SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 47 out, this is Chapter 48 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 48: Bye-bye Edolas

"If I wasn't prepared to die, I wouldn't have gone through with this." Mystogan argued.

"I refuse!" Pantherlily snapped. "This is foolishness! There is no way I can do it."

"No, you are capable of doing it." Mystogan corrected.

"And what do you know about me?" Pantherlily retorted.

"As an Exceed, you saved my life as a child." Mystogan replied. "You are man who knows how precious life is, regardless of the race one belongs to."

"And you are telling me to keep living my life bearing that cross on my back?" Pantherlily barked.

"You are the only one strong enough to overcome that." Mystogan reasoned. "Please understand, someone has to do it."

"Then do it yourself." Pantherlily disputed. "You're suited to be King."

"I brought the world to ruin." Mystogan reasoned.

"You did it thinking it was for the best." Pantherlily objected. "Now is the time we need someone with your will, strong enough to risk your own life for the sake of Edolas. If you brought the world to ruin, then take responsibility. And you don't do that by dying. You do it by leading the world once again."

"But that won't stop this panic." Mystogan contended.

"I will be the villain." Pantherlily declared. "I was banished from Extalia, and threw my lot in with the humans. But for this incident, I betrayed the Kingdom and I have no place to return to now. I will become the great villain and be executed…"

"No, you will not!" Mystogan snapped. "You saved my life. I cannot allow you to die. I must give you happiness."

"And I say the exact same thing to you." Pantherlily fired back. "If either of us takes responsibility and is killed, nothing will come of it except unhappiness."

"Then, how do we calm the people?" Mystogan wondered. "Was it a foolish plan?"

"Pantherlily, we have a big problem." A guard reported.

"We know." Pantherlily addressed. "As you can see, the Anima…"

"You are trying to stop it, right?" the guard inquired. "Anyway, there are people wreaking havoc in the castle city. Cities are being destroyed one after another."

"The panic seems worse than even I predicted." Mystogan remarked. "We have to do something soon, or…"

"First, we must stop the rioting." Pantherlily reasoned.

"Yes, we must strike before it spreads further." Mystogan agreed.

"How many people are rioting?" Pantherlily inquired, both men rushing out to the passageway.

"Three people!" the guards reported.

"Just three people?" Pantherlily echoed. "Why haven't you stopped them?"

"They're really strong, and…" the guard stammered.

"I am the Great Punisher, Dragoneel!" Earth-Natsu declared. "On behalf of my mistress, I've inflicted her wrath on this world!"

"Natsu!" Mystogan gaped.

"I'm the one who beat your King!" Earth-Natsu announced. "Maybe I'll let him live just as a special favour. Redfox! Marvel!" he called forth the other two Dragon Slayers. "Continue with the punishment!"

"What are you doing?" Mystogan demanded. "Stop this."

They're… Pantherlily realized. Don't tell me…

"Stop this, Natsu!" Mystogan ordered.

"I am the Great Punisher, Dragoneel." Earth-Natsu grinned.

"Stop this foolishness." Mystogan demanded. "The King has fallen. There is no need to attack the Royal City…"

"Fire!" Earth-Natsu released his flames at the road below. "Can you stop me, Prince of Edolas?" he challenged.

"Why are they here?" Pantherlily wondered.

"I let them know." Nady replied. "Since I overheard your conversation…"

"Come here." Earth-Natsu issued his challenge. "If you don't, there won't be a trace left in this city."

"Natsu, don't move from there!" Mystogan leapt down to the streets.

"You should be prepared yourself." Nady told Pantherlily. "Prepared for what's about to happen to us."

Fool, I know what you're trying to do. Mystogan cursed. But there's no way to bring things under control. "Sleep!" he cast his spell. The magic power is being sucked into the Anima… he realized.

"What's wrong?" Earth-Natsu taunted. "Sacred without any magic power?"

"Enough of this, Natsu." Mystogan demanded. "I cannot become a hero. And you aren't getting away with just pretending to be beaten."

"You're on." Earth-Natsu smirked, levelling a punch across Mystogan's face.

"This is a farce." Mystogan declared. "The people won't come together from this. No way!" he got back to his feet, returning the punch which Earth-Natsu blocked.

"Don't hold back." Earth-Natsu warned, Mystogan retaliating with a back kick. "Looks like we've got a gallery." He smirked.

"You idiot!" Mystogan snapped. "If you insist on doing this, then stay down."

"Hell no!" Earth-Natsu slammed a fist into Mystogan's stomach. "Or do you not want to know the real reason of your sister's suicide? This is my personal style of a Fairy Tail Farewell Ceremony. There are three conditions I must tell someone who leaves Fairy Tail. One…" he jumped apart. "You must not reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live." The two males traded punches. "Two! What was it again?" he wondered, Mystogan sending a punch on his nose.

"You must not have unauthorized contact with past clients or profit personally from them." Mystogan continued.

"That's right." Earth-Natsu grinned. "And three, even if we walk different paths, one must always live on as strong as you are able." He slammed a punch onto Mystogan's stomach.

"You must never treat your own life as something insignificant." The now angelic-like Ulyo descended from the sky. "You must never forget the friends you love for as you as you live. I never expected to see you in this way, nii-sama."

"Ulchan..." Mystogan turned to the Earthland version of his late sister.

"Did you get that?" Earth-Natsu muttered, the Dragon Slayers gathering around Ulyo. "As long as you keep the Guild mind-set, there's nothing you can't do. I hope we meet again, Mystogan."

"The Princess?" the citizens echoed. "But isn't she dead?"

"Listen well," Ulyo declared. "I shall now reveal you the meaning behind my suicide, along with the whole truth."

"Suicide?" the citizens were confused.

"As all of you know, the Anima project was supposed to replenish the depleting magic." Ulyo started. "But I found out what it was meant to do. That was why; my Senshi sisters and I took our lives and handed all our magic to the Royal army on the condition that Anima is never to be activated. But my father," she turned to Faust. "Got too power-hungry and flat-out violated the promise he swore. That is why I have descended from the Heavens to melt down the punishment the Beings Above had decreed; by removing the one single element of dispute: magic itself!"

"Your body…" Mystogan gaped as Earthland Natsu's body started to glow.

"It's started." Ulyo nodded. "Dragoneel, Redfox, Marvel." She nodded at the three Dragon Slayers. "Let's go back, back to where we truly belong."

"Lucy, Happy." Natsu grinned, floating upwards.

"You're safe, Natsu?" Gray asked.

"Nii-sama!" Ulyo called. "There's no need to have to change so suddenly."

"You should proceed nice and slowly." Pantherlily agreed. "Even if it's a walking pace, people can still take that first step. That step towards their future."

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.