A/N: Sorry for the delays in releasing this next chapter, told myself I'd try to update my other story before updating this one because of how long it was taking to work on chapters for it. Hopefully the content is good enough for you all to forgive me and that this was worth the wait.

Reviews:

Zoofan; Simon dying was something I had planned to change from the start, and I hope you like how I went about that.

Pokeheroaadyn; Glad you liked it! And yeah, Sora's good at getting himself in trouble, but at least he means well. Erza's still gonna hold that over him though for a little bit. Otherwise, thanks for the support and hope you enjoy what I did here!

Jellal wasn't angry. He wasn't upset. No. He was truly and thoroughly livid!

He had managed to capture Erza with a Bind Snake after regaining the magic he used to create the projected persona of Wizard Saint and Council member Siegrain, and was beginning to assimilate her with the tower to activate it. Only for Natsu to come in at the last minute and remove her from the lacrima.

After stopping Erza from arguing with him, Natsu then proceeded to fight Jellal himself, hitting him with consecutive attacks that didn't even faze him, before Jellal showed him the power he really holds and just about wiped the floor with him. After realizing that fighting Jellal head on wouldn't work out as easily as he thought, he then realized there was another way to beat him: By doing one of the very things he does best.

Destroying everything in sight!

Natsu then began to focus less on having his hits hurt Jellal, and focused on letting them hit the tower, thus not only damaging the R-system itself, but also causing some of the trapped magic energy to leak out.

Now Jellal was looking at Natsu with pure fury, as the Fire Dragon Slayer just busted up a large portion of the floor. "I spent… I spent eight long years constructing this, and now you've gone and…!"

Natsu laughed a little as he stood back up from his latest attack. "Tough luck. Like I told you before, destroying stuff is our specialty…"

Erza, laying on the ground in exhaustion, looked at him in fear. 'Natsu… You barely have enough strength to stand now…'

"YOU WILL PAY!" Jellal shouted, crossing his arms in front of him and raising them up, a large magic circle appearing there as he activated one of his Heavenly Body magic's most powerful spells, the magic density alone strong enough to blow fierce winds across the room that had Natsu bracing himself.

From where Erza lay, trying not to get blown away, she noticed something shining and turned her gaze to look at it, shocked at the scope of the magic he was using as Natsu tried to make sense of it. "Wh-What is this magic?! It's making me sick…!"

Erza then observed how the spell was making the shadows present behave, disbelief clear in her voice. "The shadows are starting to bend toward the light! Oh no! This magic…!"

"Prepare to plummet into infinite darkness, dragon wizard!" Above Jellal, a black orb appeared in place, the winds surging around it as it threatened to pull in everything around it with its shockingly intense gravitational pull.

"Jellal!" Erza then found the strength to get up and stand in front of Natsu, arms wide as she attempted to shield him. "Are you able to kill me?!" Jellal actually looked at her in shock as he saw the determination in her eyes, the amount of power in his spell dimming until it practically wasn't there. "You need my body to revive Zeref, don't you?!"

"Yes…" Jellal admitted. "The general requirement is a body of a wizard comparable to one of the Ten Wizard Saints. But it no longer needs to be you now." Jellal had a shadow over his eyes at this, and both Erza and Natsu widened their eyes in shock at his words. "Both of you shall be obliterated!" He then recommenced powering up his spell, Erza having to brace herself so not to be pulled in, the black orb now having white dots throughout it, giving it the appearance of a localized night sky.

"Erza! Move!" Natsu pleaded with her, not wanting her to sacrifice herself for him.

Erza merely put a grin on her face as she remained where she was. "There's nothing for you to be worried about. I will protect you!"

"Stoooop!"

"Heavenly Body Spell…" Jellal looked at the both of them in demented glee. "Altairis!" He then threw the orb of condensed gravity at them, smashing a path through the floor as it hurtled towards them.

"ERZAAA!" Natsu called out in horror as Erza braced herself for the attack, before a large figure swept in front of her and held their arms out, a purple magic circle forming in front of them as they did. As this happened, a purple light shown out just in front of the circle and a portion of the ground underneath shone a light yellow, before the spell finally ran into resistance. Natsu, Erza, and Jellal all looked on in surprise as the figure grit their teeth from effort, before the sphere exploded, something everyone out in the water could witness, fearful of what happened.

After a few seconds, the smoke began to clear in the room, and everyone could see the battered and bruised form of Simon who stood panting after becoming a shield for Erza.

Natsu and Erza looked at him in shock. "Y-You…"

Erza was then reminded in that moment, of when Grandpa Rob sacrificed himself for her, and tears threatened to spill as she looked at the image of her friend. "Simon…?"

"… Erza…" Simon then finally moved and fell backwards, falling onto his rear as he tried to keep himself from falling flat.

Erza immediately ran up to him as he fell down. "Simon!" As she ran to his side, Jellal took a few steps forward to look at him.

"You were still crawling around here, you little pest?"

"Why didn't you escape…?! Simon!" Erza tried to get him to talk to her as he panted from the effort of the magic he held back.

The darkness user looked at her with a small smile as he tried to catch his breath. "I-I'm glad… I always wanted… to be helpful to you… someday…"

"I understand! Just don't talk anymore!"

Simon smirked at that. "Yeah… But first… let me thank someone… for helping me stop that…" Erza was confused about what he was talking about, then everyone finally realized that the floor beneath Simon was glowing a soft yellow.

Jellal looked at this in confusion, noticing that Simon's wounds were slowly healing. "What is this? None of them should have any sort of recovery magic. What's happening?"

"On your left!"

Jellal turned to the direction the voice came from, only for something to hit his face from the left and send him back a few feet. Looking for the source of the attack, he was confused to see nothing, not sensing anyone there. Then he felt someone kicking him from behind, knocking him a few more feet. When he reeled back to find what hit him, he once more saw nothing, and began to swivel in all directions, not seeing anyone new and two of the three others there watching in confusion.

He then felt a slight tapping on his chest and looked down, only for a bright purple light to rush up and slam into his chin, sending him skyward and through the ceiling. Using his Meteor spell to keep airborne and stabilize himself, he looked at the spot he once stood on and finally saw Sora flash into sight with a cocky smirk. "That's strike 3! You're outta here!"

Erza and Natsu were now shocked again. Simon however merely smiled as Sora looked back at him. "You're welcome for the pick-me-up and the extra shielding, now take a rest and let the rest of us handle this."

Simon closed his eyes in acceptance as Erza looked at him in worry. "Sora, what are you doing here?! You're too weak to fight, let alone use your Crystal Heart abilities like that!"

"Indeed." Sora looked up at the airborne Jellal as he spoke. "You should barely be able to stand, and your healing abilities shouldn't be anywhere near enough to get you to the point you seem to be at now. Not only that, but I know for a fact that you left with the others on the last boat. You shouldn't be anywhere near here."

Sora grinned at him at that as he stretched his limbs. "The second part has the easiest answer. Once we figured out a way to make the fight easier on Erza and Natsu, Happy was more than willing to get me back to the tower as fast as his wings could take him, before he went back to the others for safety."

"Oh really?" Jellal smirked at his foolishness, knowing that he had accounted for everything and had a countermeasure for each prepared. "Care to tell me how you intend to make the fight easier?"

"In that case, I have two questions for you." Sora held up a hand and counted them off. "First, where are we? Second, what can I do?"

Jellal raised a brow in amusement, knowing that Sora's magic revolved around crystals and lacrima, but also knowing his supply of magic power was just about exhau-

He then froze for a second, processing what he just thought about, and widened his eyes in shock at the conclusion he arrived at, which Sora took as his cue to smirk devilishly and keep going. "I'll admit it was a bit disorienting, and took some getting used to. I don't think I've ever even considered trying to do something so risky, but the payoff seems to be working so far. Especially since the damage done to this thing means I just need to shape the excess energy to do what I want."

"You dare…?!" Jellal once more reached a pinnacle state of anger, as Sora's form shifted to one of pure purple energy.

"No freaking way!" Natsu voiced the shock of both himself and Erza, as they realized what Sora had done, as the form of the mage rose up above the roof and expanded, the legs shifting to something of a tail that connected to the tower.

"You wanted this tower to summon your god?" Once the head was at the same height as Jellal's the figure had a shape similar to a purple genie, large arms and a single rainbow-colored eye emitting energy. "Well now I'm the god of this tower. And I say, you better pray for mercy. Because you won't get any from me!"

Jellal roared in fury as the two forms began to collide with each other at high speeds, each a blur of light and magic as they charged at each other, breaking away and creating shockwaves at each impact. After a few dozen hits that didn't faze each other in the slightest, Sora backed off and brought each of his hands up, one hand red and the other blue, while taking a deep breath. When he released it, he held his hands parallel and in front of his mouth, creating a massive rushing cloud of steam that swept up Jellal and obscured him from sight.

When he raced out of the cloud, his skin was flushed and sweaty, his breath a little uneven from the temperature and humidity making it difficult to breathe. And in a flash, a bright purple fist collided into his chest and sent him flying down towards the sea, the energy form chasing after him.

As Jellal righted himself, he used his magic to generate a series of light magic projectiles that the energy form swerved around, before the two began another slugfest that neither gained an upper hand in. Sora then backed up again, and aimed a cyan and a blue hand at Jellal, but the mage in question not feeling any magic aimed at him.

Then he heard the sea begin to surge.

Looking back, he barely saw the large maw of a serpentine dragon formed from seawater, before the jaw closed down with him inside. The blue-eyed water dragon then surged into the water, moving at high speeds and frequently changing direction, not letting Jellal keep his bearings while trying to wear him out, the energy form moving their arms to guide the magically made beast.

Meanwhile, back at the top of the tower, the others watched the scene in awe of what was going on. "No freaking way!" Natsu was practically having his jaw bounce along the floor from what he was seeing Sora do, and Simon was smirking slightly himself.

"Yeah, I'll admit, I didn't think he would be able to do this. He managed to get in touch with me shortly after he began to exert his will on the tower. He is truly surpassing expectations."

"Thanks." They all looked behind them, surprised to see Sora as he normally looks walking up to them, though a bit slowly. "Though the idea to even attempt this came from Lucy. Guess the answer to her question was "Yes, I can hijack this tower and turn it against Jellal"." Sora smirked a little at that. "Even if it's just barely from the low amount of magic I got left. This thing is MASSIVE after all."

Natsu ran up to him and went to put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, man! How bad is-?" Natsu didn't finish his question as his hand passed RIGHT THROUGH SORA and the momentum had him crashing onto the ground. Erza and Natsu then looked at him with wide eyes as Sora chuckled lightly, his form flickering like a projection.

"Yeah, not really standing in front of you. Just using a projection to chat with you guys, and something similar to fight Jellal. Though to be honest, I don't think I have too much time left before either A, he finds out and starts properly fighting back or B, I lose control of the energy and can't hold him back any more. This thing is too massive for me to completely control, and my energy is too low to be able to do this forever. Hell, part of my focus is in trying to keep the energy in this thing from going haywire and blowing sky-high!"

"Then you need to get out of here!" Sora turned to Erza as she called out to him, leaning on Simon's shoulder from where he sat in order to help her stand. "You need to get yourself and the others as far away from this tower as fast as you can!"

Sora raised a brow at her, before glancing at Natsu. "Is she STILL going on about this shit?!" Natsu shrugged in affirmation, before Sora looked back at Erza. "Listen here, Erza! The first time you told me to leave, I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to my new family, and the second time I relented because I knew I didn't have the strength to help you anymore. Now, I have something I can do, and the means to do it. You tell me what that means I'm going to do!"

Erza grit her teeth, seeing his point, but still tried to plead with him. "Be that as it may, you just said you couldn't do this for long!"

"Well yeah, I'm doing three things at once other than talking to you guys. One, I'm keeping this place stable. Two, I'm distracting Jellal. Three, I've been slowly healing you guys since I started fighting him." Erza and Natsu finally looked beneath themselves to see the ground beneath them a soft yellow, just like it was for Simon. "The way this place is leaking magic makes the last two easier, since I just have to make the excess take the form I want, filtering it all through the gem-types I've got. But it still isn't enough to take Jellal down. Which is why I plan on doing a fourth thing as well."

Natsu and Erza shared a confused glance, before they looked back at Sora's projection, Natsu asking for them. "Uh, what else CAN you do right now?"

Sora gained a massive grin as he held his hand out to Natsu, palm facing the ground. The floor beneath his hand then glowed like the rainbow. "I can give you, one HELL of a meal!" Ethereal blue flames then erupted from where the glow came from, surging wildly in barely contained energy that came directly from the Etherion blast. "So I hope you're hungry, because I want you to be VERY angry, and VERY destructive."

Natsu looked at the flames for a few seconds… then grinned wolfishly.

Back with the fight, Jellal just burst free from the water dragon and destroyed it, before charging at the energy form, firing light projectiles as he went. Sora dodged most of them, and stopped what he couldn't with barriers, but the projectiles managed to distract him long enough for Jellal to get a direct hit in, knocking the form back and causing it to flicker, Jellal's eyes narrowing as he observed this.

Recovering, Sora brought his hands together and held them out at him, palms outward as a magic circle appeared, a large number of purple fists flying out and going after the blue-haired wizard. Jellal did as Sora had before, but gaining distance as he did so, so he wouldn't get blindsided. When another water dragon surged up and threatened to swallow him again, he simply flew upwards, making the dragon surge upwards in pursuit of its prey. After gaining some height, he faced the water construct and waved his fingers about, causing magic circles appear in the sky in the form of the Big Dipper constellation. "Grand Chariot!" A powerful surge of magic the shot down and completely destroyed the water dragon, leaving the energy construct Sora created going after him.

Jellal simply smirked as he aimed his next spell a little way behind him, striking the wall of the tower with a smaller magic bolt. But it proved his hypothesis as the energy form flickered and recoiled from the blast. "As I thought. You aren't really here."

Sora's energy form glared at Jellal. "Depends on what you mean by "here". I'm still on the island, but you'd be right in thinking I'm not directly in front of you…"

"You're using the tower to manifest a projection to fight me. Which means I don't need to fight you…" Jellal then raised a hand to the tower as a magic circle appeared in front of his hand. "I just need to find your REAL body, and destroy it while it's weak!"

Sora's energy form seemed to narrow his eye, before he shrugged. "I suppose so. But then, what are you planning for him?" He then pointed up, just as Jellal started to feel a strong heat, different from everything else he'd felt today so far.

Looking up, he was once more shocked, this time at the fact that Natsu was racing down at him, emitting powerful flames from his fists and feet to act as propulsion as his face held a look of roaring fury. But what truly caught Jellal's attention was the appearance of scales on his skin, and that his teeth now seemed to have pronounced fangs in them.

But he didn't have time to think about it as while he was distracted, Sora had wrapped the arms of his energy form around Jellal and immediately pulled him upwards to meet Natsu's fists head-on! Jellal tried to separate himself, but Sora only let go when Natsu was inches away from punching him, hitting Jellal with enough explosive power to send him flying back into the sea.

Immediately after the punch, Sora used his power to gather the winds around Natsu to keep him in the air, glad that Natsu didn't consider the wind a means of transport. "So, how do you feel?"

Natsu stared at where Jellal went with a hard look. "Like punching someone's face in!" He growled.

Sora nodded. "Well, you're definitely on the right track to doing so. I'll focus on keeping you airborne and supporting your attacks. You just focus on hitting him when you can, as hard as you can."

"… So, just another day with Fairy Tail?" Natsu was grinning like an animal at that while Sora chuckled, Jellal emerging from the water before he could respond and charging after them.

And so they fought. Sora focused on keeping Jellal off balance and keeping Natsu away from the most damaging attacks, while the Fire mage focused solely on destroying Jellal, firing flames from his feet to amplify his speed and power while in the air, now powerful enough for them to affect Jellal, as well as helping him keep up with Jellal's speed with his Meteor spell active. Each time Jellal dodged or avoided an attack from Natsu, Sora would throw in a few shots to knock him off balance and anger him. Jellal would retaliate in response, only for Natsu to hit him with a more powerful hit than the one he blocked. Jellal would fire a series of powerful magic projectiles, but Sora would use the wind to move Natsu around and away from the shots, blocking what he couldn't outmaneuver with a purple barrier, before launching Natsu at Jellal at high speeds for him to ram his head, fist, or leg into him.

After a couple of minutes of this, Jellal Let out a cry and magic surged off of him, knocking Natsu back at Sora's projection, as the crazed mage shot upwards and above the tower. "Impossible! I cannot be defeated! I will create a land of freedom!" Sora shot up after him, Natsu in tow, as Jellal looked at them all in fury, Erza and Simon watching the fight from the top of the tower. "Zeref called to me softly, through the pain and the fear. He asked me if I wanted true freedom! That's right, I'm the only one who can feel Zeref's presence! I'm the chosen one! Together with Zeref, I will create a nation of true freedom!"

"Like hell you can do that by stealing other people's freedom!" Natsu called out in response.

"All you accomplish is doing to others what they did to you! An endless cycle of pain and misery!" Sora supported.

"The will to change the world," Jellal persisted as he began to fire more projectiles. "that alone is enough to turn the wheels of history!" Sora and Natsu each worked to avoid the blasts, Sora going so far as to create a barrier for Erza and Simon for the few stray shots that went their way. "Why can you fools not understand that?!" He then formed a large, and familiar magic circle in the air, everyone looking in shock at the spell he was about to throw at them.

"Abyss Break?!" Erza looked at him in disbelief of how far he was about to go, the spell strong enough to destroy the tower as well! "Are you trying to take down the whole tower?!"

"Just give me another 8 years." He spoke arrogantly. "No, this time I'll build it in 5 years. Zeref, just wait a little longer." All of a sudden, a twinge of pain shot through him, and he remembered the injury Erza inflicted on him earlier, before the Etherion hit. In that moment, he reflexively curled up and the spell faded to nothing.

Seeing their chance, Sora let his hand and arm expand even larger, and Natsu kneeled on the palm. As Sora's hand charged purple, red, and cyan colors, Natsu's feet began to emit intense flames. All at once, Sora chucked Natsu as hard as he could, discharging the energy he was building up at the same time Natsu kicked off of his hand with everything he had, the pink-haired mage turning into a blazing blur at the speed. "You're never gonna find freedom!" Natsu declared as he was being fired, flames gathering around him that took the shape of a soaring dragon. "There's no freedom for a guy tied down by some stupid ghost!"

Jellal watched unmoving, knowing from a glance that there was nothing he could do to prevent what was about to happen, as a dragon of fire bore down on him…

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" As Natsu's skull rammed into Jellal's midsection, his momentum didn't die down in the least as they shot up far above the clouds, the impact and speed knocking the wind out of Jellal's chest as he was unable to resist.

As they reached the zenith of their ascent, Natsu unleashed as series of other attacks.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist! Talon! Wing Attack! ROOOAAAAARRR!" As his roar sent him back towards the ground, Natsu rammed back into him with flames firing from his hands and feet, sending them both back towards the tower at high speeds.

As Sora saw them both come back into view, he focused his entire projection to rise up and turn into a massive fist, and launched it towards the pair. As Jellal was slammed from both sides, he near instantly passed out from the power behind both forces of hijacked tower and powered-up dragon slayer. A second later, the energy Sora was using dissipated completely and Natsu's fist pushed him forth while it blazed even more, driving Jellal into the tower, creating a powerful impact that shook the entire structure and making pieces of it fall off all over the place.

As the smoke cleared, Jellal lay impacted in a small crater in the tower, the token that marked him as a wizard saint in the guise of Siegrain bouncing away along the floor. A second later, Natsu landed hard on the ground, slowly standing up in victory, both Erza and Simon looking at him in awe. 'So this is Natsu's true power… This, is a Dragon Slayer.' Erza thought in awe of him, before she cast a look of the floor she sat upon, still glowing a slight yellow, even if it had dimmed somewhat. 'And to think, Sora was capable of such a feat… This much power at his fingertips, and he still kept himself sane…' Looking up again, she saw a shaky image of Sora appear, a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

'They actually defeated Jellal…' The two then cast a glance over at her, before flashing her grins of victory, Erza looking at them both in relief, pride, and gratitude. 'The battle I have been fighting these long eight years is finally over.' She then looked at the ground with a smile of peace. 'Everyone is truly free now…'

Just then, Natsu's energy began to drop and he fell to his knees, Sora's image flickering more and more, worrying Erza about their condition and running to them. "Natsu! Sora!" By the time she reached them, Sora's image had dissipated, and she could only catch Natsu as he began to fall forward. Looking around, she was relieved after Sora spoke up through the tower.

"All good Erza, I'm still here. Just don't have enough control or energy for the images. I'm just gonna focus on holding this thing together for now, okay?"

Erza smiled with relief, hugging Natsu close while placing a hand on the crystal floor, the scale markings starting to fade from Natsu's skin. "You both are absolutely incredible… Really…" Even Simon cracked a warm smile at the scene, just as grateful to the two mages who saved them from their nightmare.

Suddenly, the tower beneath them began to shine with ethereal light as the tower began to tremble, Simon and Erza looking all about in fear of what that meant.

Running to the edge of the platform, Simon watched as magic surged off from the sides of the tower, the energy alone enough to level a city! He then turned his gaze back to the middle of the tower. "Sora! What's happening?!" No response. "Sora!"

"Y-Yeah, hold on! It's taking ev-everything I g-got to hold it like it is!" Another surge of magic busted through. "SHIT! Listen, I've got an e-escape path figured out! Follow the yellow rock road!" A portion of the floor then lit up yellow and led towards one of the tunnels the fighting has created. "Get moving! I'll direct the e-energy as best I can, b-but I need you to keep moving no m-m-matter wh-what!"

Erza had already pulled Natsu up and had his arm over her shoulder, Simon running over to help her move. They quickly followed the path Sora set, avoiding energy surges at his directions and trying not to fall with the path they were trying to take. She quickly cast her gaze across the tower. "What about you?! You can't possibly be safe like this!" No response once again. "Sora, answer me! SORA!"

As Erza was distracted, another surge hit, her and the others thrown off their feet with Simon and Natsu landing nearby. As Erza struggled to her knees, she spotted Natsu and Simon on the ground, both of them knocked out by the blast. She then looked around at the damage the tower was doing to itself.

'With so much magic energy, the lacrima cannot hold its form and contain the power within. This tower is warping itself from the pressure… Its destructive power must be unfathomable… And with Sora's current condition, he must be completely unable to hold it any more… Even if we get outside, we'll still be caught in the blast radius…'

The tower continued to crumble around her as she came to understand the situation. Finally, she punched the ground beneath her. "Damn! Is this the end?!" She then turned to look at the fallen forms of Natsu and Simon, remembering why she fights in the first place, and began to stand in determination. 'No, I can't give up.' She then looked at them again. 'It's my turn to save you, Natsu, Simon…' She then cast her gaze around the tower itself. 'And you as well, Sora…'

A surge of power then shot up next to her like a geyser, Erza holding her arms to shield herself as she kept her distance from it. 'But it's impossible to avert it… What do I do?!' At that moment, she recalled what Jellal said back when he had captured her with the Bind Snake, and how he intended to merge her body with the lacrima.

'Merge?!' She then looked at a wall of lacrima that stood beside her, still connected to the tower. 'Would merging with the Etherion let me control this energy and prevent it from exploding?!' She then slowly reached out a hand and placed it on the surface of the lacrima beside her. 'This is our only chance!' Slowly, the lacrima bent under her touch, before it swallowed up her hand, setting every nerve in her hand on fire! "AAAGH!". Erza let out a sound of pain and discomfort, but shoved away her agony from her mind and began to push herself further in. 'Good! The lacrima still accepts me!'

At that moment, Natsu slowly woke up, and looked at Erza's form in confusion. Slowly getting up, he utters her name. "Erza…"

Stopping in shock at her name, she turned to look at him in shock. "Natsu?!"

"Wh-What are you doing, Erza? Your body's going into the lacrima…"

"This is the only way to stop the Etherion."

"Stop the Etherion…?" Another piece of the tower detonated, Natsu flinching at the sound and tremors being caused by it as he looked above and around them.

"That's right. Look around us. The Etherion is out of control and will destroy the tower in an enormous explosion any minute now!"

"What?! B-But I thought Sora was holding this place together!"

"He hasn't been able to communicate properly for a while now. I think it got too much for him to get a handle on… But if I can merge with the Etherion and restrain it…!"

"Are you insane?! If you do that, you'll…!" Erza let out a cry of pain as the Etherion set her nerves on fire, Natsu getting up and moving towards her at that. "Erza!" However, the exhaustion he felt had him struggling to walk, and quickly crashed to the ground after a few feet.

"Don't worry about a thing. I will stop it!" By now, she had her entire right arm inside the lacrima.

"Stop!"

Soon, Erza was almost completely inside the lacrima, all that remained were her chest and her head, causing her to cry out from how the energies of the magic sent fire and lightning through every nerve it had from her, getting Natsu to try to get to her once more. "Stop! Erza!" Soon, he had made it to where he was at the base of the portion she was being absorbed by.

Erza looked down at him from where her head still remained. "Natsu…" She then reached out a hand from within the Etherion and cupped his cheek, a kind smile on her face. "I can't live without Fairy Tail… I can't even imagine a world without my friends… That's how important all of you are to me…"

Natsu could only stare at her, disbelief clear in his eyes. "Erza…"

Titania continued to smile softly, before pulling her hand back. "If I can save you all, I won't hesitate for even a moment." She closed her eyes as the Etherion began to converge towards her face. "I will gladly…" But before she could finish, she felt something push her out from within the lacrima and she landed beside Natsu, surprise evident on her face as well as his.

'What?! But, it was just accepting me! Why did it…?' Turning to look, both she and Natsu saw an arm had pushed out of the lacrima…

And that it had a familiar crystal gauntlet covering it…

Erza's eyes widened in shock with Natsu's as a head slowly emerged from the wall. "No…!"

Sora's strained smile met them as his head fully emerged, his crystal eye free from the usual illusion and flaring wildly with magic. "Wh-What the hell, Erza? Lacrimas are my thing, not yours. You don't see me taking some of your armors and trying them on, do you?"

""SORA?!""

The crystal mage smirked at them both as they shouted his name simultaneously. "Me."

Natsu immediately tried to stand to pull his friend out, but his legs wouldn't lift him up. "S-Sora! What are you doing in there?!"

"How else did you think I was planning to hijack control of this tower?" He then cast a look around the place. "I'm good, but even on a good day I would have trouble making something this big do what I want." He then looked at them with a face that tried to make light of the situation. "Unless, I made it no different than breathing…"

Erza's eyes widened to their limits. "No… you merged with the tower upon getting back?!"

Sora grimaced as the sensation of flames and lightning surged through his veins again for at least the dozenth- 'or, wait, was it the hundredth already?'-time, before looking back at them. "Something like that…" He then had a bit of a coughing fit, and a small, ethereal blue crystal came out of his mouth and bounced on the ground, getting Sora to stare at in in light surprise. "… Huh. That's new."

Erza then stood up shakily as she tried to grab his arm, but he pulled it back in too quickly for her, and she could no longer enter the lacrima herself. "You fool! Do you have any idea what this will do to you?!"

"Did you?" Erza stopped at his words, the serious look on his face keeping her frozen. "I was already merged with the tower when you began to attempt it, and I heard every word you said, but the strain of holding this place together was too much for me to reply anymore. Which just so happens to be why I said "don't stop no matter what". So, I listened, and when I realized why you were trying it, I moved myself to stop you from doing it."

"I was trying to protect everyone!"

"By devastating them?! If you can't live without the people you care about, then don't you think the rest of the guild feels the same?!" Erza pulled back as if his words physically struck her, but he kept shouting. "Tell me Erza! What would we feel if we lost someone as dear to us all as you, one of the kindest people in the entire guild?! We would be miserable! I've only known you and the rest for some weeks now, but even I can say that losing you would shatter me! How would everyone else feel when they've known you for years?!"

Erza was stock still, his words echoing in her heart. "The only people who are willing to die for their loved ones, are too afraid of failing to protect them! If you truly care for the people you hold in your heart, THEN YOU LIVE FOR THEM! You fight and struggle every inch of the fight, and tell the world and fate itself not to mess WITH THE ONES YOU CARE FOR!" Sora then returned a small smile to his face. "So Erza… you need to get out of here, and live…"

Those words felt like a cord of finality for Erza and Natsu, and they each pushed their arms into the lacrima, Erza trying to get in and pull Sora out, while Natsu pounded away at it. "But what about you?!" "We can't just leave you to die like this!"

"Didn't you guys hear me?" At the teasing tone he was using, they both stopped and looked at the devilish smirk on his face, barely showing a mere hint of the pain he was feeling. "I just said that you don't die for your friends, but that you live for them. That's why, I'm going to face this thing, kick its metaphorical ass, then meet you all at the beach back at the resort in time for a victory party! You guys just need to focus on getting out of here, and enjoying the show…"

They each looked at him in shock, but Sora could still see the looks of hesitation in their eyes, before letting out a noise of impatience. "Urgh, you aren't moving fast enough!" He then looked behind them. "Hurry up and get them to the escape point!"

Suddenly, both Erza and Natsu felt a large arm wrap around their midsections and lifting them up. Surprised, they looked up at Simon, who had recovered a few moments ago and heard everything Sora had said, a resolute look on his face. "Which way?"

"Just keep going through the tunnel on your left! I left something for you guys to use to get out of here more easily, now hurry the hell up!"

Simon nodded, and turned running with Natsu and Erza under his arms, both too weak to do anything other than pointlessly try to struggle out of the grip and look at Sora, calling out his name. Within a few seconds, they were now out of sight and Sora let a small smile readorn his face. "Good. That takes care of that part. Now then," he then looked back up at the ceiling of the chamber, as it was beginning to crumble. "time to take another swim." He then pulled his head back under the lacrima, and let himself drift back inside, feeling the energies of the Etherion flow through and around him, willing it to do as he wished.

Even as it threatened to tear him apart.

Outside, everyone in Juvia's water bubble watched as the Tower began to glow an ethereal light, before firing it straight into the heavens. At first, they thought it was exploding, but they soon realized that it was instead discharging the energies straight into the clouds, causing no harm and slowly losing the terrifying amount of power within it.

As the energy finally faded away and the tower stopped glowing, it began to crumble and crash into the water, the pieces causing the water and wind to stir chaotically, Juvia struggling to hold the bubble in her current condition. As it all began to calm down again, everyone looked out over the sea, looking for some sign that their friends had made it out alive.

"Over there!" At Lucy's call, everyone turned their attention to something moving through the water towards them. As it got closer, they recognized it as a small boat slightly larger than the one that brought the fairies to the tower, seemingly made from sapphire, with Simon standing in the middle with his arms spread over both lacrima motors.

When he got close enough, Juvia moved them all onto the boat and Simon relaxed his arms, taking a seat as they all took note of who was there. They were glad to see Erza and Natsu, despite the second being completely motion sick, but the forlorn look on Erza's face and the regretful one on Simon's made them wonder what was wrong. Then they realized it.

Sora was nowhere to be seen.

After spending an hour searching the waters, none of them could find a trace of Sora's whereabouts, and Simon finally convinced them that they should get to shore and continue the search tomorrow. So they made their way back in silence, none of them making a sound any louder than Natsu being seasick, or a soft sniffling of tears at not knowing what became of the one who saved their lives.

Slowly, the beach came into view, but none of them felt overjoyed about it. Remembering Sora's words, Erza, still in what she called her Clear Heart Clothing, listlessly looked from one end of the beach to the other, half-heartedly hoping to see the crystal mage ready to greet them with a mischievous look on his face. But she saw nothing but the beach, the trees that ran along it, and the rocks that piled up in some areas that made them ideal for climbing. One even looked slightly pretty as it was on its own and reflected the moonlight…

'… wait… reflecting…?' Erza then shot up, startling the others as she focused her gaze on the reflective rock, trying to make out details in the night, and after a few moments, she saw it wasn't just a rock…

It was a large crystal.

Erza then quickly moved to one of the propulsion lacrima, commanding Simon to move the other as she needed, and sped the boat Sora made for them as fast as it could, everyone slowly seeing what she saw. Once the boat entered the shallows, Erza had bounded out of the boat and landed on the sand, running to the crystal that had created a path in the sand as it had crashed onto shore. Once she was close enough, she placed both hands on the crystal and pressed her face against it, trying to see inside it in the dim lighting, and could just barely see a faint shape within… and a faint multi-colored glow in the center of it.

Eyes widening in hope, she summoned a sword and began to hack at the crystal, trying desperately to open it as soon as she could, hoping to prove this was what she thought it was as everyone got close. "Everyone, help me!" At Erza's command, everyone did what they could to chip and break away as much of the crystal as they could without completely destroying it, each bit that broke off disappearing as it turned into magic energy.

After a while of this, a piece of crystal fell away to reveal a hand, Erza dropping her sword to reach for it, trying to find a pulse. The relief she felt, when not only did she find one but the hand squeezed her back, left her speechless with joy as tears formed in her left eye.

"He's alive!" She called out, grabbed her sword again and redoubling her efforts with one hand, the other not letting go of his. "Hurry, we have to get him out of there!"

Everyone worked even harder at that, using pickaxes Gray made to chip him out of there as fast as they could. After a few more moments, Erza felt the hand she was holding tighten its grip, before the glow within the crystal increased, getting everyone to pause for a moment as it got their attention. Soon, the glow shifted across what was left of the crystal, before it all scattered into light, revealing Sora on the sand, his hand still trapped in Erza's.

Everyone simply looked at him in silence, as the glow still coming from his chest began to dim and he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes-the crystal one still glowing faintly-looked at everyone as they began to crowd around him. After a few moments, he grinned like an idiot. "So… am I late… for the party?"

Trembling, Erza pulled him into a bone crushing hug, crying softly as he cried out in protest. "Owowow, sore all over, bruising everywhere! Erza, please! Let up a little!" But she only hugged tighter, increasing his pain in a small sort of revenge for worrying her like that. All around them, their friends were crying and cheering in joy, happy that he made it out as well even as he was yelling from the crushing hug.

"Thank you…" Sora stopped his protests as he heard Erza's words whispered in his ear. "You're right… I can't trade my life for those of my friends… to protect their happiness, I have to live for them… Sora… Thank you…"

Sora blinked at her words, and decided to put up with the discomfort a while longer with a smile. "You're welcome."

Erza wouldn't realize it until later, but as she held him tightly, her right eye had cried for the first time in eight long years…

A/N: And with that, the battle at the Tower of Heaven is concluded! I will admit, having Sora hijack the Tower like that is something I had planned on as soon as I decided he could mess with Lacrima. Was very much looking forward to writing this chapter when the thought entered my head. Hope everyone enjoyed what I envisioned here.

Anyway, the next chapter will be the wrap up for this arc, as well as everyone's return to seeing the new guild hall. I hope you all look forward to it, and please leave a review so I know how I did as well as leaving a fav or follow if you haven't already. Here's to hoping I can get the next chapter out soon! Later!