"What the hell?"
"It's him."
"I'm gonna kill those bastards!"
Each and every one of the Fairy Tail wizards screamed in anger upon realizing that their current predicament was due to Laxus. Meanwhile, the citizens of Magnolia watched the entire scene with laughter, though the mothers ensured their children's eyes were covered—it was not something they should see.
At the time, at the top of the bell tower...
"I guess it's a good thing you decided to try your hand at prophecies, sweetie," Ur commented as he observed the commotion below.
"Yes, it was," Ultear replied, horrified by what she was witnessing.
Meredy, at that moment, had knocked herself out. Since her magic was based on emotions, she could feel the emotions of everyone in her vicinity. With the addition of the breathing techniques which had reached the level of constant breathing, her sensitivity and range had reached a whole new level. She was unable to block out the overwhelming embarrassment radiating from the now-trapped guild members, so she decided to knock herself out until everything was over.
Ultear had learned to control the time within her own body slightly due to the effects of her breathing technique. Originally, her time magic should not have been capable of affecting beings composed of magic, but she had managed to use it on herself. Noticing this, she dedicated herself to studying different types of magic that had even the slightest connection to time. She delved into horoscopes and divination to see whether they had any relation to pure time magic.
Through this, she discovered that she had a strong affinity for divination, which also strengthened her Arc of Time magic. When she recently used it, the magic itself advised her to stay atop the bell tower on this particular day. It didn't indicate that she would be in danger, but it subtly warned her that her luck would be better if she remained there. Now, witnessing the unfolding chaos, she was thankful she had listened.
"This won't end well. A lot of people are probably going to beat the crap out of them," Ur remarked. "At least Laxus won't get expelled like before."
"So, it was either attempt to take over the guild, where failure would lead to expulsion, or, in this scenario, the worst they'll face is bodily harm," Ultear deduced.
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure that brat Karna had something to do with it. Even with all his intelligence, he's still a softie at heart. He probably didn't want his brother to get into trouble. Though, as usual, his idea of pranks crossed a lot of lines, it'll ultimately help Laxus," Ur said, watching as the wizards ran in all directions, doing their best to avoid traps and locate the Thunder Legion to stop their use of glyphs.
After a few moments of silence, Ur looked up, expecting a reply from Ultear. Instead, she found her staring into the guild hall, where Karna was hugging Cana, trying to soothe her. Ur noticed the wistful expression on Ultear's face and sighed.
This can't go on like this.
"The only way forward is to tell him how you feel. You know that, right?" Ur said aloud, making the daydreaming Ultear stiffen. But then her expression hardened.
"I don't want that," she replied curtly.
"Why not?"
"Cana is my friend, and Karna is too. Admitting it out loud will only create problems, and even if, by some miracle, something were to happen…" Ultear turned toward Ur. "I don't want to be responsible for hurting my friend."
Ur sighed before pulling her into a hug.
"I wish you the best, kid."
"That bastard should die…" Meredy muttered in her sleep. Hearing this, Ur laughed while Ultear sighed—they both knew exactly who she was talking about.
Meanwhile, at the guild hall...
"WHAT?! They're having so much fun out there—I'm going now!" Natsu who had woken up, suddenly jumped up and screamed, charging toward Magnolia.
Seeing this, Cana, Makarov, and Karna simultaneously slapped their foreheads.
Luckily, Karna had disabled the earlier enchantment on the guild hall, which no longer prevented Natsu from barrelling into the house of horrors. And, as fate would have it, the first challenge Natsu ran into was:
[Spin in one direction 50 times, then stand straight for 10 seconds.]
Karna winced. He hadn't considered that a Dragonslayer would be the one to fall into that trap when he designed it.
He then checked the time.
"Well, she should be free by now," Karna muttered, turning toward the podium where the other girls were still petrified.
Master and Cana were confused by his words, but when they turned to look, they saw cracks forming all over one of the statues.
Their eyes widened in shock. They had no idea what was happening and worried that Erza might be hurt.
However, Erza broke free from the petrification with ease. The only evidence that she had been affected at all was the shattered bits of rock scattered around her.
She turned toward them, confused about the situation, while Cana and Makarov turned their attention to Karna, silently demanding an explanation.
Karna merely shrugged.
"One of her eyes is a prosthetic. That means the petrification magic wouldn't last as long on her as it did on the others."
Realizing the situation, Erza quickly caught up on what was happening as Makarov and Karna explained—though Karna conveniently placed the entire blame on Laxus.
Without hesitation, she grabbed a rune stone that Karna had conveniently prepared moments ago, one that would allow her to bypass the glyphs spread throughout the city.
Taking the rune stone in hand, she set off on her hunt.
Karna then looked at the board and found out that Bickslow has been taken down. it seems like it was Gray who did it. Luckily the traps in which he fell only included the stripping one's which he completed easily.
Karna then turned to Lucy's statue, in cannon she was supposed to be safe due to Chronologium but it seems like it did not work this time. And from what Cana told, Lucy had used that spirit yesterday, making it unable to save her today.
A/N- hope you like it and every 100 powerstone gets extra chapter of Jason.