"I've survived a lot of things, and I'll probably survive this"

Hot.

When I think of heat the first thing that comes to mind is a picture of the sun—bright and angry and brilliant in all her devilish beauty. I think of the sand and the earth and fire; visions of starving flames licking at a broiling sky dance across my mind. Pictures of cracked lips, of dehydration, come to me in a roar—thirst, desperate, unquenchable thirst. I imagine men falling to the dirt, their skin red and burnt and raw and turning into leather. I imagine their bones brittle and dry, sloughing off and becoming nothing but dust. There is no wind. There is no breeze. There is no shelter—no escape. There is only the sun and everything she burns. There is only the sun and what will become of it.

Wet.

When I think of water, I imagine seas and streams and rivers and valleys and the dew glinting off of crops in the mornings. I picture cold and a rare snow that sprinkles the tops of mountains. But I was not this beautiful sort of damp.

I was doused with my own tears, baptized in a bath of my very own creation. My sweat clung to me like a skin-tight sleeve and I wore it in anguish. None of the water in the world around me was clear or sparkling or sweet. Instead, what I found was salt, and lots of it, scratching against my skin and adding a layer of grit to the grief.

The heat cooked me, sweltering, suffocating and unforgiving. And after all my tears had left, it dried me out like a raisin. I felt like a picked over carcass, my magic wavering, my heart failing, my lungs gasping for more, more of that bone-dry air. I was warm, worn-out, and waning. But I knew I had to go on. I knew I had to finish this.

I knew that I'd have to find Hades.

My feet carried me to him. There was no effort on my part, no searching. My body carried me in a direction and then there it was—the great airship—laying in all of its glory on the edge of the island. It was almost as if it wanted to be discovered—my entire childhood, my former home—sitting right there before me.

I would have stopped; I should have stopped. I should have returned to the Fairy Tail base camp—see if everyone was okay. It was obvious that I needed medical attention, obvious that I shouldn't be wandering around like this. And yet, the ship pulled me in, its imposing presence simply causing me to draw nearer and nearer.

It was me, the earth, and the air between us. Time had come to a standstill, and I had made up my mind.

I rose to mount the stairs, and at second glance I realized that the stairs were carved from ice. Ice? My heart skipped a beat. Gray.

I froze, and suddenly the sounds of shouting began to fill my ears. Easily recognizable voice—ones that I knew were coming from my friends. My heart exploded.

Any second thoughts fled my mind, and I rushed forward, running as fast as my aching body would carry me. I took quick steps—two at a time—with no regard for slipping; the only thing that mattered was reaching my friends—helping them. If they had encountered Hades… Oh gods help us; they were as good as dead.

With a gasp I summited the top of the stairs and slipped into the airship. I stopped short when I saw the scene taking place in front of me.

They were in a simple drawing room—one that had rarely been used by anyone other than a few houseguests. My friends lay sprawled across the floor in piles, groaning and gasping for help. Every one of them had been beaten bloody, each with wounds just as bad as mine, and likely far worse. Even Titania had been reduced to a pitiful heap on the floor, her hair not the only thing staining her body red.

But they were not alone. My eyes darted to the center of the scene and fell upon another man, kneeling like a prince among my comrades. White robes billowed around his crouching figure, and a shock of blond hair covered his head, and, although I did not know him, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about him.

And there, standing in the center of it all; was him—the demon—the bastard—the cause of all the suffering I'd endured, and now the cause of all my friends' suffering as well. It was he who had sinned beyond forgiveness. There was not an ounce of light in his soul; he was rotten to the core—Hades, who had taken the name of the devil himself. It suited him.

My former master was too preoccupied with charging his magic power to notice my appearance. Then again, he had never really noticed my presence to begin with. I had been little more than a nuisance in his overbearing shadow, a fly buzzing round his head. But now, I would make sure he noticed me. He would see my face full and well before he died.

I took a step farther into the room, noticing that the blond man that kneeled was muttering something to himself. I craned my head trying to listen, and Erza and Wendy looked up from their spots on the ground.

Hades lifted his arm, scowling down at the man, and I couldn't help but feel like I was interrupting something.

"You've done well, Laxus fellow. But that ends now! Prepare for your death!"

It clicked. Laxus—the man kneeling in pain—it was Laxus. And Hades was about to kill him.

Shit.

Without thinking, I leapt forward, just as my former father fired one of his most dangerous, most powerful spells to destroy the former Fairy. My mind reeled as I darted in front of Laxus, trying desperately to summon some spell—any spell to block Hades', but I failed.

I screamed—the sound bouncing hollowly off the walls of the small room.

And like that it hit me, a blast of energy so similar to my own. It crushed my body and threw me backwards into the body of the man that I had tried to protect. I gasped in pain, desperately throwing up a weak defense spell in a last ditch effort so that I wouldn't absorb the entire force of the blow.

I could feel a pair of strong arms wrapping around me as we fell through the earth, falling like angels to our dark, devil doom. I had been able to slightly protect us, but the man that was breaking my fall, the man whose life I had just saved, he had already endured so much damage.

We landed, his beaten body hitting the rubble strewn ground much harder than my own. Silently I thanked him for breaking my fall, but my heart skipped. Was he dead? Had he cracked his skull or pierced his ribs? Was all of this in vain?

I heard a wheezing breath beneath me, the sound like gravel to my ears.

"Take this… Natsu," He rasped, coughing up blood. "It was all of my… magic power."

I tried to turn to observe what he was doing, but my body protested against me. I couldn't help… Couldn't fight Hades…

My mind swam out of reality, and I was gone.

The feeling of movement pulled me from my absent state, and I came to with a gasp, breathing myself back to life. Someone was shaking me, and after carefully peeling open my eyes, I noticed Natsu standing above me with a proud grin.

"We… won," he announced, holding out a hand to help me up. I grabbed it, and he tugged me upwards—up to the main floor from the cavity that I had fallen through. I surveyed the ragtag team of survivors around me, and my eyes landed on Hades who laid taking in labored breaths to my far right.

My heart sped up. They'd made a mistake.

I jerked away from the group and half-ran half-limped to the man I'd once called my father. "We have to kill him." I blurted. The group turned on me with looks of confusion.

"Kill him?" Lucy echoed, her face stricken with something like disgust.

"You don't understand," I gasped, and with fumbling hands I pulled a knife from its hiding place in my boot. "You all need to get away from here. We have to go. It's—"

"Alexandria, what's going on?" Erza demanded, and I gritted my teeth. "We defeated him. It is finished."

I raised my fist, my grip like steel on the blade it held, and glanced at the witch. "No, Erza! It's not over until he's…" I trailed off. Hades lied bellow me, eyes closed, expression almost peaceful, and I felt my heart tighten. No, Xandria, don't let him do this. He was breathing in short, shallow breaths, and I noticed at once how old the man truly was. Wrinkles lined his face like the pages in a book; his mouth remained in a permanent frown, sour and cold, and in that moment I almost felt sorry for him. He had never loved, never been loved, never cared about anything other than himself. He would not know of the strength of friendship I had found at Fairy Tail, would never understand the love I felt for my guildmates—my family. Hades would never understand the difference between right and wrong and the promise of redemption. I frowned. Who had hardened him into such a man? My grip on the knife loosened, and my hand lowered. If I killed him now, how could I ever save myself from what he'd made me? If I killed him now, I'd be no better than him.

I swallowed and looked away, my soul tearing itself apart in its confliction. And with a hollow, metallic reverberance, the knife fell to the ground like the toll of a death bell.

It was met with another sound, a sort of scraping, and I turned my head only slightly to see Hades righting himself. I stumbled away, stunned. A chill went through me, and he fixed me with a look so wicked, so evil, so diabolical that it made my blood curdle.

"And so the prodigal daughter returns."

Several gasps echoed across the room we were in, every single eye turning to me in accusation. I tensed, and my gaze turned to Hades—he released a loud bark of laughter. "I'm disappointed!"

I tried to steady my breathing, tried to calm my fear. He is nothing. You are stronger. You cannot be afraid.

Hades charged on, "You should have acted faster—killed me when you had the chance. Did I teach you nothing, girl? Kill or be killed—don't roll over like the yellow-bellied coward you are. My own child betraying me like a snake, then too weak to finish the job! Unbelievable…"

I gulped and leveled a glare at him. "I am not your child." My fists clenched. "I am not your anything."

Again, he gave that malicious laugh. "Tell me, Alexandria, who raised you? Surely it wasn't your filthy street-rat parents? I saved you; I—"

"You killed them!"

"Two lives lost for a greater cause are nothing, you insolent little brat. I saved you, made something out of your pitiful excuse of a life. I own you, Alexandria, and you'd better not forget where you're from. You are my child—a prized member of Grimiore Heart and the Eight Kin of Purgatory."

"Shut up!"

"Why? Afraid your pathetic guildmates might find out?" He retorted. "Surely you told them about your past, about your actions—how you destroyed towns, burned entire cities?"

"Let the past die, Hades!"

He cackled. "Say whatever you wish, child; it doesn't change the fact that are and always will be bound to me. I madeyou who you are. Everything you ever learned you learned from me."

"You are the biggest fucking shit stain this world has ever had the misfortune of seeing," I bellowed. "All you've ever done for me is ruin my life! From the day you slaughtered my parents to the day that I left, and even now. My entire life has been a game for you hasn't it? I've been nothing more than a pawn, another small piece in your endless puzzle to find Zeref and the One Magic. You are abusive and cruel; you never cared for us; you'd rather beat us into submission than try to find some sliver of compassion in your black heart. You're no father to me! You lied to me my entire life, forcing your own ideals down my throat and never allowing me to know the truth about what you'd done. You're nothing more than a coward, Hades—a spineless, shriveled, loveless old coward! You tried to force me on a dark path, but now that I've found Fairy Tail I walk a path of light. I have a new family now, Hades. The only thing I owe you is to return the same suffering that you inflicted upon every person you encountered—every soul you touched. But I won't! I'm not going to kill you. You're not worth the waste of magic."

A pregnant pause followed my speech.

Until Hades started clapping—sardonically applauding me for my speech. He was laughing, and a crooked grin spread across his face as he looked at me.

"Well, well, well, I guess my little girl is all grown up! Time to put away the princess dresses because you've certainly outgrown them. You speak of my wrongdoings—my sins—my," He paused dramatically, a wild grin plastered across his face, "twisted soul. You preached about your newfound purity—how you walk the path of light as a Fairy now. And yet," He paused once more, the same twisted grin marring his face. "You still bear the mark of a devil. Your hands are still stained with just as much blood as any of your siblings. You think yourself better now? Please. If anything, you're worse. At least your siblings don't lie to themselves. No. You are not a Fairy! You are, and always will be a demon—a fallen angel—just another orphan from Grimoire Heart. Alexandria, my dear, your heart is just as black as mine—whether you wish to admit it or not. You have no soul, no feeling; you simply act—just as I trained you. You know no bounds. That is why, out of all of your guild mates, you are the only one that would dare to defy me. You think you aren't my daughter? You think you're better than me? The truth is, Alexandria, you are me. You will never be able to escape me by simply running away. There will always be a part of me that makes up a part of you—tainting you—destroying whatever purity you think you have."

There was a sudden squeal of shoes against the floor, and I turned to see Lucy Heartfilia raising herself from the ground.

"You're wrong!" she exclaimed, her voice strained. "Xandria does have a heart, and a kind one at that. I've seen it myself. She helps the weak and wounded. She's loved, and she's hurt too. I know that Xandria would willingly lay down her life for me, just as she was prepared to do for Laxus—even though he's a stranger to her! Xandria would never hurt someone unless they truly deserved it. And even though you obviously don't know what family is—we do! I would never give up on Xandria! No matter what you say about her. I trust her, she's my friend, and even though we may have our rough spots, I know that we'll always be there for each other when we're in need."

A pained smile settled across my face as I stared at Lucy. I was utterly grateful for my friend.

Hades seemed taken aback for a moment, but he cleared his throat and gritted his teeth with resolve. "Well, I must admit, I'm impressed, not only by your foolishness and strength of character but by your courage and your trust in one another. Makarov truly raised some fearsome children. It doesn't matter though; I'm sick of this back and forth, so let's wrap things up while we're still ahead." Hades lifted his hand to his eye patch, flipping it upwards to reveal a closed eye. I stumbled backwards into Team Natsu as he prepared to step into his endgame.

"Devil's eye open." He commanded, and his right eye flashed open, revealing a bloody, disfigured iris, staining the entire organ red. "I will show you all the depths of magic. It's over for you now, Fairy Tail. The farther along the path of magic you tread, the deeper you sink towards the depths of darkness. And what you find there in the depths, glistening… is the One Magic. Just a little farther, just a little farther and I will reach it, but you will not be there to join me," He paused, sucking in a breath a turning his arms in a slow circle in front of him. "From the Book of Zeref,

"NO HADES!" I shrieked, my throat screaming in hoarse protest.

"Volume 4, Chapter 7, Verse 20: Hidden Magic, Nemesis!"

As soon as the words left his mouth demons began to spring up from the rubble all around him, looming over us and preparing to attack.

"The problem with you, Fairy Tail, is that you're too afraid of magic to discover its true possibilities. Look at this! With true power, you can even create devils from lumps of earth! You can make the devils do your bidding like a dog! That is hidden magic!"

I felt my heart racing, spilt apart with fear and anger and a host of other emotions. You're going to have to fight. Stand up, Xandria. Stand up and fight. I rose.

Natsu stood along with me, and he turned to his guildmates. "Don't listen to him you guys! We're stronger than that—better than he is," the dragon slayer exclaimed. "Maybe we can't help being scared, but we can fight it. But we're alright here, together. We've got each other! There's nothing to fear because we're not alone!" I gritted my teeth. He was right; this was no time for weakness or fear, only for action. And I had to save the guild. I had to protect them from this man, but not by myself—together.

I stepped forward. "Are we going to let Grimiore Heart win?" I shouted, turning around to face my comrades. "Are we—after all we've gone through—after all this fighting—after all the tears; simply going to give in to this man? No. This is not the end. This is the end of the beginning. So stand up and fight with me. Even if we don't have any magic power left—even if we're scared shitless we can still stand up and fight—together—as one—as Fairy Tail!"

"For Fairy Tail!" Gray bellowed, and the rest of my friends stood up, slowly but surely preparing themselves to face Hades.

"Prepare to meet your death!" The dark mage bellowed.

We surged forward, all of team Natsu with the addition of Wendy and me running full speed into the pits of hell and towards its leader.

We battled for what seemed like hours, although I knew it couldn't have been any more than a few minutes. Then something very odd happened.

"Tenrou Island is returning to normal!"

I pulled away from Hades, raising my hand to the side of my neck and noticing the sudden glow that was shining from my guild mark. Curiously, I glanced behind me for a moment, realizing that the Tenrou tree that protected the island had been returned to its upright position, just as Azuma had promised.

"Wait! Our magic power! I-It's coming back." Lucy exclaimed, and I blinked in surprise, noticing in fact, that the energy that had once flowed through my veins was now returning with its full force, filling me with a renewed vigor.

I jumped upwards; my refreshed body suddenly filled with an almost unnatural burst of power, and landed a strong punch right in the middle of Hades' face. He fell backwards, but somehow managed to catch himself before falling flat on his back, pushing himself into a standing position. I pulled my arm back, preparing to strike once more, but before I could land another blow, he kicked me backwards, slamming my body into the ground with a loud thud. I gasped in pain, expecting to be struck, when suddenly someone jumped in front of me, shielding me from my former father.

I stared in shock as Laxus threw a punch at Hades, knocking him into a nearby pile of rubble.

"Finish him off! For Fairy Tail!" Laxus shouted, and I jumped up at the sound of the man's voice. Along with the rest of my friends, we began to aim our final blows at Hades, weakening him to the point of breaking.

The man howled in anguish, summoning the final tendrils of magic power that he possessed. Natsu jumped forward, but I shoved him back. I was already prepared for this final attack—I could read Hades like a book at this point, and I knew exactly the spell he would use next.

"Grimiore Law!"

"Radius solis stellarum!" I screamed, and as soon as the words left my mouth, a pillar of dark light poured down from the heavens, engulfing me in its power, surrounding me with its light. I shifted in the magic circle I had formed, moving my hands in front of me and aiming them at Hades, I could hear him chanting, but the stricken look on his face told me that even he knew that he was out of time to finish the spell.

And I exhaled, releasing the ray of deep purple light and aiming for his chest, hoping to crush it, hoping to hurt him, but never hoping to kill.

Then the world seemed to stop. In that moment, something strange happened, something that I never would have expected.

~Third Person POV~

It was a slow fall.

To everyone except her, at least.

No one really saw it coming, and that's probably why it surprised them so much. No one planned for the girl to fall, not after what she had done thus far. No one expected the man she fought against to lash out in such a way. That's why it was so shocking. The only soul there that anticipated it was Hades—and that was only because he had planned it.

The moment she struck Hades with her astronomical amount of power was the moment that he lurched forward, stabbing the knife into her stomach with a chorus of dark laughter.

Her eyes widened, and she gasped in shock, staring in disbelief at the knife sticking out from her abdomen and the blood blossoming across her chest. She could barely hear the sound of her comrades screams over the sound of her own rushing blood.