Hey, thanks for coming back! Bit of an intense chapter up ahead. Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 16: The End of the Tower

It's an absolute shitshow. The place that used to be the the ceremonial platform of the Tower of Heaven is falling apart. Whatever spell Jellal is using, it's destructive as hell. Natsu is a few paces away from me, seemingly half conscious. I don't know if he took my advice earlier about eating Etherion. Erza is still at a safe distance, if Natsu can just get her out of here, things would be easier. Because Jellal's spell is trying to suck me in and I can't resist for much longer.

With what little control I have left I slam my dark claws into the lacrima beneath me. The flames jump around like a group of hungry hounds going mental at the smell of blood. As of now, Jellal is holding a giant, pulsing ball of dark magic between his arms. My claws are scratching at the surface of the lacrima floor, while my feet are desperately trying to move towards the spell.

I'm not sure what I'll do once Erza and Natsu are gone, but the darkest things come to mind. I might never see them again.

Jellal's spell is about ready. Even without absorbing your flames, he's gathered a scary amount of dark, harmful magic. The way he's looking now, Jellal plans to hit Natsu with it, and Natsu won't be able to dodge. I have to do something, but if I move I might make things worse.

I try to open my mouth, but when I try to speak there's only growling. Natsu should, as the son of a dragon, easily hear the words 'get up' in there somewhere, but he's too focused on the blast that is coming. He might be able to get up just in time to get hit. And he won't survive that. Sure, we're not exactly friends, but I can't let him die like this.

As a last resort I try connecting with Natsu telepathically, but I can't sense Simon anywhere. He can't establish any communications now.

Jellal is getting closer and closer to launching the bomb of dark magic. I keep resisting and keep questioning why your flames are so eager to join Jellal's attack.

Then Erza appears. I didn't hear her running from the spot I felt her earlier. She's hurt and exhausted, but adrenaline keeps her from falling down. She stops in front of Natsu, putting herself in the line of fire. Jellal laughs when he sees it. He can finally kill her.

Erza's face is rock solid determination. She's dead set on shielding Natsu from the blast. She has her arms spread, as if to welcome the dark magic with a hug.

And no matter what I'll do, she won't move. Even if I could speak, she wouldn't listen. She doesn't know who I am and she doesn't care.

But I have to do something. The flames are almost begging me to go go Jellal and when I look at Erza I understand why. And I feel silly for missing it. Your flames have no intend to join Jellal. They feed on anything I can make them believe is dark magic, but they are, of course, much keener on the real thing. Your flames want to eat Jellal's attack.

I look at him and see he's staring back at me. And then I know he's doing this on purpose. I can stop all of this now if I get up and absorb Jellal's attack, but that will come at a price. Absorbing dark magic means handing over the reigns to your flames, and you know what happens then. With the amount of magic Jellal has gathered I don't imagine anyone surviving the monster that will come out of me. I've never absorbed so much, there's no way I'll be able to keep control.

Jellal is taunting me. This is an impossible choice. Will I do nothing and let Jellal kill Erza, or will I save her from Jellal and let her get killed by the monster that will emerge as a result of absorbing dark magic?

This is all going on in my head while Jellal's bomb is about to burst. Erza still hasn't moved, though Natsu is begging her to do so. Salamander, I think to myself in panic, will you be able to destroy me?

Even without being an official S-class mage, Natsu was already legendary. He's not too bright, which often results in people underestimating him, but he has more than proven that he is an incredible mage. And on top of that, a Dragon Slayer. He's build to fight monsters.

Please, I say quietly, make sure to finish me off.

I start to pull my claws from the lacrima, then I hesitate. This is it, I think. This is how my life ends. And I'm terrified. There are still three fingers holding on to the lacrima, and I can't move. Jellal leans back, ready to throw his bomb. I tell myself to go, now, but I can't do it.

Erza is not moving. My chest hurts. Why am I not moving?

Jellal lets go of the bomb and as it flies through the air, something changes. I couldn't sense him before and he appears out of nowhere, so quick not even Jellal notices him. The dark magic is heading for Erza, but it doesn't hit her. At the very last moment, Simon shoves himself in front of her.

The tension in the air shifts, the wind dies down. The Tower stops trembling and there's a bright light. The pulling at my body stops, the flames die down. Then the loudest sound I've ever heard erupts as Jellal's spell hits Simon right in the chest.

For a second or two afterwards, there is only smoke. I quickly regain my control over the flames and panic helps me get to my feet. My claws disappear and I feel tiny and cold.

I enhance my hearing.

Erza is still breathing, so is Natsu. Simon is too, but it gets drowned out by the most horrible sound I've ever heard. And I've listened to people shitting their pants while they die.

The dust clears and Simon has fallen on the ground. Erza holds him in her arms.

On the outside it doesn't look like much. Simon had been hurt earlier, and though he got hit by Jellal's magic head on it just seemed to have scratched him. What I'm hearing is what's happening on the inside.

Dark magic is eating everything away. It forces itself through his intestines, rips into his stomach, shrivels up his lungs, pulls his muscles apart like they're nothing. The magic chews loudly. It's almost like it's giggling while doing it.

None of that can be seen on the outside. Only the light fading out in his eyes indicates that Simon is dying.

Erza speaks to him softly, her voice trembles. I can't make out what she's saying. I stumble towards them, fall on my knees beside Simon, and place my hands on his chest.

Erza stops, looks up and says something, but it doesn't reach me. I just hear the dark magic that is eating Simon away with a smile. I force, no, I beg your dark flames to lure them away. To absorb them. To leave Simon's body, and to instead destroy me.

Because that was what was supposed to happen. I was supposed to save Erza from dark magic. I'm a Dragon Slayer that feeds on Dark Magic. But like always, I got scared, and this time there was no darkness to hide behind, no taking over, no 'it wasn't you, it was them'.

Because I could've done something, and I hadn't.

'Please,' I say out loud, 'please, take me.'

If Simon dies here...well, I just didn't know what I would do. At that moment, I just knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself. So I just begged that darkness to take me.

Erza is pulling at me, Natsu is shouting, they have no idea who I am or what's going on. That would be for the better.

But the darkness won't come. Simon knows it too. With what strength he has left, he forces his arm up. With his index finger, he reaches for my temple. Immediately, his telepathic presence appears in my head.

'Riku,' he says, with an echo surrounding his voice, 'let go.'

I can't, I tell him. But his arm has fallen back. In his final moments, he turns his eyes to Erza. Beneath the iron jaw protector he wears, a smile appears. Tears fill his eyes, and then his heart stops beating.

Though the life is gone, the dark magic continues to feed on him. I stop calling for them. Something inside me cracks.

There's just a high pitched beep in my ears. I see Erza is crying, screaming, but I don't hear it. Natsu just looks shocked and at a loss for words. My hands are still on Simon's chest.

Something inside me cracks.

The next few minutes are a blurred. The short version would be that what Mystogan was afraid of, happened: I got too emotional. Which is a strange thing to say while looking back, because at the time I felt nothing. All I knew was that I wanted to kill Jellal and that it was the logical thing to do.

One second I'm beside Simon, the next I'm choking Jellal midair. You're right, I say quietly, I should have.

First of all: he could not be saved. Letting him live now would be like not searching for a remedy for an illness just because no one's sick anymore. People will get sick again eventually as long as there's no cure. Jellal would find his strength again, unless he was stopped for good.

Secondly: he made Erza forget about me. Until now I've kind of accepted that as being something else to deal with. I didn't even resist, didn't even try to change it. I basically gave up and let him shit all over me.

Thirdly: he wanted to kill Erza. She made her choice; if this all had to end with her dying, so be it. I can't stop her, but I can stop him.

Fourthly, and most importantly: he killed one of our own in cold blood. That should be a death sentence in any family.

It feels like I'm going in and out of consciousness. Every now and then I see flashes of what's going on, as if someone's showing me images. I have wings now, we're flying, I'm dragging Jellal with me towards the clouds. I feel nothing, and it's for the better.

I surround myself and Jellal with dark magic, like I did earlier to protect Erza against Etherion. I lock the both of us in here, in this floating chamber of flames. The walls, ceiling and floor are all part of my burning wings.

I throw Jellal away from me. He lands in the black fire, it claws at his bleeding skin. It must hurt, but I still don't hear much.

I imagine I must've looked demonic.

Jellal is trying to tell me something. He's not grinning anymore. He might be pleading for his life, but I don't hear it. And even if I did, I wouldn't listen.

The walls of flames are absorbing Jellal. The wings that have formed this chamber are detaching themselves from my back. I can walk around the space freely. Nothing burns me.

Smoke circles from Jellal's flesh. He's actually disappearing right in front of me. His limbs are probably already gone.

My hearing returns. I hear him scream and gurgle on his own blood. His internal organs have turned to pudding by now. His voice cracks one more time and then he's quiet. His heart is still beating, his eyes are still open, but he's dying.

Something inside me cracks. I don't feel guilty. I don't regret doing it. I just wish I never had to in the first place. Those damn ships always come back to haunt me. Jellal made me do it, like he made me choose between saving Erza or killing her myself, like he made me kill him.

His mouth is twitching, his eyes are staring at me. He's still alive, but he can't scream anymore. This would all be easier if he just said he was possessed by some evil spirit, but according to himself that is not the case. This is him, truly him. There is dark magic in him, but it's only there to manipulate him. It probably made Jellal feel like he was doing everyone a favour by finishing the Tower, that he was saving everyone. That he was still the good guy.

I'm crying. This must sound whiny to you, but I'm proud to be crying.

In this chamber of dark flames, as I'm staring at Jellal, waiting for him to finally die, I sense a presence. He's right outside. I know immediately who it is and I'm not planning to invite him in like this is our old apartment.

He manages to somehow force his voice through the walls. 'Riku.'

I'm not answering. Not because I'm mad at him for what he said earlier, I'm not that petty. I just don't want anyone around anymore. I want to wait for Jellal to die and then I'll disappear forever.

'Riku!' Mystogan sounds more alarmed, which is so unlike him. We've faced terrible monsters together and even then he barely flinched.

He's preparing a spell, I can tell it's a layered one. Several magical portals are opening in the sky around my chamber of dark flames, but none of them will be strong enough to penetrate the walls. I don't know why he bothers.

I continue weeping. Jellal is still holding on. The darkness has left him, he's fighting on his own now. Mystogan's attacks are hitting the chamber, but they don't even leave a dent. I wonder how he's doing it. From what I remember Jellal and I flew up, into the clouds. We're hovering high above the Tower, so Mystogan must be flying.

'Riku!' he says, and it's the most I've ever heard him raise his voice. His attacks have stopped. He curses, which is even more out of character. I feel him nearing and I try to ignore it. My eyes are focused on Jellal. He's paralyzed, his brain is slowly fading away. There's drool dripping from the sides of his mouth.

'Screw it!' I hear Mystogan suddenly say. Though I'm not connected to the flames the chamber is made of, I can feel whatever's going on. And Mystogan just walked into the wall without hesitation.

He screams when the flames surround him. Like Jellal before, he gets absorbed by darkness.

Something inside me cracks.

I quickly slam my hands into the burning wall and force it apart. Mystogan falls onto the burning floor, where the flames immediately surround him again. He mumbles a spell and a magical shield surrounds him, like a soap bubble. Half of his mask has been burned off, it just covers one side of his mouth. He's missing his cloak and staves. His hands, arms and legs have been touched by the flames, the skin looks red and gooey. He bites his teeth down hard.

'Why…?' is all I can say. Neither of us knows any healing spells, let alone how to treat burns like these. Burns caused by dark magic.

Somehow, Mystogan manages to stand up. He's breathing heavily, but his eyes are still bright. 'You have to stop this. Now.'

For a second I realize how strange it is to have both Mystogan and Jellal in the same room. The similarity is uncanny.

The heartbeat of one of them is fading. He's staring right at me.

'Riku!' says Mystogan then, louder. 'Listen to me, please-'

'It's too late,' I interrupt, and I can barely hear myself. My voice is surrounded by growls and, well, tears. 'He's almost-'

'Look at me!'

I force my eyes from Jellal to Mystogan. He rips his mask off, revealing his entire face. He's stumbling on his feet, trying not to pass out because of the pain.

'Please,' he says through his teeth, 'stop this. If you kill him now, there's no going back.'

'To what?' I ask. 'Fairy Tail? They don't remember me. The only thing left is this fire.'

Each time, I thought I had it. And I've come a long way. I could live a life as a mage with these flames. But not anymore.

'I know who you are,' says Mystogan, and at the moment I appreciated it, but it was hard to accept anything while I was also killing someone with his face, 'and I've seen your struggle. I don't think it's worth giving up now.'

I just annoyed. 'Why are you here, Mystogan? This has nothing to do with you.'

'Really?' he says, almost amused. 'Have you seen me? Riku, if you kill him, what do you think happens to us?'

I look away and focus on Jellal's fading heartbeat. He's almost there.

'Riku,' Mystogan continues, 'I can't let you kill someone that wears my face. Even after all that he's done. This isn't what you want, is it?'

I understand where he's getting at and I've concluded that myself earlier: I don't want to kill Jellal, but he left me no choice. And Mystogan is right about one other thing, something he didn't say out loud but we both now: I've never killed someone in cold blood. I've never killed someone deliberately. There were accidents, things beyond my control but which I can still be blamed for, but I've never been a calculated murderer.

Mystogan isn't just here for the sake of our friendship. After I kill Jellal, I will be more like you than ever before. If there is such a thing as a soul, Mystogan is here to save it.

But like I said: it's too late.

'No,' says Mystogan, 'there must be something you can do.'

Jellal's heart is only trembling now. He stopped blinking.

I carefully approach him. His mouth hangs open in a silent scream. I sense no darkness in him now, it's completely gone. Your flames absorbed it before they started burning the body. I accidently succeeded in cleansing him.

'What about your magic?' says Mystogan then, and I can tell he's about to pass out. I don't know what he wants me to do. I'm not a healing mage. I use the golden magic to fool the darkness.

When I concentrate, I feel there are only traces left. My face is still a burning mask, the golden magic consists of nothing more than a couple small, smoldering pieces of ash. But they're still there, somehow. If your flames are hungry hounds, my magic would be a newborn puppy, so young it can't even open its eyes yet.

I call it forth. It's confused and nervous. I extend my hand. It sniffs at my fingers, licks it, bites it softly. We have to reconnect.

Before I feel I have complete control, I take Jellal's face in my hands. His skin is cold.

I ask my magic to leave me, and to go to him instead. I don't know what will happen, but it's all I can think of.

As if the sun breaks through a huddle of thunderclouds, there's a light in the chamber. The flames let out a surprised screech, almost resembling a flock of crows, and the walls start thinning out. Fresh air flows in.

The flames let go of Jellal, his body falls forward. I catch him. There are only stumps where his limbs should be, my magic travels to those places and starts glowing. I have no idea what it's doing.

Jellal coughs and I almost drop him. His heartbeat grows louder. When I enhance my hearing even more, I hear my magic is working on his insides. The darkness would giggle while ripping someone apart, but my magic seems to almost hum peacefully, as if it's doing laundry on a sunny day.

Jellal coughs again and there's still blood between his teeth. One of his arms hangs around my shoulders, his head leans against my chest. The walls and ceiling of the dark chamber continue to disappear, only the burning floor remains, as a platform floating in the sky above the Tower of Heaven.

Jellal finds the strength to lift his head. He looks at me. 'Riku.'

Not Dragon Prince. Riku. Can't say I was glad. I wasn't doing this for him. If Mystogan hadn't come, Jellal would be dead.

Mystogan is still floating in his bubble, but I can tell he's struggling. I hope my magic can help him. While half carrying Jellal, I walk towards his bubble and carefully place my hand against it. Mystogan immediately seems relieved. Whatever I did, it numbed the pain a little.

My own magic was still alien to me and I realized it's an ever bigger contrast to your flames than I could've imagined. While your flames were always out to take me over, my magic seems willing to listen. All I have to do is think about what I want, and the golden light takes care of it. It was never like this before and it feels wrong somehow. Where was all of this before? Or did I just awaken all of it by accident? So many horrible events could've been prevented if I had been in touch with this magic all along. I can't be glad, I can't be relieved that it's with me now. It's frustrating.

'Riku,' gurgles Jellal again. I feel his magic is returning. It's still weak, but just minutes ago he was dying. If he continued to heal at this rate, we would be facing off against each other within an hour or so.

But it doesn't look like he wants to fight. Instead, he says: 'The Tower. It needs to be destroyed.'

I look down. The Tower of Heaven is trembling, pieces of lacrima are breaking off and falling into the sea. I can see the tiny row boat rocking against the emerging waves. Natsu and Erza are still on the platform, beside the lifeless body of Simon.

From what I can tell, the building is about to explode. The several magical battles that took place there that day, the use of dark magic and the blast of Etherion had damaged the structure to the point it became unstable.

'Get them out of here,' Jellal says, 'I'll handle it.'

Mystogan used a teleportation spell to get the tiny rowboat as far away as possible. I managed to grab Erza and Natsu from the platform and dragged them with me to the mainland. Both of them had passed out somehow, I think that was Mystogan's doing. When I was sure they were safe, I headed back to the Tower by myself.

I floated above the ocean and watched as Jellal, still with half his body intact, called forth one spell after the other. The Tower continued to fall apart beneath him. I could feel the tension building up in the core. Part of me knew I could eat it, but I rather had Jellal destroy it. He wouldn't survive it, we both knew that.

As children, I once compared Jellal to Erza; they both cared about the wellbeing of others and back then that was so strange to me. As I'm watching Jellal preparing to absorb the blast that is coming from the Tower of Heaven, I think back to that. Erza was prepared to die at the Tower, and now he is too.

But I don't know if this is his way of atoning for his sins or if it's another strategy. That's why I'm staying to watch.

There are mere seconds left before the explosion. I can see how Jellal falls on his knees, he's missing an arm and a foot. It seems this is all he can do. The Tower is surrounded by magical portals, waiting for the spells to be activated by their summoner.

I'm far away, someone who doesn't have my eyes wouldn't see me if they were at the top of the Tower, but Jellal somehow manages to look me right in the eyes. And when he does, he gives me another rush of magic which enhances my ears. He did this a couple times when he wanted to make sure I heard something within the Tower.

'Riku,' he says, 'Riku Starlight.'

I feel nothing. I don't know how he figured out my last name and I don't care. A bright light erupts from the lacrima. The clouds break apart and for a second there's complete silence. Then the loudest sound ever blasts over the water. It's even worse than Etherion and Jellal's dark magic bomb combined. I get pushed back, my wings almost fall apart.

When I can see again, everything is gone, even the island. There is not a trace of the Tower.

So I didn't kill Jellal. Hurray. But my life was still screwed over. Simon was dead and I wasn't ready to deal with the guilt.

The first thing I did when I came back to the mainland was search for alcohol. I didn't go looking for a cozy bar. It was still nighttime, going on morning, so everything was closed anyway. I broke into the first liquor store I could find, looked for whatever was the strongest and left some money on the counter. Then I disappeared into the woods.

I had no idea where I was and I didn't care. I sat down underneath a tree and watched the sky turn orange. The night was over and a new day began as if nothing happened. I find it a comforting thought sometimes, knowing that none of what you do really matters in the end, but I didn't think so on that morning. I was able to see the sunrise and Simon wasn't.

'Idiot,' I said to myself, but that didn't even begin to cover it. I kept going back to the moment I hesitated to eat Jellal's magic. By not making a decision then I had decided everything else that came after.

I open the bottle I half stole earlier and take sniff. It's terribly mixed, so it might knock me out for a few hours. As I'm about to take a sip, something moves in the bushes. I freeze and enhance my ears. Nothing besides the ruffling of the leafs and the fluttering of tiny birds.

Then something flashes by, I see it in the corner of my eye. I turn to look, but there's nothing there. I put the cork back on the bottle and wait. Nothing happens.

'Hello?' I say out loud, as one does when strange things happen. In my head I make a list of the people that should be able to find me here, which is short; Mystogan, Natsu, Erza. But I don't sense any of them. I don't sense anyone, no magical presence or a heartbeat.

I blink a few times. Maybe I'm missing something.

I stare into the forest, between the trees. There's a figure between the green. I see a face, when she realizes I've spotted her she smiles.

Then she calmly walks towards me. I know who she is, because I only have one memory of her.

She sits down in front of me. Her entire body is covered in a thin layer of light, as if she's a living star. She continues to smile while I'm struggling to make sense of this all.

She slowly lifts a glowing hand and touches my cheek. As soon as her skin touches mine, I recognize the kindness and the warmth. It's exactly like my golden magic.

'Riku,' she says, and I can hear her voice in my head. 'I'm proud of you.'

I press my face harder against her hand. I'm too shocked to cry. There are so many things I want to ask, so many things I want to say, but I'm overwhelmed by what I think is the love that she sends to me. I can't describe it otherwise, and certainly not to you, but it means everything to me.

I look at the glowing face of my mother. It's exactly like in my memory. The airship we used to travel in would fall apart around her, she would scream at my dad to do something, but each time she looked at me she would smile, even if she didn't believe we would survive. Though I've never got to know my mother, I feel I can safely say she was someone who cherished hope above anything else.

She leans forward and presses her lips against my forehead. Then she disappears.

The next few minutes almost feel like I'm outside my body again. I don't feel alive at all. The golden magic, the magic of my mother, is flowing within me, and it's stronger than it ever was before. Somehow, at the Tower, I awakened her.

There is also a part of me, which is probably connected to your dark flames, that tries to rationalize what I just saw. Perhaps I'm already drunk without even drinking. Maybe the overuse of magic has made me delirious. Mystogan could be hiding in the trees and could be showing me things. Or maybe I've finally gone crazy.

It makes sense for your flames to try make me believe these things, considering our history. You've destroyed my parents and took me in as your pupil. You've put magic inside me and made me a living weapon, a monster. And all this time I've fought against you on my own, but not anymore. Whatever I did at the Tower, it caused my mother's magic to surface fully, and it was more than a fart between my hands. From now on, I'm not alone anymore.

I lean against a tree. My life is still fucked. Simon is dead, Jellal is dead, I have no idea where Mystogan is, Erza doesn't remember me, but at this moment I am completely calm. I close my eyes, and doze off.