A/N: Chapter Twenty-One. About time for some more Laxus, I think. ~CS

Rise Up Once More

By CrimsonStarbird

Chapter Twenty-One: Silent Tears of Pain We Cry

After several chaotic days, things at the guildhall were finally beginning to settle down. This was their second attempt at a recovery, and this time, Fairy Tail were determined to get it right. They took things at a more relaxed pace than they had done last time. People took the jobs they felt able to do, no more and no fewer than before the crisis; they helped out on the building site when they got the chance; they took breaks frequently, and the usual lively banter between the guild members never fully died away, no matter how busy things became.

Thanks to the previous day's battle, there were no shortage of repair jobs around Magnolia. The downside, of course, was that no one was willing to pay the people who had caused the damage to help fix it. Only the handful of locations covered by insurance provided any sort of reluctant fee to the mages for helping out – and more often than not, Fairy Tail had to cover the cost of the repair materials and the equipment hire themselves, on top of doing the work for free. However, they always returned to the guild after a job well done with new insights, expertise, and even contacts within the construction sector, which they quickly put to work on the new guildhall during their time off.

True to his word, Laxus had been working without a break since early that morning. He was helping out with the building work rather than taking on jobs. Even though his magic power was recovering exceptionally quickly, as usual, and he was more than capable of going out on S-Class Quests again, it was probably better that he remained where he could easily be contacted while they were waiting to hear back from the Magic Council – especially with so many of the guild's strong members currently tied up in the Tower of Heaven incident.

Besides, he seemed to be constantly in demand. The guild members had been a little wary of him at first. However, once Gray and Natsu had approached him for permission – more or less – to go to the Tower of Heaven, the others had started to overcome their reservations and check with him before they went out on jobs. It would normally have been Mira's role to supervise who was doing what, but she was at the Magic Council, meaning that the responsibility lay entirely with their Guild Master.

It annoyed Laxus no end. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was constantly having to climb up and down the scaffolding to interact with people he didn't really know, he also couldn't care less about who was doing what. If someone took on an S-Class Quest that they weren't qualified for, so what? It wasn't a mistake anyone would make twice – if they survived long enough to get a second chance, of course. Mages would learn the hard way what they were and weren't capable of, and become stronger for it. That was the way he had always done things.

Still, it was the duty of the Guild Master, so he supposed he should at least pretend to care until his patience ran out. He owed these people that much. It was a real pain… but it was also just a little bit flattering. They really were holding to the promise made in the aftermath of the battle, and doing their best to accept him as their Guild Master. This was the least he could do in return.

When he had been formulating his plan to seize control of the guild, back before the whole Changeling affair had even begun, he hadn't thought much about what being the Master would actually entail. The thought that he might have to take charge of menial tasks like this had never crossed his mind.

It was funny how things worked out, wasn't it? He had set out to change the guild, and in the end, the one who had changed was him. He could finally see things from the other point of view – yes, Fairy Tail wasn't by any means the perfect, powerful guild he had envisioned, but it was home, and that was what mattered. So what if Fairy Tail didn't have the best reputation? They knew they were the greatest guild. So what if people spoke badly of them in other towns? The opinions of strangers didn't matter in the slightest.

Fairy Tail was a force of nature. Nothing anyone said or did would ever be able to prevent it from being itself. It would take some time before they had repaid their debts, rebuilt their guildhall, and reached full strength once more, but they would rise again, Laxus was sure of it. Even if he would never say it out loud, he was proud of the guild – proud of his guild.

Dropping the breeze blocks he had been carrying onto the top level of the scaffolding, he paused to catch his breath. He could easily survey the rest of the guild from up here. The plaza which had become their temporary outdoor guildhall was surprisingly empty, with most of the members out on jobs. Without Natsu and his team around, there was a quiet, if amicable, atmosphere. He wondered if they'd managed to find Erza yet. It surely couldn't be that difficult a task, especially once Freed and the others caught up with them. He was dependable, at least, and would hopefully prevent Natsu from causing any trouble. That was the last thing the guild needed right now.

A sudden movement from down below caught his attention. Or rather, it was the sudden absence of movement. A figure had been walking across the paved area – his grandfather, still in Mira's body – and he had come to a sudden stop, as if he had walked into an invisible wall. Laxus's eyes narrowed at the anomaly.

Makarov's gaze was turned slightly towards the sky, and unfocussed; he was seemingly unaware of anything going on around him. There were no tremors in his magical presence, or Laxus might have worried that Mira's old magic was going out of control again. No, it was almost as if he was listening to something.

After a minute or two, Makarov shook himself back to reality. With a furtive glance around, as if to check no one was watching him, he headed out in the direction of the city centre.

Laxus climbed back down to the ground. He could have jumped from that height, easily, but he was aware of how much damage he could do to the unfinished foundations of the guildhall when he landed – and besides, he had had so much practice at scaling the scaffolding now that climbing was almost as quick anyway. He strode over and had caught up with his grandfather before he had travelled more than a street or two away from the guild.

"What's going on?" Laxus demanded. It was a barely-disguised accusation. If Makarov had somehow failed to recognize that tone of voice, Laxus's position blocking the road ahead would have left him in no doubts.

As it was, the old man was unimpressed. "I'm in a hurry here. Get out of the way."

"Not until you tell me where you're going."

Makarov tried to move round him, but in the narrow street, Laxus blocked him easily. The two of them glared at each other. "Who were you talking to just now?" Laxus asked. The flash of annoyance in his grandfather's eyes told him that his guess had been right. He took another gamble: "Someone at the Tower of Heaven? What are you keeping from us, old man?"

As he had thought, the open accusation provoked a response. "Nothing like that," Makarov growled. "It was my old friend Yajima from the Council, checking that I'm still alive, apparently. They've worked out Mira is pretending to be me, and she's in trouble. I'm going to set things straight."

With that, he pushed past Laxus and resumed his walk towards Magnolia's train station. He had almost reached the end of the street when Laxus called, "And you just, what, weren't going to tell me?"

Makarov stopped, but didn't turn round. "This is between the Magic Council, Mirajane, and myself. It doesn't concern you."

"If it's about the guild, then of course it concerns me."

"Since when have you cared about the guild?"

"Since it became my responsibility as Master!" Laxus challenged.

"Don't you dare talk to me about responsibility! You have no right to be Master!"

Laxus's response was utterly calm. "Don't take it out on me, old man, just because you're pissed that you didn't get your old job back after the Battle of Fairy Tail."

That got a response, alright. Furiously, the old man whirled around to confront his grandson, all thoughts of heading to the Council forgotten. "This time, Laxus, you've gone too far! I made you Master because I had no choice – you have done nothing to earn that title! No, you have only brought harm to this guild! Fairy Tail is on the verge of ruin because of the damage you have done to our reputation and to Magnolia! We have fellow guild members in hospital, because you put them there! All the tension in the guild has come from fear of you and your actions! You went to war against Fairy Tail, and now you're trying to make out like you're a good Master?"

"I know all that!" Laxus was shouting too. He couldn't help it. They had both gone too far now to back down. "I've caused a lot of problems for this guild, and that's why I'm doing everything in my power to put them right! I'm not ashamed to admit that I was wrong and move on from that!" Lightning crackled dangerously in his eyes. "But what about you? When are you going to take responsibility for what you've done to the guild?"

The temperature in the street dropped several degrees as the air around the two of them swirled thick with power and anger. "What are you trying to say?"

"Everything that's happened to Fairy Tail was my fault, you say?" Laxus asked scornfully. "Sure, a lot of it was. But it's a little too convenient for you to just pin everything on me, and overlook the fact that you were the one who caused all this!"

"What the hell are you-?"

"I'm talking about Changeling! You're the one who put that request on the board to get back at Natsu and the others for going off without permission! You're the one who cursed the guild! Oh sure, you never meant for it to get this far, but you did nothing while Levy and the others were panicking; I'm sure you were getting a good laugh out of it the entire time, weren't you? That negligence led to the curse becoming permanent – you could have stopped it at any moment, and you chose not to! Is that how a Master should act towards his guild?

"Everything is apparently my fault – but if you hadn't been so stupid, none of this would have happened in the first place! Without Changeling, you could have defeated Phantom Lord easily – I would never have even had to come back to Magnolia, let alone be made Guild Master to clean up your mistake! Not to mention, if you hadn't acted so recklessly and lost control of Mira's magic, you could have led the guild in the fight, rather than sleeping through the entire thing! You brought this catastrophe upon the guild and then left them to fend for themselves! And still you say it's all because of me?"

Makarov was staring at him in stunned silence. Scowling, Laxus stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sure, I'm not exactly in a position to berate you for making a mistake. It was an accident, I know, whereas I turned upon the guild knowing full well what the consequences would be. But the thing is, old man – not once have you apologized. Not once have you admitted that the Changeling fiasco was your fault, or that you might be even partly to blame for everything that the guild has been through. You speak to me about my responsibility, but when are you going to take responsibility for what you have done?"

Still the old man didn't speak. He didn't look like he was able to. Well, Laxus had come too far to stop now. He might as well say exactly what was on his mind. "You ask me what right I have to call myself Master, after what I've done? Well, I'll tell you."

He wasn't the best person for the job. He knew that now – in fact, there was more than a small part of him that wanted to back down and give his grandfather back his old role. No one was more aware than he that he didn't deserve to be Master. But for every part of him that doubted, there was another screaming with righteous pride. Fairy Tail could have forced him to step down after the Battle of Fairy Tail and they had not; when he had tried to leave the guild altogether, they had fought for him to stay. That knowledge became his strength.

"I didn't ask to be forgiven, but Fairy Tail chose to put their faith in me anyway. That is all the right that I need." He met his grandfather's eyes with a resolve he hadn't even known he possessed until that moment. "I won't give that up just because you can't face the fact that you let everyone down. You can be Master again once you've proven that you deserve it!"

With that, he wheeled around, lightning bursting to life around his entire body. Makarov instinctively took a step backwards.

But Laxus just said, "I'm going to settle things with the Magic Council, once and for all." And then he was gone, a bolt of lightning arcing up into the sky, leaving behind nothing but silence.

"What is the meaning of this, Yajima?" Org demanded.

"I mean exactly what I said," came the old man's resolute response. "That man is not the Makarov that I know."

"He looks like him – and that is definitely his magical presence, or our sensors would have detected it as soon as he came into this room."

"I don't understand it myself, but I am certain. I have just contacted Makarov myself with telepathy and he is not in this room with us." Yajima's gaze, harsh and unfriendly, turned once more to Mira. "Well? Do you deny that you are not Makarov Dreyar?"

In despair, Mira hung her head. What else could she do? "No. I am not him."

A stunned silence followed. In her weakened state, she couldn't sense the build-up of magic power in the room, but she could see it – magic seals appeared at Lahar's hands in preparation to strike, and at least two Council members were ready to summon defensive magic at a moment's notice. The thought that she might be attacked didn't even scare her. Her entire body was numb. She wanted to be able to just pass out and forget about all of this.

"Then who are you?" Org hissed.

But blissful unconsciousness didn't come. There was one thought in her head, drowning out all others: it's my fault it's my fault it's my fault-

"Who are you?" he repeated; louder this time, and a lot less patient.

A meek voice whispered a response; Mira was surprised to find that that voice was hers. "Mirajane Strauss, of Fairy Tail."

The councillors did not lower their guard. "Mira?" Yajima murmured, confused. Had he been expecting an enemy impersonating his friend, rather than a fellow guild member? "How are you doing that? Transformation Magic?"

"No." It was Siegrain who answered that. As usual, there was a small smile on his face, and a smugness in his tone that Mira hardly noticed. "No kind of Transformation Magic can change a person's magical presence; it would never have been able to deceive our sensors. It's almost as if… well, as if the two of them have swapped bodies, don't you think?"

Those words cut through the mire of anguish surrounding Mira like a steel blade. Startled, she glanced up to meet his glittering eyes, and her suspicions were confirmed at once – he knew. It couldn't be a coincidence. Especially when he hadn't shared in the surprise of the others at Yajima's announcement.

In an instant, the despair and the guilt vanished. She had something to grasp hold of now – anger to focus her mind, and an enemy to direct it towards. How could he know? It was possible that someone in Fairy Tail had told him, but everyone in the guild knew how damaging it could be if that secret got out, and she didn't believe for a second that any of her colleagues would have betrayed them. Other than that… well, it was possible that someone from Phantom Lord might have figured it out during the fight and told him, but the timing was wrong – he couldn't have known during her first trial, or he'd have surely used that knowledge against her. He must have found out since then. That just left the possibility that he had somehow encountered someone afflicted by Changeling while they were out on a job-

The Tower of Heaven.

Her heart skipped a beat. Whatever they might be there for, Natsu and Lucy wouldn't have gone to the Tower without Happy, their teammate. Even Erza might be there. It was far too much of a coincidence for Mira to just accept. Siegrain was most likely in contact with someone in the Tower. This brother of his? Just what the hell was going on here?

Mira didn't know, and the answers weren't forthcoming. But one thing was clear in her mind: Siegrain was mocking her because he thought that she would no longer have the courage to speak out against his Etherion plan - and he couldn't have been more wrong. He had just given her a reason to keep on fighting.

She had brought nothing but harm to her guild during the two times she had posed as Makarov, and now she had to do whatever was left in her power to help her friends in the Tower of Heaven. With magic or without; no matter how bad her own personal circumstances; regardless of whether or not there was any hope that she could actually change anything - she had to try.

"Is this true?" someone was asking her.

"It is." Mira turned to face the Council with new resolve, and her voice was perfectly steady. "Over a week ago – on the day before the incident with Phantom Lord – our guild was accidentally hit by a curse called Changeling, which causes people to swap bodies and magic. Ten of our strongest members were affected by it, including the Master and myself. Six of us are back to normal, but for the rest of us it has yet to wear off. I am Makarov, and he is me."

Org accused, "So, rather than informing the Council about this, as would have been proper, you thought you would lie about it instead, Mirajane?"

"Because they're Fairy Tail…" Michello muttered darkly.

"There's an even simpler explanation," Siegrain cut in. "Isn't there, Mira? You were worried that if we learned ten of your strongest members, including your Master, were out of action, we would suspend you from doing jobs, weren't you? Or even worse, that we'd see it as a reason to disband Fairy Tail once and for all?"

"You'd use it as an excuse!" Mira shot back. "Fairy Tail is more than capable of taking on their usual share of jobs – even like this, we defeated Phantom Lord! It's Fairy Tail's problem, and we're dealing with it ourselves – it's none of the Council's business! But you'd seize it as justification to have us unfairly shut down!"

"A personal grudge against the Council is no reason to conceal information this important from us! Negligence is yet another crime to add to Fairy Tail's ever-growing list. Not to mention, impersonating the accused is a very serious offence, Mirajane," Org added. "Coming here in the place of Master Makarov-"

"While we're doing this, there's probably something else you should know." Defiance gave her courage. "Makarov isn't the Master of Fairy Tail any more."

At this, Org laughed out loud. "An illegal change of Guild Master on top of everything else! Operating under false pretences; what are you going to reveal next? That Fairy Tail is behind the Tower of Heaven plot?" He slammed his hand down onto the desk. "Go on then, amuse us. Who is your new Master? You?"

"That would be Laxus Dreyar."

"…Is this supposed to be a joke?" When Mira didn't respond, he shook his head in incredulity. "No wonder you failed to inform us about your new Master! That troublemaker Laxus, in charge of a guild? Only yesterday he went on a rampage which destroyed half a city! Just when I thought Fairy Tail couldn't get any worse, you spring something like this on us? Perhaps we should be grateful Fairy Tail have got themselves embroiled in the Tower of Heaven affair! We can get rid of the two biggest nuisances in the magical world in one blow!"

"Hold on!" Mira broke in. Shivers of alarm prickled like knives along her skin. "Fairy Tail aren't the enemy here!"

"Any guild which considers itself to be above the law is a threat to the stability of the magical world! Guilds which mock the authority of the Council are unquestionably the enemies of our society! Between your Master, your attitude, and all the damage you've caused, Fairy Tail might as well be a Dark Guild!"

"I know we've made some mistakes, but we would never do anything like that! The past few days have just been exceptional – we have no intention of usurping the Council's authority or of disturbing the peace! We're all on the same side!"

Before Org could reply, Siegrain cut in smoothly. "That's all well and good, but we can deal with Fairy Tail later. Might I suggest that we return to the more pressing matter?"

"By all means. You know, I find myself agreeing more and more with you and Ultear. With Etherion, we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Fairy Tail will prevent Jellal from-" Mira began fiercely, but no one was about to listen to what she had to say.

To Lahar, Org added, "Begin moving Satellite Square into position. Should we gather the remaining votes, we will need to act with all haste to fire Etherion." The other nodded respectfully and left.

Michello spoke up from the back. "Stopping the R-System and saving the world is the most important thing. We shouldn't refrain from ending it right here and now for the sake of a handful of mages who basically belong to a Dark Guild anyway. I am in favour of using Etherion."

"That's four votes for," Siegrain said. He was trying to put on his usual solemn façade, but even he could not suppress the glee in his voice. "One more, and the sacred light will rain down."

"I remain opposed," declared Yajima. "Whether it is turned upon the guilty or the innocent, known enemies of the Council or young mages doing what they think is right, unleashing Etherion is mass murder, plain and simple. I will not even consider it until all other avenues of resolving this have been exhausted – negotiation, the army, contacting other legal guilds, or even requesting the aid of Fairy Tail."

"I am also opposed," added Belno. "The use of Etherion is not sanctioned by international law unless we have just cause to believe that the world is in danger. We know too little about the situation to make such a momentous decision."

There were murmurings of agreement from the others. Moments passed, and no one spoke up to provide that elusive fifth vote. Mira didn't dare to breathe.

Then Siegrain sighed, and dashed all her hopes to the ground. "I suppose I'll have to tell you the truth, then."

"What are you going on about now, Siegrain?" Yajima snapped.

The young man put his hands in his pockets, his downcast gaze turned towards the floor. "I kept it a secret because I didn't want to cause undue panic, but now... You are all aware that the R-System is forbidden magic designed to revive the dead, correct?" They each nodded impatiently. "Well, the person Jellal is attempting to bring back is none other than the Black Mage Zeref."

"Zeref!" Org exclaimed.

But Yajima's shout was just as loud. "You claimed earlier that you didn't know what your brother was up to!"

A flash of annoyance. "I knew it has long been the aim of Jellal's cult to resurrect Zeref. Until Lahar informed us about the R-System earlier, however, I was unaware that he had acquired the means to do so."

"Zeref's resurrection would mean the end of the world," Ultear murmured. There was a feverish gleam in her eyes. "Death, destruction, and chaos, the likes of which our world has never seen. Demons will roam free. What was once broken will be unified. The One Great Magic will live again, and all ordinary life will be erased."

Horrified, Org insisted, "This cannot be allowed to happen! As the Magic Council, it is our duty to prevent such calamities from striking our world."

"Is there any doubt now that our actions would be protected by law, Belno?" Siegrain asked. Without waiting for a response, he spread his arms wide. "For the sake of the world, let us take one final vote on the matter."

Natsu had been expecting any one of several responses from Erza. She might have laughed, berated him for being slow, and whipped out the cure for Changeling she had discovered to use on Happy. She might have been angry – she was Erza Scarlet, S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, so of course the curse would break for her as soon as she had recovered enough magic power. She might have been happy but clueless, not having the faintest idea how it had happened but not questioning it in the slightest, just like the Erza he knew.

If the worst had come to the worst, she might have been defensive. How dare he believe the lies of that evil stranger Jellal? When had he started doubting his friends? It would have been difficult, but at least that reaction was one he could have understood.

What he hadn't been expecting was for her to take a step back, tears springing to her eyes. "Why… why would you say such a thing, Natsu?" she pleaded.

"Erza?" he wondered.

She raised her arms, as if to ward off a physical blow. "Everything was going to be okay. We could have gone back to the guild and all been happy together, just like before. It would all have been…" Her words broke apart into sobs, her shoulders heaving. Natsu wanted to run to her, but something made him hold his ground. "But you had to go and ask… why couldn't you just accept it?"

"Because Happy is our friend too, Erza. He's just as important as you are."

"How can you say that? How can you…?" Once again, her conviction broke. Natsu was grateful when her tearful, imploring eyes turned away from his. "Things were going to go back to normal…"

"This isn't normal, Erza," he told her firmly. "I don't know what's going on here, but how can you say that this is normal?" He glanced from Jellal, who was struggling to get to his feet, to Happy, the mirror image of Erza, looking just as close to tears as she was. "Erza! Talk to me! What the hell happened to you?"

"You'll just take it away from me, won't you? No matter how hard I try, it won't be enough. I'll always end up with nothing. I thought I could… become strong…"

"Erza?"

"No. Maybe it's not too late," she murmured, suddenly still. "The others don't know yet. I can still go back to the guild with them and everything will be okay. If I just make it so you can't tell anyone what happened here…"

And then there was a sword flashing in her hand as she ran towards Natsu. Her beautiful red hair trailed behind her, mingling with the scattered drops of the tears she had cast away. Jellal yelled a warning. Natsu tried to move, but his knee collapsed under him; he had taken far too much damage earlier to be able to fight now. He had to do something – summon some fire to force her back, or something! – but before his friend's murderous intent, turned upon him, all rational thoughts fled his mind.

That blade carved down towards him and came to a stop with a resounding clang. Inches away from Natsu's neck, two identical swords crossed – Erza's and Happy's. Though Happy's arms trembled under the force of parrying the blow, his stance was proud. "This time, Natsu, I'll be the one to protect you!" he declared. "And I swear that I will win!"

"You have no right to talk like that, Fake Erza!" she snarled.

"You're the one pretending to be Erza!" Natsu retorted.

Erza stepped back, swinging her sword. "Shut up! Requip!"

"Requip!" repeated Happy.

Erza was overconfident. She went with sheer power – Heaven's Wheel Armour, ready to put an end to this fight in a single strike. In each hand she held a sword a normal man would have struggled to lift, their hilts curved to look like the wings of angels. With a flash, another two swords appeared in the air beside her, suspended through her effortless telekinesis. She pointed her sword to direct them towards Happy-

Who streaked past her side, almost too quick for the eye to see. Happy had Requipped Flight Armour, which granted him a speed of movement as formidable as that of the cheetah which had inspired the armour's design. Before she had the chance to rectify her mistake, he was behind her, turning to attack even as he Requipped an enormous spiked mace into his hands.

However, it was a look of fury, rather than a look of fear, that crossed Erza's face. "A fast armour to get behind your opponent, and an attack from Purgatory Armour before they can react. You stole that tactic from me!"

"You taught it to me!" Happy shouted back. "Because we're teammates, Erza!"

The last word became a shriek as he swung the devilish black weapon towards her with all of his might. Braced for the impact, he closed his eyes tight, only to have the shiver of metal striking metal reverberate through his arms. The two floating swords had blocked the attack. Erza had parried through sheer force of will, without even turning around.

She gave him no warning. She pivoted on the spot, slashing down in the same direction with both swords. The lower blade was turned harmlessly away by Happy's left greave, but no one knew her armours better than she did, and the upper blade found the gap between the plates that she sought and buried itself into Happy's thigh. He let out a cry; when she drew her swords back, the edge of one was covered in blood.

"Give up, imposter," she hissed.

"I can't do that. I promised Natsu I would win!"

With a wordless scream, Erza kicked him in the chest. As he spiralled through the air, sending a cascade of crimson droplets spinning in all directions, he drew upon his courage and shouted once more, "Requip!"

Even to Erza, Requipping while tumbling through the air like that was impressive. Yet Happy was a flying cat – he spent most of his life in the air. This came naturally to him. His new armour was black like before, but far lighter, designed to be used with the great pair of draconic wings protruding from his back. He checked his flight as easily as a human would have taken a step. Twisting, he hit the wall feet-first; taking all his weight onto his uninjured leg, he kicked off again and soared back towards Erza.

Her look was one of pure rage. A dozen swords winked into existence around her before launching towards Happy.

Unafraid, he called out, "Moon Slash!" Bringing his curved blade round in a wide two-handed arc, he launched a wave of energy from it, scattering the flung swords. In the next heartbeat, he was swinging at Erza herself.

She brought up both of her swords to block it in the nick of time. Though the force of it made her take a step back, she had defended successfully, and now that Happy's momentum of flight had been lost, the advantage was hers once again. As his feet returned to the floor, he was immediately forced to shift his weight away from his injured leg as another surge of blood burst from the wound.

Erza didn't give him a chance to recover. She pressed her advantage with both swords flashing, forcing Happy backwards. He staggered across the floor, unable to match her superior swordsmanship; it took all his concentration just to keep those twin blades from cutting into him once again.

Neither of the spectators could take their eyes off the battle. Jellal was too worn out to even stand. After exhausting almost all of his magic power earlier, he was barely clinging on to consciousness. Yet he was watching the two Erzas fight with rapt fascination, terrified and awed.

Similarly, Natsu felt sheer admiration for his partner's skill – but also alarm. Though they seemed even at the moment, he knew the odds were overwhelmingly in Erza's favour. Happy was Requipping constantly, and no matter which armour he used, she was holding him off with her swordsmanship alone. She didn't need to Requip to win; she wasn't even taking this battle seriously. Happy would run out of magic power long before he could land a blow upon Erza.

Natsu clenched his fists. Happy was always helping him out in battles. Whenever he needed him, that cat was always there, swooping in to fly him out of danger. And now that Happy was fighting on his behalf, he could do nothing. His body ached all over, and he felt completely drained – he couldn't even stay upright, let alone draw upon any magic to help. "Happy," he whispered. "Please… please stop her!"

"Natsu?" Happy murmured. And then, as if an idea had suddenly come to him: "Natsu!"

Energy surged within him to match his resolve. In between blows, his sword vanished, to be replaced by the enormous spiked Purgatory mace once again. Erza hadn't been expecting him to suddenly fight back – one powerful blow tore the blades from her grasp and sent them spinning across the floor. Scowling, she raised her hand to Requip more, but this time Happy was faster.

"Requip! Giant's Armour!" Even before the golden plate armour had finished forming around him, he seized Erza with both hands and threw her bodily across the room, the magic of the armour amplifying his strength. She had taught him that one, too.

However, rather than chasing her down and pressing home his advantage, Happy turned towards Natsu as he Requipped once more. Dark red plates embraced his body. With his hands raised high above his head, he drew upon the power of the Flame Empress Armour to conjure a ball of fire – and throw it not at Erza, but at Natsu.

Understanding instantly, Natsu caught the fireball in both hands, utterly unaffected by the heat of it, and began to eat. It wouldn't heal the damage he had taken, but already he could feel the warmth spreading through his veins, rekindling the dragon's fire within him. That slippery sensation of magic, which had been doggedly evading his attempts to grasp it, suddenly overwhelmed him in its eagerness to be given form. He was not about to deny it that chance.

Erza hadn't forgotten her friend's abilities in her madness. In an attempt to end this as quickly as possible, she Requipped Flight Armour and shot towards Happy. The former cat waited until the last moment, trusting in the friend behind him. Then he danced aside – and Erza found herself flying straight into the vortex of a Fire Dragon's Roar.

For a moment, Natsu thought they had done it. Then there came the sound of Erza screaming, only it wasn't the Erza in the fire who was in pain, but Happy, who should have been safely out of danger. Golden light encircled his body. It might have been a Requip, but Erza's magic had never caused him any pain before – and it was going on for far too long.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled, panicking. He tried to stand but fell straight away. Why had he put everything into that attack? He should have held something back!

A crack appeared in the light blazing around Happy's body. A moment later there was another, tearing all the way down his leg as if he were made of china. Then the entire thing shattered, throwing Happy's dark silhouette to the floor. His scream became a heaving pant. He didn't get up.

As the flames died away, and Erza became visible once more, Natsu began to see why. Erza was wearing the Flame Empress Armour that Happy had had on just a moment ago, rendering her completely safe from Natsu's hottest flames. There were cracks in the armour's crimson plating, but that did nothing to dampen Erza's satisfied smile. "This armour belongs to me. It knows its true master."

Happy twitched. Pulling together his remaining strength, he forced himself into a sitting position; tried and failed to stand. It was clear now that he was wearing nothing but Erza's underwear. She had stripped his armour from him. "I'm sorry, Natsu," he whispered, shivering. "I'm sorry… I couldn't…"

"Happy!" Natsu yelled. His fist shook with desperation. "Erza! How could you do this to a teammate? To a fellow member of Fairy Tail? To a friend?"

"Shut up!" She kicked Happy in the side; he whimpered and curled up into a ball. "Friends are worthless! They only take things from you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu shouted back.

There was a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye. At the far side of the room, Jellal was finally getting to his feet, using the giant central crystal to support his weight. Natsu wasn't sure if he could put his trust in the other man or not – there was every possibility he might go for the kill again if he got the chance.

But if he did nothing, Erza as she was now might well kill them all. He would have to gamble that Jellal didn't have enough power left to murder her outright. Throwing caution to the winds, he resisted the urge to shout out a warning and fixed his gaze on Erza, using all of his willpower not to give Jellal's movements away.

"I tried so hard! But you all changed back and I was stuck as a cat, and no one cared about me-"

"Of course that's not true! And you know it's not, Erza! I know this isn't the real you talking! What happened to you?"

"No one cared. Not even you. If you had just accepted it, we could have gone back home together, Natsu. It's your fault that things have to end this way."

Far from appearing downcast, however, a dark smile danced across her face at the prospect. She raised the armour's flaming sword towards Natsu, and then lowered it again. "That won't work on you, will it?" The fire running up and down the red metal vanished. She grabbed the hilt firmly with both hands. "I suppose I will have to slice you open with my own two hands."

As she stepped forwards to end Natsu's life, she had forgotten about the person lying at her feet. No matter how beaten up he was, Happy would not let anyone harm his partner while he still breathed. Natsu would have done the same for him. With the last of his power he Requipped the only weapon he could manage – a small dagger – into his hand, and lunged along the floor at her feet.

"What-?" Erza tried, and then her strangled shout became a shriek of agony as Happy slipped the blade through the crack in the armour and deep into her leg. Skin and tendons parted effortlessly beneath the edge of his desperation; it severed the twitching muscles and lodged itself firmly in the bone.

She fell to her knees. Pain flooded her senses, breaking even her formidable focus. The sword tumbled from her limp fingers, bounced once, and returned to whichever extradimensional space she normally kept it in. The forced Requip of the armour must have taken as much out of her as it had of Happy, for that single deep wound had brought her to the ground.

"Erza-" Natsu tried, reaching out for her, hoping against hope that it had shattered her will to fight.

But she had come far too far to let anything stop her now. It wasn't too late to make everything work out. She had her body and her magic back now. If she could silence Natsu, Happy and Jellal here, she could tell the others that they all killed each other fighting, and then she could return to the guild and they would accept her and everything could still go back to how it was…

The light of the crystal trembled and dimmed. Fearful shadows detached themselves from the floor and swirled around Erza's outstretched hand. Now this was power. With this, she wouldn't have to hide behind her armour any more. She could stand proud in the light of day. More of this – and she could get it if she made the man before her into a sacrifice. He had to die anyway, so that she could keep the truth hidden. But if she were stronger, she could do what she wanted – be whom she wanted, with no need to fear the past. All she had to do was to fulfil the purpose that the Tower had been built for…

The darkness became a living claw, reaching for Natsu's throat. At that moment, Jellal appeared at her side. The shadows dissolved in the white light radiating from his hand. For all the endless sadness in his eyes, there was not a shred of mercy, and for the first time, looking over the edge of the void of madness that existed within Erza, Natsu understood why. Just for a moment, fear of that inhuman darkness struggled against his desire to protect his friend, and that hesitation cost him the chance to stop Jellal.

But as the other was about to strike Erza down, there was a flash of blue light – and all of a sudden, a large spike of ice was protruding from Jellal's chest. A bubble of blood burst on his startled lips. Then the magic at his hand winked out and he fell without a sound.

Alarmed, Natsu turned towards the doors, where six new figures were standing. Most of them he didn't recognize, but that half-naked man at the front was one he knew all too well. In the intensity of everything that had happened, Natsu had all but forgotten that anyone outside of that room still existed.

"Gray!" he shouted. "Stop!"

The ice mage didn't lower his hand. "He's our enemy, Natsu."

"Simon explained everything," Lucy added. "This whole Tower is a weapon Jellal is trying to use to sacrifice Erza and resurrect Zeref."

Natsu glanced at Jellal, lying unconscious on the floor beside him. "No, he's not. Not any more."

"What the hell are you on about?" Gray snapped, losing patience. Everything about the scenario he had burst into made him feel uneasy – Jellal unconscious, defeated far too easily; Natsu, seemingly too exhausted to stand; one Erza on the ground, clutching her leg and shuddering, while a second Erza had her hand locked tightly around a knife whose blade was chipped and covered in blood.

"I don't really understand it myself," Natsu told him quietly. "But he isn't our enemy. Whatever it was that had a hold on him has control of Erza now. He was trying to stop her."

"Erza?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening in realization. "What… happened?"

"I think she was suffering more than any of us ever realized, and that pain drove her to give up something important in exchange for getting her old body back."

"Then she..."

"Perhaps now isn't the best time for explanations." Simon had moved to the window and was glancing out in worry. "We have to get out of the Tower of Heaven, right now."

"Not until Jellal is dead!" Sho retorted, viciously.

"It can wait!" Simon returned. "The Magic Council is about to fire Etherion upon the Tower. If we're here when that happens, we'll all die!"

Gray choked, "Etherion?"

"How do you know?" This was Millianna's demand. Just like Sho, she had fixed Jellal's unconscious form with an angry glare, desiring nothing more than to make him pay for the eight years he had spent deceiving them all. She couldn't accept just on the word of a complete stranger that he wasn't their enemy any more.

"Have you seen the sky?" Simon asked. "Get everyone out of the Tower now! We'll work out what to do when we're safely away from here!"

Wally, who had also moved to the window to check the scenario, remarked, "It's no good. The others have taken all the boats."

Simon had not been to only one to sense the gathering of the grey clouds of portent, nor see the enormous magic circles glinting in the sky above the Tower. Even those who did not know what Etherion was recognized deadly magic when they saw it – and that was not to mention the vast releases of magic power and the explosions that had come from the room at the Tower's summit. All the servants of the Tower had piled onto the remaining ships and were fleeing for their lives.

"There's still the boat we arrived on," Natsu told them. "Gray, Lucy – take Jellal and Happy and get out of here."

The others were hesitant, but when it came down to it, both of them trusted Natsu. Gray nodded once. Lucy asked, "What about you, Natsu?"

"I'm going to stay with Erza."

"But Natsu-"

It would be enough of a struggle to fit the eight of them in that little fishing boat as it was; with him and Erza was well, they would never manage to get away in time, even if it did somehow stay afloat. Not to mention, with Erza the way she was, if he brought her back, he would only be endangering the rest of the guild.

But he couldn't abandon her either. He couldn't leave her to die alone any more than he could let her out of his sight and risk her escaping the destruction of the Tower.

"I won't let her go until I have the old Erza back. She'd do the same for me."

"But-"

"GO!"

They did so. Gray carried Jellal. He didn't trust any of the others to do it; it was a push for even him to believe Natsu at this point. Lucy lifted Happy, with Simon's help, and with a final glance back at Natsu, she headed for the stairs. "Don't die, Natsu," she whispered.

He turned his head to smile at her. "Goodbye, Lucy."

Then the sounds of the group receded down the stairs, and faded entirely, leaving Natsu and Erza utterly alone. He looked at her without a word, and she stared back at him. He had no idea what must have been going through her head. Had she calmed down? He wanted to believe that she had, but nothing would be that simple. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, both hands clasping her wounded leg, as if she could suppress the agony with her hands alone. At least she was quiet now. The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing, ever so slightly out of sync with each other.

Natsu said, "I'm sorry for not understanding, Erza. You've been hurting inside for a long time, haven't you?"

"Don't act like you know what I've been through."

"But I do know. Because most of it, Erza – we went through it together, don't you remember? Even if you can't see that right now, the Erza I know is still there somewhere, and I know she would never give up on those memories so easily."

"You should leave," she told him quietly. "You'll die if you stay."

He searched for a sign of honesty in her eyes, but all he found there were shadows. He almost smiled. "And let you go on a rampage again? No. I'll stay with you until the very end." His hand closed around her wrist, affectionate but firm. He would not let her escape, no matter what. "I'm sorry that this has happened. I don't know what would make you give up on Fairy Tail and your friends, but I know it must be something awful, and I can't allow that to exist. Whether or not my words are reaching you, I won't leave this place until we can go back to the guild together."

"Then we'll die here. You and me both."

"No, we won't."

"When Etherion fires-"

"Etherion isn't going to fire," he told her, and he honestly believed it. "Do you know why, Erza? Because Mira is there in the Council, right now, fighting on Fairy Tail's behalf. She'd never let them do something like that."

"She won't be able to stop it!"

"Of course she will. I believe in her, because she's part of Fairy Tail, and she's my friend. When did you stop believing in those things, Erza?" He shook his head and smiled. "No, I guess it doesn't matter. Now that the others are safely out of danger, I can stay with you for as long as it takes for you to remember them. Etherion will not fire. It'll be alright. I promise."

"And that decides it." Org spoke with great solemnity, for the weight of the future rested upon his shoulders. "Eight votes have been cast for the motion, and one against. We will fire Etherion. May the sacred light open the way to a brighter tomorrow."

A/N: Huh, seems like Laxus grew up a lot while he was off-screen. I'm very proud of him. When I decided way back at the start of this story that Changeling had been Makarov's prank gone wrong as a kind of semi-jokey-explanation for the whole affair, I always intended for it to have repercussions. It was only a matter of time before someone called him out on it, and while I think it wouldn't even occur to most people in the guild to consider that it might actually be his fault, it certainly would to Laxus, given the tension between the two of them over the whole Guild Master thing. Perhaps Laxus is being a little harsh, but, I don't know, that's not really the point. I'm very much looking forward to resolving that storyline. Laxus hasn't been in this story nearly enough recently...

As for the rest of the chapter, well... I guess it's one of those situations where it's got to get worse before it can get better? ~CS