Erza fought.
It was what she had always done since she was a child. Fight, defy, stand against those forces that always seemed to be present. Those who always tried to harm her loved ones. She could fight for hours upon hours, never seeming to lose strength. There had been tougher battles in Earthland that she had faced than this one. It meant she always had to be on the alert for those around her who weren't as capable in a prolonged fight like this one.
Erza moved aside to cover Lucy's flank as her arm faltered for a second, the whirling whip she was using to keep enemies at bay and disarm opponents slapping into the ground as she lost control of it for a split second. Her own summoned spear outreached the incoming enemies and forced them to withdraw from coming too close to Lucy before she got her momentum back. She then whirled to throw her spear into the shoulder of a man trying to get the drop on Gray, then turned her attention back to her own enemies, swords appearing in her hands, much to their surprise.
The woman who had been named 'Titania' by the people of Fiore knew she was one of the best fighters in their guild. And given what Fairy Tail's specialty was, that was saying something.
They can't keep this up.
So she would do her job: Step up and keep her guild safe.
Mystogan and Jellal both seemed to be holding their own, the former moving at unprecedented speeds thanks to his new spear, and the latter moving under the influence of Grand Chariot. Simon was still sending out discouraging auras from his position of safety, causing many enemies to simply retreat in either stark terror or disorganized panic. She also saw a faint aura around Lucy, not one intended to harm but-
Darkness Magic is normally used haphazardly in combat. The subtler effects of it includes being able to conceal things otherwise obvious.
Simon was using his magic on Lucy in particular to dampen, or conceal, her fear and exhaustion, letting her fight more effectively in the moment.
The sounds of the Dragon Slayers facing Dorma Anim were audible even at this distance. Their desperate enemies were drawing their final reserves of strength from that, the cries of the retreating civilians that had been confusing them so badly having vanished with them into safety.
King Jellal. Mystogan had "somehow" failed to mention that he was a prince in this world. Erza absently wondered, as she brought the flats of her swords down on the helms of two men in front of her, if Fae had known that.
If she did, it wouldn't have changed anything in her behavior. She sometimes worried just how many secrets Fae was privy to and felt honor bound to keep.
Then the ground began to rumble, Erza firmed her stance.
"Behind!" Lucy called, moving with Gray to face their rear. Mystogan and Jellal pulled back slightly, closing the gap between themselves and Erza and letting the scarlet haired woman turn back to face-
The massive tree seeming to grow out of the ground.
A tree flying Fairy Tail's banner.
And a green haired little girl all but falling out of an upper window with a smile suffusing her face with light and waving, grinning.
"Fairy Tail! Charge!" She cheered in a voice much greater and louder than her size should allow.
Then the doors opened and so many familiar faces poured out, all armed and ready for battle and etched in the same lines of determination that Erza knew so well.
Edolas's Fairy Tail had come to battle, placing their guild hall squarely in the gap in the wall, filling it almost completely.
"Glad you could make it!" Lucy called to a blond who was her carbon copy in every way. She turned back to the fight, shoulder to shoulder with her doppelganger, holding a key to the side. "Open: Gate of the Lion!" Loke appeared in a surge of golden light, dressed in a dapper looking suit and ready for combat.
"You called, Luc...y...Why the dust are there two of you? Not that I'm complaining-"
"Stop flirting, start fighting!" His summoner ordered, too exasperated to phrase it as politely as she normally would with her spirits.
"As my lady wishes!"
The brief scene of normality made Erza start to laugh as she threw herself back into the fight, now pushing the line of enemies back.
"Divide and conquer!" She called, feeling her lungs ache from the long battle and the laughter that tried to choke out the words as she heard Gray and his counterpart bicker about clothes. (It was incredibly odd to see Gray dressed though, she wouldn't deny that.)
Even war could not change some things. And she wouldn't have done so for the world.
"Erza Scarlet, right?"
Erza turned at the sharp, almost angry, voice to see Levy, Jet and Droy glaring at her. "The kid said that's your name. We're gonna be keeping an eye on you for now. Whatever she says, Knightwalker's killed too many of us for anything else."
This must be the Edolas Team Shadowgear. Is my counterpart truly such a monster, to inspire this reaction?
"Do what you have to, but remember that the enemy is over there."
Edo-Levy smirked, then suddenly whipped up her massive gun and blasted a group of soldiers who had been trying to take advantage of Erza's distraction. "Believe me, I'll never have a problem blasting anyone dumb enough to put on an Edolas army uniform. Boys?"
Jet tore through the armored men, sending them crashing to the ground like bowling pins. Droy was carrying some kind of thorny vine that was lashing out crazily at whatever he directed it towards. Levy was hefting an intricate looking gun that was bringing down men at a rate that Erza expected to see from... basically anyone other than her.
She ignored the discrepancies and the way her head wanted to throb around accepting the differences.
"Requip!" Blackwing armor would do the trick here. Lowered defense capabilities at the benefit of being able to fight that much more strongly. With someone able to watch her back, she could afford to go a little more all out.
-vVv-
I wish there was something I could do. I thought, climbing the tree-house with the tired Cubellios still looped around my shoulders. (Part of me was wondering what kind of building licences I would need and who to pitch the idea to to have a guild hall, or at least a guild sanctioned safehouse with the same capabilities as this place. G2.0 was absently running through them all in my head.)
I had read what Lisanna planned to do within seconds of seeing her.
Stay in Edolas.
Even though she knew I had recognized her. It was my Lisanna, not Edo-Lisanna. I had cried upon seeing her. Unable to contain the joy that I felt at that part of my life's story opening up again. At...at being complete.
Lisanna has died. Lisanna is gone.
That was what I had heard back on the day when I had first really felt the downsides of my power. Lisanna had died. That is, Edolas Lisanna had died of a grave injury, suffered in a fall from a cliff where she landed wrong. And for a moment I had been able to feel that event through the Anima she had been close to.
And Lisanna, my Lisanna, had gone. Pulled through the Anima to Edolas. In her place there was the corpse that the distraught siblings had tearfully identified as their sister. Identical in every respect to their own, except in a personality that they had not been able to discern anymore.
Young as I was, I hadn't been able to differentiate between the two of them. That, with the remaining Straus siblings eyewitness account and a body I hadn't been able to bring myself to look at...we had all believed her dead. When in truth the girl who had mothered me upon my first arrival to the guild almost four whole years ago had been alive and well. Here among Edolas Fairy Tail.
The Edolas guild hall only remained functional because she spent so much time inside of it, keeping it's ambient magic supply up. And no one else would have been able to guess that was what she was doing, because their senses were restricted to the ordinary five. They wouldn't have been able to taste her power in the air, sense it like a cobweb drawn over your arm.
She was down there even now, wielding a magic sword.
And because she was planning on staying, on being Edolas Lisanna instead of coming home, she wouldn't use her magic even though she hadn't drawn on it in years and was almost brimming with untapped power. She wasn't coming back to Mira and Elfman. And because I would have done anything for her, I was so happy that she was alive...I wasn't going to say anything.
How can I ever face them again? Mira and Elfman? They still went and visited her grave like clockwork, once a week. They brought flowers, and spoke to her as if she was still with them. Updating her on all the guild business and newcomers. Their love for her had not ebbed with time, nor had the sting of her departure gotten any easier to bear.
I hadn't even experienced it yet, and the guilt was already starting to eat at me.
Cubellios nosed my cheek, her tongue delicately lifting the tear from my face.
:Hatchling, you have smelt sad ever since setting eye on the young two leg who almost hears me.:
:I am sad.: I was over the moon that Fairy Tail had come through and not only picked me up, but had gotten me here. I could see Simon in a tower made of Gray's ice, magic circles in his hands as he directed grey mist around the ankles of the oncoming soldiers. Down below were everyone else. Erza was decimating the enemy forces, and that wasn't doing a lot for their morale to see 'Commander Knightwalker' tearing them to pieces. (I had heard some scream in terror that Knightwalker had been brainwashed by the Earthland Wizards and brought an imposter Prince Jellal back from the dead. Since the same guy also screamed about the incoming zombie apocalypse, I just chalked him up as an idiot instead of an observant sort of person.)
Gray had joined Lucy in weilding a spiked whip made of ice to compliment hers. They appeared to be herding soldiers together for Edo-Lucy and Loke to take out hand to hand. And Lucy was using her superior skills in that regard to disarm what soldiers she could to make it easier on their close combat fighters. I could also hear Loke taking the time to flirt with Edo-Lucy and getting shot down without mercy. Not that it seemed to phase him in the slightest.
What are the Celestial Spirits in Edolas like I wonder?
Just to the side, I saw Edo-Juvia do a massive double take upon seeing Gray, my Gray. And a new ship popped up as she gave him a once over in interest that would have had my Juvia committing homicide.
Or maybe a strange kind of suicide...Does it still count as killing yourself if it's a you from another world?
Judging by the aura of despair surrounding a heavily clothed Edo-Gray, he had noticed it too.
Oh man...What Earth Juvia wouldn't give to be here.
I shivered in spite of myself then as my thoughts drifted towards my...latest escapade in magic. Specifically, my Oiroke fiasco.
Now I need even more therapy.
To distract myself, I looked further ahead to where Mystogan and Jellal were fighting like twin whirlwinds. Since Jellal had been set up to pretend to be Mystogan, he had even worn the same clothing. And whatever Mystogan was doing with his spear was giving him a similar aura to Jellal's Grand Chariot, so they looked pretty much interchangeable. And they were moving so fast it was hard to discern between them.
:I can tell that you are sad, hatchling. But you have not said why.:
Cubellios was apparently not going to let the matter go, so I looked back down at Lisanna, fighting between Edo-Mira and Edo-Elfman. Their stances were purely protective, they were doing absolutely everything to keep her safe.
They almost lost her once.
No. They did lose her. They know she is not their actual sister.
And they still loved her to that extent. Loved the sacrifice she made for them, adopting their Lisanna's mannerisms as much as she could, being the best, kindest sister she could be.
G2 informed me that Edo-Lisanna had been the wild child of the siblings here. Even a little bit of a brat to people around her, especially Edo-Natsu. Do not touch that, it will only make me angry.
To have Lisanna come back with 'amnesia' from a head injury with an altered personality had been an acceptable story. And soon, people were so endeared by this 'changed' Lisanna, that they didn't question the gaps or hesitation that implicated her as a stranger to them. Natsu Dragion had gone from being tormented by the youngest Strauss to firmly defended by her against all others.
In short, going home is gonna hurt in ways I never wanted it to.
How was I supposed to look Mira in the eye after this, knowing what I did? That her baby sister was alive...and hadn't wanted to come home. That she wanted to stay dead to her.
:I keep too many secrets and can't seem to stop acquiring more.:
The snake had no response to that save to shift her coils around me in a pseudo hug, offering her silent support.
Faust is going to be steering the Dorma Anim here.
With all the Earthland wizards gathered here, plus the biggest thorn in his side for the last seven years, Edolas Fairy Tail, Faust would not stop at anything if it meant getting to this side of our map and wiping us out.
Simon. I had to tell Simon, Simon could get the word out without shouting over the noise.
And there was an entire battle field between us with no way of getting word to him either and I still couldn't use a spell to make myself fly until I got some power back.
:Can you fly? Just a little way. I need to get over there.: I indicated Simon's tower stronghold. Cubellios let out a soft sigh, head falling in universal weariness to rest on my chest almost bonelessly.
:I will try to muster the strength, hatchling. A moment.:
I left her to that, focusing on the battle that wasn't right in front of me. I was only getting a vague sense of building action and grave danger...
And something else. Like the swift approach of a mounting climax.
Ok, in this story the climax should already have come and gone. Dorma Anim is a pretty definitive climax in combat! So what am I missing that I can't see?
G2 only showed me the image of a girl, racing through the currently empty streets, reddish brown hair and wearing royal livery. A messenger. And she looked utterly panicked.
Where is she coming from?
The palace.
...Well good on her for getting past my traps.
A series of explosions from below drew my eyes back to the ground, Mystogan using yet another setting on his new spear to drive the enemy back and gain still more ground. The wizards around him having fallen into a steadily advancing arrow formation, with him and Jellal leading the way.
I want to look at that spear. Ten Commandments, ten different magical functions in one item! The ideas I could get from it would be revolutionary. For me at least. It might all be standard issue for some skilled magic smith. But they weren't about to share trade secrets with some kid.
Let's go meet her. See what she has to say. I wouldn't get an idea of what had caused her so much panic until I interacted with her personally. And I didn't get any feeling that she was dangerous.
Then I heard a massive, earth shivering clang. The sound was distant. I turned and squinted over the distance towards the towering armored figure of Dorma Anim, starting to walk towards us.
But...The only way that would happen is if Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel were-
I wasn't seeing any flying figures anymore.
I sat up, focusing my power deliberately this time. Concentrating on finding out what had happened to our Dragon Slayers.
Their partner's wings were singed, they have switched to ground based assault and sent the Exceed to safety.
-vVv-
Pantherlily had been a warrior all his life. He had seen the best of the best that Edolas had to offer, and had fought most of them himself, but these Dragon Slayers still astounded him.
Even the little girl outstripped them all for sheer grit as she got back up after being swatted like an insect. Teeth bared in an expression of utter determination, inhaling deeply, deliberately.
His whiskers twitched.
A feeling akin to observing an Anima was in the air. Something was departing from the air.
"C'mon! That all you got?!" The fiery one roared, beckoning challengingly at the monstrous armor which housed the man he had once called his king. Pantherlily had lost track of the one he had been assisting, he instead held the two smaller Exceed in his arms. They were young, he could see that right away. Likely from the generation Shagotte had sent through the Anima. But the blue one, the younger of the pair, didn't seem to be that bothered by his battle. Indeed, he had already almost completely recovered.
"I'm ok now. I can help!"
"Don't be a fool." Pantherlily said firmly. "If you and your friend are the only combatants in the air, you will draw all of Faust's fire!" The sky colored cat gave an almost cheeky grin and a salute that was completely cheeky.
"Aye sir! I know! We're counting on that!" Then he squirmed free from Lily's grasp, wings surging back into existence and flew towards Natsu. He picked him up with almost no lost momentum, and they both taunted Faust in tandem.
"You idiotic tomcat!" The white feline hissed, squirming as well, but not trying to escape. "You will get yourselves both killed!"
They called on, heedless of the danger, curving into a figure eight directly before the mouthpiece of the armor.
"Hey old man! How's things happening? You stopped rotting when they stuck you in that tincan?!"
"Eat seaweed, you greedy old moron! You need better eyesight to try and catch us!"
I cannot tell if their words stem from foolishness or bravery.
Faust's temper was usually curbed by the cabinet and the fact that he was usually unquestionably in control. He had been steadily losing both sources of restraint and patience over the last two days, culminating now in someone defying him to his face.
"They'll be alright." The girl straightened, some of her color restored after a moment to catch her breath though she was grimacing. "This place tastes weird..."
Tastes? What was she eating? She didn't have anything...?
"Wendy, please don't tell me that you ate this horrible city air!" Carla sounded affronted, and now she did struggle. "You know how easily you get sick from doing that!"
"The only logical reason that I do...is because I'm too picky." She responded, drawing in still more lungfuls of air. "Natsu and Gajeel eat whatever they want of their element and it makes them stronger. They eat it even if it tastes horrible!"
"Be silent you insects!"
Faust swung and arm up and around, trying to smack the duo to the ground. But the blue Exceed was too adept a flier to let him so much as even come close.
"Too slow!" They chorused in obnoxious unison.
Compartments opened on one of his arms and airborne missiles were launched into the air. Bombs that chased them around relentlessly, slowly, steadily gaining ground...
But Faust's attention was entirely on the flying pair and not Pantherlily, Wendy or Carla.
"I need to get you both to safety."
"I'm not going anywhere." Wendy said stubbornly. "They're staying, so I am too. I'm their medic, my place is with them."
What is it with this guild that it inspires such absolute loyalty? Pantherlily wondered briefly. From the bickering he had observed between Gajeel and Natsu, they were not friends. But they had worked in tandem all the same. They put aside their differences to work towards a common goal: Defeating and ultimately dethroning his king for crimes committed against their family.
"Now!" Happy dropped Natsu onto Dorma Anim's arm, and he promptly started to run up it. Fire spewing from the human's fists propelled him forward far faster than anyone Pantherlily had ever seen move. The Exceed flew around the metal titan in the other direction, drawing off about half of the homing missiles. Natsu reached the helm of Dorma Anim at the same time as his partner reached the other side of it in his arc.
Then Happy snatched him and soared upwards at the very last minute.
Faust tried to dodge, but something arrested his movement from behind. Those missiles that didn't impact his own helm, slammed into each other, creating a rapid cascade of fire that enveloped the upper half of the armor. Armor that clearly wasn't meant to take it's own firepower.
Hands rested on his arm, another on Carla. Wendy's eyes gained an intense focus and he felt new magic trickle into his system, refreshing him and speeding up the healing process from the blows he had taken trying to protect his passenger from the bombs Happy and Natsu had just evaded with consummate ease.
"Oh my..." Carla said, sounding shocked. "I did not..."
"Fae says they've been partners since Happy hatched. And they started flying together almost right away." Wendy explained with a small smile. "Makes sense that they're such a good team, right?"
There are good teams, and then there is what I just saw. Pantherlily was impressed with the duo. And now they appeared to be hovering above the inferno they had tricked Faust in hitting himself with, using the thermal to stay aloft more easily, and Natsu appeared to be inhaling-
The fire was disappearing.
"I thought he was the kind that spat fire."
"He eats it too. It's one of the first things our dragon parents teach us." Wendy said so nonchalantly that Pantherlily felt a strange sense of vertigo.
"Dragon Slayers have dragon parents?"
"It's kinda hard to explain, and we don't have a lot of time, but yes. We do."
"Save your strength for you allies, child, We're fine." Carla tried to push Wendy's healing touch off of her. Wendy just smiled and jerked her head towards Dorma Anim.
"So are they."
"Man that fire tastes nasty!" Natsu bellowed in complaint as Happy carried him down from above.
"Shpeak for yourshelf!" Gajeel's muted voice rose from behind Dorma Anim. Ducking down, Pantherlily say why Faust's attempt to dodge had been foiled.
Gajeel had gotten ahold of the dragon armor by the tail, planted his legs deep into the ground, literally stomping down through the stone cobbles, and was voraciously chewing through the priceless one of a kind magic armor like cheese.
Nothing makes sense anymore.
"Yeah yeah, hurry up! This guy's got a big old glaring weakness that no one ever picked up on 'cause they were too damn scared of it!" Natsu's grin was savage and sparks seemed to fly from his lips as he and Happy landed by Wendy and Pantherlily again.
"It still relies on the user's reflexes. And it's magic armor. Any magic we put into it, it'll throw right back at us. But if we take the magic out of what we're doing..."
"His own bombs seemed to work pretty well." Wendy observed.
Pantherlily would admit that the chest, helm and upper arms of the armor were glowing faintly and clearly were a little softer than they had been initially.
"You'd never get close enough without magic to do anything."
"I said we can't hit him with magic, not that we can't use any." Natsu looked down at Wendy, eyes glinting. "You ready, Wendy?" Faust had been trying to shake Gajeel off of his tail, moving the majestic armor in a rather wild fashion to try and shake off his unwanted passenger.
"Whatever you need."
"Woah!"
Pantherlily looked up sharply as Faust flicked his tail up and managed to dislodge Gajeel. He hurriedly released Carla and took flight to catch the Iron Slayer. In the process, he kicked back a hefty piece of shrapnel that had been sent flying when Gajeel's feet were literally ripped out of the ground.
"Kid was holding out on me! What's your name, kitty?" Pantherlily barely kept his fur from fluffing out in outrage.
"Pantherlily!"
"Well, Lily! You and me are gonna throw down after this! Dragon Slayer's gotta have talking cats. It's a rule, but I only take the best!"
Pantherlily considered the odds of winning an argument under these circumstances...and simply ended up dropping Gajeel with the others, rolling away sharply and covering his ears with his paws as Faust let out an amplified scream of rage. Everyone in Fairy Tail was insane, he was convinced of that. And one did not defeat insanity by letting it drive you mad as well.
As Pantherlily circled back, he saw the three wizards below spring into action. Wendy waved her hands over the pair of them speaking in a low fast voice. Auras sprang into being around the two young men. Then the blue cat descended and Wendy likewise cast a spell on him.
This time, when Natsu and Happy took to the sky, they were easily three times as fast as they were before. They harried Faust from all sides, like a bee teasing someone with the suggestion of whether or not they would be stung. Dorma Anim was bulky and powerful, but it was not meant to move quite that fast. The still soft metal joints began to seize up as the force with which Faust jerked them about began to bend them out of shape, slowing its reflexes.
Meanwhile, Wendy took to the ground again, ducking behind rubble as cover as she waited and watched intently. Gajeel raced around the side, taking full advantage of Natsu distracting Faust.
Within a minute, Gajeel was in position, directly in Faust's blind spot. Natsu, able to see both him and Wendy, grinned and then let out a raw throated yell that sounded far too much like a roar. A signal to act.
Gajeel drove a fist down through Dorma Anim's foot. Up past his elbow. Then the ground shuddered as he growled.
"Iron Dragon Club!" From the sky, Pantherlily saw a round half foot stud of metal poke up out of the ground twenty feet away.
He's using a magic spell...but he's not enchanting it in any way to make it hit with extra power. He punched through metal until he breached its defenses. No spell, just muscle. He's literally nailing him down!
Natsu and Happy were swooping around in a wide circle as Wendy was taking in massive gulps of air, fists clenched and straining against some unseen force. Like she was forcing herself to continue to draw breath.
Natsu and Happy were coming up directly behind her, and at the precise moment when Wendy released her spell, they were directly at it's head.
"Sky Dragon Roar!"
They had already been moving fast. But Pantherlily literally saw nothing for a moment. A low, unmistakable thunderclap was all he heard... And a hole appeared in Dorma Anim's chest plate. Pierced clean through. And a figure trailing fire impacted the ground on the far side of the metal titan. Natsu, clawing the ground and killing his momentum, but with a feral, satisfied grin on his face as he watched his enemy fall.
-vVv-
Dorma Anim is neutralized.
The report made me pause as I looked over the details eagerly.
Apparently, Dorma Anim had been made with the idea in mind to be as resistant as possible to magical damage. In Edolas, without an ethernano circulatory system, people just couldn't be strong or tough enough to rip through that much metal without some kind of magical enhancement.
So the crazy Dragon Salyers had decided to use their most basic advantage over other wizards.
Their supernatural toughness, even by our standards.
Wendy had cast an attack enhancement spell on Gajeel, a speed booster on Happy, and placed a defense enchantment on Natsu. With her enchantments taking the worst of the drain, the boys had been able to simply tear the massive armor apart.
Their plan had been simple.
Gajeel's magic was resilient and unmoving. He was the only one of the three of them with the raw power needed to keep Faust from moving. He was there to make sure he couldn't avoid them.
Happy was already a fast flier, and more than strong enough to fly Natsu just about any which way he might need. Wendy's spell made him even faster. All that speed translated into movement, which was in fact just raw energy.
Energy that translated directly to Natsu. While protected by Wendy's enchantment, he used his body like a ballistic human firepowered missle to tear right through the thick metal armor. Wendy's enchantment cocooning him was all that was being sapped. Dorma Anim couldn't get at his or Gajeel's magic to try and protect itself.
Faust had lost...because he relied on keeping his power and control. Keeping his enemies divided and unable to help one another. No wonder Edo Fairy Tail was enemy number one in his book!
The messenger is changing course to avoid a ruined street.
Right, focusing on the job. And right now, the job was to find that messenger girl from the palace and find out why she was freaking out so badly.
A bit more jumping and finangling, and I saw why she had been trying to take easy routes instead of simply going straight over obstacles.
She was running on bloodied legs with an open wound on her calf. A bite mark.
She has been poisoned.
A small timer popped into being over her head. All that running had probably spread the poison even further through her body. She had less than a minute left to live, but she had put her all into running to deliver her message.
I caught her, with Cubellios growing larger to support me in arresting her momentum. She shrank down again just as quickly to conserve energy.
I had developed this spell early on. But I had never used it on someone who was actually poisoned.
First time for everything...And she needs to live. She looked to be about my age, her chest was heaving, eyes glassy as the toxin ravaged her body. I could see moments in her past as I held her, with each frantic beat of her heart, I saw things she had done. How happily, and loyally she had served Faust's regime, believing wholeheartedly that this was the best way life could go.
"Esuna!"
The magic poured from me, channeled through my memories of the countless stories set in Gaia which relied on this spell to magically purge poison from allies.
Allies. Not enemies.
You were against me...but you are not my enemy.
The slow down count of the timer stopped...then vanished altogether, a slow dream like fade. The brown haired girl would live.
"What was so important that you'd cut your life down to nothing like that?" I demanded of her. "Why were you running? What attacked you?" The questions were mostly superficial, but she could hear me, and that was all I needed. For her to think back over the events that had brought her here so I could tag along with them.
I saw her in the castle, hiding in a room with some servants. Saw her hesitantly peeking out when she saw a man-spider crawl into the castle on broken but still functioning limbs. Recognizing him as someone she knew, and being genuinely concerned for him...so she followed him. Byro. She knew his name was Byro.
She had listened to his mutters as she followed him on silent feet, bare feet making no noise. She was a bright girl, so she had pieced together what Byro was talking about to himself. It came in brief, sporadic flashes of thought and horror.
Activate the Code Jungle in all of his changelings, prompting them to transform. A full standing army of part human monsters. All under his command.
From what I could glean, Code Jungle was meant for a situation...pretty much exactly like this. A powerful invading force that was overwhelming the armed forces and attacking the capitol city. Byro had gone among the soldiers who had been retired, or those exempt from the draft for one reason or another and had given them special injections. They were to be the last line of defense, transformed into creatures such as centaurs, minotaurs or similar part human beings. Replacing lost limbs, straightening and enhancing warped ones. They would be on an energy high and seeking for an enemy to fight until the all clear was given.
The thing was, all those people were trapped down in the shelters away from the fighting. They wouldn't see an enemy, but that wouldn't stop them from acting as if they did. They would turn on the people they saw, their families, women and children. In my mind's eye, I could see the locations of the shelters all throughout the city. Every single one had at least two people inside that would be changed by Code Jungle.
This was not a move to defend, this was genocide of the citizens of Faustian waiting to happen. And it wasn't all.
Byro was mad, but still cunning. Once Code Jungle was active, he meant to activate the Anima one last time, but in reverse. It would drain all magic from Edolas. If that happened, not only would Edolas Fairy Tail be left crippled, but Earthland Fairy Tail would be forced back home. With Faust dethroned, and the rest of his enemies unable to fight back, Byro would be the most powerful man in Edolas.
Coco's thoughts had revolved around one fact and one alone: Stop the madman from hurting her friends.
I saw her running, dodging and avoiding being caught in the webs. I saw her grab the key to the machine Byro had devised to activate Code Jungle. I saw her get bitten, but then also saw her repeatedly kick Byro in the face with the speed of a jackhammer until he was forced to release her.
Find Prince Jellal. He can help. Find...Prince Jellal.
And by Jellal, she meant Mystogan. I knew.
Then she had run through pain and growing delirium to the heart of the fighting through the abandoned city. No one around who could help her, so she pushed on...
I checked her over hurried, verifying she was alright as my mind spun.
Activating the reverse Anima had been in our plan all along. Or a back up plan at least. But if Byro got his way, then Edolas would have a swarm of new monsters to deal with and none of their previous advantages in fighting them. An evil man would run rampant over the already broken city, costing even more lives.
That...was unacceptable. And she had agreed. Coco had managed to avert the instant activation of the protocol. But it wouldn't last forever. Byro would be able to work around the absence of the key before too long, even in his maddened state.
I read that Coco had magic items. Subtle ones that she had been given years ago, that she had grown up using. Speed enhancers that let her run her messages more efficiently and easily as well as complete her duties as the Assistant Chief of Staff.
"I can tell the prince your message." I told her, glancing down at my leg, which still throbbed dimly. "But I will need to borrow your anklets to get it to him in time."
"Do it..." Coco breathed faintly, head lolling. "Want...my friends..."
Seeing that Sugarboy and Hughes were among the people she considered a friend, I laughed a little awkwardly.
"Well, they're...gonna be fine. With a bath...And possibly some counseling, because that sadist thing Hughes has going is not healthy for anyone." I said this lightly as I slipped offer Coco's anklets and slipped them onto my own legs. I could sense their power, but I also knew that trying to use an unfamiliar magic item tended to be very wasteful...
I had to be as good as Coco at using them if this was to have any long term benefit.
I hesitated for a moment, glancing at her.
As good as Coco at using them... She had years of practice with these things. They had been with her through a lot. Through everything. They would know how she brought out the best in them. I just needed to get them to share.
I pulled out a pen and scribbled a few runes on each anklet. Cubellios nosed around Coco, gently shifting her into a more comfortable position. Then she turned her head around, tongue flickering in the air...
She grew and smacked a section of her body down on the ground.
A hatch popped open and a face that was literally made of deja vu peered out.
My face.
On someone else.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before breaking out in wide grins and speaking in unison.
"Cooooool...I'm a badass!/I'm an urban ninja!"
Then we both giggled a little as Edo-me pulled herself out of the tunnel and peered anxiously at Coco.
"Is she ok?"
"She got herself poisoned pretty badly. But I got it out. She needs rest and water. And that bite has to be cleaned and patched up." I appreciated Edo-me so much when she saw that the bite marks I said had been poisoned had come from human teeth, and said nothing in that regard.
"Alright. I got her." She looked at me then, piercing me with uncanny blue eyes that I saw every time I looked in a mirror...but this time I had no idea what was being thought behind them.
"It's no wonder people get weirded out when we stare at them. Our eyes are cool." I remarked, finishing my runes on my borrowed anklets. We weren't identical. She had boy short hair, and had very boyish clothes too. And her eyes weren't glowing slightly like mine, just a very pale blue. But the same spirit and intelligence was in them. The same awareness of the world around us that others just didn't...get.
"Yeah, I thought it was just 'cause we were a kid. But it's actually all in the eyes...Or...mostly the eyes." She cocked her head as Cubellios shifted down as small as she could go and wound herself around my neck. We had been practicing a lot to help her get smaller. Just with getting more control over her life and body. Edo-me looked pensive and thoughtful for a moment before voicing her question.
"Are you happy with them? With Fairy Tail?"
There didn't seem to be enough words or time to express everything I felt about that subject.
I exhaled, feeling the anklets wake up and hum with energy, eager to be used.
60% capacity. Coco took good care of the items she had been entrusted with. My magic was already subtly reading their history, integrating the knowledge of how to maximize their efficiency despite my lack of experience.
"Yeah. I'm happy. I don't know much else, but I do know that what I have with them...what I have because of them, is good." I tested my still bruised leg, frowning briefly...
I'll have to risk it.
I bent down and placed my hand over the injury and whispered:
"Ferula." Bandages appeared out of nowhere, binding it into a tight temporary splint and support. My kinetic recyclers would keep my running from doing much more damage to my body from the recoil.
"Bye Fae. Be happy." Edo-me's smile was bright, warm and sincere. I had a strange impulse to speak and just...got it out there.
"You know...Edolas Fairy Tail is different from my Fairy Tail...but...you should go talk to them." She nodded, slipping an arm under Coco and moving back towards the secret entrance. Which I realized was little more than a hidden manhole in the street.
She has always wanted to, but never had the chance.
I prayed as I began to move down the street at a jog, slowly increasing my speed, that Terra Fae would find her way home. I didn't doubt that just like Earthland Fairy Tail was my place, that Edolas Fairy Tail could be hers.
Once I had a feel for how the speedster anklets worked, I opened up and let myself move even faster. Every step I took fed energy back into the anklets thanks to the runes I had drawn to connect them to the bands I always wore.
It felt exhilarating to be able to move after being hampered, even for a short time.
Who can get back to the palace fast enough to stop Byro?
Edo-Jet, Erza in Speed Armor, Jellal using Meteor and Mystogan with Silfarion. Byro can still activate Code Jungle, it just takes a bit longer.
Well, it was a no brainer who I would ask.
I chalked it up to being practiced at deciphering what I was saying when I rattled off the update to Mystogan at top speed and he understood me right away. Ten Commandments shifted into its speed enhancing form and he started to run for the palace. And for once, I managed to keep pace with him when he was trying to move fast.
The fight we left behind was an unquestionable victory for Fairy Tail. The Dragon Slayers had been triumphant against their titan-like enemy. They had even managed to keep Faust alive. But Byro was the issue now. Byro and his plan.
I grabbed Mystogan by the hand and guided him through the booby-trapped areas that fleeing soldiers either hadn't tripped or were self resetting. I may have even run along some walls. Mystogan did too. I love it when physics are just suggestions!
My heart was racing wildly. And with more than just the adrenaline of the run. Something was going to happen. Something was coming on the next page that I couldn't see and probably wouldn't like. The sensation of trepidation and climax was building in a twisting, uncertain kind of terror in my gut. It almost felt like it was physically weighing me down.
Maximum magic expenditure reached. Activating emergency survival shut down.
Oh... that's what that feeling was.
My limbs spasmed and I tripped hard. Moving at my speed meant that it hurt when I fell. I managed to twist and land on my side, minimizing the impact. My good side, so I didn't actually break my leg when I fell on it. Cubellios hissed in a decidedly unhappy tone, writhing out from under me. I didn't understand her.
"Fae!" I could hear Mystogan braking, turning back-
"Go!" I managed to get out, feeling my magic circulatory circle start to close off the unseen ports that let my magic seep out of me and interact with the world around me. It left me feeling uncomfortably blind. I ran a hand down Cubellios's back.
"Sorry girl...can't keep the Parseltongue spell up...Gotta pantomime for a while." I curled up on the floor, feeling a strange, uncomfortably cold sensation start to creep up my limbs. My face felt hot where it had been bruised on the ground. My hands and feet were freezing and all sound was a bit weird in my ears. Cubellios in her small form shifted around me, nosing my head onto the other side and laying her cool scales against the bruise.
Just breathe. I reminded myself. Conserve energy. It'll generate some more in just a few minutes to regulate. It didn't make the helpless feeling any easier to cope with. I just prayed Mystogan would finish up with Byro quickly. My head...my head hurt so much...
-vVv-
Mystogan's hesitation when Fae had fallen had been mere seconds.
Very costly seconds.
He had calibrated the Anima to reverse it's last harvest from Earthland and let it go back, replacing everything exactly where it had been. Byro however, seemed to have been busy. The new settings, just as Fae had warned him, would drain all magic from Edolas. Byro himself had certainly looked better before his transformation and his work over at Gray's hands. Gray must have not finished him off to go stop Erza from overheating after blocking the Dragon Roar. He was limping on mangled spider limbs, slavering and semi mindless with pain and with blood and venom dripping down from his mouth. But his eyes retained a spark of lucidity when he saw Mystogan.
"Welcome to your future kingdom, my prince!" He cackled, bowing mockingly. "A kingdom without magic!"
He's already done it. Anima had been activated. All magic was going to drain out of Edolas, sending what was taken back to where it belonged, and pulling all the Exceed and the lingering magic power in the land and air with it.
"How proud you must be-"
"Gravity Core." Ten Commandments shifted in his hand, the sensation of the magic fuel powering it moving a little more erratically than normal. It would be little more than a useless prop in a few minutes. Mystogan focused the area of empowering gravity directly around Byro, letting his control open up and bring the drider to the ground with a crash and crack of shattering exoskeleton.
"Your words were poisonous long before you did this to yourself." Byro wasn't moving anymore. He was very clearly not in his right mind. It would almost be kinder of Mystogan to put him down before he lost what remained of his human thought. He dropped the priceless magic weapon that was already being drained of its power and ran back to Fae.
Cubellios was shifting around her, trying to comfort her as her body shivered, looking small and fragile on the ground. The snake shifted to coil around her neck when Mystogan picked her up.
"Fae?" Her eyes were only opened to slits and she flinched into him.
"Hurts..." She muttered into his cloak. He hastily felt her hands, noting she was freezing. He hauled off his cloak and wrapped it around her.
"I know, looks like it does. That was a nasty fall." She shook her head, eyes squeezing shut.
"Not the face...barely feel it. Head...Head hurts..."
His stomach dropped with horror.
Her lacrima.
It was like he had speculated before. Fae could not be drawn back through the Anima like the rest of them. She had to be carried through otherwise she would not survive the journey. The magic in the lacrima would leave her body. She was used to a higher level of overall magic in her system, magic she hadn't earned naturally. AMD, Abrupt Magic Drain, would kill her with no chance of survival. He had to get her back, now!
Mystogan scrabbled for his air staff-
It was already empty. It hadn't had much left and it was drained by the gradual upshift of magic. Golden streamers of power were drifting through the air, converging on a point in the sky and vanishing through the Anima, back to the world it had originally come from.
"Cubellios. Can you-?" Desperation rang in his voice. The snake lifted her head in response and he fell silent in despair. The normally bright green eyes of the snake were dull, tired. She was as exhausted as Fae had been. She had been moving, flying, fighting everything alongside the girl.
That hope was gone.
No...No, there has to be some way!
Mystogan lifted them both, running back to Ten Commandments. If he transferred it's remaining power back into his Air Magic staff, it would give him enough power to get them back through the portal to Earthland.
He grabbed the spear and froze in horror.
"Mystogan?" Fae sounded worried, hand lifting out from his cloak and patting his chest. "What's wrong?"
Everything.
Using Gravity Core against Byro so close to the Reverse Anima had drained the Ten Commandments of it's remaining power.
It wasn't supposed to have ended like this. He was supposed to go home with his guild, and remain Mystogan forever. Watch his friends go on to achieve their dreams. Derive endless amusement from people wondering at his 'incredible magic reserves'. Listen to all of Fae's stories. Live her story with her.
So...for the first time since he knew her. Mystogan lied to Fae.
"I'm just...tired, Fae. You'd better go to sleep. You'll get more magic back if you rest." The words wanted to choke him. But they didn't manage, the tears he was fighting down already had..
"Can't...Hurts too much. Want it to go'way..." Fae's vocabulary reverted to something more expected of her age when she was tired. It had been a trait that he found endearing and amusing. Especially when she tried to maintain it and ended up switching words or jumbling them.
"I'll help you sleep." That token, a small wand he kept in his pocket, was still full. Or it should have been prior to Reverse Anima. He had stopped using it on the guild after Fae adopted him as her friend. It still had barely enough of a charge to it to work. But he had to use it quickly.
"Stupid wand..." Fae muttered, not even her headache keeping her mind from working and realizing what he was talking about.
"It will help you get to sleep...even with...the headache." His fingers brushed over the spot in her head where he knew the lacrima rested. Her body was fighting the drain, trying to keep it in. Entering an instinctive shut down mode to prevent it's departure. Buying her precious minutes.
"M'kay." She consented quickly, trusting him completely, eyes falling shut and curling into him.
Mystogan's throat was tight even as he gripped the short wand in his pocket, letting the spell drift out and wrap around her. Fae was out within seconds without her will to keep her awake. Her breathing was steady and quiet. If she was going to go...she would not go afraid.
Goodbye Fae.
He drew her in close, arms trembling. Before he broke down completely though, he heard the distinctive sound of wings and his head snapped up.
"Mystogan!" Natsu and Happy were descending from the sky. "They said you and Fae were- What happened?" Natsu's grin vanished in an instant when he saw Fae motionless in Mystogan's arms.
"Byro. You need to get her back to Earthland, now. She's-" He couldn't even make himself say it. He thrust her at Natsu's arms. "Get her home. Quickly."
"We'll be back for you-"
"No, you won't. The portal will be closed by then. Just go, take her and go!" The longer he had to look at her the more it would hurt. But why couldn't he look away then? Why couldn't he stop imagining what she would be like grown up? What childhood traits would fade and what would remain? Who was the poor bastard who would try and flirt with her first? How tall would she end up being?
"You're not leaving the guild." Natsu had set his feet on the ground and handed Fae to Happy, whose tail was poofed out in obvious distress as he looked her over, whiskers trembling.
"Never!" Mystogan didn't want that. It was all he would have left. "Don't you- Just take her and fly, she only has minutes left!"
Fae's head rolled limply, her eyes open and glowing. A voice sounded even though her lips didn't move.
"Request: Message for Fae before departure."
Not even the urgency of the situation could make Mystogan blow past this. This was the first time Fae's inner voice had manifested in the open.
"What the hell?" Natsu had no such compunction. "Who are you?" he managed to pinpoint that the voice was coming from Fae's body but-
."Designation: G2.0. Purpose: Manage and organize the magic and memories of Celeste D. Faerun." The voice was the strange voice that Fae utilized in her narrative storytelling, but devoid of all emotion. After a brief hesitation, it continued. "Expanded purpose: safeguard the happiness of Celeste D. Faerun." With each word, the voice became a little less mechanical and added a little more feeling. "Purpose implies desire, and desire requires identity." G2.0 paused again, this time seeming thoughtful. "I name myself: Morgana, Guardian Spirit of Celeste D. Faerun."
This declaration seemed to echo in the air for a brief moment, settling into place as concrete fact. Then Fae's head rolled forward, and her eyes, glowing more brightly than ever, focused on Mystogan.
"Time grows short. This parting will devastate Fae. Please...don't let her leave without being able to have some kind of goodbye. I will record whatever you wish to say to her in her memories."
Mystogan knew he only had a few minutes and he wanted to be as succinct as possible to get her to safety fast...
So where were all those words now?
"Fae...I'm sorry." He ruffled her hair for the last time, feeling the tears start to slide out. "I didn't want this. I wanted to come home with everyone. But it's my job to look after you. And that means...I have to stay here so you can live. So go home for me. Grow up, be amazing for the rest of your life. I'll miss you for the rest of mine." He tugged one stubborn lock of hair by her face. "I love you, Fae."
Morgana made Fae's eyes blink once before resuming their vacant staring.
"Memory capture successful." She sounded sad as well. "Fae has no father, and I barely recall mine. But we are glad that we could have you in our lives." Eyes the color of magic fluttered closed. A color he would never see again.
"Goodbye, Mystogan."
A/N
If it is any consolation, I cried while writing this.