlessly, Corbynn's jaw clenched as it brow furrowed at the quickly recanted string of words that meant fairly little (or at least, didn't make complete sense) to the Fairy Tailers.

"How many Eiren Wires is that Amp-Lacrima attached to?!" Corbynn asked in an instant, Talarr blinked.

"... S.. Seven... Spaced evenly around the edges inside the frame..." Talarr answered, and Corbynn grimaced, his eyes glittering and his shoulders stiff- but he nodded and quickly let his grip on the Ilean's jacket go and stood up straight. He left Talarr sitting on the floor and trembling, turning around and moving toward where everyone else was circled around Frea, but back enough to avoid the range of the Magic flaring off the Collar in uncontrolled rage.

"Seven wires... Dude that is serious overkill!" Corbynn snapped under his breath, "Shae, come on- I do need you to help me, and quick! And don't activate your Guard, it'll just overload too and I only need one explosive thing to worry about." Shae nodded stiffly, quickly changing back into her Exceed form and following close behind the boy.

"... That means this is gonna hurt, huh?" She mumbled, Corbynn sighed,

"Don't have a choice, Shae." Corbynn muttered,

"-Kid, what are you gonna do..?!" Gray asked instantly, his voice cut into by the slightly lower and shakier one of Talarr, who was pushing himself to his feet as quickly as he could, and struggling to do so on trembling legs.

"What are you planning-?" Talarr asked too, stumbling forward those few steps between himself and the rest, and tripping halfway. He was saved hitting the floor again by Bixlow reflexively catching him, but Talarr never spared the Seith Mage a look, his eyes locked to the Energess lying motionless amidst a flurry of stifling hot, Magical rage and his already pale face paled even further. Flickering bits of stats and warnings come to life in his eyeline of the glasses that were more parts broken than whole, and what he saw amongst the dozens made his heart nearly stop.

"I'm gonna disconnect the amp!" Corbynn snapped back rather impatiently, his hands raising as he quickly pulled the goggles resting on his head down and over his eyes, before pausing as close to the edge of the wanton Magic had, Shae right at his shoulder. Corbynn didn't give any of them time to question further- and they meant to- but the boy was moving quickly and with some plan in mind none of them quite understood, and the uncertainty made their panic and fear all the worse. "Shae, you need to disrupt the flow of every Lacrima-Line and Eiren Wire in that Collar, stall them for as long as you can and keep them from getting any Magic or signals to the Amp- that way when I cut the lines connected to it without igniting any Spells or anything inside the Collar itself." he told the she-cat quickly, and her ears twitched. "And when it's detached, you're going to have to channel your Magic back out of the Collar and into the Amp. You'll only have a few seconds."

"Got it." She murmured instantly,

"Wait, I thought you said Shae would make it blow up faster..?!" Gray cut in,

"She will, but I'm gonna contain the Amp with her Magic inside of it in a Pressure-Field and get it away from here before it goes completely ballistic." Corbynn replied instantly, frowning to himself as his eyes flashed behind his goggles. "... Hopefully, anyway, but that's gonna be a big boom..." He groaned under his breath, but he didn't wait on it either.

His hands raised as both he and Shae took two steps forward without a word, straight into the storm of frenzied Magic and heat and immediately feeling themselves shocked by it, but they grit their teeth against it and sunk down on to their knees beside the Energess. Corbynn's hands hovered apart from one another, the air wavering in a mostly invisible circle between his palms, as Shae's paws reached out and grabbed tightly to either side of the Collar around the Energess' neck. The Lacrima was splintering by the second between both her hands as they began to crackle with blue-green to combat all the red.

The Fairy Tailers stiffened, their eyes flashing as they heard both Corbynn and Shae fail to stifle their winces and hisses of pain, and grimacing when both Twin Cougars carried on with what they were doing anyway. The Runes etched along the Collar glowed red hot the minute Shae's Magic started up, and the she-cat's ears pressed flat against her head as she grit her teeth at the way in which pain started to shoot up into her arms at mere contact with the Collar, and the terrible slowness and wall her Magic seemed to hit the minute she started... Nullification enchantments as the Ilean had said, but not strong enough to block her Magic completely, just make it harder to get her job done.

"Tch... This is... One stubborn... Collar..." She hissed breathlessly, her voice breaking here and there as her body grew more rigid by the second, and she felt the warm sticky feel of blood begin to drip anew from her already torn up paws and arms. But bit by bit, the red glow of the Runes got washed out in muddy green-blue, and Corbynn's hands moved closer, the small circle of wavering air and pressure between his hands moving to wrap itself around the Lacrima in the Collar.

The sphere wavered and hissed, increasing in size as bits of the Magic in the Lacrima struck hard against the pressurized inside, while others simply passed through, before Corbynn twisted his palms, one over the other, and it shrunk again, wavering more, distorting the air and becoming quickly less see-through. His eyes snapped shut and he pressed harder, pushing the pressurized bit of space closer against the frame holding the Lacrima in, and mentally reaching down further... Counting quickly where one, two, three- and then up to seven Wires attached to the stone itself, and he grunted with the effort of pushing his palms back toward eachother, and increasing the pressure and force inside the small circle exponentially so.

Less of the Magic sparking off the stone was managing to get passed the edges of the pressurized sphere as he upped the force on it- and then eventually none at all, every bit of crimson electricity became crushed in its confines, making it look a glass orb filled with red lighting between the boys hands. And with it, the waves of heat rolling out to buffet the watching Fairies and Talarr alike receded, quite drastically. Corbynn's shoulders hunched, his hands shaking and struggling to keep the pressure from waning, and worse still to force that one last push in order to snap the wires attached to the stone that were holding so stubbornly against what he was trying to do.

"... Tch... Come... On...!" He snapped hoarsely, his fingers shaking more as he pushed his hands toward each other with one last, agonizing flare of his Magic, and his palms clapped together loudly- but not near as loudly as the sound of metal snapping and stone shattering. The pressurized sphere compacted, the Lacrima inside of it shattering into a dozen or more pieces, and the red glow of Magic inside it suddenly burning bright, hot, white.

"Shae!" Corbynn snapped, and the Exceed hissed, pulling her bloody paws off of holding to the Collar, her Magic flowing back out of it in the same movement her hands made- before she slammed them against the ball of force, pressure, and wanton Magic Corbynn was still compressing. She forced every last shred of jagged blue-green Disruption Magic through her paws, so that it flowed into the ball, and began to spin violently with the rest.

Corbynn's hands were forced apart again, the pressure inside of his Magic increasing tenfold and expanding quickly- first the size of an apple, then a melon in the next second, and then double that the next- and he couldn't force it back down. Small booms began to ignite inside of it as the young boy quickly stumbled to his feet and took off left, headed back toward the railing of the balcony and forcing the ever expanding mass of pressure and explosive Magic out passed the railing and off into the air. He yelled as his hold on the Magic imploded not two seconds after he threw it, knocking him back flat onto the floor from the backlash- and the sphere of pressure ripped apart with an ear-splitting whine and succession of explosions that seemed to shake the whole palace to it's core.

"Ice-Make: Wall!"

A gleaming wall of ice sprung up between Corbynn and the railing, the confines of the explosion easily spreading backwards toward the balcony and ripping the railing and the roof surrounding roofs to pieces. But the Ice Wall halted it washing back inside the building where they all stood, suffering the brunt of the destruction. The wall groaned, cracking up it's whole length and crumbling to pieces almost immediately once the explosion subsided.

The Ice Wizard cast a quick glance back at Corbynn, who lay on his back still from having been knocked over, his arms and hands bruised and his chest rising and falling quickly as he panted.

"Kid, you okay?" Gray asked, and Corbynn didn't attempt to give a verbal answer with his breathing as elevated as it was- nor did he bother to try and get up either- he simply lifted a hand wearily from the floor in a thumbs up, before letting that hand fall on his chest and continued to pant.

"Are you alright?" Freed asked of Shae, who stumbled back a few paces from being beside the Energess, before taking a heavy seat on the floor and holding her blood-ridden arms in her lap gingerly, also panting and heaving. Her ears twitched in Freed's direction in sign she heard him ask, though her head hung as she fought to settle her breathing again.

"... Yeah... Don't bother... about us right now..." Shae mumbled breathlessly, her eyes lifting just slightly as both Evergreen and Juvia moved near immediately toward the still unmoving Dragon Slayer, once they would no longer suffer injury from the out of control Collar.

Talarr blinked, eyes wide and awed as his attention quickly darted between the blast, Corbynn, and Shae both- his mind reeling slightly at just how quickly they had taken what information he gave and acted... And so skillfully at that, with no hesitation, no worry over what they were doing was right or might just make things worse. Even he hadn't been able to even start to try and come up with a plan on how to quell the Lacrima overloading or how to save it from imploding while still attached to the Collar or near them.

Those two, that boy and the cat, they seemed to know precisely what they were doing- and did it with precision and even some sort of grace... Not to mention no small amount of Power and Magic too.

And the Dyann's they wore, their dress, their tattoos, the way they understood all the technical terms- they seemed native Adgneins, and not members of Fairy Tail or from Fiore, as he would have assumed. They must have been from here, this country, and part of the Middle Caste as their Dyann's suggested... but how could anyone like this in Adgnei have been here and he not realized...?

... I-Incredible...

"... She's still not breathing." Evergreen hissed, her voice snapping everyone out of their momentary distraction and Talarr's head quickly whipped about from having been looking at Corbynn, his purple gaze landing on the Energess lying still on the floor and he cursed himself for getting sidetracked at all. He started forward, releasing himself from the steadying hold Bixlow had kept on him after saving him hitting the floor- and the Seith Mage jumped, startled at the sudden movement.

"Wait a minute dude-!" He called but Talarr ignored it, pacing forward quickly before stumbling to a halt when the Ice Wizard suddenly stepped in his path.

"Back off!" Gray snapped lowly and Talarr hissed, recoiling a bit out of reflex and at the icy glare the man set on him. "You made that thing around her neck that's tearing her to pieces, right?!"

"Y-yes, but-" Talarr started, Gray shook his head hotly.

"You think I'm about to let you touch her, after that?! That thing almost blew up around her neck, not to mention the rest of the injuries it caused!" He hissed furiously, "You assholes took her prisoner and forced her into something that would kill her- do you even realize that?! Stripping her Magic Power away to open that Gate is the same as signing her death warrant! Energy Mages die if all their Magic Energy gets stolen from them!" Talarr visibly paled at that, and Gray scowled.

"I... I did not... Know that.." Talarr stammered,

"Would it have mattered if you did?!" Gray hissed and Talarr flinched, swallowing as his eyes darted from Gray and passed him, to where the Energess was and the two woman beside her, before his attention found Gray again as the Ice Wizard stepped to the side to block off his line of sight. "I'm not letting you anywhere near her. Especially not you, if you made that Collar." Gray warned lowly, and Talarr stiffened, his eyes flashing as the fear on his face grew a bit clearer- but something steely ignited there too.

"You must!" Talarr replied quickly, his voice unwavering, and so much so, he was surprised with himself. Gray blinked in shock at the sudden show of confidence and determination too,

"Excuse me?"

"Y-yes I made the Collar, and the things that have happened are terrible, unforgivable even- but she is dying!" Talarr hissed, "The injuries caused by the Collar and the Siphon are my fault... But I cannot change what happened! But I can help her! I must, and right now or she won't survive another few minutes, let alone long enough to get her out of Okeal...!" Gray stiffened, his eyes flashing. "I'm a doctor- as well as several other things- but a doctor nonetheless! And unless any of you happen to be capable of Healing Magic, I am the only one here that knows how to help her!"

Gray grimaced, his eyes flashing as he stood rigid in place for a few seconds, before stiffly stepping to the side and tilting his head in gesture for Talarr to move. Talarr looked just faintly shocked at how quickly the relent had come, but he hesitated no more than half a second before he swept passed Gray and quickly settled on to his knees beside the Energess, and opposite where Juvia was, with Evergreen sitting on her heels at the Dragon Slayer's head.

Talarr's eyes narrowed to slits as he looked down at her, taking in the damage while also quickly looking through the array of warnings and data popping into his view via his glasses (which was a small miracle they still worked, given how cracked the glass was). He read through them all in rapidity, one hand moving up to the glasses and twisting a small dial attached to the frame to switch the scope of the glasses and what was popping up, while his other hand moved under her chin and brushed lightly against her neck, grimacing as he shifted the Collar the little he could, and feeling his heart clench at just how bad the burns were underneath the metal.

"Juvia can help clear her lungs." Juvia told him quickly, but Talarr shook his head.

"... The blood in her lungs isn't why she's stopped breathing." He told her lowly, and Juvia stiffened, along with everyone else. "She's overheated and her temperature is climbing, fast, even without the Collar activating... Her body's reached it limit and it's shutting down." Talarr's eyes moved up from looking the Energess and toward Juvia. "You are the Water Mage from the GMG, yes?" Juvia blinked in surprise, before nodding. "We need to bring her temperature down, and handle the burns, your Water Magic can help with that- you as well." Talarr told her quickly, before looking toward Gray and making the Ice Wizard jump at suddenly being addressed. "Help her by chilling her Magic slightly, and the air too, if you can manage it." The Ilean instructed, and Gray nodded stiffly, quickly moving forward and settling down beside Juvia.

Gray's eyes dropped closed as he took in a deep breath, his hands raising slightly with his palms facing the floor, before letting it out slowly, a chilly cloud of air forming from his breath and the room around them dropping a few degrees in tandem with the cloud of frost that expanded from the breath he let out.

Talarr shivered at it the sudden cold, though he didn't linger on it either as he quickly directed Juvia to start, her Magic slowly creeping over the Energess's body and covering her skin in a shimmering blanket of water. Juvia's hands hovered over the Energess, moving in slow, gentle motion along with the liquid, while Gray's hands moved in near tadem with the Rain Woman, both his and Juvia's eyes narrowed in concentration and expressions grim. They could feel the heat coming off Frea even through their own Magic.

Talarr left them to their work, his eyes watching carefully the stats in his eyeline and his hand finding gentle hold on the Energess' wrist, his fingers pressed lightly against it and feeling the rapid, uneven and flitting pace of her pulse that was getting weaker- despite the slow drop of her temperature and the fade of the heat coming off her skin. He grimaced, his hand letting go of hers carefully and shifting closer, biting the inside of his cheek as he drew his hands lightly across the sheen of water and then let his wet hands fall tenderly against her cheek and her forehead, before holding either side of her face gently and pausing, his lips pulling in a frown.

Their Magic was working, the data on his Scan-Glasses was sure of that- her temperature had dropped more than a few degrees and the heat flaring off her skin wasn't blistering against his hands. And their Magic was working quickly too, much faster than he would have anticipated... But even still there was no response from the Energess, and her flushed face was losing it's color in tandem with the more unsteady her pulse was getting. He'd been hoping that her core temperature dropping steadily would give her body enough of a break to get it to start working again on it's own, and quit struggling as hard as it was. That hopefully it would react on its own to the cold and her lungs would respond, but too much time had already gone by and he swallowed hard.

"... Please Energess..." He murmured softly, his eyes dropping closed as his head bowed slightly, his mind whirling still.

It's not enough... There's no more time to wait either

... Of course not, her body wasn't just struggling under the sheer heat and damage done by the Collar- it wasn't just the burns or the bruises and cuts caused by the chains that held on to her- her body was ripped up in too many places to count and there seemed little to no life left in her... How could there be, after what amount of Magic she'd been stripped of? Magic stripped and her life stripped with it, as the Ice Mage had said.

I... Didn't know...

... But guilt didn't matter right now, he had to focus- she needed help, and wallowing wasn't going to make things easier.

He hissed, his eyes opening again as he moved closer still, and his hands moved to hold her chin and the top of her head. Evergreen- still sitting slightly to the left of him and near Frea's head- blinked, her eyes glittering and stiff-shouldered. Her rigid posture was mirrored in everyone else, and only getting worse in those few minutes that had gone by since landing here in this room and rushing to get the Collar off, and then this.

Talarr leaned in, hips lips meeting the Energess' own as he held her face steady, blowing out a long breath of air into her airway before pulling back slightly, and then leaning back down and repeating once, twice, and a few times over- each time pausing a few seconds to gauge for some reaction or response to the mouth-to-mouth, and any sign it was working... But still nothing, and the Fairy Tailers and Twin Cougars alike shivered, terror settling in their hearts deeper as the Energess remained still, silent, and unbreathing despite the Ilean's attempts.

Talarr swallowed, his eyes darting from her pale face and toward the Ice Mage rapidly, Gray stiffened upon catching his eyes.

"Chill the water quickly until it's just above freezing." Talarr instructed, and Gray blinked, looking no small amount of terrified and unsure.

"Y-you ain't supposed to put ice on burns, let alone freezing water-" Gray started, and of course he was right- applying something too cold to burns, and especially burns this severe, were likely to cause more damage than do good- but Talarr shook his head sharply.

"That won't matter if she doesn't start breathing again...!" Talarr explained quickly, "Do it!" He added a bit more firmly and Gray grimaced, his eyes glittering as he hissed. Talarr didn't wait on him either, before leaning down again and resuming his attempts at CPR,

"Tch... Sorry Frea.." Gray muttered under his breath, his hands falling into the water Juvia kept wrapped around the Energess, and shutting his eyes as his Magic flare with a chilly blue glow, icy cold quickly racing through the water and dropping the temperature down dozens of degrees in the course of three seconds, leaving a thin cloud of frost and ice particles to spring up in air. Talarr felt the waft of chilly air rush into him as he blew another large gulp of air into the Energess' lungs- before quickly recoiling when he felt her limp and lifeless body suddenly jerk underneath him.

The Energess' body arched off the floor slightly, her chest rising on a sudden, sharp intake of air that was almost instantly cut off in a ragged, biting coughing fit that sent violent spasms running rampant through her broken body. Sticky crimson liquid rose up her throat and spattered against the stone as Talarr quickly steadied her and tilted her head enough to keep her from choking on it anymore than she already was. Juvia and Gray jumped too, the Water Mage's hands lifting as she drew the water away from the Dragon Slayer and Gray beside her pulling his hands back too, both of them sitting in stiff silence and watching the Energess' body shake with every cough.

When the coughing came to a shaky close and the blood pooling on the stone slowed too, she shuddered, her face twisting in pain and discomfort as she gasped, her breaths panting, rapid, shallow and uneven- but oh so wonderfully there, unlike those tense few minutes of sheer silence. There was a collective sigh of relief and intake of air from the Fairy Tailers that had been holding their breaths in fear and utter tense.

Talarr let out a small breath, his eyes flashing as he slowly eased the Energess' head back against the floor, his other hand digging in his jacket pockets as some of the warnings flashing across his eyeline disappeared, only to be replaced with numerous others.

... It... Her body needed a bigger jolt to react to... something to snap her organs and lungs back into motion... a sudden, rapid drop in temperature like that is a massive shock... and it... worked...

He shook his head slightly at himself,

... Gods thank you... it worked.

"... I don't suppose any of you happen to have any bandages or Prefrind with you?" Talarr asked quietly, earning blinks of confusion from the Fairy Tailers on the last word, but Talarr wasn't looking at them. His eyes remained glued to the Energess, reading through the scan data and the information, while his hand stopped digging in his jacket, and he pulled out and with a roll of what appeared to be black colored tape.

"... I've got some Prefrind." Corbynn's quiet voice broke the silence, the young boy having finally gotten to his feet and moved forward to stop at Talarr's shoulder. He cast an anxious glance at the Dragon Slayer gasping for air on the floor, before his eyes found Talarr's as the Ilean glanced up, and Corbynn pulled a roll of something out of the pouch hanging from his belt and handed it toward the Ilean. The Fairy Tailers tilted their heads.

The 'Prefrind' just looked like a regular roll of bandages... Though maybe less white and more pale blue.

Talarr nodded and took the roll from Corbynn without a word. He bit down on the roll of tape and Prefrind both for a moment and gently tore the sleeve on her left arm, removing it from around her arm and grimacing as it stuck to the burns, but he got it off and then removed the sleeve from her other arm too. He tossed the tattered bits of cloth away and began quickly unrolling the bluish bandages, expertly winding the length around and up Frea's right arm, moving towards her shoulder and neck and covering the burns that had faded from their initial angry red to something darker and more purple. He grimaced to himself as he got closer to her right shoulder, before he stopped winding them, tearing the roll off and handing it across to Juvia- who paused for only half a second, before taking it from him.

"Wrap the Prefrind around the burns, and cover them as completely as you can, but don't make them too tight." Talarr instructed quietly, "Try and get them underneath the Collar too if you can, but don't force it. Once your done, soak the Prefrind completely with water, it'll react to the moisture and lock it inside of itself, and keep her cool as well as help soothe the burns a little. They also keep infection from setting in any more than it already has." Juvia nodded stiffly in understanding and Talarr glanced toward Gray next. "Help with that, but be careful around the her wrist when you do, it's fractured. I'll bind it better in a moment, once I'm done with this." Talarr murmured, his eyes leaving Gray before he finished his words and found Frea again. Talarr adjusted a bit, pulling the end of the roll of black tape-stuff(?) up from the roll and looking toward Evergreen over the top of his glasses.

"I'll need you to help keep her steady." He murmured toward the woman, and Evergreen blinked, nodding slightly though the question on her face was clear. Talarr motioned for Evergreen's hands and she handed them over slowly, the Ilean setting them lightly on top of Frea's shoulder and just at the base of her neck, "... Keep pressure on right here." Talarr ordered, and Evergreen winced internally at the fact she was more or less being directed to push down on where the worst of the burns were- but she nodded anyway and did as she was told, and earned a small hiss from Frea as she did so.

"What are you doing?" Freed asked, breaking the tense silence all around as Talarr bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes falling closed a moment as his hands fell lightly on top of Frea's right shoulder too, a bit farther down from where Evergreen was.

"... Her shoulder is broken. The top half of the bone has snapped, and if it moves too much it might cause more damage than it already has." Talarr replied softly, and Evergreen and Freed alike both stiffened a little. Talarr's eyes opened again, narrowed to slits and focused on his hands as he carefully moved his fingers along places around the badly burned skin and slid over a sort of ridge that was hardly visible against the trailing burns and bruises, but assuredly there. Talarr grumbled a bit under his breath. "... it's slid out of place already..."

"Her wrist is broken too...?" Evergreen muttered and Talarr nodded slightly.

"... Among others... There's dozens of hairline fractures running along her arms, hands, shoulder-blades and across her ribs... Not to mention a multitude of internal injuries..." Talarr murmured lowly, shaking his head.

... She's been ripped to shreds... And surely only part of this damage is from the Collar and the chains, or even the blast... Her Magic...

The Fairy Tailers and Twin Cougars all flinched at the words, their eyes glittering and stomach's churning- especially when a lot of it sounded horrifyingly familiar to what they had been told of Frea's injuries after what happened with Mordren... Though hopefully not as extreme...?

"... H-how can you tell all that...?" Evergreen asked instantly,

"It's his glasses." Corbynn broke in softly, saving the Ilean having to answer, though Talarr nodded in confirmation to the words.

"... What... How did all of this happen..?" Freed asked after a moment, and Talarr swallowed.

"Yeah, what went on up there? Why did the whole tower blow?" Bixlow mumbled, "I mean I figure Frea would put up a fight when you tried to force her to open that Gate, but even collapsing an entire building is a bit much for her... Especially with that thing." He mumbled, motioning toward the Collar and earning questioning looks from Gray and Juvia.

"... her shoulder and her wrist must have fractured when she was pulling against the chains that had her... connected with the Siphon..." Talarr murmured softly, "... The rest of it was just... Her Magic getting out of hand, and the Collar being damaged and overloaded... And Pestilence's effects on her immune system surely haven't helped anything..." Talarr mumbled, shaking his head again as he let out a small breath, and glanced toward Evergreen. "I'm going to shift the bone back in place a bit more before I try and bind it, keep the top portion of her shoulder from moving as much as you can." He told her and Evergreen nodded stiffly, and he looked away again, biting the inside of his cheek.

"... Sorry, Energess.." Talarr murmured quietly, his eyes flashing as he quickly pulled back on her shoulder a few inches, before going the opposite direction and earning a sickening crunching noise of bone on bone that made Evergreen pale, shivers running up her spine on feeling it underneath her own hands, and Frea's body tensed in pain as her panting breaths broke off in a ragged yelp.

Talarr's hands paused for only half a moment, swallowing back at the spiking of the Pain Meter in his eyeline, though she certainly didn't pull back to consciousness even with it... Not that he would expect her to, not with what he was seeing.

Gods... Please

He shook his head at himself and unwound the roll of tape or whatever he had pulled from his pocket, instructing Evergreen's hands quietly as he quickly worked to bind her arm and enough so it wouldn't move too much- before he fashioned a makeshift sling from the same thing, fastened it, and then moved to her wrist. All the while ever aware of the readings in his line of sight, as well as the watchful, worried eyes of the Fairy Tailers and the other two as he worked.

He let out a low breath as that bit of work came to a halt, his eyes moving from Frea and backwards- out the windows and the railing and to the stormy sky overhead, and the distant glow of fire and echo of screams, weapons, and destruction from the valley below. Chaos.

He glanced back toward Frea, his eyes leaving the wounds and settling instead on her hair... But the ends were silver, and not the muddy gray and black he swore they had turned when everything was going on.

He wasn't even sure what that was, but the feeling... He couldn't place if it was from her or the Door, or maybe even both. All he knew was that it was heavy, sickening Darkness... Of the kind that made it hard to breathe and shook you to your core, and the Power behind it was nothing less than heart-stopping.

Gods he wasn't even sure what had happened at all- and he had been there, right in the center of it. But his mind was reeling and whirling so much, and with no hope he could put it all together. It... It was just so beyond him, and he couldn't even begin to understand it. And there was seldom little he had ever found that he just couldn't understand.

"... We should be able to move her now, without causing more damage... But we'll have to be careful." Talarr announced softly,

"That's gonna be hard with all the Kullui goin' nuts." Shae muttered lowly, Talarr looked back at her in surprise. "It's kinda a miracle we've managed to sit here this long without gettin' ambushed."

"... W-What do you mean?" Talarr asked quietly,

"Dude, the Kullui have been tearing people to shreds." Corbynn grumbled, "They aren't listening to any of the Nobles or Middle Caste, or even the Vaide. They're just running around the city, killing people and wrecking things without reason." Talarr shuddered at the words, his eyes flashing behind his glasses.

"... B..but that's not supposed to be possible, the Kullui are only programmed to follow orders, or perform basic tasks on their own..." Talarr stammered,

"Possible or not, that doesn't change the fact they are doing just that." Freed interjected softly, "We've seen it, all the way here and even inside the Palace. People are being hurt and killed, and the Kullui are being ruthless." Talarr swallowed, his eyes dropping for a moment and staring at his hands in his lap.

... Those things that came out of the Door... That Magic... Could that be what's affecting the Kullui...? That much... Evil...?

He shook his head quickly, casting the question off. There were more important things to focus on right then and musing on that damned Door wasn't helping anything right now.

"...I..if the Kullui are doing as you say, it isn't wise to stay here for much longer. They can easily outnumber and subdue us... And I don't want to think of what they'll try to do if they find us." Talarr murmured,

"Yeah, and the plan is to leave." Gray muttered, "We gotta get Frea to Wendy, she can heal her up."

"You can't leave." Talarr replied lowly, "I'm not sure how any of you actually made it passed the Barriers to begin with, but I doubt with the state all of you are in at the moment, that you can repeat the process." The Ilean murmured, his eyes tracing across the lot of them and quickly taking in the damage littering all of their persons, the level of Magic recorded by his Glasses, and whatever else. They stiffened slightly at the assertion, but Talarr didn't pause. "And even if you were to somehow manage to bring them down again from inside, the Energess is in no condition to be moved that far... and using Beans or Teleportation Magic will not work either. The Collar nullifies it, and it will not allow her out of the confines of Okeal as long as it's on her, Barriers or not."

"Then how the hell do we get it off?" Gray grumbled lowly, "You said the only person with the key is the King, so where the hell is he?" Talarr grimaced, his eyes dropping closed.

"... I do not know." Talarr admitted quietly, Shae and Corbynn stiffened.

"Dude, you're His Ilean, how can you not know...?" Corbynn murmured quickly, Talarr shook his head sharply.

"I simply don't...!" Talarr replied quickly, "After we got up to the top of the Tower and Drennios... after the Energess was connected to the Siphon and the Door slowly started to open, everything... everything just started shaking, and falling apart... even with the Door only open partway, there was so much Magic spilling out of it that destroyed so many things. The roof started to collapse and the ground split... the Kullui seemed... to deactivate, and the other Nobles ran... But... Drennios stayed standing in front of the Door... He didn't move... But..." He growled under his breath, "... I lost sight of Him after she opened the Door all the way. There was so much Darkness everywhere... Consuming everything. Pitch black, I couldn't see... I could hardly see her, and Drennios... I just couldn't see him... I couldn't see anyone... I... I lost sight of both Drennios and Lord Tuvral..." Talarr mumbled, his voice fading away as everyone else went rigid.

"W-wait a minute, you're saying that Door actually got opened?!" Bixlow, Shae and Gray asked all at once.

"Y-yes..." Talarr murmured, jumping a little at how quickly they snapped the question at him. "... S..she... The Energess... Broke some sort of Seal on it, from what I could tell... The Siphon wasn't enough to do it, she had to break the Seal herself..."

"Why would she...?!"

"She wouldn't..!"

"There ain't no way!"

"There isn't a chance in hell she could ever do something like that willingly!"

Talarr blinked at the incredulous and adamant protests that broke out among the Fairy Tailers, a little stunned with how quick they were to disregard the idea that she would ever open that Door out of choice...... But... She did... I know she did, the Siphon stopped stripping her Magic at the end... Her Magic was moving on it's own...

"It ain't still open right...?!" Bixlow asked quickly, and Talarr jumped.

"... No... It's closed again... That's what caused the explosion... And the Tower to collapse..." Talarr murmured with a shake of his head, "I-I don't know the specifics, or why really... I was mostly focused on getting the Energess out of the Siphon..." He added softly,

"Did Frea close it?" Freed asked quietly, Talarr shook his head.

"N-no, someone else did I think... someone I didn't recognize... a small girl with black hair... I... I didn't get a good look before..." Talarr stammered, but faded off as he saw realization dawn on the faces of the Fairy Tailers, though he hadn't a clue why.

"... shit... why's she such a fucking mystery...?" Gray muttered under his breath, Juvia shook her head slightly.

"... Juvia would be more interested to know how she got inside the Palace...?" Juvia mumbled softly,

"... or where she is now..." Evergreen muttered lowly,

Talarr looked between the three of them slowly, his mind sluggish as he tried to understand what it was they were talking about, or rather who-?

BOOM

Everyone stiffened, their ears ringing with the sound of a weapon firing off somewhere to their left- the world running in sudden slow motion as their heads snapped around and caught sight of the hooded figure of a Kullui holding to a high-powered Magic Gun, and the shot hurtling toward them from the barrel.

"S-Shit...!"

"Babies!"

"Yes! Yes!"

Bixlow's Tiki Dolls swept forward, circling in on themselves and firing off a quick blast that rammed straight into the one shot off from the weapon, the two of them imploding on contact as the Fairy Tailers and Cougars quickly rushed to their feet, hearts racing and adrenaline too as the Kullui advanced, and two more followed from around the corner.

"Damn it..!" Gray hissed, immediately on his feet with Juvia beside him as they both placed themselves between where Frea still lay and the sudden enemies and about to rush forward to meet them head on, with Freed, Bixlow and Shae doing the same. Evergreen, Corbynn and Talarr remained where they were, stiff and instantly on the defense- Talarr's hands hovering slightly while Evergreen's hand fell gingerly on Frea's upper arm, and Corbynn's hands raised, ready to let how Magic flare as his icy blue eyes locked on the Kullui.

All of them, reeling and yet instantly moving to defend themselves, and that downed Energess they had come so far for.

The Kullui at the head never made it even three more feet though, and the two following it were stopped just as quickly- the Fairy Tailers and Adgnein's alike recoiling slightly in sheer shock as several dense, bulky bodies appeared from the opposite end of the opening, and leapt at the Kullui with lightning-fast speed. Sharp teeth glinted from the low glow allowed by the Magic tools held in the Kullui's hands, maws open wide and the air trembling with a series of low, vicious snarls, and then cut off by the sickening clack of teeth biting down into armor.

They all froze, eyes wide and riveted as they watched a small pack of wolves(?!) suddenly launch themselves at the Kullui, their teeth clamping down on their necks and dragging them to the floor. Two wolves quickly swung their heads around, their teeth digging in further to the Kullui they held to, and then the rip of metal and cloth came next- the hooded heads and helmets of the Kullui separating from the rest of their bodies with a snap, and the wolves growling as they tossed it away... No blood, no flesh, just torn metal circuitry and material.

The third wolf holding the the first Kullui wasn't fast enough, as the Kullui swung it's arm around with the weapon it fired off before in it, jamming the barrel of the gun into the wolf's side and firing.

The wolf howled, blood spattering into the air and against the floor as a hole was ripped through it's body with the utmost ease- it's hold on the Kullui's neck was released and the Kullui shoved the animal away, leaving a smear on the floor before it slid to a halt a few feet away, whimpering and wheezing as a pool of sticky scarlet quickly surrounded it.

The Fairy Tailers, Cougars, and Talarr alike all shivered, their breaths snatched away and eyes widening as they froze at the... The brutality.

The first two wolves were quick to repay the violence, one tearing the weapon from it's hand quickly, before their teeth snapped down on to the Kullui's neck and it's torso- quickly ripping it in half and tossing the pieces in either direction.

They shivered, all intent to act and rush forward to defend themselves suddenly destroyed in a few terrible, spine-chilling instants.

"... Those are... Seyre's..." Shae mumbled shakily, her ears pressed flat against her head and orange eyes fixed to that wolf slowly bleeding out,

"...pup...!"

Everyone jumped, their thoughts suddenly ringing with a woman's voice in their heads and their hearts clenching at the pain and fear in it. A woman with long, pale-pink hair rounded the corner from where the wolves had originally came from, teary-eyed as she lay eyes on the wolf lying amongst it's own blood.

The Keistae stifled a gasp that came out halfway in a sob, her feet immediately bringing her forward to the creature and bending down beside it, the other wolves standing on either side of her and heads lowering slightly. Her hands landed gingerly on the heaving creature's neck and head, shaking her own head a few times and her eyes dropping closed a moment, her lips pulling into a tight line and shoulders hunching as she remained utterly still for a few seconds, before slowly glancing over toward their still stunned group.

"... There are more Kullui coming, we need to move from here, and find somewhere safer." Seyre's voice floated their heads again, soft and shaking, but no less grim. Her eyes trailed over the Fairy Tailers, Shae, Corbynn and Talarr alike until her eyes found the panting and pale form of the Energess and she visibly blanched. She shook her head at herself and her gaze matched with Talarr's, the Ilean nodding slightly at her, before he looked away again.

"W-we need to get to my Workshop." The Ilean announced quickly, earning the groups attention as Seyre turned away again, her head bowing to rest her forehead lightly against the dying wolf's own.

"Why there?" Bixlow murmured,

"I have supplies and tools there, and the Energess needs medical attention, badly." Talarr replied lowly, "... The rest of you could use it too, and we should be able to avoid the Kullui, at least for a little... I have weapons and other things that can be used to set up defenses, and buy some time to rest and... And figure out what else to do." He mumbled, and the Fairies cast glances between them, before nodding stiffly.

"Alright, how far is it?" Gray murmured,

"I-It's a few levels up, and a bit further to the west side..." Talarr murmured quickly, "... We'll likely encounter Kullui on the way there... But there is no other choice. She won't last long if I don't try and fix some of the worst damage." He murmured lowly, his eyes flicking toward Frea and the all swallowed, hard.

"Leave the Kullui to us." Gray muttered, Juvia nodding beside him.

"Yeah, we'll get us there." Shae muttered lowly, Corbynn nodding in confirmation. "Make sure you lead us the right way though, Ilean." The Exceed added to Talarr, and he nodded stiffly in reply.

"I'll carry her." Freed murmured softly, stepping up beside Talarr and taking a knee beside Frea. Evergreen bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes glittering behind her glasses as she cast Freed a glance.

"Are you sure you're alright from earlier?" Evergreen asked him quietly, he nodded.

"Yes, I'm only sore." He murmured, "Besides, my Runes aren't going to be of much help if we're moving so much. I can at least do this." He added quietly, and Evergreen nodded stiffly.

"Alright."

"C-Careful." Talarr murmured softly as Freed gently picked Frea up in his arms, the green-haired man biting the inside of his cheek when Frea let out a low hiss of pain at being moved, but little else. Talarr swallowed, his eyes moving as he quickly read through the information from his Scan-Glasses one more time, before shaking his head.

"... we should go."

Everyone glanced around in surprise, Seyre's voice echoing softly through their heads as the Keistae approached their group, her eyes downcast and shoulders tense- but relatively composed none the less, with her hands clasped together tightly in front of her. The two wolves that were still standing were beside the dying one still, heads lowered and quiet even as Seyre walked away, and the Keistae didn't look back.

"Seyre..." Shae started slowly, but the woman shook her head.

"We should go." Seyre repeated, her green eyes meeting the Exceed's steadily, and Shae dipped her head slightly.

"... alright..." The Exceed relented softly, and Seyre glanced toward the Fairy Tailers for no more than half a second, before walking forward and gently nudging Talarr and Freed to start walking, and waving a hand for the rest to follow.

"... forgive me, the introduction is rushed, but I am Seyre, Lady Aisha's friend." Her voice echoed on their minds quietly, as they quickly moved toward an exit on the far side of the room. "I've been looking for you for awhile now, I have an idea on how to bring the Barrier's down and allow Lady Aisha and the rest of your Guild inside... but for now that will have to wait." Her green eyes shift sideways toward the Energess held in Freed's arms, and her expression fell as she took in all the damage from closer up.

"I will help Talarr to try and treat the Energess' injuries, and yours too afterward... but we must move quickly now."

The Fairies and Cougars nodded tensely, following after Talarr and the Keistae quickly. Gray, Juvia, Bixlow and Evergeen moved themselves to a place where Freed and Frea were between them, while Shae and Corbynn brought up the back.

Shae and Corbynn cast anxious glances backward toward where the wolves were as their group neared the exit, both Cougars frowning as their eyes flashed, and they felt their hearts wrench.

One wolf pressed it's nose gently against the downed wolf's muzzle, while the other slowly let it's teeth sink into the flesh around the back of it's neck.

They both looked away, shutting their eyes against the faint, and yet incredibly clear crunch of bone as the wolf bit down harder into the other ones neck, and the low whimpers cut off abruptly.

---

"... q-quickly, over here..."

Talarr's shaky voice ordered of Freed, the group of Fairies, Cougars, and the Keistae and her two wolves quickly dodging out of the corridors and into the packed, dimly lit confines on Talarr's 'workshop'. Most of them faltered upon first walking in, their eyes sweeping over the mass of... well, everything upon everything stacked in every available space and with seemingly no end. They hesitated just inside the door, panting and out of breath from the hurried pace they had kept up the last 20 or so minutes, and the fighting and beating back of the half a dozen Kullui they had encountered on the way here.

It was only Talarr, Seyre and Freed that didn't pause at the door, the latter two following the Ilean swiftly through a path amongst the shelves and whatever else that only Talarr could really see, before quickly being lost from sight around a corner.

"Ilean, you said you had Barriers for the room-?" Shae called quickly, but broke off when she lost sight of him and grumbled.

"... here." Corbynn mumbled after quickly scanning around the door, and catching sight of a series of runes etched into the bottom of the wall on either side of the entrance. He bent down and tapped them, white light flaring as they stretched up from the original place and across the now closed door, like a chain.

"Ah." Shae mumbled.

"... Hey, how did you guys get passed the Barrier anyway, huh?" Bixlow asked, tilting his head at Gray and Juvia and earning their wandering eyes.

"I was wondering that myself, you were meant to be with Aisha and the others, yet you're here." Evergreen mumbled,

"Yeah, bein' bait huh?" Gray mumbled and Evergreen and Bixlow stiffened.

"Aisha told us that we were only meant to pose as a distraction..." Juvia mumbled, her hand on her cheek and sighing. "None of us really took it well, but..." She trailed off, looking quite exasperated as Gray huffed slightly, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Tch, Laxus blew a freakin' gasket." Gray muttered, and Evergreen and Bixlow wilted, though they were not at all surprised. "I mean I knew the guy was a hothead, but damn- he ripped a hole through the Barriers and made it look like nothing. And I think half of why he did it was just as a sort of 'fuck you' at Aisha for making us bait in the first place."

"... Hmm, though Juvia's sure it has more to do with what we were hearing coming from the Tower..." Juvia added quietly and Gray stiffened, before grumbling under his breath and closing his eyes.

"Yeah..."

"Eh, so if the Boss blew a hole through the Barriers and that's how you three got in, where's everyone else?" Bixlow asked, and Gray and Juvia both stiffened.

"Aisha and Chase never even got passed the Barrier before the hole closed up again." Gray muttered, "We barely even got in before it did, and Laxus was the first one through, but we got separated."

"Separated...?" Evergreen and Bixlow said in unison,

"... Not to freak you out or anything, but he ran into Lord Nirav." Corbynn mumbled, suddenly budding into the conversation and earning stricken looks from both Evergreen and Bixlow, while Shae hissed slightly under her breath.

"Shit.." Shae mumbled under her breath, Corbynn jumped slightly at her comment, smiling slightly as he waved his hands a bit at Evergreen and Bixlow.

"T-that Laxus dude totally took on a Wizard Saint at the Grand Magic Games and won, yeah? So even against a Vaide he should be totally okay..!" Corbynn murmured quickly, "Plus that guy was blowing through the Kullui like it was nothing all the way here...! And he was like seriously raring to get into Okeal and everything, so there's really no way he's gonna lose to Lord Nirav. H-he'll totally be here and find us in no time...!" He went on, stammering a bit at the end there and breaking off when he saw the worry on Evergreen and Bixlow's faces.

Naturally so, they were worried about him going up against someone Aisha had seen genuinely terrified of when they were being hunted by Nirav earlier that day. And it wasn't that they doubted Laxus or his strength, they believed he would win against Nirav- they just worried how hurt he might get in the process... And just how far Laxus was willing to go in order to get here, and what he would do once he found out what had happened to Frea in all of this.

They bit the insides of their cheeks, grimacing as their eyes left the flustered looking Corbynn and toward where Freed had followed the King's Ilean out of sight, Frea still unconscious in their teammate's arms.

Talarr didn't hear Shae ask anything or any of the rest of the conversation by those at the door, his eyes were darting about his space quickly and his mind whirling as counted up what he needed mentally, where it all was, and what it was he planned to do- or what he even could do. He'd been thinking about it since they moved off, and those thoughts raced a million miles faster now as they entered the space and he could physically see the things he had been creating a mental checklist with.

He took the lead upon entering the room and motioned for Freed to follow after him, the two of them winding through the mess with Seyre close behind. He walked straight passed the bed the Energess had been in before, and passed the table were the concoction he had made earlier remained untouched on it's top. He moved quickly between overflowing shelves and dressers, and other tables and crates and things, headed further into the chaos and eventually toward a small, circular space. And in the center of it all, sat a heavy-looking, metal and stone table connected with wires to Lacrima and like, with a million other things resting atop it.

"Put her here." Talarr told Freed, his eyes flicking toward the Energess in the man's arms for no more than half a second, before he looked away entirely and moved straight up toward that table that was cluttered with who the hell knew what. Freed hesitated for a small second, brow quirking at the table the Ilean gestured toward, and not sure how he was meant to-?

Freed stiffened, jumping slightly as Talarr dragged a half-full chest over to the edge of the table, and then promptly pushed everything on top of it over the edge to tumble unceremoniously into the chest with a series of loud thumps, and the sound of breaking glass. Talarr didn't seem to care about whatever broke (or several things), he just quickly pushed the crate back where he had found it and gestured to the empty table again.

"Lay her down." He instructed, and Freed nodded as he moved forward toward the table and gently eased Frea on to it and out of his arms. She hissed lowly, her face twisting in pain as her still ragged, panting breaths broke off for half a second in a moan. But still there was no sign she was awake or even aware of anything, and what little reaction he earned from her while laying her down, or moving as they traveled here, were all so small and so weak... and even outside the cool moisture trapped in the bandages running along her arms and neck, the heat pricking off her skin was still persistent as ever, and her entire form had yet to stop trembling, and he grimaced at it.

But even then, that was better than no reaction at all, and sheer silence.

Seyre reappeared at Freed's shoulder after having briefly veered from following them through the mess, and returned with an arm-full of bandages, tape, towels, and other things. She set them down on another table that Talarr moved toward near the edge, and dumped the things sitting atop it on to the floor with another series of heavy thumps. The Keistae bit the inside of her cheek at the rushing movements of the Ilean, her green eyes glittering as he snatched up a roll of bandages she had set down and quickly (or rather haphazardly) wound them around both of his bruised and bloody arms and hands. He didn't do it to treat his own injuries in any effective way, it was just a means to keep from getting his own blood everywhere while he focused on other things. He could worry more about himself later, there were more important things right then.

Freed blinked, his eyes darting from watching Talarr for a few moments and toward the edge of the table, his head tilting in intrigue when he noticed the edges around the table's entire length had Runes carved into it.

"... What is this...?" Freed asked softly, his eyes tracing the Runes quickly as he slowly circled the table to read them, only to halt when Talarr moved back up to the table again and started to fiddle with wires and Lacrima attached to the bottom of it.

"... It's a Prototype Surgical Table." Talarr mumbled in reply, Freed visibly stiffened at the answer, his eyes widening as he felt a shiver run up his spine.

S-Surgical... Prototype...?

"... it's functional, it will help... it's just the first version." Talarr went on, oblivious to the look on Freed's face as he continued to fiddle with the wires. "... the completed one would probably be more effective... but I can't get to it right now... this will have to do..." A sudden humm started up from the table and the Runes along the edge began to glow a cool blue color, the Lacrima attached to the bottom of the table giving off a faint glow too. Freed blinked, his eyes leaving Talarr and watching in interest as a thin, see-through shell of pale blue Magic rose up from the table and fixed itself into dome, surrounding Frea inside it.

"... you work with Runes, yes?" Talarr asked next and Freed jumped at the unexpected question, before nodding.

"Yes, though I will admit many of the ones here in Adgnei I am not familiar with." Freed murmured, Talarr nodded slightly and stood back up.

"I can give you the ones you need, you just need to copy them. Understanding them isn't necessary to make them work." Talarr murmured, moving away again toward the edge of the clutter and digging through a box full of rolls of paper, notebooks, tomes and other things. After a few moments of digging, he pulled up a worn and wrinkled stack of papers carelessly folded together and handed them toward Freed. "Copy these and write them to cover the perimeter of the room. They'll create an extra barrier and hopefully keep us safe from the Kullui and their scanning tools for awhile." Freed nodded,

"Alright." Freed murmured softly, casting a quick glance back at Frea, before heading back through the clutter the way they came. He passed Evergreen, Gray and Juvia by as they finally managed their way through the mess to find them.

Talarr didn't spare any of them a glance, his hand waved over the shell of Magic encapsulating the Energess, earning a Screen popping up in front of him. His fingers tapped quickly against the screen, his eyes narrowed and quiet as the glow of the Magic shell paled to something more sheer white and pale green, small particles falling gently down from the top of it and onto the Energess.

The Fairy Tailers shifted slightly, hovering at the edge of the space and watching silently, their eyes shining with the glow given off my the table and the bursts of light allowed by the screen as Talarr typed on it, highlighting the keys he touched.

Talarr hissed under his breath, one hand raising as he tapped the edge of his Glasses and another screen popped up from the table beside the one he was typing into- charts and graphs littering it's face with lots of things the Fairies didn't quite understand- except for the outline of a woman's body and the multitude of red marked across it... There was barely any place where there wasn't red, and it was bright and burning vermilion stretching across the diagrams' shoulders and chest.

"... Gods..." Talarr muttered under his breath, his eyes dropping closed a for a moment.

Where do I even start...?

"... What... What are you going to do...?" Juvia asked softly, and Talarr glanced up slowly.

"... As much as I can." He murmured softly, his eyes glittering as he looked from the Water Mage and toward the Energess, the light of the table bouncing off his glasses. "... I can't fix everything, or even try to, the stress of it will kill her just as quickly as the wounds." The Ilean muttered lowly, "... her immune system was so damaged even before she got here, but Lord Tuvral's Pestilence made it worse, and now after everything... Her Magic being stripped weakened her even more, and she has little to now Magic left at all now..."

... Which in itself is apt to bring on Magic Deficiency Syndrome, and it might already be setting in... The warning for it is probably drowned underneath everything else...

He bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes shifting sideways toward Seyre, the Keistae blinking at him.

"Seyre, can you please bring my alchemic supplies over here? And a few phials of Cure-All, there should be some in the cabinet near where the rest of the supplies are." Talarr asked softly, and the Keistae nodded curtly, quickly turning on her heel and heading off. He watched her go for a few seconds, before sighing and meeting the anxious glances of the Fairies standing nearby.

"I'll do everything I can." Talarr murmured quietly, "I promise you, I will do my best."

... Gods I only hope... My best will be enough... Help me to undo the hurt I have caused.

---

Earlier-

"Damn it, slow down!" Aisha snapped hotly, her violet eyes flashing as she shot a heated glance toward a certain blonde Dragon Slayer- who at this point was far further ahead of the rest of their group than she liked.

She hissed, growling furiously under her breath as the stretching gates surrounding the boundaries of Okeal slowly came into sight ahead of them, only barely made out passed the smoke and the thick swathes of pitch black that was bleeding down from the Magic circling in the sky.

"Yeah come on man, we're supposed to stay together!" Gray yelled impatiently, his words aimed at the blur of gold steadily drawing further ahead of them and becoming all the more brutal against any Kullui dumb enough to get in the way.

"Then you dumbasses should hurry the hell up!" Laxus snapped back lowly, Gray grimaced while Aisha's jaw clenched so hard she threatened to crack a tooth.

"... Well that guy's in a terrible mood..." Corbynn mumbled between his panting as they ran on, and Gray huffed at the comment.

"... Understandably so... All of this Magic in the air, and the way the earth is rumbling..." Juvia murmured, casting a wary glance around them and up at the spinning vortex above the Tower. "... This is all so unsettling... It feels very much like what happened in Nvindorr..." She added lowly, earning grimaces from Chase, Aisha and Gray alike.

"... This is worse..." Chase murmured lowly, and Juvia stiffened. "... When the Gate opened back in Nvindorr, the Energy and Magic spilling out of it was stronger than anything I've ever felt... But this is ten times that, and it's seeping into everything, the Land and the air and even other Magic, from what I'm feeling... And this is spread out over the whole of the city, not just trapped behind a Door like it was in Nvindorr. This Energy has been around and bleeding into everything even long before trying to make Teach open that Gate up there..." He paused, his eyes narrowed to slits and expression grim as he looked up at the still distant Tower. "... If it feels like its corrupting everything even before it's open, I hate to imagine what the Power in there is gonna do if that Gate does get opened all the way..." He grumbled, swallowing slightly.

... Or even what the hell it's doing to Teach... If it really is this Darkness that's eating at her... Being there is gonna be torture... Even enough to... Shit

"... Tch... This is definitely worse..." Chase grumbled, causing shivers to run down their spines.

"... You don't really think she's gonna open it though, right...?" Corbynn asked softly, Chase's eyes dropped.

"... I don't know if she'll have a choice." Chase murmured lowly,

"... She won't do it, you know that man...!" Gray grumbled quickly, but Chase only stayed quiet. Gray faltered a little at the lack of reply, looking confused, before shaking his head sourly. "Well anyway it won't matter, because we're gonna get there and stop this shit before it ever comes to anything like that!"

Aisha grit her teeth, her eyes darting from Chase and back toward the jagged yellow line of destruction that was Laxus.

... Only we won't, we just have to hope the Thunder Legion will... But hell if telling that guy to cool it when we hit the gates is gonna go well at all... Damn it all.

She huffed a bit, shaking her head.

... Even if I were to just give up on being just a distraction, we don't have a way passed the Barriers... And even with that guy being as worked up as he is, I don't know if he could bring them down long enough to get in-

Her thoughts and their running faltered as they came within sight of the gates around Okeal, and the entire company of Kullui waiting for them. Even Laxus came to a pause just a bit ahead of them, lightning sparking off his form and clashing with the dim all around.

But even then, it wasn't the enemies that made them falter, all of them stumbled to a halt as the earth trembled violently under their feet, and the clouds swirling overhead were wrenched apart in sickly black Magic and Power suddenly erupting from the top of Okeal's highest tower. Everything was shaking, the air a million times heavier, the feeling of thick, unending Darkness seeping into everything with more fervor than before- Chase felt like he couldn't breathe at all for it, and everyone else in the whole of the city felt it harder to take in air, icy cold fear striking them through their cores.

They heard someone screaming, even above the rattling of the earth and the deafening boom that erupted soon after the beam of Magic tore up into the sky, and they all blanched, eyes wide and their hearts skipping a beat.

"Teach...!" Chase hissed,

The beam of black Magic spiraling over the towers head- wild, and jagged at the edges- began quickly spanning passed the top of the tower and stretching out over the whole of the sky, and then began to fall toward the ground with rapid speed. The air shifted, a sudden gust of wind sweeping outward from the head of the valley and washing down, flooding the whole of the city in a violent, biting chill that forced them to shut their eyes and guard their faces from the debris and the dirt it carried with it... And the rush and rumble of voices.

They all froze, Chase, Aisha, Juvia, Gray, Corbynn and Laxus alike, their eyes snapping open and stuck in place as the rush and drone of the wind was cut across by those voices, ethereal, hushed, far away, but voices none-the-less... and hundreds of them, maybe more.

"... What the hell...?" Gray grumbled,

"These voices... They are like the ones from back in Death Bolt..." Juvia whispered,

"... Yeah... But what the hell are they saying...? It sounds all jumbled to me..." Gray grumbled, and he was right, all of the whispers were so low and so jumbled it was impossible to make out what they were saying- but the urgency woven into them was unmistakable.

And then just as quickly as it came, the wind died down to total non-existence and the voices went with it- but the chilly pang of fear in their hearts didn't go away at all. The earth rumbled again and the Magic swirling across the sky moved faster, the bits falling down toward the earth moving out across the ground and starting to crawl through the streets of Corrisette at an alarming rate. They broke their group apart, jumping to either side as one of those streams of Magic movef quickly out over the road toward them and then kept going, disappearing from sight into the city behind them.

"Don't tell me-" Aisha hissed, her eyes glittering as she looked quickly from the Magic running passed their feet and back up to the Tower, all of them stumbling slightly and doing their best to stay on their feet despite the constant motion of the earth underneath them. "-shit, she didn't open it did she...?!"

Aisha's mouth snapped shut though, her words immediately cut off when her eyes caught the streak of gold that darted through the mass of Kullui ahead of them, headed straight toward the stone gates and the Barriers of Okeal. The previously invisible Barrier flashed white, lightning sparking off it's face almost harmlessly as Laxus bounced back after smashing a fist into it, and landed among the Kullui- though he didn't look like he gave a damn about any of them.

"Laxus, wait a minute-!" Aisha ordered hotly, only to get cut off again as Juvia and Gray swept passed her and immediately began to lay in on the Kullui standing in their way. She let out an aggravated breath, her hands sweeping back on either side and Magic flaring, Chase beside her letting out a small breath and letting his own Magic rise. Corbynn let out a small sigh, moving into a defensive stance, though he stayed closed to them and didn't follow Gray or Juvia.

"Damn this..!"

Laxus growled, his fists clenching harder at his sides as he shot a heated glare up at the Barrier, the light fading away again and not a scratch on it's surface even after ramming into it hard enough his hand felt liable to break from the backlash. His eyes flashed, fangs grinding down on eachother as his eyes snapped from the quickly becoming invisible Barrier and up toward the mass of chaos and Magic coming up out of the Tower.

His attention broke away from it when the Kullui shifted around him, pulling weapons out and moving to attack him with Gravity Wells, Collars, Guns, Chains and so much more. He bared his fangs slightly, lightning flickering off his body and his gaze icy as all hell.

"Tch... I don't have time to waste dealing with you assholes." He hissed,

He flitted away in his Lightning Form, darting amongst the mass of Kullui in rapid speed, lightning flashing and sparking in every direction as he slammed his fists and body into them and ripped them apart. Thundering booms followed his quake as he decimated a dozen of Kullui in the course of 30 seconds, and left a trail of broken pieces behind him. He moved over their heads, pausing for a moment off to the side and lifting a hand up in the air above his head, lighting streaming up off his hand and rising up toward the sky, the deep black of the clouds overhead suddenly swimming in gold.

"Lightning Dragon's: Raging Bolt!"

A massive beam and bolt of lightning rained down from the clouds with a fury, engulfing another dozen or so Kullui in it's center and tearing the ground up with it. Once it let up, there was little left of the Kullui Dolls that had been inside of it other than bits of debris, metal and fabric.

Laxus huffed, shaking his head and turning back toward the Gates, his entire body glowing gold as he stiffened, before pushing forward and sending another series of explosive attacks at the Barrier, pounding away at it with so much Magic it was stifling- and still it didn't budge.

Aisha's eye twitched, her body twisting around as she dodged a Collar sent her way from one of the Kullui and then swept her hand it's way- pale blue and white streaming through the air toward it and slicing the Doll's body in two. She paused once it hit the ground, and glanced back toward where Laxus was.

"... ah... he's kinda making this look easy..." Corbynn murmured lowly to her left, and she huffed at it. The young boy bit the inside of his cheek, his icy blue eyes glittering as he cast the Dragon Slayer a halfway exasperated, halfway uneasy look. "... I mean he's like, super pissed... and he just took out about 40 Kullui in no time... that guy is like... seriously insane...!"

"... you knew getting him to play as a distraction wasn't gonna really work." Chase told Aisha quietly as they came to be back to back with one another, the Energy Mage glancing over his shoulder at her. "Juvia and Gray aren't likely to just sit still either... clearly." He added with a glance toward the Ice and Water Mages already enveloped in fighting tooth and claw against the Kullui all around. "... I know we're supposed to just be keeping the heat of Shae and the Thunder Legion, but would it really be so bad if we managed to get into Okeal too?" Chase asked softly, and Aisha bit the inside of her cheek.

"It's better if we stay out." She grumbled back, "Unlike us, the Kullui can go in and out of those Barriers freely. If we stay out here and keep them coming to us, there will be less on the inside for everyone else to deal with. Staying here is the best option." She replied lowly, and Chase blinked, but nodded.

"I suppose that makes sense." he murmured, his blue eyes flashing as he looked away from Aisha and toward the Tower, and then toward Laxus bouncing back and forth from ramming into the Barrier. "... maybe you should tell them that, though. So they quit wasting energy trying to break the Barrier..." Aisha groaned slightly,

"Yeah, give me a minute." She muttered, her eyes locking to the next wave of Kullui advancing on them. Her hands raised on either side of her, her eyes dropping closed as she let out a small breath, and then swung her hands down, dozens of beams of Moonlight striking down on top of the Kullui and churning up the ground almost as much as Laxus' own Magic had.

"Strike Storm!"

Chase let out a small breath, both he and Aisha breaking apart from one another in an instant as he flicked his wrist up, a cool blue wall of Magic springing between himself and the Collar streaming through the air toward him.

"Ricochet Shield!"

Corbynn smiled nervously, his own feet bringing him away from Aisha and Chase as he clapped his hands together, a sphere of Pressure igniting around a group of three Kullui and increasing the force inside tenfold- crumbling the Kullui in on themselves and wrinkling their mechanical bodies up into a ball.

He wasn't really looking forward to Lady Aisha telling any of these other guys they were supposed to stay put and forget about getting passed the Barriers- least of all that Laxus dude.

"Laxus! Quit trying to break the Barrier!" Aisha snapped hotly, her voice easily rising above the clammer all around, cold, clear and demanding as her furious violet gaze swept over the heads of the Kullui and locked with the blonde Dragon Slayer. Laxus paused, his own deadly gaze locking with Aisha's own as he growled, his fangs flashing.

"Excuse me?"

"You can pound at that damn thing all day and you'll never make a dent!" Aisha hissed, "Forget about it, we are not here to break into Okeal! We're here to give the Kullui hell, so focus on them and quit wasting your time!"

"But I thought we were meant to bypass the Barriers-?!" Juvia said quickly,

"You really asking us to just sit here and keep ourselves busy with these assholes?!" Gray snapped furiously, "No fucking way-!"

"You cannot just ask us to stay here-!" Juvia protested,

"I'm not asking!" Aisha snapped back shortly, cutting them both off with ease. "The Kullui are the things you need to keep focused on, and we need to stick together! Quit arguing and do as I say-!"

"Screw you!"

Aisha's jaw snapped shut, her eyes flashing and annoyance sweeping across her expression on an all-time high, her gaze locking with Laxus' as he bared his fangs at her, eyes blazing and Magic too as he snarled the words at her, his voice full of nothing but venom and anger.

"I don't give a damn what you say, I am not sitting here bein' nothing but bait for you!" Laxus snarled, and Aisha bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes narrowing to slits and teeth grinding as her shoulders stiffened, her anger bubbling as quickly. "Don't think you can tell me what to do!"

"Tch, you-" Aisha started, but she never got the chance to snap back a retort to him or his lack of respect for her orders- they all froze, their anger shattered in the course of a single instant as fear struck them straight to their cores.

Above everything, and the rumble of the earth, the fighting, and the chaos in the city behind them- above it all, they heard a scream ring out from the head of the valley, loud, shrill, agonized, and blood-curdling.

Her voice had never sounded like that, ever... never so pained, so terrified-

Laxus' jaw clenched so hard his teeth threatened to crack, a vein ticking on his forehead and his expression darkening to something utterly rage-filled, his ears ringing with the scream and his blood boiling faster and faster. His hands swept up over his head, palms facing each-other as lightning began to converge in air between his hands, and rapidly lengthen, giving off a Magical pressure that shook the earth as much as the Magic spilling from the tower was.

Like hell he was sitting here, and hell if some stupid Barrier was gonna get in his way-

"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"

The dark sky ignited in a wash of brilliant gold, lightning arcing across the black backdrop of clouds as the rumble of thunder washed out over the whole of the valley- but for Chase, Aisha, Corbynn, Gray and Juvia, not even the rumble of thunder could overpower the ear-splitting crash that erupted as a massive, spinning halberd composed entirely of lightning struck hard and fast against the Barrier and it shattered.

The halberd ripped straight through it and kept going through the other side, crashing into the rising slope and churning up slabs of earth and wind that swept backward in furious, biting waves.

"E-EH...?!" Corbynn stammered, sweating up a storm, jaw dropped and wide-eyed along with Juvia and Gray as they stared at the crumbling hole ripped through the Barrier, bits of glowing white pieces crumbling to the ground. "HOLY SHIT, HE ACTUALLY BROKE THROUGH IT?!" Corbynn squealed,

Aisha faltered, her jaw dropping too and eyes widening as she stared at the breach, a bead of sweat dripping down her cheek and quite frankly- lost for words.

S-Shit... I completely underestimated how fucking angry he is...

She jumped, her mouth snapping shut as the golden blur of Laxus in his Lightning Form streaked passed the Kullui still around them and dodged right through the quickly closing hole in the Barrier.

"Laxus!" She snapped hotly,

"Wait up man!" Gray yelled, he and Juvia quickly moving forward on a pathway of ice that Gray created to bring them over the Kullui's heads and then jump through the Barrier too.

"Guess the plan's changed?" Chase mumbled, Aisha let out an aggravated groan.

"Fucking hell!" Aisha hissed, "Come on!" She ordered, her eyes darting over Chase and Corbynn both as she beckoned them after her, and they started a mad-dash through the Kullui toward the already halfway closed hole in the Barrier. They made it about halfway there, firing off Magic left and right to drive the Kullui back and out of their way before they were forced to draw to a halt, a resounding boom echoing on the air from a series of high-power Magic guns being fired in their direction. They skid to a half-halt, Chase's arms sweeping up and his teeth gritting.

"Ricochet Shield!"

The blasts bounced off the Shield, bending it inward before it snapped them back- but they were powerful enough to leave fractures on it where they hit and Chase grimaced. He'd been able to guard against pretty much everything shot at them so far, but doing so was not easy. And the more time passed, the more exhausted he could feel himself getting.

"We gotta keep going-" he murmured, dropping the shield and starting to turn on his heel and keep running toward the hole in the Barrier- only to feel his heart skip a beat when his eye caught the glint of something metal coming their way, and fast. "Watch it!" He hissed, his Magic springing in front of him in the same instant he turned around and stepped in front of Aisha, pulling her behind him so roughly she stumbled. The Shield he had started to try and make got ripped apart long before it ever got halfway up, and Chase stiffened, doing his best to move just a little to avoid it, but he had no footing and he growled.

A Collar snapped tightly around his neck, the blue glow of his Magic disappearing in an instant as it got Nullified, and he grit his teeth against the way it drove the breath out of him and made him stumble back, almost losing his footing- before losing it entirely when a chain attached to the back of the Collar and he was yanked backward by the Kullui holding on to it.

"Chase!" Aisha hissed, quickly sending off a Moonlight Ray and cutting the chain in half, releasing Chase as he hit the ground hard on his back and coughed, before quickly rolling over and doing his best to dodge out of the way of another Chain, and put some distance between himself and the Kullui quickly closing in.

"Crap, not good!" Corbynn muttered, his arm swinging forward as he sent out a series of high-pressure bursts toward the Kullui nearest to Chase and blowing them backward, giving the now Magic-less Energy Mage a little more breathing room. Aisha glanced between Chase and the Barrier quickly, catching sight of Juvia and Gray turning back once they realized what had happened, and she growled, thoughts racing.

"Go!" She snapped at Corbynn, the young boy jumping at suddenly being yelled at. "Get through the Barrier and stick with everyone else!" He faltered, and Aisha shook her head furiously. "Go you damn brat!"

He stiffened, his eyes flashing as he bit the inside of his cheek, before nodding stiffly and whipping around, booking it toward the closing hole. "Y-yes, My Lady...!" He called back,

"Woah, wait a minute you guys can't take on that many by yourselves!" Gray yelled from the other side of the gates,

"Especially with Chase's Magic cut off!" Juvia called, Aisha waved a hand back at them harshly.

"We'll be fine!" Aisha snarled, her violet eyes blazing. "Just go! Find Frea!"

They hesitated, jaws clenched and fists too, but they nodded stiffly- and Corbynn jumped through the hole in the Barrier not ten seconds before it closed again, cutting them off completely.

"Tch, you two better be fine!" Gray yelled, Aisha huffed, her feet already bringing her forward toward Chase and her body glowing with the light of her Magic rising faster and faster.

"Worry about yourselves!" Aisha snapped, her hands swiping down as hundreds of bright white specks of light dotted the ground all around herself, Chase, and the Kullui. Chase glanced at his feet for no more than a half second, before hissing and quickly jumping up off the ground entirely.

"Starfall Field!"

Her voice got drowned out by the series of deafening booms going off as the specks of light exploded with white-hot fury, tearing up the ground and sending the Kullui flying in all directions. Juvia, Gray and Corbynn grimaced, pausing as they narrowed their eyes against the blinding amount of light the Spell gave off, before shaking their heads and turning, running off up the slope and toward the looming figure of Okeal. Ahead of them the yellow line of Laxus in his Lightning Form was moving quickly, staying a fair distance ahead of them but never enough to be out of complete sight, and they huffed as the sprinted to keep up with him and climb the incline.

"... that guy is freaking insane...!" Corbynn muttered under his breath, "... I can't believe he broke the Barrier... and with a single Spell...!"

"... I don't think I've ever seen him this worked up." Gray grumbled under his breath, "But you're right, that guy's like a freakin' monster or something, geez..."

"Juvia hopes the Thunder Legion managed to get passed the Barriers as well." Juvia murmured, her expression falling slightly. "... and Juvia hopes everyone is alright..."

"Tch, yeah.." Gray muttered lowly, Corbynn's eyes dropped slightly as he cast a furtive look over his shoulder toward the gates quickly fading from sight as they ran.

BOOM

Corbynn's head snapped back around in shock and Juvia and Gray jumped too, their eyes immediately snapping ahead of them and toward the sudden massive cloud of white and gold that erupted ahead of them, easily rising passed two stories high and coming out of literally nowhere-

"What the hell was that-?!" Gray started, only to cut off as a massive burst of wind suddenly washed down from ahead of them, carrying a storm of dust and debris with it, making them shield their faces against it and struggle to a half-halt just to stay on their feet.

"D-did that Laxus guy get hit by that?" Corbynn stammered, his eyes searching the cloud of smoke and finding no sign of the Dragon Slayer, or even the glow of yellow of his Magic.

"No way..!" Gray mumbled,

"But what was it-?" Juvia murmured, before cutting herself off as their eyes found a line of gold dodging up out of the cloud and toward the edge of it's radius.

Laxus landed back down, growling lowly as he wiped the back of his hand across his chin, smearing the blood dripping from a cut running across his cheek. His clothes and skin were singed and dirty from taking the brunt of the explosion- and one that had a lot more punch to it than he expected.

Hell, he hadn't even been expecting an explosion of any kind at all- and certainly not when he caught sight of a tiny little blade coming his way after being thrown from somewhere he hadn't a clue. He'd been fully prepared to simply dodge it, but the damn thing blew up as soon as it got within ten feet of him, and it was too big and explosion to dodge, even for him.

His eyes narrowed to slits and he quickly scanned the cloud of smoke, ears trained to pick up anything that would indicate where that blade had come from, or who threw it- his nose twitching too... but all he smelled was ash and metal.

He grit his teeth, annoyance and urgency flaring anew in his core. He didn't want to stop, and he hated that he had even for those few moments, but he knew something else had popped up out of nowhere- and it wasn't one of those damned Kullui he'd been blowing through all the way here.

No, this was something different, he could sense it.

"That was a warning, Dragon Slayer."

He stiffened at the low voice coming from ahead of him, the smoke clearing finally as the figure of a tall, bulky man appeared, standing at the edge of the crater worn into the earth from the blast. His deep russet hair shift in the wind, black tattoos drawn across every bare patch of skin on his arms, with thin lines stretching down his lips, his piercing green eyes locking with Laxus' own aqua one, calm, rigid, and utterly expressionless. A deep purple Dyann flecked across by black was wrapped around his waist, his hands resting on his hips and fingers covered with rings, and blades strapped along his arms, waist, legs and back.

Laxus grumbled lowly, his posture slowly changing to something a bit more defensive as the strange man blinked at him.

"I expected Lady Celene to try and breach the Barriers, but I was not expecting anyone to break through them so easily." The man murmured, "Though perhaps I should not be so surprised, a feat such as that should probably be expected from the man who defeated Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints." He added and Laxus huffed, "I know of you, Laxus Dreyar."

"Goody for you." Laxus muttered impatiently, "I don't give a damn if you know who I am or not. All I care about is the fact you're in my fucking way, and you damn well better get out of it." The man grimaced, his teeth grinding slightly and enough so Laxus could hear it.

"Such arrogance." He muttered lowly, "Don't assume because you defeated one of your country's Saints that you can stand against me, or even win."

"Eh? And what makes you so special?" Laxus growled, before blinking, his eyes narrowing further as his thoughts clicked together in no time at all.

"Oh, you're one of those Vaide assholes, aren't you?"

The man nodded slightly, his green eyes flashing. "Indeed." He replied, "I am Lord Nirav, last of my Family Name and Vaide to His eminence; Drennios, God-King of-"

"-Tch, Vaide or not, you're still in my way." Laxus interrupted and Nirav stiffened, his teeth grinding again as annoyance and anger broke his expressionless face apart. "Quit wasting my time with stupid titles, if I have to beat you into a bloody pulp to make you get out of my face, so be it. Let's just get on with it already."

"Hmph, that arrogance of yours is going to get you killed." Nirav muttered lowly, and Laxus blinked, a shadow falling over his eyes as he settled the other man with an icy stare.

"Oh yeah?" He rumbled, Nirav's hands lift from his waist, his face darkening too.

"I will not allow you into Okeal, you will die before you ever step foot inside of it's walls." Nirav told him lowly, his green eyes flashing. "I've killed far worse than you, Dreyar. No one escapes my hand, you and your other Fairy friends will be no exception. No one has ever escaped my judgement."

"You're about to eat your words, asshole." Laxus huffed, Nirav let out a small breath.

"Am I?" He asked softly, "You are out of your depth here, all of you... not even your Energess' could resist our will, she's been bent to it and will do whatever Drennios' wishes." Nirav hummed, Laxus stiffened, and Nirav tilted his head back a bit toward the Tower behind him. "You hear her, yes? The great Energess, a Wizard Saint, an S-Class Mage of your Guild- and she is powerless- hopelessly powerless against Drennios' will. Completely helpless, and incapable of doing anything, let alone defying us... All she can do is squirm and scream while we strip her Magic away." Nirav muttered lowly, and Laxus' face darkened further, his lips twisting in a snarl as lightning sparked off his shoulders in sheer, unbridled agitation.

"Tch, shut your fucking mouth." Laxus hissed, and Nirav waved the comment off, not at all bothered with the venom in the Lightning Dragon Slayer's tone.

"It's pathetic really." Nirav went on, "For all the stories and the legends, the 'great' Energess was rendered Magic-less in little more than two minutes... and since arriving she's barely been able to stand on her own two feet, let alone live up to the glory her title is supposed to represent." His eyes dropped back down from watching the sky and locked with Laxus', the Vaide's expression nuetral again but his eyes nothing but ice-cold.

"The 'great' Energess is nothing but weak, and a true and utter disappointment. It would seem fitting she die along with those ridiculous legends she's failed to live up to. Condemn the notion of Energess with her failings... yes, that would be fitting in the new age to come."

The ground under Laxus' feet shattered, his expression twisted in complete and utter rage, fangs bared and lighting sparking off his entire body in violent, choking waves, a vein ticked on his forehad and glare deadly.

Nirav blinked slowly, the edge of his lips pulling slightly as he shifted, his hands falling on his arms as he hummed under his breath. "Have I touched a nerve, Dreyar?" He asked easily, a low, animlastic growl rose from Laxus' throat. "What was it? The part about the Energess' screaming? Or was it the part about her weakness?" Nirav asked, before smiling, twisted, wicked.

"Or maybe because I wish to see her dead? She deserves no less than that... a slow, painful, terrible death for the disgrace she's turned out to be."

Thunder boomed overhead, yellow flashing across the dark sky and washing the world out in blinding light. Laxus moved forward, lightning-fast and furious, his fist swinging back behind him as he came straight up to the Vaide, and eyes blazing as he swung forward.

Nirav simply let out a breath, smiling still, unmoving.

"I SAID SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, BASTARD!"

The whole of the city trembled, thunder echoing through the streets and through their hearts as those fighting in the streets of Corrisette paused for a moment, their attention's moving up to the sky and the brilliant gold storm sparking from the clouds near the head of the valley... a stark contrast to the sickly black of the clouds and Magic engulfing everything.

The Fairy Tailers grimaced, their eyes reflecting the yellow glow and grim-faced as their relentless battling halted for a brief few moments, and they watched the lightning rage in the clouds so very far away from them.

"Laxus." Master Makarov murmured lowly, his eyes narrowing at the storm and his gut twisting with it, more so as his eyes scanned that storm and then found the beam of light rising up from the top of the Tower. A scene that was horrifyingly similiar to the images replayed for weeks now in Carla's Visions, and not a single Fairy Tailer fighting in the lower sections of the city had any doubt that it had happened- Saige Balthan's ominous words ringing on their ears.

"The Energess will have no choice. She'll open the Gate for that Tomb whether she wants to or not... time is up."

Saige let out a low sigh, his face twisting as he looked up at the vortex of Magic polluting the sky, his ears filled with the screams of those in the city and the Energess' both. He stood there, pausing as everyone else did as the lightning storm started up, his continued efforts to gaurd fleeing people from the Kullui and provide safe passage for them as the rest of the Fairy Tailers and Theives Guild were doing, slowing up for a few long moments. His eyes dropped, his head bowing with it and stiff-shouldered, firelight glinting off the Wizard Saint pendant earring in his ear.

So this is it, then..?

The day the Energess Falls... just as he did, so long ago.

He looked up slowly, his orange gaze shifting sideways toward where Makarov stood, his eyes riveted on the distant Tower and looking no small amount of pained and worried.

... with all of them here, no less... everyone she cares for... is history to repeat itself tonight? To destroy everything she ever held dear, and be powerless to stop herself...?

Saige looked back out to the city, to the destruction and the glow of fire burning and running rampant everywhere... from the bodies lying about and the fleeing people, to the cloud of sickly black enveloping everything, and then to the Tower, a pitch black sky and bruning gold sparking across the clouds without end, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"... find her, before she Falls." Saige murmured under his breath, low and soft and to no one in particular- but he knew better than to think there was no one (or nothing) listening.

"... remind her, if need be... what is lost, if she does... and let it be enough... do not let this break her... let her strength of will be enough... and Gods save us if it is not."

---

Hello everyone!

So, because of the Coronavirus, I am to be stuck in my house for the next three weeks or so- and it's sort of looking like the rest of my semester is gonna be cancelled, or drastically dulled down... so long story short, I have (so much) time to write!

I'm gonna try and get a good bit of the way through this story and my other ones, so look forward to that!

Please, follow, fav and Review! Thank you!