Chapter XXIX

Thoma threw a powerful punch at Lucina, but she blocked it with a wall of dust. The wall of dust managed to block most of the damage, but Lucina was still thrown back a bit.

"He's stronger then I first thought." Lucina said as she landed.

"How do you plan on defeating that monster Lucina?" Yui and Asuna asked holding each other.

"If you two aren't going to fight then you can leave." Lucina said turning her head back so one eye was looking at Yui and Asuna.

Yui and Asuna looked at Thoma then looked at each other and let out a deep sigh.

"Even though I'm scared to death about our current situation, I can't just leave and let Thoma stay like that or have you die on us." Yui said letting go of Asuna and readied herself to fight Thoma.

"I agree. Yui and I are going to stay and help you Lucina." Asuna said doing the same as Yui.

"Alright then, but if we stay here in the city, people are going to get hurt or worst, get killed. We'll have to lead Thoma out of Magnolia." Lucina said.

Just then Erza showed and asked,

"Lucina. Yui. Asuna. What happened to Thoma? Why is he in that form?"

"I don't know why? Yui and I ran into him then he started acting crazy and talking to himself. He attacked us then Lucina showed up and now Thoma looks like this." Asuna explained as best she could.

"Erza. You go find Laxus, We'll take care of Thoma." Lucina said.

"I'm going to help bring Thoma back to his senses." Erza protested.

"No you will not. Right now Thoma can't tell friend from foe, so it is highly likely that he would attack you as well." Lucina said.

"All the more reason to fight." Erza said.

Lucina looked at Erza and said with a gentle smile,

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back to normal. Trust me."

Erza looked at Thoma, who was just standing there watching what they would do, and looked back at Lucina then said before leaving,

"Alright. I trust you. Bring my brother back."

Lucina turned back to Thoma and sent a wave of dust at him. Thoma shot a fireball from his mouth at the dust and it exploded. Then through the smoke, Yui appeared and gave Thoma a electrified punch to the face, but Thoma looked as if the punch didn't do any damaged then grabbed Yui with both hands.

"...Oh no..." Yui said in a soft and scared voice.

Thoma jumped high into the air then came down to ground with great force. Asuna and Lucina tried to save Yui, but Thoma smacked them away with his tails. Thoma threw Yui when they were just a few feet from the ground and before anything thing else, Thoma then came down onto Yui with a punch. Yui let out a painful groan and some blood came out of her mouth as well. Thoma went to deliver the finishing blow when Rel jumped onto his face a started to claw and bite at his eyes. Thoma let out a roar then he breathed fire all around him, but the fire completely missed Rel. Thoma then reached to grab Rel, but Rel jumped off and ran back to Lucina and Asuna. Asuna looked at Thoma and Yui with complete horror on her face.

"Come on Asuna. We have his full attention and now we must run." Lucina said.

Asuna didn't answer and just looked as Thoma came towards them.

"...Yui..." Asuna said with a worried tone and tears forming in her eyes.

"We don't have time for this Asuna." Lucina said trying to get Asuna to move, but Asuna wouldn't move.

Thoma then dashed towards Lucina and Asuna. Asuna closed her eyes waiting for Thoma to attack her, as she felt that they couldn't win. With her eyes closed Asuna felt the winds of something clashing with Thoma, she opened her eyes to see a huge wolf collided with Thoma. The wolf was massive in size, about the same size of Thoma on all four legs , its fur was yellow with black hints over its body and a white underbelly. Asuna could see that wolf had razor sharp teeth and claws, finally the wolf had two yellow tails with black and white at the tips.

"What in world is that?..." Asuna asked out loud.

"Did you snap out of it Asuna?" The Wolf asked.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Asuna asked.

"I can't believe you forgotten my voice already. Its me, Lucina." Lucina said.

"Your a huge wolf? Take Over Magic?" Asuna question.

"Not Take Over Magic." Lucina said pushing Thoma away.

"Then what is it?" Asuna asked.

"No time, we have to get out of town now." Lucina said.

Asuna started to climb up onto Lucina, but Lucina jumped back which caused Asuna to fall to the ground.

"What was that for? I'm just trying to get on so we can get out of town." Asuna said dusting herself off and a bit annoyed.

Lucina's face turned red a bit and she said,

"I don't like people riding on me."

"Is now really the time to be picky about this kind of thing?" Asuna questioned.

Lucina thought about it for a few moments then said while her face is red,

"...Fine! Get on!"

Asuna climbed onto Lucina while Rel sat on Lucina's head. Lucina then ran away, Asuna looked back and saw Thoma chasing them and he was slowly catching up.

"Lucina. He's catching up." Asuna pointed out.

"I have to make sure that he keeps following. I have to keep out of his reach, but I can't get too far ahead where he'll lose interest." Lucina said.

Thoma shot a fireball from his mouth at Lucina and Asuna.

"Asuna!" Lucina shouted.

"Right!" Asuna shouted.

Asuna then held out her right hand while she use her left to support her right then yelled,

"Ice Blast!"

Asuna shot at blast of ice and it clashed with Thoma's fireball. Their was a small explosion when the two attacks collided, but Thoma was still chasing Lucina and Asuna.

"It will be your job then defend both of us Asuna." Lucina said looking back without turning her head.

"I can do that." Asuna nodded.

Lucina and Asuna made there way out of Magnolia while Thoma chased them, while a few building had parts destroyed. Luckily no citizens were hurt, shocked to see Asuna riding a huge wolf and a demon chasing them, but not hurt. Lucina led Thoma out of Magnolia, but still within the barrier that Freed put up.

"This should be good." Lucina said.

"Alright." Asuna said then got off Lucina.

When Asuna got off, Lucina felt a huge feeling of relief then turned back into her human form. Thoma came charging towards Lucina and Asuna. Thoma stop right before Lucina and Asuna and wiped his tails at them, but they were blocked by a wall of dust from Lucina. Lucina pushed Thoma away then in the distance there was a blinding light. Lucina, Asuna, and Thoma watched the light, but nothing happened. Then they could see lightning and fire shooting up towards the sky. Thoma looked at the Lightning and flames and a part of him remembered who his real target was then begun to head towards the lightning.

"Its time to end this."Lucina said before Thoma left.

Lucina then begun to glow with a yellow aura. Asuna couldn't sense any Magical Energy coming from Lucina, but she could feel massive amounts of pressure from Lucina. Asuna then saw a bow in the same color as the aura around Lucina, form in Lucina's right hand. Lucina pointed the bow at Thoma, whose back was to them, and with her left hand Lucina drew back an arrow made of that yellow aura. Lucina took aim then fired the arrow yelling,

"Arc of Arrows: Soul Arrow!"

Lucina let go of the arrow and it shooted at Thoma with great force. Thoma turned around and didn't have time to block or dodge the arrow. The arrow struck Thoma in the middle of the chest and Thoma was sent back a few inches. Then Thoma begun to glow the same color of Lucina's aura.

"What's happening?" Asuna asked.

"You'll see shortly." Lucina said.

Inside Thoma's Mind

Thoma was floating through darkness in the fetal position and The Master's voice could be heard. The Master was saying that Thoma was a failure, that he should just disappear, and no one would miss him anyways. Thoma just sat there while The Master said these things over and over again.

"stop it. its not true." Thoma said softly and wasn't really trying to put up a argument.

The Master's voice just continued to say those things.

"How long have I been here anyways. Is what The Master saying really true? It has to be because no one has come looking for me." Thoma said feeling hollow inside at this realization.

But then there was a different voice. At first the voice was soft and you couldn't make out what it was saying.

"What was that?" Thoma asked looking up slightly.

Thoma listen for the different voice. He could hear the voice, but he still couldn't make out what the voice was saying.

"I don't understand what your saying." Thoma said to the voice.

After a bit there was a small yellow light begun to glow off in the distance. Thoma looked at the light and he felt that he had to get close to the light, but as he did The Master's voice begun to get louder and begun to say more violent things. Thoma stop and covered his ears in fear of what The Master was saying was true. Then The Master's voice faded away and all there was the different voice.

"Your not going to let things like this get you down?" A kind woman's voice asked.

"Wha?..." Thoma asked looking up.

When Thoma looked up, he saw Lucina.

"I know we don't know each other that much, but I know that your stronger then this." Lucina said.

"I'm a failure. I can't protect anyone and I should just disappear." Thoma said repeating what The Master's voice said.

"That's not true. There are many people in Fairy Tail that look up to you." Lucina said.

"Really?" Thoma asked have the feeling of hope in his chest.

"Really. Your a strong and caring person. Mugino loves you and is very grateful your everything you did for her. Erza and Natsu, even Laxus, believe that your a strong person that they look up to or want to surpass. Your not a failure and everyone would miss you if you were to just disappear." Lucina said.

Thoma looked into Lucina's eyes and he could tell that she was telling the truth. Lucina held out her hand and asked,

"Come back to us?"

Thoma looked at Lucina's hand for a bit then looked at her. Taking her hand Thoma said,

"I will."

Once Thoma said that, Lucina begun to glow bright and Thoma closed his eyes.

Back in the Real World

When the bright yellow light faded Asuna and Lucina saw Thoma, turned back into his human form, and passed out. Asuna looked at Thoma then at Lucina with confusion on her face and asked Lucina,

"What the heck just happened?"

"Thoma is back to normal." Lucina answered.

"But how? Just a moment ago, Thoma was in a rampage." Asuna pointed out.

"That's because my 'Arc of Arrows: Soul Arrow' I shot an arrow that had a piece of my soul in it. Once the arrow hit Thoma, the piece of my soul helped Thoma come back to normal." Lucina explained.

"But why did you have us get Thoma out of Magnolia to use that spell?" Asuna asked.

"Because I wasn't hundred percent sure that it would work, the arrow also does damage so any person or object would get hurt, and if it didn't work we were away from Magnolia so no one would get caught in the crossfire." Lucina explained.

After Lucina explained what happened to Asuna, she went over to Thoma and picked him up and carried him on her back. Asuna was impressed that Lucina could carry Thoma by herself. Once Lucina and Asuna arrived at the guild, Erza rushed up to them once she saw Thoma on Lucina's back.

"You managed to get Thoma back to normal. Is he alright?" Erza asked with some tears in her eye because she was happy to see Thoma in his human form.

"He should be fine, he just needs some rest." Lucina said.

"Alright that's good... Where's Yui?" Erza asked looking around.

"She has been injured. Erza, could you help me bring her back?" Asuna asked.

Erza nodded then her and Asuna rushed to where Yui was. Lucina made her way to the recovery room and she could hear the other members whisper,

"What happen to Thoma?" "Where was he? He could have help stop Laxus much sooner." "I guess he is really no help at all."

Once Lucina heard that, she darted her eyes and glared at the member who said that. The member who said that felt a cold chill go down his spine and he didn't say anything else. Lucina place Thoma down next to Makarov then a bit later Erza and Asuna set Yui next to Thoma. Lucina was still there when Erza and Asuna arrived.

"How's Yui?" Lucina asked.

"She has some broken bones and she might have some internal bleeding, but I'm not completely sure. Porlyusica is on her way here, so we'll be fine." Erza said.

Lucina looked at Asuna who had a worried look on her face. Lucina didn't want to talk to Asuna, but considered what happen to Yui, Lucina walked over to Asuna and said,

"I'm sorry Asuna."

"Its ok. If it wasn't for you, more people then Yui would have gotten hurt. I should be thanking you." Asuna said.

"Yes, thank you Lucina for bring my big brother back to normal." Erza said.

Lucina then gave Erza an upward look. Erza had no idea what that meant, but Rel jumped onto Erza's hand. Erza held up her hand and looked at Rel, who looked like was pulling on her fingers. Rel looked at Erza and waved her head towards Lucina. Erza got what Lucina and Rel were trying to say, so Erza placed her hand on Lucina's head and begun to pet her head. Once Erza did that, Lucina's tail begun to wag back and forth, Lucina was very happy while Asuna was a little upset that Lucina had Erza pet her head instead of her.

Sometime passed and Thoma was awake as well Makarov. Makarov yelled at Thoma for losing control and putting people in serious danger and how he needs to learn to control that power.

"Your not in too much trouble because you can't control that power yet. But you can't keep using that as an excuse, so you need to learn how to control this power. Because one day your going to end up hurting or killing innocent people." Makarov lectured Thoma.

"Yes I know Master, I will learn how to control this power before I hurt more people like I did to Yui." Thoma said still feeling terrible about what he did.

"After the Fantasia Parade, your going to learn how to control that power. Until you do, you will be unable to undertake a missions. Consider this your punishment."

"I understand Master." Thoma said.

"Just count yourself lucky. I'm little you off easy." Makarov said.

"You are?" Thoma questioned.

"Yes, because I promised him to look after you." Makarov said

Thoma was confused on what Makarov meant by that, but before he could ask Makarov, Laxus entered the room.

"Thoma, please leave. I have to talk to Laxus in private."

Thoma nodded and left so Laxus and Makarov could talk. As Thoma passed Laxus, Thoma said to Laxus,

"When your done here, we have some business to finish."

"Alright." Laxus agreed.

Thoma left and entered the main hall where everyone was having a party. Thoma spotted Asuna and Yui off the side. Asuna had a few bandages while Yui was covered in bandages. Thanks to Porlyusica, Yui is going to make a full recovery. Thoma looked over to Asuna and Yui and asked,

"Asuna and Yui, can you find it in your hearts to forgive me?"

Asuna and Yui looked at each other then Thoma, who was bowing down in forgiveness.

"Don't worry about it Thoma. It wasn't you who hurt me." Yui said.

"But it was me." Thoma said.

"You weren't in control, so as far as we can tell, it wasn't you." Asuna said.

"But..." Thoma begun to say.

"Thoma. Don't worry about it. Asuna and I forgive you." Yui said with a smile.

"Thank you ever much Yui and Asuna." Thoma said.

Thoma stood back up then looked around and asked,

"Where's Lucina?"

"She said that she was going for a little walk around the town." Asuna said.

"Alright. I have to thank her as well." Thoma said then headed out to find Lucina.

After a few moments, Thoma found Lucina in South Gate Park by the big tree.

"Lucina!" Thoma shouted.

Lucina turned around and said,

"Thoma. Feeling better?"

"Not really, but I'll get over what I did in time." Thoma answered.

"You just need to learn how to control that form." Lucina said.

"Master Makarov said the same thing and I know that, but I don't know how." Thoma said.

"I can teach you how." Lucina said.

"You can?" Thoma questioned.

"Yes I can." Lucina answered.

"But how?" Thoma asked.

"Because I'm like you. I too have a Demon Form. I can teach you how to control it." Lucina said.

"I would be every grateful if you would teach me." Thoma said.

"Alright, we'll begin after the Fantasia Parade." Lucina said.

Once Lucina finished Laxus showed up.

"Lucina. Can you gives us a moment?" Thoma asked.

"Alright, I'll see you back at home." Lucina said.

"Mugino is at the guild can you get her?" Thoma asked.

"Sure I can." Lucina said then left.

Laxus and Thoma just stood there for a few minutes not saying a word. The silence was broken when Laxus asked,

"What do you want?"

"We need to talk Laxus." Thoma answered.

"What about?" Laxus questioned not really sure what Thoma was going for.

"I wanted to apologize to you as well." Thoma said bowing down in forgiveness.

Laxus looked confused and asked,

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"For all the times we argued and fought in the past. I want to put everything under the bridge and start over." Thoma said standing back up.

"Still you shouldn't have to apologize for. I'm the one who antagonize you, so I should be the one to apologize to you." Laxus said.

Thoma walked up to Laxus and held out his hand and said,

"I don't want to be enemies anymore. We don't have to be friends, so how about we be friendly rivals instead?"

Laxus thought about it for a moment then grabbed Thoma's hand and said,

"I can settle on that."

The two shook hands and this was a turning point in Thoma's life because shortly after the Harvest Festival, Thoma's life would change forever.