Yes yes, you know the drill...
But I do have a small announcement at the end of today's chapter, so stick around!
Enjoy!
"It's almost four." Nashi looked up as Drake said this. "We should probably go over to the Domus Flau now, huh?" Simon nodded.
"Yeah, unless we plan to make a fashionably late entrance." Nashi had no intention of going late, so she stood with everyone else and they funneled out of the bar. Just as she was about to exit the hotel, Nashi paused and looked up the stairs.
Elise wasn't with them.
"Hold on, guys." She said, making a decent amount of the people stop. "Should we...?" Silence filled the air, and no one answered her for the longest time.
"Don't bother..." It was Levy who finally spoke, and the woman seemed extremely upset. "She won't let you in. Just tell everyone she's feeling sick..." Everyone waited another few moments, but ultimately Nashi decided to leave, and everyone followed.
After all, there was no reason to force the girl out.
Elise watched the large group leave the hotel and walk out towards the Domus Flau.
She didn't want to join them.
She didn't care about the fucking Games anymore or whatever place they'd come in.
Curling up into a tight ball, Elise stared down at her bed and...stayed like that. It was peaceful, she noted, being alone. She kind of liked it to be completely honest.
And doing so kept her away from those people.
Elise's grip on herself tightened at the thought of them. They'd acted out of consideration for her, she knew what very well after spending all night thinking about it. She'd also come to grips with the fact that they were trying to keep her away from remembering because of what had happened to her when she knew before.
But at the same time...
When Elise thought back to the few times when she'd experienced a killer headache and asked her friends if they knew why she got it, and they denied knowing, it made her blood boil. Lying for her was still lying, and after spending all night thinking and trying to calm down, she was even angrier about it. She would have rathered move past the events that transpired while caged by Phantom Dove on her own then have her family and friends make a decision she alone should've had to make.
"They're my memories..." She whispered to herself. "My experiences...Who the fuck gets to decide whether or not I get to have them except me?!"
She didn't want to be heralded by the people of Crocus next to those people.
And that my extension meant she didn't want to speak to her parents either.
While perhaps her friends went along with it, it was her parents her dragged her to see Mest and had it done in the first place without even asking her. Sure the months that passed after felt great, but...
"But now that I know why...That all those memories I have because I had others erased...It makes me so fucking angry!"
"Hello and welcome everyone to the closing ceremony of the Grand Magic Games!" Ross' announcement got everyone excited, and it made Azzie smile as she watched the crowd cheer. "Today we'll be holding a small ceremony to celebrate the amazing feats that we've witnessed over the past week, and to give each team their shining moments from the Games! So please welcome to the arena, your six teams from the Grand Magic Games!"
Azzie brought her hands together and clapped as the six teams walked out onto the field, all separated by a little bit of ground. They all seemed pretty wounded and wrapped up, which made sense given the sheer devastation that occurred the day before.
"First up we have Quatro Cerberus!" Ross shouted. "While they did not perform the best this year, their heart and will to keep at it even though they lagged a total of seventy points behind by the end is commendable! Give them some love, people!"
"Jeez, way to be passive-aggressive." Azzie mumbled as Quatro Cerberus received their cheering. Tetsu snickered.
"Well they did kind of suck, you know." He said. "I don't exactly blame him for trying his hardest to compliment them."
Next we have Blue Pegasus! While they did flip flop all over the leaderboards during the Games, they did some amazing work!"
"Sure did." Katsuchi mumbled. "Including having a Demon Lord on their squad..." Azzie shivered at the thought. Demon Lords seemed to show up fairly often.
In fourth we have Mermaid Heel! While this group of ladies is surely very deadly, their ace in the hole Nami Mikazuchi deserves an extra round of applause!"
"She's really the only one I'd fear on that team, not to sound rude or anything." Katsuchi said. "No one else really made an impact." Azzie agreed with him wholeheartedly. Hell, the only reason Mermaid Heel wasn't a spot below was thanks to Nami anyway.
"In third we have Lamia Scale! This whole team was rather impressive to watch, so let's give them a big round of applause!"
Everyone clapped accordingly, and Ross cleared his throat.
"And in second, a team who went on a rampage yesterday in their attempt to win the whole thing, Sabertooth!" Everyone clapped and cheered, as did Azzie, although she noticed something right off the bat.
"They're missing a guy." She said. Tetsu nodded.
"Wonder where he is." He said. Ross chuckled.
"Also, I've been informed by Master Sting that Blake Hunt had some important issues to attend to back home, so that is where he's gone. We wish Blake the best of luck!"
"There's your answer." Katsuchi said. "Had something to do. Not like he won anyway, this is just a formality."
Nashi clapped for everyone else, she wasn't going to be rude about it. They'd all done their best, so they deserved a hand.
And now!" Ross said, these two words alone making the crowd lose their shit. "In first place by a single point, we have Fairy Tail! Throughout this entire tournament they have brought the heat to every event and every fight, making each day even more action packed and better than the last! Even after becoming the victims of foul play on the final day, they pulled through and managed to come in a commendable first! Let'd give them another well deserved round of applause!"
It was overwhelming having everyone cheering for them once more, even the other teams on the field.
But when she remembered only five were present, she became a little more downcast.
"Also, I've been informed by Master Laxus that Elise Redfox has come down with a rather vicious stomach virus, and is unable to join us today for the closing ceremony. From everyone in the Domus Flau and the Grand Magic Games committee, we wish you a speedy recovery!"
"Right..." Ultear muttered. "Stomach virus."
"What were we supposed to tell them?" Damien asked. "She won't talk to anyone becuase she remembered a traumatic event from months ago? As if that'd go well." Nashi knew it was for the best no one knew what Elise was going through. The last thing the girl wanted in her current state of mind was the media crawling down her throat asking for interviews and the like.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce to you out Queen Hisui E. Fiore, who has agreed to present the winning team with the trophy herself!" The crowd started to cheer again, and Nashi turned her gaze to find the Queen walked towards them, carrying a gigantic golden trophy and flanked by her royal guard. Once she got close enough, Nashi could see that the cup not only had their guild name and emblem emblazoned on it, but their names rested on a plaque screwed onto it's wooden stand. The Queen reached them, and she smiled at Nashi.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you all." She said. "You bear such a striking resemblance to your parents." Nashi smiled weakly.
"T-Thank you, your Majesty." She said. Hisui laughed.
"No need to be so formal Nashi, I don't mind if you call me Hisui." Nashi nodded, and in turn the Queen offered her the trophy. "You all did amazingly in the Games, so it's my honor to give you the trophy." Nashi slowly gripped the cup as Hisui gave it to her, and watched her warped reflection smile back at her. She handed the cup off so that the others cold hold it as well, and Hisui smiled. "One more thing."
"Yes?"
"I've started the transaction for the winning jewel." She said, keeping her graceful and calm demeanor. "which means you all should be receiving your thirty million jewel soon."
...
"E-Eh?" Nashi asked weakly. "D-Did you just say...?" Hisui smiled.
"Surprised? There's still a cash prize, you know."
"Holy shit..." Drake said. "Thirty million split six ways is...!"
"Five million each!" Simon finished, grinning madly. Could this get any better? First winning, then the money...
"Hey! You're not allowed in the arena!" Nashi's attention was taken away from the Queen as the royal guards shouted at someone. Looking over, Nashi could see it.
A cloaked man was making his way onto the field.
"Halt!" The guards shouted again. "We won't ask you again sir!" The man didn't stop, and the guards that had chased him onto the field growled. "Take him down!" The guards rushed the man, who still kept walking towards them and the Queen.
In one fluid motion, he turned and magic sprung from his fingers, causing the guards to fall over into a heap. Once they'd stopped moving, he returned his normal walking pace towards them.
"Queen Hisui E. Fiore." He said, and the voice that came from the man made Nashi's spine tingle. "It is should an honor that you should be here."
"W-Who are you?" Hisui asked, and the man chuckled. A dark, metallic sound that offered no joy.
"I am but a humble man who wishes to see the winning team from the Games." He replied. "Right, Fairy Tail?"Nashi made a face as the man's cloak billowed in the wind. Who was he? Why was he here?
Nashi heard Drake make an odd sound, so she turned to her friend to find him looking downright terrified.
"Drake?" She asked. "What's the matter?" He slowly turned to look at her, and his expression made her incredibly uneasy.
"Nashi..." he said. "This guy...His scent..." Nashi raised an eyebrow but assumed this was Drake's way of telling her to smell him, so Nash's focused and inhaled a few times, trying to find what Drake had.
Her eyes widened and it felt like her heart stopped.
"No..." She whispered, struggling to stay on two feet. "No no no..."
"What's the matter with you two?" Ultear asked. "Who is he?" Nashi slowly looked back at the man standing before them, and her insides turned violently.
"You..." Nashi said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I thought you...I thought we..." The man laughed loudly.
"I can see why you would make that assumption, Nashi darling." He replied. "But as you can see, I still stand. And now I'm here before you."
"What is happening?" Simon asked. "Why are you here?" The man laughed and raised a hand to his hood.
"I'm here because I've been sent here." He said. "Fir a very specific reason..." The hood flew back, and Nashi's stomach took a dive into a new dimension.
Kronos, the former Master of Devil Advocate stood before them, black cloak billowing in the wind.
At least, he sort of was.
Half of the old mans face was covered in a slick metal. It was shaped like a face, his face, and it was billowing steam out of a few pipes that aimed backwards.
"Kronos?!" Ultear asked. "But we defeated you!"
"You didn't finish me off, though." He said, metallic voice giving Nashi shivers. "And I've returned. But be thankful I'm not here on personal matters."
"What the hell happened to your face?" Drake asked weakly. Kronos laughed.
"This is what happens to the human body after being hit by a Unison Raid containing the elements of fire, iron, poison, and the like." The man's cloak revealed his body, and Nashi's eyes widened.
The man had a metal arm, that also billowed out steam as the pistons inside allowed it to move. His body has traces of pipes, gears, and various others pieces of metal inside his chest and body.
He was essentially half robot.
"You kids did this too me." He said. "The attack you defeated me with all those months ago...It destroyed my body's ability to function properly. Luckily my patrons had a way to save me in exchange that I do this for them."
"Patrons?" Simon asked. "What patrons?" Kronos' flesh part of his face twisted in an odd way, and it looked like a smile.
"Ever heard of the Olympians?"
...
"...No..." Nashi whispered, backing up slightly. "You're...? Working with the Olympians?"
"Of course I am, dearest." He replied calmly. "They control everything around you. And now they are why I'm here."
The Olympians.
The fucking Olympians.
Why? Why were they involved again? Just when she thought she was out of the woods and they'd leave her and her friends alone for a little bit they were involved only a day later and starting something else? Why?
What did they want this time?
"But please do not misunderstand." Kronos said. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm only here for Nashi. And even then this'll be over before you know it."
...Her?
"Like hell!" Nashi jumped as a a body blocked Kronos from her
Michael.
"Stay away from her." He said. "I'm not going to let this happen!"
"Out of the way, boy." Kronos said. "Or your face will look like mine."
"Why don't you make me?" Michael asked. Others soon joined him in standing in the way, and soon enough everyone was between Nashi and Kronos. Kronos stayed quiet before he sighed.
"So be it." He said. "Come and stop me."
Zeus watched the fight begin, a smile on his face as Quatro Cerberus was blown away by black fire. Kronos' power had always been incredible, and it was thanks to Athena that he was so capable with so many types of magic.
"It seems to be progressing well." Zeus said aloud as more of the wizards getting in the way of Kronos. "Have you calculated our odds, Athena." Athena nodded as she tapped away at more screens surrounding her.
"I'm getting there." She said. "I'm just about..."
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Zeus looked over at Athena again as her screens started to blare warnings. The woman's face lit up in surprise.
"Oh..." She said. "That's not good."
"What is it?" Zeus asked. "What's the matter?" Athena looked up.
"We may have a small..." Athena covered her mouth with her hand. "Excuse me. By small I meant we've made a glaring mistake"
Everyone was lying down as Kronos lowered his arms.
"Is that all?" He asked. "i was hoping such powerful young wizards would give me more of a challenge."
Nashi felt scared.
What was he doing? A strange sound echoed from the crowd, and Nashi turned to find her guild attacking a shield in their way. Kronos sighed.
"That shield won't hold up very long." he stated. "Good thing I set that up in advance."
"W-What do you want?" Nashi asked, trying to seem a bit more intimidating. Kronos smiled.
"They did say you had no idea." He said. "A shame, maybe if you used it you could beat me."
"Stay away from her!" It was Nashi's father shouting. "I sweat to God if you hurt her...!"
"My my, I see you didn't inherit your fathers temper." Kronos said, sighing and more steam billowed out of the pipes in his body. "Probably better for me in the long run."
Kronos raised his arms, and white magic circles appeared in his hand.
A white glow surrounded Nashi, and she looked around in confusion.
"What are you doing?!" She asked as a sphere of white light circled around her.
"Just calm down." Kronos replied. "It'll all be over in a moment darling." Nashi slammed her fists against the sphere surrounding her, but her fists resounded off of it. Her friends ran towards her despite the damage they'd taken from Kronos' assault.
"Nashi!" Drake shouted. "Are you okay?!"
"Sure, right now!" She replied. "Get me out of here!" Drake attacked the sphere, but nothing happened. Nashi started to feel queasy.
"This is Arc of Time..." Ultear whispered, looking at Kronos. "What is he...?!"
A horrible screeching noise grated against Nashi's ears. Covering her ears in her attempt to stay sane, Nashi looked around in confusion.
The sphere surrounded her was rippling like disturbed water, and the white mist was turning blood red. As did the sphere.
"W-What is happening?!" She asked. The sphere exploded outwards, now encircling all of Nashi's friends and herself.
"Shit, we're trapped now too!" Damien growled. "What is happening?!"
"This happened to me yesterday!" Ultear said. "His spell is malfunctioning!" Looking over, Nashi saw Kronos' face.
He looked surprised.
"What...?" He asked weakly. "What is happening?"
Nashi felt terrified.
And then, a few seconds after it started, it was over.
The sphere faded, no longer preventing Nashi and her friends from getting away.
The mist faded as well, and it was like it had never happened.
"That...was weird..." Nashi said weakly, looking over at her friends. "You guys okay?" They were all staring at her, stunned. "What?"
"Nashi, your hands..." Nashi made a face and looked down at her hands.
She gasped.
Her hands were disappearing!
"W-What the hell?!" She asked, staring at her hands as they started to become transparent. "What's happening to me?!" Looking back at her friends frightfully, her eyes widened.
They were all disappearing too. Drake looked down at himself and made a weird sound.
"We're disappearing!"
"I should've known..." Athena hissed. "How?! How could I have missed this?!"
"Athena!" Zeus shouted. "What's happening?! Why is the spell not working the right way?!" Athena looked over, an angered expression on her face.
"The Time Wound." She whispered. Zeus's eyes widened.
"Son of a bitch..."
Natsu continued to pound away at the shield preventing him from storming the arena, and he wasn't going to stop for anything.
Whatever that asshole, wanted, he wasn't going to get it.
"Natsu hurry!" Lucy shouted. Natsu growled angrily and continued to pound away at it.
He had to hurry.
Giving it one final punch, Natsu's fist broke through the shield preventing his advance, and he sprung to action. He dove down onto the field and ran as fast as he could towards his daughter who was slowly disappearing before his very eyes.
Hurry up...
Her friends were slowly disappearing as well.
Hurry up...!"
"Nashi!" He shouted, and she turned to look at him. He met her gaze,
"She looked scared and confused.
"Dad..." Natsu reached out to grab her shoulders.
His hands met open air.
His eyes widened as Nashi completely disappeared from view. He looked around, but the others were gone as well.
...No...
They were gone...
No...
His baby girl.
Pure rage coursed through Natsu.
He did this...He caused this...!
Natsu whirled in the direction of the man who'd caused her to disappear.
He was gone.
He'd disappeared completely from the Domus Flau. Natsu couldn't even smell him.
Silence.
No one spoke. The competitors in the arena were silent. The crowd was silent. Ross was silent. Hisui was silent.
The sound that pierced the silence was Lucy screaming her daughters name.
The sun had set, and Elise still had yet to leave her room. She watched the sun set slowly, wondering how the closing ceremony had gone. From what she could tell no one had returned to the hotel yet, because no one had tried to get into the room, which she appreciated.
"I just need to think about this..." She whispered. "And..."
Elise jumped as her door was ripped from it's hinges. She turned in surprised and found her father holding the piece of wood, and her mother walking inside.
"What are you doing?" She asked weakly. "Leave." Her mother didn't listen, and slowly sat down on the edge of Elise's bed.
"..."
"What? Leave me alone..."
"...Elise...God honey I don't know how to tell you..." Elise made a face, but her stomach turned violently.
"W-What?" Her mother clenched her hands together silently, and Elise noticed something. Her cheeks were stained with tears. "Tell me! Whats going on? Why are you...?"
"ULTEAR!" Elise jumped as she heard Juvia screaming from downstairs. "ULTEAR! NO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO FIND HER!"
"Juvia stop!" It was Gray's voice, but he too sounded horrible. "There's nothing to look for!" Elise sprung from her bed and ran to the door to look out into the lobby. Juvia was being held down against a couch by her husband as she wailed and wailed, Gray was crying as well, but he seemed to be holding it together. Elise watched this in shock before she slowly turned to her mother.
"What happened?" She whispered. Her mother looked up, and met Elise's gaze.
"They're gone."
"W-What?"
"They're gone, Elise. The others...They're gone."
And we're done with this chapter! Now I know most of you are like "What the fuck Fallen, where'd they go?!" But be patient, my friends. You will learn in due time.
Now, onto the announcement I mentioned. I'm going to be taking a small break from this story. Now don't lose your mind, it'll only be like a week. It's just to leave you guys hanging for a bit and to give me time to work on my other stories. I just love watching you guys squirm ;)
I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!