Chapter 72: More Than Memories

{ "Man I'm beat!" Sero shouted, raising his arms into the air and yawning. Once retracted, Boro added his two cents in. "We've got a ways to go to the next city, so you should suck it up, Sero!" Sero side-eyed him, dropping his demeanor as well. "Easy for you to say..." He whispered. "You have Palm and Ino carrying you." And that they were, in a wooden carriage; an old model that needed pulling but what was usually horses. Sitting in that carriage , Boro kept a smug visage as he and his crew continued on. That was until finally... "Huh?" He questioned, noticing a sparkle in the sky. "What's that?" "It's coming this way!" Cirana called our, pointing directly towards it. "It's coming in fast too." Her brother added. The crew scattered, everyone but Boro who wasn't ready to be ditched the way he just was — Ino and Palm leaving him in that wooden carriage as the falling object crashed right into him. "Wai—AGHHH!" He screamed out from the impact. He and the culprit would grind into the ground a few meters until finally coming to a stop. The rest of the gang ran over after hesitation, now standing over their leader with inquisitive expressions. "That's..." Ino and Palm both started simultaneously. "A woman?" Cirano asked. "She's beautiful..." Cirana added. "What do you think, Sero?" Cirana turned to him, and as she did, she became surprised at what she was looking at. Sero was in awe. It was like he saw a fallen angel right before him. He flustered, face flushing red at the cheeks as he kept his gaze upon her black hair, her blue eyes that slowly stirred awake, her flawless figure. "She's...perfect."

"She's going to die for landing on me!" Boro spoke, finally awake. Jumping up, he held up a fist, ready to actually slam it against her skull, but before he could, Sero grabbed his arm, halting any potential progress as his hair shaded over his eyes. "Don't..." "Ehh?" Boro, confused, turned his angered sights towards Sero. "You dare stop me, Sero?" Sero didn't say a word. Instead he remained silent, never letting his vision be removed from the sleeping Kiora. That's when she finally woke up, unmoving, yet looking around with just her eyes. Finally, she sat up, rubbing her head as she groaned out in pain. "What...? Where am I...? In fact...who am I?"

Sero then bent down to her level, smiling genuinely as he held out a right hand. "It seems you've got a bit of amnesia, Madam. Will madam do for a name until you remember it?" Kiora blinked a few times, staring towards Sero in a confused manner as the rest watched in the background. "You still seem weakened from your fall just now, Madam.. Allow me to be your chair on this long trek, and carry you to our next destination. Use me as you please."

"Masochist!" Ino and Palm both thought to themselves. But Kiora and Sero continued to stare at each other as the memory gradually faded into present day reality.}

"Six months!" Sero shouted towards Natsu and Lucy. "Six months of being whatever she needed! Her chair! Madam's stepping stool! Her table, her floor, it didn't matter! She allowed me to name her! She took us in after beating Boro! She could have ditched us, or even killed us, but she didn't! To stay near such a flawless being this entire time...these last six months..." Sero stared at his own hands, watching his fingers twitch before he shouted once again. "I refuse to let you past me! You can't have Madam! She belongs with us! I don't care what she is to you!"

"I'm almost ashamed to say this, but that masochist has a lot of resolve when it comes to Kiora." Lucy murmured. Still, it was hard for her to take him seriously. Natsu on the other hand, spoke from the opposite of what Sero believed, yelling at the top of his lungs as well. "That's not right! You're an idiot to believe all of that! Kiora doesn't care about you! She's a demon, and she's using you!"

"I want to be used!" Sero yelled, rearing his right arm back before swinging it forward with all his might. As he swung his arm forward, his arm detached, glowing a light purple hue as the dislocated arm came flying in like a missile. It freaked Lucy and Happy out, the both of them shrieking, but Natsu was more concerned with Sero himself as he held up a forearm to block the incoming flying fist. It managed to slide Natsu back a few feet, but that was the end of its strength. Sero closed the gap between them fairly quickly, reconnecting his right arm without losing a step in throwing a left hook in its place. Natsu ducked, avoiding it completely as he fired in a flame induced right uppercut to the abdomen. Sero coughed out a spool of his own saliva as he hunched over Natsu's fist. "You ain't understanding! Kiora is —"

"Don't...call her that damn name!" Sero roared, raising himself up again as he began glowing that purple hue again. "I'm not listening to a word you're saying! Madam has done more for me than anyone has! She's given me purpose! Kiora this...Kiora that! She's not Kiora anymore! She's my master, and I'll protect her just as that! Now die! Zombie Magic: Disembodiment!"

Suddenly, Sero began breaking apart at the limbs and waist. Even his head became detached from his shoulders. Lucy then let out another scream of horror. "This Magic is horrible!" Sero turned an eye to her from the comment. "That's exactly what I mean..." he murmured just loud enough as images played in his head. "No one, not even my own fellow gang members could accept me and my magic. Always telling me to keep it to myself, or using me to scare people because I'm frightening... But Madam...she didn't even blink in fear once! She didn't shy away from me! And you want me to give her back to you as Kiora!? Like I said, I won't let you past me! I won't! I won't! I won't! I wo—"

His crazed rant was suddenly cut off by the sound of teeth clanking against each other like a powerful snap. Natsu, Happy, and Lucy all looked on in horror as Sero's head was now missing. "Gah...g...No way..." The Salamander stuttered out as the rest of Sero fell to the ground, lifeless. Lucy and Happy couldn't even look, turning away as they heard the "low" growls of a feasting beast before them. Slowly turning around just as the rest of Sero disappeared, Lucy saw first an angered Natsu, and then the monstrous beast before them as it rose to a full stance once more. It took up nearly the entire room in height, and once it roared, all three heads in unison, Natsu graced himself as the power behind its cry was enough to send him sliding back enough to where Lucy had to brace him from falling back anymore.

"Where...!? Where did it come from!?" Natsu asked. "What is it!" Lucy asked in place of an answer. "A DOG!" Happy shouted the obvious in fear, but as the tag around the middle head's neck shone in the sliver of light from the window, Natsu furrowed his brows as he braced himself for a fight. "Cerberus!"

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"So you're aware of who I am?" Erza asked, keeping a safe distance away from the deranged Kiora. Her blade remained by her side, but the grip she kept upon its hilt showed vigilance within Titania. The two females stated daggers at each other — instant death if looks could kill. Kiora tilted her head to the side, just noticeably. The demoness gripped her scythe tightly before raising it, draping it over her shoulders as she recited what she knew. "Erza Scarlet. S Class Wizard of Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail..." Thats when she began going awry gradually. "Fairy Tail is...that guild that..." More flashes of the past struck her, images of the Great War they both participated in. She grabbed her temple again from the mental struggle, blue eyes pin-balling within their own sockets as she groaned in pain. Her head was pounding like a hammer to an anvil, and just as so, it was forming a weapon that's been missing for the past half year. "The guild that ruined everything!"

That was the metaphorical bell that began the match; Kiora versus Erza. Both femme fatales rushed each other, standard blade and scythe meeting each other in the middle of their confrontation. Both women held their stalemate, Erza keeping a determined glare as Kiora gave off a wicked one of her own. The demoness was the first to retract her weapon, only to swing it once more in a spinning motion, rotating her entire frame as well. Erza leapt, taking to the air to gain some comfortability. That notion proved to be futile however, as Kiora was in front of her within the second, showcasing the speed of a demon of Tartarus. A spinning heel kick was next, Kiora spinning her body once more with her right leg leading the way this time. Erza, though shocked by the sudden lack of space between them, still showed the wherewithal to defend herself, raising her blade to its flat surface. The kick and the blade aggressively met, but once again, Kiora's overwhelming traits appeared, overpowering the defensive Titania as her kick sent her flying back towards the ground. Erza crash landed on her seat, halfway planted into the wall as she groaned in discomfort. She stood up however, for the two were just getting started.

Kiora reassured that as she dove towards the red haired female. Halfway down, she swung her scythe, creating a slicing mass of a shadow like substance. She was no fool, and Erza quickly lunged out the way. She prepared to go on the offensive from there, but the second she touched down from her evasive maneuver, there was Kiora again, directly in front of her with a powerful kick to the abdomen. Erza let out a pained cry as she was kicked, and another as she hit the wall once more, this time standing. Now she was growing irritated and it showed on her face. But Kiora wasn't showing any signs of playfulness either. "So, speed is it?" She asked as her body began to illuminate her usual light. The clothes she wore would then shed, only to be replaced by a whole new suit of armor; her Flight Armor. Her comment and wardrobe change caused Kiora's first smirk. "It's weird." She began, bracing herself for Erza's arrival. "My Head isn't pounding anymore, but even after that small exchange, I'm starting..to remember quite a bit..."

"Do you recall that day then?" Erza asked, lunging towards Kiora with immense speed. They met once again, scythe and sword. "Do you remember how the person you worshipped betrayed you on that day? How he told you, and your demon brethren that he didn't need you?" As she spoke, those images played in her head. Kiora's hair overshadowed her eyes as they held the stalemate once again, right now being more of a negotiation than a physical conflict. "What's she doing?" Takeru asked himself, watching quietly as Kiora and Erza continued.

"Do you really want to go back to that? Even when all of your memories return? Have you ever thought about helping instead of hurting?"

Still holding her scythe against Erza's sword, it seemed that Kiora was losing her grip and that Titania was pushing through — Kiora leaning back from Erza's strength. "Yeah, I remember that day clearly now. I remember Zeref...I remember...Da...Daityas..?" Erza was hoping to skip around that memory, and Tak too as he balled a fist at the call of it, but Kiora's racing mind was gathering everything she had forgotten just that fast. "Daityas. He saved us...like he's always done."

"He's the one that put you in danger!" Erza shouted. "Shut up." Kiora simply stated as she pushed back, causing Erza to stumble back a few feet. Just catching herself in time, she side jumped away from Kiora incoming pursuit, but as Kiora missed, she placed a left palm upon the ground, and just below Erza, a plethora of sharp, shadow created blades rose to the ceiling with Erza in the midst of it all. She was able to cover her extremities with her blade, but the results were shown with slash marks cutting deep into her arms, legs and even her abdomen and shoulders as she was forcefully thrown into the air. As she struck, Kiora grinned again, her second in who knows how long.

"Daityas. The leader of Tartarus. Tobias, an annoying demon of that same camp..." As she spoke, it seemed Kiora's stern demeanor was gradually fading. The more she spoke, the more she became...herself — as if her memories were triggering her normal personality that they've grown to know. The others still escape me, but me...I know who I am now."

"Gck... Kiora..." Erza huffed out after hitting the ground hard. "That's right!" She yelled with a smile as the a shadowy like aura began to manifest around her. Kiora pointed towards Erza as the aura began to pick up, just shaking the room they stood in. "I am the hope of Tartarus. I am the answer to all demons that cry out for chaos. I am the protecter of the guilty. I am the darkness in the light. I am truth. ALLY TO EVIL! NIGHTMARE TO YOU! I AM KIORA SIDERO! THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL!" She even struck a pose, but as a second passed, she blinked. "Huh. I feel like a lovable bimbo should be beside me right now."

"Tch! Dammit Erza!" Takeru cursed to himself. "What were you trying to accomplish!? Now she's more herself than ever! You were losing the fight when she didn't know her own identity, but then you basically gave it back to her! That was your only advantage! Leave it to Fairy Tail." He peered past the wall he was hiding, and what he saw however caused him even more confusion and annoyance. As Erza slowly stood up once again, a grin of her own could be seen, despite the wounds she received from Kiora. "That's exactly right." Erza said, causing even Kiora to give an inquisitive look, blinking a few times in confusion. "You are Kiora Sidero. You are all of those things, and if you couldn't remember that..." Erza began glowing once again, this time revealing herself in her Purgatory Armor, and holding a giant sword with jagged blades decorated down each side. "...I wouldn't have been able to put you down. But unlike the humans I know. You demons have shown that you're incapable of guilt, of change, of love. When you were Madam, I had much hesitation when I walked into this room, but now that you're once more Kiora..." Her eyes lit up like she was stalking a prey, the grin on her features highlighting the rest of her sinister aura. "...I have no hesitation within me. Prepare yourself, demon."

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"Alright team! Let's work together, but leave the final blow to me!" Reiss shouted while running with Ouroboros right behind him. Despite that fact that the cosmic serpent was in hot pursuit, Reiss kept a cheeky grin on his features as he dashed to the left, leading the beast towards an incoming Tyson and Ilaria. "Tch! Yeah right! Who died and made you leader!" Tyson shouted as both of his hand began glowing simultaneously; illuminating two different hues. Ilaria clasped her hands together in excitement. "Tyson-Sama's Magic! I've been waiting to see it in action!"

"H-Hey! You do something to!" He shouted back before turning back towards Ouroboros. "With Fire in my left, and water in my right hand, I combine them to create... Steam Make: Arrows!"

Reiss looked forward, raising a brow at Tyson's incoming attack. Though they were on the same side, this was the first time the rookies revealed their techniques to each other. "Steam? More importantly, fire and water, just like he said. He can use multiple elements" Reiss grinned. "I'll be on the lookout for you, Tyson." As the multitude of arrows came flying in, Reiss ducked to the right, just narrowly moving out of the way as the steam arrows slammed into Ouroboros, causing a loud hissing as each arrow made impact, creating a small cloud of steam with each hit until it filled the room, blinding the serpent's view of the rookies.

"My turn!" Ilaria shouted, leaping above the steam and into view. She held out her hands, and a small scythe with chains at the end manifested in each palm. As they appeared, a light purple mist like substance began intertwining with the steam Tyson created. This was catching everyone's attention, as even with the steam present, the temperature around them dropped noticeably. Ilaria threw her first chained scythe, causing it to wrap around Ouroboros as she launched the second just the same. The second scythe came back to her while the first remained embedded into the floor. "Easy!" She shouted, pulling her hardest to hold down the beast as it roared out in discomfort. As she pulled, a few more chains appeared, attempting to hold the cosmic snake down. {Soul Shackles.} Reiss looked on with wide eyes. "What is that!?" Ilaria turned to him, innocently confused. "Soul Binding Magic. Weren't you listening during my introduction?" She asked. Reiss turned his visage away with a guilty manner while murmuring his answer. "Was too busy looking cool."

"Let's not antagonize it. Let's just finish it." Lluvi pronounced as she charged it. Just before reaching Ouroboros, the blue haired female jumped, leaping into the air as she held both of her fist together, lacing her fingers into one bigger fist. At the same time, Micaiah was seen just off to the right with a magic seal before her. "Elight!" She shouted, and from that magic seal, a powerful blast of light magic was produced, shooting towards Ouroboros. Simultaneous to that action, that same magic substance Lluvi used before to block the serpent from chasing Takeru appeared around her hands. "Barrier Hammer!" She shouted, slamming her coated fist on top of Ouroboros's skull the same time Micaiah's Elight struck it from the side. Smoke ensued from the combination of attacks, and as Lluvi leapt away to join the others, Reiss sighed. "I said save the last hit for me." He whined with his hands over his head. "And again, who made you leader?" Tyson asked. "Please don't." Lluvi begged. "Not again." Micaiah added, but it was too late, Reiss and Tyson were nose to nose arguing. "You got a problem with my direction, element boy!?" Reiss shouted. "Yeah! It sucks! Why are you even here! You didn't even help!" Tyson replied. "I said I wanted the last hit! Get the Steam out of your ears!"

Ilaria was smiling, watching the commotion continue until she felt something jerk against her chains. "Uh, guys." She tried, only to see the other four too busy in their quarrel. The chains pulled again, and this time Ilaria tried to pull back, but she quickly lost that battle as she could feel them pop loose, causing her a state of shock. "No way? Through my chains!? GUYS!"

Her yell finally grazed their attention, but it was Ouroboros rising to a full stance that ceased their current notions. "It's not even hurt." Lluvi pointed out. "Did we make a mistake?" Tyson added. Reiss chuckled once, stepping forward as he wiped his nose with his thumb. "That was my fault. It seems I'm supposed to grab the last hit after all. If it ain't hurt, then we'll just have to hit it harder and make it hurt, right? Well then..." He slammed his right fist into his left palm, body glowing a reddish aura. "Let's do this then. Round two, ya ugly worm!"

Bob remained at the gates of Dawn City, now fretting over the whole in his roof that Cynthia created. "That's coming out of their pay! This job is now free for them! I can't believe those humans!"

"A sickening species, aren't they?" A voice from behind asked. "Right!" Bob shouted in agreement. He then turned to the voice in question. "Huh? Who are you? Wait, if you're here for any money I owe anyone, tell them, I'm dead. Ha...Get it?"

It indeed cracked a smirk upon his chiseled features, and as Bob examined the rest of him, the bulky male continued walking. "That's your castle, right? I'll be entering it. It seems a friend of mine has taken it from you. You can have it back in a few minutes. As for everyone inside..."

He then turned back to Bob with a wicked grin, snapping his fingers once as a small circle of Hell Fire appeared before the skeleton.

"Let's just say, enjoy your new souvenirs."