"Ms. Lucy!" Cream said, as she and Cheese ran over to her.
"Cream? What happened?" Lucy asked.
"It was so exciting! You made a bunch of shiny orbs explode around Angel and took her down with a hit!" Cream described.
"Oh, that is weird... WAIT! Natsu!" Lucy remembered, and saw Natsu was still on the raft that was being held back by tree trunks. He was still incredibly sick.
"Mr. Natsu? You're still sick even though the raft is stuck?" Cream asked in surprise. The group walked towards him, until suddenly a splash came from behind them! Angel was up, covered in painful burns and tatters. "EEK!" She was holding Caelum in sword form.
"I... cannot lose... The Oracion Seis cannot lose...," Angel breathed. She looked insane, with a mad smile and looks of hatred.
"Cream? Why does she look like that?! Did I do that?!" Lucy asked.
"Yes, it was you! I'm surprised she's still standing!" Cream said back. Caelum began transformation to gun form.
"If I'm going down... I'M TAKING YOU TO THE GRAVE WITH ME!!!" Angel screamed, and Caelum shot at the two. They braced for the blast, but instead, the beam curved around them, and instead hit the trunks.
"You... you missed..?" Angel made out, before falling back down. The raft now free, it continued to move again, re-awakening Natsu.
"Oh go- Blurgh...," Natsu groaned.
"NATSU!" Lucy said, looking back at him.
'My wish... it was to vanish into the sky... like an angel...,' Angel thought as she fell down.
"BUT THIS IS THE WATER!" She cried out to her dismay, with a splash. Cream and Cheese walked to her and ditched Lucy.
"Ms. Lucy, you go help Mr. Natsu! I'll tie up Ms. Angel!" She said to them.
"Yeah, okay, whatever! Natsu!" Lucy yelled at him as she hurried to the raft. "Pull yourself together!"
"Ooooooooooooohhhhh it's moving fast...," Natsu moaned.
"Just reach for my hand!" Lucy said, sticking her hand out. Natsu weakly grabbed it, but unfortunately, they reached a fall. Lucy got dragged onto the raft as it travelled on the river. "AGH! THE RAPIDS?!" She cried out. Lucy gritted her teeth and pulled Natsu to her, as they travelled down the rapids.
Back at the base, Brain gripped his head again. "No... they got Angel as well?" A second mark on his head began fading away. "Your death will be for nothing! The extinction of light will begin SOON!" He declared, in front of the black pillar of light.
"I'm not dead..." Angel muttered weakly, having a sneaking feeling that Brain thought she was dead. Cream walked over to her with a rope. Cheese was holding a rock in case.
"Ms. Angel, I'm going to tie you up now, okay?" She politely asked.
"Ah, just do it, kid," Angel groaned, not even bothering to fight anymore.
"Oh, I should take these as well!" Cream grabbed the Celestial Keys of Angel. "Maybe I'll give them to Ms. Lucy! She is a Celestial Wizard." Cheese nodded.
Erza was running through the forest with a glum face, nervous at the confrontation of her and Jellal. 'So, he's alive.' She remembered his evil expression. She turned her head to forget about it.
'How is he even here? Why would he be here?' More memories flooded back. The horrible sight of a young Jellal, before he was insane tied up by the hands, beaten and tortured. She kept seeing them in her head.
His warm smile.
Their chats.
How he stood up for her. Their hug.
'What should I be feeling, seeing him again?'
"So, this Nirvana changes a person's personality?" Jura said in shock.
"Correct!" Hoteye said. He was explaining Nirvana to Jura. "And in it's first steps, the black light takes those on the borderline between light and darkness, and makes them switch sides.
"Then, that means you were on the borderline between light and darkness?" Jura asked.
"When one is on a quest to make money, they MIGHT do things on the wrong side of good."
"Are you just trying to impress me...?"
"Well, truth be told, it was for my brother. I just wanted money to look for him," Hoteye admitted. Jura gave a small smile "You remind me of the old times."
"Oh, like your brother?"
"No... more like the potatoes we used to eat back then."
"I LOOK LIKE A VEGETABLE?!"
"Now, let us stop Brain and his group in the name of LOVE!"
"Sure..."
Ren's face got multiple large cuts across it, and all over his clothes. He fell down on the ground in defeat, with a bored Midnight in front of him.
"Two down... Ugh, this is boring. Isn't anyone here worth fighting?" He said.
"What do you mean?" A young girl with blue hair asked. It was raining hard around them.
"I'm sorry, but I have to leave you behind," Another blue-haired boy said.
"D-did I do anything wrong? If I did, I'm sorry!" She asked.
"No, you haven't! It's just that I'll be going somewhere dangerous!"
"But- I could handle it! You remember the South Island Incident!"
"This is different. It's on a much larger scale! I can't let you come. I head there's a guild nearby. They'll take care of you!"
"NO! I WANNA STAY WITH YOU!" She cried, and ran to the boy, hugging him.
"I'm sorry..."
"GAH!" Wendy woke up with panting.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake," Carla said. Wendy looked around.
"What t- Where am I?" She asked.
"Hibiki had to knock you out."
"What?!"
"Calm down, he did it because of Nirvana. Thinking negatively will change your heart into to darkness."
"Ok... I'm not gonna even ask..," Wendy sighed as she leaned on the boulder and sat down. "This is great. Got kidnapped, forced to help bad guys, and might've doomed everyone."
"Oh, don't think so negatively. You'll be turned to the dark side," Carla said.
"Got it."
"Say, who is this Jellal person? You've never mentioned him before, to any of us."
"Ah, guess I didn't talk about him. Not even to you or Tails. Well... it was 7 years ago. When Mom, Grandeeny the Sky Dragon went missing, I was at first alone and wandering the roads.
"Then, I met Jellal. He was lost too, so he took me in, and we wandered around for a month or so. But one day, he mentioned something weird."
"Anima?!"
"Anima?" Carla asked.
"I also didn't know what it was, but he said going with him would be dangerous, so he dropped me off at a nearby guild. I.E., Caitshelter," Wendy finished.
"Then... what happened to Jellal?"
"Never saw him again. Then, I heard rumors of a council member that looked just like Jellal had joined, and apparently he's done some evil things." Carla looked a bit down.
"But the Jellal I knew was so nice! I wonder... does he remember me?" Wendy wondered with a small smile at the memory of her friend.
Cream dragged along a tied up Angel beside her as she skipped through the forest. Cheese was behind, holding a rock in case Angel tried to escape.
"What a beautiful evening, isn't it Ms. Angel?" Cream politely asked.
"Yeah, sure, shut up," Angel groaned.
'THIS IS ROCK GODAMN BOTTOM. Being beaten by some kid and bunny, and then said bunny captured me and dragging me around. I hate my life,' She thought. Suddenly, a rustling from the bushes caught their attention. Out came Jura and Hoteye.
"Cream-dono? Why are you holding one of the Oracion Seis?" Jura asked.
"Hi Mr. Jura! Ms. Lucy and I beat her, so I'm dragging her along with me to keep a watch on her. But how come Mr. Hoteye is with you?"
"He, uh... got switched by Nirvana."
"Oh, that's very good then!"
"Haha! Those young ladies must've taught you a lesson in LOVE, Angel!" Hoteye said.
"What the hell, Hoteye?! What happened happened to 'Money'?!" Angel growled.
"I have ditched money! And I have forsaken war also! Now, we shall teach the rest a lesson on how LOVE IS IMPORTANT!"
"I like him a lot now, Cheese!" Cream said.
"Chao!"
At the site of Nirvana, inside the now white light, a pillar could be seen. Erza had arrived at the location, and braced herself from the wind blowing on her, as it kicked up a dust cloud. As it settled, she looked up to see, to her shock, Jellal. The two stared at each other silently. Hiding, Cobra was cursing in his head.
'ERZA?! She's cured?! DAMN IT! She got this close yet I didn't even notice!' He thought. 'Whatever, I can't let her kill Jellal till we get Nirvana back up again!'
"...Jellal," Erza finally said.
"Erza," Jellal responded.
"What are you doing here?" She questioned.
"I... don't know." Erza looked down in discomfort. "Erza. Er-za...," Jellal repeated her name.
"It's the only thing I remember...," He said. That made everyone shocked.
"Can you tell me, who I am? Who am I supposed to be?"
"Who is Erza?!"
A tear formed in Erza's eye as she heard this.