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The Dark Fairy
Chapter 25
The sleek spaceship raced through the blackness. Inside of the cockpit was a blue alien wearing a large black hat. Tubes extended and coiled out of his cheeks and down to a sort of respirator hidden underneath his clothes. His red eyes were closed as he snored in the pilot's seat. All of the lights on the console in front of him blinked with small flashes of red, blue, and green before the cockpit began to whir to life once again.
"Unknown ship approaching." The computer buzzed, "Unknown ship approaching."
"Eh." The blue alien's red eyes flipped open and he rubbed his face while grumbling under his breath. "The hell is another ship doing this far out here. This is unknown space." He pressed a green button on the console in front of him, "Computer, give me a visual."
A blue hologram illuminated in front of the alien's eyes. The image showed an experimental star ship racing towards his own at breathtaking speeds.
"A star courier?" The blue alien narrowed his eyes. No this was something much different. The alien grit his teeth and grabbed hold of the controls. "Computer, release autopilot. I'm taking over."
A series of whirs and beeps echoed through the cockpit. The lock on the craft's controls turned off and the alien let out a satisfied sigh before quickly hitting the accelerator of his craft. The engines rumbled to life as his ship flew fast through space. The alien grinned as he looked at his computer and saw the courier losing ground on him.
"I outrun everyone." smiled the alien.
His ship shuddered. The alien's eyes widened as red bursts of flak surrounded his ship. Since when does a courier ship have blasters? The alien tightened his blue hands on the controls and struggled against the flak that was tossing his ship to and fro. A loud explosions ripped through the back of the ship and instruments on the control panel screamed to life.
"Power loss in engine two." The computer buzzed. "Fuel leakage in engine one."
The blue alien grit his teeth. His engines were gone.
"Damn." he grumbled before he returned control of the ship to the computer. The alien cracked his knuckles, "Looks like I'm doing this the hard way."
He placed his hand on the holster on his hip and drew his blaster. The alien turned around to face the entry to the cockpit and waited, either for the courier ship to blow him away or for his own ship to be boarded.
He was surprised to see that the unknown ship decided not to shoot him out of the stars. Instead the ship pulled up next his own. The alien watched as the black craft pulled up next to the loading bay of his own ship. The alien frowned and released the safety on his blaster before calmly pointing it at the cockpit's entry.
"Just another chump to learn the skill of Cad Bane." he grumbled.
He heard the airlock on the other side of the door hiss open. The sound of a pair of heavy metallic legs hitting the deck of his ship echoed throughout the craft.
A Droid?
Bane's eyes widened as he saw a red laser slash into the metal door that separated the cockpit from the rest of the ship. The laser melted through the door leaving a large hole. Not large enough for anyone to fit through but large enough for Bane to catch a glimpse of a black robed figure on the other side. The bounty hunter's eyes widened as the door was ripped away by the figure, even though this stranger didn't even touch it. Bane recognized such abilities, though it had been years since he'd seen them in action.
"Jedi." he snarled.
The figure let out a low, amused chuckle before his lips parted, "Oh no, Cad Bane. I'm no Jedi. I'm something much worse."
The figure leg's clanked forward and the shadows fell away. Standing in front of Bane was a male Dathomirian. He had deep red skin covered in black tattoos as well as multiple horns poking up out of the crown of his head. The stranger's eyes glowed crimson as he grinned at the bounty hunter. Cad Bane's eyes widened in realization. He'd had a run in with this one years ago, back in the Clone Wars.
"Maul." he shook.
It was rare for Cad Bane to feel genuine fear. But this time, fear was warranted.
"Oh, I'm glad to see you remember me." grinned Maul as he moved forward with the assistance of a cane. "What is an old friend like you doing all the way out here?"
Bane gulped and did his best to hide his fear, "Collecting a bounty." Bane replied.
"Really?" Maul laughed lightly, "In unknown space! That's risky even for you."
Maul leaned against his cane and Bane got a better look at the Sith. He was older, much older than he last saw him. Then again that was almost thirteen years ago now, it'd make sense. If he had to guess, he was using that cane to compensate for his prosthetics aging on him. But despite Maul's crippled appearance, Bane could still feel the power emanating from him.
"Who are you on a hunt for?" asked Maul before leaning against the pilot's chair.
"I don't discuss my contracts." Bane snarled.
Maul chuckled before Bane felt an invisible hand latched around his whole body. The hand began to squeeze and Bane grunted as his bones began to bend.
"I love it when insignificant beings such as yourself choose the hard way. It makes things so much more entertaining."
Bane's eyes widened as he felt some ribs begin to crack.
"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to crush you first?" growled Maul lowly.
This isn't worth dying for.
"Alright, alright. Put me down." croaked Bane. The invisible hand let him go and Band fell to his knees. The blue bounty hunter winced as he stood back up and felt ribs shift.
"Well…" Maul grumbled, "Any time now."
"A planet. I'm hunting for a planet." Bane said.
Maul tilted his head to the side, "Strange, on whose orders?"
"Who do you think?"
Maul frowned, "The Emperor."
Bane nodded, "His attack dog came to me personally and requested that I find this planet." Bane pulled out a holo disk and turned it on. The estimate of what the planet possibly looked like appeared on the hologram. Bane saw Maul's eyes narrow.
"Interesting." Maul stopped leaning and grabbed the holo disk from Bane's hands, "What is this planet called."
"That Vader called it Earthland." Maul stared hard at Bane, "But it's location is unknown. I don't even know why he has me hunting for it."
Maul began to chuckle lowly. "My old master is as paranoid as ever. And rightfully so." He turned to Bane, "I know where this planet is. It's my destination in fact."
Bane's eyes widened.
"And I don't really want the Empire to know I've come this way. After all, the person I'm going to retrieve would make me an instant enemy of the Emperor."
"Who would that be?"
Bane backed up and subtly pressed a red button behind him. He saw that Maul didn't notice. Bane smiled internally, that button was a distress call to the one other Bounty Hunter he respected. He just hoped that damn Mandalorian would find him.
"The grandson of the infamous Count Dooku of course."
Bane stared at him in shock. The grandson of who!?
"What?"
Maul's smile went away and he sighed, "Oh dear. It seems I've said way too much." Maul glowered at Bane, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now old friend."
Bane felt the fear rise out of him. He was no longer trying to hide it now.
"NO PLEASE DON-" The red saber sliced through his body separating Bane's neck and head from the rest of his body. Maul smirked as the blue body smoked and crumpled to the deck of the ship.
"No one must know that little secret."
Maul said lowly before he placed charges on the hull of Cad Bane's ship. The charges beeped as the timer began to count down. Maul casually leaned on his cane before moving back to the airlock. He calmly opened the airlock and stepped back into his ship, sealing his own airlock behind him. Maul moved slowly to his cockpit before sitting down and firing the engines of his craft to life. He looked down at his gloved hand and saw the holographic timer sitting at ten seconds. Maul grinned and jettisoned away from Bane's doomed ship. After ten seconds of racing away the ship exploded in a brilliant ball of fire behind him. Maul smiled gleefully, another one down. He then sped his ship towards the star system that was coming up.
"Poor Bane," Maul smirked.
A planet began to come into view. A beautiful planet with a clear atmosphere and green lands surrounded by sparkling blue water. His ship began to orbit the gem in outer space and Maul stretched out before heading descending his ship into the atmosphere.
"He was so close."
….
Joshua face screwed into a frustrated expression as he struggled against Erza's left arm that clamped him against her shoulder. Joshua pushed up against her shoulder and flailed his legs.
"Let me down!" he exclaimed, "I've got to take care of the blue haired bastard!"
Erza sighed, "Quit complaining and get ready for a different fight. Look up."
Joshua blinked and stared up at the Edolas Sky. The shades of purple and orange were being covered up by a large floating island with a giant crystal resting on top of the island. Joshua then saw the massive chain that was attached to the crystal's island. The chain stiffened before it began to swing the floating island towards a second island. The second island had a large city on it and hundreds of flying cats flying to and for in a panic over it.
"That's a lacrima." Joshua breathed at he stared at the island being moved by the Dragon Chain.
"Right." Erza frowned, "Those are our friends."
"WHAT!" Joshua shouted, "Let me down! We gotta stop that thing!"
Erza nodded and dropped Joshua from her shoulder. The boy deftly landed on his feet and sprinted towards the island with Erza right beside him.
"Question."
"What is it?" Erza asked.
"How are we going to stop that thing?" Joshua asked.
Erza blinked before looking back up at the massive island. How were they going to stop that thing? Several explosions broke out on the island followed by large iron clubs falling to the ground around Joshua and Erza. Both grinned.
"Look's like Gajeel is already working on that." Erza replied.
"You will be my cat!" they heard the gruff voice of Gajeel scream from the island.
"I think he's a little distracted right now." Joshua sighed.
"HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE KING!"
Joshua and Erza skidded to a stop and saw a large army of blue tunic soldiers charging towards them, weapons drawn. The two grit their teeth. Erza quickly requiped a sword while Joshua quickly activated his lightsaber. Erza looked over and saw that the saber was no longer red but had returned to a grayish white color.
What a strange sword!
"Think we take them all?" Joshua asked as the enemies numbers swelled in front of them.
"I'm not sure." Erza replied as she tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, "Only one way to find out."
"CHARGE MEN!" they heard the booming voice of the Phantom behind them, "Fight for me! Fight for Prince Jellal! Fight for your freedom!"
Red tunic soldiers sprinted past Erza and Joshua. The two Fairy Tail wizards watched in stunned silence as the red tunic soldiers rumbled towards the enemy. In a loud crash of steel and flesh the two armies slammed into each other. At the very front of the red tunic army, Erza saw a bone thin man clad in black leading the charge with a glowing red saber.
"I guess Mystogan changed my mind." Joshua commented.
"I seems so." Erza smiled, maybe the Phantom wasn't so bad. She looked back at the island as it neared Extalia. "We have to get up there somehow."
"No we don't." Joshua replied, "It's big, but maybe-"
Erza realized what he was thinking, "You can't seriously think you can stop an object that large!"
"Can't hurt to try." Joshua replied, "I'm going to have to really concentrate."
He was about to try and use his telekinesis when Erza grabbed his arms and lowered them.
"That will practically kill you. It'll consume too much of your magic." Erza stared down at the ten year old, "I'm not about to lose you."
Joshua blinked and shook his head, "You got any better ideas?"
"Maybe we could cut the chain."
Joshua stared wide eyed at Erza before looking at the dragon chain that was latched onto the island. "That won't stop the momentum."
"But it is something we can do from down here." she then pointed at the island.
Joshua looked up and saw hundreds, no thousands of flying cats pushing against the island with as much power as they could. In the thick of them all was Natsu and Wendy he battered the flying rock with their powers.
"It may be enough to help them out. We'll leave slowing it down to Natsu and the others."
Joshua nodded and activated his saber, "Let's do it!" He charged towards the chain with Erza by his side. The chain flew high in the air above them, too high for Joshua to leap up to.
"Do not doubt the force. Let it power you."
Joshua gathered as much magic power as he could and jumped up. Erza stopped running and stared in awe as Joshua flew high into the air. Joshua raised his saber over his head and with a loud yell brought it down on the Dragon Chain as hard as he could. At first the chain sparked and the power in the chain pushed back against the saber. But Joshua refused to relent. If he didn't stop this thing, then that island would hit Extalia. Everyone would be gone! Macao, Wakaba, Cana, Elfman, Mira, Natsu, Wendy. They'd all be crushed. Joshua shouted out and pushed harder against the chain. The orange power radiating around the chain split away from Joshua's saber. The white laser blade slashed into the bone like chain and slashed it apart. As Joshua fell back to the earth below he could feel his magic power being drained out of him. He'd used way too much to make that jump. He then heard a loud crash and saw Erza blasting her way through the chain with her Black Wing armor. She then raced towards Joshua and caught the boy before he impacted with the ground. Joshua groaned as the two landed onto the ground and the chain landed with a loud bam around them.
"Thanks for the save. The ground looks pretty hard." Joshua smiled up at Erza.
"How in the world did you make that jump!?" she asked the boy.
Joshua grinned then shrugged. He wasn't sure himself.
"Just kinda did it."
Erza's eyes widened slightly before she closed them and shook her head while laughing, "You never cease to amaze me kid."
Joshua grinned and looked past Erza at the flying island. His grin widened as he saw the island slow down and stop just feet away from Extalia. Erza looked up as well and Joshua saw the wide smile on her face as well. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel did it! The Exceeds and dragon slayers had stopped the island!
"Well done Natsu." Erza smiled.
"Hey Erza."
The redhead looked down at the exhausted ten year old in her arms, "What's up?"
"I wanna go home and take a nap now." Joshua smiled before falling asleep.
Erza chuckled a little before falling onto her butt, "Me too kid."
She took some exhausted breaths before letting her requip fade away. She wore only her white blouse and blue skirt as she saw Natsu and the others race back down to the surface.
The rest is up to you Natsu.
….
The battle raged between the army of the Phantom and the armies of Edolas. Joshua Knightwalker grit his teeth and fought back the pain from his wounds as he took down enemy after enemy. Any soldier that dared to follow the tyrant he once called king, fell before his red blade. But despite his overwhelming power on the battlefield he knew he was losing. His men were heavily outnumbered. Even if they were willing to follow him to hell and back, they were not strong enough to take on these overwhelming odds. Slowly Joshua noticed himself and his men being pushed back by the Edolas army.
"JOSHUA!" roared an incredibly angry voice near him.
Joshua's eyes widened as he quickly turned and raised his sword to block the spear of Erza Knightwalker.
"I will destroy you, traitor!" she roared furiously before flipping over him and slashing at his back.
Joshua jumped forwards, narrowly dodging the spear before deflecting it again. Then another strike from Erza's spear rocketed towards him, but it was yet another simple blow to deflect away. As they fought amidst the cries of their soldiers, Erza Knightwalker began to notice that her former love was not striking back. He was just deflecting her as if silently taunting her by not deeming her worthy enough to fight back against.
"Fight back!" she shouted angrily before thrusting her spear forward.
Joshua quickly sidestepped the spear and Erza stumbled forward. Joshua's bony hand roughly grabbed the spear's shaft and he yanked it out of Knightwalker's hands. He then pointed the blunt end of the spear at her and jab her several times in the chest before smacking her over the head with the spear's shaft.
"Why do you have to be so crazy?" he grumbled as she fell backwards, her vision spinning from the spear cracking over her skull.
After a few moments she shook her head, cleared her vision, and jumped to her feet. Joshua still stood in front of her, spear in one hand, glowing red saber in the other.
"What are you waiting for?" she snarled, "Finish me off."
She closed her eyes and heard only the roar of battle in her ears as well as the low hum of Joshua's saber.
The Phantom looked around the battlefield. Men in both red and blue tunics were falling all around him. His eyes were wide as the flashbacks of Alvarez returned to his mind. He dropped the spear in the mud around him and lowered his head.
"No," he whispered, "No more."
The sounds of the current battle around him mixed with the hellish noises he heard in his dreams every night when he went to sleep. He opened his eyes and saw his men falling by the dozens to the unstoppable wave of Edolas soldiers. They were circling around him and fighting to the death. His men were falling for him. They were dying not for any sort of ideals or patriotism, but for him. They were surrounding him and Knightwalker in order to keep the Edolas army from getting their hands on him. Joshua grit his teeth, this was too familiar. This was like Alvarez. He shook his head.
"No more death." he whispered before grabbing a white handkerchief from his pocket.
He wasn't going to let any more of his men die because of him. Just as he was about to wave the white handkerchief and surrender and new chorus of voices rang out over the battlefield.
"CHARGE FAIRY TAIL!" shouted the loud voice of Edo Lucy as she raced towards the battle with her guild behind her, "FOR NATSU!"
"FOR NATSU!" shouted the dark guild behind her.
The small dark guild known as Fairy Tail crashed into the battle of red and blue. The whole scene was turned into complete chaos as Blue battled red and Fairy Tail wizards fought whoever was closest to their fists. Joshua lowered the handkerchief and stared around him. The Fairy Tail wizards, they were pushing the entire army back. He stared in awe as the guild he had once hunted as rebels saved his men's lives, even if they knocked out a few of his own men in the process.
"I thought I told you to finish me." Knightwalker grumbled as she struggled to her feet and glared at Joshua.
Joshua snapped out of his dazed and looked back at his love, "Why would I ever do that?"
Knightwalker's eyes widened.
"You may not love me anymore. But that doesn't mean I still don't love you. And I would never kill you. Ever." Joshua deactivated his saber as the battle drifted away from the two leaving them standing alone among the mud and bodies. "I hope you understand that."
Knightwalker looked at him stunned. Even after what she tried to do, he still loved her. She closed her eyes. That didn't make any sense.
"After all of this, I hope you forgive me for hurting you." Joshua said quietly. "And I hope you also know, that I forgive you."
Erza looked up at him with tears starting to form in her brown eyes. "Joshua…"
She then saw a large smile form on his face and he held out a hand to her, "I don't think this kingdom really wants us around anymore, I hear the countryside is very beautiful. Wanna go?"
Erza stared at him teary eyed, "I-"
A massive red beam of power raced through the air and slammed into Joshua Knightwalker. The Phantom's eyes went wide and his pupils dilated as the beam ripped through his back and out of his stomach. Knightwalker stared in disbelief as Joshua fell to his knees, blood dripping out of his body.
"I WILL NOT TOLERATE TRAITORS!" bellowed the voice of King Faust.
Erza couldn't even scream. She could feel her lungs trying but she couldn't. It was stuck in her throat and it only came out like a whimper as she watched her husband fall face first in the mud. Erza Knightwalker looked past Joshua's fallen form and saw a large robotic dragon emerging from a destroyed coliseum like structure. The Dorma Anim has been awoken. She dropped to her knees and stared in stunned silence as the forbidden spell marched towards her and her love.
"Knightwalker!" boomed King Faust's insane voice from the Dorma Anim, "You will pay for your treachery."
Erza looked up at the dragon and trembled. The power coming from this thing was enormous. She crawled to Joshua and turned him over. His eyes were wide and his gaze was vacant. Erza let the tears fall freely as she held his limp form.
"Please come back." she whimpered as she held him, "I'm sorry. I said it. Come back now! Please!" You can't be! Don't die on me! Please don't!
"He won't be coming back to you ever again!" Boomed the Dorma Anim, "He's a dead man. A fitting punishment for a traitor!"
Erza Knightwalker clenched her jaw and grabbed the silver hilt from Joshua's cold hands. She pressed the button and let the saber crackle to life in her hands. The red energy arced in unstable pulses as it emitted from the hilt. She looked down at Joshua and placed one last kiss on his cold lips.
"I love you." she trembled before placing him down and standing up.
She stared down the Dorma Anim. Her face was filled with fury as tears dripped down her cheeks.
"What are you doing now Captain Knightwalker?" asked King Faust.
"You killed him." she shook.
"Of course I did. He was a traitor!" bellowed Faust.
"No!" Erza pointed the saber at the Dorma Anim, "He was a true warrior of Edolas! And you will pay for killing him!"
Faust frowned from inside the Dorma Anim, "So be it. You will share his fate!"
….
Inside of the ruins of the palace, as the Dorma Anim rampaged outside, Mystogan walked into the largest room of the grand building. This room was his whole objective. He saw the stone pillar glowing blue in front of him.
"The Anima." he breathed.
Mystogan stopped moving as he heard someone approaching him from behind. The captain of the first magic army, Pantherlily, charged into the room. He was bruised from head to toe after his battle with the Iron Dragon Slayer on the lacrima island. But he had managed to escape. He figured his majesty was inside of the safety of the Anima room. So the large cat made his way there. But instead of King Faust he saw a stranger standing in the blue glow of the anima.
"Who are you!? Answer me!" demanded Pantherlily as he balled up his fist and bared his fangs at the stranger.
Mystogan smiled and turned around. Pantherlily's eyes widened as he saw the blue hair and tattoo over the right eye.
"Lily, it's good to see you again."
Pantherlily could believe his eyes, "Prince Jellal." he gasped, "You've returned."
Mystogan nodded, "I have."
Pantherlily felt tears build up in his eyes. The salty tears fell from his eyes and stained his fur as he looked at grown up version of the boy he had saved years ago.
"W-what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to stop my father. In order to do so, I must take away the thing that gives him his power."
Lily's eyes closed, "you plan on using the reverse function on the Anima."
Mystogan nodded, "In order to save this world from the conflict that has always plagued it, I must rid this place of the root of all conflict, Magic power."
Lily gulped, "But that could destroy this world."
"When something is so broken that it can no longer be repaired, you must destroy it, pick up the pieces, and rebuild it." Mystogan replied. "That is the only solution left. Especially now that my father, in his madness, has activated the Dorma Anim."
"He What!?" Pantherlily exclaimed.
Mystogan nodded grimly before placing his hands on a set of controls in the stone in front of him. "The Dorma Anim is unstoppable. I don't even think the dragon slayers can bring it down. No doubt they are trying as we speak." The room rumbled around them and rubble rained down from the ceiling, "In order to stop the Dorma Anim we have to cut off it's magic power. And the only way to do that is to send all of the magic in this world to Earthland." Before Mystogan input the codes to begin the reverse anima he glanced back at his old exceed friend, "Are you going to try and stop me?"
Pantherlily frowned and then shook his head, "No. It's time this world learned to live without magic and end the wars that have plagued the people."
Mystogan gave Lily a small smile and nodded before putting the codes in. With a flash of blue light the anima activated and launched a pillar of white light into the dark skies above it. A whirlpool of clouds formed around the white light as an Anima was opened above the ruins of the Royal city. As quickly as it opened it began to suck all of the magic power of Edolas into its core. Lily stared in awe as he saw pure magic being pulled out of the very world and taken into the reverse Anima. Mystogan looked on grimly.
"It's going to take a long time to rebuild this world. I hope you will help me do it."
Lily looked back at Mystogan, "I will."
….
Erza Knightwalker cried out in pain as the Dorma Anim's magical missiles impacted against her and sent her battered body sprawling across the ground.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIRST!" shouted Natsu as he hammered the Dorma Anim's head with a fiery fist.
The dragonslayers had joined in on the fight almost as soon as the Dorma Anim appeared. At first all three were confused why Erza Knightwalker would be fighting her king. But when they saw the limp body of the Phantom in the mud nearby they understood and didn't even bother to question her. And she didn't question them. She was grateful the help as they four raged their battle against the mad king of Edolas.
Natsu yelled out in pain as the Dorma Anim threw him off of it's body and into Wendy. Gajeel then yelled out as the tail of the artificial dragon whipped him through the air and slammed him into the earth.
"Damn." Natsu clenched his fists, "How come we can't beat this thing!?"
"We're dragon slayers! This should be a piece of cake!" Growled Gajeel who was just as battered and frustrated.
"We can't even put a dent in it." Wendy gasped as she felt her magic power begin to dwindle.
Erza Knightwalker rose to her feet and glared angrily at the Dorma Anim. She barely had the strength the stand. Only the desire to avenger Joshua spurred her on. She raced forward once again and slashed at the armor that covered the Dorma Anim.
"Follow the crazy lady's lead." growled Gajeel before charging once again as well. As he approached the artificial dragon he sucked in ton of air, "IRON DRAGON ROAR!"
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"
"SKY DRAGON ROAR!"
The massive attacks slammed into the Dorma Anim and strained against the magical armor it was encased in.
"AHAHAHA!" cackled King Faust, "You cannot pierce the Dorma Anim's armor! Not while it has magic reinforcing it!"
The King's laughter faded though as he stared at the dials inside of the Dorma Anim. The magic power, it was plummeting. His eyes widened as he stared at the dial falling from full power to zero.
"WHERE IS THE MAGIC POWER GOING!?"
Erza Knightwalker looked up and gasped as she saw the magic of Edolas being sucked into a portal that resembled the Anima. She then stared at the magical armor of the Dorma Anim and saw pure magic seeping out of it and rising into the air.
"NO! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!"
Knightwalker looked up and saw the three dragon slayer wars pierce the center armor of the Dorma Anim. The king flew out the back of the artificial dragon as the powerful attacks hit him head on. Erza Knightwalker looked around her and saw the magical weapons of everyone, friend and foe, losing their magic to the Anima. Panic began to spread among the many people in the battle and in the city around them. Knightwalker looked down at the red saber and was surprised to see no magic leaking out of it. Was it not a magical weapon? She shook away her thoughts. She had one thing to do right now. Kill the king. She stumbled forward before limping towards the crumpled up form of King Faust.
"No," croaked the King, "How could I lose?"
"Faust."
The King's eyes widened and he looked over to see Knightwalker limping towards him, red saber crackling in the air. He stared fearfully at her as she stood over him.
"You...will...pay." she snarled as she raised the saber over her head.
"Erza don't!" shouted a voice. Erza Knightwalker hesitated a looked to see Pantherlily and Prince Jellal running towards her, "Don't kill him." yelled Lily.
"Why not?" she snarled, "He didn't show mercy to Joshua. He killed him!"
Mystogan and Pantherlily stopped in their tracks.
"What!?" gasped Lily.
Mystogan looked at Erza in shock then his eyes turned to Faust. His father looked over at him then back to Erza. His eyes filled with fear.
"What would he do?" he said quietly.
Erza blinked.
"What would Joshua have done?" Mystogan repeated as he looked back at Erza.
Erza grit her teeth and tightened her grip around the lightsaber in her hands. She trembled before yelling out and plunging the blade downwards. Faust closed his eyes and braced for the end. He heard the high crackling of the blade in his right ear. He opened his eyes and stared stunned at the red blade that was mere inches from his head.
"Leave." Erza growled, "And never come back."
She deactivated the saber and held it loosely in her hands. She looked over at Mystogan and Lily.
"What do we do now?" she asked as the battle ended around them. The magic was almost completely gone now and panic was spreading.
"We rebuild." Mystogan replied, "Together."
Erza Knightwalker closed her eyes and nodded.
"Um, Prince Jellal. How much of the magic does the reverse anima take?" Lily asked.
"LILY!" shouted Mystogan.
Erza opened her eyes and saw Pantherlily rising into the air surrounded by a yellow glow. Rising up towards the anima with him was all of the other Exceeds, the Earthland wizards, and the massive lacrima that slowly ascended towards the reverse anima.
Of course. The exceeds have magic in their very bodies. The reverse anima takes all magic, that must include them and the Earthland wizards.
Lily at first panicked but then realized this as well. He calmed himself down and looked back down at Mystogan, "I guess this is goodbye my prince." Lily grinned down at Mystogan as the vacuum of the reverse anima took him, "I know you will be a great king." and with that he was gone.
"HEY WHY AM I FLYING!" shouted a pink haired young man as he flailed his arms.
"What is going on!?" shouted many exceeds as they were taken by the reverse anima.
Erza Knightwalker and Mystogan watched as they wall were taken into the anima. Knightwalker then saw her Earthland counterpart in the air with a small ten year old in her arms. She narrowed her eyes and called out to her.
"SCARLET!"
Erza Scarlet looked down to see Knightwalker yelling at her.
"Take care of the kid! Cherish him with everything you got!" Knightwalker shouted at the top of her lungs, "Don't make the same mistake I made." she finished with a whisper.
Scarlet looked down and nodded at Knightwalker before the anima took her and Earthland Joshua. Within minutes, all magic in Edolas was gone. All lacrimas had disappeared, and the floating islands that relied on magic to stay in the air began to crash to the earth. As the world ended around them Erza Knightwalker turned to the new king of Edolas.
"You sure you can rebuild this place?" she asked.
"With help. I'm sure we can."
The two stood silently as the last few remanants of magic went into the reverse anima. With a flash of light the anima closed, taking all of Edolas's magic away. Erza Knightwalker suddenly felt the weight of today bear down on her. She felt her shoulders begin to tremble as she started to silently cry. She then felt an arm wrap around her and she felt Jellal embrace her.
"He wouldn't want you to cry."
"I can't help it. He's probably so ashamed of me." cried Knightwalker.
Jellal shook his head, "No." he ended the embrace and let Knighwalker rest her injured weight on his own, "He'd be proud of you."
….
Nastu yelled out as he fell to the earth below him. He landed heavily in the gray dust around him and rubbed his head.
"That hurt!" he winced.
"NATSU WATCH OUT!" shouted Happy as he flew towards Natsu.
Natsu blinked and looked up to see the entire guild hall plummeting down towards him. Natsu yelled out, his eyes bulging out of his skull as he tried to sprint out of the guild hall's shadow. He felt Happy's paws grab him and lift him into the air. The two narrowly dodged the guildhall as it landed back in it's space with a thunderous boom. The rest of Magnolia soon followed and in the blink of an eye, all of Magnolia returned to normal. Natsu glanced up and saw the anima portal close up above him. The pink haired dragon slayer stared up in disbelief before looking out at Magnolia from high above.
"Hey Happy, where are the others?" he asked.
"I see Erza and Joshua resting on the guildhall roof."
Down on the guildhall roof Erza sat and held a sleeping Joshua in her lap. She looked around and saw Magnolia return to it's rightful place.
"Agh! That hurt!" groaned Gray as he got up from the top of the roof.
Gajeel crashed down through the roof and into the main hall below while Wendy was gently dropped off by Carla beside Joshua, Erza, and Gray. Natsu landed down beside them as well.
"So, Mystogan was actually from that place?" Gray commented.
Erza nodded, "Prince Jellal was his actual name."
"Blue haired bastard." mumbled Joshua in his sleep.
"He really doesn't like Jellal does he?" Wendy sweat dropped.
"He'll get over it eventually. Joshua is like me, he's very good at holding grudges." Erza smiled.
Natsu bent over Joshua's sleeping form, "He's really wore himself out didn't he?"
Erza nodded, "Yeah." she then yawned as well.
The group looked out at the city as the sun over Earthland began to rise in the East, casting brilliant rays of orange and yellow over the sky.
"No one is gonna know what happened." Gray stated.
"Most likely they will think that it was all some strange dream." commented Carla, "They most likely won't believe us when we tell them what actually happened."
"It'll still make for a good story." smiled Natsu.
"Um guys…" whimpered a girl's voice.
"Hey who said that?" Gray asked.
Natsu blinked and looked down the roof to see Lucy hanging off of the edge.
"HELP ME OUT HERE!"
"Oh crap, I'm on my way Luce!"
The others laughed as they watched Natsu struggle to pull Lucy up onto the rooftop. Erza smiled as the sun came up over the horizon. She looked down at Joshua's peaceful form and remembered Knightwalker's words. She remembered how hard he fought in Edolas in order to save all of them. If it wasn't for him, they may have never made it back. She moved some brown hair out of his face and smiled wider.
You've gotten so strong Joshua.
And Chapter! So ends the Edolas arc! I may have a little brief opening in a future chapter showing what happened after the war in Edolas, but I'm still thinking about that. This was a beast of an arc to write. But now, the one I am most excited to write about is coming up, the Tenrou Island arc! There will be a filler chapter or two before the start of that one but I've got it planned out and ready to go! So be ready! As always I hope you all enjoyed! Have a nice day!