Advanced chapters on my pat_reon and all that jazz. There are a bunch of other one shot fics I've written if anyone's interested. Chapter 73 for Dark Swordsman is available by the time chapter was uploaded.
Go ahead to the site and search up my name if you're interested. Thanks!
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[X784, Tower of Heaven]
— Laxus Dreyar —
The wind howled at this altitude, but Laxus didn't let it bother him.
Perched atop a floating wooden table, high above the churning sea and shifting clouds, Laxus Dreyar stood with arms folded, his coat fluttering from the winds.
Bickslow had fashioned flying platforms for each member of the team by attaching his souls to random tables he had grabbed from Akane Beach. Since they were trying to stay hidden from Natsu's senses, they flew over the clouds where the winds were rough enough to mask their scent and limited their magic as much as they could.
"Natsu already went inside. But…Laxus-sama, I might be wrong but I'm sure I felt Dannis-sama's magic before it disappeared." Freed said hesitantly.
Laxus didn't reply for he felt the same thing. It was brief, barely even registered for a second, but he definitely felt it.
'So not only is Natsu's team here, but Dannis as well.' He clenched his jaw. 'What the hell is going on in this damn tower?'
The sheer stench of dark magic that permeated through the air had even him shake a little bit. The atmosphere felt rotten. It was like walking into a room that hadn't seen sunlight in a century.
"You three listen up. I'm pretty sure you've realized it, but this place ain't simple," Laxus growled. "The magic in the air is disgusting."
Evergreen frowned. "It feels like cursed magic."
"More than that," Freed muttered. "It's… ritualistic. Sacrificial. Someone's playing with old, dangerous magic. I've never seen anything like it before."
"Even so, our mission doesn't change." Laxus continued. "We're here to find Ivan. Find out what the hell he's planning with Oración Seis. Nothing else matters. Got it?"
All three nodded without hesitation.
"Good." Laxus cracked his neck. "The three of you head to the entrance and make your way up from there. Stick together and don't stray. I'll scour the tower from the top."
"Gotcha, boss!" Bickslow cackled, tongue flicking out as he guided the spirits downward, ferrying the others toward the hidden base of the tower.
Laxus hovered in place as they departed, allowing the table beneath him to fly off as lightning crackled across his body to keep him afloat. He gazed back at the tall obsidian tower.
'Dammit, pops. What the hell are you wrapped up in?'
When he saw his team vanish into the lower levels of the tower, he raised his arm high, magic spiraling into his palm. Sparks gathered. The sky roared in response.
"Raging Bolt!"
A spear of golden lightning appeared in his palm that he threw forwards, slicing through the clouds and obliterating a wall of the tower like a divine hammer. Stone and steel exploded outwards in a storm of rubble and smoke, the entire tower shaking from the impact.
Without waiting for the debris to settle, Laxus launched himself forward—lightning propelling him like a living thunder bolt.
He landed in a small, forgotten chamber somewhere deep in the upper quadrant of the tower. It looked unused—dusty, dirty, and stale.
Except for what was behind the wall. His raging bolt had pierced through the outer layer and struck something in the inner wall.
The masonry beneath it was hollow—too hollow.
He raised a hand and struck it with a sharp pulse of lightning. The wall crumbled, revealing what lay behind it.
And Laxus froze.
For a massive, glittering lacrima stood embedded into the core of the tower, hidden beneath the stone walls.
…
— Jellal Fernandez —
"Hmm…" Jellal mused aloud. "Looks like Laxus has discovered the truth of the Tower.
The screen showed the blonde Lightning Dragon Slayer ripping away stone with his bare hands. The power of hundreds—thousands—of tortured lives, crystallized and stored for one singular purpose. The lacrima bore the souls of all the former slaves and slavers that fought against him in the revolt years and years ago.
"That's a little quicker than scheduled," Jellal said, amusement lacing his tone. "Still… not unexpected."
"My lord," Orion said with a bow, "shall I move to restrain the Thunder God?"
"Don't bother," he said with dismissive confidence. "Knowing about the lacrima changes nothing. And besides—he'll have his hands full soon enough."
After all, a swarm of cultists are already swarming towards Laxus' location. Over a hundred trained fanatics who are ready fight with their lives on the line for the sake of their goals.
The Thunder God may be strong, but their purpose wasn't to kill—but to merely serve as a distraction. Laxus's discovery was accounted for. Every variable was under control.
Jellal's fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of the throne. His attention shifted back to another series of screens.
There they were—Fairy Tail's best and brightest, stumbling and reorienting themselves after the shock of Laxus' destructive entrance.
They were all still clustered together, which went against the entire purpose of the game he had set up.
That would not do.Not at all.
On another screen, he watched Natsu barrelling through a hallway with his body lit up in flames. The screen depicted a sight of Milliana being slammed into a wall and Wally getting a flaming uppercut straight to the chin.
Jellal chuckled at the sight. "Now that just won't do either," he muttered. "The game hasn't even started yet."
Jellal rested his palm against a glowing set of runes carved directly into the armrest. The Tower responded instantly, as threads of Jellal's magic spread across its length like veins of the human body.
A deep hum thrummed from the walls as the tower stirred at its master's will.
The very bones of the structure groaned. Floors shifted and the walls moved, coiling and changing according to Jellal's whims.
Across the tower, the mages stopped moving—caught mid-stride, mid-battle, mid-conversation—as the Tower of Heaven came alive.
Stone pathways split apart. Corridors lengthened into infinite stretches. Platforms raised and lowered.
He watched as the screens showed them being separated—one by one, in twos or threes, dragged to different floors and regions of the tower. He had learned long ago that unity was Fairy Tail's greatest strength.
And so, he would strip it from them.
"This is how it must be," he whispered to himself. "Let them fight. Let them suffer. Let them see that no matter what they do, they are ants scurrying through a labyrinth of my design."
…
— Dannis Martell —
The floor vanished beneath his feet without warning.
The shift was sudden, and he couldn't stop himself from falling as the floor beneath him disappeared. He fell through the air for a couple of floors before looking up, the path back to the upper floor already closing up.
He twisted mid-air, one arm snapping out to grab the arm of the man falling beside him. His wings unfurled from his back as they beat against the air, the momentum halting their fall instantly.
They hovered a few meters above the stone floor of a newly revealed chamber. It was empty, luckily, with a single door that led to a dark hallway.
"Did you know the tower could do that?" he asked, leveling a glance at the larger man still in his grasp.
The one-eyed man shook his head. "No."
"Hmm. I figured." Dannis slowly descended to the ground, his boots clicking against the stone floor. He released the man, noting the slight grimace as he shook off the shock.
He turned toward a narrow window at the far end of the hall, gazing at the storm clouds that gathered over the tower. 'That blast of lightning…Laxus? What is he doing here?'
Dannis narrowed his eyes. It seems that the tower had split them apart, separating them into random groups.
None of this happened in the future that he had seen.
The future he saw was one where after he, Levy, and Gajeel rendezvoused with Natsu's team and Erza. They would be surrounded by hundreds of dark mages before a large fight ensued.
The vision had ended there, he didn't see Laxus in that future, nor did he see them getting separated like this.
'I've never had one of my future sights be changed like this.' He mused, his mouth curling to a rare challenging smile. 'The last time something like this happened was when I went against Gildarts. This Jellal must be really strong.'
And that made things interesting.
The man beside him finally caught his breath. He got back on his feet and held two fingers against his temple. "Something is interfering with my Telepathy. Looks like Jellal had precautions to make sure communication from within isn't possible."
Dannis looked at him."You're Simon, right? Erza's friend?"
The man turned toward him, nodding. "Yeah."
"You know where Jellal is?"
"The tower's interior might have changed after the shift but he should be in the throne room," Simon's one good eye flicked toward the arched hallway behind them. There was a brief pause before he nodded. "I can get us there."
Dannis unsheathed his sword as his wraiths flowed out of his shadow, surprising his new ally as they filled out the room. A single mental command was all it took for the wraiths to rush towards the other floors.
"Then take me to him."
…
AN: A short chapter, but one that sets up a few important things in the future.
Laxus and Dannis are gonna sweep the tower from the top and bottom. I feel bad for anyone who gets in their way.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll appreciate you guys helping me out a bit with power stones. Thanks :D