I’m currently in a process of rewatching Fairy Tail and, as you can guess from the title, I just went through Nirvana Ark. Awesome thing about watching same titles again that you start to notice things that you missed before. And boy, did it hit me right in the feelings. I got the whole new look at the guild, and once again realized that this evil guild is nothing more than a bunch of kids, who faced bunch of nasty stuff during their slavery in Tower of Heaven and had no one to protect and hug them (except for Brain/Zero but I have conflicted feelings about him). Even the name of the guild translates into “Six Prayers” and each of them had their own little wish to this cruel world.
- Midnight (Macbeth) - little terrified kid, who simply wished to sleep through whatever that was happening in Tower of Heaven. It’s type of stuff you expect to see in nightmares, not real life. Not surprised that he can create really scary illusions, he doesn’t even need to imagine them, he had seen it all. I even doubt he can sleep okay after that stuff, probably still staying on guard for every suspicious noise. Which explains all the napping in the battlefield, which is catching up on the lost hours of sleep and being able to wake up as soon as danger is near.
“My prayer... To find a quite place to fall into a peaceful slumber.”
- Racer (Sawyer) - he just wanted to get away. I would too, if stuck in this terror-inducing place. He even tried to do so, even if unsuccessfully, he never stopped wishing to do so again and again. Be fastest of them all and finally be free. Sad thing is that he cannot stop running anymore as he turns it into metaphorical escape from himself, his past and all the uncomfortable things. However, that gets him into bad places as he runs everywhere but forward (avoidance of problem do not equal to its solution)
“My prayer... To be...faster than anyone.”
- Cobra (Erik) - when you see humans do such horrible things as child slavery (or any slavery) and think it’s okay, it is kind of hard to understand how people suppose to work. On the other hand, animals treat you the way you treat them. No surprise that boy latched into little snake as his only friend, who wouldn’t be mean to him and who seems to care about him the as much as Eric cared about her. It simple and make sense. He wanted to understand and talk to his friend, so he wouldn't feel lonely anymore and could have someone in his life. Because even when he tries to trust someone, he gets betrayed and hurt again, which we can see when Brain attacks him from the back and thinks/says all the nasty stuff about being weak and useless (I was as pissed as Natsu at this moment). Erik is horrible about understanding people which gets him into position when he gets used by them.
“My prayer... I ... just wanted to hear the voice of my one friend.”
- Angel (Sorano) - this ark doesn’t fully opened her characters (as Yukino comes in picture much later) but combining all info helps to understand it more. She hided her sister from Slave traders, which got her kidnapped instead, and isn’t it a beautiful act of selflessness, love, and care for her sister. The tower is scary and dark, and it gets her drenched in the atmosphere, bit by bit corrupting her from this “angelic” part of herself. When we meet her, she is far as she can be from how she was in the beginning - sadistic, selfish and evil . All she wants is to be clean again, purified by sky from this darkness and its influence. So, when she meets her sister again she can be that beautiful and kind person her sister remembered all those years.
“My prayer... To fade into the sky... Like an angel.”
- Hoteye (Richard) - compare to Angel, his sibling got kidnapped too for the work in the Tower, but i guess he didn’t really knew what happened to him (we weren’t shown the flashbacks of his time in Tower and he escaped it later without Wally, so I assume they were separated). The boy just wished to see his brother again, alive and well, as they only had each other, and because of that he got obsessed with money as nothing comes free in this world. It is so sad that he had to go to such extreme as joining dark guild to complete his wish. I was happily crying when we found out that his brother is Erza’s friend and he is doing well (was hoping to see their reunion, maybe I missed it in manga, should read again). Interestingly, he is one of the most mentally stable characters among Oración Seis.
“My prayer... my brother... I wanted to see your face... once more”
- Brain/Zero - I’m soooo conflicted about him. From one side, he is an selfish asshole, who did bunch of horrible stuff through his life. On another, he’s obsession with having a powerful team/guild comes to a seal that contains his other self from manifesting. His wish is for his guild to avoid defeat as it is only things that let him stay Brain instead his other identity - Zero. Who is outright horrible and dangerous as he wants to destroy everything and everyone without hesitation. He is someone to hold under control, but there are nicer ways about it than what Brain did, and there are still bunch of horrible stuff he is guilty of that has nothing to do with his double-personality dilemma.
“Midnight... do not vanish... no matter what... that is my prayer.”
I just can’t help but feel sad for those kids as they got from bad to worse, and while they got stronger and seemed to be able to stand for themselves, they still face their demons everyday and have to fight them. When they lost you can see from their flashbacks that in their mind they still in the Tower, they still caged by their fears and losses, hoping that one day their prayers can be heard and fulfilled. I cannot hate them, even if they are villains and committed many crimes, they are simply victims of circumstances and other’s cruelty. Therefore, I am supper excited for their redemption opportunity later, because they have chance to move forward and get their prayers to come true!
This was an edit made with the permission of the amazing @tweekay, it was really fun to mix and match all of these photos thanks for letting me have the opportunity.
Laki is the only person to confuse Midnight. He knows he inflicted Nightmare on the wood mage but instead of screams of horror and the begging for it to stop, he is met with laughter and merriment. He doesn't know what to do in this situation.
Situation failed. Instead, found torture-fetished woman.
REQUEST: ANGEL & MIDNIGHT It's a very inusual pairing, anon. xD Hope you like it! -Fairy Tail- (#Phone Wallpaper) Credits: Hiro Mashima's Arts. Color by me. Edit by me.
