Shadow Revival (Part 1)

Prologue -
A large white room sat inside an unknown area and inside this white room sat fifteen large chairs, each one bigger than the other. People in black cloaks sat on each of these chair. In the center of the room a symbol was on the floor.
The man in the tallest chair looked down at the man in the center of the room. The man was holding a small little girl with blue hair and cat ears. The girl was tied up with a rope and was knocked out. The man sitting in the seat looked down and smiled through his hood "You have done good Van. You have brought what might make our plan complete." the man said as the man in the center (Now introduced as Van) nodded and laid the girl in the center of the room then sat down in the smallest seat. The people in the other seats didn't move at all.


Three weeks later (Present Day) -
Lance was sitting on his window sill with a book in his hand as he glanced out his window. The night sky was beautiful that night while the tiny lights in the shops started to go out. Lance sighed as he closed it softly and placed it by his bed with a sigh. Lea had been missing for about three weeks and he was getting a bit worried. Lea had become more than just a girl who helped him on jobs and thought of him as a dad, She had become like a daughter to him and he was going to find her somehow.

He sat comfortably on the window sill while he thought hard about were she might be when suddenly a shadow appeared in the corner of his room. The show had red eyes and looked the exact same as Lance. "What's up Lex?"Lance asked the shadow seeing as it wasn't everyday Lex came out of Lance to talk to him. Lex stayed in the corner of the room where the shadows were and started talking "I know where Lea is." he muttered a bit as Lance looked up at him with surprise "W- Were!" he said with desperation in his voice. Lex kept a straight face "She is in Minstrel right now." He said as Lance looked at him with confusion "What's she doing all the way over there?" he asked and to Lex replied "She was taken there by someone working for your uncle, more importantly is that she was taken by Van." he said as Lance punched the wall.

Lance had only ran into Van a few times and had gotten seriously injured or close to death every time. Lance took a few deep breaths until he clamed down enough to talk "Anything else I need to know before I head out?" he said putting his jacket on. Lex nodded "Your dad is in town today and leaving for Minstrel soon." Lex said as he shrugged "I think it would be in your best interest to invite him along for help." he said as he nodded and disappeared back into Lance.

Lance got up and walked out of his room with shadows trailing behind him. As he walked down the silent streets of the night he only got angrier and angrier. This was not a revenge mission though but more of a rescue mission. Once he got Lea back everyone could return to their normal life's and that would be that.

He approached the ticket counter with his hood on "I would like one ticket to Minstrel..." he muttered as he got the tickets. The ticket man smiled at him "Why are you heading out so late?" he asked with a friendly smile as Lance walked away and glanced back "Just... visiting family..." he muttered as he boarded the train and sat in a seat with a table in the middle and across from the table were some more seats facing towards him. The man he sat next to stared at him for a second "Lance?" he muttered as Lance nodded "Yah dad its me...". Lance hadn't seen his dad since he came back to the guild, but this wasn't a time for reunion.

Lance's dad looked at him "So why are you heading to Minstrel?" he asked with a slight hint of confusion. Lance grimaced "One of uncles workers kidnapped Lea..." he muttered as he leaned back in his seat. His dads eyes widened "I want to help you go and get her back!" he said as Lance nodded "Ok."

Somewhere Secret -
The white room was quiet as the man in the tallest chair started talking "It seems like the boy is teaming with his dad to try to get back the girl... This will be a major setback if he succeeds..." he muttered as he then turned his head to the man in the shortest chair "Van, take the girl and use her as bait, and when the boy finds you I want you to kill him..." he said as Van got out of his seat "Yes Ganon..." he said as he grabbed Lea and walked out of the room and headed off towards Minstrel.

As he entered a part of Minstrel that wasn't very populated Van put down a huge sheet with a symbol on it and as he did it the symbol shined and a huge tower started to rise up out of it. The sky above the tower had rain clouds over it and it looked gloomy.
Van had been waiting for the day when he was allowed to kill Lance and now that this day had come he was not going to fail.

"What the hell! what kind of foolery is this?" said Axel, looking over the job board. He noticed that there was not one job that involved saving lives, just fetch quests, and as much as Axel liked helping others, today he was not feeling like wasting his time doing tiny things. He was bored out of his mind, and did not have enough jewels to buy new books. I cannot stand it here anymore, I need to get out for now! thought Axel, desperately. He left the guild hall, and walked up and down the Magnolia Town streets. as he walked by, he heard two men discussing something.

"Do you have your passport yet? sweet! Now we can go to Minstrel and show off our swordsmen skills! Maybe live there and become muskateers, because you know they are loved by the ladies, right?" said one of the men. His statement got Axel wondering. Well... I have not yet used my passport. Also I could use a vacation from Fiore, as I have not been out in the world yet. It is settled! I am going to minstrel! thought Axel. It took a while for him to get there, but Axel finally got to the giant train station that would send him to Minstrel. He faced the ticket counter and showed the worker his passport. "Can I get a ticket to Minstrel please?" asked Axel. The worker handed Axel a ticket and he got on the train. As soon as he entered the train, however, he saw Lance. Lance? What could he possibly be doing on a train to Minstrel? thought Axel. He saw Lance talking to another person older than him. Curious, Axel sneakily got two seats behind Lance and the other man, close enough to hear what was going on. He slumped down on his chair so he would not be caught eavesdropping.  

"One of uncle's workers kidnapped Lea..." Axel heard lance say.  "I want to help you go and get her back!" said the other man. Axel was appalled by what he heard. He met Lea when he talked with lance a bit in the guild hall, and she was a sweet kid. Who the hell would kidnap a child? That is it, I don't care what lance will say, but one way or another, I will help him get Lea back! thought Axel. He decided to stay hidden so that Lance would not see him.

Rita had known for some time that something had happened to Lance's daughter, Lea. Despite not being told directly she was able to figure out what had happened.She had gone missing somehow.

Without Lance knowing Rita had taken trips in and out of Magnolia claiming to be on jobs to see if she could find any clues and help in the investigation.

Rita now was napping on Lances roof, for investigation purposes, Of course investigation purposes only. She woke up when she found herself rolling off the edge of Lance's two story house. All the she could do was fall. With a change in luck she caught hold of something. Yes! A ledge! Finally things were looking up for a change.

From inside Rita could hear two voices conversing, one voice she knew very very well The other felt the same in a way... but with a darker tone in it's words.

"Anything else I need to know before I head out?"

"Your dad is in town today and leaving for Minstrel soon."

"I think it would be in your best interest to invite him along for help."

Rita hung onto the window pane as long as she could until she saw Lance walk out and head into town

She leapt down from the ledge and watched him head further into Magnolia. Family was a difficult subject to Rita, She lost hers years ago. Lea was everything to Lance and now she was gone. Lance and Lea had been the closest thing to family she had had in years and she was not going to let anything happen to either of them. She knew what she had to do.

Keeping her distance, Rita followed Lance eventually watching him use his passport and get a spot on the train. Rita headed to another ticket counter looking back at the train Lance had gotten on. "Can I help you?" They asked. "Yes. I'm going to Minstrel." Rita said as she brought out her passport. "The train is no longer boarding, but I can get you a ticket to the next one." They claimed.

"N-Next one?! When is that?"

"Three days from now."

"... I am not putting up with this!"

"I'm sorry ma'am but the only thing I can do is give you tickets to the next train."

"I am getting on that train." She insisted sternly.

Rita gave venomous glare at the ticket guy.



Moments later she was dusting of her hands off while the ticket guy lay unconscious on the ground. She turned around to see a train conductor staring at Rita and then down at the ticket man, shocked. Rita could not let herself get any attention from the station security. She was supposed to be stealthy about this so she did he only thing she could possibly do in this situation:

"Hyaaa!" Rita cried out as she charged the conductor lady and karate kicked her in the face, ultimately knocking her out. Rita had took out two staff members already and she wasn't even on the train yet. but now she had a plan that would get her aboard. What a genius! Why hadn't she thought of it before?

Now in dressed in the conductors coat and cap that she robbed from the woman including and some stylish shades that she somehow had gotten a hold of Rita climbed onto the train to Minstrel. What a plan no one will ever know that she was in disguise!

A small hooded figure had followed Axel onto the train and sat down next to him. The figure seemed to have wings and tiny little horns on it making it almost dragon like. After a while of sitting in silence the train started to take off. The hooded figure took of its hood to reveal it was a small Dragon like figure "You know its not nice to eavesdrop..." it muttered as it looked at Axel. The baby dragon laughed a bit "My names Draco I am one of Lance's best friends!" he said happily as he extended a small little hand.

At the front of the train a man in a tux and blonde hair was hanging onto the ceiling as he wore his special gloves. When Rita barged in and started to beat people up he smiled a bit. He watched her as she got her little disguise on and then decided to drop down from the ceiling and released a slow clap. He approached Rita "That was a nice little show you put on there girl." he said with a sort of smirk "I know why you are here.... you should confront the people you follow..." he said with a evil smirk as he took a teleportation Lacrima out of his bag and took a hold of Rita's hand before crushing it and appearing next to Lance with Rita.

Lance talked to his dad for a while before a streak of blonde and brunet appeared before him. It was his little waiter friend and Rita. Lance's eye twitched as he saw Rita's outfit and immediately found out what she was trying to do. He looked at the waiter with a grimace "Thank you... you can sit her down next to me..." he muttered as the waiter did what he was told then teleported away and off of the train.

Lance stared at Rita for some time before speaking up "Rita... I..." Lance stuttered for a second before speaking up "When did you learn how to drive a train?" he asked in total confusion and had his dad burst out laughing. After he calmed down his dad looked from Rita then back to Lance "Lance is this your girlfriend?" his dad asked to which Lance replied with a hard blushing face "N-n-n-n-n--n-n-n-n-n--no" he stuttered as he shook his head fast "S-s-s-she is a really good friend!!!" he said defensively trying not to give out the feelings he did have for Rita.

As Axel continued to listen to Lance's conversation, A hooded figure decided to sit next to Axel.  "You know its not nice to eavesdrop..." said the mysterious person, who as Axel looked closer at, looked like a dragon. He was small as well. He then took his hood off, confirming that he was a dragon. "My names Draco I am one of Lance's best friends!" said the dragon, as he smiled happily. Axel was embarrassed for being spotted eavesdropping, and by a dragon! Axel was still shocked that it was a dragon, and wondered how Lance knew him.

"Well Draco, I am Axel Rover, Wind Mage, and it is a pleasure to meet you, but I have a good reason for hiding. You see, Lance's 'Daughter' Lea got kidnapped, and I do not know what Lance would do if he got me involved in his situation. I am his friend as much as lea's, and I do not want her to get hurt, so I will do whatever I can in my power to rescue her!" said Axel, in a whisper, so Lance would not here him. As he explained the dilemna to Draco, the train began moving. "Listen, When we get to Minstrel I will show myself to Lance, but not now, because he may ask me to leave. Please don't do anything to blow my cover Draco," Axel said.

Rita had been caught red handed. Lance's waiter friend had shown up and taken her to Lance immediately.
Lance didn't seem to happy about her new get up, By the look on his face Rita could tell that Lance had figured out what Rita was up too. "Damn that guy ruining my full proof plan like that!" she thought to herself.

"Looks like you guys caught me...ehehe..." Rita said laughing nervously, She tried to brush it off when she flicked off her sunglasses and conductors hat.

"Rita... I...When did you learn how to drive a train?" Lance said. the Fairy was about to give a response to his question when the man sitting with Lance said something.

"Lance is this your girlfriend?" Rita saw Lance blush which
caused her to blink dumbly "N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no. S-s-s-she is a really good friend!!!" He insisted defensively. Lance clearly had given up how he felt which caused Rita's face to go  a bit red. "Y-Yeah, f-friends." Rita agreed forcing her voice to steady out so she would not sound as unconvincing as Lance did.

Suddenly, something ticked in her mind that caused a sweatdrop to comically drip down her forehead. "Eh Uh...L-Lance about what you asked e-earlier." Rita began as she cleared her throat. "I-I don't know how to conduct a train!!!-"
This meant that no one had been driving the train the entire time and no one here could possibly could considering the conductor was knocked out back at the station and ditched there.

(OOC: Sorry,It's a bit shorter than a post than I would of liked but it gets things done ^w^)

Draco nodded to Axel "Its nice to meet you." he said with a smile. "I know Lea got stolen. Why do you think I am here?" he said with a grimace as he listened to Rita and Lance's conversation. When he heard that no one was driving the train he got up and cracked his little dragon knuckles "I got it..." he said as he got up and walked into the front of the train. He started speaking into the microphone "Welcome to the train to Minstrel my name is Draco and I will be your conductor today." he said calmly as the train started moving faster.

On the top of the train laid the waiter who was smirking with a black cloak on with a symbol on it. He remembered that there was no conductor and shrugged "Those kids will figure something out... they always do..." he muttered as he went to sleep.

Lance stared at the intercom when Draco's voice came on "Oh god..." he muttered as he placed his hand over his face. He trusted Draco though. He looked at Rita with a questionable look "If you aren't a train conductor then why are you here?" he asked her and his dad smiled "Ahh young love I remember when I was your age whe-" he started but Lance punched him in the arm "Sh-Shut up dad!" he yelled with his face turning red.

After Axel finished talking to Draco, the small dragon got up from his seat, and went off somewhere. Once he was gone, Axel began eavesdropping on the conversation again. "Eh Uh...L-Lance about what you asked e-earlier." said a voice that Axel knew he heard before. He soon realized the voice matched with Rita, a girl he met once at the park. Is this a Fairy Tail meeting or something? Who else is here, Ebony? thought Axel. "I-I don't know how to conduct a train!!!-" said Rita. Axel was confused with her statement until he saw her, dressed in the conductor uniform. He became nervous, as he wondered who ould drive the train, until he heard another familiar voice on the com. "Welcome to the train to Minstrel my name is Draco and I will be your conductor today." Said the dragon. Axel wondered if he even knew how to drive a train, but once it got moving, Axel felt relieved. Well he can start a train, so he probably can ride one, thought Axel.

Lance had asked Rita why she was here. Just as she was about to come up with some excuse as to why she followed him another voice chimed in.

The man sitting beside Lance begin to say something about 'young love' before Lance punched him in the arm and told the man, revealed to be his father, to shut up. It took Rita a minute but then she realized where things were going.

Rita felt her face getting warm and realized that she had begun to blush. Rita did note that Lance hadn't been to convincing his repetitive stuttering and the redness of his face had practically given him away. She caught herself smirk at this, but her attention was snagged by something else.  She looked past Lance and peered out the window. The train was not just moving fast but indeed seemed to be getting quicker, to quick for any normal train. It appeared to be moving with so much speed that they would make it to Minstrel in a matter of minutes!

"L-Lance...Do you know anything about this 'Draco' who is driving the train. Or if they even know how to for that matter?"

Lance placed his hand over his face when Rita started to blush and smirked at his behavior. The train was oddly moving fast even for Lance's taste and when Rita mentioned it he started to look a bit worried "I do know Draco and he does not know how to drive a train... I am going to go take over..." he muttered as he stood up and walked to the front of the train. When he entered the room where Draco was Lance shut the door and Draco turned around with a smile "Hey Lance!" he said with a laugh. Lance shook his head and tried to grab a hold of the wheel which Draco didn't like at all. They each had a hold of the wheel and where each pulling it in there direction making it turn left and right which the made the train sway a lot. This went on for five minuets while they argued. Finally, Lance pulled on the Wheel hard making it turn to the right hard and making Draco fly forward and hit a switch that made the train go really fast now.
Lance screamed a bit as Draco stood up with a bit of a scared face "H-How do I stop this thing!" Lance yelled as he started to look a bit scared as well. Draco shook "I- I don't know!" he yelled back. It all happened so quickly and within a few minutes of Lance and Draco messing with switches the train finally arrived in Minstrel with a crash.

The train had crashed into the train station and basically destroyed it. Lance pushed himself out of the rubble and looked for Draco who was nowhere to be seen as was the waiter. Lance stood up and dusted himself off while coughing. The ticket person looked at Lance with a mix of Fear and Surprise in his eyes "Y-You destroyed the station!" he stammered as Lance coughed again and nodded before going back into the rubble and looking for Rita and his dad.

While the train was still going, Axel decided to take out a book titled: Mysterious Creatures of Fiore. He was reading about lycans when he felt the train sway more than the average once every few minutes. He thought it was just a minor issue, so he went back to reading. By the time he got to the succubus, He realized the train was going fast to the point were it would eventually crash into something. Axel, knowing that the worse was about to come, attempted to get to the front of the train to see what was wrong and handle the problem, but right before he got into the driver's room, the train crashed. right before Axel's eyes, the train had basically broken apart from the force, people in seats being thrown all around, chunks of train flying towards people, as well as the fact that they totally destroyed the train station.

Axel blanked for a second, but when he snapped back into conciousness, he had rubble all over him. He struggled to get it off, and once he stood up, he began dusting himself off. Once he opened his eyes, he realized he was directly in front of Lance's face. "Oh, hey Lance! I did not know you were on the train, hehehe." Axel lied, ith a big smile on his face. "So uhh... what brings you to Minstrel?" Axel knew that Lance would see through his lies, so he hoped that he would not get angry at him.

Lance responded to Rita claiming that the driver did not know what they were doing and he would take care of it. Rita watched as Lance left for the front of the train. She could only wait to see what was to happen next. Not even a given two minutes later everything began to take a turn for the worst.

Rita felt the train begin too trudge forward even quicker! it now moved with exhilarating speed. The train had begun to teeter back and fourth on the tracks. It jerked back and forth so forcefully that Rita had begun to get thrown around. She found herself getting slammed back in forth against the walls like a pinball. With a loud crash it all came to a stop and Rita met the ground again,wherever she now was after being tossed around, Rita now lay on her back and hung off a seat, dizzy and eyes swirling comically.

Lance started to look around when someone stood up in front of him. It was yet another wizard he knew. When Axel asked him what he was doing here his eyes narrowed a bit as he wiped some debris of his cheek "None of your business..." Lance muttered before walking past him and not caring to ask what he was doing in Minstrel.

Lance walked around and dug through the rubble of the train station to find Rita and his dad who should have been located near each other. He eventually found Rita hanging off of a seat that had come off during the crash and looked to be knocked out. Lance sighed because he had no time for this and he didn't want to but she was his responsibility now and he had to take her with him. He picked her up and placed her on his back like he did with Lea just in time to see his dad rise out of the rubble with a smirk on his face "Are you sure you don't like her?" he asked with a playful grin which made Lance blush hard "Sh-Shut up! She is my friend!" he said as he trudged onwards and out of the train station, leaving the ticket man still in shock.

OOC: Now I know a train crashing into a train station wouldn't cause that much damage in perspective of say a bomb but I did some math with how fast the train went and the size of the station (Medium size).... I have come to the conclusion that this Station is literally demolished.

Axel looked into Lance's eyes after he said what he was doing in minstrel was none of his business. They were burning with the will do get his daughter back. Axel would not let Lance's words get to him, since he knew that he was just depressed over lea getting kidnapped. Though he had to find a way to let Lance join him in his quest. He did not even have a choice anymore, since he cold not go back to Fiore until the train station was fixed.

Axel did the only thing he could do at that moment before Lance left him there. "Listen Lance, I know why you are really here. You might get angry, but I eavesdropped on your conversation about... Lea. You may not want me into your business, but I will never leave alone the fact that a little girl has been kidnapped! I would hate myself forever if I knew I had the chance to save someone and didn't. Frankly I do not care if you reject my offer to help, because I will then just try to save Lea my own way! However, I would not wish to do it alone, so will you please accept me as an ally for this rescue mission?" asked Axel, as his cape, an item he had recently required a week ago, fluttered in the wind.

As if were on cue Rita slid off of Lance's back and landed head first into the pavement with a loud crash. "Ouch..." She mumbled into the ground. The girl sat up and looked at the two who stood above her. She scratched her head. The girl must of hit her head too many times because now she was starting to forget things. Who were these people again? One of them  was familiar to her- No she knew this person very well and they had been a team for a long time, What was his name again? Rita knew that it was something semi-cool sounding that started with an L. " L...Think something with an L. Lacen? No. Lee? Landon? No... Lance- Yes of course it was Lance!" Rita figured out brushing off her mild concision, but where was she now who was this other guy? Why were they all out this late, what time was it even?

Rita glanced around her. They seemed to be in a city of some sort, the street lit by unrivaled moon and starlight. The street  itself was finely patterned and all sorts of expensive,unfamiliar shops and facultys surrounded the place. people who clearly met 'high class' standards roamed the streets. Some even turned a head at the racket three wizards were causing in the street.

Rita had allot of questions for Lance at this point. The girl got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Lance what happened to the train? This is Minstrel right? And who is this? They a friend of yours?" Rita looked Axel over and tried not to stare but she wondered if she has seen this guy before and felt that she had at some point. She found herself drawn to his different eye colors. Red and Yellow? She wondered if it was natural and would not ask right away just as she would hope no one she met would ask about her scars.

(OOC:Sorry took a bit to long to post)

When Rita fell off his back he face palmed for a second before turning around as she asked him question "That would be Axel..." he said as he ignored Axel's comments. Lance listened to more of Rita's questions "The train sort of crashed.... We are in Minstrel." he said as grabbed her hand "I want you to come with me to help Lea... you to dad..." he said as he ignored Axel yet again. He started to walked away as he held Rita's hand and his dad following close behind when he stopped and glanced backwards slightly at Axel "You coming or not?" he said as he started walking again.

Lance walked through Minstrel as he saw a castle and a tower close by. Lance disregarded the tower seeing as this was what you would find there until Lex started to speak in his head "Lance, that tower is where Lea is being kept..." he muttered as Lance faced the tower with a nod "Alright guys.... Lea is being kept in that tower." he said walking up to the doors "I want you to all stay close to me." Lance said as he pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

The inside of the tower was pretty dark with dim torches lighting up the walls. The inside of the tower smelled like Mildew as vines were growing up the walls of it. The hallway was long and dark as Lance walked through quietly with only the groups footsteps being heard. Eventually they could come to a large well lit up room with three doors and doorway with some stairs. This room looked a bit more modern than the rest of the tower.

Lance sighed as he let go of Rita's hand and stared at the three doors before turning to the stairs. He decided to go up the stairs and let his dad go on up first. As soon as his dad took the first step the door closed and would not open which made Lance curse a bit.

He realized that the other doors would do the same as well so he turned to Rita and Axel "I want each of you to step through a different door. I will go first..." he said as he turned and entered a large white room with the door closing and locking behind him.


OOC: Ok guys through each of these doors is a large white room and as you enter the door closes and locks behind you. The room will quickly project images to make the room change setting or make something appear. The thing that they will project is your character WORST FEAR. I will give you the choice to either face it head on or run away from it. Think logically how to get away if you decide to run and the room will turn to normal and you will get out (I will leave it up to you to decide if it was logical or not).

Axel was relieved that Lance allowed him to help them find Lea. He quickly ran to catch up to the trio. As they walked around Minstrel, Axel enjoyed the scenery, looking at buildings of all shapes and sizes, and people were having sword duels all around, with beautiful woman watching. This continent really is something. Maybe I should move here after I retire as a Mage? thought Axel. As he walked along with the group, he noticed a strange looking tower. Lance began to walk inside of it, so Axel began to follow him inside of the huge complex.

Once they were inside of the tower, the group began walking along the dark hallway, until they reached three doors, and a stairway. Axel saw Lance and his father walk up the stairs, but a moment later Lance came back down with a mad-looking face, and his father was no longer behind him. Without any explanation, Lance told Axel and Rita each to go through one of the doors. It seemed a bit mischievous to Axel, but a second later he finally gave in and began to enter the door in the middle.

Once he opened the door, Axel found himself walking into a white room, and there was another door opposite the wall he entered through. Serious? That simple? Well, I guess the challenge begins after I leave this room, Axel thought, but once he reached halfway across the room, the door behind him shut with a bang that spooked Axel, and the white room began to change, until it looked like a dark classroom.

In this class room, there were only two desks. The one that Axel was now mystically sitting in, and a large desk in front of him, that looked like a teacher's desk. Behind the desk was a person that Axel could not see because it was too dark, but a few seconds later the light in the room came on, and Axel's emotions ran rampant. sitting in the seat of the teacher's desk was Axel's dead mother, Sylvia Rover. Axel began to cry, with a smile on his face, since he was actually seeing his mother, living and breathing, with a red coat that resembled his, and long white hair. He was so happy he attempted to get up, but some odd force kept Axel sitting in the desk. Once his happiness became confusion, Axel saw the blank expression on his mom's face. "Mother! It's me, Axel Rover, your Son! I thought... I thought you were dead. Well, all that matters is that you are here. Let's go home." Said Axel, forgetting what he came to the tower to do for a second. His mother still had a blank expression on her face. She finally began to speak.

"You have a test on your desk. Pass it and you can leave this room. If you do not pass, you will not be able to, and you will be trapped in here forever." said Sylvia. Axel was shocked that his mother had not expressed any kind of emotion at seeing her son again for the first time in five years. He wondered if she would recognize him as her son if he passed the test on his desk, showing that he was the smart boy she raised. Axel glanced at the first question, and realized that this test was not the hardest, since the question asked: What is two plus two? Axel knew that he had the answer, but as he went to put his answer down, he realized he did not know the answer at all, as if his mind went blank. Thinking he was going crazy, Axel looked at the next question that asked: what continent is the Magic Council base located in? Strangely, Axel could not answer that one either. As he flipped through the whole test booklet which was comprised of 20 questions, Axel realized that he had no knowledge of simple things that he knew deep down he learned in his lifetime.

"you know nothing? Well kit seems you are a nothing that has no knowledge of anything. You said you were my son? My son is not an idiot, I assure you that. I feel sorry for myself. Stuck in this room looking at a failure for the rest of my days, one who is too stupid to protect anyone." said Sylvia harshly. Axel had a feeling of intense terror that he no longer knew basic knowledge, and intense depression that his "mother" thought ill of him that way. He had no mental strength to go on in the world, and decided to just sit in the seat forever, and die. Looking at the wall behind his "mother" however, Axel saw a white sheet of paper on the wall with words on it that was too far for Axel to read. White!! Axel thought to himself, remembering he was previously in a white room. This classroom, it is fake, and my mother... that is not the real her,  Axel thought.

Axel's sudden realization brought back all of his memories, and knowledge. Using a pencil, Axel quickly filled in answers to the test he knew was correct, and then his "mother" said, "Congratulations, Axel. You passed the test, and the door will now be opened for you," Sylvia began to cry. "You are my son, and I know you will help Lance get Lea back, because you can do anything you put your mind too. Bye, my son." said Sylvia, as she began to disappear, along with the classroom.

Axel was standing again, in the white room, and he appeared to be right in front of the door that led to his next destination. I know she was not my mother, and just an illusion, but her last words.... I will keep them with me forever, Axel thought, thinking for a quick second that maybe during the end, that really was his mother's spirit. Axel took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Rita sighed loudly upon hearing about the incident time with the train, but now there was work to be done. They needed to find Lea and Lance wanted her and Axel to help. Lance took Rita's hand that she tightly held onto as he guided her and the rest of the little group through the streets of Minstrel until they came to a stop at a rather run down looking tower. Supposedly, this was where Lea was being kept. They steeped inside to be welcomed by three doorways and set of stairs.

Lance's father had taken a step up the stairs and didn't come back down. Lacking explication, Lance told her and Axel to each to enter through one of the doors. Before she knew it he and Axel both had left through their doors.

Rita let out another sigh as she took the last door and was met with a completely white room. As she walked further into the room she heard the door shut behind her startling her. The Fairy whirled around to see the environment of the room had completely changed. She knew exactly where she was..."No.." She thought to herself in disbelief as she examined the scene. She was now on a cliff with a vast view of the grey sky, Rain fell leaving the earth damp beneath her feet. She continued to back away not knowing where she was headed. This cliff side was where-

Suddenly the girl felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Her heart begin to hammer in her chest. "You still remember it don't you?" the icy cold voice of a woman whispered into her ear. Rita slowly and cautiously turned around.

It was just as she thought and her heart began to thump quicker and quicker, she felt as if it was going to explode in her chest. "Seyigo." Rita said in a breathless and hesitant whisper. As she looked over the woman who stood in front of her. The woman was tall but not too tall and seemed to be in her later twenties. Her eyes stared into Rita's, deep and dark like an abyss. Her royal blue hair was long and wavy. It blew in her face with the damp breeze.  "Your still the same naive child you were a year ago." said as a snicker left her lips. "Wake up, Your not cut out to survive in this world.  Freedom, and Justice only exist in a world for the weak. You don't belong in that world and never will." She said. Rita backed up to get away from the madwoman who just came closer and closer like a predator. "You belong with us, have you forgotten?" she said as she reached out and touched the scars on her neck. "Your a killer. The real world will never accept a girl who single handedly killed her whole family."she hissed

"No I won't go back there!" Rita shouted as she smacked Seyigo's hand away from her neck. "You seem to of forgotten, Your entire family is dead because of you, just look around." She said as she steeped back revealing corpses that were scattered on the among the cliff behind her soaked in blood. " Your mother, father, sisters, And even a life long friend. You killed them all on your own just face the facts..." She stated. Horrified, Rita looked down at her hands that were soaked in blood. "No...This-isn't true!" Rita cried as she tried to wash the blood from her hands in the rain but to no avail. The wizard fell to her knees and now sat in a pool of her families blood. "Don't fret. We still can go back together." She said as she held out a hand to the girl. Gathering her thoughts, Rita scowled at Seyigo again. "I said No and get your facts straight because I would never resort to killing my own family. This all started seven years ago on this cliff when you slaughtered my parents and had Akari killed..." She said clutching a bloody fist "But that wasn't enough for you was it? Isoko,You robbed her of her will to fight back...and in exchange she became another one of your pawns that met their end at your disposal. And thanks to your curse I lost a best friend and the world lost an innocent girl." Rita concluded as she got back to her feet. "You took everything from me...and one day, When I finally find you. I swear! I will make you pay for what you have done."

"Go ahead then, Live in this world beside the weak, but I assure you that one day I will show you where you were wrong..."She muttered coldly as she and the blood covered cliff side faded.

Rita was back on her feet, in the empty white room she was in before. She looked down to see that blood was no longer on her hands,nor it ever was. With a new motivation Rita headed through the next door.

Lance was now standing in a plain white room that had no decorations or anything in it. It was just blank and it made Lance uncomfortable. Lance started to walk towards the door on the other end of the room until the room flashed a bright light and he was now chained up against a wall. He opened his eyes and saw that his arms were stretched out and his legs were spread apart. Shackles were locked onto his wrists and ankles. He had no way to escape. He looked around the room some more and saw that Rita, Axel, and Lea were laying on the ground bleeding. He tried to pull the chains off of him but it only made them tighter. He looked to his side and saw his uncle leaning on the wall with a grimace.

His uncle was starting at him seriously before speaking "How does it feel to have everyone you love just fade away... How does it feel to be chained up against your will and have no hope of escape?" he asked with his fists clenched. Lance clenched his fists "This isn't real..." he muttered as his uncle let out a low but scary laugh "Then you wouldn't mind if I did this?" he asked as he walked up to Axel and kicked her making him hit the wall. This made Lance look down towards the ground and saw that his he now had small little black wisps coming off of him.

His Uncle then walked over to Rita and pulled out his sword "or this?" he said as he thrust his sword into her. Lance now had a dark aura around him. His uncle finally walked over to Lea and picked her up by the throat "and Finally... the only family you have left..." he said as he threw her over the edge of the tower. Lance now had dark horns and claws coming out of his head and hands as his skin started to become black.

He uncle smiled "Yes, let the darkness engulf you.... Let it rule your life..." He said as Lance pulled as hard as he could on the chains and broke them. He dropped to the ground and walked over to his uncle "No... The darkness will never engulf me... I may be the Shadow king but I my heart is full of light!" he said as the shadows that engulfed his body started to disappear. After saying this the room started to turn back into the white room he had been in before and he was now on his knees. He got up and heading out the door on the other end.

At the top of the tower

Van sighed annoyingly as he faced some scientists "Minor setback... Lance brought some friends along with him." He told them as they nodded "I want you guys to go and stop the boy that he brought from going any farther. Use anything you can to kill him..." he muttered as the Scientists nodded then turned and left to go to the room Axel was in.

Van next thought about what to do about the girl before smiling evilly and waving his hand in a weird motion in front of him as a dark vortex appeared before him "I have something special in mind for the girl..." he muttered as a shadow in the form of a man came out of the ground. When the man solidified he looked exactly like Lance but with a feint black glow around him. Shadow Lance smiled at the man before turning and heading to Rita's room.

In Axel's room

The scientists ran through the halls until they reached the room Axel was in. "We need you to leave now!" they yelled at the boy "and if you don't we will have to use force!" they yelled again as they pulled out weapons ranging from guns to swords.

In Rita's room

A dark vortex appeared behind Rita as Shadow Lance appeared out of it. He came up behind Rita quietly and hugged her from behind "Hi there." he said quietly as he squeezed tighter "I am afraid I have to send you out of this tower... for your own safety..." he whispered into her ear as he let go and walked in front of her "and don't try to attack me because... you wouldn't attack your ONLY family left would you?" he said with a laugh.



OOC:
Ok Axel these scientists basicly fight with their weapons and do a C-rank damage each hit. It takes 5 D-ranked damage to take them each down. There are five of them.

Ok Rita, Shadow Lance is a B-ranked mage. He will use the same magic as Lance but each will be multiplied by one rank. So D-rank attacks will do C-rank damage and C-rank attacks will do B. He takes five C-rank hits to beat.

Good luck guys. I know you can beat your enemies.

Axel walked into a large room that was stocked with desks  that on them had technology new to Axel. Also, the desks were all around, in no particular order. so some desks were in a row, and some were in some places as if they were randomly placed. It was hard for Axel to walk around due to the crazy order the desks were in, and as he got in the middle of the room, five men in lab coats came inside of the room opposite the door Axel entered in. "We need you to leave now! If you don't, then we will have to use force!" shouted the man in the front of the group. Axel guessed that these men were scientists, which only meant that what he had recently been through was there doing.

"So, you are the jerks who set up the white rooms? Glad I am meeting you. Now I get to kick your asses!" Axel said. He noticed three of the scientists had swords out, while the other two held guns. For a B-Rank mage, Axel knew this would be a piece of cake. First, he decided to get all of the desks out of the way, so Axel brought in gusts of wind to move the desks away from the middle of the room, and towards the sides. Now there was completely open space between himself and the scientists. As the desks were moved, some of the technology got smashed.

"Hey you idiot! what are you doing to the equipment we have spent years on! You will pay for that!" shouted a scientist. All three of the men holding the swords were now running towards Axel. He took out his Fortune blade and met the first enemy with a flurry of slashes. Axel was too fast for the scientist and his blade to keep up with, and was inevitably slashed to unconsciousness. The other two sword-wielders began to attack Axel all at once. Axel held back there attacks, but he noticed there swordsmen skills were much better than the one he had token down, and the fact that both of them were attacking at once, was bad. After countless strikes however, Axel successfully sliced the scientists to unconsciousness. He had been sliced a few times, but not enough to cause severe pain.

Axel then immediately had to dodge the multiple bullets that were being fired from the remaining two scientists. He knew that he could not get close enough to the scientists to attack due to there guns, so he did what he had to do at that point. While running from flying bullets, he shouted a chant. "come forth, Angel of the sword!".

An angel from the heavens heard the calling, and swooped down to the earth. He made it to the front of the castle, than flew through the Castle door, breaking it. He flew through the halls, breaking through the middle door Axel had been in, and finally broke down the door leading to Axel and the scientists. This angel's name was Galleus, and he was Axel's guardian. Holding a white sword in his right hand, Galleus quickly ran towards the two enemies with intense speeds, and assaulted the two scientists with a barrage of slashes, leaving them on the floor unconscious.

"Galleus, nice to see you buddy! Now that you are here, let's continue on into the tower. We have a little girl to save," said Axel. "A girl you say? I would be honored to take part in your rescue mission, Axel," replied the angel. The two went forward, into the next room.

Rita was startled when someone had hugged her from behind, It almost gave the girl a heart attack in fact. She was in enemy territory and anything could happen. "Hi there." A voice greeted her as she was hugged even tighter. "I am afraid I have to send you out of this tower... for your own safety..." He whispered to her as he let go and revealed himself to her. She was surprised to see that it was Lance. Rita had blushed a little when she realized it was him who had hugged her. The mage was surprised to see him again so soon and even more surprised that she hadn't recognized him immediately. She was about to speak, but his words came first. "and don't try to attack me because... you wouldn't attack your ONLY family left would you?"

"W-Wait. What? So... you wan't me to leave?-But you said it yourself that you wanted me to come and help you get Lea back. " Rita began,confused. "And why would I attack you, Lance?" She asked as she crossed her arms and allowed her eyes to wander around the new room she had entered. "I wan't to help Lea as much as you do. We won't get anything done if you try and protect me the whole time, Besides this is about Lea not me." Rita said as her lips curved into a smirk. "Oh and Eh- How did you  even get over here? Didn't you go through that other door or something?" She added as she rose an eyebrow at Lance.

Lance walked through the hallway he had come to as it was quite. Not a sound could be heard except his footsteps. He eventually reached the end of the hallway and walked through the door. He came to a new hallway that was dark and Eerie. It had large cathedral like doors at the end of it. Lance grimaced "This must be the doors to the room where Lea is being kept..." he muttered to himself as suddenly one of the three doors opened behind him. He turned around quickly to see that it was Axel who had made it out of the living hell alive. Lance stared at Axel "Thanks for doing what I said to do..." he said as he leaned his back on the wall and threw a random piece of rock at the wall in front of him. He looked up at the ceiling with a sigh "Axel, Was Rita with you?" he asked with a concerned voice seeing as Rita was like family to him and he didn't want to lose her.

Inside the room were Lea is being kept:

Lance's dad had followed the stairs and came out of a stairway in the corner of the room. Van had Lea laid out on the floor with an hourglass in his hand "Oops... times out... guess your dad didn't want you..." he muttered as the last sand grain fell to the bottom of it. Van took out his sword and was about to stab Lea when Lance's dad came running through and blocked it. Van scowled "YOU INCOLENT FOOL!" he yelled out as he picked up Lance's dad by the collar and pinned him against the wall. Van punched him hard it the face a couple times before letting him go. "Why do you try to stop me!" he said with a growl "You are a fool and a weakling!" he growled again as he kicked Lance's dad making him hit the wall. Van stood next to him and looked down at him with his blood red eyes "I will make all weaklings from this earth disappear!" he said as he brought out his sword.



Rita's Hallway:

Shadow Lance stood across from her with a smirk "Oh... why yes I did..." he said with a panicked look in his eyes as a dark aura started to glow around him for a second before disappearing. He regained the look in his eyes before continuing "I just came here to help you out... I wouldn't let a beautiful girl like you get hurt." he said with a evil grin before pulling out a sword "But alas, if you don't want to leave I am going to have to make you leave..." he said as darkness engulfed his body and when they dispersed he was now wearing a black shirt with an X on it and it looked like the new clothes were now his skin. "This is your last chance to leave princess." he said in Lance's voice but was now mixed with a more mature voice.

As Axel opened the door that led him beyond the room he was in, with Galleus behind him, he saw Lance. Lance thanked him for getting through the doors, then asked if Axel had seen Rita. Axel saw the concerned look on Lance's face, and was reluctant to tell him the news, but finally said, "No, I have not seen Rita since we went through the three doors. Let's not give up though. She is probably beyond this hallway. Lance, I promise we will find Rita and Lea. If we run into trouble, you me and my ally Galleus will get through it." replied Axel, as he mentally prepared himself for what would be beyond that door.

Rita stared at blade Lance had drawn,threatening her in the process. She shut her eyes as a smirk met her lips. The Fairy let out a quiet laugh. "You sure as hell look like the Lance I know, but your acting is shit." She quieted down and looked back at him the same way he was looking at her, As the enemy. Her smirk and the darkness in her gaze grew as she spoke. "And believe me. I would just love to get out of here right now," She stepped closer to the copy and added something else as she cracked her knuckles. "But there is still  a little girl here whose waiting for her mom to come and save her." She said. Rita drew a small tube from her belt and clasped it tightly in her hand as her stare became heavier on him. "Enough standing around. Show me what you've got." She taunted as the tube with a in her hand quickly extended into the stem and the blade of her scythe. She slid back on the heels of her boots and gripped her weapon firmly, ready for whatever came her way.

Rita's room - Shadow Lance smirked a little at what Rita said "Heh... you got good eyes girl." he smiled evilly as he said that. A portal opened underneath him and he was hovering above it now "As much as I would like to fight you... I have other stuff to do! May we meet again in the future!" he said as he sank down into the portal. Now all that was left in that room was Rita and a door.

Back inside the main hallway - Lance stood there up against the wall and started to worry now. He thought that Rita was hurt and that he could not go back and save her. He muttered curse words underneath his breath as he slammed his fist against the wall multiple times before turning to Axel "Hey Axel, I am going to go in... just wait for Rita here and tell come as fast as you can..." he muttered as he turned and started walking towards the huge doors, stopping in front of them to take a deep breath and then opened them just in time to hear Van say some words.

"I will make all weaklings from this earth disappear!" Van said as he brought out his sword and stabbed Lance's dad. Lance had come so far to get Lea so all he could do was stand there and watch with his fists clenched. His father started to say something but got cut off when Van kicked him over the edge of the tower with a grin. This was the limit for Lance's quietness. He took off running to were his dad was kicked and got there just in time to catch his hand.

Lance was now holding onto his dads hand "Dad don't let go..." he said sadly but his dad shook his head "Lance, my time has come... I was not able to protect you..." he said as he chuckled a little. Lance was starting to cry now "Dad, your my only family left besides Lea!" he yelled as his dad shook his hand again "No... I am not your only family!" He said as he started to raise his voice "You have family with you. Ever since you joined Fairy Tail you have had family with you." He said as he started to slip out of Lances grasp "Rita and Axel came to help you get Lea back. Don't give up, Keep following the path towards light and you will find it someday if you stay by those who love you!" he said before he uttered his last words "If you have no one to live for then find someone worth risking your life for." he said as he let go of Lance's hand and fell to the ground below.

Van laughed hysterically "Poor boy! You have no family left! You are Weak and I will end you just like I did your father!" he said as he laughed again while Lance sat there on his hands and knees turned away from Van. Lance clenched his fists to the point where they were shaking before standing up "Everyone is weak in their own way. But if you want to kill all the weak people then you yourself are more than weak... your pathetic." Lance muttered as he closed his eyes "Now, face the true power of the Shadow King!" he said as he grew a black aura around him which was soon joined by a red aura. Lance turned around and started walking towards Van as black wisps of shadow started to swirl around him. His left eye slowly turned red while his right one stayed golden and after that the shadow kings full potential for his rank was unleashed as he grew what seemed like horns made of shadows.

Lance now stood there with a straight face which quickly turned into a sneer "You better hope that I fell like showing mercy you bastard!" he yelled as a sword appeared in his hands. Van was now backed up against the wall.