Chapter 38: Bye-Bye Edolas!
Luffy and the dragon slayers have finally defeated Faust and the Dorma Anim. However, their victory was short-lived as the magic power in Edolas started to flow into the sky and the floated islands to crash into the ground. The cause of this was Mystogan opening a reverse anima, sending the magic power of Edolas into Earth Land.
"It's for the best, Lily." Mystogan said. "The people had always fought over power. I tried to warn them but they couldn't let go of temptation. So I shall remove that temptation. The last of our power will poor into the reverse anima. Once it reaches Earth Land, it will absorbed by the already abundant magic power there and become a part of nature. For the sake of Edolas's future, it must be brought to ruin. It is for that reason; a new leader must step forward and guide them. A new ruler for a brand new Edolas. One that can gather the desperate and frightened and then bravely lead them out of these dark times."
The Edolas Fairy Tail wizards looked up at the sky as the magic power remaining in Edolas continues to flow into the heavens.
"Listen, this looks bad but we have to stay cool." Edo-Nami said, getting her fellow guild mates' attention. "Let's head to the Royal City and what's up ourselves."
"What do you mean by that?" Edo-Natsu asked. "See what?"
"It's our future." Edo-Lucy answered. "Let's look at it straight in the eye." Then she and Edo-Nami started to run towards the Royal City. The guild members looked at each other, trying to figure what to do and decide to follow them.
"Take me before the populist and execute me for my crimes!" Mystogan demanded. "As a captain of the Royal Army and a member of the exceed race, you can end the chaos and become their savor. You are the ruler that they need. Lead the people to a world without magic."
Panther Lily's expression turned from shock into anger. "Do you really think the only way to save this kingdom is for you to die?!" he shouted. Nadi looked at the scene before with sweat running down his face.
"You may think that this is madness." Mystogan said. "But it's our only choice."
Panther Lily looked away and said, "But Prince, this foolish plan…how could you ask this of me." A picture of Panther Lily saving a baby Mystogan popped into the exceed's mind. "I simply cannot do it."
"I think you can."
"Then you obviously don't know me."
"Despite the fact that you are an exceed, you chose to save the life of a helpless human child. You understand that life has value for every living creature, regardless of what form they take."
"And still you burden me by making me carry the weight of this world on my shoulders?!"
"You're the only who can bare that weight. There is no one else. And I'm afraid that there's no other way."
"You are the prince of this world!" Lily refuted. "You're the one who is most suited to rule."
Mystogan narrowed his eyes at the exceed. "I am the destroyer of this world."
"You've taken extreme measures to save it! You're even willing to put your own life on the line! We need with that type of heart to take the helm and steer us out of this darkness! You cannot break this world and then leave it to others to pick up the pieces! You must make it whole again! It's your responsibility! You can't escape it in death!"
"This storm cannot be stopped by me."
The citizens of the Royal City continued to panic in the streets as the magic power of Edolas continues to decease as time goes by.
"What's going to happen to us, mommy?!" A little child shouted. "I'm scared."
"We're going to be ok." The mother said, holding her child close. "I promise that we will."
Another Edolas boy tripped over himself and fell to the ground. Edo-Lucy ran to the boy and picked him up.
"Come on everybody!" Edo-Lucy shouted. "Just calm down!"
"Are you kidding, at a time like this?!" A citizen questioned. "I would start running now if I were you, lady! This place is history!"
"Is he serious?!" Edo-Natsu said, walking towards Edo-Lucy. "We got to get out of here right now!"
"Daddy!" The little boy shouted, seeing his father running toward him.
"Keep your eyes on your kid, ok!" Edo-Lucy said. The little boy's father nodded as he ran off with his son.
Panther Lily balled his fists and said, "I'll do it. I'll play the role of the villain." Mystogan widen his eyes in shock.
The floated island continued to descend, even the island that Extalia was located, and crash to the ground below.
"The whole thing is blown to pieces!" Lucky shouted.
"Our poor little house is gone." Marl said saddened.
"Now the boy doesn't have a piece to come home to! This is an outrage! An outrage!"
"When I was exiled from my homeland, the kingdom took me in." Panther Lily said. "But now I've ran a foul with the kingdom as well. I'm a man with nowhere to call home. If I'm to sacrificed, there will be no one to mourn me."
"Please stop!" Mystogan shouted. "You gave me the gift of life. I've cost you your country! I cannot ask you to sacrifice anymore."
"I fell the same as you. Please, do not throw your life away. More death would only lead to more solemn and much more suffering."
"Perhaps, then how do you suggest that we make things right? I'll only cause more pain."
A solider ran into the room and shouted, "Panther Lily, the situation is much worse!"
The exceed turned towards the soldier and said, "I'm aware of that!" Then he turned back to Mystogan. "As you can see, we're dealing with the anima here."
"Have you stopped it?"
"No, not exactly."
"There has massive rioting in the Royal City. The destruction is beyond our control."
"The chaos is far worse than I have anticipated." Mystogan said. "We must do what we can to stop it."
"Controlling the crowd is our first priority." Panther Lily said.
"You're right. We cannot let it spread. We must go." Panther Lily nodded and proceeded to walk out of the room with Mystogan following him.
The soldier looked at Mystogan with a confused look on his face. "Uh sir, who might he be?" he asked. Mystogan and Lily ran through the palace corridor and onto the balcony. They widen their eyes at the damage that has been done to the Royal City.
"How many are there?" Panther Lily asked the soldiers.
"Four, sir!" A soldier answered.
"And you haven't taken them out?! Explain yourself!"
"Yes sir, they're really strong!" Then the sound of an evil laughter filled at the air, getting Mystogan and Panther Lily's attention. They looked over and saw Natsu standing on the roof of one of the buildings, wearing a black cloak and horns.
"I am the demon they call Dragneel!" Natsu shouted. "And I've come here to this world to steal all of your magic power."
"Natsu?" Mystogan said, looking at his Earth Land guild mate confused. The Royal City citizens looked at the dragon slayer in fear and The Edolas Fairy Tail looked with widen eyes.
"Have you gone insane, other me?!" Edo-Natsu shouted but Natsu continued to laugh instead of answering. "Never mind!"
"Faust isn't your king anymore!" Natsu declared, showing a defeated Faust tied to a log. "Because I kicked his sorry old ass! But I've decide to spare his life, for now! Come on Redfox, Monkey, and Marvell! Now my faithful servants, it's time to trash the city!" Then the roofs of more building crash to the ground as Luffy and Gajeel landed on their feet, laughing manically at what they've done.
"One of them has a sword for an arm!" A citizen shouted, looking at Gajeel's sword arm. Then he saw Luffy retract his rubber arm. "And the other one could stretch?!"
Edo-Gajeel looked at his Earth Land counterpart confused but widens his eyes, knowing what they're trying to do. "These villains won't until they've destroyed everything in sight." He said. "This city is under attack by demons from another world."
"You better run!" Wendy shouted, trying to scare the boy in front of her but having no luck. Then Gajeel came up behind Wendy and gave the boy an even scarier face, causing him to run off.
"Just look at them!" Edo-Gajeel said. "They're an unstoppable force of evil." Gajeel looked at this Edolas counterpart and they've exchanged smirks with each other.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Mystogan shouted. "Stop this!"
"Now my royal servants of Lord Dragneel, don't stop destroying stuff!" Natsu commanded.
"Keep going with this servant crap and I'm coming up there first!" Gajeel shouted.
"Just keep doing what I tell you, slave!"
"I guess I should've been specific."
Panther Lily widens his eyes, finally caught on what Natsu was planning to do. 'Hold on…' he thought.
"They're to blame for this!" A citizen shouted. "They're the ones who stole Edolas's magic power!"
"It's all that Dragneel's fault!" Another citizen shouted.
"That's right." Edo-Ace said. "The dark lord Dragneel is the brain behind this whole operation."
"That's unforgivable!" another citizen shouted. "Give us our magic back right now."
"You better be careful." Natsu said. "Because you know what happens when you play with fire." Natsu released a burst of flames out of his mouth.
"He's breathes fire?!" A citizen shouted shocked.
"Natsu!" Mystogan shouted, getting Natsu's attention. "Stop this now!"
"Is somebody challenging him?" A citizen asked confused.
"He's over there, in the castle tower!" Another citizen shouted, pointing at Mystogan.
Natsu looked over at Mystogan with a smirk on his face. "Are you telling what to do, you little punk?" he asked.
"Stop this foolishness!" Mystogan shouted. "The king has been defeated! There's no need to attack innocent people!"
"Oh yeah?!" Natsu released another blast of fire onto the citizens.
"No don't!"
"If you're trying to scare me, it ain't going to work. I don't care if you are the prince!"
"He's the prince?!" One of the citizens said confused. "Could it really be him?!"
"But the prince mysteriously vanished seven years ago." Edo-Gajeel said. "Prince Jellal is back!"
"I don't believe it!" Another citizen said. "He's returned! And he's just in time!"
"What are they doing here?" Panther Lily questioned, looking at Natsu and the others.
"I'm responsible, sir." A familiar voice said, getting Lily and Mystogan's attention. They looked behind their shoulders and saw Nadi.
"What do you mean be that?"
"I happened to overhear your conversation earlier." Nadi explained.
"Let's fight." Natsu said to Mystogan. "Or your precious city is going to get burned to the ground." Mystogan narrowed his eyes at Natsu's threat.
Panther Lily looked at Mystogan and said, "It seems like we have our villain, don't we? The citizen don not believe in the prince yet."
"Natsu, stay right there!" Mystogan shouted, as he jumped out of the tower and ran towards the dragon slayer.
"Don't you hear me?" Natsu said. "I am the great and powerful Lord Dragneel."
'It's obvious that he wants to make Jellal play the role of the hero.' Panther Lily thought. 'But if he throws the fight and the public finds out, the consequences could be tragic. Is he willing to pay the ultimate price?'
"Sir, I advise to be ready for some major surprise." Nadi said. "There's quite a bit more in store tonight to say the least."
The lacrima that encased Nichiya and his men vanished, releasing the capture exceeds.
"Oh my, I feel myself again." Nichiya said. "Expect for all of this crushing weight! I'm being squashed by my men!" Nichiya wiggled himself out of the pile of exceed soldiers and saw the streams of magic. "What the devil is happening here? Is that magic power? I must protect the queen!"
Back in the Royal City, the citizen moved out of the way at Mystogan ran through the street trying to reach Natsu.
"Here goes the prince." Edo-Ace said.
"Is he really going to fight that monster by himself?!" Edo-Gajeel said. "What unbelievable courage he has."
'You idiot.' Mystogan thought. 'I understand what you're trying to do but you're just going end up making things worse for everyone.' Mystogan took out his staff and pointed it at the dragon slayer.
"Now sleep!" He shouted, trying to use his magic but nothing happened. 'The anima must have taken my power!'
"What's the matter?" Natsu taunted. "You scared without your magic, huh? Well you should be because check this out!" Natsu engulfed his fist in flames. "I got plenty!" Natsu punched the roof that he was standing, destroy the building.
"I said stop!" Mystogan shouted angrily.
"Natsu, you're going way too far!" Wendy shouted.
"No he's not." Luffy said, making Wendy look at him confused.
"The more powerful the villain's magic seems to have in him, the stronger the hero looks when he beats him without using any magic at all." Gajeel explained.
"Listen to me, Natsu." Mystogan said. "You're making a big mistake with all of this. This whole show you're putting on, you can't aspect to fool all of these people."
Natsu smirked and said, "I challenge you!" He jumped off the debris and punched Mystogan in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"Watch out!" A citizen shouted. "He's dangerous!"
"You fool." Mystogan said, wiping the blood off of his lip. "You can't bring the people together this way! Through evil!" Mystogan got back up to throw a punch of his own but Natsu caught it.
"Fight me for real." Natsu growled. Mystogan narrowed his eyes and kicked Natsu in the face. The people started to cheer for Mystogan, hoping that he would defeat the monster terrorizing the Royal City. "Oh yeah, now they're really getting into it."
"You idiot. You should've stayed down so we wouldn't to stretch this out farther."
"That's not my style!" Natsu gave Mystogan a hard punch to the gut. But Mystogan came back with a punch to Natsu's face. Natsu was about uppercut Mystogan in the jaw but it was caught before it could hit him.
"Go Prince! Go Prince!" The citizen chanted repeatedly as the Edolas Fairy Tail looked in disbelief.
Natsu looked at Mystogan and said quietly to him, "This is it, buddy. I'm going to give you a real Fairy Tail send off." Mystogan looked at the dragon slayer with widen eyes. "Since you're leaving Fairy Tail, you'll have to swear to follow these three rules." Natsu jumped back and started throwing punches at Mystogan. Mystogan dodged and blocked every one of Natsu's attack. "Number 1: Never ever share sensitive information about Fairy Tail with anyone as long as you live!" Mystogan caught Natsu's fist and punched him in the face. Now Mystogan started to throw punches at the dragon slayer, pushing him back.
"Number 2: You must never contact any client you may have worked with in the guild for your own personal gain!" He shouted.
"That's right and don't forget number 3!" Natsu shouted, punching in the gut. "Although our paths must stray, you got to promise to live the rest of your life to the fullest. That means to threat everyday like its your last day in this world. Don't forget the friends you loved."
"You must treasure them as long as you lived." Mystogan said as he punched each other in the face. The crowd widens their eyes in shock.
"Did you get all of that? When a guild works together, there's nothing they can't do." Mystogan put one foot back to regain his balance and Natsu fell to the ground with a smile on his face. "It was nice knowing you pal." The crowd of people erupted in cheers as Mystogan stood over Natsu victorious.
"Thank you." Mystogan said to his comrade.
"The prince won!" A citizen shouted happily.
"Natsu…" Edo-Lucy said as she and her guild looked at the fallen wizard. Edo-Gajeel and Ace smiled and to walk away. Luffy looked over the leaving duo and an image of Ace popped into his mind.
'Was that Ace?' Luffy thought, watching Edolas counterpart of his brother walk away.
Mystogan looked down at Natsu and the dragon slayer's body to glow. "What?" he said shocked. "What's that?" The same thing was happening to Luffy, Wendy, and Gajeel as well.
"What's going on?" Luffy asked confused, looking at his body.
"It's starting." Wendy said.
"Yeah, I guess our little song and dance ain't over just yet." Gajeel said.
"Do you see that?" A citizen asked.
"His body is glowing." Another citizen said.
Nadi and Panther Lily's bodies were glowing as well. "What's happening to us?" Panther Lily asked.
"The reverse anima spell is beginning to cast every remaining shred of magic out of Edolas." Nadi said. "And because we possess eternal magic powers, that includes all of the exceeds and the dragon slayers as well. We all be pulled into Earth Land."
"Say what?!"
"I believe the queen is preparing for this occurrence as we speak."
"I'm scared, your highness." An exceed said scared. "I'm feeling really weird."
"Don't be afraid." Chagot said. "It will be alright. They don't need angels now so we have to move along. There's going to be a big chance for us so we have to walk towards a brave face."
The Earth Land wizards and the Straw Hats' bodies started to glow as well. "What's going on?" Nami said.
"I have no idea." Gray said.
"The anima is pulling us out of this world!" Carla shouted as their bodies started to float and ascend to the sky like to the magic streams.
"It looks like the anima is working in reverse and pushing the magic out of Edolas." Robin said. "That means any source of magic is drawn in as well."
"Ok then why are we floating in the air too?!" Usopp exclaimed. "The last time I checked, we don't have magic power!"
"Hey guys!" Luffy shouted as he and the dragon slayers
"Luffy!" Nami shouted, happy to see the crew's captain.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted, happy to see her friend.
"It's super to see you guys." Franky said. "You're ok."
"This is crazy!" Edo-Lucy shouted, looking at the ascending wizards.
"I guess it's finally happing." Edo-Sanji said. "We're losing our magic power forever."
"Does this mean we'll lose our guild too?" Edo-Vivi asked.
"I'm so scared." Edo-Cana said. "Whatever will become of us now?"
"You're asking me like I got some kind of answer." Edo-Juvia said annoyed.
"Try not to worry about it you guys." Gray said to the Edolas guild. "It takes a heck a lot more than just magic to make a real guild. Trust me." Edo-Gray looked up at his Earth Land counterpart. "It's all about friendship. That's the heart of a guild."
Outside of the city, Zoro and Erza's bodies started to glow as they started to ascend just like the others.
"Is this it?" Knightwalker asked.
"It looks like it." Zoro said. "Take care of yourself." Knightwalker nodded with tears in her eyes and a smile of her face.
"What in the world is going on here?!" Lucky shouted as he and Marl tried to hang on a rock to keep themselves from being pulled in the reverse anima.
"This force is pulling us in!" Marl shouted.
"This cannot be!" Nichiya shouted in frustration, hanging to an Edolas flag. "Just when we were revived and ready to perform feats of unimaginable heroism!"
Luffy and the dragon slayers pretended like they were being pulled by their necks due an invisible force as Mystogan watched them being pulled into the anima. "I knew that the magic would be expelled but I didn't know the people would be too." He said.
"Prince!" Panther Lily shouted, getting Mystogan's attention. 'Although things are changing rapidly, don't forget that adapting to them can take time. Don't rush. Lead your people with warmth and a kind heart. Take them at a pace that they can keep up with. They'll march along you into the future.'
"I will." Mystogan said.
"See ya!" Luffy shouted, waving to himself. "I hope to see you again one day!" Edo-Luffy looked up and nodded to his other self.
'Even though, some of roles are reversed in this world...' Nami thought, looking at the Edolas Straw Hats with tears in her eyes. 'They're still the same crew that I know and love.' Edo-Nami looked at her counterpart with tears in her eyes as well.
"Bye-bye everyone." Happy said. "We'll see you later."
"Don't be such a fool." Carla said. "We won't be seeing them, not ever."
"What?! I'll miss you!"
"Don't be sentimental. It's pathetic." The Fairy Tail wizards and the Straw Hats looked down at their Edolas counterparts, waving their final goodbyes to them.
'Farewell, Prince.' Panther Lily thought.
'Farewell, Lily.' Mystogan thought. 'And farewell to my family in Fairy Tail. I will cherish our memories for as long as I live. I promise I will.' That every ounce of magic remaining in Edolas has finally disappeared.
Mystogan stood on top of the building that Natsu destroyed and raised his staff. "The monsters have defeated!" he shouted. "Whether we have magic or not, our kingdom will live on safely and peacefully for all eternity!" The citizens erupted in cheers for Mystogan, or should I say Prince Jellal.
Luffy slowly opened his eyes and saw a wooden mass with the flag of the Straw Hats flying on top of it. He sat up and saw his crew slowly started to stir. They've all sat up and looked up at the clear blue skies.
"Do you guys think we'll see them again?" Chopper asked.
"I don't think so." Nami said sadly. "Every bit of magic that was left in Edolas has disappeared so it's unlikely for that to happen." Chopper looked at the grassy deck disappointed.
"Don't worry." Luffy said with his trademark grin. "I'm sure we'll see them again one day."
"Right!" Chopper said with a smile and Nami nodded.
"Now sit sail!" Luffy shouted. "We're heading to Fishman Island!"
"Aye!" The Straw Hats shouted as their journey to Fishman Island and the New World continues.
The End…