"We're almost out of time!" Carla exclaimed as the tower continued to collapse on itself.
"We've almost got him free!" Levy shouted. "I'm not leaving this place without Gajeel!" Those were words she intended to stand by until the very end. "For all the times he's saved me…I want to repay that favor at least once! So I'm not leaving without him!"
Pantherlily gave a firm nod to Levy. "That's right…leaving him behind is the last thing I'd ever do!"
"Solid Script: Iron!" Quickly tracing her fingers in the air, Levy spelled the word 'iron' out. The words themselves turned into iron and collapsed violently on the tube containing Gajeel, effectively shattering it.
"Guh…" Gajeel blinked awake slowly, having no idea what was going on. "Wha…? What happened?"
"No time to explain!" Happy flailed his arms about. "We gotta go, NOW!"
"Right…!" Pantherlily nodded firmly and escape from the falling tower was imminent.
.
.
The tower finally collapsed on itself, falling to a giant pile of rubble sitting in the middle of southern Fiore. Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, Sabertooth, and the kidnapped Dragon Slayers were all outside, safe from further harm. "NATSUUUU!" Happy flung himself at Natsu, clinging to his best friend with comical tears rushing from his eyes. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE SAFE!"
"Happy!" Natsu grinned before holding onto his Exceed partner.
"Wendy, you're unharmed, right!?" Carla questioned while looking over Wendy for any injuries.
"I-I'm okay…" Wendy nodded slowly. She was still a little shaken up from having so much of her magic used against her will, along with the encounter before she and Erza had to leave the tower. "Erza-san…you saw her too, right…?"
Erza paused for a moment, recalling those last few seconds before their escape. "I don't know who that was…" Erza admitted. But at the same time there was something bothering her about the encounter as well.
"STING-KUN!" Lector latched onto Sting, just as Frosch did to Rogue. The Exceeds were more than happy to see that their partners and best friends were finally safe after such an arduous ordeal.
"I'm glad we made it." Lucy said while letting out a relieved sigh. She was just happy to see Natsu and her friends safe.
"You took care of that Wizard hunter? Not bad!" Blues said with an exhausted smile.
"Eh...?" Lucy blinked a few times. She did remember Aeon trying to stop them, but...she didn't remember what happened after that. It was hazy... "Y-Yeah, I did! They weren't so tough!" She did have the distinct memory of them running away from her. Just not what happened that caused it. But why would she complain?
"Is everyone here and accounted for…?" Lucy asked while looking around. All of the Dragon Slayers were safe and it seemed like everyone made it outside just in the nick of time…
"E-Etto…" Yukino looked around for Minerva, but was unable to spot her anywhere. "Minerva-sama…where did she go…?"
"The Lady was with you…?" Rogue questioned. "That's odd…it's not like her to disappear like that…and I highly doubt she'd fall victim to something so simple as a falling building when she could just use her magic to escape.
"This is a little worrisome…" Erza admitted. Before the subject was forcefully changed by Lahar and his Councilmen arriving to the scene just too late.
"Halt, all of you!" Lahar commanded.
"Well…look who showed up to the scene too late…" Laxus scoffed while gesturing to the pile of rubble that used to be a tower. "It's already over. As for those Wizard Hunters and Predator's Reign people…who knows where they went. Seems like they escaped along with the rest of us."
"I see…" Lahar adjusted his glasses. "What about that mad scientist? We've allowed him to escape too many times now…"
"He probably got crushed." Selene shrugged. "Good riddance, I say."
"Agreed…" Gray let out a heavy sigh. "I'm getting really tired of him popping up whenever he pleases…" As he said that, he noticed a few people beginning to sneak off nearby; it was Yuzan, Kara, Kai, and Blank! "Oi, look…!"
"Hm…?" Lahar blinked before pointing his finger forward. "Arrest them immediately!" Without any hesitation, the council guards Lahar brought with him arrested the four members of Predator's Reign and dragged them away. "Now it seems that everything has been taken care of for the time being…"
"Maybe for you." Reve then cut his eyes towards the three rookies. "What brought you three here. This was incredibly dangerous for you rookies, you know that."
"A-Ah…" Micaiah poked her fingers together. "S-sorry…I just…had a really bad feeling…"
"Ah, cut them some slack…!" Luke said with a thumbs up. "They managed to hold their own…which means they've been improving. So we can't really be too upset about that…right?"
"Though I can't say I agree with letting them come over here…but it all worked out." Cygnus shrugged.
"Whatever, man…" Blues rubbed his head tiredly. "I'm gonna go home and take a 24 hour nap…"
"Agreed…" Heather said while rubbing the back of her head.
"Good thing we were here!" Jack said to Ace. "I think we helped out pretty well."
"We did, I'd say." Ace said with a firm nod.
"Thanks again for your aid." Hikaru approached Jack and gave an appreciative nod.
"We owe you one!" Melanie said while bowing slightly towards Jack. That sort of praise was a bit much for him, but he managed to be cool about it.
"Ah, well, you know. This is just the sort of thing I do these days." He was really trying to be cool. "Plus, you're Diamond's friend or whatever, right? I think she'd be pissed if something happened to you."
"You think?" Hikaru crossed her arms. Knowing Diamond, that was probably as good as it was going to get.
"I want that guy to pay for hurting everyone here." Leon clenched a hand into a fist. The second time his friends were targeted.
"Leon, I know you're angry. But you're just as exhausted as the rest of us." Hikaru said in a wise tone. "We should return home and rest. I don't sense that scientist or his assistant around anywhere."
"She's right...what happened to them?" Lucy looked to Alex, the last person to see Aiden or Hyde.
"Oh, uh. I don't know." Alex rubbed the back of her head with a bashful smile. "I beat up Hyde just as everyone was fending off the helix of magic. I left right after. There was a strange woman there as well, but she literally didn't do anything to stop me. I have no idea what her deal was..."
"A strange woman?" Lucy furrowed her brows. But if she didn't do anything, she probably meant no harm...
"But it's been a long day. We should head back." Alex was masking her inner conflict with a smile. Hyde's words did sting in a way she could've describe. It felt good beating him, but it just didn't end there for her.
.
On a cliff base not too far away from the tower remains, Emeraude stood and watched things occurring down below. The mysterious woman gave a shrug and proceeded to walk off. "Aiden Viscard…a Scientist with a terrible track record. He could never hope to contain Pergrande's secrets if he could not even get one of his experiments to work successfully…such is the folly of one long gone mad. But no matter…this country has a lot to offer, and I cannot wait to see the secret's this country has been hiding…~"
.
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Hisui was on the other side of a lacrima screen, speaking with King Ashnard and Count Waltz. "Crisis has been averted, Ashnard." Hisui stated, attempting to hide some slight smugness due to her being correct in placing faith in the mages of Fiore. "As always, the mages of Fiore have taken care of it in a timely manner." Really, she was doing her best to keep this discussion as professional as possible despite how much she wanted to tell Ashnard that he was just flat out wrong.
"Perhaps Lady Luck smiled down upon you on this very day…" Ashnard scoffed. "Nevertheless, good on you for keeping this situation to a minimum. Now explaining it to your people should be just as easy, yes?"
"Ah…" And there it was. Always with the comebacks…Hisui shook her head slowly. "Things will be fine. I would appreciate it if you didn't butt your nose into Fiore's affairs. It's only an Ishgar problem when we say it's one."
"No matter." Waltz gave a slight shrug. "As long as nothing else occurs, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. It is the will of the people all in the end…and as a ruler you must do your best to not only listen, but to appease them. Surely you are aware of this fact."
"Of course…" Hisui sucked her teeth slightly. Always having to deal with Ashnard and Waltz in a two on one was annoying. "Now…that is all I called to discuss with you both. Fiore will be having no more problems for a while, so please keep your noses where they belong."
"We'll keep in touch, dear Princess." Waltz gave a proper bow before the lacrima screens vanished.
"Ugh…." Hisui leaned back in her chair and let out a heavy sigh. Things were getting too close for comfort as of late…
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"Master!?" White Eclipse practically swarmed the revived Calium.
"Ah…" Calium let out a soft chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "It's nice to see you all again." He then turned to the ruined guild, sweat now forming on his forehead. "Oh…I did that, didn't I..?"
"Wait…" Saraya pointed at Calium. "Is…is this the Calium you all talk about…? He looks…so young…! And not old…!"
"That's because…" Mary walked over to Calium, patting his shoulder with a somewhat proud grin. "This is the old man in his prime. A threat to Ishgar with his magic level…Welcome back, Calium."
"No way…" Kuro stared with widened eyes. It was like a dream!
"Ah…what about the guild…?" Anais asked.
"Don't worry about that." Zalen said while pushing up his glasses, giving a sly grin. "I can fix this in a jiffy. Still…this is going to be a great surprise for Reve and the others when they come back here. I can't wait!"
"Master…it's so good to have you back…" Aira said with a soft smile. She was trying her best not to shed any tears, but was failing horribly. Calium was like a father to her, after all.
While everyone was rejoicing over Calium's return, Jaxon went off in search of Jikan and Sidney. What happened to the Ace right before his very eyes still had him very disturbed. "Where…" It was then he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to tense up. Turning slowly…eyes widened to see that it was Sidney, who was back to normal. "S-Sidney…!"
Sidney took his hand off Jaxon's shoulder and gave a tug of his scarf, the ultimate sign of respect from the White Eclipse Ace. "Do you know the reason I brought you now?"
"N-No…I'm still confused…" Jaxon shook his head. "Was it to give me a heart attack…?"
Shaking his head, Sidney let out a quiet sigh. "No. You possess the one thing I do not: Humility. I could never take a bow to another mage no matter what…but I knew you would be able to. And because of that, you helped save Fiore. Jaxon…today you showed the highest qualities of an S class mage, and for that…thank you."
Jaxon blinked a few times, trying to process what he was hearing. Thanks from Sidney?! That never happened! "No problemo…" Really, that was all he could say!? He was speechless, it was a miracle he managed to say anything at all.
"Now, let's go back. The others are probably waiting." With a nod, Sidney led the way back up the mountain.
And there was Jikan, out of sight and out of mind. He was just watching everything occurring White Eclipse, a small grin stretched onto his lips. "Well...this was a new turn of events. But I liked how it went down. But for you, old man...I've got you in my clutches now." With a chuckle, the master of Silent Sanctum vanished, returning back into the darkness.
.
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The Wizard Hunters gathered at a campsite far away from the now fallen tower. They were all injured from their encounters. "Another defeat..." Aeon grumbled, covered in bandages.
"They had unexpected help this time." Bass crossed his arms. "Not to mention the rest of the country coming in to help. I have to admit...it was as impressive as it was irritating."
"Did you see that other guild, though?" Yukia snickered. "They got arrested! They were nothing but talk the whole time! If the Boss, Yeager, and Rajaron were here...this mission would've been a breeze.
"I do think it would've been easier, but...Aeon and I encountered something unbelievable." Marta was still winching from it as well. Losing to Lisanna was bad enough, but what happened with Lucy was definitely the worst outcome.
"You two do look rather beaten up." Cain took note of that. "What happened?"
"It was Lucy." Marta said.
"Eh? The weak blonde?" Yumia titled her head, blue eyes blinking. "She couldn't have roughed you two up that badly! Besides, Marta's rope should've been more than enough!"
"I thought that, too." Marta held up the rope in question; it was frayed at the one end. "But she was able to break through it."
"How did ssssssshe pull that off?" Shade was sticking to the shade of a tree. He wasn't very fond of the sunlight. "That rope isssss magical, issssss it not?"
"Correct." Marta said with a very serious nod. "A magical item still contains magic, as everyone knows. This rope is infused with Binding and Nullification magic. The moment it wraps around someone, it completely renders them useless. It worked on Gray and Ace earlier! But Lucy...not only did she manage to move, but she managed to nearly destroy it as well."
"It was insane, I tell you!" Aeon said. "The look in her eyes after we cornered her, it was different than last year! Her eyes were a beautiful brown, but they changed into a scathing red. I understand she improved as a wizard since then, but that was not magic."
"Not magic, huh..." Yumia was slightly interested. "Wait. She nearly destroyed it?"
Marta was staring at the frayed end of the rope, thinking back to Lucy's expression in that moment. "Lucy wasn't present when you all occupied that fortress, right? I think something happened to her. Because what she did wasn't magic. Whatever happened...was a natural ability that she absolutely doesn't possess. If it was, we would've seen it last time!"
"Maybe she picked it up somewhere?" Bass suggested. "A lot can happen over the course of a few months. We've been out of touch with them for a while...maybe that should change."
"I think...we need to keep an eye on her from afar." Marta's gaze didn't leave the rope. The frayed end of it had faint traces of black and red energy leaking from it.
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Rose went right back to Hell's core, staring at Lamy who seemed quite interested in what went down. "Oh! How did it go!? Did you rip that girl's face off!?" Lamy questioned, getting all up in Rose's face.
Rose placed her hand on Lamy's face and shoved her away, letting out a scoff after. "No. It wasn't the time or place. Plus, I'm still a little light headed and feel like shit…so I'm going back in the tube to recover."
Lamy gasped at Rose uttering a swear word. "My! Such a potty mouth on you! I like it! Fwahaha!" That annoying laugh surfaced once again, causing Rose to cringe.
"Shut up…" Rose shook her head before undressing herself and stepping into the tube. Her light headedness was caused by her incomplete consciousness thanks to Marde, so Lamy was certain this would fix it. "And don't wake me up until something important happens…"
"Haa…you're so distant it's cute!" Lamy sighed before clapping her hands together. "Oh well, I'll soften you up somehow! But in the meantime…I'll just have fun with the one Kyouka-sama brought over…" Lamy's eyes gleamed deviously as she walked over to a tube…one that contained none other than an unconscious Minerva Orland.
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Next Time: Dawn.