Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 58 - Tartaros Pt. 3

Kai froze and everything paused around him for just a moment. He thought he'd blinked, but, more time had to have passed than that:

The entire room he stood in had transformed. The once-stone walls had melted away, giving way to a more flesh-like interior. A putrid scent now filled the area. A strange, dripping liquid protruded out from the walls. Kai drew forth his blade.

"It would seem some of you have evaded our transition," Mard Geer said. "But now you shall witness the terror of the Plutogrim, the true form of our headquarters! Fairy Tail has been trapped, forever sealed by my curse. To break it? Well, that shall certainly require a miracle. Go forth then, Crime Sorciere, and see what you can do against us, your once-allies. I assure you...you shall regret standing against us."

Something screeched loudly and made Kai's head spin before the voice cut out and he stood alone in the transformed room.

He tried to sniff out anyone's location, but the putrid smell completely blocked his nose off.

How'd he avoided it, when everyone else had apparently been captured? Kai dashed forward, pressing through until he found another room.

"No," he muttered as he approached what was, definitely, the form of Erza Scarlet. She held her sword aloft, still prepared for battle. But against whom?

Something shifted nearby. Kai's eye caught a quick flurry of motion and his instincts caught up to him. He easily evaded some sort of claw and slid away.

"The hell are you?" Kai asked.

His attacker, a woman, had her back turned to him. She wore little in the way of clothing and had long black hair stylized in a familiar fashion. Kai held his sword in the same position Erza had her own in.

The woman turned, a scornful smile stretching upon her face.

"No way," Kai muttered.

"I don't know how Erza was absorbed but not you, but I have to imagine it'll be quite the sight when she discovers your corpse after she is freed," said Minerva Orland.

Kai momentarily fixed on the eyepatch and then on the gloves she wore over some demonic hands. Those typical black orbs floated around her.

"What's happened to my guild?"

"Fate. You challenged devils, now you're in Hell."

"That's ridiculous."

A few more orbs manifested and floated around Minerva. "It's fate!"

The orbs shot at Kai, who dodged all of them. One of them, though, landed near him and exploded, forcing him forward. He managed to dodge Minerva's kick and elbow her away, raising his sword to deflect another orb that made his sword disappear across the room.

He held his hand out and snagged it as Minerva came charging in, forcing her back so she wouldn't lose her hand.

"Kai!"

Another figure landed between them, sending Minerva back. Kai slid away as well.

"Ah, there you are. A member of Crime Sorciere."

Ultear straightened up before Kai, pushing her hair back.

"Get out of here," she said. "Don't waste your time on someone who isn't even a proper demon. Just a mistake."

Minerva howled a laugh. "And you're one one to talk?"

"There's another survivor from Fairy Tail but I can't tell who," Ultear said, holding up the Arc of Time to combat Minerva's Territory magic. "You need to find them and save them. The other Demon Gates are going to swarm them. You can serve as a beacon for the rest of our guild."