A/N: Here it is! Finally getting a foot in the door for the Phantom Lord arc! It should end either the next chapter or the chapter after that. I only have two things to mention in this chapter. One is that I plan to try to update this story 1-2 times every week, starting and ending on Friday. The time will always change, it really depends on when I finish it. So if I haven't uploaded in a while, you can generally expect a Friday upload. For my other story, the same will be the case except for the week will start and end on Wednesday. I.e if I haven't uploaded that one in a bit, expect it on a Wednesday. Secondly, I will start underlining spell casts for the readers' convenience. For example, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" I may or may not go back to the rest of the story to add this, but expect it for the future. Bold text will continue to be used for deeper voices, such as demons, dragons, giant monsters, etc. I think that's it, so hopefully you enjoy! I spent a lot of time writing this one!
~ Ad Vitam, Ad Mortem ~
Phantom Lord Guildhall
"It's so sad! So sorrowful!" a large, dark-skinned man wept, tears pouring down from behind his bandaged eyes. He stands at a massive height, towering over even the taller members, and he wears a dark green coat with a blue and white stole draped over it. "When war begets us, the fallen is all that remains. Will these sorrowful eyes weep at the loss of mighty wizards, or will they show pride at the clipped wings; nothing remaining but a dragon's corpse?"
"When will you stop being so creepy," another man grunted in response. He had long spiky black hair that went to his waist and wore a black sleeveless tunic, beige pants, and combat boots. To complete his appearance, he is adorned with metallic studs, primarily on his face, with three above each eyebrow, two on either side of his nose, two on his chin, and five on either ear. "Besides, Salamander ain't with 'em anyway. I might tangle with Titania, but the rest of the fairy scum ain't worth my time."
"That nose of yours is really something else," a third replied. His most notable feature was his hair, being split in color between black and white, and tied up in a Japanese-style top knot. On his face there were a set of three black horizontal lines, crossing between his ears over the top of his nose. He wore a reddish-orange ninja-like outfit, with an extremely furry red color. "And do you really think you're one to call other people creepy, Gajeel?"
"Shut it, Pyro, or I'll use you as a warmup for the rest of those fairy scum!" the second, now known as Gajeel, shot back with a glare.
"How sorrowful!" the first wept, continuing to cry. "It's almost time for Master Josè's plan, I must take my leave!" With that, he disappeared as if he was the wind itself.
"Man, that guy's weird…" Gajeel muttered.
"Aria certainly does have a...unique...personality," the final man, Totomaru, said slightly nervously, not wanting to get on Gajeel's bad side.
"Whatever. Unless Titania impresses me, you guys can have fun with the trash. I'm only interested in Salamander."
The group had been idly talking amongst themselves on the second floor, patiently awaiting the attack by the fairies. Gajeel caught their scents approaching, and went out of sight to prepare for his battle with Salamander, only to notice a distinct lack of the fire slayer's scent. Totomaru and Aria, two of the element four, followed suit. Totomaru was just following them for the sake of following them, while Aria was awaiting the next phase of the plan.
In the rest of the guild, the mages were talking and carrying on like normal. Some discussing recent jobs, some discussing the women they had seen and their HUGE tracts of land that they owned, and others were drinking copious amounts of alcohol, despite it being mid-afternoon.
"Did you guys hear Gajeel went and messed up a couple of them fairy punks?"
"Yeah, that trash is so pathetic! I'm heading off on a job now, maybe I'll get lucky and run into a few fairies on the way! I wouldn't mind clipping a few wings myself!"
"Didn't you say that you got the reward increased?"
"Yeah, I just threatened the old hag and she doubled it for me."
"I could have gotten it tripled."
"Whatever, punk. You're just pissed because that chick at the bar wouldn't sleep with you. I'm going on that job."
The mage in question began to head towards the doors to the guild but was rather abruptly interrupted by the door itself. It was destroyed, shooting from its rightful place and colliding with him, sending him flying to the other end of the room unconscious.
Among the confused shouts from the Phantom mages, and the dust sent out by the destroyed door, several people entered, led by a knight in brilliant armor and long scarlet hair.
"FAIRY TAIL'S COME CALLING!" a group behind the knight roared, and a small army of Fairy Tail mages charged forward engaging in combat.
They spread out in the hall, engaging the massive horde of mages. Phantom had an overwhelming numbers advantage, but every member of Fairy Tail was far stronger.
Makarov grew to the height of the guild, smacking his way through the grunt waves with ease, using his titan magic. Screams of horror and yells of 'monster!' were called out as he decimated the ranks of Phantom. "YOU HARMED THIS MONSTER'S CHILDREN! DON'T THINK HUMAN LAWS WILL PROTECT YOU FROM MY WRATH!"
Erza, brandishing her usual Heart Kruz armor and broadsword, charged forward as well, cutting her own path through the ranks. "You will be punished for attacking our guild!"
On the right side of the guild, a fairly uncommon member was dealing with her own group of opponents using rather...unusual methods.
"Get her! It's just a girl!"
"All you perverts are disgusting!" she yelled in response. "Wood-make: The Dam of Shy Love!" With that strange declaration, a multitude of weapons made of wood rose from the ground, attacking many different mages.
"Who said anything about perverts? And what the hell is a dam of shy love?" a Phantom yelled out.
"DON'T THINK YOU'RE GETTING AWAY! WOOD-MAKE: THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO IS FOREVER!"
"WHAT DOES THAT MEA-UGH!" the mage tried to yell out but was interrupted by several wooden hands and feet stomping him into the ground.
That, ladies and gentlemen, was Fairy Tail's torture specialist Laki Olietta. No one really knows why she talks the way she does, but what they do know is that she holds a firm belief that all men are perverts and that torture is extremely entertaining. Her magic, as the name suggests, is wood-make; the same as our residential ice princess, except she uses wood.
Several other groups were participating in the conquest as well, the duo of Macao and Wakaba performing exquisitely together, Gray launching a multitude of devastating ice spells, and Bisca and Alzack mowing down still more with their gun magic.
With the fight looking one-sided, Makarov decided to proceed. "Erza! You're in charge! I'm finding Josè!" Shrinking back to normal size, the angered guild master begins ascending, releasing one of the many spells that got him the position of wizard saint in the first place...giant's wrath.
"What's that power?"
"That's almost as much as master Josè!"
The Phantom mages began to panic, seeing as they were being easily defeated, and someone was emitting enormous amounts of magical power. "That's one of master's most feared spells; giant's wrath," Macao said with a smirk. "No one escapes the wrath of a monster like him."
In the meantime, Totomaru had decided to engage someone who'd caught his interest, alongside Gajeel, who'd decided to engage Titania.
"Allow me to introduce myself, ice wizard," he began, jumping down from the banisters he'd been standing on with Gajeel. "I am Totomaru of the-"
"Ice-make: hammer!" Gray shouted, forming a hammer above his head.
With a swipe of his hand, red fire shot up and melted it just before it reached him. "You could at least let me finish you know!" he shouted in annoyance.
"I don't care who you are. You made an enemy of Fairy Tail and hurt our family. That means I have to take you down," Gray replied, getting into another stance, knowing that he might have to take this seriously.
"That was Gajeel, though it was true that we agreed on the plan. My name is Totomaru of the Element Four, and master of fire," Totomaru said, introducing himself with pride. "No one on earthland has a mastery of fire like I do."
"Really? Well from where I'm standing, your fire doesn't feel that hot to me! Let's see which is stronger; your fire or my ice?" Gray challenged, glaring at the fire mage.
Just as the fight between those two began, Erza was quickly forced to block a metal pole that was shot at her from the side. "Looks like I got stuck with you, Titania," Gajeel grunted when she turned to glare at him. "Where's Salamander? Heard that pyro has some real magic behind him, but there can only be one dragon in these skies."
"How do you know about that?" Erza shot back, glaring at him. "No one outside of Fairy Tail knows about his magic."
"I know a dragon's fire when I see it, Titania. So tell me, was Salamander just too scared to show up to face the strongest dragon slayer and get taught a lesson?"
"You are not worthy to speak his name, Black Steel!" Erza roared, charging at him with a sword. "You will pay for what you have done to our guild!"
Upstairs, Makarov continued to ascend; climbing ever closer to where he believed the guild master was currently staying. "JOSÈ! STOP THIS AT ONCE! WE SHOULD NOT BE ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF OUR CHILDREN FOR THIS FOOLISHNESS!" he shouted in a rage, destroying the door to the final room of the guild.
"Ah, Makarov!" Josè said with a sneer. "It's nice to see you again. It's been nearly seven years since we last saw each other. I really couldn't hold my liquor then, now could I?"
"Cease your blathering, Josè! Because of this foolishness, my children are being harmed!" Makarov yelled, enlarging an arm and swatting the Phantom master.
"Really now, Makarov? Surely you haven't gone that senile?" he replied, as the attack had gone right through.
"A thought projection?" The Fairy Tail master asked in shock.
"I expected better of you, Makarov. Oh, how you've fallen!"
"How sorrowful! The fall of such a mighty wizard will soon come!" Aria cried, appearing behind the saint from seemingly thin air.
'What? When did he get there?' Makarov thought in shock, but it was too late.
"METSU!" Aria shouted, placing both palms on the back of the light wizard. Almost instantly, copious amounts of magic shot out of the old man, filling the air of the room harmlessly, as his skin turned a sickly green. "How sorrowful!"
"Very well done, Aria. Now, why don't you send the rest of the fairies a little present while I figure out why Juvia and Sol haven't returned yet?"
With that, the thought projection of the Phantom Lord master disappeared, leaving a sobbing Aria and an unconscious nearly-dead Fairy Tail master alone in the room.
"Oh, how sorrow begets us in times of war!" With a blast of wind, Aria shot Makarov through the floor all the way to the ground below causing a massive crash wave of dust.
"MASTER!" Erza shouted, distracting herself from Gajeel momentarily.
"Don't look away from your opponent, Titania!" Gajeel shouted, shooting her across the room with an iron dragon's club attack.
"Look! Their master's been defeated!"
"Yeah, we can win now! Half their fighting force is down!"
"LET'S GET THEM!" the mages of Phantom Lord roared, as they charged forward with a newfound strength.
Running over to Makarov, Erza discovered the sickly green color of her master and sensed no traces of magic. "EVERYONE! RETREAT!"
"What? No way we're backing out now!"
"Retreating is NOT MANLY!"
"THAT'S AN ORDER! THE MASTER IS BADLY INJURED!" she demanded, desperately trying to fight back tears. "Please!"
The Fairy Tail mages hesitantly started to back up until they caught sight of their master, and then they begrudgingly accepted the order into a full-blown retreat. The worse-for-wear Elfman carried the master while Erza and Gray covered their retreat.
"Tch. What a bunch of trash. Titania was hardly worth my time," Gajeel grunted angrily.
"That ice wizard kept interrupting me…" Totomaru grouched, as he watched the fairies retreat.
"Get the grunts going. Josè's gonna be here any minute. I gotta get the hall ready."
"How sorrowful!" cried Aria, appearing out of nowhere.
"STOP DOING THAT!"
Elsewhere
Agonizing groans of pain, crumbling of stone, and the crackling of wood echoed throughout the hall. The footsteps of one man walked forward and took their flag. It was a large black pendant, with a midnight purple symbol. A curled, tail-like design spiraled up to meet a curved design, making a crescent under and surrounding a large filled-in circle. On either side of the tail attached to the curve was a spike, and the design overall was made to appear threatening and intimidating.
"When a crown doth sit on the heads of cowards, all that remains are the ashes of those who could not live up to the expectations of superior flames. Learn this lesson well, Phantom, and perhaps I shall not return." With that, the figure left the guild smoldering and in shambles, leaving a mark emblazoned into the ground in white flames.
The few conscious mages struggled to stand, desperately trying to fight the pain they were in.
"Who the fuck was that?" one groaned out.
"Why was he here?" another nervously replied.
"You know that guy?"
"No one does...he's one of the most legendary bounty hunters of all time, but I've never heard of something like this. He doesn't go after light guilds."
"You two stop your blabbering and bring me some fuckin' ice!" a third moaned out.
"Shut up, you prick!" the first grunted back.
"That was him...without a doubt…" the second said, after crawling over to inspect the mark left on the ground. "The White Crown."
Earlier That Day - Fairy Tail Infirmary
"How are they doing?" Mira asked, reentering the room with several cups of water.
"Jet and Droy got the worst of it," Lucy said, standing up. "But all of them should be ok."
"Do you know why someone would do something like this?" Treya asked. "Destroying a guildhall over a rivalry is one thing, but putting three members into the hospital?"
"I think Natsu was right, and that they just wanted us to attack them. I'm worried about Elf and Lisanna, this whole thing could be a trap," Mira said worriedly.
"Aye. But don't worry, we have Natsu!" Happy declared confidently.
"But Happy, he's not fighting with them," Treya said curiously.
"There are many different ways to fight, and there are many different fronts to a war," Happy explained, in a rare moment of seriousness.
"Since when did you get so smart, cat?" Lucy questioned.
"It's because he spends all that time with Natsu. Something has to stick eventually," Mira giggled.
"It's because fish makes you smarter! And I eat lots and lots of fish!" Happy exclaimed.
"You're just the same little furball, aren't you?" Treya sighed, smiling at the cat.
"Aye, sir!"
"Lucy, I need to head to the market to get some supplies. Would you mind keeping an eye on everyone here?" Mira asked.
"Sure thing, Mira!" Lucy chirped. "But are you sure you don't want someone to come with you?"
"No thanks, I'll be ok. Besides, if you came with me, we wouldn't have any mages to keep an eye on Shadowgear."
"At least bring Happy with you," Treya requested.
"Aye, sir!"
"I guess that sounds ok. Alright, Happy, let's go. We can get you a few fish while we're out, ok?"
"Yay! Fish!" The conscious Fairy Tail members chuckled at this while Mira and Happy left the building and headed towards the market.
A short time later, Happy was still describing in detail the various types of fish he plans on getting and the various escapades he's had with rare fish.
"-and after that, Natsu found the tastiest and rarest fish ever; the bluffing moona!" Happy explained with great enthusiasm.
"I think you mean the bluefin tuna, Happy, and that's the fourth fish you said was the tastiest," Mira told him.
"That's not my fault! Almost all fish are equally tasty."
"That's strange…" Mira muttered. "Rain. It was sunny just a minute ago…"
"Drip drip drop," a voice in front of her spoke in a flat tone. "Juvia is the rain woman who brings rain. Tell me; what do you bring?"
"I'm sorry?" Mira asked in a confused way. The woman in front of her had long blue hair, that curled into a perfect loop at the ends. She held a pink umbrella and a Russian-style hat to protect herself from the rain. She wore a sapphire blue coat and a cream-colored fur-trimmed navy blue shawl with a pure white teru teru bōzu doll attached to it.
"Juvia wishes you a good day. Farewell," and the woman, presumably named Juvia, turned to walk away.
"Non non non," a new figure said, appearing from the ground. He was tall and slender, reminiscent of a tube man, with spiky green hair and a small, pointy green mustache. He wore a brown suit with a red tie and held a monocle over his right eye. "Non non non. Non non non non non non non. Salut with 'non' in a 3-3-7 rhythm."
"Monsieur Sol," Juvia said in surprise.
"Oui en effet, mademoiselle," the man known as 'Sol' replied. "While not our intended, this is none other than Lady Mirajane, the second and most powerful of our cibles."
"Juvia was instructed to obtain Lady Lucy Heartfilia, not Lady Mirajane," Juvia informed the man.
"Ah, but master Josè would be rather pleased if we captured either of his cibles, non?"
"Juvia does not wish to stray from the master's plan, so Juvia will continue to search for the target."
"Target? Wait, you two are from the element four!" Mirajane exclaimed after watching their interaction.
"Ah, tres biene! Very good! You may refer to me as Monsieur Sol," he introduced himself.
"What do you mean target? And what does this have to do with Lucy?" Mira demanded, putting herself into a combat stance, while Happy flew to a roof to observe in order to make further decisions later.
"Non non non! I'm afraid that information is classifiè!" Sol exclaimed. "Juvia, you may keep searching for Miss Hearfilia. I shall deal with mademoiselle Mirajane here."
"Very well, monsieur Sol. Do not underestimate our targets. Juvia will be going now." With that, the rain woman left.
"So, if I want answers, I'll just have to beat them out of you. Is that it?" Mira threatened, glaring at the earth mage who declared her a target.
"Oui, you may certainly try, mademoiselle, but I assure you, you stand no chance against one of Phantom's Element Four."
"Happy, go make sure that Lucy and Treya are safe. I'll make sure to deal with this myself," Mira told the cat, preparing herself for battle.
"Aye, sir!" and the cat flew off.
"Non non non! I do not think sending your ally away was wise! Very well then, we shall begin! Sable Dance!" Sol called, unleashing a sandstorm around Mirajane.
"Is this supposed to be an attack?" Mira scoffed, taking little to no damage from the sand-based move. "Satan Soul!"
"Ah, magnific! The Demon Mirajane's Satan Soul!" Sol commented as the transformation dispelled his sand. "I would have been disappointed if you had taken damage from my weakest spell. Roche Concerto!"
A barrage of large rocks shot out of the ground at Mirajane, who used her Satan Souls superior speed and flight ability to dodge most of them, and her powerful punches to destroy the last few. "Darkness Stream!" she called out, launching a barrage of black magical tendrils at her opponent.
"Mur de Terre!" yelled Sol, erecting a thick barrier of earth in front of him. Many of the tendrils impacted the wall, denting and cracking it, and the rest landed near him causing several explosions. "Compacteur de Terre!"
A series of walls started erecting around Mirajane and rocketed towards her. "EVIL EXPLOSION!" Mira called, shooting an orb of black magic into the ground, destroying almost all of the walls and leveling a few nearby buildings. Afterward, she shot forward intent on engaging in melee combat with her opponent.
The two traded blows, Mira launching a darkness-encased right fist which was avoided by his extreme flexibility. He countered by encasing his own left fist in stone and going for a left haymaker. Mira grabbed his fist and managed to land a kick to his stomach which knocked him back slightly, but dealt minimal damage because he coated the spot in more earth before impact.
"Tres bien, madame! I may have to take this seriously!" Sol declared. "Roche Concerto!"
"If this is serious, I don't want to know how weak the rest of Phantom Lord is," Mira shot back, continuing to dodge and destroy the stones with ease.
"Plâtre Sonata!" Sol called, erecting a massive fist made of stone from the center of his body and impacting Mirajane, launching her across the street into a wall. "Non non non! It appears you're the weak one here! Truly sad, after all this time you're still just as weak as you were all those years ago. That's why you lost your parents, non?"
Mira's eyes widened as she got out of the wall. "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?" she roared, launching herself forward. "Evil Spark!"
Sol easily avoided the attack by merging with the earth and reappearing a ways away. "Oui, you were but a young child then, non?"
"STOP TALKING! HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THAT?" Mira roared. "DEMON BLAST!"
Once again Sol easily avoided the blast of dark magic. "That's why you decided to join a guild! Oui, it all makes sense now! The demon was a façade to hide your weakness!"
"SHUT UP! EVIL EXPLOSION!"
"I think it's time you relive those moments again! Look in the mirror and see yourself for how weak you truly are! Merci la Vie!" A large magic circle erupted behind the demon, flooding her mind with the darkness of her past. She floated to the ground, her eyes white, and began to tremble as she relived every hellish moment of her life so far.
"Oui! Do you see it now? Do you see yourself as the weak girl your parents knew you were?" Sol taunted, as he approached the demon who was slowly but surely being encased by stone.
In Mira's Mind
It was raining that day. She could remember it so vividly as if she was watching over the moments all over again.
She was walking home from the market when a series of screams and explosions rang out from the local church. Mira knew that something was wrong, so she raced over.
"Run!"
"It's going to kill us all!"
"A demon! There's a demon in the church!"
Crowds were running past her, but she didn't care. Her two younger siblings, Lisanna and Elfman, were at the church that day. Nothing was more important than their safety.
"Lisanna! Elfman!" she cried as she finally reached the church. "Where are you!"
"MIRA!" Lisanna screamed from inside the church. "AHHHHH!"
BOOOM
"LISANNA!" Mira yelled back, racing into the church. There, in front of Lisanna, was a terrifying demon. It had a long scaly tail, golden claws, a red-scaled body, and a noticeable scar over one eye.
"Well, well, well…" the demon spoke, in a deep and intimidating voice. "Looks like I get to slaughter two more young ones today. And they're a matching set! Oh, you humans truly spoil me!"
"Let my sister go!" Mira demanded, trying not to show any ounce of fear to the demon.
"And why, pray tell, would I do that? I'm sure you'll both be plenty of fun to kill. However, you look so very determined. I think I'll start with you. I'm sure you won't mind that, would you?" the demon asked, giving a wicked sneer at Mirajane.
"No! Mira!" Lisanna cried. "Don't hurt her!"
The demon shot forward and reared back its claws to swing. As he swiped his massive talons, Mira squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to die. To soak in her own blood and die in front of her sister. 'Hopefully, she has enough time to run away…'
A shot of blood covered her face and clothes, but for some reason, she felt no pain. When she slowly opened her eyes again, she gasped. Standing in front of her was her own mother.
"MAMA!" Lisanna screamed. The demon had scratched straight across, leaving three deep gouges across her face and torso, leaving her arm barely attached to the rest of her.
"Please, Mira…" she hoarsely whispered, as she began to collapse. "Take care of your brother and sister for me."
"MOTHER!" Mira yelled out, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Well, isn't that sweet? You humans are the most amusing things to me. Always willing to die for each other. Tell me this, human. Once you've died, what's stopping me from killing everyone else? All that changed is now she died too. I guess that's fine, now I have three matching corpses. Maybe I'll bring them with me…" the demon mused.
"NO! NO! NO!" Mira screamed, grabbing her head. "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY SISTER!" Power surged from the girl as the ground trembled slightly, and she writhed in pain.
"Hmmm?" the demon hummed in confusion. "What are you doing, girl?"
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" she roared, as her power spiked further.
"WHAT IS THIS?" the demon yelled, as it could feel its very essence being sucked away. "THIS IS TAKEOVER MAGIC! HOW COULD A CHILD USE SUCH A THING?"
"AHHHHHHHH!" Mira shrieked again.
"I WILL NOT BE TAKEN OVER BY A MEASLY CHILD!" the demon roared, as it was slowly pulled into Mirajane. "YOU WILL NOT WIN! I AM A DEMON! NO HUMAN CAN DEFEAT ME, THE MIGHTY K-"
With that, the demon was finally sucked away, its very essence pulled into the girl.
"MIRA!" Lisanna yelled, as she ran over to her sister, who had collapsed.
She awoke the next day, and the three siblings mourned the loss of their mother. However, their father was far less understanding when he saw the consequences of Mira protecting her sister.
"YOU DEMON!" he yelled out, seeing Mira's arm for the first time.
"Big sis isn't a demon, papa," Lisanna protested.
"She's a freak!" the father insisted and ran out of the house.
"He's right…" Mira whispered as tears ran down her face. "I'm a demon...and a monster…"
"You're not a monster big sis!" Elfman insisted. "You protected Lisanna!"
"BUT LOOK AT ME!" she shouted, holding up her purple, scaled appendage. "THIS IS THE ARM OF A MONSTER! OF A DEMON! I'M JUST SOME FREAK!"
The rest of that day flashed past Mira's mind, the hours of crying over the death of her mother that died for her because she was too weak to do anything to help her sister alone.
At the end of the day, their father had gotten the rest of the village together. They mobbed the house the siblings stayed at, throwing stones through the windows and demanding that the demon come out to be killed.
Hours of this continued. The taunting and the throwing of stones. Eventually, their father entered the house with a pitchfork in hand. "GET OUT HERE, DEMON!"
"MIRA IS NOT A DEMON!" Lisanna shouted, hugging her sister.
"You're no better than the demon if you protect the demon!" their father insisted, approaching the trio. "I will not have people knowing that my children became demons! Begone!" He raised the pitchfork and aimed it for the youngest of the three.
"NO! STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Mira yelled, holding up her demon hand in fear. Unconsciously in defense of the three of them, a blast of purple magic shot out of her hand blasting a hole straight through his chest.
"Monster…" he croaked out, before collapsing backward and bleeding out onto the floor.
"PAPA! NO!" Mira wailed, rushing over to her father. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"THE DEMON KILLED HIM!"
"STAY BACK DEMON!"
The crowd got worse as they cowered in a corner, terrified of the giant mob of villagers.
"What should we do, Mira?" Lisanna asked, sniffling with tears pouring down her face.
"I'll just go out there...they'll leave you two alone. They just want me…" Mira said, and stood up to confront the crowd so her siblings could live.
"No!" Elfman demanded, firmly gripping her shoulder. That shocked Mira as Elfman had always been a relatively timid child. "Both mom and dad lost their lives today. We won't lose you too!"
"But if I stay all three of us will die!" Mira wailed.
"With dad gone, I'm the man of the family now! And it's a man's job to protect his family!" Elfman insisted. "We can sneak out the back and run away. Do you think you can try to use your magic again?"
The images of her mother dying in front of her, of her father trying to kill her siblings, and then her accidentally killing him instead flashed in front of her eyes. They swarmed her vision, plagued her thoughts, and tormented her mind.
Back Outside
In real-time, it had only been around thirty seconds, but for Mira, it felt like days. Stuck in her own personally customized hellscape.
"It appears, mademoiselle, that you have been bested. Soon, my lovely cible, you shall accompany me to master-"
Crack
"Excusez-moi?" he questioned in confusion, as the rock that had slowly been creeping up Mira's form began to crack.
With a roar of anger, the stone exploded outwards leaving a furious Mirajane. "HOW DARE YOU?!"
"Non non non! How did you escape!" Sol questioned, now trembling in fear as he slowly backed away.
"YOU! YOU DESPICABLE, VILE CREATURE!" Mira yelled. "SATAN SOUL: HALPHAS!" Mirajane glowed in golden light for a moment, before revealing her in her new form. In place of the red-scaled garment, she now wore a dark blue one-piece with light blue stripes and a cutout over her stomach. She had a thick, sky blue, scaly tail, sky blue gauntlets that went to her elbows and had fin-like protrusions, and sky blue armor that covered her legs up to her thighs. On her back were massive angel wings that matched the rest of her outfit, and her eyes changed to a darker shade of blue.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Sol asked, terrified at the new form. "I have never seen this form before!"
"This form has been banned from use by Master Makarov. Few have ever seen it," Mira explained. "However, your cruelty deserves the might of Halphas."
As Mira began to channel magic in one hand, Sol continued to back up and shake his hands in front of him. "Non! I'm sure we can talk about this like civilized people. What do you say, mademoiselle? Let's be reasonable!"
"Halphas Blast," she replied simply, unleashing a monstrous torrent of blue and purple energy that enveloped the earth mage, causing a massive explosion of earth, rocks, and dust. The man screamed in pain as he was shot into the crater, and by the time the dust cleared, he was knocked out completely unconscious. She flew over and grabbed the man by the back of the shirt before flying back towards Fairy Tail. "Disgusting."
By the time she returned to the guildhall, Treya, Lucy, and Happy were all nervously awaiting her arrival.
"MIRA!" Happy wailed, flying straight into her arms.
"I'm alright, Happy," she said, unceremoniously dropping the earth mage from ten feet in the air, before landing and reforming into her original form. "I'm alright…"
"Then why were you using Halphas, Mira?" Happy questioned, looking at Mira with some tears still in his eyes.
"What's Halphas?" Treya asked, earning a shrug of confusion from Lucy.
"Halphas is the second strongest of my satan soul forms," Mira explained. "That's what my magic is, by the way. I can take over the souls of demons and use them in combat. Halphas was banned by the master, so none of you will tell anyone that I used it. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Lucy quickly shot back, terrified of Mira's death glare.
"That's good," Mira replied, switching back to her sweet smile. "Now why don't we tie this one up with some magic sealing cuffs and wait for the rest of Fairy Tail to come back."