POV: Elior
By the following morning, the facility had become strangely quiet.
The fighting was over.
The researchers who had tried to resist had been defeated and restrained.
The children had been gathered into one of the safer rooms, where Ur was treating those who needed immediate attention.
But we still weren't finished.
There was evidence everywhere.
Documents.
Research notes.
Memory Lacryma.
Transportation records.
Financial records.
Names.
Enough information to prove what had happened here.
And we weren't leaving until every important piece had been secured.
Gildarts sat at a large table, flipping through documents.
"This place has been operating for years."
Ur looked through another report.
"And there are references to other facilities."
"How many?" Gray asked.
"Several."
Gray's expression darkened.
Leon looked at the rescued children.
"Then there might be more children somewhere else."
Ur nodded.
"Which is why these records matter."
Ultear stood near the archive.
She had barely spoken since we found the records about her.
Her eyes moved across the shelves.
She knew what every room meant.
Every corridor.
Every piece of equipment.
But she wasn't destroying anything now.
Not yet.
She understood why.
"We need to preserve all of it," she said quietly.
Elior nodded.
"Once it's gone, we can't prove anything."
Ultear looked at him.
"I know."
We spent the rest of the morning collecting everything.
The most important documents were sealed inside magically protected containers.
The memory Lacryma were individually wrapped.
The financial records were copied before being stored.
Even the names of researchers and guards were documented.
By afternoon, we had enough evidence to fill several containers.
Only then did Ur activate the communication Lacryma.
Makarov's face appeared.
"Have you secured everything?"
Elior nodded.
"Everything we could find."
Makarov looked relieved.
"Good."
Ur explained the situation.
"The children are safe. The researchers are restrained. The important records have been secured."
Makarov nodded.
"Then I'll take responsibility for the next step."
Gildarts leaned against the table.
"And the facility?"
Makarov sighed.
"Once the evidence is removed, the facility can be destroyed."
Ur's eyes sharpened.
"Completely?"
Makarov gave her a knowing look.
"Completely."
Ultear remained silent.
Makarov looked toward her.
"Ultear."
She raised her eyes.
"You don't have to do anything."
Ultear shook her head.
"I want to."
Makarov understood.
"Then make sure you don't put yourself in danger."
The communication ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Ur looked at Ultear.
"Ready?"
Ultear nodded.
"Yes."
They walked toward the main laboratory.
I followed behind them.
So did Laxus, Gildarts, Gray and Leon.
But none of us moved ahead.
This was their moment.
The main laboratory was exactly as we had left it.
The machines.
The tables.
The restraints.
The magical instruments.
The place where Ultear had been treated as an experiment rather than a person.
Ultear slowly walked toward the table.
She placed her hand on it.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then she closed her eyes.
"I used to think this place was my entire world."
Ur stood beside her.
"It wasn't."
Ultear opened her eyes.
"I know that now."
Her magic began to rise.
Ur's magic rose beside hers.
The air became heavy.
Ultear looked at the equipment around her.
"They took everything from me."
Ur's voice was quiet.
"They took you from me."
Ultear's eyes filled with tears.
Then she raised her hand.
The restraint table exploded apart.
Metal flew across the room.
Another machine was torn from the floor.
Ultear's magic smashed it against the wall.
She didn't stop.
One machine after another was destroyed.
Not blindly.
Not recklessly.
Every piece of equipment connected to the experiments was dismantled.
Ur joined her.
Ice spread across the floor.
Laboratory equipment froze solid before shattering into hundreds of pieces.
The two of them moved through the room together.
Mother and daughter.
Neither needed to say anything.
Their anger said enough.
Ultear stopped in front of one final restraint.
She stared at it.
"This was the one."
Ur looked at her.
"The one they used?"
Ultear nodded.
She remembered.
The cold metal.
The restraints around her wrists.
The researchers watching.
The feeling of being completely alone.
She raised her hand.
"Never again."
The restraint disappeared beneath a wave of magic.
Ultear lowered her hand.
Her breathing was heavy.
Ur placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's over."
Ultear looked at her.
"Yeah."
She smiled faintly.
"It's finally over."
Outside, Laxus stood looking toward the sky.
Elior noticed immediately.
"You've been staring up there for a while."
Laxus didn't look at him.
"Thinking."
"About?"
"My Lightning."
Elior raised an eyebrow.
Laxus finally looked at him.
"Your Divine Judgment."
Elior smiled.
"What about it?"
"That attack came from the sky."
"Technically, the sword came from the sky."
"You know what I mean."
Laxus looked upward again.
"I've been thinking about how Lightning behaves."
Elior's expression became curious.
Laxus continued.
"Lightning doesn't always need me to create it."
He raised one hand.
A tiny spark jumped between his fingers.
"There is already Lightning in the clouds."
Elior's eyes widened slightly.
"You want to use natural Lightning."
"Exactly."
Laxus grinned.
"And I think I can control it."
Gildarts, who had been listening nearby, looked up.
"You're planning something?"
Laxus smiled.
"Yeah."
He stepped away from the facility.
"Something big."
He raised his hand toward the sky.
Clouds slowly gathered above the ruins.
At first, nothing happened.
Then…
Thunder.
A deep rumble rolled across the mountains.
Lightning began moving through the clouds.
Elior's magical perception immediately picked up the difference.
"This isn't your own Lightning."
Laxus grinned.
"No."
More Lightning gathered.
"This is the sky's."
The clouds grew darker.
The air became charged.
Laxus's Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic surged through his body as he reached deeper into the storm.
He wasn't creating the Lightning.
He was guiding it.
Gildarts's expression changed.
"That kid…"
Ur and Ultear emerged from the laboratory.
They looked toward the sky.
"What is he doing?" Ultear asked.
Elior smiled.
"Apparently…"
He looked at Laxus.
"…he wants his own version of Divine Judgment."
Laxus immediately shouted.
"Not a version!"
Elior laughed.
"Fine!"
Laxus raised his hand higher.
The clouds twisted violently.
Lightning gathered into a single point.
Then another flash.
And another.
The entire sky seemed to tremble.
Laxus's eyes narrowed.
"This is mine."
He brought his hand down.
"Kirin."
A colossal bolt of natural Lightning descended from the heavens.
For an instant, it took the shape of a gigantic beast before crashing into the facility.
BOOOOOOM!
The earth shook.
The remaining structure disappeared beneath an enormous pillar of Lightning.
Stone shattered.
Metal melted.
Magical barriers collapsed.
The underground facility was ripped apart from within.
Lightning continued pouring down for several seconds.
Then…
Silence.
Smoke rose from the ruins.
Nothing remained of the laboratory.
Laxus stood breathing heavily.
Elior walked over.
He looked at the crater.
Then at Laxus.
"Okay."
Laxus smirked.
"Okay?"
"That was pretty damn cool."
Laxus laughed.
"I told you."
Gildarts walked past them.
"Don't get too excited."
Laxus frowned.
"Why?"
Gildarts pointed toward Elior.
"He's going to spend the next few years trying to make something even bigger."
Elior blinked.
"I wasn't…"
Laxus grinned.
"You absolutely were."
"I was thinking about it."
"See?"
Gildarts sighed.
"Exactly what I was afraid of."
Ur looked toward the ruins.
Her expression was finally peaceful.
Ultear stood beside her.
The place was gone.
The place that had taken her daughter away.
The place that had caused so much suffering.
Gone.
But the evidence had been preserved.
The children were safe.
And the truth remained.
Ultear took a slow breath.
"Goodbye."
She turned away.
None of us looked back.
We had one final thing to do.
Take the children home.
And return to Magnolia.