Song Of Hope: I hope you guys were satisfied with the cliffhanger! I'll be finishing up the Battle for Magnolia in the next chapter or the chapter after. It's not even the main fight lmao. That one's gonna take several more chapters probably. I hope this doesn't drag out for too long though! But by the end of the Battle for Magnolia, you'll know everything you need to know about Maddie! R&R

Gray started heading towards Maddie in a menacing fashion, making Maddie walk back a bit on the bench she stood on.

"Gray, why are you doing this," Lucy asked as she tackled him from behind, pulling him away from Maddie.

"Josiah," he managed to get out. "He uses Puppeteer Magic! It's like the reverse of Sherry's, and it only works on living things!" He threw her off, making her hit the bar with a loud thud and a cry of pain. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to fight it but I can't!"

"Then I guess I have no choice," said Lucy as she stood up, holding her back with one hand and a golden Gate Key with another. "Maddie, run to the infirmary! Loke will protect you, I promise! Don't let him leave that room until I've taken out Gray!"

"O-Okay," said Maddie as she ran off.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" Before Gray could chase after Maddie, there was Taurus, twirling his ax and standing in front of him.

"Miss Luuuucy, am I gonna get a smooooooch," he asked, making Lucy regret everything.

"Just knock out Gray," she replied. "He's under a spell! We can't let him get past the first floor!" She pointed at him. "Knock him out so that he won't be able to move!"

"You got it Miss Luuuucy," said Taurus as he brought the ax down towards Gray. Gray was just barely able to tuck and roll away from it.

"Damn, I can't even let myself get hit!"

"Take out the Celestial Spirit and the girl," echoed Josiah's voice in Gray's mind, "but do not kill the girl. We can't risk killing anyone in the Fairy Tail guild."

"Shut up," he said as he went to punch Taurus in the gut. "Get out of my head you invasive creep!"

"Geez, I know Taurus is a little pervy, but a creep?"

"Not talking to him Lucy!" He threw back his hands. "Josiah's relaying commands in my head! Ice Make Cannon!" He held the cannon and aimed it at Taurus, sending a round of hard ice towards him. Taurus managed to block it with his ax and smirked.

"If you think that's gonna beat me, then you've got another thing coming!" Taurus jumped up, twirling his ax and getting ready to throw it down on Gray, about to split him in half.

"Taurus stop," Lucy shouted out in horror. "You're gonna kill him like that!" Taurus stopped mid attack, only inches away from having killed the Ice Make wizard.

"You shouldn't have stopped him," said Gray as he punched Taurus straight in the gut. "If that's what it takes to take me down then you've gotta do it!"

"I won't let anyone kill you!" She held out her Gate Key. "Taurus, you're too dangerous in this! Go back!"

"Sorry Miss Luuuucy," he apologized as he disappeared.

"Open, Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!"

"How do you do my lady," asked Sagittarius as he appeared from the gate, looking in the completely wrong direction and saluting.

"I need you to take down Gray," she said, pointing at the man in question. "He's not himself! Is there anyway you can take him out without hurting him too badly?"

"Of course my lady," he replied as he pulled out a blunted arrow. "As your magic grows, so does my arsenal! I have different kinds of arrows that I can use now! These are stunning arrows! They're blunt so they will cause damage, but they won't kill!"

"Whoa, that's amazing!" She smirked and pointed at Gray. "Alright Sagittarius, knock him down!"

"Yes indeed!" Sagittarius fired five arrows, one to the chest, one to each arm and once to each leg. Gray shouted in pain and he fell. "One more to just the right point should do it!" He drew another arrow, hitting Gray's stomach and making him grunt loudly before his yellow eyes closed. "There's a spot on the body called the solar plexus, and when hit the right way can "knock the wind" out of someone and even render them unconscious! This is the perfect way to knock out a friend without causing them any real harm!"

"Awesome!" Lucy lifted up her hand for a high five. "Thanks Sagittarius, you're a literal life saver!"

"Anything for my key holder," he replied as he hesitated, but returned the high five. "Is there anything else you require of me?"

"Nope, that's it! You're free to go!" She gave the spirit a wave as he disappeared. "Well that worked out well!"

"You think so," asked Gray, Josiah's voice coming out of his mouth along with Gray's own as he started to sit up. "We're only just getting started Lucy Heartfilia."

"W-What?" She backed up a step, her eyes wide with shock and horror as Gray stood up fully. "We just knocked you out?! How can you possibly still be standing? Wait… You're not Gray are you?"

"How astute of you," he mocked. "My name is Josiah the Puppet Master. I am one of the members of Underworld Origin. Hand over the girl and we'll leave you alone."

"We're not handing over her to the likes of you," she responded as she grabbed her whip. "I already sent back Sagittarius, so I can't summon him, and Loke's upstairs protecting Maddie! I don't know if any of my other spirits could help in this situation!" She held it taut in her hand. "I'm gonna use what I've learned to beat you!"


Maddie, Carla, and Loke all sat around the hospital bed that Romeo was in.

"I wish this wasn't happening," said Maddie as she looked at him. "He's hurt now…"

"Would you quit your complaining child," Carla snapped. "That's all you've been doing ever since they got here! Complain and complain and complain!"

"Hey there," said Loke, standing up, "no need to get nasty! She's just a kid!"

"She's not helping anyone by whining and crying!" She couldn't help but see Wendy when she was younger in the way Maddie was currently acting. "None of this is her fault. Do you hear that Maddie? You didn't ask for any of this. You need to understand that and stop blaming yourself. Besides, what if they had gone after another child and that child had wound up in a different place? Fairy Tail is far more capable of defending themselves than any other guild in Fiore, possibly even all of Ishgar. If any guild should've had this trouble, then it was best for it to be the magical guild Fairy Tail."

"She does have a point," Loke admitted, sitting back down, "but you could be nicer about it."

"Being nice won't change what's happening." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We have to face the facts. Something like this was bound to happen, regardless as to the child they choose or the place that child escaped to. I'd just call it a feeling since my precognitive abilities don't seem to be working right now, but, I feel like sending Maddie to Fairy Tail was the best chance she possibly had." She gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry child, they'll beat back Underworld Origin."

"Thank you." Maddie smiled. "I'm sorry for complaining. I'm just… I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen next."

"It's time."

Maddie looked around, wondering where the whisper had come from.

"Did you guys hear that," she asked, looking around.

"Hear what," asked Loke, a little concerned. "Aside from the battles outside, I don't hear anything."

"I didn't hear anything either child. Perhaps the stress is making you hear things." Maddie looked at the two, wondering if she really had been the only one to hear it.

"Maybe," she said softly, looking out a nearby window. "But that voice, it sounded so familiar…"

"Maybe you should head back downstairs," suggested Carla to Loke. "Maddie said she was in the middle of a fight after all. You're one of her spirits, aren't you supposed to be protecting her?"

"Nah," he replied with a knowing smile, "Lucy can handle herself. Besides, if she needs me, she'll call for me. I'll ride out towards her on the wings of love!"

"She can just call you know," Carla pointed out in annoyance.


Lucy used her star whip to keep Gray away from the stairs.

"Let go of the hold you have on my friend you sick jerk!" She spun the whip around her head before hitting Gray across the chest and knocking him over.

"An unconscious wizard is the easiest to control," he replied as he got back up again. "For the record, I don't feel a thing. I am only manipulating his body and seeing through his eyes. I do not feel what he feels. You're only hurting your friend. You won't be able to get rid of me with brute force."

"Well then I guess I'll have to try something else," she replied as she flicked the whip once again, hitting Gray across the chest once more. This time, when it connected, she ran forward and pushed him towards a support beam, grunting as she felt him slam against the beam. "You can't do anything if you can't move!" With another clever flick of her whip, she managed to make it wrap around Gray several times before she tied the handle and the tip of the whip together on the opposite side of the beam.

"You're worthy of the Heartfilia name," said Gray with a smirk. "Your mother was an intelligent woman, as was her mother and the generations of Heartfilias before her."

"What do you know of any of that," she asked, glaring at him. "Talk."

"I could tell you a lot," he replied. "I studied quite a lot relating to the history of magic. The Heartfilias are considered the pioneers of Celestial Spirit magic. The only people to ever gather all 12 of the Golden Gate Keys have ever been Heartfilias."

"That can't be true," she replied. "I would've known."

"How much do you really know about your family's history?"


Thanatos was easily dodging Natsu's attacks.

"You seem to be at a disadvantage in this fight. You can only use one element, while I can make use of all of them."

"You seem to be needing to hold those lacrimas to make it work," Natsu pointed out, grinning as he went to kick Thanatos over the head, but ultimately missed.

"That's partially true," he replied. "I have to hold it to activate the powers of it, but once I've accessed the powers then I can let go of them."

"Sounds like a huge problem," said Happy with a smile as he brought Natsu towards Thanatos, trying to let Natsu punch him right in the face. "If you have to hold them, then all we have to do is keep your hands busy while we fight!"

"Oh no, you've seen through my greatest strategy and have found my only weakness," he said sarcastically as he smoothly moved over. "I'm joking of course. The only reason I lost to you in the first place was because you entered Dragon Force. You can't do that now, can you?"

"I don't even know what that is to be honest," Natsu replied. "Either way, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to bring you down again!" He quickly took in a big, deep breath. "Fire Dragon ROAR!" Thanatos attempted to move away, but still got burned on his right side. "Ha, got you, you sneaky jerk!"

"Only because I didn't expect that," he replied as he reached into his jacket. "Perhaps I should've gone with my earlier plan." He pulled out the same fire red lacrima he had been holding earlier. "Fire magic will be the best enemy to beat you with."

"Hah, you don't know Natsu at all," Happy said with a smile. "Natsu can eat fire magic!"

"We'll just see about that," said Thanatos as he held his arm out, his palm facing Natsu as it sent a fireball to him.

"Looks tasty," said Natsu as he licked his lips before eating it all up, wiping his lips. "Thanks for the meal."

"Just wait a second." Even though he wore a skull mask, Natsu and Happy could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

"What's your-" Before Natsu could finish his sentence, his eyes went wide, feeling like his body was pulsing.

"Natsu what's wrong," asked Happy as Natsu gripped his stomach tightly.

"I feel like my insides are eating themselves!" Fire started spilling from his mouth as he started to shake.

"Natsu!" Happy flew down and gently put him on the ground, his wings disappearing as he teared up. "Natsu what's wrong?! Why are you acting like this?!" Thanatos landed not far away. Happy looked up at him and glared through his tear filled eyes. "What did you do to my friend?! What was in that fire?!"

"There was nothing wrong with the fire," he replied. "Merely the source." He kicked Natsu in the stomach hard, making Natsu retch like he was going to throw up.

"Stop it," said Happy as he jumped in front of Natsu, putting himself between his best friend and their enemy. "You're literally kicking him while he's down! You've already beat him with that weird fire, so stop please!" It took everything Happy had to keep from sobbing in that moment, seeing his friend so vulnerable.

"I suppose you're right." Thanatos held up his hand, fire crackling around it. "Then again, kicking people while they're down has always been my specialty." He hit Happy with a ball of fire, making him scream in pain. Thanatos then kicked Happy hard, sending him into the side of a building. "You're noble for sure. It takes a lot of strength for such a weak, pathetic creature like yourself to stand up for their friends. I'll let you live, if only for a respect for that and because my master has ordered us to not kill anyone here."

"Happy," Natsu struggled out, lifting up a hand towards his friend. "I'm… gonna kill you Thanatos… I swear I'm gonna…" His hand fell to the ground as his eyes closed.

"That's what I though." Thanatos started walking towards the guildhall. "Now, to try and break the spell that she left on the hall. Then we can get the Key and finally leave this godforsaken place." He winced, a hand flying to his right side. "Damn, I still haven't fully recovered from the punishment I received from hurting that damn Heartfilia girl. Well, even injured I'll still win."


"Yes, my master," said Mors as he and Mirajane talked. "He was once a member of your guild. I'm afraid I can't tell you who he is though. We were all sworn to secrecy. We'll take that secret to our graves."

"I respect that," she replied, "but why would he say that Fairy Tail is the worst of them all?"

"Because people in your guild die. They're so gung ho about the guild that they put it before their own lives. He said he's known more than enough people than he should have to who died on behalf of the guild."

"I can't say he's not wrong about people dying," she said, "but you have it wrong. It's not that they die for the guild itself. They've died for the people in it. They die because they're protecting those they care about and love. Some of us have blood families in the guild, like myself, like Alzack and Bisca, or some have formed a bond stronger than blood could ever forge. We've fought, cried, lost, and all loved together. Our guild is a family. We don't die for each other because we think it's what a guild should do. We do it because we all love each other, and if it's a choice between ourselves and the rest of our family, then we choose our family. We choose to save them." She closed her eyes, placing her hand over her heart. "When it comes to our loved ones, as much as I want to live, I want them to live more. I know that if I were to die, it would make my family sad. And yet, they can still move on. They can recover from it. But if I were to loose everyone close to me just because I was afraid of death, then I couldn't live with myself. It's a very easy choice when you think about it." She smiled at him. "Just because we're in a magical guild called Fairy Tail doesn't mean we automatically have to give up everything for the guild. We do it of our own free will."

"Touching," he said sarcastically. "I can't say I don't understand that on a level. I'd give anything for my wife and daughter. And that's exactly why I'm doing this. I have to do this, it's the only way that I can restore my wife, and bring back my daughter!" He threw out his arm, a black vine wrapping around Mira.

"I understand your daughter," she said as she struggled against the vines, "but why your wife? She's still alive!"

"Because she doesn't eat or sleep anymore," he replied. "She hates herself so much for what happened to her, to our daughter. She can't even look in a mirror at herself! I don't care what she looks like, I never did! What I care about is the fact that she hates herself, and I want to save her!" He clenched his fist, making the vines tighten around her. "I will force things to return to the way they were before Siren's Wing attacked our family!"

"You can't," she shouted out through her pain. "You can't force things back to the way they were before you lost your daughter! Believe me I understand! After I lost Lisanna, Elfman and I were never the same! And I can tell you from personal experience that even if you get her back, things still won't go back to the way they were. You and your wife have both changed, for better or for worse. Loosing a loved one changes someone in an irreparable way. Even after I managed to get my magic back I still didn't regain that sense of confidence and assurance that I had before Lisanna left us. Elfman still sees himself as a monster sometimes, even though no one in the guild ever says that it's his fault that she died in the first place. Even Lisanna doesn't blame him, but I know that he sees her sometimes and feels overwhelming guilt at what he did to her! You can't just get rid of all of that by bringing her back and fixing your wife's body!" She pushed her arms away from her body, breaking the vines. "The only people you're gonna hurt with that mentality is your wife! You should help her through her grief instead of extending it with the promise of bringing your daughter back! You're the one making her suffer like this! The dead stay dead, and you can either accept that, or refuse and drive yourself to your own grave in the process!" She threw a punch at him, going so fast he was unable to dodge, his back slamming into a dead tree.

"You pack quite the punch," he said after reaching underneath his mask to rub his chin. "I shouldn't expect anything less. After all, you're one of the few. Whether it was luck or skill, I'm still unsure of."

"One of the few," she asked, grabbing his collar and slamming him against the tree. He grunted out from the impact, his body starting to tense up. "Explain! What do you mean by one of the few? One of the few what?!"

"Of the few Fairies left," he replied with a chuckle. "You're one of the very few left."

"I'm not a Fairy," she shouted as she slammed him again. "I'm a demon and I embraced that power long ago! Now tell me what you mean, what you really mean!"

"I already did," he insisted. "I can't explain any further. It's too dangerous."

"Tell me!" She threw a punch right next to his head, splintering the wood in the area and leaving a hole larger than two of his heads.

"I mean it when I say it's dangerous. You can't know." He smirked as vines slowly grew around Mira's ankles. "Trust me, you don't really want to know."


Evergreen was flying around fast, trying to avoid the feather that was chasing her.

"Keep running," Anubis encouraged with amusement in his voice, "but it will catch up with you eventually. Your sins always catch up with you. They always overcome you, and they always deliver your death!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" She saw the feather speed up and started to go faster. "This is bad, I'm getting close to my max speed. If this feather goes faster than that, then I'm gonna fall victim to his spell!" She looked down at the rest of the Thunder Legion, all of them slowly being covered in some black and blue substance, like they were being turned into darkness itself. Laxus had at least half of his body covered in it. "Can Laxus last much longer in his condition?!" She went as fast as she possibly could, but the feather kept going faster.

"You can never outrun your sins," said Anubis in a more serious tone. "Time to die Evergreen the Fairy." The feather touched her chest, right where her heart was, and she felt like her heart was racing. Her eyes widened to try and see, but she went into complete darkness as she fell, now unable to see anything of the world around her.

"EVERGREEN," shouted out Elfman as he ran to catch her, holding her close to his chest once he did. "What happened?" He loosened his grip to look as her, but here eyes were glowing a dark, malevolent violet.

"I am the Fairy Queen," she said softly as she relived her memories in full.

"Ever what are you saying," he asked as he shook her. "Snap out of it."

"What's wrong with Evergreen Big Bro," asked Lisanna as she came up behind her brother.

"I don't know," he replied as he looked up at Anubis, "but you have something to do with it, don't you?!"

"Guilty as charged." He shrugged. "My name is Anubis, and I'm the Reaper Judge! Don't worry about your friends, they're just watching their past sins play out in front of them. Nothing big, just slowly burning out their hearts and therefore killing them. That girl your holding is getting the worst of my magic. She's feeling everything. All the pain and suffering she's suffered through, and the exact same feelings that she felt when she inflicted it. Oh yeah, she's in the most pain for sure."

"You sick twist monster!" Elfman gently put down Evergreen. "Lisanna, keep watch over Evergreen."

"You got it," she replied as she moved to get down on the ground and hold her. "Beat him down Big Bro!"

"You bet I will," he said as his magic circle went down his body. "I will never forgive you for hurting Evergreen! Full Body Takeover! Beast Soul: Belcusas!" His body transformed into the beast Rustyrose had once created. "This is one of my strongest Takeovers, and I'm going to use it to make you sorry you ever set foot in Magnolia!" He clasped his hands together, jumping up and holding them above his head before slamming them down on Anubis's head. He managed to successfully knock the wizard down on the ground, but all he did was groan in annoyance.

"Damn, I've hit my limit," Anubis complained as she started to get up. "Guess I shouldn't have used my Feather of Truth. Otherwise I could send you into a world of pain from your sins. I can see them. They're few and far between, but they're so strong and powerful. You feel so much guilt over them." He laughed. "Oh how delicious that fear is. That intense amount of regret." He looked over at Lisanna. "And it all traces back to your little sister. I've heard stories about how you almost killed her." He laughed. "Amazing you can even look your brother in the eyes after that incident!"

"It wasn't his fault," Lisanna shouted out. "He didn't mean to! He wasn't in control when that happened! But he's in control now and he'll never hurt me like that again! I know he won't because I believe in my big brother!"

"That's nice," Anubis said sarcastically. "Belief doesn't stop him from being a monster."

"Shut up," Elfman shouted out as he swung his arm, meaning to send Anubis flying. Instead, Anubis just jumped up over it. "Real men don't let the same mistakes happen twice! I will never hurt anyone the way I hurt Lisanna ever again!" He went to punch Anubis in the gut, but all Anubis had to do was hold out his hand and I blocked Elfman's attack.

"Damn, if you'd put a little more strength into that, it might've actually hurt!" He pushed Elfman's fist, sending him flying backwards. "You're gonna have to do better than that to defeat me!"

"SUMMONED LIGHTNING!" Three cards flew at him, landing on his chest and making Anubis actually scream out in pain.

"Who was that," asked Lisanna as she looked in the direction where it came from, seeing Cana standing there.

"Cana!" Elfman slowly stood up. "I thought you and Juvia were on a job. When did you two get back?"

"When we found out that Underworld Origin was gonna be right at our doorstep," she responded. "The train wouldn't come any closer so we hijackd a magic mobile and got here as fast as we could." She looked around, seeing all the people passed out and the destruction. "Looks like we were too late though. The attack has already started." She looked over at him. "You must be one of the stooges of Underworld Origin."

"Anubis the Reaper Judge," he managed to say, the lightning no longer affecting him. "You're definitely one powerful wizard. You're Gildarts's daughter aren't you? Thinking about fighting you makes me real excited! You managed to actually make that attack hurt!"

"We're gonna have to work together Elfman," she said. "Lisanna, use this." She tossed her a card. "It's a Chariot Card. I already powered it up, hopefully it'll help slow down the effects of whatever spell he's got on the Thunder Legion but I'm not positive."

"Alright," said Lisanna as she held out the card. "Please help them!" The card glowed softly, and the Thunder Legion seemed more relaxed.

"How clever of you," said Anubis. "I can't wait to pummel the both of you into the ground!"


Laki and Max were back to back as they kept beating down the weaker minions.

"It's like their endless," she said loudly as she threw out a wood hammer at one of them."

"We have to try," he replied. "Sand Rebellion!" The sand threw away several of the guys. "Any idea where the other went?"

"No idea," she replied as she kicked one of the members away. "I don't know where anyone is. Did you see Kinana run out to fight?"

"I did." He punched one of the members straight in the face. "Can't say I'm not worried about her. I mean, can she even fight?"

"I have no idea, but we've gotta trust her! She helped out so much during the dragon attack. She's capable of more than we know I bet. There's gotta be a reason she was cursed. People don't just toss around curses for nothing."


Kinana was, in fact, busy at work, trying to carry people out of Magnolia so that they were out of the crosshairs of the fight. They were all still asleep, but they were well enough away from the town that they seemed to be safe.

"I wish I could protect you better," she said honestly. "I may not be a wizard, but I can still do something to protect the guild and the people of the town. I'll make sure everyone gets to safety!" She started running back towards the town.


Wendy was still facing off against Breeze, but all of her attacks were being sent away from her. She was starting to get tired, panting a bit as she looked at her enemy.

"You're just wasting your magic," said Breeze with a deranged laugh. "You'll be sapped of your strength before we even get the girl!"

"Then I'll just get more," she replied as she started to eat the air.

"That's right, you're a Dragon Slayer. Hm." She put her hand on her chin, smirking. "What's the best way to defeat a Sky Dragon Slayer?" She hit her fist against her palm. "Oh I know!" She smirked and pointed at Wendy, then pulling the air away. "Since you're a Sky Dragon Slayer, you won't die from oxygen deprivation because your magic will automatically create its own, but that does mean you can't eat any air and regain anymore strength! After all, you can't eat your own magic!"

"That's true," she replied, "but I still recovered plenty of magic! I can eat air really fast!" Wind surrounded her leg as she went to kick Breeze. "I refuse to let you win! You hurt Romeo and my guild! I have to stop you, or else who will?!"

"I guess no one," Breeze replied with a shrug. "Too bad you're gonna be beaten down to the pavement. "She jumped up and kicked Wendy square in the chest, making her scream and sending her flying. Wendy landed on the ground with a thud and a grunt, looking up as Breeze stalked over towards her. "I'm gonna break every bone in your body!" She kicked Wendy in the stomach repeatedly, making the poor girl grunt out in pain and grip her gut to try and prevent any further damage. "But you won't die. Oh no, that wouldn't be good for anything." She stomped on Wendy's right arm, making her shriek in pain. "You can't heal yourself, right? So then you'll have to suffer in agony! If I take out Fairy Tail's healer, then you can't heal your comrades so they can keep fighting and fighting! I'm gonna hurt you so badly, you'll never move again, and your guild will be crippled!" She twisted her foot against Wendy's arm, making her shriek out louder. "Oh yeah, that's what I like to hear!" She lifted up her foot to try and stomp on her other arm.

"IRON DRAGON CLUB!" Breeze looked up in surprise as she saw an extending club come right at her, hitting her in the gut and shooting her away from Wendy.

"Wendy, are you alright," asked Levy as she ran to the girl's side, getting down on her knees.

"Levy," she managed to say weakly and Gajeel and Pantherlily joined them. "Y-You guys are back."

"Sh, don't try to talk," said Levy as she cradled Wendy's head. "You're hurt, you need to save your strength."

"You monster," said Gajeel as he glared at Breese. "The hell kind of person are you, beating up on a little girl like this?!"

"My name's Breeze," she replied with a smirk. "Oh, you're a Dragon Slayer too, aren't you? I heard you guys are protective of your own kind. Did I make you peeved when I hurt the wittle baby dwagon?" She laughed. "She'll heal soon enough. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to kill anyone."

"I'd suggest not talking to aggressively," said Pantherlily as he grabbed Musica and transformed into his battle mode. "Wendy is family to us and we won't tolerate you making fun of her or hurting her like that!"

"Then hit my with your best shot!" She jumped at the two of them, who jumped to meet her.


Erza was still fighting Vena, her swords continuing to knock out Vena's rubble that she kept throwing.

"Why won't you just give up," asked Erza as she kept moving forward. "We both know you're beat. I don't want to hurt someone more than I have to!"

"You haven't even landed a single blow on me," she countered. "Besides, even if I can't crush you with gravity itself, I can still crush you!" She put both of her fists together, smirking as a mountain of rubble, probably a whole building's worth, came down on Erza. "You may be strong, but can you kept from being crushed by a building?!" Erza had no choice but to requip into her Adamantine Armor, the only thing that could protect her body from such a strong attack. When she did, she felt her body get pulled down to the ground. She put the two pieces of the shield together, managing to keep the rubble from crushing her.

"Dammit," she thought to herself as she struggled to keep from being crushed, "I let my confidence get the best of me! I shouldn't have assumed it'd be easy to beat her just because she was new at using her magic. That arrogance has left me vulnerable!"

"What's wrong," asked Vena as she smirked. "Can't get out of this? Don't assume that because I'm new that I can't beat you!"

"I will defeat you," she declared. "I don't care what it takes, but I will drive you and the rest of your organization from Magnolia if it takes the last of my strength, the last of my breath! I won't let you ruin my beloved town!"

"Sounds like someone wants the gravity increased!" Vena pushed her fists down, making Erza cry out in pain as the gravity increased. "You could requip into your Gravity Armor and stop being affected by the gravity, but the moment you do, you'll be crushed by all the rubble. You could stay like that, but eventually you'll run out of magic and your armor won't work anymore. From what I heard, your ability only works for as long as your magic lasts. Once you loose all your magic, any armor you're wearing looses the abilities it had, so that Adamantine Armor won't do you any good in protecting you from the debris! Looks like I have you now Titania!"

"Heavenly Body Magic, Pleiadies!" Golden lights from the sky rained down on Vena, causing her to loose her focus and jump away. The moment she did, the gravity returned to normal around Erza. She used the chance the thrust her shield upwards, sending the rubble flying and standing up as she smiled at her saviors.

"Meldy, Jellal." The two Crime Sorcière wizards looked at Vena with a serious look as Erza requipped back into her Gravity Armor.

"You reek of Zeref's magic," he said. "This whole town does. What kind of black magics has your organization been dabbling in?"

Song Of Hope: I can't believe I finally finished this chapter! Anyway, the next chapter for sure is when I'll reveal who Maddie really is! I'm sorry for putting it off for so long, I meant to do it sooner!