AN: Thank you Goku275, MDM11, and Aedwards179. MDM11, like usual, no promises or spoilers. Aedwards179, her name is still Erza, I just use Blaze because that is less confusing than having two Erzas. Although, if I'm being honest, I kind of forgot that Blaze was just a nickname more than a month ago and only remember when you brought it up.
Back in Hargeon Town, the battle continued to rage on despite the Alvarez Empire forces losing two of the three members of the Spriggan 12 accompanying them.
The Fiore mages who had fought those Spriggan (Laxus, Wendy, Romeo, Sherria, Ultear, and Carla) were no longer active combatants. They were all resting, attempting to recover from the life-or-death battles.
Gray, Meredy, Lamia Scale, and Mermaid Heel (minus Kagura) struck down wave after wave of Alvarez soldiers, with no end in sight. Meanwhile, Erza (in her Clear Heart Clothing), Kagura, Yukino, Sorano, and Jellal made their way to the ship containing the third Spriggan of the southern Alvarez forces.
It was under these conditions that the battle entered its final stage.
"What is this!?" exclaimed Erza. The Fairy and her four allies had been running across the deck of a ship toward the third Spriggan when, suddenly…
"Darkness!?" shouted Kagura. The five mages looked in all directions, searching for even a flicker of light.
"Our field of vision…" muttered Jellal, contemplative. "I know this magic… Guh!"
However, before he could inform the others of his realization, Jellal was struck by an enemy. Erza, Kagura, Yukino, and Sorano were hit immediately after, followed by the light returning.
"So many familiar faces!" spoke their attacker. "Do you remember my Dark Moment? It's been a long time, huh?"
Erza, Jellal, and Kagura's blood ran cold.
"Simon…" murmured Erza disbelievingly.
"You're… alive…" said Jellal, getting a sinking feeling in his gut.
"A-are you… my big brother…?" asked Kagura, tears forming in her eyes. "Simo—"
"HE ISN'T!" screamed Jellal, voicing what his instincts were telling him. "It isn't Simon!"
Kagura felt her anger start to rise at Jellal's words. But, before she could shout a retort, a laugh from above drew the mages' attention upward.
"This is a Historia for three of you five," spoke a man. With just a single look, all five of them could tell that this was the Spriggan they were looking for. "Love and friendship and family and… death. Yes… and what a beautiful Historia it is!"
Across Hargeon Town, Fiore mages found themselves facing off against deceased figures from their own past. People like Laxus, Ultear, and Meredy fought mages from Grimoire Heart, while others like Gray and Lyon battled their fallen mentors.
As Neinhart (as the Spriggan identified himself) gave a condescending speech about his magic, Yukino felt herself growing angry. This rage peaked when Neinhart made the Historia of Kagura's older brother self-destruct before her very eyes.
Then, when the Spriggan blasted Kagura (and Jellal, who used his body to shield her) through the ship's deck and to the bottom of the ocean, Yukino's fury broke loose.
"Open Gate of the Paired Fish! Pisces! Attack!"
But, before the mother and son Celestial Spirits could reach Neinhart, the Spriggan snapped his fingers and summoned another Historia. Pisces was knocked back to Yukino by an enemy the Fairy never thought she'd see again — Keyes of Tartaros's Nine Demon Gates.
"I, who once raised the dead, art now a risen corpse myself," mused the Etherious. "Quite ironic, isn't it?"
"Twisted is more like it," answered Yukino. She jumped onto the white Pisces, who carried her to a ship closer to her opponent. "Whether it's you or somebody else, using the dead like this is wrong."
"Thou art mistaken," stated Keyes. "Though mine body is subject to Master Neinhart's will, I accept gladly if it permits me to claim vengeance against thou!"
With those words, the Etherious converted his right arm into a cloud of Magical Barrier Particles that he shot at the Fairy.
"Open Gate of the Heavenly Scales! Libra! Use your magic to compress Keyes into one spot. Then, Pisces, transform and attack him!"
"Alright!" shouted the three Celestial Spirits. While Libra manipulated gravity, sucking the released particles back to the Etherious's body like a black hole, the Paired Fish transformed into their humanoid forms. The mother and son struck Keyes as soon as his entire body was collected by Libra, attacking with a kick and spear thrust (both cloaked in water).
The Etherious's left arm and a chunk of his torso were torn away by the strikes, although he remained 'alive' due to his unique physiology.
"Impudent girl!" yelled Keyes, irate at the damage he received. "Judgement of Malefic Stars!"
The Etherious raised his staff, and a dark aura began to emanate from his body. But, despite this ominous display, Yukino was unfazed.
"Don't you remember?" asked the Fairy rhetorically. "You already tried this, and I stopped it by having Ophiuchus devour your attack along with you."
"Indeed, that is how thy bested me previously," acknowledged Keyes as he gathered power. "But thou had no control over thy beast. Thou simply released the serpent in isolation, then banished it once I was consumed. However, can thou accomplish such a feat with thy allies around?"
The Etherious's words had merit. With people like Erza and Sorano around, who were displaying large amounts of Magic Power as they fought, Ophiuchus might go after someone other than Keyes.
Yet, in spite of what Keyes said, Yukino was still unconcerned.
"Who said I was going to summon Ophiuchus?" questioned Yukino, smirking. "It's been over a year since I defeated you, and I've grown a lot stronger since then! Star Dress: Ophiuchus!"
The Fairy's clothes transformed, becoming a purple and black knee-length dress. It was divided into segment like the invoked Celestial Spirit's body. The back part of the skirt was longer than the rest of it, extending behind her like a tail. Her flower hair clip was replaced with a new one, which looked like a miniature version of Ophiuchus's head.
Yukino jumped toward Keyes. The Etherious fired his attack at the Fairy, though only because his nature as a Historia compelled him to keep fighting. In truth, Keyes had given up the moment Yukino unveiled her new spell. In his final moments, he muttered to himself.
"Twice killed by the same foe in the same way… how unsightly of me."
Sorano watched as her sister moved to a different ship to battle a Historia. She considered joining Yukino, but those thoughts vanished when she heard the voice of the Historia summoned to fight her.
"It seems that those five children I took in all those years ago have become nothing but trash in the time since my death."
"Brain… no, Zero!" spat the Fairy, turning around to see her former guild master. He was on another ship, one in the opposite direction of Yukino. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Neinhart summoned you. After all, you're the worst person I ever fought."
"Then you should know how this is going to end," sneered the Historia.
"Yes," replied Sorano. "With me killing you!"
Using two Angel Coins, she summoned a four-armed angel with a massive golden hammer. The angel picked her up with one set of arms, then used its other set to swing its hammer down on Zero.
"Dark Capriccio," said the Historia, raising his right hand. A beam of darkness shot from that hand, piercing the hammer straight through its head. Cracks grow from the hole, and the angel's weapon fell to pieces moments later. "And now, Zero Slash!"
Another beam of darkness erupted form Zero's hand, this time taking the form of a whip that he lashed at Sorano. The Fairy dodged his attack, jumped onto the ship he was on. The angel was less fortunate, getting heavily injured — and consequently unsummoned — by the strike.
Silently, Sorano regretted that she couldn't summon Caelum (her current contract was only for two days a week, neither of which was today) to parry the Historia's strikes and perform a counterattack with.
"If I can't use Caelum, then how about Shamsiel!" exclaimed the Fairy, brushing aside her remorse. She summoned the angel, who fired a beam of light that hit Zero's whip and destroyed it.
"So the maggot has grown stronger," mused the Historia, not particularly intimidated. "No matter. Trash is still trash. Dark Rondo!"
Zero shot several blasts of darkness at Sorano, but the Fairy was equally unfazed.
"You've got no room to talk!" she retorted, replacing Shamsiel with Barakiel. The three-headed angel unleashed a flash of light that annihilated the Historia's spell. "Not when you're weaker than the real Zero was!"
"…What was that?" asked the Historia with a deceptively calm voice, his eyes narrowing.
"You heard me! You haven't caused even half the destruction the real Zero would have, to me or to our surroundings! Did Neinhart tone you down to avoid collateral damage, or is this really the best he could do?"
"I see," responded the Historia, closing his eyes. He inhaled, held his breath for a moment, then exhaled. The next instant, his mask of calm shattered. "DIIIIIEEE! Genesis Zero!"
An endless swarm of black phantoms surged forth from Zero. They charged at Sorano, swallowing up the Fairy. A psychotic smile appeared on the Historia's face.
That smile vanished a moment later, when his stream of phantoms was split in two to reveal Sorano and a new angel. The angel had twelve wings and six arms, with four of latter carrying a sword, a shield, a set of scales, and a banner. The arm with the sword was extended outward, having been used to cut apart Zero's spell.
"If you'd been the real Zero, then Michael here wouldn't have been able to cut apart Genesis Zero so easily," stated Sorano, only slightly worse for wear from the Historia's ultimate spell. "Now, Michael, finish him!"
Another sword slash ended the Historia as easily as it did the spell. And, as the Fairy watched the stupefied face of her former leader fade away, she felt a surprising large amount of joy.
"Wow. Killing him myself was way more cathartic than I expected!"
"Kagura! Jellal!" shouted Erza into the hole in the ship's deck.
Neinhart used his magic to draw away Yukino and Sorano, then summoned a Historia to attack the lone Titania. However, Erza moved to defend as soon as she felt the Magic Power gather behind her, twisting around to block the Historia's opening strike with a Requipped sword.
"It's you!" exclaimed the Fairy, surprised at the Historia's identity.
"Could you have forgotten me, Erza?" asked Ikaruga. The assassin from the Tower of Heaven then unleashed a flurry of strikes with her katana, putting her opponent on the defensive.
"Ikaruga… what a lovely Historia!" declared Neinhart, treating his view into Erza's past like a sommelier did a fine wine.
As Ikaruga's storm of attacks reached its end, her blade cut into the Fairy's shoulder.
"What has become of you, Erza?" questioned Ikaruga smugly. "You are lacking the edge you once had."
"It's because she hasn't healed yet," observed the newly-formed Historia of Azuma. Neinhart had decided to add in the Grimoire Heart mage to make the fight more interesting. "Erza's normally a lot stronger than that. I want you to show me your real strength!"
Branches sprouted from the ship's deck, forcing Erza to jump. Ikaruga then attacked the Fairy while she was in the air. Erza blocked the strike, only to find herself weaving through a storm of swinging branches immediately after.
"Bleve!" shouted Azuma, blasting the Fairy while she was distracted with the branches.
Erza was blasted across the deck. As soon as she came to a stop, Ikaruga swung her katana down on the Fairy, forcing her to dodge. As Erza evaded, a new branch sprouted from the deck, grabbing her leg and flinging her into the air again.
Ikaruga and Azuma attacked the Fairy with a sword slash and a stream of sharp sticks, covering her with wounds. Erza fell to the deck with a 'thud,' and the Spriggan and Historias watched with amusement as she struggled back up.
"I think that's enough of a reunion party," said Titania, more confident than her enemies had expected her to be. The reason why was that, thanks to them pausing their chain of attacks enjoy her suffering, she had the opportunity to switch from defense to offense. "The two of you once stood against me as very challenging enemies. But I defeated you!"
Erza brought her blade up, shifting into a combat stance. The determination behind her words caused her Magic Power to radiate from her body with so much force that Ikaruga and Azuma began to quiver in fear. The Historias' physical forms wavered, rendering them too weak to defend themselves as the Fairy attacked.
With two slashes, only two people were left remaining on the deck — Erza and Neinhart, the latter of whom was as intimidated as his Historias had been.
"T-that scarlet hair… that overwhelming Magic Power…" stuttered the Spriggan, too terrified to summon another Historia. "Y-you… couldn't be… Irene's…"
Neinhart's words were cut off as the pommel of the Fairy's katana smashed into his skull with enough force to crack it. The Spriggan slumped to the ground, unconscious, as the Historias he had summoned across Hargeon Town vanished.
The battle was over, and Fiore's guilds had won.
Omake
"Fa fa fa!" laughed a Historia of Lamy, striking a dramatic pose. "I, the number one member of the Kyôka Squad, have retu—"
"Fire God's Bellow!" roared Romeo, enveloping the Etherious in black flames. He maintained his spell for several seconds, ensuring that no trace of Lamy remained.
AN: The rest of the Historia fights went more or less like canon. As for the Omake, I realized that Romeo hadn't fought many people and decided to take a potshot at Lamy. No regrets.
That is all. Goodbye!