Sorry, I wasn't around last week, so here's another chapter to make up for it!

Especially with that cliffhanger.

Anyhoo, Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 77

Mercy

I lied there in the water in overwhelming pain and being unable to comprehend what had just happened. One minute, I was winning and thought I had defeated Kuromen, the next minute, I'm lying on my back in the water bloody and defeated. I was confused, dazed, and most of all bloody and very much wounded. I then heard the sound of footsteps coming towards me. I looked up and I saw Kuromen looking down at me.

"How... was he able to attack me like this...?" I thought. "His attacks came from every direction... but... how...?"

"You seem confused," said Kuromen. "I thought you would have noticed by now. You've been attacking my afterimages the whole time."

My eyes widened a little. "His afterimages?! That's... that's impossible! And yet... it makes sense," I thought. "He was moving so fast, I instinctively went for his afterimages. That's why my attacks seemed to go through him and why I was attacked in the opposite direction..."

"And what you just felt was my most powerful technique as well as my full power," went on Kuromen. "I was moving so fast, no being could see me move. And I must say, that you're way too slow even when you fall."

I gulped as I felt a lump in my throat not being able to breathe. I then let out a cough letting out the lump that was blocking my throat. It didn't take me long to realize, that it was my own blood. Not only that but out of all the wounds around my body that I felt, my stomach felt in the most pain of all. I felt my stomach feeling a big hole making me realize that not only did Kuromen rapidly slice me, but he also stabbed me there without me realizing.

"You brought this upon yourself you know," said Kuromen. "I'll admit you were a tough opponent, but I'm afraid that you never stood a chance against me. You would have been able to defeat me if you had delivered the finishing blow and you had the right idea by knocking my sword away, but you made two miscalculations. One, your naivety for hoping to end this fight peacefully. The moment you and I crossed paths, this was the only fate for you. The second was for thinking that my sword was the only thing that granted me my abilities. As I said before, my sword's primary function is to absorb magic attacks and make my attacks stronger."

He paused dramatically and I looked at him my breathing becoming somewhat irregular and the water turning warm due to the blood I was losing.

"My power... comes from my armor itself," spoke Kuromen. "This armor was commissioned by King Faust himself, made from a lacrima and from the greatest of steel. Whoever dons this armor, their speed, as well as their power, will increase based on the command I give it. When I said Twice Critical, it doubled my power and my speed. When I used Full Power Critical, it increased my abilities to their peak making me fast as well as powerful. I guess you could say I have two magic items."

"So that's it... his armor was powering him up the whole time..." I thought. "That must be how he was able to knock me back before I realized it when I had my sword pointed..."

At this point, my body began to feel cold and heavy and I was starting to lose consciousness.

"It seems that this battle is over now," I heard Kuromen say. "Normally, I would inflict the finishing blow, but there's no need to. My last attack struck most of your vital spots including your arms and legs and your midsection, so you can't move. Not to mention that you've lost a lot of blood. In a manner of minutes, you'll die from your injuries."

I then heard the sounds of Kuromen walking away as I lied there getting sleepier and sleepier. I tried to will myself to stay awake, but I couldn't as my body grew colder and colder. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier making vision grow darker and darker. I could still feel the warm water and hear the footsteps of Kuromen walking away, but they were starting to shut down too along with my other senses.

Then I heard Kuromen.

"Now that this battle's been dealt with, it's time for me to catch up with Hughes and Sugarboy," he said. "I'll expect they'll need my assistance in handling the Earth Landers. One thing's for sure, every single Earth Lander will die today. And the dream that Faust has been longing for will come to fruition and the lacrima representing Earth Land and its people as well as Extalia will be sacrificed for our kingdom's future for everlasting magic power."

That was when I felt myself completely losing all feeling to my body.

"No... not like this. I can't die here..." I mentally yelled at myself. "Get up! Get up and move dammit! What was the point of coming here if I was going to die anyway?! If I die... then me escaping that prison would have been for nothing and everyone in Fairy Tail will die... my friends... my family... Natsu... Lucy... Gray... Wendy... Elfman... Mira... I... have to get up! I HAVE TO GET UP!"

NO POV

Kuromen walked away having to be satisfied in defeating Willy. Now that the filthy ninja was out of the way, his king was safe at least for the moment.

"Now I can focus on taking out the other Earth Landers," he said to himself. "There should be at least three others fighting Sugarboy and Hughes while Knightwalker's fighting with her Earth Land counterpart. Not to mention that Earth Lander that was with that ninja before that can produce steel with his magic. I must eliminate them before they do any more damage. They'll fall just like him."

He was almost far enough away from the boy he had defeated when suddenly the boy whom he presumed to be dead, slowly rose up until he stood back up on his feet. Sensing this, Kuromen stopped and looked back and was a bit surprised.

"What...? He's back up...?" he murmured. "But how? He should be dead with all those injuries."

The boy stood there silently his face hidden from view due to his wet hair. Then his body began to glow in a blue color. As it glowed, the wounds that were all over his body opened and oozing with blood began to slowly close up and heal.

"His wounds are healing!" thought Kuromen as he watched. "That must be how he was able to regain himself when I cut him before. He must know some kind of healing magic. I have to stop him before he fully heals!"

He then took a stance and let out a yell as he dashed straight towards Willy with his sword aimed for his throat. But then, just as he was about to strike, Willy's glow suddenly exploded with power sending Kuromen back a little. As Kuromen slid back till he regained himself, he looked back up towards Willy and gasped. Willy's magic aura was now rippling with power now in a darker shade of blue and also having tinges of black around it as well. Wind and water buffeted Kuromen as Willy's magic aura flared much to his disbelief.

"This power... what kind of magic power is it?!" he cried. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen or felt before!"

Willy's aura continued to flare as he stood there motionless. Then suddenly, he disappeared. Kuromen whipped his head around trying to see where he was. Then suddenly, he instinctively turned behind him and sliced his sword horizontally, but he sliced nothing but air. Then he felt a powerful blow slam in right into his abdomen sending him flying and rolling on the watery floor till he stopped in a heap. Kuromen coughed a fit trying to regain the air that was knocked out of him as he looked back at Willy in shock having to have reappeared in front of him.

"What was that just now?! Did he attack me?!" he thought. "If he did... how was he able to move so fast?!"

As soon as he got his breathing in order, Kuromen stood up once again taking a stance still rattled, but not willing to back down.

"I don't know how you were able to get that kind of power boy," he said. "But you're looking for more punishment, then I shall happily oblige! FULL POWER CRITICAL!"

Kuromen's body flared with magic power as he activated the full strength of his abilities once again as he charged at Willy. He swiped his sword aiming for his throat, but Willy ducked out of the way and went for Kuromen with his hands cloaked with black and blue water extending into blades. However, instead of going for Kuromen himself, he immediately attacked to the left where Kuromen reappeared after using his afterimage technique making the samurai go on the defensive and block his blade with his sword. The collision once more created an incredible concussive blast as the two collided.

Kuromen struggled as the force of Willy's blow seemed to have more power than before. He then quickly retreated by using his speed to pull away from him. Then he dashed straight towards Willy and then aimed for his stomach hoping to stab him. He thrust his sword forward rapidly wanting to kill the boy before he gained the upper hand. The attacks seemed to have hit, but to Kuromen's shock, his attacks seemed to go right through him as Willy faded. Kuromen suddenly felt something slash him on his stomach one again making a gash gushing a bit of blood. Then on his arm, his back, his leg, and on his forearm. He winced in pain as he staggered from his fresh wounds. Then he looked up and saw Willy divebombing straight for him with his swords raised. He quickly brought up his sword horizontally in time for Willy to attack with one of his blades at him making his along with his own blades clash once again with a mighty metallic clang.

"This can't be! How is he making me lose ground?!" Kuromen thought now sounding more shocked than before. "He's only just a boy! Not only was he able to copy my afterimage technique, but he's also keeping up with me! Was he always this strong or was he just toying with me?!"

He then looked up at Willy's face and what he saw made him even more shocked than before. The Water Dragon Slayer's face was completely neutral and calm and most of all, his eyes were completely unfocused and vacant like he was possessed.

"What the hell?! Those dead eyes...!" exclaimed Kuromen. "He's... he's fighting unconsciously and acting on instinct!"

Kuromen also noticed something else as well. As the two blades wrestled, his blade wasn't absorbing Willy's magic like it was supposed to. The magic stayed with Willy as if it wasn't magic at all.

"What?! My sword's not absorbing his magic either! What's going on?! What the hell is he?!" he cried internally.

He then pushed Willy away with a mighty push of his sword and dashed straight toward him again.

"I don't know how you were able to copy my afterimage technique, boy, but you still will not defeat me!" he yelled.

Willy stared at Kuromen and then dashed straight back at him with his swords raised. The two clashed pushing each other back with their blades locked. Then they dashed all around the pool in a blinding speed swiping each other with their blades. The two clashed, again and again, both using their power as well as their speed to try and overpower the other. This time as the two clashed, Willy was able to get Kuromen a couple of times slashing his body. Kuromen tried his best to defend against the blows, but the boy seemed to be faster than before making him unable to counter.

Now feeling infuriated, Kuromen took aim with his sword, his aura flaring in fury and his sword glowing black.

"Enough of this!" he yelled. "I'll settle this with this final strike using all of the magic power I've taken!"

His sword grew blacker as it grew longer than before pulsing with magic power. He raised his sword and prepared to strike unleashing the full power of his blade. Willy slowly turned around sensing that he was about to Kuromen held his sword in front of him as he took an Ox Guard stance once more. He coiled his legs and aimed his sword as he prepared to strike.

"I don't know how he was able to match my speed, but he won't be able to stop my Mightnight Onslaught!" he thought. "It hit him once, it can hit him again! This time, I will make sure that he stays down!"

A few tense seconds passed. Then a single small piece of rubble landed in the water making a slight kerplunk sound. Kuromen then struck!

"MIDNIGHT ONSLAUGHT!"

Kuromen rushed forward now using his maximum speed and Willy rushed toward him using his blades to attack. The two came at each other zipped right past each other and stopped just a few feet away from each other. A moment of silence passed, then suddenly, Kuromen's sword snapped in two its blade falling into the water a muffled splash and clang.

Kuromen stared at his now broken blade in shock not believing nor understanding what had just happened. Then he suddenly felt some parts of his armor chip and fall off and fresh wounds explode with blood as he fell to one knee in pain.

"No... I couldn't follow him at all!" he thought. "He completely eclipsed my technique and broke my sword!"

He was just turning around to see that Willy was shooting straight towards him once again. Before Kuromen had a chance to react, he brought his leg up as his spun around and slammed him right smack in his face with a powerful and devastating kick. The force of the blow sent the samurai sailing into the air until he fell to the ground crashing and rolling into the water until he came to a stop flat on his face.

Kuromen got up on his hands and knees coughing up a fit from the water that got in his throat. He struggled as he tried to get to his feet, but a shot of pain through his limbs preventing from doing so and forced him to his knees.

"Damn it all... I can't get up..." he groaned.

Just then, he heard a cracking noise. Then his vision became overrun with cracks spreading all around. Willy had hit him so hard with his kick, that it caused the helmet that covered his head to crack and begin to crumble. There was even worse to come. The sound of watery footsteps could be heard causing Kuromen to look behind him to see Willy slowly walking towards him.

"Damn it! I have to move!" thought Kuromen. "I have to get up and fight! My blade may be broken, but I'll fight with my fists alone if I have to!"

"FULL POWER CRITICAL!"

But then there was even more trouble. Kuromen was hoping to use his armor to continue fighting or at least have a fighting chance, but his armor didn't activate. The battered and chipped plates helplessly glowed before the light faded away like a candle being blown out in the wind.

"No! My armor's too heavily damaged!" cried Kuromen. "I can't power up!"

A shadow cast over Kuromen causing him to look up. Willy was standing right above him staring at him with his unfocused eyes which seemed to glare at him. He cloaked his hand with blue and black water making it transform into a long blade as he pointed it at Kuromen's throat. Kuromen was now feeling a cold sweat go through his body as he was now feeling scared for his life. He stayed still as a statue unsure of what to do, but then he smiled and he began to chuckle defeatedly.

"Well... I suppose this is it for me..." he murmured bitterly. "Such as the fate of all samurai who lost in battle..."

Willy then pulled back his sword ready to stab the warrior directly into his throat and Kuromen sat there not moving. He was scared, that much was certain, but he refused to move.

"If I have to die... then I'll take pride that I've fallen in the field of battle," he thought. "My only regret... is the fact that I failed my king, Faust. I'm sorry my king... I failed you... and your kingdom..."

Willy then pulled back his sword and thrust it forward delivering the finishing blow and Kuromen shut his eyes waiting for the death blow to come. Suddenly, Kuromen's helmet broke, half of the front falling off completely revealing half of his face. At that moment, the blade that was to pierce Kuromen stopped just inches away from his throat. Kuromen looked back up at the boy wondering why he wasn't finishing him off, but then he saw Willy's eyes.

WILLY'S POV

I'm not really sure what had just happened to me, but when I came to my senses, I found myself pointing my Water Dragon Blade right at Kuromen's throat. Not sure what I was doing, I immediately pulled my hand away dispersing it feeling a bit startled.

"What the... What... what the heck is going on?" I wondered. "Why am I...?"

Then I took notice of Kuromen. He was pretty battered looking. His armor was cracking and some of it has been sliced off and his bodysuit underneath was littered with slashes and gashes letting out blood. Not only that, but the face of his helmet was broken as well and half of his face was revealed. Then I gasped, for I saw the half of Kuromen's face that could be seen from the helmet. And the face I saw was... myself.

At that moment, the rest of Kuromen's helmet broke exposing her head completely. Sure enough, I could see his face entirely. The moment that I saw Kuromen's true identity, my jaw dropped to the floor. He looked just like me with the exception of the long white hair that was now no longer in a ponytail, except with one significant difference. Kuromen's face was the face of a female. Not only that, but her hair slowly began to darken losing its white sheen until it turned completely black. It was then that I knew that not only was Kuromen female and my Edolas counterpart, but she was also someone I saw before.

"It... it's you..." I murmured. "You're the girl from the other night... and... you're me! But... why are you...?"

My female counterpart looked up at me her eyes still filled with shock as if she was trying to comprehend what had just happened before it changed into anger and some slight bitterness.

"What are you doing? Finish me off..." she said. "You said that you were going to defeat me no matter what, right? Or were those words just empty?"

I felt a flash of anger go through my body, but at the same time, I hesitated. She was right considering that she was my enemy. I had the perfect opportunity to end it, but I didn't want to hurt this girl. Especially since that, she was not only the stranger that helped me calm my nerves and makeup with Gajeel, but she was also my Edolas self.

"I won't do it," I said. "I refuse to kill you. Besides, you're already defeated, so I'll leave it that."

Edolas Me lowered her head clenching her hands suddenly she dug into something in her back and grabbed something in the water. What she grabbed made my heart jump a little. In her hand, was her sword which now broken in half. At first, I assumed that she was going to fight me with that, but to my shock, she pointed the broken blade at herself aiming right at her bellybutton.

"How pathetic. I've not only lost but now I've disgraced myself and my king!" she spat. "I refuse to accept this kind of disgrace!"

Any fool could see that she was about to commit seppuku or in other words, suicide. With a scream, she brought her broken sword up above her head and swung it down, but then I immediately grabbed her hand stopping her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I cried.

"What do you think, you fool?!" Edolas Me yelled back. "I'm committing suicide! Not only have you defeated me, but you also have seen my face! I've disgraced my king as well as myself and the kingdom of Edolas and the only thing I can do to redeem myself is to die! I don't need your pity, so let me die and-"

At that point, I ripped the broken sword away from her and pinned her to the ground.

"You idiot!" I yelled. "Why the hell would you throw your life away just for losing a fight?!"

"Because to accept pity from the enemy! It is a disgrace!" the girl said. "You wouldn't understand because you're a ninja, but we samurai are proud and bound by pride! To be pitied by the enemy is not even pity at all! King Faust has no use for warriors like who are broken and defeated, so by defeating me you took away my reason for living and serving him!"

She turned her head down and looked away from me as felt more confused than before. Just what kind of way of thinking does she have that made her the way she was? Why is she willing to put herself through this much just so she could protect her king? The girl looked up at me her eyes still with loathing and hate. Then I saw tears beginning well up in the corner of her eyes as she spoke with her voice cracking.

"Tell me... do you have any idea what it's like to not be wanted by anyone? To live your life without having a meaning?"

"I... I don't know how to answer that. I don't even know what you mean," I replied. "And I also don't know why this Faust guy means so much to you. I mean why would you want to serve a guy that wants to kill innocent lives just to satisfy his own greed for magic?"

Edolas Me paused staying silent for a couple of moments. Then as her tears began to fall down her cheeks, she began telling me her story.

"It's because Faust saved my life and gave me my purpose in life," she said as she began. "He gave me... something that most other people take for granted. A home. I was born in a small town close to the Royal City. However, unlike any normal boy or girl who was born with their parents, my home was an orphanage. I didn't have any idea who my parents were or where I came from, but I was okay with it because the person in charge was like a mother to me. I was happily playing with her rather than the other kids. Back then she would tell me stories about warriors who would fight for their honor and pride. The ones that really struck me fancy were the samurai. I would have so much fun pretending that I was a samurai and dreamed of wanting to become one. I was teased about it by many of the kids because they thought that only men could become samurai but I didn't care. As long as I could become a samurai, nothing else mattered to me. I felt so happy back then. But then... something happened."

She then paused seeming to gather her thoughts as I slowly let go of her helping her sit up.

"Like what? What happened?" I asked.

"The orphanage was attacked," she said. "Everything was completely destroyed by a dark guild."

My eyes widened at this. "A... a dark guild?"

"Yes. Back in those days, there was only a few dark guilds because of magic being legal," went on female me. "When the king made the guilds illegal, there was a terrible backlash. Some of them accepted it while others were infuriated and went on a rampage. The orphanage I was living in got caught in the crossfire and everyone that lived there either fled in terror or died. I for one was able to get away, but after a while when I came back, everything was destroyed. The orphanage was nothing more, but a pile of rubble."

The tears streaming down Edolas Me's face as she clenched her hands into fists. "I tried to find help... I tried to find someone to help me at least find any survivors, but... not a single person didn't care or want anything to do with me," she said bitterly. "It was then that I realized that I was alone in the world. No one cared for me and I was unwanted all because of my background. I wondered around trying to survive.

She then wiped her tears as she sniffled a bit. "Eventually, just when I had given up hope, Faust found me and took me in," she spoke. "Even with someone of my background, he gave me a home in his palace and he trained me in the ways of the samurai. Seeing my potential and wanting my ability, he also forged my sword, my armor and made me a commander. Granted, I was a bit ashamed for being a female samurai, so I kept that part a secret with Faust and Knightwalker being the only two knowing. Other than that, I was once again happy. So very happy."

She smiled wistfully to herself and wiped the rest of her tears away as she stared at the ground. "I'm so sorry my king," she said to herself. "I wasn't able to be the unstoppable tool that you wanted." She then looked back up and me and shook her head softly putting her face into her palm. "I'm sorry... I don't even know why I'm even bothering to open up to you. Maybe it's because you're my Earth Land doppelganger? Anyway, that's why I want you to take my life, Willy Falconer. I'm nothing more, but a tool. A warrior who has to obey his king without any question. Someone who the king depended on. But sadly, I am no longer needed in any of those things. I no longer have a purpose and King Faust will no longer need me. Please... take my life so that I won't have to live in shame."

There was a long silence between us as we sat there me not being sure how to respond after hearing her story. It was sad that much I knew, but at the same time it made me feel a bit angry and confused when she called herself a tool for Faust. It made me think about how I was being controlled by Brain back when I was Shark of the Oración Seis.

Finally, after thinking this over, I held my hand and it began to glow in a bright blue color as it enveloped Edolas Me's body. Then her wounds slowly began to heal.

"What... what are you doing?!" Edolas Me gasped as she looked at herself.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm healing you," I said. "I'm sorry... but I can't do it. I won't... no. I refuse to kill you."

Edolas Me gasp in surprise as she looked up at me. "But... you have to!" she said desperately. "If you don't, my honor as a samurai will be-"

"I don't give a damn about your honor!" I snapped interrupting her.

Edolas Me was a bit startled from my sudden outburst, but I regained my composure and spoke returning to my calm demeanor as I continued to heal you.

"Look. I understand that you have your honor and pride as a samurai and a loyal soldier to your king, but that isn't me," I said. "That's not how I do things. I didn't come here to kill people. I'm only here to rescue my friends. And the only one who can return them to normal is this Faust guy that you're loyal to. I know that I said I would go after your king, but I never said anything about killing him. All I want is to return my friends back to normal and go home. Nothing more and nothing less."

Edolas Me stared at me completely baffled and stupefied. I then finished healing her and I stood up, turning around and began walking away from her. Edolas Me then called back to me.

"But... wait a minute! Why are you sparing me?!" she demanded. "Why are you letting me go?! Surely you realize that if you leave me alive, then I might come after you and your friends again!"

"Then I'll just have to stop you again. Simple as that," I replied turning towards her. "And I'll keep stopping you until you give up. There's something else too. Actually... there's two things that you need to learn about. First off, what I'm doing is something that most warriors should have even just a little bit. By doing this, I'm showing you that there's another way rather than killing. A way that is by no means a sign of pity nor does it make you weak, but as a sign of compassion. That something is called mercy."

"Secondly, you shouldn't be so quick to throw away your life just because you lost a fight. Your life is precious and you should treasure it. You may think that you're a tool serving your king, but at the end of the day, you're a person. A human being. Live your life. Feel joy, feel pain, taste the sweet taste of victory and the bitterness of defeat. Most of all, you should really know who the real bad guy is here. You may think that Faust is your king and you owe him because he adopted you and is like a father to you and you also put him above everything else, but it couldn't be further from the truth. You're just too blind to see it. Even the most loyal samurai should be able to see if their king is wrongfully committing crimes that would harm innocent lives."

Edolas Me stared at me completely stupified for what I just told her as I spread my water wings preparing to take flight.

"Anyway, to be honest, I'm not really sure why I'm sparing you," I went on. "Maybe it's because you're my Edolas self? Or maybe I'm hoping that you'll change? I don't know. But you should know, that I only have one enemy and that's Faust. However... if he really is that much of a father figure to you, then I'll try to keep him safe. Until then... do what you like."

And with a couple flaps of my wings, I took off into the air leaving my Edolas self behind.

If you liked what you read, feel free to PM me or Review!

Dragoman out!