Chapter 21: Showdown

Elfman eventually had gotten to the destroyed base camp with an unconscious Evergreen in his arms. The worry was rolling off of him in waves. Levy and Lisanna quickly helped them, wondering how Elfman was able to make it with all the injuries. Tessa wanted to help him, but she couldn't find the strength to get up, so she let the girls take care of him and Ever. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting down lost in her own thoughts. The dark clouds had covered the entire sky and a rumble could be heard. Eventually, rain started to fall on them. She didn't want any of them to get wet, so she created a glass roof for them to have more shelter. A few times Gajeel had woken up, but he had quickly gone back to sleep.

She was always emotional. That was something that it would never go away from her. She had gotten thicker skin after meeting Aria, specially knowing the girl's past. So she had resorted on being strong for her, to be there for her just on how she was there for her in her own moments of need. She had been there for Gajeel when he had finally spoken about Phantom Lord in more detail soon after their relationship had blossomed. She felt she had to do that for those that would help her, be strong for them.

But who was going to be strong for her as her whole world was crumbling at the sight of the two most important people in her life laying still in front of her?

"Tessa, isn't that Lily and Carla?"

Tessa's eyes widened and she immediately removed herself from the floor and she felt relief seeing the black exceed.

The two cats landed and quickly their eyes widened in horror to see five mages knocked out.

Lily growled as he looked at his partner, "Grimoire heart?"

Tessa nodded stiffly, "They're extremely strong."

Lisanna hugged herself, "There was not much that I could do for Mira."

Carla gave her an encouraging smile, "Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy are coming soon. They have the Master with them but he's badly injured. They'll be here!" She turned to Lily, "I will go back to them and guide them. Stay here with Gajeel."

He nodded to her, as he appreciated her gesture of telling him to stay with his partner.

"Be careful Carla, we don't know how many more are out there." Levy said as Carla started flying.

Tessa watched Lily walk towards Gajeel and sat down, a thoughtful look on his face.

"It was two of their wizards. They got him and Juvia. She found me and Aria and I got to him as fast as a I could. But not fast enough…"

She trailed off as her eyes filled with tears again. Panther Lily approached her and put a paw on her hand.

"He's going to be fine. So will the rest. What matters is getting everyone together."

Tessa felt small hands gripping her shoulders, "We got this Tessa. Everyone is going to make it."

She smiled at Levy through the tears. However, an unknown scent reached her nose and she froze. She slowly got up and Lily followed her, having gotten the scent as well.

A tall man with slicked back silver hair, coat, and glasses emerged from the woods. He was walking casually up to them, a smirk plastered on his face as he liked at all f them.

"You know," he said, his voice dripping with fake concern, "It is a shame really. The world is just filled with superiorities and we are far more superior than all of you."

Tessa wasn't sure about the amount of magic power coming from him, but it made her nervous since there were five knocked out guild members and Lisanna was still weak from the attack from Azuma. That only left her and Levy to defend everyone alongside Lily.

He transformed into his battle mode and that's when Tessa saw a few of his scratches from a preview fight.

She was getting ready to attack since she didn't want him to get closer, when a powerful aura of magic was felt like a shockwave. Levy trembled by her side.

"That magic power… it's incredible."

Lily clenched his fists, genuinely worried as another powerful wizard was in the island.

Tessa pushed the fear in the back of her head aside as she lunged forward and attacked.

"Glass Dragon Wing Attack!"

He smirked at her, "Golden Shield!"

The shield appeared and stopped her attack, but she didn't stop there. Her blood was pumping and she was more forceful with each strike. Her fists were covered by sharp pieces of glass and she kept striking at him. She was trying to push him back as much as possible to not let him get near the wounded. She knew his shield was deflecting her attacks, since various cuts were appearing all over her arms and some in her face, small trails of blood dripping down her body. She ignore the burning of her body due to the wounds.

They felt like thousands of hot needles digging in her body.

But it drove her to fight even harder.

Levy and Lily quickly joined her, but he was showing that he was a lot more capable of doing something than just using a shield. A dark aura exploded within his body and sent the others back. He removed the shield and he quickly transformed his right arm into a sword. Tessa's eyes flashed and she created two glass long swords and dashed forward again. He dodged her with ease and he sent his arm to attack Lily and sent him painfully on the ground. Hearing the exceed grunt in pain made her furious and she finally got him to fight her. Lily, through his pain, was able to see how much of a ferocious mage she was when she was fighting with her glass weapons. Even Levy was dumbfounded as well. It reminded her a lot of Erza by the way Tessa was handling the swords. Rustyrose started to get annoyed and on the first opening he saw, he kicked her away.

Levy immediately jumped in, "Script: FIRE!"

Shots of fire shot out at a high speed directly towards him. He was hit by one of the shots and he sneered at her. He jumped over Tessa's form as she was getting up and attacked Levy, using the claw like part of his sword that was on the tip and threw her to the ground. Lisanna transformed into her bird animal soul, but the girl had yet to regain her strength and she was easily defeated.

Tessa growled and yelled as she started to unleash various attacks with her swords but he created wings out of his back and flew upwards, avoiding her attacks. He knew there was the possibility of losing if he stayed in the ground against her.

She jumped in the air, ready to strike him down, when suddenly, a metallic beast appeared in front of her. The dark wizard laughed darkly and ordered the monster to attack. Its claws made contact with Tessa and she crumpled to the floor with a loud pop. She saw the beast approaching her, ready to attack and she prepared herself for the impact by putting her hands up in an attempt to create a shield.

"SEITH MAGIC- LIVING PUPPETRY!"

The beast stopped moving and its glowing red eyes turned green.

"CRUMBLE!"

The beast was destroyed in front of her and she could only stare in shock. The blast sent shockwaves in the beast's radios, sending its original master to the floor. She felt someone helping her up and she immediately felt relieved when she saw Freed holding her.

"Freed! Bickslow!"

"We saw the red flare in the sky," Freed quickly said, "We were with Gildarts going back home."

Lisanna and Levy cried out in happiness. There was no way Grimoire Heart could win now.

Freed's eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at the dark wizard, "You dare to attack our guild members?" his eyes swept to the others, catching quickly Evergreen's unconscious form, "You dare to attack a member of the Thunder Legion?"

He didn't say anything, but the moment he tried attacking them, Freed turned into his Shadow mode and attacked him with his own dark power. The wizard skidded in the ground, his eyes wide as he stared at them.

Bickslow cracked his knuckles, "Get up!"

The dark wizard seemed mortified for a second, but his face twisted into a sinister smirk and he laughed loudly.

"FEAR HOW NOW BEEN WRITTEN INTO MY IMAGINATION! FORWARD! BRITTIA'S SPIRITS! EAT THE SOULS OF THOSE FAIRIES!"

Dark purple shadows that were transformed into twisted and terrifying faces making its way to them, moving around them and wrapping around their bodies like a horrific blanket.

Tessa smirked, "So… this brings back memories."

She felt her inner dragon rumbling pleasantly as her heart started to beat faster. The wind of the storm around them stopped blowing as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her magic. Her gray scales appeared and her eyes were in their bright pink color. Her rainbow aura moved around the shadows, shielding her, and the magical energy grew with each second.

Lisanna gasped, "Her power…"

"I've just read about it not that long ago!" Levy quickly said, "A dragon slayer's ultimate form. Dragon Force!"

Even Freed and Bickslow took a step back as they could feel her aura increasing. It was a beautiful sight to see.

"I think your shadows need to disappear," She brought out the same staff she had used against Midnight, when suddenly, a thunderous crash could be heard and the earth shook wildly. They could all hear the snapping branches, and a low groan echoed.

Levy's face was mortified, "The Tenrou Tree!"

They all witnessed the magnificent tree fall into its doom. The moment it landed on the ground, Tessa's dragon force disappeared instantly and she fell to her knees.

"M-My magic…!" She gasped out as she gripped her chest. Bickslow and Freed weren't in any better conditions, both having to fall down as well. Their bodies were going in a slight shock by the sudden loss of their magical energy. Tessa grunted, clenching her fist since she had been so close to defeat him.

"It seems that Azuma destroyed your precious tree," He cockily said as his shadows covered their bodies, "But how rude of me! I have been so entertained playing with all of you that I didn't introduce myself. I'm Rustyrose. One of the Seven Kin Purgatory that will take your meaningless lives!"

He laughed as they screamed in pain and horror. Levy and Lisanna could only stare at their friends, horrified for what they were going through. Rustyrose approached each one of them and kicked them several times.

Tessa was gasping for air the moment he stepped on her stomach, to the point that she screamed in pain.

Gajeel's eye slowly opened and his ears rung to the sound of her screams.

Bickslow tried getting up but he couldn't, "Leave her alone! Come at me if you have the fucking balls!"

Rustyrose's eyes flashed in annoyance and delivered a kick to the face of Bickslow.

Tessa was gagging as she regained her breathing, "You'll pay for this…"

She wasn't sure for how long Rustyrose kept attacking them, when suddenly, she felt her energy back in her body like if it was bathing her. She could feel her inner dragon again in the back of her head and she flipped her body. She wasn't sure what the hell was going on within the island, but she could worry about that later.

She dashed at him and kicked him with a strong roundhouse kick followed by Freed and Bickslow.

Rustyrose landed face first on the ground and screamed, "THAT'S IT YOU STUPID FAIRIES! TOWER OF DINGIG!"

Before they realize what was going on, they were all pulled back by a magnetic type force into a gigantic tower that he produced from the ground. Their bodies had become one with the tower and they were immobile.

Tessa struggled with all her might like the rest, but it was futile. They could feel the tower rumbling and they knew if they didn't get out of it soon, they were done for.

Tessa's mind clicked and she inhaled as much of the air as she could.

"GLASS DRAGON ROAR!"

Rustyrose didn't react to defend the attack fast enough and he was hit full on by the power of her roar. The tower instantly disappeared, leaving all of them free. Bickslow quickly used his babies for his Baryon Formation, the green blast following right after Tessa's roar, and for good measure, Lisanna flung Freed and he struck Rustyrose with his sword.

Gajeel smirked. In any other situation, he would've called that overkill.

They were all panting heavily, anticipating for him to get up, but he never did. Tessa was exhausted but she thanked whoever was above that it was finally over. She highly doubted she would've been able to defeat him if it hadn't been for Freed and Bickslow.

"Come on," Freed said from behind her, "Let's take care of those wounds."

/./././././.

She took a small nap to replenish some of her strength, but she immediately woke up when the scent of burnt wood reached her nose. She sat up, but Lisanna quickly told her to take it easy.

"Some of the cuts are deeper than others, take it easy."

She Lucy laying Cana down when Wendy gasped and quickly ran to them, "Oh my- I'll treat everyone immediately!"

Tessa shook her head, "Too many of us. You need to save your strength."

Carla nodded, grateful that someone was voicing her opinion, "She's right. All day you've used a lot of your magic."

Natsu's eyes were wide in disbelief, "Mira and Gajeel… Even Aria…"

"Don't forget about Cana and the Master…" Lucy said, her eyes quickly becoming sad.

Tessa looked at them. That's when she noticed the small form of the Master laying alongside Cana, "The Master? How?"

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "It was Hades, the master of Grimoire Heart."

Lily hopped on Tessa's shoulder, being mindful of her wounds, "Their ship is in a bay to the east of us. It seems we are going to have to split up in two teams."

Levy nodded, "One for attack, the other one for defense."

Lucy looked around them, "But who's going to go attack Hades? More than half of us are knocked out…We don't know where Gray and Erza are!"

Tessa looked at Gajeel and Aria and shook her head, "I'll stay here and defend. I can't leave them."

Freed agreed, "I'll stay with her and write an incantation to protect the place. Levy, will you help me?"

The bluenette nodded. Bickslow shook his head, "I feel weird leaving the Master alone here."

Freed sighed as he brought out a damaged lacrima from his robes, "I'm just hoping that my message was delivered..."

Natsu bumped his fists, "Well I'm definitely going. Happy? Lucy?"

Her eyes widened in fear, "Um-well… I-"

"I'm going too!" Wendy suddenly declared. Carla objected quickly but Tessa nodded at her, "I know you can do it Wendy."

"I'll go," Panther Lily said as he looked at Tessa, "I'll get revenge for Gajeel."

The rain started to fall harder followed by a loud thunder. It rumbled and groaned, the loudness echoing to a mere growl. The moment Natsu heard it, his eyes shot up and looked at Aria's unconscious body. She had a bandage around her head, her wild silver hair spilling everywhere from it and she had various bandages on her arms. He stepped over Gajeel's body and picked her up.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled at him, "What are you doing?! She can't come with us! Look at her!"

Tessa tried getting up, "Natsu!"

He ignored all the complaints as he carried her body and then placed her on the ground. He quickly stepped away and watched her.

"That poor girl is going to get pneumonia!" Carla chastised him.

The thunder rumbled again and a shot of lightning came down from the dark sky. The moment it touched Aria's body, it turned automatically blue and it grew thicker.

Tessa's eyes widened, "Her energy is being replenished…"

Another thunder rumbled and lightning crashed again, this time, the color intensifying in brightness that it blinded them for a second. When they could see again, Aria had one hand on her knee and she brought down her left fist, cracking the ground underneath her.

"We are finishing this," She growled at them.

/./././././././

They ran through the jungle, their shoes stepping over puddles and stepping on mud. Levy had tried convincing Aria to not join them since some of her wounds were still open. One look at Tessa and then Gajeel, she was determined to go and fight. She knew her power wasn't fully replenished, but it would do for the meanwhile.

They were surprised when they came across battle wounded, but not their spirits, both Gray and Erza.

"You with us?" Natsu asked him, his voice serious, with no hint of his usual playfulness. Aria was admiring that greatly. There was no moment to fool around. The two wizards nodded and followed him.

They reached the bay with ease and in front of them, was a ginormous ship. The red emblem of Grimoire Heart was visible, mocking the fact that it was there in the sacred grounds of their guild. They could see Hades' shadow standing at the front of the ship, glaring down at them. He stood there for a moment, staring at them, but then he turned around and walked inside the ship, his dark cape flapping behind him with the wind.

Natsu stopped glaring at Hades' back and turned to the exceeds, "I need you three to find whatever is powering up the ship."

Aria agreed from his side, "That thing moves, and we are screwed."

The exceeds agreed and quickly took off, finding their own way into the ship. Wendy was worried about the ship moving and just to be safe, she casted the troia spell on both of them.

Their eyes flashed and Gray readied his ice make magic, "This is it!"

He created a stairwell for them to reach the ship. The moment it reached the top, they took off running. Erza quickly going into a battle plan.

"We need to hit him with everything we got from the beginning!"

"For the Master!" Gray said as he pushed his limbs to run faster up the stairwell.

"For our friends!" Wendy added in.

Aria's electricity crackled as she was right behind Natsu, both dragon slayers ready to do the first offense of attack towards the tyrant.

I heard what that bastard's minions did to my friends. What he did to Makarov who has believed in me since I first came to the guild with Tessa…

Hades came into view and she glared.

You're done for!