Fairy Tail - The World of Mages -

Chapter 24 - Tower of Paradise Arc

“Is that you, Ice?!” Vyera shouted the moment she heard the soft voice of Ice.

… Activate Xrytos’ power…

“But… I can’t control that power!” Vyera said in panic. Her precious comrades were in grave danger, yet she was trapped and unable to warn them about the true intention of firing the Etherion onto the Tower of Paradise.

… Calm down, Vye… Feel it… the different source of power in you…

Vyera tried to calm herself down. Ice was still as gentle and as patient as she could remember. She took a deep breath and calmed down within seconds. Trying to feel the power in her body, the warmth of a souce of power in her.

… Feel it… Use it... It was yours now…

"But it might go berserk if I can't control it well..." Vyera said hesitantly.

... I'll help you... Don't be afraid... Unleash it...

"..." She obeyed the voice of her best partner and began to extract that magic power that was hidden deep inside her. It was powerful but she tried to surpress most of the power and only unleashed the requilred magic power to undo Sieg's spell on the room.

... Release it! ....

Along with Ice's command, Vyera released the Xrytos' power. There was a bright gentle green light and something like a glass broke. There was a barrier casted on the room to prevent her from coming out from that room. But as she looked around, the furniture and the interior looked like it was being hit by a storm.

"Oh man... I'll apologize properly later after this whole thing..." Vyera said and immediately went out of the room through the broken window. Trying hard not to overuse the magic power for the battle that was to come, she flew to the Tower of Paradise. The bad feeling she felt still hadn't gone away, yet it became stronger as she approached the Tower. She couldn't calm down thinking of what that would come ahead.

"Please... Let me be there on time before Etherion is fired!" She prayed hard. She didn't know how bad the situation was at the Tower but the Etherion was going to be fired in less than 10 minuntes. With her speed now, she could only reach there on time to see it was fired. She unconsciously added more speed to her wind magic. It seemed like a long flight but finally she arrived. The Tower was in damage at several floors but it was still standing. The top part seemed to be damaged the worst. The Etherion was already visible up on the sky. It was gathering magic power, ready to hit the tower any seconds.

"Damn it!!" She headed to the top of the tower immediately. There was no more time to think of what the consequences.

"Vye!!" It was Erza. She was with Sieglein on top of the destroyed tower. She managed to spot her flying over, "What are you doing here?!"

"Erza!! Don't be fooled by him! He-" Vyera tried to warn her but it was too late. The Etherion released the magic power that it gathered. It was heading straight towards her who was floating on top of the destroyed Tower. Without any plan to dodge, she immediately concentrated every bit of her magic power onto her hands and stopped the Etherion from hitting the tower. It was powerful... too powerful. It forced Vyera to release even the power of Xrytos, making her half-transformed to a demon. Her demon wing was revealed and her skin was slowly turning into blue colour.

"Ughh!!" She could only reduce the amount of the Etherion that would be absorbed by the tower of paradise to prevent the revival of Zeref.

"Vye!!" Erza shouted in worry but couldn't do anything to help stop the Etherion that was being suspended in mid-air.

"Erza...!” She called her,"I'm sorry... I could not hold this thing any longer! I'll leave... the rest to you..!"

"Vye!! No!!!"

That was the last second Vyera managed to diverse part of the Etherion. It hit Vyera directly and nobody had seen her anymore after that, even Erza who was nearest to her at that point. Everyone survived Siglein... or Jellal's evil scheme and Zeref was not revived. However, there were casualties... one of Erza's former comrades and... Vyera. Thanks to her sacrifice, the power of Etherion that hit the tower was not enough to revive Zeref.

From the moment Erza and Natsu came out from the tower, Lucy, Gray and all other comrades came to welcome back them. For a moment, Erza didn't want to tell them about Vyera, but someone finally hit the question.

"Strange... Why the Etherion seems like it is being stopped for a while there just now? Erza, you were there right? Did something block it?" asked Lucy.

".... There is something that I have to tell you guys.... especially you two." She looked ay Gray and Lucy.

Both of them were surprised and looked scared, "I don't think we did anything wrong that need scolding..." Gray said timidly.

"It's about Vye..." She started reluctantly, "She was the reason why the Etherion stopped for a while just now... And why the revival of Zeref failed."

"No way... Don't tell me..." Lucy gasped, slowly realising what Erza was trying to say.

"Wait, Erza!!! I don't get it!! What happen to Vye?! I thought she went back before us?!" Gray shouted. He knew deep in his heart what Erza was trying to say but still he asked. He didn't want to believe it.

"Yeah she did... But she came back after learning the truth from Jellal himself. I don't know how she met him but... She was the one stopping Etherion from hitting the Tower in full power..." Erza clutched her fists tight.

"... Magic Council." Gray said it aloud accidentally.

"What about it? Gray, did you know something we don't?!" Lucy pressed him for answer.

"... Vye is one of the Magic Council but it’s a secret to the world. She is the secret agent of it. I'm not sure of the details but...."

Everyone thought in silence for a minute, "... So she sacrificed herself yet again..." Gray said in clear sadness, covering his eyes with his hands, crying," why did she always think of others before herself?!"

"... After she stopped the Etherion and failed, I didn't see her anymore... She might still be alive..." Erza said softly.

Upon hearing that, Gray started to run towards the ruins of the tower but was immediately stopped by Erza,"What are you going to do?!"

"Find her of course!! Are you telling me to just sit down and do nothing?!" Gray shouted back furiously.

"She won't be in the ruins!! I would know if she fell right into it!!" Erza said.

Gray stopped without looking at her, "Then all I can do is to wait...?” He was crying. Lucy was speechless and tears had been flowing down unconsciously since she heard this news, "Onee-chan... Is dead...?”

"... Let's go back to the guild first. We must tell Master about this." Erza took command and get everyone back to their feet to head back. Reaching the guild and when this news got out to the rest of the members, except the fact that Vyera was a secret agent, everyone had the same reaction.

"Vye-chan...."

"That's impossible..."

"No way...."

Some couldn't believe it, while the others were lost in thought.

"There is no evidence that she is dead. Don't lose hope." Erza said again.

"... I will inform the council to initiate a search. But it might take a while as the council is in a mess after firing Etherion." Master announced, "Meanwhile, you guys go back to usual mission and routine and get every information you can along the way."

"Yes sir!"


- 2 months later -


Every member had already started their missions again, with the same thing in mind; to find Vyera. Even Gray, who was very down during the first two weeks after Vyera was missing, already started to take missions more actively than before after receiving a beating from Erza.

"Stop sulking!! How you are going to find her if you keep on like this?!" was what Erza shouted at him. That really fired him up and now he took any mission he could get whenever he had time. Lucy too, kept on doing her routine missions with Natsu. Althought she looked cheerful, everyone knew that she was just forcing herself to. Soemtimes she was found sitting alone and deep in thought. Levi heard her crying back in her house when she went to visit.

One day, Master came back from the magic council for the ten times after the incident.

"Master!! How is it?!" Everyone asked in unison.

"Don't keep asking me the same thing everytime I came back from the council." Master sighed and took a seat at the bar counter, "They have finished the search around the area of the tower's ruins."

"So...!”

Master shook his head,"They can't find her... nor her remains..."

"... Meaning..."

"She is either dead or missing." Erza continued.

"In a few days, they will give out their decisions on her status." Master announced.

Indeed, the representative was sent to the guild in the same week, "... With this incident in mind, Vyera Phoenix was declared Killed In Action and will be given the title as one of the Ten Holy Mage for eternality."

"!!"

"Killed in action..."

"That means... Vye is really...."

"Onee-chan..." Lucy began to cry and Mira lent her her shoulder.

"... No!! I won't accept it! Vye is definitely still alive!!" Gray suddenly exclaimed, "I'll definitely find her and bring her back!"

Everyone went up to stop him from going berserk. They dragged him into the guild to calm him down and Master even agreed with the decision of the Council to build a tomb for Vyera at the edge of the forest, where it was most peaceful, reluctantly.

"Master! I won't accept it!! I-"

Everyone gasped; Master gave Gray a good punch on the face, "Who wants their own granddaughter to die before themselves?! Everyone doesn't want her to die! I'm the Master of the guild... I can't let anymore of my children to be taken away because of this. I don't want to lose anyone of you anymore." He said regrettably. Everyone was at their utmost silent.

"Listen. Even if we have just lost a comrade, go on with your life. Live for her share as well. Don't ever forget about her. As long as we remember, she will never die. She will always alive in our heart." Master said bravely while trying to hold back his tears. Slowly, one by one, they nodded their heads in agreement to Master's words. The situation calmed down. Nobody knew what each other was thinking but nevertheless, they were having the same feeling.

After this, the name of Vyera Phoenix was never mentioned in the guild again.


- A few months later -


"... He still hasn't given up, huh?" Levi asked Lucy after looking at Gray going out for missions alone. It has been already the 6th one in a week.

"Yeah... He hasn't quite gotten over 'her'..." Lucy said sadly.

Levi quickly changed the subject to other topics like how did her novels writing go or various other things, realising that she shouldn't have brought up the topic.

It has been a while since the incident. Everyone had gone with their usual life. A lot of things had happened too, like Luxus' rebellion and the Fairy Tail's town festival. Everyone was asking why the former Dancing Diva was not participating in it. Everyone just replied, "She has gone for a long mission and will not be back for a while."

Many people expressed the disappointment. But there was nothing they could do. Nobody could say that, "She is already gone." These few words were not easy to be said out loud. Nobody had accepted it yet, especially Gray. A few days after that, the Magic Council released the news to the whole Kingdom that Vyera was dead. There was a loud commotion especially in Magnolia. They could even make that day as a 'Dancing Diva' day if they had the authority to do so.

In that week too, a serious matter was discussed in the guild. Apparently, 4 guilds were ready to make alliance to bring down the dark guilds; in this case, it is the Oracion Seis. The usual members were sent to meet with members from other guilds.

Unexpectedly, there was a dragon slayer among them too. She was Wendy Marvell from Cait Shelter guild. Moreover, they also met again with Lyon, Gray's friend, from the Garuna Island mission. He joined Lamia Scales apparently. From his guild, there was also Sherry and Jura. Another group was from Blue Pegasus. Its members were Hibiki, Eve, Ren and Ichiya. They were kind of a host groups. However, Ichiya who is supposed to be their leader was just an ugly short old man. He should be strong enough to be sent on this difficult mission.

In the midst of the fierce battles against the dark guilds, Oracion Seis, Jellal appeared to stop the revival of Nirvana, an ancient weapon that could reverse the world of light and the dark. Apparently he lost his memory and didn't remember anything else except the name Erza. But that's not the main problem now. Nirvana was managed to be activated and was now heading towards Cait Shelter guild. Everyone must worked together to stop it.

The 6 legs of Nirvana must be destroyed. Each leg was controlled by a magic crystal. Each one of the crystal must be destroyed at the same time. Thus, all the remaining fighters that could still move were assigned each one of them. Gray was on his own towards one of the core of Nirvana's legs. Upon reaching there, the core was clearly visible. It was a huge sphere full of magic power.

"I just need to destroy this when the time reached right?" He said to himself to confirm again. He was panting. His injuries were pretty bad from previous battles.

"... Do you come here to destroy this?" Said a voice of a woman. She was standing behind the sphere. Gray couldn't see who she was but that voice... was awfully familiar to him.

"... Who are you?" He said warily.

"If yes, then you are an enemy... And by Master's order, I shall defeat you."

Her presence seemed to have disappeared from behind the sphere. Then Gray realised she was already behind him.

"Ice Make! Shield!" Just in a nick of time before she slashed him with her sword, the ice shield was made between them. Gray just managed to slow her attack to move a step back. His ice was slashed like a paper.

".... It can't be..."

The appearance of that woman shocked Gray; long white hair with bright blue eyes. Plus that woman doesn't look human. Her ears were long and pointed. She has a blue demon wing. Her whole body seemed to have transformed into half demon. But that face and voice can't deceive Gray's eyes... and that blind left eye with the white sword of light, Argent.

"... Vye?"