A/N: And after moving into a new house, I had no internet for a month. But that didn't stop me from working on this next chapter. So, here it is. Out of all the moments I've planned in the latter half of the story, this one had me the most emotional. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and/or Akame Ga Kill. They belong to their original owners.

The Assassins of Fairy Tail

Job Forty Six: Chelsea's Growth

Night had fallen in a remote town and Chelsea and her group was currently occupying an inn. It served as a base of operations for their next mission. They all turned in early for the night so they could start their mission early. However, as some time passed, Chelsea opened one eye and made sure both Taeko and Babara were fast asleep. She quietly threw the covers away and snuck out of the room and soon, the inn. She found herself in a secluded area near the inn and looked around for something. She soon found something of interest and picked up a rather large stick. Chelsea then swung the stick around while making whooshing sounds. "I am Taeko Oarburgh. I am a super badass swordswoman from the Oarburgh Clan."

"What are you doing, Chelsea?"

Chelsea screamed as she dropped the stick and quickly turned around to see Taeko standing behind her. She was rather flushed with embarrassment. "T-Taeko! I...um, uh..." She sighed in defeat. "How long were standing there?"

"Long before you made the whooshing sounds and saying I am and I quote 'a super badass swordswoman from the Oarburgh Clan'. I followed you as soon as you left the room. So, mind telling me why you're up when we have a mission tomorrow?"

Chelsea felt slightly more embarrassed now. She'd joined the Oarburgh Clan several months ago and couldn't believe she ended up with the Babara Oarburgh. However, she was also joined by Babara's granddaughter, Taeko, who Chelsea thought she could lighten up a little, but once she saw Taeko in action, she quickly became someone she respected. "I'm just trying to have some fun is all and..." She looked away from the other girl and pushed her two index fingers against each other. "Pretending to be you." She did an inner facepalm as soon as she said those words.

Taeko remained stone-faced, despite her ally's explanation. "Pretending to be me? Why would you do that?"

Chelsea groan as she knew she was digging this hole she was in deeper. "Because I think you're cool, okay!" She yelled with a furious blush. "I mean, you were trained by Granny longer, and you could all sorts of cool things and moves, and you don't hesitate when you need to be serious."

Now Taeko was beginning to understand the other girl. "I see. It's admirable you see me in such a way, but remember what Grandmother has said; we all have our strengths and weaknesses. You possess an Imperial Arms, something I don't have, and can go behind enemy lines so we can attack them at their weakest point and your kill count is quite substantial. Grandmother wouldn't have taken you under her tutelage if you were someone common. She sees great potential in you."

While Taeko had some good points, Chelsea still felt inferior to her ally. "Yeah, but there's still always the chance I could be discovered. Once that happens, all I can do is run."

"Would you rather fight instead?"

Chelsea laughed at Taeko's question. "You and I both know I can't fight. That's what you and Granny do best. Though, I think it'd be kinda cool if I could fight."

"Then how about we start now?" Chelsea saw Taeko draw her sword and point it at her. "Well, what do you say, Chelsea? Would you like to fight me?" The wind blew softly through them as Chelsea stared at Taeko in bewilderment.

F

"The person responsible for killing me..." Taeko spoke. "Is none other than Akame and it was her and her group that killed all of the Oarburgh Clan."

Taeko's words echoed throughout Chelsea's mind as she stared at Akame in disbelief. Memories of her spending time with Taeko and Babara quickly flooded her mind until she arrived at the memory of when she first heard of their deaths. "Taeko and Granny are dead!? How the hell is that possible!? They...they were..."

"It is rather quite unfortunate," Merraid spoke. Babara was renowned for her skills as an assassin and poor, poor Taeko. It's such a shame someone as young as talented as she met their end. But in the end, in this kind of work, even they are not exempt from death. The same goes for all of us. I suppose you can say they simply weren't good enough."

From that moment on, Merraid's words were encased in Chelsea's mind. She was right; Taeko and Babara, as incredible as they were to Chelsea, died not because they weren't strong enough, but because they weren't good enough. It was something she had to carry in her life from that moment forward. When she said the same thing about Sheele and Bulat, she was met with hostility, but that was to be expected. She did like Night Raid and didn't want the same thing happening to them as what happened to Taeko and Babara and the rest of the Oarburgh Clan. She never thought of taking revenge because she didn't think she'd be able to kill the people responsible for killing Taeko, Babara, and the rest of the Oarburgh Clan and didn't think she'd ever encounter them. Or so she thought. Who knew the person that killed Taeko was someone she fought alongside all this time and she was part of the group who killed the Oarburgh Clan. Akame shared her expression as she was just as surprised as Chelsea was. "Chelsea, I-'

Akame didn't get a word in as Chelsea grabbed her by the collar tightly. Akame had never seen the other girl so angry before. "Akame, is it true? What Taeko said. Are you the one that killed her?!"

Akame closed her eyes out of regret and gritted her teeth. "Yes." There was a sense of regret in her voice, though Chelsea didn't notice it.

Chelsea's grip on Akame's collar tightened further and growled at her teammate. "Then, you were there, weren't you? At the Hakurou River where we tried to ambush this group we were hired to kill, but the group Taeko, Granny, and me met up were killed and it was around Toushi Town where they were killed. Do those names sound familiar to you?"

Akame's eyes opened wide as she was familiar with those names. "You...were there?" She had no idea she and Chelsea were that close to meeting each other and yet never have.

Chelsea's breathing became heavy. "Taeko and Babara Oarburgh, I was part of the Oarburgh Clan and I was with them. I trained under Babara and Taeko was one of the most incredible people I've known. Hell, there were times where you reminded me so much of her! And now I know the person who was able to kill her and she's part of the same group who was responsible for killing Babara and the Oarburgh Clan." She was very close to summoning her needles and stabbing Akame in her vitals.

While Chelsea was confronting Akame, some of the people in the other liked what they were seeing. Pony was one of them. "Ooh, are they going to fight each other now?"

Gin crossed her arms under her breasts. "It'd certainly make things easier for us."

Gozuki was more interested in how there was still one member of the Oarburgh Clan left alive. "So, one member survived. She must've had the luck of the devil if she managed to escape our intel." Ibara laughed at the fact.

Merraid just giggled at Gozuki's words as she was honestly happy seeing Chelsea again. "It seems sending Chelsea away proved to be the right decision after all. However, I didn't expect her to be on the same team as Akame. As Taeko said before, this is quite an ironic twist of fate."

Anger was seething out of Chelsea. There was nothing else on her mind other than making Akame pay for taking one of the most important people she'd known. Nothing else mattered to her now. She didn't care what Akame had to say and she would make sure she'd pay. She'd settle nothing less than taking her life. "That's enough!" Chelsea was then forcibly ripped away from Akame and Leone stood in-between them.

Chelsea growled angrily at the blonde. "Leone, what the hell are you doing!?"

"I should be the one asking you that!" Leone yelled back.

"Akame killed Taeko and her group killed Granny and the rest of the Oarburgh Clan! Yeah, sure, I don't care as much for Merraid and the others, but it still doesn't change the fact I was with them!" Again, Chelsea failed to notice the remorse on Akame's face.

"And what, you think killing Akame will make you feel better?"

"You don't get it!" Chelsea screeched. "Taeko, and Granny. They meant everything to me. Granny was an incredible assassin and I looked up to Taeko. I was even jealous because of what an incredible fighter she was! And then they just both died. Killed not because they weren't strong, but they weren't good enough."

Hearing those words reminded Leone and Akame of what Chelsea said about Sheele and Bulat. "I took up the liberty of looking at your previous reports regarding Sheele and Bulat. Both of them died in recent battles. They didn't die because they weren't strong. They died because they were incompetent."

"Chelsea..." Leone's expression softened a little before narrowing her eyes at the other girl. "You're right, I don't get it. I don't know Taeko or this grandma of yours and I don't know what kind of history you have with Akame all of a sudden. But what I do know is that now is not the time for this. Since you forgot, let me remind you; we're in the middle of a goddamn war, our First Master is in the hands of Zeref now who'll get the Fairy Heart out of her body. If he gets his hands on that, we're all fucked! Mavis is counting on us to save her. Most importantly, we have to finish this fight for Wendy. I think that's more important than your little temper tantrum you're having right now. Any beef you have with Akame, settle it after all of this is over."

Mavis. That was the reason why all of them are here now. And Wendy. Chelsea closed her eyes and envisioned Wendy smiling. She took a deep breath to clear her mind. Once she was calm, she opened her eyes. "You're right. We need to stop Zeref and save Mavis. That should be our top priority. But..." She looked over at Akame. "We're not done with this, Akame. When this is over, we'll settle things between us. Got it?"

Akame sighed and nodded at Chelsea. "Of course."

Leone laughed as she grinned. "There we go. Now we're getting somewhere. So, our first course of action..." She and the others looked at the other group. "Is getting through these assholes."

Tsukushi felt rather disappointed their skirmish was over now. "I guess they're done fighting each other then."

Gilberda grinned as she cracked her knuckles. "Fine by me. It'd be fun taking them all on."

Leone and the others stared down at the other group. "So, anyone have a plan on dealing with these guys? The odds are still pretty heavy against us."

"More than you think," Akame spoke. "They all have powerful weapons and abilities. If we fight them all at once, I doubt we'll have enough strength to help Natsu and the others fight the army that's ahead. Much less help them fight Zeref, the remaining Spriggan Twelve members, and saving Mavis."

Leone knew Akame had more to say. "But..."

"But I believe I know how we can even the odds a little. We will still be outnumbered, though."

Leone scoffed at that. "Hey, I'll be taking anything at this point. So, what's this plan of yours?"

Gilberda growled as she was becoming antsy at this point. "What's taking them so long? I want to get fighting soon."

Cassandra had similar thoughts. "There's nothing stopping us from attacking them."

Weneg's Jackal ear twitched as he heard something interesting. "It seems she's giving them information about us and saying something about using the sun to divide the shadows."

"The sun?" Natala looked up at the sky and briefly at the sun. "How would they use the sun?"

Gin had about enough of waiting. "Who cares? Let's kill them already!" Gilberda couldn't agree more and they started to move toward Akame and the others.

"Leone, now!"

Leone grinned as she raised her right arm. "Got it!" Her arm transformed. "Partial Beast Take-Over: Radiant Sunne Lion!" The arm glowed brightly that stopped and blinded Gin, Gilberda, and everyone else in the group as they all shielded their eyes from the bright light. Through the light, they saw three shadows going in different directions.

Gilberda and the others saw and she growled. "You're not getting away!" She and some others chased one shadow while the others chased the second shadow.

The light soon faded away and now there were fewer people present. Out of the three from Akame's group, only Akame remained. "I knew you would be the ones who'd remain."

Across from Akame, she saw Gozuki, Merraid, Weneg, Ibara, and Merraid remaining. Gozuki grinned as he laughed devilishly at his former daughter. "Clever little strategy, Akame. However, do you believe you can fight all of us at once?"

Akame's response was pointing her Murasame at her former father and the others. "We'll see, won't we?"

Ibara chuckled evilly. "I can't wait to get back at you for killing me."

Zanku gave off his traditional insane grin. "It'll be so delightful to fight you again, Akame."

Weneg was looking forward to seeing how much Akame had improved since their last quarrel. "Show me. Show how much stronger you've become, the sister of my lost bride."

Out of all them, Merraid was most excited to fight Akame. She felt her heart flutter once more at the thought. "Akame..." She spoke in a dreamy voice.

Akame vs Zanku, Ibara, Weneg, Gozuki, and Merraid

Leone kept running with her pursuers behind her. She could've left them in the dust, but she followed Akame's plan. Separate them into different groups and take them out. So far, it seemed to be working. Once she gained enough distance, she stopped and turned around. "This should be far enough." She saw the people who chased after her. "So, wants to go first?"

Leone's chasers stopped and they stared her down. "So, we're going to fight you then? I'm game, especially since you're hot." Guy commented.

Gilberda licked her lips as she eyeballed Leone and grinned. "I can't wait to have some fun with you. It's been a long time and I'm pent up." Leone knew exactly what that meant.

"So, you're friends with Akame, huh?" Cornelia spoke. She knew Leone would be a strong opponent to face.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to fight us with only one arm?" Natala asked.

Leone shot them a confident grin. "One arm is all I need to take all you guys on. After all, Akame's counting on me, and I can't let my girl down."

Hearing that made Green curious and took a step forward. "Since you know Akame, I'd like to ask you of something." He gave Leone a deadly serious glare. "What exactly is your relationship with her?"

Leone vs Green, Guy, Natala, Cornelia, and Gilberda

Finally, Chelsea ran as fast as she could while breathing heavily. Never did she think she'd be grateful for all that running training she did with Wendy and the others. Half of her thought she couldn't believe she was following Akame's orders. Akame. The girl who killed Taeko. But she was right about handling their opponents. Divide and conquer. That was their best shot in winning this fight. She stopped running to catch her breath and save her energy for the fight. She turned around and saw who she was up against. She sighed and groaned mentally. "Great."

Chelsea vs Pony, Tsukushi, Cassandra, Gin, Najasho, and Taeko

Pony grinned confidently at her enemy. "Stopped running away, huh? You ready to fight us now?"

To Cassandra, Chelsea and fighting didn't seem to match up too well. "Chelsea fighting? It's almost impossible to believe she'd be fighting these many opponents."

"Is she not a fighter?" Najasho asked.

"She isn't," Taeko answered. "Chelsea's strengths lied in stealth assassinations. She'd always avoid confrontation. But now..." Taeko took another look at Chelsea and saw that something was different about her.

Gin rested the blunt side of her weapon on her shoulder. "But what? If she can't fight, this'll be easier for us. In fact, it's stupid she thought it was a good idea to fight us in the first place."

"Perhaps," Cassandra spoke. "But at the same time, we're separated from Madam Mera, the others, and the rest of the mindless beasts."

Gin scoffed at that. "If what the girl said is true, then we don't have to worry about this one. So, who's going to get first dibs?"

Chelsea took a step backward and let out unsteady breaths. They may not be as strong as the two girls she and Lisanna fought, but she was still outnumbered. If her past self could see her now, she'd say she was crazy even thinking about fighting this many people at once. But running away wasn't an option and she was already this far in. She gathered the courage within her and presented Gaea Foundation and a couple of its makeup brushes to her opponents while having a determined expression. "Come on then if you think you can take me on!"

Taeko narrowed her eyes as she hasn't seen Chelsea exhibit this kind of behavior before. "She's trying to psyche herself up." Chelsea swiped her makeup brushes at herself and transformed into Juliet. Seeing such an action puzzled Taeko. "Why would Chelsea use one of her disguises out in the open? A weakness Gaea Foundation has is that while the user can transform into anything they want when it comes to humans, they can't replicate what that person can do." She suspected there was something more to what her former teammate was planning. She knew better than anyone else that Chelsea may sometimes be lazy but was smart.

Chelsea smiled at her opponent. "There's no way a bunch of weaklings like you can ever beat me!"

Pony glared at Chelsea and took that as a challenge. "Oh, yeah?" She lowered her body and sprinted right toward her. "We'll show you what we can do! Tsukushi, back me up!"

"Okay!"

As Chelsea saw Tsukushi point her gun at her, she remembered what Akame said about some of the weapons her former teammates had. "Out of all of them, Tsukushi may be one to look out for. Her weapon, Prometheus can fire a bullet that can change direction. Be very careful."

As Pony reached Chelsea, she jumped into the air and raised her leg while having a confident grin. "Let's see you avoid this!" She fell and swung her leg down right where Chelsea was standing and a large cloud of dust shot out everywhere. Pony felt rather proud but quickly noticed something felt off. It felt as if her foot was caught in something sticky. The dust cloud cleared and Pony saw that her foot, or rather both her feet were caught in white, sticky goo. She moved both her legs in trying to break free but to no avail. "What is this stuff!?"

"Pony, above you!" Tsukushi shouted. Pony looked up to see Chelsea high above her. Tsukushi aimed with Prometheus and fired a shot at the other girl. Even if she could dodge mid-air, the bullet would change direction and hit its mark. Chelsea saw the bullet coming and clapped her hands together and then spread her arms wide with a large net of sticky goo in front of her. The bullet struck the net and didn't penetrate through it. Tsukushi saw this and fired more bullets, but they too were caught in the sticky webbing. She was bewildered at what she was seeing. "Why aren't they going through?"

Seeing this surprised Taeko further. "How is Chelsea doing this? Gaea Foundation can't replicate powers. Unless...she found a way to do so."

Chelsea grinned as this was working out better than she thought. "As annoying and dumb this girl was, or sword, her magic is pretty useful." She looked down to see Pony still stuck and a sitting duck. "Time to get rid of the first one." While airborne, she brought out her makeup brushes and swiped at herself again. This time, taking up Jet's appearance. "Jet from Team Shadowgear is here!" She looked down and aimed at Pony. "High Speed!" She lifted her leg and descended quickly at the other girl. "Falcon Heavenward!" Pony looked up just before the attack landed directly at her and a larger dust cloud appeared.

"PONY!" Tsukushi and Gin shouted together while Najasho felt a little enraged.

The dust cloud quickly cleared up to reveal Chelsea standing where Pony was with Pony now lying lifeless beneath her shoe with a small crater. She sighed as she was impressed with her work. "Wow. Jet's magic can actually be lethal if applied correctly."

"You bitch!" Chelsea turned to Gin and the other's direction and she was pissed at what she did to Pony. "I'm going to cut that head of yours clean off! Tsukushi, let's go!" Tsukushi nodded as they both dashed toward Chelsea.

"I shall accompany both of her." Cassandra pulled out several weapons, two daggers in her lower hands and two chakras in her upper hands and she quickly followed. Gin and Cassandra surrounded Chelsea on both sides while Tsukushi was at a far enough distance to aim once more at her enemy. Gin pulled her weapon back while Cassandra crossed all four of her arms in front. Gin swung her weapon at Chelsea while Cassandra closed in to attack her former teammate. Tsukushi aimed and fired another bullet. As all these attacks were coming at her, Chelsea smiled and a tornado of rose petals erupted from underneath and protected Chelsea from their attacks.

Gin and Cassandra were blown back while Tsukushi's bullet was swept away by the rose petal tornado. Gin growled at what had happened. "Now what!? What's with the freaking rose petals!?"

They heard a deep, hearty laugh coming from within the rose petal tornado. The tornado dispersed and revealed that Chelsea took on another disguise. This time, she took on the appearance of an older man with tanned skin, short black hair with it being slightly longer from the back of his head, a mustache along with a stubble on his chin, and wore a white ruffled shirt with a black vest on top with gold lining on the edges and jet-black pants with black shoes. "Whenever there are beautiful women around, you can make sure that I, the Magnifico Tango, shall appear!" Gin and the others had nothing to say about the persona Chelsea had to impersonate. Chelsea was in slight agreement. "This guy was weird when I fought him, but I have to admit, his magic is something else."

Gin gritted her teeth and readied her weapon. "Take all the weird forms you want, you're still outnumbered!"

Cassandra readied her weapons as well and had a look of disgust on her face. "How dare you choose to impersonate as a filthy beast, Chelsea."

Chelsea clicked her tongue at them. "Such uncouth words are unbecoming from such bella senoritas. However, if you truly wish to prove your strength, show me your passion!" Gin and Cassandra didn't waste a second in jumping at Chelsea again. She only smiled at their attempt. "Devastación De La Rosa!" Three tornados of rose petals erupted from the ground around Chelsea and circled around her. They blocked Gin and Cassandra's attacks while blowing them back again simultaneously. The three rose petal tornados quickly dissipated and Chelsea pointed her arm at Tsukushi. "Torrente De Rosas" Another tornado of rose petals erupted from her hand and was headed straight at Tsukushi. She couldn't dodge the attack in time and it struck her head-on. With all of them currently, separated, Chelsea had just the plan to take another one of them out. "Ventisca Carmesí" She swept her arm across and a furious blizzard of rose petals quickly enveloped the entire battlefield.

Everyone had to cover their eyes from the rose petal blizzard and the force it came with. With this many rose petals and how dense the blizzard was, none of them could see where each other were, nor could sense Chelsea's aura from within the blizzard since she was hiding it. Gin tried her best to see through the blizzard, but to no avail. "Damn it! Where the hell is that bitch!?"

Cassandra had the same thought and more since she knew Chelsea a little more than the rest. "This is far beyond what Chelsea could do before. She couldn't accomplish such a thing with Gaea Foundation alone."

"Tornado De Rosas!" a powerful rose tornado erupted from beneath Cassandra and she was blasted into the air. She managed to come out of the rose petal blizzard but was unable to do anything while in the air. She gasped as soon as she saw Chelsea higher above her. She smiled at the maid as she pressed her wrists together with her palms open. "La Revolución De Las Rosas" Five large spirals of rose petals erupted from her back and all five pierced through Cassandra's body1 at once. The spirals traveled down and crashed into the ground with dust kicking up everywhere. Gin and Tsukushi felt the shockwaves from the crash and turned in the direction of where the shockwaves came from.

The dust cloud was clearing up and Gin saw a shadowy figure within it. She didn't waste time charging in with her weapons ready. As she neared Chelsea, she jumped into the air and quickly approached the other girl. "Your head is mine!" She swung her weapon at Chelsea's head and passed her by. Gin grinned as she knew she hit her mark. However, something felt off to her as her sword felt slightly lighter than it should be. She looked at her weapon and quickly discovered that half of her sword was missing. "What the hell happened to my weapon!?" Gin heard a loud, metallic crunch behind her and turned around. The dust cleared and she saw that Chelsea was not only still alive but had taken a different appearance again and she turned in her direction and was eating the other half of her weapon. "How the hell is she eating my weapon!?" Needless to say, she wasn't expecting to either see that or knew her enemy could do such a thing.

Chelsea, now taken the form of Gajeel, finished eating the latter of Gin's sword and swallowed the remains. She glared at the other girl. "Just so you know, your weapon tastes like crap!" The taste wasn't what Chelsea was worried about. "I seriously hope eating that thing won't give me indigestion or something worse later on." She stuck her right arm out. "Iron Dragon's Spear!" Her arm transformed into an iron spear and it extended its reach all the way to Gin. The spear quickly reached Gin and pierced through her left shoulder and cried out in pain as she didn't have the means to escape now. Chelsea took in a deep breath. "Iron Dragon's Roar!" She let out her breath attack and struck Gin directly. Her body was torn to shreds by the attack and an explosion occurred where she was at. What remained after was Gin's body torn to shreds and Chelsea retracted her arm and it went back to normal.

"Gin!" Chelsea turned around to see Tsukushi aiming her gun at her and firing multiple shots at the other girl.

Chelsea easily avoided all of them but knew they'd come back at her. She used Gajeel's hearing to track them all and changed her skin to Gajeel's Iron Dragon Scales. She punched the bullets just when they returned to her. Tsukushi kept firing which was strange to Chelsea considering what else Akame told them about her weapon. "Tsukushi's weapon does have a weakness. The more she fires her weapon, the less accurate the bullets become."

Chelsea kept punching the punching bullets which didn't seem like they were losing their accuracy. "Something's off here. That girl already fired that gun a dozen times over and her bullets haven't gotten any less accurate. Something else must be going on with it. I wonder if it has to do with something with them having magic?" She would have to figure that part out later. She had enough of punching Tsukushi's bullets and transformed her body's skin into Iron Dragon Scales. None of the bullets penetrated through and Chelsea and she dashed right toward Tsukushi. She fired more bullets at Chelsea, but the attempt was in vain since none of them didn't stop her nor shot through her. She gasped as the other girl stopped right in front of her and Chelsea pulled her right arm back. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" She punched Tsukushi in the stomach and a crater formed beneath them. She then uppercut the other girl into the air and jumped shortly after. She was momentarily higher than Tsukushi and raised her right arm. "Iron Dragon's Sword!" Her arm transformed into an iron sword and swung it down at Tsukushi where her body was cut in half.

After finishing Tsukushi off, Chelsea landed on the ground. As soon as she did, she quickly saw Najasho coming at her with blinding speed. She crossed her arms just in time when Najasho swung his sword at her. The sword struck Chelsea's arms, and a small boom erupted from the clash. Najasho yelled as he pushed Chelsea away and her feet tore through the ground. She came to a stop and lowered her arms. She narrowed her eyes at Najasho. "This guy. He was one of the people I'd rather avoid fighting." She shook her head to be rid of the doubt dwelling within her. "No. I'm not the same I was back then. Not after everything I've been through."

Najasho glared at Chelsea as he set his sword to the side. "Before I kill you, I want to say something to you first. Earlier, you mentioned you were part of the Oarburgh Clan. Among the two names you mentioned, I was reminded of one of them attacking my group. She was an elderly woman wearing a bandana with an intense murderous aura." Chelsea didn't say anything but did gasp quietly as she knew who he was talking about. "She proved quite challenging but when father appeared and cut her with Murasame, instead of the poison killing her, she took her own life by blowing herself up. She told us her name was Babara. A tough and terrifying opponent, but in the end, she failed."

Again, Chelsea said nothing, but couldn't help chuckle inside. "Killing yourself before the enemy could. Yeah, that sounds like something you'd do, Granny."

Najasho pointed his sword at Chelsea. "And now, it'll be the same with you. Let me show you the difference between a small fry like you and a dragon like me."

Chelsea raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Dragon?" In a second, Najasho yelled as the ground beneath him cracked, his hair became longer, and his eyes changed to something similar to dragon's eyes. He activated the Water Dragon Swords ability which grants him stronger for a brief period of time. If he still had an aura, Chelsea could guess it would've become stronger. Najasho leaned his body forward a little and launched himself right at Chelsea with blinding speed while leaving a small crater from where he stood before. As he neared Chelsea, he swung his sword to cut her body in half. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" Chelsea ducked to avoid the attack and delivered a punch right at Najasho's solar plexus. The punch stopped him while a resounding boom echoed throughout the air. She yelled as she sent Najasho flying away from her and crashed onto the ground.

Najasho was writhing in pain from Chelsea's attack. Much so than he thought. "Why does this...hurt so much!?" Iron pillars then appeared from the sky and pierced through his arms, shoulders, and legs. He screamed in pain as the pillars add more pain to him and couldn't move.

"Earlier, you called yourself a dragon, right?" Najasho raised his head to see Chelsea standing several feet away from him. "Sorry to break it to you, pal but I'm the worst matchup you possibly could've asked because I'm a dragon slayer."

Najasho quietly gasped at the name. "Dragon...slayer?"

"Now, let me show you what a real sword can do!" Chelsea jumped into the air and clapped her hands together above her head. "DRAGON SLAYER'S SECRET ARTS!" Her hands transformed into a gargantuan iron sword and swung the sword directly at Najasho. "KARMA DEMON: IRON GOD SWORD!" Najasho could only gasp as the sword slammed on top of him with a thunderous crash. A huge dust cloud appeared from the crash and took several minutes to clear up revealing Chelsea still as Gajeel.

"Very impressive." Chelsea heard Taeko's voice and turned to her. "The Chelsea I knew wouldn't even think about fighting opponents. Yet you defeated five all on your own. It seems you managed to find a hidden potential with Gaea Foundation."

Chelsea dispelled Gajeel's disguise and returned to her original appearance. "I guess that's what happens when you need to adapt long after your original group got killed off."

Taeko had to agree with that. "True. If you hadn't, you would've been killed a long time ago. Tell me, did you notice anything about the opponents you faced?"

Chelsea was aware of the answer. "As a matter of fact, I did. The one thing all of them had in common is that they've never faced a person with magic power. Therefore, they couldn't and didn't know what to expect what that person could do. Back in our world, some had superhuman abilities, but even they pale in comparison to the people who magic in Earthland. It was just the case of me having the upper hand against them. The only reason they were able to overcome Akame was because of their numbers."

An astute answer from Chelsea like Taeko expected and ironic that she brought up Akame. "It is surprising to know you were put on the same team as Akame. Tell me, it seemed like you were ready to kill Akame for when she killed me and her group driving grandmother to suicide yet you didn't. Obviously the other woman with the blonde hair said something to you. What was it that changed your mind?"

Chelsea sighed as she remembered all the times she spent with Night Raid, Wendy, and some with the guild. "I'll admit, things are awkward between Akame and me. How can you take the news of someone you knew, someone you fought alongside with who was responsible for killing your former group? I'm still looking for that answer, but this I do know." She gave Taeko a determined look. "I did lose the Oarburgh Clan, but in return, I joined a new group. In time, I eventually warmed up to them and I have a lot of good memories with them. I was afraid they'd end up the same but we all persevered and made it out to the end. All because of one little girl that crashed into our world. And because of that girl, I'm still here, alive and in this world along with Akame and Leone. And it's because of her that we need to finish this fight. She may not be of this world anymore, but we'll keep on fighting for her. Me, Akame, Leone, and the rest of the guilds here. We need to save our First Master and put an end to this war so we can go back having peace and dealing with the usual bandits. Leone was right; compared to my little outburst, winning this war is far more important. The last thing I need to take care of is you."

Taeko was rather quite impressed by the answer Chelsea had given her. She was most certainly not the same person she knew before. "And what form will take on this time to fight me?"

"None." In a rare instance, Taeko was perplexed by Chelsea's answer. "Sure, I can take on over a dozen different forms to fight you and win, but I want to fight you as myself. Because you haven't seen..." She took up a stance Taeko hadn't seen before. "What I can do."

Upon hearing that, Taeko remembered asking Chelsea if she would fight her. She gave a small smile and drew out her sword. "Very well then." She pointed her sword at Chelsea. "Show me what you can do, Chelsea."

Insert Honkai Impact 3rd OST: Honkai World Diva

Chelsea narrowed her eyes and her body began to glow. "Physical ability rise: Deus Eques! Ile Vernier, Ile Armor, and Ile Arms! Enchant!" The glow around her body shined brighter. However, there was a drawback. "I can't keep these up as long as Wendy can as myself. I can only keep it up for three minutes."

Taeko set her sword to the side. "Using magic? I thought you said you'd face me as yourself?"

"I am! It's called having insurance. Besides, I've seen you fight plenty of times, but you don't know what I'm capable of now and that's what gives me the advantage!"

"We'll see about that." Taeko instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of Chelsea with her sword raised. "Mountain Gale." She swung her sword down and the force behind the attack cut through the air and level a devastating trail of destruction through the ground. Despite the attack being powerful, something didn't feel right to Taeko. Something else she felt was three strong, sharp striking pokes along the arm she was wielding her sword and quickly fell back. When she did, Taeko a more powerful sharp poke from the right side of her back and gasped out in pain. She quickly turned around while swinging her sword to counterattack, but Chelsea jumped back to avoid it. She was about to make her next attack when she felt a strong, painful tingly sensation from her sword-wielding arm and suddenly found it difficult to breathe normally. She quickly figured out what had happened during their brief exchange. "I see. She managed to avoid my first attack by dodging to the side and striking my dominant arm. When I retreated, she went behind me and struck me in the back. What's more..." She looked at her arm and saw three puncture-wounds in certain locations alongside her arms that were the size of a fingertip. It didn't take her long to figure out what Chelsea had done and look toward the other girl. "I see you're using a fighting style focusing on a person's pressure points. Knowledge of the human body was another of your strengths, Chelsea."

Taeko was right on the mark. Though, ironically, it was Akame that gave her the idea. "You think I can be more lethal than I am now?"

F

Chelsea and Akame were sitting at a table at the Lamia Scale guild since Akame wanted to talk to the other girl. Akame nodded at Chelsea's question. "I do. If you can really apply your knowledge of the human body in the same manner you taught Wendy, you'd be more well-versed in fighting. Your Imperial Arms magic is powerful, and your Needle magic as well but they're not your only strength. If you used the fighting style you taught Wendy, I believe that'll make you more lethal than me in some ways."

Chelsea raised an eyebrow as she could hardly believe that. "More lethal than you? How so?"

Akame smiled at Chelsea. "While I'm not fully dependent on Murasame, its ability to poison and kill my opponents is useful, but that's on itself. You, however, do not need such a thing. Your own hands would be enough and more if you can add something extra to it."

Chelsea looked down to observe her hands. "You think so, huh?" Fighting up close and personal wasn't much of Chelsea's strong suit. Gaea Mimicry suited her greatly and her Needle magic was for long-range attacks. But she wasn't against having more versatility. One of the things she was taught was that there was always something useful in any situation. She made up her mind. "Sure, I'll give it a go, but I'm not really that good of a fighter as myself."

"I'll help you with that."

F

Thinking back at it now, it was irony piled upon irony. It was thanks to Akame that Chelsea was able to figure out the ins and outs of the fighting style she was using, plus adding some additions of her own. Strengthening the latter half of her fingers was one of them so her hits would be a little stronger was one of them. It was actually one of the Oreburgh's body manipulation techniques she knew of but couldn't replicate until now. And now here she was putting Akame's training to use against Taeko. The few strikes she was able to get in should play to her advantage and then some should this fight continue longer than she anticipated.

Taeko moved her arm and found it a little difficult to do so and quickly found out something was wrong with her breathing. "I can't move my arm much and breathing has become painful for me to do. As expected of Chelsea to weaken me to gain the advantage. However..." She closed her eyes. "Chelsea...you have indeed grown stronger in a way I didn't expect. If that is the case then..." She opened her eyes to reveal the determination within them. "I will come at you with everything I have."

Chelsea felt a chill going down her spine as she knew what Taeko was talking about. "Oh, shit."

"Oreburgh Technique: Limit Removal," Taeko yelled as her eyes enlarged and her pupils became invisible.

The ground underneath Taeko cracked and Chelsea took a step back. She knew Taeko was serious now. She was surprised to see her former ally raising her sword. "She's forcing her arm to move?!"

"Summit Gust!" Taeko swung her sword down and Chelsea gasped as a powerful slash of wind came at Chelsea quickly. The attack cut through the ground and when it reached Chelsea, a large dust cloud appeared. Thankfully, and thanks to Wendy's enchantment spells, Chelsea was able to avoid the attack, but had to move out of the dust cloud as Taeko would use it to her advantage. She ran out of the dust cloud but found Taeko right in front of her and she swung her sword outwards at the other girl. Before the sword could reach her, Chelsea quickly grabbed Taeko's wrist with her left hand to stop the attack. In the next second, she struck Taeko's body six times with her fingers. Taeko hissed in pain before kicking Chelsea in the side away from her. Even with the Ile Armor enchantment, Chelsea could feel how powerful Taeko's kick was and it could've broken all of her ribs on that side. "Scattering Lotus." Taeko disappeared and Chelsea felt multiple slashes all over her body. Again, Chelsea was thankful for Wendy's Ile Armor enchantment because she knew Taeko's sword was poisoned. The only difference is that Taeko's sword's poison isn't as quick-acting as Murasame's and isn't as powerful, but it was still deadly. Taeko appeared in front of Chelsea crouched with her sword inside its sheath and her hand on the handle. She raised her head and looked at Chelsea. "Zypher." She unsheathed her sword and a white light flashed before Chelsea's eyes before the slash deeply cut the ground behind her. The light faded and Taeko saw Chelsea wasn't in front of her anymore. In fact, Chelsea was behind her and was about to attack Taeko again. "Twister." Chelsea saw Taeko vanish right in front of her before she could attack.

Chelsea panicked a little before trying to calm down. She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes. "Calm down. Sense where Taeko will attack. Sense the magic that's coming off her." The silence was deafening throughout the battlefield and lasted for several seconds. She felt a slight breeze blow through her and she opened her eyes. "There!" She quickly turned in the direction where she sensed Taeko's magic and quickly moved her arm to block the other girl's attack by slamming her hand against Taeko's sword hand. Neither girl let up pressing their arms against each other until Taeko jumped back and attacked again with blinding speed. Chelsea responded with equal speed and it became a flurry of exchanges between attacking and defending. Chelsea made sure she was blocking Taeko's wrist holding her sword. Even with Wendy's enchantments, Chelsea was amazed that she was keeping up with Taeko.

Taeko kept pressing on with her attacks when suddenly she felt her body tense and couldn't move. "My body...how?" Her body being paralyzed could only mean one thing to her; she must've been poisoned at some point during the fight but when? More importantly, how could she be poisoned if she was resistant to most poisons?

With Taeko momentarily paralyzed, Chelsea saw this as her chance and just in time because her enchantments were about to run out. "NOW!" She crossed her arms and two large needles of light appeared from the ground and pierced through Taeko's torso crossing each other. Taeko coughed out blood and dropped her sword.

End OST

Taeko could only stare at Chelsea wide-eyed as she had managed to best her. Chelsea let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, Taeko but this is checkmate." She uncrossed her arms.

Taeko let out a few pained breaths. "H-How? How did you...?"

"I believe you're familiar with the saying 'She who lands the first strike has the advantage.'" Upon hearing that, Taeko remembered the first time Chelsea struck her arm with her pressure point attacks. "On top of using a fighting style focusing on pressure points, I thought I could add something extra and that was painting my nails with a paralyzing poison. Once I struck you and my nails pierced through your skin, it was only a matter of time. Still, even with how potent the poison is, it took a while for it to take effect but I knew you wouldn't be resistant to it since it's a poison from this world. As for the needles, that's my own magic. No one else's. One of the things Granny taught was always to have an ace when your opponent least expects it. I purposely hid my needle magic until it was the right time to use it. I can't show everything I have to my enemy now, right? I'm sorry, Taeko, but this is the end for you."

Insert Fairy Tail OST: Fairy Tail Sad Theme Piano Version

Taeko closed her eyes as she lowered her head and chuckled. "I should've known better than to underestimate you. You always were cunning." Chelsea looked at Taeko with sorrowful eyes. Though this was a victory, this is twice knowing Taeko would be gone again. She closed her eyes and walked past the other girl. "Chelsea..." Chelsea stopped when Taeko called out her name. "As long as you remain alive, the Oreburgh Clan will never die. It's up to you to decide what you want to do with it." Taeko smiled peacefully. "Grandmother would be proud of how far you've come."

Chelsea let out a small, quiet gasp before lowering her head and her bangs covered her eyes. "Hey, Taeko? Can... you do me a favor? When you see Granny again, can you tell her that I miss her?" Her voice quivered with a hint of sadness.

Taeko chuckled sweetly for the last time. "I will."

Tears ran down Chelsea's cheeks and her teardrops hit the ground. "Well, what do you say, Chelsea? Would you like to fight me?"

F

Chelsea was caught off guard by Taeko's question but laughed it off. "I never took you for telling jokes, Taeko. But, honestly, I know how strong you and I already know, no matter what and how hard I would try..."

F

Chelsea continued to cry as Taeko was no longer with her once more. "I could never beat you."

A/N: If anyone is wondering where the hell Tango came from, he's an OC from my other Fairy Tail crossover story, Familiar Fairy. Yeah, I know, a reference from Familiar Fairy. Bet none of you saw that coming. At least to the people who read the story. Plus, I really did enjoy writing his character.