The Knight of Fairy Tail

Erza finishes telling her story and a tear falls from Alice's eye.

Erza:"I have to fight Jellal. I have no choice. I have to do it."

Alice wipes her eyes.

Gray:"I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but for some reason, the name Zeref sounds familiar."

Alice:"Yeah, it does."

Erza:"I'm sure. He was a legendary black wizard."

Lucy:"Wait a minute. I remember someone say the monster that came out of the lullaby flute was one of Zeref's demons."

Alice:"What you guys fought a demon?!"

Erza:"I never mentioned it, but I suspect Deliora was a demon from the book of Zeref as well."

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????????:"Zefer will be pleased with you."

/

Alice shakes her head and grabs it as a headache starts to come on.

Juvia:"If this wizard is as evil as you say, then why would Jellal want to resurrect him?"

Erza:"I don't understand his motives either. However, my old friend Sho said something to me about Zeref getting them to heaven. And when that happens, the world will be reborn, and they'll become its rulers."

Alice lets go of her head and takes a deep breath.

Lucy:"OK, there's one thing that confuses me about these people who claim to be old friends of yours. Why are they accusing you of betraying them? Don't they realize Jellal's the bad guy here?"

Alice:"And who's the guy that attacked me. You didn't mention him at all."

Erza:"It's not their fault. I'm sure he fed them all sorts of lies about me once I left. And the guy that attacked you; from what I heard Jellal is paying him to kill you."

Alice blinks a few times.

Alice:"Wow."'I feel like I should be honored that someone was paid to kill me.'

Erza:"That doesn't change the fact that I abandoned them so long ago, In the end, I guess you could say I did betray them."

Lucy:"Because he threatened to kill them if you ever came back! You couldn't have saved them!"

Erza:"None of that matters anymore. If I can defeat Jellal, it'll all be over. Leave it to me, OK?"

Alice puts a hand over her guild mark.

Alice:'She's not telling us something.'

Sho walks into the room.

Sho:"Sister, that's not true. WHy? Why are you lying to them?"

Erza:"Sho."

Sho:"Do you think by making yourself the martyr, you're gonna get sympathy from your friends? Tell them the truth! That's not how it happened, and you know it! You blew up the boats we were going to use to escape. And then you left on your own. We would have ended up at the bottom of the seas if it hadn't have been for Jellal! He saved us. He warned us not to trust wizards like you, who haven't learned to use their magic properly. He said that you had become drunk with magical power, and you didn't want anything to do with your past or the people you left behind!"

Gray:"Did you ever think he might be lying?"

Lucy:"If you truly knew Erza, then you'd know she'd never do something so horrible."

Alice:"Erza's the most loyal friend!"

Sho takes a step back.

Sho:"You only think you know her." *He starts to tear up.* "You weren't there back then. You don;t know anything about us! After you left, Jellal's words were my only salvation, and that's why I spent all these years working to finish the tower for him. I did it for his sake. Now you're trying to tell me that is was all a lie? You really expect me to believe you're telling the truth and Jellal's been lying to us this whole time?"

Simmon:"That's right."

Simmons appears in the room.

Gray:"Why you--"

Juvia puts her arm up stopping Gray.

Juvia:"Wait. He doesn't pose a threat, my dear. He never meant you any harm. At the resort, he knew he was attacking your ice decoy."

Gray:"But how?"

Juvia:"Since it was he who cast the darkness spell, it had no effect on him. I came along in hopes of discovering why he'd chosen to spare you."

Simmon:"I'd expect no less from a member of Phantom's Element 4."

Sho:"I don't understand."

Everyone looks to Sho.

Simmon:"I had to fool you and the others into thinking I'd killed him, but I'd hoped our attack would lure them here."

Sho:"So you were lying too? How could you do that to me?"

Simmon puts a hand on Sho's shoulder.

Simmon:"I'm sorry. Jellal had you under his spell, and I couldn't convince you otherwise. So I played along until the time was right."

Erza:"So you knew all along."

Simmon turns to Erza.

Simmon:"I've always believed in you, Erza. And there's nothing that could change that."

Erza smiles and she grabs Simmon's hand.

Simmon:"I mean those words from the bottom of my heart."

Erza:"Simmon."

Erza and Simmon hug.

Alice:'Their family.'

Sho:"I never knew. I can't believe I blindly followed him all these years. I doubted you 'cause you left me all alone! You have no idea how much that hurt!"

Sho falls to his knees and he slams his fist into the floor and cries.

Sho:"I don't know what to do! I don't even know which one of you I should believe anymore!"

Sho cries and Erza walks up to him and she crouches down to him.

Erza:"I know it must be difficult to take all of this in at once. But Sho, there's something that you should know. Though it's been many years, I have never once forgotten about any of you."

Erza hugs SHo.

Erza:"I'm sorry I couldn't stand up to him. But I was so weak back then. Please forgive me."

Simmon:"Now you're stronger and ready to face him. Isn't that right?"

Erza nods.

Simmon:"I've waited all these years for this very moment, when a group of powerful wizards would gather here."

Lucy:"So what do you have planned?"

Simmon:"We're going to take down Jellal. We can do it if we work together."

The group nods.

Simmon:"But first, we must keep Salamander and Wally from clashing."

 

 

 

Everyone is running up the tower; Simmon is a little ways in front of the group, leading them.

Gray:"Juvia, are you absolutely certain that we can trust this guy? I mean, I understand that he wasn't actually trying to kill us back at the resort, but still."

Simmon:"I won't make excuses for my actions."

Gray:"I didn't think you could hear me."

Simmon:"Any wizard who was incapable of surviving that would never have had a prayer against Jellal. I knew Alice would survive, Something as simple as an ambush like that couldn't take her down. I never doubted that Natsu could handle the attack. I was confident he would survive."

Lucy:"Oh yeah? What, about me?"

Simmon:"None of you can comprehend the full extent of Natsu's ability. Once he awakens the true dragon's power within, evil will fall in his wake."

 

 

The group makes it inside the tower and suddenly Jellal's voice echoes through the tower.

Jellal:"I welcome you to the Tower of Heaven. My name is Jellal. And I am the ruler of this tower. I see the players have been arranged."

Gray:"Say what?"

Simmon:"So he knows we're here. He could be lurking anywhere in the tower, waiting for us."

Jellal:"I'm delighted you've come all this way to see me. Shall we play a round of Heaven's game?"

Alice:"A game?"

Jellal:"The rules are really quite simple. I wish to use Erza as a sacrifice in my ceremony to resurrect Lord Zeref."

Alice grows angry.

Sho:"No, I won't let you!"

Jellal:"If I succeed, the gates of heaven will open, crowning my victory. However if you can manage to find a way to stop me, you'll be the winners of the game. To make things a little more interesting,  I've enlisted four knights to battle on my behalf."

Simmon:"Four knights? Who could they be?"

Alice:"I beat meat cleaver guy is one of them."

Jellal:"The only way you'll be able to get to me is if you can defeat them. In other words, a four on nine battle royale. And there's one more surprise. The Magic Council has the satellite square focused directly on this tower, and it's highly likely they will attack."

Alice eyes widen and she starts to shake.

Alice:"No, he can't mean-"

Jellal:"At this very moment, they're in the midst of voting on whether they should fire an Etherion blast."

Alice:"No no no no."*Alice start to panic.*

Jellal:"There's no telling how much time is left. Should the Etherion strike, complete annihilation is imminent."

Alice takes a few deep breaths and calms herself down.

Jellal:"No players left to win, game over."

Lucy:"What kind of messed up game is this?"

Erza:"But that doesn't make any sense to me. Why would the Magic Council resort to such drastic measures?"

Alice:"To wipe this tower off the map. To make sure it will never be used - They're scared of this tower. I've studied it, they only use it in big emergencies."

Sho shakes then he holds his hand out to Erza and casts magic. Sho is them holding a card that has Erza inside of it.

Gray:"Erza!"

Simmon:"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Jellal:"Now then, let the game begin."

Sho:"I won't let him lay a finger on her."

Erza:"Let me out of here!"

Sho:"I'll beat Jellal all by myself if I have to!"

Sho runs off.

Simmon:"No, you can't do it alone!"

Alice:"Erza!" 'I'm not losing another family member!'

Alice runs after Sho.

 

 

Alice is following Sho down a corridor and Sho runs around a corner. Alice turns the corner and she gets it with a red blast slice. Alice is thrown back and she hits a wall and it cracks. 

Alice:"What was that?"

A evil chuckles echoes through the halls.

Alice stands up and there's a large gash in her armor.

Alice:"Come out, now!"

Alice sees a figure come out of the shadows.

???:"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Alice of Fairy Tail."

Alice hand glows gold and a magic circle appear.

Alice:"It's you."

Alice requips and she's now holding a great sword.

???:"Nice, weapon, but where's the golden one?"

Alice just glares at the man.

???:"It's been years since I've seen that glare."

Alice narrows her eyes at the man.

Alice:"Who are you?"

The man fakes being hurt.

???:"You don't remember."

The man takes a few steps towards Alice and she readies her sword.

???:"You took down my guild about four years ago. A teenage girl takes out an entire dark guild by herself."

Alice then sees a symbol on his hand.

Alice:"laughing Coffin. I thought I put all of you in jail."

???:"Some of us escaped. But I'm surprised you don't remember me."

The man lowers his hood and Alice gasps in surprise and she tightens the grip on her sword.

Alice:"Vassago Cassals or also known as PoH. You were the leader of the dark guild know as Laughing Coffin."

PoH laughs and he points his cleaver at Alice.

PoH:"And I've been paid by Jellal to kill you. I don't even care if he actually pays me, the pleasure of killing you will be enough."

Alice:"That won't happen."

Alice lowers herself to the ground and bends her knees.

PoH:"Well, then. It's show time!"

Alice and PoH charge at each other.

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03-09-2022

1798 words