Chapter 93: So Long...

Two important fights took place at opposite ends of the fallen cube where Tartarus laid. Throughout the now ruined guild multiple fights and events progressed, but two of them held such a high priority. The first, was the three-sided fight between Erza, Maggie Solfatara and Kyouka. With Kyouka fusing with the lacrima that controlled Face, the other two found themselves in an uphill battle without their senses intact to aid them. On the other side of Tartarus Tayakata and Reve Volver found themselves in battle with one of Tartarus's remaining juggernauts, Taya's father, Noboru. Though the began their tandem by gaining the upper hand on the demon, Reve's foresight costed him an abundance of his magic and strength, leaving the two to once more fight without any advantage against the all powerful demon. With only will and resolve pushing the mages forward, their life or death battles against the demons of Tartarus resumed.

Luke watched exhaustedly as Natsu and Marde Geer rumbled and as Sting and Rogue took on their former guild master. The back and forth between both parties was a spectacular display to say the least, but as it went on, it caused Luke Cloud to come to one single conclusion as he looked back at a tired Jaxon Meteoro and an unconscious Cygnus Gwydion. "I need to get stronger. A lot stronger. Whatever I'm doing, it isn't working. I will get stronger when we survive this. If..." He would cut off his own speech, daring not to speak negatively as he continued to watch and silently root for his biggest adversaries.

"G...Gch!" A spat of blood, or the demon's equivalent spat from Daityas's mouth as he continued to crawl towards his destination. He had no idea where he was headed, but he knew who he was headed too; the last being that could save him from his ever approaching death. "I...I won't...! I...I...I choose when my revenge is comp...complete! Zeref...you won't regret away with this..!" He cried out his own resolve as he continued to claw forward in hopes to keep himself alive.

"So where are those eyes of yours!" Noboru shouted in rage again, laughing heinously as Reve had to literally run for his life from the ever appearing vectors. Seemingly endless, the gunslinger could barely keep up with their sudden appearances and dangerous trajectories. Taya didn't have this problem, she could sense where they were coming, but that didn't save her from having to stay on the defensive and avoid them. Noboru was proving to be the superior family member, and as he managed to grab Taya with his vectors and sling her high up into the air and back into the ground, he only continued to prove his superiority as relentlessly repeated his vicious assault until finally she freed herself and scrambled away.

"Cocky bastard." Reve huffed, ducking behind a stack of rubble as he cocked his gun once. He stared at his Wingman, gears turning in his head as he tried to rush to a quick yet correct decision. He grimaced again, holding his left eye as his vision slowly became a bit blurrier. "Shit man...even when I dispelled it...I still over did it on the foresight. Oh well. As long as I can see even a single dot, I'm still the best shooter in Ishgar. I don't need my Precision Eyes for this anyways. We're going in with iron sights, boys."

Just as a plethora of vectors crashed through his hiding spot, Reve took off towards Noboru in a sprint, pointing and shooting at the demon before him relentlessly, as if he had no cap on his Magic ammunition. As he deflected each one, Noboru's eyes reverted to their peripherals, noticing Tayakata lunging his way. "Your distract and attack method won't work on me anymore!" Bragged, meeting Taya's right fist with a left palm, catching her melee effortlessly before gripping her fist into a tight clutch. He pulled her closer, only to slam an elbow into her nose and cause her head to snap backwards. Before she could even recover, vector wrapped around her body, attempting to raise her into the air again in order to slam her down, but before they could reach their desired height, bullets flew, piercing right through the vectors and causing them to disappear. Flipping once, the vector user of White Eclipse dove towards her prey simultaneously to Reve once again firing off a powerful blast from his firearm. Flipping once more to keep her movements unorthodox and unreadable, Tayakata slammed a powerful axe kick to the top of Noboru's head. His body hunched over from the momentum, but the demon merely groaned in annoyance, baring his teeth as he braced himself once more for the blast by Reve. Slamming it his forearm, Noboru shook off the blast as the smoke cleared, sending more vectors Reve's way as if Taya wasn't right beside him.

The gunslinger fires relentlessly, deflecting the incoming vectors the best he could. Yet, one slipped by, stabbing Reve right through his shoulder and slamming him into the ground on his back.

"Reve!" Taya shouted, attempting to rush to his side to help. Unfortunately, before she could even take her second step, her first made her realize that she was stuck. Looking down, she realized that she was standing on a vector plate, the arrow pointing the opposite direction she wanted to go. Once the realization hit, Taya would look up only to see Noboru's vectors right before her, threatening to pierce her body in different locations. Desperately she covered herself with her own curse, deflecting her father's away from her vitals. They seemed endless, holding Tayakata down as Noboru leapt towards Reve, landing on top of him knees first and causing the gunslinger to let out a breathless cry of pain.

"Now die!" Noboru shouted, raising a right hand, but at the apex of that hand, a plethora of guns appeared around both him and Reve, floating in midair. "Heh...stupid. Devil's Wheel." As Reve shakily pulled the trigger to his Wingman that aimed for Noboru's sternum, the ring of firearms that surrounded them both also went off in an endless array, creating a cloud of smoke from the constant impact of magic bullets. Every hit was a direct one, but as the smoke cleared, Noboru simply stood there, heavily bruised at best. The only noticeable wound was the one his Wingman created in Noboru's chest, but not even that was enough to bring him down.

Noboru was about to commence with finishing Reve off, but somehow Taya found her way out of the endless assault from his vectors just in time to literally tackle the demon out of the way. Grunting in annoyance as he slid to a stop with his daughter clinging to his person for dear life. Noboru expressed his anger as he raised Taya upward, only to send her skyward with his curse power. "Your desperate clings to life are really annoying!"

Reve slowly pulled himself up to a stance, painfully removing the single vector that stabbed through his shoulder. Once standing again, his body teetered as his Devil's Wheel disappeared. He tried again to take aim at Noboru, but the demon was even faster; creating a plethora of vectors that grabbed Reve and slammed him into the wall behind him. A gasp for air and blood falling from his mouth, the gunslinger fell limp to his knees. "What the...hell? Nothings working. My Wingman is doing the most damage, but he's shaking that off...? I'm...I'm afraid to run out of magic against a demon..but do I have a choice? Do I use the magnum? If that fails...Taya will be on her own again."

On cue, Taya was slammed into the ground and then tossed to the side, crying out in pain from the impact as she too now struggled to her knees. Noboru slowly stalked his prey, walking towards his daughter before stopping halfway.

"I've come to the point where killing you just wont be enough, Tayakata. I need you to know true despair. So before I kill you..."

"He'll be coming for me...it sounds like..." Reve said to himself as he dropped his Wingman gun, only to replace it with a more well known gun in his arsenal. "I have no choice...it's now or never.."

"Before I kill you...I'll be taking everything from you." As his vectors slowly rose from the ground, Reve readied himself for the counterattack he had planned. "Starting with..." Reve raised his magnum slowly, awaiting the opening he was predicting. But then, everything took another turn.

"Your sister!"

Their eyes widened. She was forgotten this whole time, but as both Reve and Taya looked over, Nami would be seen struggling to her feet with barely any strength to stand. She wouldn't even see the attack coming, nor did she have the ability to evade it or defend herself.

"Wha..no! NAMI!" Taya screamed, but the vectors took off.

"You son of a bitch!" Reve cursed, and without even asking it to, his body moved on its own, mustering everything it had left to sprint towards Nami's location. The scariest thing about this to him was...Reve was going to make it in time, but he had no defense of his own either. All he knew was that he had to save Nami. Nami finally looked up, and just as predicted, she could only stand there as the vectors closed in, threatening her very life. Her eyes widened in fear, and she closed them instinctively to prepare for impact, Reve slid before her at the last second, using himself as a shield from the incoming attack.

The sound of flesh being ripped apart rung through her ears, and as Nami reopened her eyes, she saw that she was unharmed, but unfortunately...something much worse happened. Vectors could be seen dangling from the spine, making their way through the body cleanly, and as Nami looked up, trembling in fear and disbelief, her...and Reve were speechless as Tayakata stood before them both, holding onto the vectors that pierced right through her.

"T...Taya!? TAYA!"

"Stop your screaming Nami!" She shouted back as she teetered, gripping onto the vectors with both hands to stay standing.

"You idiot! Let go!" Noboru shouted back, also surprised at Tayakata's actions.

She did the opposite however, and her own vectors began to grip around Noboru's as they made their way to the demon, eventually grabbing him to hold him down. "What are you doing?! You don't have the strength to keep me held still."

"I do as long as you can't pull your vectors back!" She boasted, slowly sliding towards Noboru as he tried to pull his vectors back to him. He grimaced, trying his hardest, but Taya was putting up the necessary fight to keep him still. That's when she spoke in a softened voice.

"Well? Aren't you going to fire?" She asked Reve as if she wasn't gradually dying from the vectors that pierced through her abdomen. She smiled, crimson from her mouth painting her lips as her onyx colored eyes stared into Reve's own sapphire pair. Reve was shaking, he couldn't move.

"Why!? Why did you do it! No! You can't take such a wound, Taya!" He could only look at the gaping wound Taya now had, but she spoke to him once more. "We were both thinking the same thing, cowboy. Don't be mad that I beat you to it. And besides...how could you fire if you were going to take the attack as well? He's held down...now help me finish my father off once and for all."

"But...why?" Reve could only ask. That's when another hand from behind clasped around his, siphoning magic into his Magnum. He looked back, noticing Nami who was silently crying, tears streaming from her face like two rivers, droplets hitting the ground over and over as she raised her head with a nod. Taya simply smiled again. "You're really maturing, Namiyaka. Now do what your mother trained you to do...and Reve..."

He turned back to Taya, a single stream of a tear falling from his left eye as she spoke to him. "Try not to let me down, okay cowboy?"

"Release me!" Noboru shouted, pulling as hard as he could, jerking Taya forward. She grunted, keeping her feet dig into the rubble to keep the demon down. Reve and Nami raised his gun together, Nami's light magic condensing into the chamber as Reve also cycled all of his remaining magic power into one final bullet. The combination of the two caused an uproar in magic pressure, shaking the atmosphere around them. Even then, Reve swallowed hard one time. "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to keep everyone alive..."

That's when Taya chuckled, releasing one of her hands to reach back and pat Nami on her head before clasping Reve's free hand. She looked back one last time, pressing her lips to the cheek of the gunslinger before whispering to him while keeping her free hand upon the magnum.

"Reve. I love you."

"And I love you...Taya.."

They fired, and what was released from the Magnum was a powerful blast of light and guns magic. Decimating everything in its path, Noboru could do nothing but scream in despair until the blast hit its mark, disintegrating the demon into nothing as it finally subsided.

There was not a trace of him left. His vectors and everything, gone. And as Taya retracted hers, she fell over only for Reve to catch her with Nami right behind, still crying as Reve held her in his arms.

"Hang on! We can get you help! Taya! Taya don't you dare leave!" Reve shouted.

"Please! I need my sister with me! Taya! You can't die!"

A soft, small smile painted her features as she raised a hand to place to Reve's jawline. "It's okay. You'll both be okay. The guild will be okay. I'm sorry...That I couldn't beat him alone."

"Stop!" Reve shouted. "I'll carry you! That old woman that helps Fairy Tail is here, so I can carry you to her! You're not dying! Taya! D-don't..!"

No matter how much they pleaded, Taya could only smile as her eyes became heavier. Soon enough, they became too heavy, and she closed them.

"Promise me something...Reve. Nami."

"What is it? Anything!" Nami shouted.

"You two...have been my reasons for living for so long. Seeing you two happy has made me even happier. I'm glad I got to live this life with you both. My sister...cowboy. Promise me you'll achieve everything you planned to. You both work so hard, I couldn't have done this without you, so please promise me that you'll keep following your dreams. Accomplish them..don't let this stop you, or I'll come back to haunt you, okay?"

Reve couldn't say a word only look down at the ground as tears rolled from his eyes and down his cheeks. Nami nodded, crying the same. "We will! I will! I promise, Taya! Just don't leave me! Don't leave us!"

Unfortunately she knew she couldn't grant that last request, so with one last breath, she wiped a single tear from Reve's eyes before finally, she disappeared from his arms in a shroud of Etherious with no where to go but to vanish into the air. Reve nearly fell over from losing her, eventually failing to his hands and knees as he shouted once more to the air as tears flowed heavily.

"TAYA!"