I've decided that I'm going to do the same thing I did with The Dark World with the extra arc: I'm going to upload it as a separate story. Since The Dark World and whatever I'm going to call this are technically considered filler, I post them as separate stories, and mention in the summary that they are sequels for those who liked the first story enough and want to continue can. They are "filler" because the stories end with an epilogue that more or less solved all of the problems of the story, and the sequel is just a possible continuation, but not necessary. So, after I finish this story, I'll begin that one. I don't think it will be as long as this one, but I imagine it will be at least ten chapters. By the way, I started watching Fate/Zero with my roommates, and it is so fucking good. We're early into season 2, and now that I've heard the soundtrack, there's a few that I definitely want to incorporate into it. There will also be a lot of Fire Emblem soundtracks in there as well. In any case, enjoy this chapter!
Songs
Meeting Nyx: Epilogue (Dark Souls 3 Ringed City OST)
Inside the Mansion: Snowbell Woods, The Enchanted Princess (Derek & Brandon Fiechter)
Mira Talks with Silver: Gentle Hands, Father and Mother (Naruto Shippuden OST)
Mira vs. Silver: Careening into Danger (Final Fantasy XV OST)
Vs. Nyx: Father Ariandel and Sister Friede (Dark Souls 3 Ashes of Ariandel OST)
Nyx Gets Serious: Father Ariandel and Sister Friede part 2 (Dark Souls 3 Ashes of Ariandel OST)
Nyx God Soul: Demon in Pain and Demon from Below (Dark Souls 3 Ringed City OST)
Vs. Nyx God Soul: Demon in Pain and Demon from Below part 2 (Dark Souls 3 Ringed City OST)
God Soul Phase 2-Radiant Form: Soul of Cinder (Dark Souls 3 OST)
God Soul Phase 3-Blood Moon: Soul of Cinder part 2 (Dark Souls 3 OST)
The group was quiet the whole way to Nyx's room. Anna's death took a toll on them. Layla took the lead of course, as she would need to be the one to fight against the Heartfilia ancestor. Lucy followed closely behind though, watching her face keenly, trying to read her emotions. She was unsuccessful, of course. But Layla took notice anyway.
"Is something bothering you, dear?" she asked suddenly, making the girl flinch.
"Uh...no, it's nothing."
"Clearly it's something, Lucy. You've been watching me for the past 5 minutes."
"Well...are you nervous?"
"About the fight?"
"Yeah...I know that she's supposed to be kind...but she's also stronger than the rest of the gods...and if she's under Isabella's control...aren't you just a little bit scared about what might happen?"
"..." She remained silent before stopping short, prompting the rest of them to stop as well and listen. Layla turned to all of them.
"To be honest…..although I've met her a few times and she and I are close...I don't know that much about her abilities...I've never seen her fight before."
"So we don't know what we're getting into. That's the same as the last ones. We didn't know how strong they were until we actually faced them." Yury replied.
"I'm worried though. After what happened to Anna, I don't want any more of you to fade away into nothingness."
"Layla, don't worry. Nyx is the strongest god, so I'm sure that she also has a more resistant mind to Isabella's spell." Zeref comforted.
"Yeah...I hope you're right…" They continued on, coming across the doors eventually. Lucy felt more anxious than she ever had in her life. This was her first ancestor, the one who started her bloodline. Layla sighed and pushed the doors open with another large metal creaking sound. Walking in, they saw a throne room similar to the others, but Nyx was nowhere in sight. Layla walked up to the enormous onyx chair, finding a small purple magic circle etched into it. She placed her hand on it, making it spark before writing a message in midair.
Stand on the symbol.
They all looked down on the ground, finding a triple goddess symbol in a large sphere carving in the floor.
"Should we really do it?" Mira asked.
"Yes. I trust her." They all moved to stand on it, where swirls of magic energy flew around, before their bodies became enveloped in light, before disappearing. It felt like they were moving at light speed, like their bodies were being stretched out as far as physically possible. All they could see around them was blinding light. It lasted for about 10 seconds before everything stopped and they landed on the ground.
"What...what just happened?" Lucy asked, as they all looked around, trying to grasp their surroundings. The sky was red, as was the ground they were standing on. There was a harsh hot and dry breeze blowing. Black clouds dotted the atmosphere, and there were screams of agony and pain coming from every direction. The only landmark in sight was a large and lavish mansion, 4 stories high, and shrouded in dark mist, so it was just barely visible. There was a large black gate leading towards it, along with, surprisingly, patches of grass and dark colored flowers, probably the only ones in this place. They all started walking towards it, noticing a figure standing out front, at the edge of the cliff they were on.
"My lady." Layla breathed, walking up to her.
"Layla...so you have arrived at last." She spoke calmly and confidently, but with compassion as well. You could tell that she was much kinder than the other gods, but she also had the same authority in her voice that Gaia possessed, perhaps even to a greater extent. The others remained silent, but watched on in curiosity.
"...Watch out." She advised, as long black ghostly arms suddenly reached up and lashed out towards Layla, Yury, and Silver, surprising all of them. The arms were stopped though as they hit invisible barriers and were then sliced apart by Nyx, falling to the ground and disintegrating.
"What...were those?" Layla asked cautiously.
"Departed souls. If you haven't noticed yet, this is Tartarus. We are currently in the ninth circle, Treachery. You three have all cheated death at least once, and are all considered traitors to your land. The souls here long for you to join them." Lucy shuddered, thinking about how quickly she could lose her mother after just getting her back.
"So...what are you doing down here?"
"It's part of my job. During the daytime, I must watch over Tartarus, while I leave during the night and go back to Olympus. If I were to leave now, Olympus would be in darkness, as my own power eclipses my daughter's. And you can't get back without my help. So you'll have to wait things out here until nighttime. Besides, it might be good for you, to recover your stamina. Come." With a wave of her hand, the gate opened, and she led them into her home, sending all of the darkness and other servants away, lighting the place up, making it look like a regular home.
"Have a seat wherever." Nyx's house was human-sized, so she had already shrunk herself down to 6 feet tall. Everyone gasped when they entered the main foyer, seeing a very elegant sitting room right in front, with many armchairs, recliners, and coffee tables. Lining the wall were various objects, either personal items or magical artifacts. Most chose to sit, although Lucy decided to stand, and look around. Nyx took the largest armchair, opposite them.
Lucy turned, and for the first time, got a clear and up close look at her ancestor. Now, she had heard numerous times from the Envoys that she was beautiful, and she did see her in that one painting during her dream, but seeing her up close was a completely different experience. Lucy was obviously into guys, as her relationship with Natsu attested to. That's not to say that she couldn't tell when another woman looked pretty, usually Mirajane. But she had never been attracted to another female until now.
Nyx was almost too perfect. She was lovely, dazzling, alluring, every single word for beauty that there possibly was to describe a person, she was all of these things. She wore her usual garb, a gothic long black silk gown that covered everything, save for the top part of chest and shoulders. Unlike the others, she did not wear sandals, instead keeping her feet free all of the time. She had curly waist length black hair, and had on black eyeshadow, purple lipstick, and black nail polish. Her figure was the typical Heartfilia hourglass figure, but with more prominent assets, such as a larger butt and bigger breasts. She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at the floor for a moment before locking eyes with Lucy.
"So...anything you wanted to ask me?"
"H-Huh? What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.
"It's your first time meeting me, and it might be your only time as well. You were eager to meet me, were you not? What did you want to talk about?"
"I...didn't actually have any questions...I just wanted to meet you, honestly." she stammered.
"Ah...was that all?" Lucy nodded, blushing a bit. She turned her attention back to the various paintings lining the walls. She didn't recognize a lot of the people in them, but considering that they were blonde and looked similar to herself, they must have been other Heartfilias throughout the ages. Lucy stopped at one with Anna in it, picking up the frame lightly.
"I'm afraid I must apologize for the deplorable behavior of my little brother." she spoke, noticing the picture that her descendant was examining. "Isabella amplified his bloodthirsty tendencies. He normally isn't that bad, and only gets that way in certain fights."
"You really can't do anything to get Anna back?" Victoria asked.
"No. I'm afraid she's gone. A god's essence is something that cannot be tampered with, not even by the gods themselves. Once you are absorbed, you cannot come back. I'm the same way. Although I believe Isabella planned to get rid of her anyway."
"On that matter...what about you?" Lucy asked. "I thought you were only yourself for a short while before she took you over again?"
"Oh, I'm not under her control at all. She tried to take me over, and I dispersed it. I then put a mental block on my mind, and she's none the wiser."
"Wow...that's good news!" Lucy put the picture down and smiled at her happily, the others breathing a sigh of relief.
"But...that doesn't mean we won't fight." Her words made their hearts sink.
"But...if you're not under her control, then why bother fighting us?!" Layla yelled.
"Because you're not ready to face Isabella yet. I'm going to train you. But this won't be any ordinary training. It will be to the death. I'm going to actively try and kill you, and you must do everything in your power to stop me."
"You can't be serious!" Lucy screamed.
"I absolutely am. This is all for your own good. If you skip over me and go straight to Isabella, you will all die. You need to get stronger. So you should get prepared. Rest up for a few hours, and then we're going back up there."
"My lady, with all due respect, if you fight seriously, we'll all be killed anyways." Layla sweatdropped.
"That's exactly the point of this. It's to not get killed."
"Can't you just revive us if we die though? That's what you did to Natsu." Mystogan asked, stepping forward.
"I suppose I could...but I'm not going to. Because then you'll all just attack recklessly without concern for yourselves, and won't have learned anything. So no."
"Oh...alright." She got up from her chair and went upstairs, leaving the others down in the living room.
"Mom." Lucy turned to Layla, who was sitting in one of the other big armchairs.
"Hm?"
"You have to tell us about her abilities."
"I told you I don't know. I've never fought her, and I've never seen her fight either."
"You had to! Didn't you train with her to learn about your god magic?" Mira asked.
"Nope. Yury taught me that one. I figured out Night Magic on my own." She said confidently, making the others sweatdrop.
"Well then, explain to us the basics of Night Magic. She's your god, she uses the same kind, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose that would be the most efficient way to do this. Alright then. I'm sure you know this already from fighting me, but Night Magic's core concept is being able to manipulate space."
"Right...so is it a mix of magics, like Holy is?"
"No." Victoria answered for them. "Despite there being five main elements, there are plenty of other types that are considered their own category. It's an extremely complicated magic to learn, but it's also immensely powerful. After all, being able to manipulate space is a very useful ability."
Layla ignited her fingertips with purple magic power, before explaining her magic further.
"Let's say, for example, Natsu attacked her. Doesn't matter if it was a ranged attack or a close combat one. She could form a barrier that completely absorbed it, and she would take no damage at all. She could also create a portal that sent you somewhere else. In addition, we can change dimensions at will. For instance, I can create a separate dimension and then swap into it, and control aspects such as the time and weather in there. It also does not affect the outside world at all."
"So what are your limitations compared to Nyx's?" Lucy asked.
"Ha! She'll have no limitations, that'll be the difference! I often don't use Night Magic because it uses up a lot of magic power, and leaves me exhausted after multiple uses. But Nyx, being a goddess, has infinite magic power and stamina. So she must be able to continue using it indefinitely. In addition, something that she can do that I can't is travel between the afterlives, like Olympus and Tartarus, at will. I can't do that, because I'm not dead."
"It honestly doesn't sound that bad. It seems to me like Night Magic is more of a defensive mechanism as opposed to the other ones."
"Well, it may seem that way, but it's capable of hurting as well. Like I said, it's about manipulating space, so there are plenty of ways to reverse an attack or create one of your own. In truth, anything is possible, so Nyx could have multiple different ways to utilize her powers."
Everyone seemed to sigh as the room turned quiet, thinking about what they were going to do.
"Although…" They all looked up again, curious. "Mira, if you're using Daylight Magic now, then we have a chance."
"Because it's the opposite?"
"Precisely. You see, for all of Night Magic's unpredictability, there is one thing that is constant about it. Although Night Magic can control the time of a dimension it creates, it can only slow it down. Daylight Magic, however, has the capacity to heighten the user's senses and speed time up. Something that you did against Vera."
"So then...that's what that blur was?" Lucy asked her.
"Yes. By sharpening my awareness and speeding up time in a certain space, I move many times faster than normal. Daylight Magic is a very pure magic, and is about cleansing the darkness from one's soul."
"That's great! Then can't we just do that?"
"No. Nyx is a goddess, and what's more, she's the Goddess of Night. Considering that she's also older than Erebus, who's darkness can never be broken through, she's the same way. The dark is just part of who they are, and it's impossible to extract their very essence from them. I imagine even Hemera, the Goddess of Daylight, cannot do that."
"Did you meet her?" Victoria asked.
"No. Therein lies another problem. I'm a beginner, and the only knowledge of this magic and its correlating spells were given to me by Aether, who also considers himself a novice. He said that if I wanted to learn more, I'd have to learn from one of you, and eventually Hemera herself. So, for the time being, I don't have a God Soul or a Spirit Weapon."
"That gives me an idea. Nyx was nice enough to give us a few hours to prepare ourselves. We should use that time to train you. Layla will spar with you, and try to determine how Daylight Magic can counteract Night Magic and in what ways, and perhaps help you out with God Soul and your Spirit Weapon."
"That's…" Mira's eyes widened, her voice now a little shaky.
"Don't worry, I'll be nearby healing you both."
"...No. I-I don't want to. Not her…" She covered her arms, now shivering.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Laxus asked. Layla watched her, sighing.
"I get it. Silver, you do it."
"Hmph. You got it. Come on, Mira." He walked outside, the white-haired mage taking a deep breath and following him.
"What was that about?" Laxus asked.
"I'd rather not say. I'm gonna go supervise." Layla stood up, leaving.
"You still don't know?" Zeref interjected. "Back on Earthland, before you fought Vera the first time, Layla approached Mira, and the poor girl tried to pick a fight with her. As retaliation, she used her Satan Soul and impaled her through her chest, and left her for dead, before deciding to heal her later."
"So that's what that was?" Lucy asked, gasping. "I thought it was just Erebus messing with my head…but Mom really did that?"
"At the time, she was confused and untrusting, as she had just discovered that her mother was still alive and that I had kept that from her. Now, I don't think she would do something like that unless it was someone she really didn't like. I imagine that Mira's the same way with you." Zeref looked at Yury.
"Hm…" There was silence in the room before Gray spoke up, deciding to go out and watch, the others following.
X
"Train them?"
"Yes."
"How unexpected. Nyx isn't the type to fight voluntarily."
"She is not under your spell, and never was. Are you aware of that?"
"Yes, of course. Whenever someone is being contained, they share a link to my psyche. Despite my trying to, I never developed one with Nyx. Although if she's training them, I don't really see the point...sure, they have your daughter, but...it's all for naught once she activates Blood Moon."
"Indeed."
"Thank you for telling me."
"Of course, my lady."
X
"Again." Mira got knocked down from Silver's offensive. She got back up and ran towards him, delivering quick and fast strikes.
"Heaven God's Unbreakable Shield." As soon as Mira punched his armor, she was blown back from the recoil, crying out.
"Mira, you're never going to get anywhere like this." he sighed.
"Says you! I'll find an opening!" She jumped back up and coated her fists in orange light again, launching an energy wave towards him.
"Heaven God's Renditional Blades." Silver formed his spirit weapons and sliced her energy beam in half, dispersing it.
"You're not getting it. You're being reckless!"
"I'm the only one that can stop her magic!"
"And continuously running towards her and getting repelled over and over again is going to work?"
"..."
"You're not used to this new magic of yours because it's a different style compared to your usual kind. Daylight Magic is not based on power like Satan Soul, it's based on speed, analysis, and using the environment to your advantage. You can't hope to defeat the first goddess by just using physical attacks every time."
"You guys are such hypocrites. Night Magic isn't supposed to be meant for combat either, but Layla revels in every fight she participates in!"
"That, Mira, is a change in my own personality because of my Satan Soul's influence. That has nothing to do with how I use my god powers. You no longer have such a change, so you have no excuse. You need to learn how to really use your magic."
"...I…..need time to think….alone." She walked over to the edge of the cliff, watching the tortured souls.
"But Mira-!" Lucy called out, before Layla stopped her.
"Lucy, leave her for a little bit. She needs time to think this through. Come on, let's all go back inside."
X
"Mom, can I come in?"
"Oh? Of course dear. What is it?"
"I wanted to ask you something. What do you expect of me?"
"Expect of you? What do you mean by that?"
"Dad told me the other day that...he expects great things from me. Is that just because I'm the oldest? And what if I don't meet his expectations?"
"Oh, Mira...you're such a sweet girl, and nothing could ever make us disappointed in you. Yes, it's true that older siblings are often given more responsibilities than their younger ones, and you are no exception. I want you to look out for and care for Elfman and Lisanna. But don't worry about upsetting us, really."
"Mom...I can tell there's more to it than that. Come on, tell me the truth."
"Ah, you can see through me, can you? Well, I can't give you the truth, you're too young to know right now. All I can say is that you have a very important role, Mira. Now come sit with me. We'll read together."
"Okay."
"Too young? When was she planning on telling me?"
"Need someone to talk to about this?" Mira looked up, seeing Silver standing over her.
"Yeah…" He sat down, watching Tartarus at work in its torturing of evil souls.
"How old were you when you found out that you were an envoy?"
"I was 8. Same with Layla. Our parents told us early so that we could start studying magic at a young age. It was the same case with Zeref and Yury, though they didn't start putting their abilities into practice until later on, when they were adults."
"But they still knew. My mother told me that I was too young when I was ten. So I wonder if she was just being overprotective or if she truly didn't want me to know."
"It's possible. Most often when the parents are informed of their child being an envoy, they become worried, since it means that the kid has a huge responsibility thrust upon them without even asking for it. Layla and I were feared by some of the people in our hometown because they thought that if they angered us, that we would punish them with our magic."
"That's horrible! They all knew?"
"It was a relatively small town, so everybody knew everybody, and with Isabella being a master of magic in her own right, she explained to them about envoys, and they found out about Isabella. Our purpose, after all, is to keep the balance in the world, by defeating the guilds that are too powerful."
"And I'm to do the same? It already seems like I failed."
"I don't know. The sixth envoy always seemed to have a separate agenda from the five of us, and we know little about what they do. We've never met Hemera either, so…"
"But an envoy is supposed to keep balance, yeah? That's the general idea anyway. And all I've been doing this whole time is helping Fairy Tail grow stronger into a guild that unbalanced all the rest…"
"You only just learned about your position though. Don't blame yourself."
"It doesn't really matter considering I was born with the power anyway. I didn't find out until just a few hours ago, but I've been one for 20 years. If I'd known since I was a kid, like the rest of you, then I would have been better prepared for this…You know, when we fought Layla, she chose seven of us to take on, each one of us representing a mortal sin. She picked Lucy for envy, since she looks up to us due to all the power we have. But at this point, I envy them. To not have these abilities is all I want right now. Have somebody else do it, for all I care." She hugged her knees. Silver sighed, smiling slightly.
"Mirajane. Let me tell you that you're not the only one that thinks that way. Every envoy, no matter how confident at their powers, asks themself at some point or another: why me? Why am I the one with these powers and this obligation, and why can't someone else have them?"
"And what conclusion do you come to?"
"That we simply have to accept it. Fighting it and complaining about it won't change anything. And I know from personal experience that Fairy Tail is not a guild to believe in fate or destiny. And to the gods, humans are simply their creations. After all, even envoys are only demigods. We may be descended from some of them, but they fell in love with a human, one of their own conceptions. And yes, our families are different from the others, but...that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy life ourselves. After all, we're alive, aren't we? That means that our bloodline has continued for almost 800 years, because our ancestors were able to find someone to marry and have children with. The same is true for us: Erza, Gray, Vera, Laxus, and Lucy all exist because we found a way to make life work for us. We didn't trudge through our days carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. And, if you're still not sure, remember that we're put on this planet for a good reason: to keep balance in the world. Sure, that may mean that we have to fight some people, but if we weren't here, Earthland would be run by either an oppressive and overpowered guild, or someone like Acnologia. You are an envoy of the Goddess of Daylight. And that means that you play a crucial role in helping defeat the one who's trying to destroy the world you live in, the world you love, your family, and your friends."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right! I was being so selfish…"
"No, you weren't. It was perfectly justified. It's hard to be a leader in a world of followers. But hey, want to go again? For real this time?"
"Yeah...let's do it!"
X
"Are we really going to do this? It's suicide!"
"It's not like we have a choice, Lucy. Nyx wants us to fight her, whether we like it or not. She's preparing us for fighting Isabella, so that we won't get ourselves killed."
"And have you considered the possibility that we're killed here, before we even get a chance to face her? Isabella might be stronger, but that doesn't mean that Nyx is a pushover. She's the first god to ever exist, and still the strongest one, to this day!"
"She's also our ancestor, and cares about us. Why would she do this if she truly wanted to kill us?"
"I-! I...don't know. I guess...she's doing this for our sake."
"Right. So have some faith in her."
"So then, what's keeping us?" They all turned to the front doors, where Mira and Silver walked in, smiling.
"Mira! What's with the sudden change in charisma?" the blonde girl asked.
"Let's just say I received some good advice. We've been sparring for the past few hours, so I think I've gotten some good practice in."
"Then that's all we can ask for. Let's get going." Victoria smiled, restoring Mira and Silver's stamina and magic power.
"Where did Nyx go though? I thought we needed her to get back?" Zeref asked.
"No. She left us another teleportation magic like last time. It's the same way to activate it as well." Victoria explained, pointing to the large triple goddess symbol on the floor. They all stepped onto it, getting transported back into Nyx's room in Olympus.
"Ah. You're here. I suppose then, that you've all prepared yourselves to the best of your abilities?"
"Yes." Mira stepped forward and answered for them, making the goddess arch an eyebrow in curiosity.
"I see. Well then, let's begin. Although I must admit that I left out a small detail from before. This whole fight will take place in my dimension. I assume, by now, that you have learned that a god is at their most powerful when they are in their own zone, correct? Well, we're going to fight there. Wouldn't want to make it any easier on you now, would I?" She snapped her fingers, and space began to distort around them until they all found themselves in a wasteland with a red sky and nothing but the moon lighting the area. Of course, the rays were strong enough to allow them to see well enough, but it was noticeably darker than the outside world.
"Now then, let's determine if you're really ready to fight me. Or if you can even injure me." A dark purple mist surrounded her.
"Remember what I said, everyone. Just start off with your strongest abilities." Victoria advised. All of them activated their strongest transformations, whether that meant demonic transformations, overlaying two different magics, dual modes on top of Dragon Force, or God Souls. Mira and Victoria were the only two who didn't use their full powers yet.
"Alright then. Meteor Blade!" Lucy grabbed her sword tightly and launched a blue energy wave towards her ancestor, who swiped her hand upwards, dispersing the entire attack.
"Damn."
"Don't worry, I'll do this. True Heavenly Body Magic: Sema!"
"True Heavenly Body Magic: Altairis!" Jellal and Mystogan used their strongest spells to send a meteor falling down towards the Goddess, as well as create a black hole that he sent spinning towards her. Nyx sighed, snapping her finger to pause Altairis, and then created a black force field around the meteor, that when dispersed, had crushed it into a mere storm of pebbles that fell onto the ground.
"This is ridiculous!"
"Don't worry, I'm gonna hit her with a physical attack." Gildarts prepared his strongest attack. Nyx turned her attention back to the black hole, transferring magic energy into it before it dispersed into nothing. She turned back as Gildarts rushed towards her.
"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean!" He smirked as she held her hand out, glowing with purple energy.
'Gotcha.' She caught his punch, releasing a shockwave behind them, and her magic remained untouched.
"What…? What happened?!"
"Your magic is one that I am already familiar with. After all, I watched Layla's fight with you all those years ago. Crush Magic. And, the strike you just delivered was intended to negate my magic before it connected. Unfortunately for you, the spell that I was casting was one that altered your own, making the negation aspect null and void, and then it was simply a matter of stopping your attack, something I can easily do with my physical strength, even in this form." She let go of him, and he jumped back, landing on the ground.
"All Crush!" He fired a large white energy blast towards her, with which she did the same as Lucy's attack.
"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Absolute Heaven!" He ran at her again, throwing another punch. Again, she caught it, but her eyes widened as a large explosion engulfed them. When the smoke cleared, they were in the same position before, but a few feet back.
"You managed to move me...not bad." She threw him back to the others, brushing herself off and flexing her hand.
Erza and the Dragon Slayers were next, using their strongest techniques. But the night goddess just formed a barrier around herself that deflected the energy back at them, knocking them away.
"You're going to have to try harder than that."
"Don't mind if I do!" Silver had already appeared behind her, with his twin rapier spirit weapons in his hand.
"Kh-!" She didn't have time to react before he sliced her across her back, making her fall over. He quickly formed them into their greatsword form and lifted it over his shoulder, preparing to swing it downwards, but the goddess created another barrier and healed her wounds, lifting herself up from her hands and kicking Silver away before rushing after him.
"So she's finally gotten serious...let's go, you six!" Layla waved the strongest along with her, and they ran towards their opponent, with only Mira and Victoria not having their God Souls active.
"Don't pull any punches! She can't die, and we need to inflict as much damage on her as possible!"
"Earth Goddess' Staff!"
"Heaven God's Freezing Slice!"
"Darkness God's Scythe!" Zeref used his newest ability, manifesting a scythe of his own after the fight with Erebus.
"Light God's Hyperion!"
"Night Goddess' Artemis!" Irene fired an energy blast at her back while Silver sliced downwards, creating a torrent of icy wind. Nyx fired her own energy blast into Irene's, blowing the attack apart, and then used a surge of her own magic power to counter Silver's attack with her own stronger wind that broke up the ice.
"Darkness God's Surge!" Zeref launched a red energy wave from his scythe that tore through the ground, and Yury materialized in front of her, ready to slash her in half.
"You guys aren't bad, you know, but...you're not as good as you need to be either." Nyx closed her eyes and smiled, time beginning to slow down so that the attacks didn't connect yet.
"Daylight Goddess' Acceleration!" Nyx's eyes twitched in shock as she noticed Mira nearby, speeding up time again with her magic. Zeref's attack paralyzed her, allowing Yury to slice her in half.
"Do it now!" He yelled over to Layla, who fired an arrow into her head, both halves of her body falling to the ground, a large pool of blood forming.
"Apologies. But we had to do it." Their weapons disappeared into magical particles.
"Don't apologize. You did well." Yury's eyes widened, looking down at what was left of her body.
"Truly. I made a miscalculation. I was not aware that Mira had awakened her own powers yet." The hole in her head began to heal, as well as her body becoming reattached. Standing up, she sighed, looking around at the others.
"You are all powerful mages. But, I've been holding back. Not anymore. You know, of all the gods in existence, Hemera, Erebus and I are the only ones that are able to maintain the full power of our God Soul in our human size. Most gods, when they attempt to activate their full powers, must enter their own dimensions, and then grow to their full size. If they were to remain in their human forms, as well as in one of the physical zones, they would tear apart both the world and their own bodies from the sheer output of magical energy. The three of us have found a way to incorporate our transformations into our small forms, granting us access to them wherever we are and whenever we want. After all, Erebus activated his own in his throne room, correct? Even during his second phase, he never went into his Realm of Shadow."
"If that's true, then why did you bother bringing us here? Doesn't it just mean more work for you?" Lucy asked.
"On the contrary. If you remember, when we enter our own spaces, we are able to automatically intake massive amounts of our respective element, similar to how Slayers consume their own type of magic to become stronger. So the amount of power we expended in order to transport the others here is regained in a matter of seconds. All the while, we can continue to absorb a limitless supply of our own power. God Soul."
Like the others, Nyx's eyes glowed a dark purple, along with her face becoming shadowed and purple magic power radiating off of her as her dress billowed in the wind, slightly hovering above the ground.
"To have a limitless supply of magic power, and a body that cannot die by any physical means. You must admit, it is a rather invincible combination, is it not?"
The others stepped back, concerned.
"Ha...I'm sweating…" Layla laughed.
"So, I've made the great and powerful Layla Heartfilia nervous. How funny." Nyx maintained a serious face, extending her hand towards the party, and unleashing a vortex of purple energy. Victoria jumped up front and blasted a ray of light through it, dispersing the attack.
"Hm...you'll be harder to deal with than the others. Let's try this instead." She raised her hand into the air before lowering it, making the others tense up.
"What's...happening? I can't move!" Yury struggled. None of the others could either.
"Night Goddess' Rip." Nyx raised her hand up and slowly began to close it, the party of mages beginning to feel their bodies stretching out.
"Ow...I can't...stand this...she's going to tear us in half!" Layla cried out. Nyx closed her fist completely, their bodies being split in half, and blood going everywhere. They all cried out at first before losing their ability to speak. Nyx looked down at them condescendingly before snapping her fingers, breaking the illusion, and all of the Fairy Tail members found themselves standing in the same position as before.
"That's one time you've lost already. What have you learned?"
"To not allow ourselves to be caught in a situation like that again." Mira answered.
"Good, but you need to realize what put you into that predicament in the first place. When I transformed, you stood there and watched. When I finished, you did nothing but look on. And, you failed to realize that I had already cast an illusion spell immediately after the transformation. You need to pay more attention and not watch on in amazement."
"But...we don't want to fight you…" Lucy muttered.
"I already told you that doesn't matter to me. I'm doing this so that you'll learn something for fighting Isabella. So stop complaining and come at me." Mira and the other envoys wasted no time casting various spells to try and hold her down, but she merely released a shockwave of magic power, destroying any efforts they put out. She glanced behind her as Mystogan was cloaked in Meteor's golden glow, and got kicked up into the air, leaving time for Silver to impale her with his Greatsword.
"You should do the same." he grinned, looking at her, now pierced onto the ground by his weapon. "If you want to train us, then don't give us any openings."
"Touché." She grabbed the blade and forced it out of her body, healing instantly and grabbing him by the throat before tossing him away. Yury teleported in front of her again, preparing his sword for a strike through her abdomen. Nyx once again widened her eyes, slowing down time.
'I've got you this time. Daylight Goddess' Acceleration.' Mira once again sped up time, but not for Yury. This time, she used it on the arrow that Layla fired, standing behind the goddess. It made contact before she knew it, causing her to drop her spell, and for Yury to slash her as he originally intended. Blood ran down her chin until she healed herself yet again and started choking Yury.
"You're not very gentlemanly, are you? You almost cut my nether region in half." she growled, stomping onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him, and losing consciousness.
"That takes care of him. Perhaps now we can settle this." She turned to Layla.
"I'm afraid not." Nyx turned to her left, getting knocked across the landscape by Victoria.
"I think that due to the fact that I will be taking the lead against Isabella, I should be the one to defeat you. Take Over God Soul." Her body underwent a transformation of her own, being surrounded in golden and white energy.
"So, you want to use me as a mere stepping stone to get to that point? How inconsiderate. After all, I'm the one who gave you that power. And now you're denying me?"
"I'm sorry, but Isabella is more important to me than you are, Nyx. You are my ancestor, but she is my daughter, and I need to save her."
"I understand. Well then…" She turned around and looked up into the red sky.
"What are you...doing?" Lucy asked. The goddess ignored her, her dress starting to blow around a bit, and the moon's light beginning to shine brighter.
"Come, my love. Give me your power…" She held her hand up towards it before closing it into a fist yet again. The rays shined brilliantly, blinding the others. When they were able to see again, Nyx stood in a new, glistening pearlescent dress, her eyes now glowing white, and the moon's light now pulsating in sync with her.
"I suppose if I want to fight you equally, I should use this. God Soul Phase 2- Radiant Form."
"So that's her second phase…" Layla muttered.
"Yes. She decided to use her Spirit Weapon after all." Victoria kept her eyes fixated on her ancestor.
"Her Spirit Weapon? Where?" Lucy asked.
"Look up."
"What do you mean? The only thing I can see is the...no way...that's impossible! The moon itself is her weapon?!"
"That's correct. As the Goddess of the Night, the moon represents my presence, my authority, my eternal power, my status as the first deity, barring father. It is the object of my affection, the source from which I draw my powers. So let's see how you do against me when I use it."
"Very well." She tossed a ball of light towards her opponent, who simply dodged it, exploding when it made contact with the ground. Victoria started running towards her, firing a barrage of light particles that the goddess deflected with an invisible barrier.
"Night Goddess' Deceleration." Nyx slowed down time again, Mira narrowing her eyes and setting it back to normal again.
"This is becoming tiring." Nyx formed a dagger out of moonlight and tossed it towards Mira.
'Everytime she narrows her eyes is when she slows down time...I know she will again.' Right on cue, Nyx lowered her eyelids at the Daylight mage.
'There!' Mira sped up time, but only succeeded in making the dagger faster, speeding into her stomach and impaling her, making her gasp and fall backwards, bleeding heavily.
"Help her!" Victoria yelled back, Silver rushing over to her.
"What...happened…?" Mira choked out as Silver removed the dagger and began healing her.
"I simply made you believe that I was going to repeat the same tactic a third time. Yes, you figured out how I slow down time, which I had noticed as well. So I did the same motion but didn't actually use the spell. You only succeeded in making my knife more deadly than it already was. As simple as that." She began dodging Victoria's strikes simply by stepping backwards and shifting to the side.
"Holy God's Halberd!" Victoria summoned her own spirit weapon, a golden ceremonial pike. She thrusted it towards Nyx, who once again dodged, until Victoria shoved it towards the ground and used it as a pole to vault over her and kick her away. She grabbed the weapon again and alternated between physical strikes and weapon thrusts. Nyx continued dodging, although more actively.
"Night Goddess' Stomp." Despite having bare feet, she used a spell to harden her foot and stomp the top of the weapon into the ground, causing it to throw the black-haired Heartfilia off balance. She then surrounded her hand in magic power and lunged for her.
"Holy Goddess' Barrier!" She blocked her attack in an instant with a golden burst of energy, enough time to drop the weapon and duck down, sweeping the goddess' feet out from under her, then grabbing the weapon again and impaling her with it.
"Still think we're equals?" she smirked confidently.
"Equals? You are still far beneath me, child. God Soul Phase 3-Blood Moon." She quickly snapped the weapon in half after grabbing it with her hand and pulling out the remains from her body. The wound closed up as quickly as it was made, and she kicked Victoria away, standing up again. The moon changed colors, and began to glow a deep crimson, matching the color of the sky. Surprisingly, Nyx's outfit returned to her original, and her eyes stopped glowing. Her magic power also died down.
"Huh? What's going on?" Natsu looked around. Victoria looked back up before noticing that Nyx's eyes had begun crying tears of blood. Everything around her began to shift violently, the wind blowing fiercely, and a wave of darkness blocking out everything in sight save for the beautiful deity herself. Her eyes now began glowing dark red, and she slowly began walking towards her, black mist exiting her mouth every time she exhaled, only adding to the darkness that was already obstructing her vision.
'What is this? I can't feel my body...I can't even speak, or breathe...the only thing I can see is her...what is this power...is it Night Magic? No...it's more sinister…'
"You are correct. This is not Night Magic. It is Blood Magic."
'What?! Is she reading my mind?'
"Blood Magic feeds on my own bloodlust and your fear. So yes, I can see anything that's in your mind. This magic first works by making me appear terrifying, and then restricting all control you have over your body. I then take the form of the thing that you dread most, and the rest does itself. This magic never fails, because everyone is afraid of something. My brother may try to deny that he has anything to fear, but he still fears me."
Her appearance changed again, warping into Isabella.
"Look at you. Groveling before me, as you should be. You think you'll be able to save me? You can't save anybody." She formed a sword engulfed in chaos magic and impaled Victoria before turning it on herself and committing suicide, making Victoria gasp and scream out in pain after the illusion went away. Nyx turned her head and looked at the rest of them as well, making their worst fears play out in front of them, similar to Erebus' magic, but in a more terrifying and brutal way. For many of them, it was the death of their loved ones before they ended up committing suicide themselves. All of them were left stunned, or in a crying mess as Nyx walked up to her throne and sat down.
"It's as I thought. You need to think about things before you fight Isabella."
They remained shocked for a few more minutes before Victoria finally turned to her, her composure regained for the most part.
"What...do you mean?"
"I mean that as you are now, you're not able to fight her. Mentally speaking. You see, your problem is that you go in expecting everything to turn out best-case scenario. You're expecting nothing to go wrong, to defeat the enemy soundly, and for everyone to come out alive. And that's because you're used to that. Perhaps that worked with your opponents back on Earthland, but here in Olympus, that ideal will get you killed."
"Get us killed? We've come out of all of these fights fine! We've fought and defeated 4 gods already!" Natsu protested.
"You did not defeat us!" She yelled in a booming voice making all of them back off.
"You are being foolish right now, Natsu Dragneel! This is exactly what I'm talking about! The only reason I used Blood Moon on you was to teach you a lesson, and that was a much weaker version of it! Had I used its full capacity, your minds would have been shattered, and you would all be broken, and unresponsive for the rest of your lives. And you did not come out of all of those fights perfectly fine! Or have you forgotten about Anna already?"
The room went deathly silent before she spoke again.
"I've been watching you since you came in here. You were out of it when you fought me. Your reaction times were slower, your magic was weaker, and most of you, despite activating your strongest spells, did nothing but stand by and watch. And therein lies the crux of your issue. Because of your behavior, you become broken when something goes wrong. After all, you're rushing in at full strength, not expecting someone to die. So when someone does die, you're not prepared for it."
"So you're saying...that we should go in there, anticipating that someone will die?" Laxus growled.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Because anything can happen, and we have to live with that fact. Isabella is not the type of opponent to let her guard down, and you should not think for a single moment that fighting her will be anything like fighting us. You only needed to fight us long enough to knock us out of a trance. You have to fight her to the death. And if you go in there thinking that you'll be fine, and something does go wrong, then you're not going to be ready for it, and she will use that against you, and kill you. Do you understand?"
"...Yes." They all said at different time intervals.
"Good. Then go in there and take care of her. I'll be waiting for you when you're done, assuming that you'll live." She healed all of their wounds and magic power.
"You're...not going to help us? You said that you were immune to her control, right?" Layla asked.
"I did say that, and it's true, but...she would simply use chaos magic to bind me, and then drain my magic power to use for herself. If I went with you, it would only aid her. So I shouldn't."
"I understand. We'll be back...Nyx." Layla smiled at her as they went through the last set of doors and ascended a staircase leading to the top floor of the castle.
End.
