"Finally, we've got you right where we want you." Xen said with a devious grin spreading along his lips. "No more running away for you."
"That's right," Laura spoke with a sinister wink. "You're stuck with us now. This time you're not weaseling your way away from us, and your friends can't help you this time."
"N-No! Stop! Leave me alone! Let them go!" Lucy demanded while trying to free herself from the ice, but to no avail, she was stuck.
"No can do." Laura responded before pulling out that accursed whistle. "Now we're going to do this a second time, and this time we're going doing uninterrupted, mkay?" And with that Laura placed her lips on the whistle and blew, once again releasing that noise that only Lucy's ears could hear, and just like before it began driving her crazy.
"N-No! S-Stop…!" Lucy shut her eyes while trashing about as much as she could violently.
Luckily for Lucy, she was actually not alone in this ordeal. From Laura's blindside, Gray emerged with his fist covered in purple ice. "Ice Devil's Frozen Impact!" He exclaimed just as he swung at Laura's skull.
"Huh!?" Laura noticed Gray at the literal last second, leaping away from his downward swing. She dropped the whistle as a result and glared at the interfering ice mage. "You again? Don't you ever give up!?"
"Funny, I should be saying the same thing to you!" Gray said before standing in front of Lucy. "Lucy, are you okay!?"
"G-Gray…?" Lucy could not have been gladder to see her fellow guild mate.
"How did you break out of the ice?!" Xen questioned with a slight glare.
"It's ice." Gray replied while holding his arm up, a cold mist radiating from his being. "And even with that…I think you underestimated the amount of ice mages we had on our side."
"Ice Dragon's Claw!" Waiston sprung forward, aiming an ice covered snap kick at Laura. The commandant evaded, however she ended up slipping on the ice and hitting her head on some of it, stunning her for a little bit.
"Agh…damn…" She held her head while shaking off whatever dizziness remained. By the time she looked up, a multitude of orbs surrounding her from all angles. "…Shit." And the last thing she let out was a cry of pain as the orbs crashed into her without remorse. Ultear's Flash Forward completely overwhelmed the commandant and she lay unconscious on the ice after the assault.
"That's one taken care of…" Ultear said whilst panting softly. Despite how simple that may have seemed, Ultear had to put forth far more effort into taking out a foe that was off guard. Pergrande's Commandant's were not to be trifled with. The element of surprise really helped there.
"How irritating…" Xen grit his teeth slightly. He thought Laura would be of more use than that!
"It's annoying how you believed such ice would imprison the likes of me…" Lyon said whilst dusting himself off.
"Oh, is that all of you?" Xen quirked his brow.
"Not quite!" Diamond shouted from afar, a shell of ice dispersing slowly from her, Chelia, Wendy, Carla, and Cynthia. She looked over her shoulder at the girls before asking; "Are you three okay? That was a little close…"
"W-We're fine…" Chelia nodded slowly while rubbing her arm. Diamond was ordered at the last possible second to save the kids if she could and she managed to do so. "Cynthia, are you…"
Cynthia was breathing heavily; her body temperature was incredibly high to the point where steam was visible from her. The ice around her wasn't melting despite this fact, and she was writhing around a little bit in what looked like pain. "I-I'm okay…I-I promise…"
"She's not looking too good…" Carla muttered.
"Cynthia…just hold on, okay…?" Wendy bit her lip. "Erza-san, please hurry."
"Don't worry; we'll take care of this guy quickly…" Gray nodded to Wendy while he, Ultear, Diamond, Lyon, and Waiston prepared for battle. "Just keep an eye on Lucy and the blonde bastard for us, okay? They just don't know when to give up and take no for an answer."
"I wonder about that…" Xen's previous disposition replaced with a knowing smirk. "How can you fight me and save your friends at the same time? Such a thing would be quite impossible, actually."
"I-Impossible? How?" Ultear demanded to know.
"This ice in itself is…" Chelia began, though Xen had no issues in cutting her off.
"Most of you may not be familiar with who I am…but I am the Ice God." Xen had no issues stroking his own ego either. "This is the surface of my power, the God Arc. This black ice you see around you…this is Eternal Ice. I control Ice and Time itself…ice can be so cold it freezes the very fabric of time around us. This black ice is completely frozen in time, meaning no matter what you do you will not be able to break it and free your comrades…however you ice mages maybe be capable of slowing down the process of your friends freezing to death within the below zero temperatures."
"You bastard…!" Wasiton clenched his hand into a fist.
"That's so dirty!" Diamond complained. "He already knew his own weakness and we don't have a choice but to go with it…"
"We'll be open if we try to save everyone and there's no way we're going to be able to beat him in time to save everyone…it's much too cold for them to last more than a few minutes…" Lyon pondered. "We can't break the ice so we cannot free Jura or Gildarts…"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Chelia stepped forward. "Wendy and I can take care of this! Just focus on saving everyone! Besides…as a God Slayer, it partially falls on me to quell this…"
"Y-Yeah…!" Wendy nodded while standing next to Chelia. "W-We can take this!"
"D-Don't leave me out of this…" Cynthia brought herself onto her feet, panting heavily while hunching over. "Let me fight too!"
"But Cynthia…!" Carla started.
"We don't have time to argue!" Cynthia replied before standing next to Wendy and Chelia. "I have faith Erza and the others will bring that water over here…but in the meantime we have to make sure we can get past this! Besides…I've been waiting to tear at something all day admittedly."
"That girl is stubborn even when she's sick." Lucy shook her head while still trying to pry herself from the ice, but again to no avail.
"You heard 'em." Gray had a slight smirk before placing his hands on the ice along with the other ice mages, a blue aura glowing within the darkness. They were slowly absorbing the ice to slow the process of everyone freezing to death; however it was costing their own stamina as a result.
"Make it quick!" Waiston shouted.
"And hurry! I'm starting to lose feeling in my arms and legs…" Lucy shivered comically before giving a sneeze.
"Right!" Chelia nodded before glancing at Cynthia and Wendy. "Hey, this is the first time we've taken on a threat together like this in a while, huh? Let's make it count!
"Children? Are they so desperate?" Xen shrugged before his ice shield formed along his arm. "Very well…I suppose I'll do what I must to get my hands on what we came after." While he saw Chelia as a minor threat with her God Slaying, Xen's first real mistake was underestimating Wendy and Cynthia.
Cynthia leapt into the air while raising her scaled arm forward, crimson flames flaring along the limb before taking the shape of a claw. "Omega Fire Dragon's Claw!" Cynthia swung her arm down only to clash with Xen's shield. She leapt away but not before dealing a heavy amount of damage to the weapon.
"Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy followed right after Cynthia, quickly bringing her hand down as sharp winds followed the movement. Wendy's follow up was enough to shatter Xen's shield and send him staggering backwards.
"Two hits…?!" Xen didn't expect these two little girls to have so much power.
"Sky God's Whirlwind Snap!" Chelia took the opening and flew forward, delivering a black wind infused roundhouse kick to Xen's temple, sending him spiraling backwards across his own ice before coming to a halt. Chelia gave a grin to her two sisters before staring back at Xen to see how effective the direct hit was overall.
"That God Slaying magic stings…" Xen admitted. "It looks like my shield won't be of much use…but no matter, with the Ice God Arc at my disposal; I've no need to hide behind it." The Commandant held his hand forward, creating a large seal before him. "Aurora Beam." From the seal, a massive beam of ice shot out with the intent of freezing the three girls solid.
"I got it!" Cynthia took the lead while beginning to inhale, cheeks starting to inflate as red flames began to circle around her mouth in a vortex. "Omega Fire Dragon's Roar!" Lurching forward, the ravenette unleashed a potent funnel of red flames towards the incoming beam of ice, the two clashing in a powerful stalemate that eventually ended in an explosion.
Xen brought his arm up, shielding his eyes from the smoke. "Tch…little brats…"
Chelia sprinted forward through the smoke, twisting her upperbody in a counterclockwise motion. "Dance of the Sky God!" In one sharp movement, Chelia unleashed spirals of wind that forced Xen skyward with a pained yelp. Chelia looked into the sky before shouting; "Wendy!"
And Wendy was already on it. The second Xen was launched into the sky Wendy took a leap, spinning around to prepare herself for her strike. Once Xen was at the apex of his forced flight, Wendy brought her leg down in an upside down kick, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that sent Xen directly towards the ground. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang! Now, Cynthia!"
Cynthia sprinted along the ground, allowing her flames to flare up from around her body. She then leapt forward headfirst as Xen just barely managed to recover, slamming her flaming skull headfirst into his abdomen with force. "Omega Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" The momentum continued until Xen flew off from Cynthia and she rolled to a stop on a knee, panting heavily. She then raised her hands up just as the other two landed, creating a large fireball over her head. "And! Radiant Blaze!" Cynthia hurled the blaze forward, backed by Wendy and Chelia's raging winds for what was going to be an explosive impact.
"Enough of this!" Xen yelled in irritation holding his hand forward to 'catch' the blaze, allowing black ice to freeze over the flames and wind before crushing it within the palm of his hand. He was damaged by the three girl's assault and it was annoying him that kids were getting the best of him. "I'm done playing around with you children. You're going to enter the world of adulthood right now!" A bright blue aura began to swirl around Xen's body, his skin turning pitch black as he activated the power of his God Arc. This mean he was unleashing his true power, and among these three girls no less. With the swipe of his hand, a powerful raging blizzard composed of sharp ice shards occurred and was strong enough to knock the girls off their feet while damaging them with the ice.
"Ah, they were doing so well before…!" Diamond bit her lip, fighting the urge to go help them as they needed to ensure everyone's safety.
"Shit, that power increase…." Waiston was never one to feel the cold, but even he felt a small shiver when it came to the aura Xen was giving off.
"Ugh…" Cynthia laid on her back, growling in a feral manner. The infection was beginning to spread even faster due to rapid use of magic. "AGh..."
"Cynthia…!" Wendy winced from the pain of Xen's attack.
"She's getting feral again…but she's trying to fight it…" Carla knelt down over Cynthia, looking over at Chelia and Wendy worriedly.
"I-I'm fine…!" Cynthia fought against the urges and stood back up, heaving heavily. "He froze my flames, now I HAVE to get this guy back…!"
"Cynthia, don't push yourself so much!" Carla shouted in worry but it didn't seem like it was crossing her mind.
"Spare me the drama." Xen placed his palm on the ice as three magic seals appeared underneath the three girls. "And now that I've got data on the three of you, that'll make things oh so much simpler…your wind and flames will freeze to my ice. Inverno." On that call, several glaciers of obsidian ice rose to encase the three girls in ice, only to explode violently after, sending them scattering in three separate directions.
"Wendy! Chelia! Cynthia!"
"He's too strong…" Ultear mumbled. "Especially with that God Arc of his…"
"Come on you three! You can do it…!" Lucy shouted for encouragement.
Wendy managed to catch herself, though there was a numb feeling throughout her entire body from taking Xen's bone chilling hits directly. Without much thinking she spread her arms, a faint light encasing her, Cynthia, and Chelia. "Arms, Armor, Vernier!" Calling out these three spells, Wendy effectively gave all three of them a large increase in strength, speed, and defense. "Now!"
"Right!" Chelia nodded appreciatively for Wendy's buffs. She then sped forward while rearing her arm back, a mini cyclone wrapping around her limb. "Sky God's Tempest Fist!" Chelia swung her arm forward, unleashing a massive cyclone of black wind that consumed Xen. Though this didn't last for long as the wind froze over before completely shattering, leaving the sky goddess wide eyed. "W-What…!?"
"The breeze of a mere slayer pales in comparison to the power of a god. Ice Hammer." Xen raised his hand and quickly brought it down on Chelia with incredible force, an explosion of ice occur on impact; Chelia let out a cry of pain while being thrown backwards.
"You…!" Cynthia sprinted towards Xen before stopping just a few feet short, gripping her wrist with her hand as her palm was held flat open. "Flame Palm!" From her palm, a sudden burst of omega flames shot out and completely consumed the ice god. When it faded he was unburned, though his cloak suffered the incinerations. "Ah…!?"
"Fire from a dragon cannot even come close to melting god's ice." He grabbed Cynthia's arm and tossed her into the air, though her flight didn't last long as he conjured a block of black ice to crash right into her, shattering as she hit the ground with a pained yelp.
"Cynthia! Chelia!" Wendy's eyes widened as those closest to her were being thrown around without much effort. She puffed her cheeks out before unleashing a massive whirlwind from her mouth in the form of her Sky Dragon's Roar; the impact with Xen created an explosion which finally bought them time to breathe. "Are you two okay?!"
"I've had worse…" Chelia groaned while shaking her head.
"I-I…." Cynthia struggled to speak; the scales started to get thicker and spread down her back. "It hurts Wendy…"
"She has to stop fighting now." Carla made the decision, kneeling over Cynthia. "If this keeps up she'll speed up the Dragonification before Erza's team can get back with the water."
"Carla, please watch over her." Wendy pleaded, though she really didn't even have to ask. Then…in that next second, a single shard of black ice flew through the smoke; it flew right past Wendy's eyes and pierced right through Carla's side. Blood flew from the Exceed's mouth and she collapsed onto her side with a lifeless look. "C-CARLAAAA!"
Xen walked through the smoke, dusting his hands off with his cold stare. He was practically ignoring the ice mages at this point and even Lucy at this point while all his focus went onto the girls. "Why fret over the loss of one of you? You all will perish under my might soon enough." And with no motion, a magic seal appeared before him, unleashing several lances of black ice towards Chelia, Wendy, and Cynthia.
"Shit!" Waiston cursed.
"Somebody do something!" Lyon shouted in worry.
"I have to get over there!" Ultear shouted.
"Go! Help those kids! I'll take your work! Don't worry about me!" Diamond practically ordered Ultear to move.
Ultear nodded and leapt forward, placing one hand in her palm and threw them forward. "Ice Make: Rose Shield!" A rose shield composed of ice formed between Ultear and the girls, shielding them from Xen's finishing blow. "Are you three okay!?"
"C-Carla…!" Wendy stammered with tears beginning to form in her cheeks.
"Don't worry about her." Ultear said with a reassuring smile. "The area around us has been frozen in time as that man has stated before thanks to his ice…I used my magic to put Carla within the frozen time, so while we're here you must use as much healing magic as possible on her, understand? As for Cynthia…she mustn't fight anymore…just looking at her shows how close the infection is to taking over. Any more use of magic will have untold results…"
"Hiding behind that shield will not do you any good…" Xen prepared to consume Ultear's shield.
"O-Oi! The rest of you! Do something about him!" Diamond shouted at the others. "I-I can support the others on my own!"
"That'll kill you!" Lyon replied at Diamond's request, though the female only met him with a smirk.
"I'm already dead." Diamond replied.
"You heard the lady!" Waiston took his hands off the ice and sprinted towards Xen with a grin on his lips. "You talk a lot about the ice of a god, but let me show you what the ice of a dragon is really capable of!" The Frozen Dragon threw a fist at Xen, but it was easily caught much to his surprise.
"Inferior beings." Xen spat before tossing Waiston into one of the many glaciers in the air with his raw physical strength. Gray and Lyon attempted to land some strikes in, but even they were unable to do much against Xen. The best thing they could do was buy time.
"Listen…" Ultear spoke to Chelia and Wendy. "He's too powerful for any of us to take him on…one on one or even as a group. But there is a way to overcome him…by use of the Third Origin. This will allow you to use magic from the future…but at the expense of having no more magic at all."
"All or nothing…" Chelia muttered. "Okay, we're in!"
"Wait." Ultear halted the girl's eagerness. "Cynthia mustn't be left unattended, nor should Carla. If Cynthia were to use this…who knows what would happen…and one of you must be around to heal Carla when time is unfrozen. So you must choose between the two of you, but I think…"
"I'll do it! I'll save everyone!" Wendy volunteered.
"Wendy!?" Chelia's eyes widened; it was at that time that Xen knocked away Lyon, Gray, and Waiston, and was now slowly making his way over to Diamond to finish her off.
"Stay here and keep Cynthia from doing anything crazy, okay?" Wendy gave Chelia a nod and actually pushed her down before turning in Xen's direction, hair and eyes suddenly turning pink as crystal-like scales formed on her wrists, ankles, and on her shoulder blades; she entered Dragon Force. "Ultear-san, do it now!" Wendy shouted while lunging at Xen.
"Wendy wait…!" Cynthia tried to stop her but it was more than too late. Ultear fired off a beam from her orb that struck Wendy.
"What is she doing?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"A-Aha…s-some help would be great guys…" Diamond struggled to laugh while staring up at Xen. She was not in a good position right now.
"Haaaa!" Wendy flew forward while swinging her leg, slamming it right into Xen's forearm since he defended against the blow. The force of the turbulent wind suddenly sent him skidding across the ice and Wendy tried to use this to her advantage. "Sky Dragon's Wind Wave!" She ran past Xen while crossing her arms, creating a sudden twister that engulfed the Ice God.
"You again…?" Xen merely asked before the raging twister around him was frozen into shards of black ice, all of them swirling around his body. "What part of this don't you understand!" Without even moving, the shards of ice flew towards Wendy, smacking into her at high speeds while causing her to stagger around as a result, one of them piercing right through her leg. He then held his hand up, creating a block of ice above her. "I am A GOD. A HUMAN CANNOT STAND UP TO A GOD!" The block of ice dropped on Wendy but she avoided it by leaping to the ice; the ice shattered but Xen merely controlled the broken pieces and had them all surrounded Wendy, encasing her in a shell of black ice that exploded violently shortly after.
"YAAAH!" Wendy cried out in pain while rolling along the ice, coming to a stop on her good knee. "W-What's going on…I-It should be working!? Where's the power…!?"
"Wendy look out!" Gray pointed at the incoming Xen.
Wendy's eyes narrowed as Xen attempted to slam her into the ice with a powerful fist, but Wendy leapt off her good leg and slammed it into Xen's cheek, flipping around with her cheeks inflated. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Mouth opened and a massive raging hurricane unleashed from the sky dragon's lips…only to be frozen solid and broken within the same second she released it. Xen slammed his fist into Wendy's stomach, blood flying from the girl's mouth as she tumbled along the black ice, coming to a halt on her stomach. "W-What…? Why…"
"This is what happens when a human fails to learn their place." Xen created several lances of sharp black ice, all of them now rushing towards Wendy.
"No…!" Lucy cried out.
Wendy could only close her eyes and wait for impact…but nothing happened. Someone stepped in front of her at the last second. "….! You…!"
Chelia, all grown up appeared and swatted her arm to the side, easily destroying Xen's ice lances without difficulty. "I'm sorry I made you buy time like that." Chelia replied with her long hair creating a shade over her blue eyes.
"It's Chelia…" Lyon's jaw dropped at her new appearance.
"But I thought…" Diamond couldn't understand.
"Chelia's resolve to save everyone was stronger than Wendy's…" Ultear explained with an exhausted smile on her face.
[A few minutes prior]
"What is she doing…?" Cynthia sat up, holding her arm while wincing. "I have to…" She couldn't even move if she wanted to, because Chelia wasn't letting her.
"That girl…!" Chelia clenched her hands into tight fists, fighting off the tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She then turned to Ultear. "I-I can't watch this! Please, it has to be me! We're fighting against a God, and I know my magic is our best chance at winning! I-I know she told me to watch Cynthia, but I can't save her with my magic, it has to be Wendy! And we're still on the dragon's island…she's going to be needed to save Cynthia and everyone else!" By this point, the tears were rolling down her cheeks despite how she was fighting them. "Lyon, Gray, Waiston, and Diamond are all trying to save everyone but they can only do so much! So please, give me the Third Origin and let me put this evil god to rest!"
[Now]
"So now…" Chelia looked up, that sinister…evil look in her eyes as she stared down Xen. That same look she had when she fought Wendy in the Grand Magic Games, when she was temporarily known as Black Wind…when the demons attacked. But now that intention was directed towards a true enemy. "Leave the rest to me everyone. I'll teach this god some manners."
"N-No…this can't be…" Wendy was already beginning to cry.
"You think growing up will help you defeat me? I've never seen such a more laughable joke!" Xen actually laughed at this.
"So this is my magic in my final stage, huh…?" A grin curled onto Chelia's lips as she clenched her fist, black wind beginning to circulate around her hand. "I have to say…this feels pretty good…" Without another word she leapt forward, slamming her fist into Xen's jaw; the simple punch was more than enough to send him flying away at incredible speeds until he hit very ice he created. "Fighting for my dear friends that is!"
"One punch!?" Gray's jaw dropped at Chelia's strength, considering none of them were even able to make him budge.
"That power…" Xen shook off the impact but even he could not deny that he was in a dangerous situation. "I won't be bested by a mere human!" A seal appeared before the Commandant, unleashing a massive energy beam radiating nothing but sub-zero cold towards Chelia; the beam consumed her, but it didn't last long as a swing swipe of her arm dispersed the entire beam. "W-What!?"
"You're a crummy god, you know that?" Chelia said while holding up her hand, creating several blades of wind before her; with a single movement, the Blade Dance of the Sky God commenced; the blades of wind moving forward to slice and dice Xen and he was too shocked by Chelia's power to even muster an immediate counter. "A God knows that terrorizing people for no reason is not where they get their strength…it doesn't come from fighting either. A true god's strength comes from the people's prayers and believing in that god! Now that I think about it…maybe that's why you're so weak."
That did it. Those words were enough to send the cool, levelheaded commandant over the edge. Xen was now boiling with anger now that Chelia had the audacity to speak to him like that. "THAT IS ENOUGH! I WILL NOT BE RIDICULED BY A HUMAN!" A dark blue aura exploded from around Xen now that he activated his God Arc to 100% power. His increase in strength was absolutely mortifying, but Chelia did not budge an inch. Xen appeared before her within the blink of an eye, aiming a full powered punch. Chelia defended, but a barrier formed around her at the last second to soften the damage before shattering. "What…?! My full power punch was blocked by a barrier!?"
"Sniff…sniff!" Wendy stood up in her normal form, being the caster of the barrier that defended Chelia.
"No mere barrier will stop me!" Xen reared his other hand back as black ice formed on it; he slammed it into Chelia's gut, the force sending her rocketing backwards whilst encased in black ice that exploded violently once it finally stopped. "BOW BEFORE ME! ALL OF YOU!"
"Chelia!" The others cried out in worry.
The smoke settled and Chelia was still scene standing, only roughed up from Xen's attack. She turned her head and spat out some blood before looking back at Xen with that death glare. Pitch black wind began to wrap around her body as she entered her Black Sky Dual mode…but that wasn't all. She placed her hand on the black ice, beginning to absorb the God magic into her being. "That was your full power…? Then let me show you mine." Frozen Black Sky. Chelia raised her hands over her head as a mixture of black feathers and ice shards began to mix in behind her, forming into several tendrils.
"N-No…T-This can't be happening! T-That's impossible!" Xen took a step back in fear, beginning to cower at Chelia's durability.
While Chelia prepared her final attack…and her final spell, she began to reflect on what magic had done for her life. "No matter what I did I was always clumsy…but there was one thing I could excel at no problem…magic. Thanks to that magic…I made many wonderful encounters and friends…" Her mind flashed to Lamia Scale, her cousin, Sherri, Raven, Wendy, Carla, Fairy Tail, Cynthia…White Eclipse. Even Diana, who gifted her with Black Sky in the first place. "I'm going to be a normal girl…this is my final spell…but it's okay. Because I know I won't change…because I've got love."
"Chelia!" Wendy cried out. "I-I promise to always be your friend, okay!?"
"M-Me too!" Cynthia choked out as the tears began rolling down her cheeks. "We'll all stay friends forever! No matter what!"
Hearing those words aloud brought a smile to Chelia's lips. She nodded slowly to her two dearest friends. "I know." Her attention shifted Xen once again. "Having magic let me discover the things I hold dear…so that's why…"
"N-No…!" Xen shook his head, refusing to give into his fear. "I won't be beaten by a mere human! I refuse!" Arms spread apart, two gigantic magic seals forming before him. "The ultimate Ice Spell: Zeta Ice Beam!" The two seals shifted before unleashing a gigantic beam of ice towards Chelia…that beam was going to instantly freeze anything it touched for an eternity.
"That's why I won't let you hurt them! I hope you've made your prayers with whatever gods worship...and if not. Pick a god a pray." Chelia clapped her hands together, unleashing the tendrils of frozen black wind towards Zen; merging together for a large spiral. "AMANOMUKURO!" Chelia's triple mode attack easily pushed through Xen's full power blast and completely consumed the god.
A scream of pain escaped the Commandant's lips as his God Arc started to fade away. "Bested by a human…? Impossible….I can feel my own presence…fading away…" As Xen spoke, the Eternal Ice spell broke and everyone was freed…
.
.
Time until Etherion Fires: 53 minutes.
"W-what…!?" Carla sprang awake, wincing slightly as Wendy healed her side. "W-What's going on!? Where is everyone!? W-Wendy…Cynthia…why are you two crying…!?" At this point everyone was filled in on what happened by the ice mages and Lucy. Laura ended up escaping in the middle of the battle somehow.
Chelia returned to her regular body, sitting on her knees while facing away from everyone else. "Don't cry you two." Chelia made it sound like a demand than a wish.
"Oi…" Natsu began, placing his hand on Chelia's head. "I wish I saw them coming…but what you did, Chelia…that took a really big heart. None of us could've done that…and we owe you, nothing we can do can make up for that."
"Chelia-dono…that was an honorable sacrifice…" Jura said with a soft smile.
"Are you okay…?" Raven sat next to Chelia and placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. But on the inside, he was fuming. "I should've been there..."
Chelia shook her head, facing the others with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. You can start repaying me by making sure you win this battle, okay? I can't fight with you guys anymore…b-but it's okay…because even without magic I'll still live on. Magic doesn't hold a candle to love! Which is why I believe you guys can win this battle, because you have love on your side!" The former sky god slayer did not even shed so much as a tear while Cynthia and Wendy had to force themselves to stop.
"What strong young women…" Ultear thought to herself. "Perhaps if my younger years were like theirs…"
Laura was hiding in the trees nearby before making a bolt for it. At some point during the fight, she regained consciousness. But she refused to take part in the fight. Seeing Chelia destroy Xen with such ease put her on edge. With their forces dwindling rapidly, Laura's faith in the plan to betray King Ashnard was quickly drying up. "There's no way anyone can be that strong…! We have to abort this plan…!"
.
.
Fairy Tail Isle of the Dragons: Part 3 END.
Next Time: The Mystic Water