All Riku could feel or hear was the rushing of his own power around him as the ball of rage seemed to explode within him, amplified a hundred times now that the restrain was gone. He opened his eyes, but he didn't register what he saw. He only knew the rage and his goal: destroy and survive.
...
Simon was dead- murdered. He had confessed his feelings and then died. Erza felt like a knife had ripped through her chest, dragged itself down to her stomach, been pulled out, and been plunged in against. And Jellal? Jellal was laughing.
Erza had told them all to leave. She had told them all from the beginning that she would take this on by herself and they had ignored her. Jellal had wanted to sacrifice her and everyone else could have been saved. Why hadn't they listened? Why hadn't he listened? Simon would still be alive if only they had listened to her. If only she had died sooner.
Why, she wondered, why are they willing to die for me?
Even when she knew in her heart that this was her fate. It had always been her fate- from the moment Jellal had allowed her to leave the island. Was she a coward for pulling her friends into this? Was she a coward to have fought the inevitable?
Natsu's punch sent Jellal spinning into a jagged boulder and brought Erza back to the present. The force sent a cry of pain from Jellal. Natsu was eating the the rock, digesting the ethernano as if it were a fire buffet. From her place, she couldn't see his face, but he called out into the night, taking a fighting stance as power vibrated around him. Then, as if in response, a field of wind blasted away from him and magic energy from the tower began to flow in the air towards him. It was hypnotizing. Erza had never seen anything like it.
Natsu brought his hands above his head and slammed them down against the ground, channeling the magic towards Jellal, who managed to move just in time before the explosion of power hit him head on. Natsu coughed and grabbed his throat, falling to the ground.
He's going to die too, she realized. Another friend who could have been saved!
"How could you be so stupid," Erza said. "Ethernano is made out of all types of elemental magic. It'll poison you!"
"What an idiot," Jellal responded, as if Erza had been talking to him. "Did he really think he'd be able to power up using elements other than his own?"
Behind her, Erza heard a monstrous growl that sent shivers down her spine. Turning, she found Riku, hunched over with his arms and head dangling before him unnaturally. His magical energy was all wrong. She'd never felt something like this in all her S-class missions. Once as a teenage, Erza had spent a whole afternoon attempting to make a cake for the Master's birthday. She had ventured out to find the best ingredients possible and after a week of collecting had returned to the guild to use the kitchen. After much painstaking concentration she had completed the cake. Just before presentation, she'd gotten into an argument with Mira, who had smashed her fist through the cake and the table, destroying both. In her fury, Erza had summoned a sword and sliced half of Mira's hair away. The pulse of power from Mira in that moment paled in comparison to the demonic energy coming from Riku's form now.
"Riku," she asked, her voice trembling despite itself.
In response, Riku lifted his head, tilting it slightly as if listening to the wind. Usually his blue eyes danced with laughter as he saw Erza, pushing his messy brown hair from his face almost bashfully, but now there was not a trace of shyness in his eyes. Dark black scaled were covering his face and his arms seemed to be more claw than human hands. His blue eyes, which normally met hers in a secret understanding, were gray without pupils. This unnerved Erza the most. She could always tell what Riku was thinking from his eyes, but now, she couldn't tell anything.
Riku was nowhere to be seen.
"Riku!" She tried again, but instead of looking a her, his gray eyes moved to the figures behind her. With another growl he almost seemed to fly, to the heat behind her. She lunged over Simon's motionless form to dodge being hit by his sharp claws as they passed.
From her new position she could see Natsu covered in fire, yelling into the night sky. A slight impression of scales seemed to appear on his cheeks. For the first time Jellal looked scared. Natsu and Riku charged, both of them hitting Jellal with the force of a train and sending him flying back. Natsu used a bit of the tower to push himself off, calling out that Jellal "made Erza cry," before pushing him through the floor of the tower to the level below.
Riku made no speeches. In response to Natsu's accusation, he turned his head to the sky and released a dragon roar so loud that Erza covered her ears, heart pounding with a fear she hadn't felt in decades. Then he dove after them to join the battle.
Erza sat blinking next to Simon's lifeless form. She could feel the tower shaking with each of their attacks, even as they crashed levels below.
I've seen this once before, she thought.
She'd been on a mission with Riku and Mystogan. It was an S-class mission before she or Riku were even close to it, but Mystogan was there, so they all thought it would be fine. But it hadn't been. They'd been separated from Mystogan and when they came face to face with the monster, Riku had moved to push her out of the way. Instead, Erza was thrown across a cave head first into a rock. She'd heard a distinct crack and felt blood move to her skull before running down slowly across her temple and sliding down her jaw line. Riku was standing, frozen in his spot, arms still out as if to push her. The monster moved to hit him and Erza rolled her eyes to him. She wanted to call out, but her head felt fuzzy. He was just standing there. Wasn't he going to move?
"You hurt Erza."
Her eyes widened. Even in her concussion-ed state his voice sounded more like a growl than a human voice. In the shadows of the cave, it almost looked like wings were sprouting on his back, his hands molding seamlessly into claws. She'd tried to called out to him, but her voice caught in her throat. His magical energy was sending pulses through the earth itself. Even the monster paused, confused.
"You hurt-oof!"
Mystogan appeared, knocking Riku on top of the head and pushing him to the side. With three quick movements he drew a rune in the air and the monster froze in place, unable to move. In the next moment it let out a unearthly scream before melting away into nothingness. Mystogan stood, still poised in front of the puddle for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"He almost lost control," Mystogan observed, though Erza wasn't sure if it was meant for her or the puddle to hear. "He can't lose control."
Mystogan turned and moved towards her, leaving Riku on the ground where he'd pushed him. "Are you alright," he asked Erza, looking at her skull.
"Sure," Erza replied in what she hoped was a confident tone. Not as confident as she hoped because Mystogan made a sound of disapproval.
"Is he okay," Erza asked timidly, glancing at Riku's form. His hands and skin were back to normal.
"He'll be fine," Mystogan replied, glancing behind him. "I've hit him harder before. He just gets so protective around you."
The sound of Jellal being punched through the floor right next to them brought Erza back to the moment. She followed their progress into the sky as Jellal called, "I won't lose!"
But where is Riku? She wondered, eyes scanning quickly around before drawing back to the sky. Jellal gave a kick to Natsu's chest and he slammed against a wall.
"I'm destined to give a land of freedom," Jellal called. "I know because in my darkest hour, I could hear Lord Zeref calling out to me. He told me he could make all my dreams come true and I believed him! There's a reason I'm the only human who can sense Zeref's presence! It's because I am the chosen one!"
The floor seemed to vibrate beneath her and she drew her eyes down. Through the hole Natsu and Jellal had made, she could see Riku, or the demonic version of him. He let out a roar of dark energy, taking out a pillar of the tower and making the whole thing shake beneath them. Every moment he seemed to look more and more like a dragon. Bringing his head to the sky, she saw his eyes roll about in his head before they landed on the hole, then on her, and then on Jellal above. His mouth pulled into a smile that froze the blood in her veins. Then, he flew through the hole and directly towards Jellal.
Jellal made the motion to cast the Abyss Break spell, but a pained look crossed his face. The rune disappeared as he fell through the air.
Natsu and Riku were charging towards him, Natsu saying something about snapping out of it and Riku not saying a word, his eyes narrowed in a way Erza had never seen. She knew that if he got to Jellal first he might kill him.
No, she realized in horror. He wants to kill him.
"Riku," she called again, arm reaching out instinctively towards the boy. "You can't!"
Riku was readying a dragon roar, but Natsu got there first. He punched Jellal so hard in the jaw that it sent the man plummeting to the tower, out of the way of Riku's roar and through the floor Erza was still frozen on. The tower shook from the force of Jellal's impact and again when Natsu landed next to her, breathing heavily as the tower swayed fro the destruction to its foundation. Smoke rose about him, pushing his scarf about in the wind.
So this is the power hidden within him, she thought, the true form of the dragon slayer. He managed to defeat Jellal. I can't believe after all these years the nightmare is over! Now Sho and the others can finally be free.
Natsu dropped to his knees from exhaustion, his scales disappearing from his face as Erza caught him in her arms. She looked around the tower. But where's Riku?
"RIKU! RIKU!"
Instead of Riku, the tower responded to her calls. It shook, sending beams of light from the its core into the sky.
No, correct Erza. Not light, but magical energy and a lot of it. The ethernano is getting out of control!
"RIKU," she called again. "RIKU WE HAVE TO GO!"
Again, Riku didn't respond. Instead the light beams burst from the floor around her. She pulled Natsu's arm around her shoulder. She pulled herself up as the floor began to fracture. Turning she could see Simon's body begin to move. It slid across the now slanting floor towards an abyss.
She had to leave now. She hulled Natsu onto her back and leaped to a more stable rock.
"RIKU!" She dodged a beam of light as it burst through the spot her foot had been about to land. "RIKU?"
There was no response. A blast sent her flying onto her stomach painfully.
The lacrima can't contain this amount of magic energy, she thought looking over at Natsu's fallen form. And Riku's nowhere to be found. I can't imagine what kind of destructive power it has. Even if we made it outside the tower we'd still be caught in the explosion.
"No," Erza said slamming her fist onto the floor in frustration. "It's over." She let her eyes move over to her fallen comrade. Riku and Simon where gone in the tower as well-maybe more. Had Millianna, Sho, Wally, Gray, Lucy, and Juvia stayed behind? Were they in the tower's destructive range as well?
What am I saying? I can't give up! She pushed herself up, swaying from the energy it took. Natsu, Riku, Simon. Now it's my turn. She moved towards a lacrima wall, hand outstretched. This is the only way.
...
Levels below, Riku was making his way to his target at a leisurely pace, smashing rocks as he went. The satisfaction was unparalleled. With every hit of his fist a lacrima shattered and he felt his stomach leap with excitement. Very distantly, Riku could hear someone calling his name. The voice was familiar, somehow, but so far away. He felt their voice tugging at his consciousness, pulling him away from his task.
What was his task? He couldn't really say. It wasn't so much a spoken assignment. More like a pulsing rage that mobilized every nerve in his body. He wanted to go to the voice, but he wanted something else more.
Chaos. Destruction. Death to all enemies.
He took a step towards the fallen blue haired figure before him. He could feel the ground trembling beneath him. The tower was shattering to pieces- it would blow any minute. Let it destroy itself. He growled with pleasure at the thought. The tower would destroy itself and he'd destroy this filth before him. The rage was the only thing in his mind, bubbling away in his ears and captivating all of his senses.
"She's calling you."
Riku paused with his arm raised above him, ready to slash Jellal in half. He blinked. When did he get claws? The thought flickered out of his mind as soon as it had arrived, replaced again by the focus of destruction.
"I had hoped I would see this side of you," Jellal confessed, a pained smirk pulling the corner of his mouth. "Simon told me you looked odd that day they moved you. He was convinced you looked almost like a monster. I wished I'd seen their faced before they go the whips. Their fear at having angered a dragon."
"Shut up," growled Riku, and some part of him was surprised that the voice was not his own.
"Are you going to kill me," Jellal asked, raising an eyebrow. Riku raised his claw again. Yes, he was. He readied himself to slice through the prey before him.
"RIKU!"
He paused just an inch from Jellal's head. Jellal coughed, but was otherwise unmoved.
"I told you, she's calling you back," he repeated. He was sinking slowly into the Lacrima behind him. "Now that I've seen what Simon meant- the power of her son & her brother- I'm pleased. It's a good image to see before the end. I'd wondered how your magic would turn out, compared to her's."
Riku growled, reaching out to grab him, claw gripping his wrist hard enough to make Jellal wince in pain. Was he reaching to save Jellal or maim him? Riku couldn't tell.
"The tower doesn't have long," Jellal confessed, his shoulders disappearing into the stone. "You'll die if you stay here."
"I'll kill you," Riku replied and he meant it, in the bottom of his heart. He was ready to yank him from the lacrima and tear him apart limb by limb.
"If the tower blows," Jellal reminded him, his legs and arms sinking deeper and deeper into the stone. "Then she'll die too."
All the way back in the darkest corners of Riku's mind something fell into place. He let go of Jellal's wrist and Jellal fell back into the stone, seeming almost frozen with his arms out and legs straight below him, like a puppet hanging after a show.
Riku blinked once and shook his head.
The bubbling rage seemed more distant now.
He could register some thought.
Something about Erza.
What about Erza?
The tower shook threateningly beneath him and a beam of light burst though the floor, sending jagged lacrima around him, some of which scraped his face on its journey. Suddenly he was very aware that he had an extreme pain in his ribs and back.
Riku's eyes widened as the details of the last hour or so fell into place. He had to get his friends and go, now! But, where had they gone?
"ERZA?! NATSU?!"
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