Authors Notes: Thank you for being patient and waiting for me to update and thank you to my Beta Reader lizyar98.

I do not own Fairy tail

Ezra = Erza, Roberta = Rob, Simona = Simon, Aley = Wally

I woke before the dawn light dusted the floor of the cell from the high windows.

My mind was empty and hazy with sleep. I stared at the gentle curl of my fingers that rested by my head. I wiggled my index finger to give my eyes something more interesting to look at. The more I stared at my hand the more aware of my body I became. The discomfort of my spine pressed into the rock floor grew to a numbing pain. My neck ached and the arm my head was resting on started to feel tingly. I tested my legs to find them equally protesting my position. I straightened them slowly working the stiffness out before curling them back into me. It was too cold to be too spread out on the floor. Not moving helped to keep some warmth close. The endless pile of bodies also helped some. We tried to sleep close to the walls and in between our cellmates. It made us all more comfortable. No one wanted to be the closest to the cell door. The guards had a tendency to kick as a morning wake up call.

The other children and I were the furthest away from the iron gate as we could get. Grandma Roberta always tells us to sleep by the wall because it's warmer. I hadn't realized it at first but the adults did it to protect us. It was a small thing really, but it was one of the few things still in our power to control. I was grateful for it. The last thing I wanted was to wake up with a steel toe ramming into my gut. It was a tiny victory but it was the little things that added up.

I shifted my gaze to the rest of the room. The still figures clad in white remained silent. Most everyone was awake but relished the peace of the dark quiet before the sun crested the horizon and our hellish day began.

It was the third day of the week in the second week of the month. This morning we would be cleansing ourselves and our living space. They did it to prevent sickness from festering. The overseers needed us. They needed our work and our pain for their great project. They even collected our deaths and converted it into power. However, death magic only worked if you died the right way. A few losses here and there didn't bother them but they did not dare risk the ravages of disease. It would set them back too much if they lost too many workers. Getting more took time and fixing a problem was a lot harder than preventing it.

The tumbling of the locks echoed across the cell walls. The faint buzzing of the magic seal on the cell lifted as the grated door opened. The fat one stepped in. He was followed by a taller one holding a leash to one of the dog-like beasts that had fangs the size of my forearm. They both wore the masks that symbolized their cult and denoted their god. The fat one's lips kicked up in a sneer as he took in the room.

"Get up," his voice sounded gleeful as he fisted the hair of a slim man with brown hair. The man grabbed for his head jolting up with the hold the guard had. The other guard also crack a perverse smile looking on. "Congratulations you have been selected to next serve our god."

The man's eyes widened in horror as he began to fight the iron grip in his hair. He pulled away from them desperately hard. Strands of hair ripped from his skull before the they caught him by the arms. The beast began to growl and snapped at the air around him. A high pitched scream tore from his throat as two more guards appeared to drag him off to the chamber where the death magic was performed.

I shut my eyes to the retreating forms and waited for their next move. Showing weakness and fear is what they wanted so I stayed quiet.

"What's wrong boy? Don't like what you see? If it bothers you so much I could arrange for you to replace him."

My eyes snapped open and I followed the gaze of the guard. He was leering at Ezra who's eyes were burning with indignation.

"No, he is fine," the familiar dry voice of Grandma Roberta said from in front of us. "Forgive his disrespect and foolishness the boy does not yet know better." She bowed low to the guards pressing her forehead into the stone.

The fat one seemed to consider her before focusing back on the red head. "Perhaps it would do you all well to be given a reminder of who rules here," he said his smile widened. The room tensed. Everyone remain quiet holding their breath. To our relief Ezra looked away from the man. Following Grandma Roberta's lead bowing at their feet and apologizing for his rudeness.

"You best remember that boy." His gaze washed back over the inmates; his creepy smile plastered again on his face. He allowed the tense silence to crest in the room while we wait for him to speak again. It was like this most mornings; the overseers tried to induce fear from the very start. "You, the girl with the blue hair and you insolent boy come with us."

I froze at the command. Why me? My eyes found Ezra as he slowly stood up from his bow. His hard stare softened when he looked back at me. He smiled slightly and held out a steady hand. I stared at the offered limb then stole a glance at his face. He seemed unworried and calm. Boy, does he get over things fast. Someone needs to warn him before he learns it the hard way; the overseers never forget.

The rose colored beast began to growl again and I willed myself to stand, lightly lacing my fingers with Ezra's. He didn't seem inclined to let go immediately so I hung on. The fat one moved out of the cell following his partner and the stupid lumbering beast. We followed. A tingle ran across my shoulder blades as we crossed the wards of the cell. I relaxed a little when I noticed other children being escorted out of their cells. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I almost forgot it's cleansing day.

Ezra face looked puzzled as his eyes trailed down the long corridor. Big brown orbs met my gaze and he smiled warily at me again. I dropped his hand like he burned me. What does that idiot redhead thing he is doing. I'm not the one who is new here and I'm certainly not the one who almost got our cell fast passes to the death chamber. I don't need his sympathy. He didn't break his gaze but miraculously figured out it would be stupid to talk right now. I could tell he was confused, clearly expecting things to go badly.

The island is divided into sectors. Each sector is responsible for building a different part of the tower. Our sector is larger than most of the others. We have about a hundred cells with more than twenty people in each. We are building the east side base of the tower.

This grand tower they are building has an equally grand purpose. It is meant to defy the laws of nature and laws of ethical magic use. They are reincarnating their dark god. The almighty power that this cult worships; they are bringing him back to the earth so that he may bring about a judgment day. Of course his followers will be compensated well for their role in his return.

A task like that requires an immense amount of magic and death magic. In order to control it the tower's base needs to be strong and have lacrima woven into to the structure. It needs pathways to pull the ancient magic within the earth to incorporate into the spell. The old natural forces will work to stabilize the vast and barely controllable force of a person's life violently taken from them. The tower's cone shape would allow it to release magic into the air to cast the spell. Not that any of us will be graced enough or alive enough to see it. However, we have always been impressed upon with the importance of our sector. If not with over exorbitant words, then with the heavy hands of the overseers.

In keeping with the mystical and marvelous nature of this project the tower was adorned with the best that magic and architecture could construct. The blueprints were equal parts grandeur and practicality. The hallway we were escorted down was wide to allow the guards enough space to keep their pets close at hand. While the same halls could be traversed by a man so powerful, he was worshipped as god himself. He could walk down these halls and admire the arches that support the heavy structure above. He could look at the gold filigree that twists its way around the columns and think to himself my those stupid humans have outdone themselves. Or maybe he won't notice the finely decorated hallways. He might notice the vaulted ceilings of the antichambers complete with red carpets for him to enjoy. He may even appreciate the conveniently located balconies that overlook the sea. He can view the starting point to his rise to ultimate power and not even think that he is standing on the bones of little children.

It made me sick thinking about it. All of this for something that may never even work. Does anybody have actual proof that this being could do what they say he can? Who says that the R-System can revive someone that powerful? The same method would be used to revive a regular person with no abilities. What makes them so sure it would work for their god? Maybe it's just faith. Faith in their plan and the awesome powers of death magic. Faith that this being wants to be revived and can somehow help them on the other end. It's faith mixed with whatever brand of crazy that allows someone to believe in miracles.

Ezra must have been lost in some level of thought too because when we reached the stairs he gasped. They were my favorites too. The long meandering outside staircase that wrapped itself up the length of the tower offered the best view of the ocean. The panorama of blue skies and blue seas was awe inspiring no matter how you looked at it. I always saw it as the edge of the world. The horizon was the edge of this world. The end to the this servitude and beyond it was something better.

As we marched down the stairs the guards sandwiched us in between them. The stairs were too narrow to walk anymore than two abreast. I noted that the overseers seemed to be too wrapped up in there own twittering to care what we were doing. I leveled a gaze at Ezra. He didn't seem to notice as he focused on the view. I nudged him with my arm.

"Do you have a death wish or something? You idiot!"

"What?"

"You heard me you stupid red head."

He look surprised. Good.

"This morning, not only could you have gotten yourself killed but you could have gotten the rest of us killed or worse."

He gave me a considering look.

"I didn't do anything really."

I raised a brow at him. "That was some pretty vengeful nothing."

He snorted softly, "you could sneeze wrong in this place and that would be reason enough to die."

I had no argument for that but, "you weren't doing nothing though were you?"

He opened his mouth but I didn't let him speak.

"Don't try to lie to me. I saw the way you looked at those guards. There was hate in your eyes. You wanted to do something."

He head whipped around at me so fast his hair fell in his eyes. "Didn't you?" His voice sounded harsh and angry even in a whisper, "don't you want to do something about it? This evil, it has to stop."

"I do. Of course I don't want to see anyone else die but we can't do anything about it. Anything we could do would just get us killed with whomever we were trying to save. It's not worth it."

"So what then we just sit by and watch?"

"Yes," it was hard to admit to yourself your own powerlessness and even harder to say out loud.

"I can't. I won't accept that."

"You have to otherwise they will just make an example out of you. They wouldn't let you die but they will make you wish you were dead."

"Nothing is worse than dying," his voice sounded venomous.

I rolled my eyes, "clearly you haven't been here long enough yet."

He shock his head, " No. Once you are dead there is nothing left. At least if you are alive you have a fighting chance."

I gaped at him for a few moments before I closed my mouth. He sounded so certain and so casual about it. He was wrong. I knew it more than I knew anything else. I would rather just simply not exist anymore than have to live through the torture I knew they were capable of. However, that wasn't the point here. I was trying to beat some sense into that thick skull of his...

"Dying is the coward's way out," he told me under his breath; his eyes fixed on the water below us.

I felt the anger rise from within me. How could he say that so easily? Could you really call someone a coward when they were faced with our fate? "It's not cowardice it's mercy." I felt enraged and hurt all at the same time. I wanted to be able to say I would be able to surpass anything to get out of here. I wanted to say that I could be strong in the face of all that pain but I would only be lying to myself if I did. I wasn't built like that. I could long for a new world all I wanted but I couldn't guarantee I had the resolve to find it. "Besides," I said so quietly I wasn't sure he heard, "even if you insist on seeing it that way you don't have the right to make that choice for all of us."

I felt the anger rise again and wanted to yell at him but I had to kept my voice low. "You're defiance will put us all in line for the death chamber. Keep that in mind the next time you feel righteous. You don't want to be responsible for that do you?"

He stopped. He halted his steps only momentarily before he remembered the overseers. The death of the others finally registered with him. "You're right. I...I'm sorry. I just I can't…"

"Don't apologize to me apologize to Grandma Roberta and the others."

He nodded and chose not to say anything else. He agreed with me but I could tell the conversation didn't sit right with him. Not that I cared. It was something that I accepted about myself a long time ago. It was ugly but it was true. Not all of us could be heroes especially when your life was owned by these monsters. I wasn't afraid to die not with all the wonders life has to offer. Sooner or later he would realize the same and accept it.

We finally descended the stairs and made our way past minecart tracks. Tucked away in the twisting base of the tower was a discreet door shadowed by the scaffolding that towered above it. The guard leading the parade of twos placed his hands over the magic sealing lacrima that locked the door. A small pink magic circle ringed his hand and the door popped open. Inside was a long hall neatly organized with bucket, mops, and brooms. Further into the corridor was the axes, hammers, and other heavy building tools that we used during construction. The wise overseers did not let us handle these tools unless we were handcuffed and held at bay by lacrima cords. The first guard began shoving cleaning supplies at us to haul back to our cells.

I never understood why they only brought two small children to carry six wooden brooms each and a small bucket filled with hand held brushes. Maybe because they were hoping we dropped it. The punishment for that varied depending on the guard. The fat one was rather partial to dislocating fingers. I gave Ezra a look of warning before taking a tight hold on my burden and trekked back toward the staircase.

Cleansing the cell was about the most pleasurable job there was in the tower. For at least it was one I could personally benefit from. I even found myself humming softly as I dipped my brush into the bucket of water and drew it across the stones. The work didn't take long with the amount of ready hands and soon we were herded out to our building stations.

The workers were cleaned, clothes and all, in groups of ten. An overseer with talents in water magic jetted water at us until our skin was raw. It was uncomfortable but cooled my body. Working was a little awkward with the soggy tunic clinging to my flesh but I made do until the sun dried me out.

The day goes by faster when we clean our cells first. Soon we were back where we started, huddled in small groups talking softly. I pointedly ignored Ezra in favor of speaking with Sho. She was a sweet soft spoken girl who stood a head shorter than me. She had short cropped white blonde hair with bangs that cut off right above her eyes. Aley also sat with us interjecting comments.

Sho's smile was happy and wide with a missing bottom tooth. She sat next to me with our backs to the wall. Her short legs spread wide with her palms pressed onto the floor between them. "You know one day. I want to travel the world."

"You should try getting off this island first," Aley teased her. She was sitting in front of us cross legged hunched over to lean on her hand with her elbow on her knee.

"Of course," she brushed it off, "I want to see everything and meet all kinds of people."

"You know it's impossible to see everything especially since we are stuck here." Aley said again looking to contradict.

"You know," I said looking up from the loose rock I'd playing with in my lap, "I think that, that is a nice dream. It's kind of a good goal to have."

Aley rolled her eyes, "not you too?"

"Why not? Just pick a direction or follow a road and see what lies ahead. That sounds nice."

Sho smiled again. "My mother used to tell me stories about her travels. She went to so many neat places."

"You remember your mom?" for the first time Aley sounded legitimately impressed.

Sho nodded. "I got spared from her when my village was attacked. I'd like to think she survived and is still traveling somewhere."

"The only thing I can remember is when they attacked my village they only wanted the children. All the adults were killed."

Aley looked at Sho pointedly as if she was waiting for some kind of reaction. Silence reigned between the three of us as the comment soaked in. Sho's face fell. Her toothless smile fading behind a quivering lip.

"Geez, why'd you have to do that Aley?" my voice sound annoyed and exasperated maybe even a little whiny. "You know how Sho gets," I rubbed a hand against her back.

Sho took a shaky breath trying to brush off the comment. "Well what do you want to do when you get off the island?"

It was a poor come back but it worked.

Aley brightened up, "that's easy I want to be a private detective like in those cool movies."

It was Sho's turn to poke fun at Aley's dreams. The difference was that Aley was unshakable and could stick up for herself. I slowly tuned out their voices.

My eyes were caught by the movement of red. I looked over just long enough to watch Ezra cautiously approaching Grandma Roberta. I fixed my gaze one the rock in my hands absently playing with it but my real focus was on Ezra and Grandma.

Ezra sat by himself in the cell. He pressed his back against the stone wall and closed his eyes trying to shut out the rest of world. The day had been long and if that bluenette had been right it could have been deadly. It still didn't sit right with him; not sticking up for the people around you. If you didn't have each other's backs then you had nothing. In his mind people should stick together and protect one another. Nobody should be sacrificed for another. He so desperately wanted everyone to come out of this alive.

He opened his eyes and tossed his head back. The girl was right though. What was her name? Jellal? What could he do. He was just one small boy not even a man yet. He couldn't even get the people around him to not be afraid enough to listen. Even if they did listen what would he say? You can't give up. That didn't quite cut it as an excellent motivator for enslaved people. He could only take the place of another so that wouldn't be anywhere near a permanent solutions. Unless he found one person he truly needed to save.

That brought him back to the main point, Jellal was right he was powerless against the overseers and the death chambers and he needed to avoid getting their attention. Which also made her right about one other thing too. He needed to apologize.

He stiffly rose from his seated position at the back of the cell. He took a deep breath and approached the seated figure of the kind old woman. She smiled up at him her weathered face wrinkling around the edges.

"Hello, Ezra. Come sit next to me boy."

She waved her hand in a flourish looking at him expectantly.

He shock his head slightly and plowed right into it before he lost his confidence.

"Grandma Roberta," he mumbled her name before clearing his throat, " I wanted to say that I'm sorry for this morning. And thank you for your help. If it hadn't been for you they probably would have taken me too."

Her smile widened. "You're a sweet boy. I understand the anger you feel at the injustice happening here. One day that righteousness might take you places but for now it's best to keep it to yourself. Save it for the right moment."

"I"m not sure what to say to that except that I hope you are right."

She nodded, "you have an inherent strength to you. It will take you far."

"Strength?" his voice sounded doubtful.

She nodded again and patted the floor next to her. " Sit down Ezra. I don't like craning my neck."

He sheepishly plopped down on the floor.

She wait for a moment before speaking again. "You don't think you are strong?"

"I...I want to be but I'm still just a kid and well, strength doesn't mean anything if you don't know how to use it. Even if I did know how to fight I'm powerless against the mages." He was surprised by how much he admitted to her. It was more than he had admitted to himself. Her dry chuckle surprised him even more.

"Anyone can use magic."

He felt his eyes widen.

"True magic comes from the heart. If you believe in it's powers and in your own strength then you can become a wizard too."

He felt the smile bloom on his face as possibilities he never even conceived of before filled his head. New dreams formed and hopes of becoming a wizard easily took root in him. He couldn't help the wild racing of his mind as his eyes were caught by something left in the corner from earlier today.

"Really?" he asked his voice sounding overly excited.

"Yes," she gave an affirmative nod.

He jumped up from his seat. "Hey does that mean I could fly around on a broom or something?" Ezra grabbed one of the brooms leaning against the wall demonstrating his wish to fly.

Grandma Roberta chuckled again,"maybe you'll have to see what form your magic takes. It's different for everyone one. You see…"

Ezra had stopped listening. He was to busy trying to imagine the incredible powers he'd have as a wizard. Maybe he could make fire or bend water. Or maybe he'd use holder magic. Either way he definitely wanted to fly that way he'd never find himself stuck in a place like this again. Next time he'd be able to just fly away and never look back.

Roberta look at the red haired boy fondly. She remembered being that young and what it was like when she first discovered magic. This boy had that same spark in his eyes that she had seen in may great wizards. It had been a long time since she'd seen that spark but she still remembered it. She still remembered the righteous rage of her guild; of Fairy Tail.