(A/N)- A take on the Archer vs. Shirou fight in Unlimited Blade Works. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The AU concept is mine but sadly I don't own Fairy Tail.
Clash of Ideals
Ice clashed with ice.
The stuff was everywhere, flying through the air, coating the walls and floor, splintering into little glass fragments. Were she not determined to see this battle play out to its end, she might have left for a warmer room, or at the very least requipped into a more insulating suit of armor. As it was, Erza could not bear to tear her eyes away even for a second, fascinated and horrified and worried and awestruck all at once.
The older mirror image of Gray was haggard-looking. His face, still handsome, was nonetheless lined with tired wrinkles. The shockingly white mop of hair on his head was frayed with age, and unkempt. But he kept up with the younger Gray surprisingly well.
Her Master was determined to win, though. He had sworn to her he would. He'd promised her he would prove his other self wrong. The world was worth saving. And he would continue fighting for it until the very end. Even if everyone turned on him. Even if he fought alone.
Erza didn't want to believe in the future the older Gray had come from either. The ice mage that had been so kind to her, that had fought by her side to secure the Grail, that would never let her think her own life and place in history had been worthless… she couldn't bear to think that he'd end up so cynical and broken, resigned to culling the weak and unworthy from a twisted, heartless Fairy Tail.
It seemed even the future Gray hated the thought, else he would not be trying to kill his younger self, prevent his own existence, to spare himself the grief and the pain.
He was… exactly like her, Erza realized with startling clarity. She too had wished not to have been, to have her story erased. Out of guilt, out of shame, out of miserable self-pity and loathing.
She had been wrong to wish for that. Gray—her Gray—had shown her that.
And so he must show himself.
Gray was knocked back and slid in place on his feet, one hand grabbing at the floor to slow his momentum.
Erza felt a flame in her heart and called out to him with renewed vigor. "Master! You can do it! You must beat him!"
He paid her a grinning glance as he wiped a dribble of blood from his mouth. "Ain't lost a duel yet. I'll be damned if I lose one to myself," he assured her, eyes feverish with the thrill of battle.
Erza watched with pride as he called forth a slew of Ice Make projections, launching them towards his opponent as he charged forward.
Ideals clashed, ice shattered, and the battle continued on.