ASS 16

Something or someone latched onto Will, pulling him to a location he knew naught, his vision turning blurry as he sped towards the unknown, helpless to do anything to stop it.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' That was the only thought going through his mind as he regained a bit of his senses. His panic was amplified even further after Will saw his current situation, helplessly flying further and further away from the land below him.

There had been a reason why he hadn't even considered consuming the Heart-Shaped Herb back in the MCU and why he waited to return to Earthland first. It was this very situation he wished to avoid, having no desire to come face to face with Bast, knowing it would turn into a very awkward talk and possibly get him killed.

Will tried stopping himself, flailing in the air like a fish out of water. He swung his limbs wildly, desperately doing anything he could to prevent whatever was pulling him towards the unknown.

In his flailing, he briefly noticed that his arms and legs had a ghostly visage, which did explain why Erza wasn't hanging off from him. There was no way she would've let him go without trying to stop whatever was happening before latching onto him after realizing she couldn't prevent it.

Will tried everything he could think of, including using his magic, but try as he might, he couldn't stop it no matter what he did.

"GAH!" An anguished scream escaped his lips as he was suddenly slammed against the thickest wall he'd ever had the pleasure to hit - not that he had ever run into one before.

"ARGGGH!" The pain amplified, spreading through his entire being, as whatever was dragging onto him didn't care the slightest about the obstruction, tugging even harder than moments ago, hellbent on bringing him to wherever it was pulling him to.

It obviously did not care about his state of being, whether he was healthy or not, mattered not to it. The strength at which he was being pulled increased even more, ignoring his screams of pain as he was smashed against the wall.

Suddenly, there was a popping sound before he was heaved towards the unknown once more. The speed at which he was being pulled was slower, and he was dragged left and right, as if the thing in control was confused, not knowing where to bring him.

This continued for a while before Will was released from the whims of whatever was controlling him like a puppet cut from his strings. For a very long moment, he just floated in place, his consciousness on the verge of passing out.

His eyes snapped open in a moment as the thought of him being in the presence of Bast passed through his mind. In a panic, he looked around, finding himself in quite the place.

"What is this?" He questioned in confusion as he appeared to be in space, but also not quite. Despite looking like the cosmos, it seemed to be something else since it lacked planets or any other celestial objects, for that matter.

What greeted him was dozens upon dozens of... things. He wasn't sure how to describe them as while some looked like orbs, others had ever changing shapes. The former ones were blue-colored, some richer in color, giving him a way to distinguish them so to say. On the other hand, the latter ones were composed of colors ranging from a blinding white to the darkest of black.

However, the thing they had in common was that they all gave off a feeling of absolute power, making him feel even smaller than an ant in their presence.

"Are those... different dimensions?" He questioned after focusing on one of the orbs, spotting a very tiny hole that was in the process of patching itself. That particular dimension - which he assumed to be Earthland - seemed like one of the strongest, judging by its presence and deep, blue-colored Ethernano, if he was sensing correctly.

"The color and the presence represent the amount of Ethernano in the world?" Will theorized as his gaze moved to two other orbs that were adjacent to Earthland. Those two gave off an even more terrifying presence - one not by that much, but the other clearly was on another level.

"There are dimensions even more magically powerful than Earthland?!" That was certainly a revelation to him as he had assumed Earthland would've been the most powerful dimension since it was the place where the Fairy Tail story took place.

As he focused on those two dimensions, trying to figure out anything from sight alone, he noticed tiny, nearly invisible tendrils of energy coming out of the weaker of the two, leading to the ever changing dimensions. His eyes quickly scanned the other orbs, seeing that those same tendrils were latched onto them as well, only the most powerful one not having any connected to it.

"Are they drawing energy from the..." Will paused as he studied those tendrils. "From the main dimensions?" He wasn't sure what else to call them as that was how they looked to him. The other ones just seemed... artificial in nature, as if designed to specifically fit the one that had created them.

"If the orbs are the main dimensions, then..." Will looked at the one with the weakest presence, which looked as if it was slowly losing power, the tendrils connected to it being the widest as they sucked large amounts of Ethernano from it.

"Is that Edolas?" He questioned, wishing he could take a closer look. His body then lunged forward, speeding towards the orb just from his thoughts alone. Panic quickly overwhelmed him as he screamed as he got flung closer and closer to what he assumed to be Edolas.

"Stop, stop!" He yelled, stopping on a dime and freezing in place as he desired.

"Interesting," he mused, raising his hands to stare at their ghostly visage. "This is my astral form?" He didn't know what else it could be. For a long moment, he just looked at his current form, examining every inch and trying to feel it with his magic.

Will had memorized a book on astral forms, but he had yet to have actually studied it. After all, he had returned no more than half an hour ago from the MCU. Not to mention that the book wasn't in English, and Will had to translate it before he could even start studying it.

Nevertheless, he was sure this experience would be helpful when he got to translating the tome. It would surely help him learn how to use his astral form much quicker, which was a skill that would be more than helpful to him, as seen in the Dr. Strange movie. The future Sorcerer Supreme had shown one could use the astral form while his body rested, utilizing the skill to extend his studying time.

That was something Will was definitely in need of. So far, he relied on using Stamina Potions, which not only cost him valuable resources, but they also weren't very healthy for him as they put a strain on his body when overused.

After marveling at his astral form for a time, Will moved on, slowly floating next to the dimension he assumed to be Edolas. He stopped right in front of the bubble, inspecting it as he carefully placed a hand on it. There was some resistance, but Will felt like he could easily push through and force himself inside.

However, he resisted the urge to jump headfirst, deciding to only familiarize himself with it. If he could find a way to connect with Edolas, he might be able to open a direct portal to it in the future. After all, Will did have a Sling Ring in his pocket space and had memorized a book about creating portals.

Doing that would derail the timeline even more, but... did he care at this point? He had already made changes to it, so what was one more added to that list? Plus, the Edolas event wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things, the return of Lisanna being the most significant part of it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something weird about the Edolas bubble, noticing it had a dent on the side facing Earthland, almost looking as if the dimension had tried to patch up a large hole there.

"Is that the location from which they used their Anima to connect and draw Ethernano from Earthland?" He theorized as he studied it, though he made sure not to come too close to it, in case they activated it at that moment and sucked him in.

"And those," Will's gaze moved to the tendrils that were drawing energy from the dimension after having studied the bulge for some time. "So they're the reason why Edolas is losing its magic, but what are they?"

Following the closest tendril to him, it led to a burning red dimension that had the appearance of a blazing inferno… with a strangely familiar black tint. As he neared it, he felt the temperature increase exponentially, reaching a point where he couldn't even move closer to it in fear of getting burned even in his astral form.

"Those... are those dimensions created by gods?" Will gulped as he backed away. He couldn't find any other description for those dimensions, as they had intensity, power, and presence all in spades. Add in the black tint they had, and he easily came to that conclusion.

He gulped once more as he glanced around, spotting numerous such dimensions everywhere he looked, all of them having tendrils attached to the main dimensions except for the most powerful one. Those were all created by gods, and wasn't that a scary thought? There were just so many of them, all pulsating with tremendous power.

"And they are draining the magic of the main dimensions?" That did explain why Edolas was losing its magic if it was being consumed by them. "But why?"

So many questions swam in his mind as Will slowly floated to one with a... gentler color.

Why were the gods draining Ethernano from the main dimensions? For power? That seemed like the obvious answer, but he wasn't sure. He just didn't have enough information to make such a conclusion.

Would they drain the magic of a dimension until it was completely dried up? What would happen to that world then? Would it collapse? Would it get destroyed?

Or maybe they drained a dimension to a certain point before allowing it to restore and build up its Etherano? He did remember that the magic in Earthland was supposedly less in the past, and maybe it was because they had drained it previously? That seemed like a possibility.

But why had they left the most powerful alone? He could theorize all he wanted to, but unless he personally checked, he wouldn't find out. And that was something he didn't believe he was ready to do.

So many questions, yet so few answers.

Will shortly arrived at a dimension that seemed like a blooming forest, giving off a gentler aura that felt full of life. He was able to get closer to this one and examine it thoroughly as it didn't threaten his astral form in any way.

However, his inspection was cut short as the roar of a mighty beast came from behind him. Quickly looking back, he saw the head of a lizard, with white scales and crescent-shaped horns with black tips, push itself out of Earthland.

"Holy fuck," Will muttered a curse, watching what was obviously a dragon with a unique appearance fly into the space between dimensions.

"Since when were there dragons other than Acnologia on Earthland, and why does this one look so weird?" The magical creature had fur going down its neck and six white fox tails with black tips instead of wings.

Its appearance, however, didn't answer his question. As far as Will was aware, the ones hibernating in the Dragon Slayers were the only living dragons on Earthland. Maybe there were a few more that were hiding in a similar fashion, having found their own means of escaping Acnologia's wrath. Dragons were magically powerful creatures, so that wasn't out of the question.

This one, however, was clearly not hiding as it flew straight out of Earthland without any concerns. Will didn't get to dwell on why Acnologia hadn't hunted it yet as the dragon zeroed down on him, its lips spreading into a wicked grin, revealing its razor-sharp teeth.

"Why hello there, little one~," a seductive female voice boomed in his mind, bypassing his mental shields as if they weren't there in the first place.

"Oh fuck!" Will had no desire to have a confrontation of any kind with this dragon and turned around, staring indecisively at the only place he could escape to.

"Don't run~!" The dragon's voice boomed once more in his mind, giving him the little push that he needed.

'Don't run?! I might not be the brightest, but I'm not that stupid!' Will did not think the dragon was interested in having a chat with him. They were known to eat different types of magical energies, so he might've looked like one very tasty snack to the dragon, depending on what its element was.

'Well, I hope the owner of this place isn't as bad,' he pushed himself against the walls of the dimensions, intending to force himself inside.

'Oh, come on!' Unlike the Edolas dimensions, he, unfortunately, found a strong resistance preventing him from entering.

'Please, let me in!' He screamed in his mind, hoping for the best while doing anything in his capabilities to push through. He found no success in his endeavors, and as he turned his head, he found the dragon rapidly nearing him.

"Koooo...taaaa?" A gentle voice - compared to the dragon's - echoed in his mind, but he had no idea what it meant, the language being something he'd never heard before.

"I don't know what you said," Will quickly replied, latching onto that connection that the being from within the dimensions established with him. "But please let me in!"

"Rooo...saaaa," the response he received was definitely of no help, sounding like a couple random sounds bunched together.

"Please, I need your help!" Will urgently said while transmitting his current emotions and feelings, mostly the fear he felt from the incoming dragon. He figured that if they couldn't communicate with words, then that was the next best thing.

"Ooooo...raaaa," the voice from within transmitted, a feeling of understanding coming with the reply.

The wall he was pushing against suddenly gave in, allowing him entry to the dimension. He flew inside as quickly as possible, feeling a moment of relief as he escaped his impending doom. Though he did end up in a foreign dimension, most likely owned by a god, so... his situation wasn't that much better. At least, the owner had been kind enough to let him in in his time of need, so maybe it wasn't that bad.

… Right?

---------

AN: Just a little tidbit here; he doesn't know of the 100 year quest continuation.