Fairy Tail Tempest Inferno

Chapter 18

Naruto clenched his fists. 'So, she wants to take care of this by herself because she feels responsible for her past comrade's actions…' But there was something else that was bothering him. "Who is that Zeref person you mentioned?"

Erza looked at him in surprise. "You don't know who Zeref is? He is the most notorious dark mage in history. He's also responsible for creating Lullaby and Deliora."

Naruto looked down in thought. 'What does this mean?'

Erza continued. "He could create monstrosities like that with little effort."

"Then we can't let Jellal revive him at all costs." Naruto declared.

Erza frowned and was about to tell them to leave again when a newcomer spoke up.

"Nee-San... What are you talking about?"

They turned around to see one of Erza's old comrades. He seemed to be shaken up quite a bit, most likely from what he had just overheard.

"Shou..."

Shou took a step back. "Jellal saved us from the ships you bombed because you went mad with power!"

"She's telling the truth Shou."

The big guy that had attacked Naruto and Juvia walked into the room.

"Came back for more huh?" Naruto said and got ready to fight, but stopped when the man raised a hand.

"I had no intention of killing you at that time."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Then what are your intentions?"

"Jellal has lied to all of us. I pretended to believe in him and bid my time."

Simon looked at her sheepishly. "I always believed in you, Erza."

Erza looked at her old friend in bewilderment. "Simon..."

Shou was beginning to freak out. "How could you trust her just like that? Why don't I trust Nee-San like you?" He slammed his fists to the floor. "Damn it! Who do I believe in?"

Erza knelt next to him. "I'm sorry... I was too weak to do anything in the past. I never forgot about you guys."

Simon walked over to them. "You're ready now, right?" His answer was a determined look. "Good, with all of these powerful mages, I'm sure we can defeat Jellal if we work together."

Naruto raised a hand. "We still gotta find Natsu."

Gray sighed. "Why'd that idiot have to run off like that."

Erza stood up and took command. "Okay, first we find Natsu and Happy. Then we'll fight our way to the top of the tower and stop Jellal." After seeing no objections, she nodded. "Let's go!"

Unknown room...

Jellal picked up a chess piece and knocked over two other pieces. "Salamander has defeated Wally and Milliana. Simon and Shou have betrayed us. Things just keep getting interesting."

The other man present spoke up. "Jellal-Sama, we should just capture Erza now and start the ceremony."

The hooded man grinned. "Perhaps you would like to go?"

Two other people walked into the light from the shadows. One was a tall man with an owl head wearing a jet pack, and the other was a woman in a dress holding a sheathed sword.

"It's your turn now, assassin's guild Trinity Raven."

Back to Team Natsu...

Naruto and the others were following Simon down the halls of the tower when a bunch of creepy mouths started sprouting all over the place.

"Welcome to the Tower of Heaven! I am Jellal, the ruler of this tower. I believe it's time to begin our game. The Heaven's game."

Naruto looked at one of the mouths. "That's not creepy at all."

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I have selected three warriors for you to battle. It's their job to stop you from stopping me from using Erza as a sacrifice to revive the dark wizard Zeref. One last thing before we officially start, there is a chance that the council will use Etherion to destroy this place. So, without further adue, let the games begin!"

"Etherion!?"

Naruto looked at his friends in confusion. "What the heck is an Etherion?"

Gray sighed. "Were you living under a rock until recently or something?

While Naruto shot Gray an annoyed look, Erza began to explain. "Etherion is a magical weapon of mass destruction. It has a level of power that puts even the Jupiter canon to shame."

Naruto's eyes widened. "We better hurry and get Natsu and Happy then!"

The swords women nodded. "Yes. We should get goin-!" She was cut off when Shou suddenly trapped her in his card magic.

"Erza!"

Shou held Erza in his hand and looked at her. "Don't worry Nee-San, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you!" He said and took off running.

Simon began to run after the fleeting boy. "I'm going after Shou and Erza! You guys search for Natsu!"

Naruto sighed and looked at the remaining mages. "I guess we have no choice. We should split into two teams to cover more ground."

Gray nodded. "I'm worried about Erza, so I want to go after her."

Juvia looked at Lucy. "Juvia will go with Naruto-Sama. Lucy-San will go with Gray-San."

Lucy sweatdropped when she saw that Naruto had already left with Gray. "I take it we're going to go find Natsu then?" She called out to the ninja while the water mage visibly deflated.

Naruto grinned and shouted back. "Yeah! I'm counting on you two!"

Gray gave him a worried look. "Are you sure it's okay to leave those two alone?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why not?"

The ice mage just sighed and continued running. "You might just be as dumb as Natsu."

Naruto fumed. "Hey! Are You picking a fight with me or something today!?"

Some Time Later…

"Natsu!"

"Natsu-San!"

The two girls were looking around for Natsu, but were having little to no luck.

"You would think that with his good hearing, he would have heard us by now." Lucy huffed.

"Just like Gajeel-Kun. His nose as well?"

'Gajeel...Kun?' Lucy remembered the scary iron dragon slayer. To think this girl referred to someone like that with "Kun".

"Why must Juvia look for Natsu-San with Lucy-San?" Juvia bluntly said, completely ignoring her.

Lucy shrugged. "It couldn't be helped, Naruto and Gray left to find Erza."

The water woman nodded in agreement. "That's right, Naruto-Sama is counting on Juvia! But to put Juvia with her rival in love... does Naruto-Sama wish to start a fight?"

Lucy just looked at her dumbly. "What are you talking about, rival in love? Naruto and I are just teammates. We're partners, nothing more."

Juvia stared at her with disbelieving eyes.

Growing uncomfortable under the stare, Lucy quickly spoke again. "I-it's true! Who would like that slob!? He's a ramen addict, he snores, and tries to act mature when he's just as childish as Natsu! Why are you writing all of that down!?"

Juvia hid the notebook in a flash. "Hm… Juvia must learn how to make ramen then."

Lucy sweatdropped before cringing and covering her ears when a terribly loud noise rang throughout the halls. "What is that?" She looked at Juvia and the girl didn't seem to be affected by it. "You can hear this, can't you?"

Juvia kept a neutral expression. "It's a nice tune."

Both of their attention was caught when they noticed a man walking towards them while twirling his long black hair. "HEY YA, GIRLS! This is my concert of HELL!"