Chapter 41: Peace
Erik wasted no time. He lunged forward, hand clenched in a fist. The air surrounding Macbeth distorted as he used his reflector magic to avoid the punch, causing the dragon-slayer to go right though him.
Expecting this, Erik easily caught his balance and swung his leg around to Macbeth's side. He moved with expert speed, throwing punch after punch. Macbeth was just as fast, successfully countering every hit with either reflector magic or a dodge.
The two knew each other's fighting styles by heart. In the base where Brain had raised them, experimented on them, and trained them, the two boys had been forced to spar frequently—to test their strength on one another.
"You're holding back!" Erik shouted and swung toward his face. Macbeth's hair swayed as he tilted his head slightly to avoid the hit. "Too good to fight me now, Fairy?"
Erik went to hit again, but this time there was a whirring sound in response as an invisible force knocked him back, through the air. He landed on his feet, skidding back on the rocks.
"That's more like it…" He crossed his arms in front of him and a purple mist began to rise from his skin. His arms took on their dragon-slayer appearance, purple scales and sharp, poisonous claws.
Macbeth narrowed his eyes. "You would really use your poison on me?"
"It won't kill you," came the reply, as Erik cracked his knuckles. "But it might put you in your place."
Without another word, he charged again. Macbeth dodged his poisoned claws and reflected the poisonous force back at his opponent. Of course, being hit by poison did nothing to the dragon slayer, who simply continued his onslaught of attacks.
"Poison dragon scales!" He swung his arms, slinging a barrage of poison scales at Macbeth. A shield shot them all back. Poison smashed into the rock all around Erik, melting stone like acid.
"I can hear your thoughts now," Erik said. He wasn't even out of breath. Neither of them were. "You can't protect them and fight at the same time, can you? No, you were never very good at multitasking with your magic."
Macbeth shot blades of invisible reflector magic toward him, marked only by the whirring sound of his magic and the air splitting. Erik countered with his Poison Dragon Fang Thrust, creating a snake head out of poison that bit down on the invisible attack, protecting him.
"Dreamer, Dreamer, Dreamer," Erik mocked. "Is that all you can think about?"
Macbeth's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "I am losing my patience." He lifted a finger toward Erik as if gesturing him forward. The other man recognized the attack too late. He leapt into the air but was caught in a distorted vortex. "Spiral Pain!"
"Cobra!" Sorano took a step forward as Erik cried out, the pain shredding through his body.
When the vortex dropped Erik, his body was already beginning to form bruises. He stood with a grimace, baring a fang. He was still listening to Macbeth, eyes narrowed.
"You mean to tell me that you joined Fairy Tail for some girl?" He wielded his poison cloaked hands again.
"A girl?" Sawyer laughed from the sidelines, where he seemed to be enjoying the show. "Here I thought he was gay this whole time."
Macbeth's face was void of emotion.
"Dreamer. Syllestra. You've got to protect them? Don't make me laugh." Erik threw his head back in a degrading chuckle. "Since when did the infamous Night Terror start looking after little girls and useless wizards?"
Macbeth put his hands in his pockets and turned his back on Erik once more, starting to leave the clearing.
"Racer!"
Sawyer was in front of him in an instant. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Back to his fairies," Sorano taunted.
"What's wrong, Midnight?" Erik called out. "Why haven't you used Nightmare on us yet? You think you're better than us now? You took the high road, abandoned your old friends to join a legal joke of a guild?"
Macbeth closed his eyes and released a slow sigh. "Fools."
"What was that?" Erik asked, though he heard it loud and clear.
"Have you not realized that Brain was using us? He abandoned us when we were captured, and now, when you have the opportunity to pursue freedom away from his bounds, you choose instead to imprison yourselves once more, under the reign of this King of Diamonds." He looked over his shoulder at his old friend. "You have no idea what true freedom is."
"And you do?" Sorano hissed and took another step toward him.
"No." His voice was even, gaze still cast on the poison dragon-slayer. "But I do know that freedom doesn't come from being a slave to men like Zero and Resmond."
"We're not slaves!" Sorano's voice became desperate, her body trembling. "The King will set us free! We'll become angels!"
"He's using you the same way Father…" the word caught in his throat. "The same way Zero used us all. There is only one thing Resmond wants. He's already manipulated you into trying to capture me."
"LIAR!"
Sorano lifted her hands toward the dark sky. "I call upon you, brilliant light of the heavens!"
Erik and Sawyer shared a look and then a nod. "I'm ready, Angel!" Sawyer shouted.
A sparkling light began to glow in between Sorano's palms. This was a power Macbeth had never seen before. He was unaware that she knew anything but celestial magic. But, he remembered that Lucy now owned the keys she once had, so it was likely Sorano had begun learning a new magic since she'd escaped captivity.
She thrust the sparkling light into the air around her. It coated the surrounding area in a bright light that settled on Sawyer, who was tensed in a running position. A blinding white light wrapped around him, and he ran.
Macbeth braced for an attack, fully expecting him to run at him. Instead, he ran in a tight circle around Macbeth and Erik. The flashes of blinding light made it impossible for Macbeth to see Erik move. The other man was unaffected by the light however. He merely closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Macbeth's breathing, allowing sound to be his guide.
Unable to focus to use his reflector magic effectively, Macbeth took a hard punch to the jaw. He staggered back and was hit again by a kick to the side. He cried out in pain when poison soaked claws raked across his back. He closed his eyes and willed his magical energy to create a shield of reflector magic around him, but Erik was already in his guard. Another punch to the face. A kick to the thigh that brought him to his knees.
Already, he could feel Erik's poison taking affect. His body was feeling numb and sluggish. Erik was right, the poison wouldn't kill him like it would most targets—due to all the time they'd spent sparring each other, and the immunity he'd built over the years to Erik's magic. But it would incapacitate him, paralyze and knock him unconscious.
Erik's hand closed around Macbeth's collar and he lifted him back to his feet, their faces only inches apart. Erik's face did not show victory or excitement. Instead, his purple irises reflected only sorrow and bitterness.
"You think you're good now, Macbeth?" he hissed. "After everything we've done with the Oracion Seis? You think you can just let that all go—that you can be some kind of hero?"
Macbeth met his eyes evenly. For once, he felt no fear. His voice was calm and unbroken, despite the pain of Erik's poison creeping through his veins. Erik could hear it—the calm beating of his heart, the sound of a soul unaffected by terror—a soul that didn't sound at all like the one he used to hear, crying out at night, begging for relief, for freedom.
"You're wrong," Macbeth said, quietly. "I suffer under no such delusion." Red eyes unwavering. "I will never be 'good.' But now I have the freedom to be better than I once was."
Erik's eyes widened, lips parted in surprise. He stared at the pale face of his old friend and comrade, hands trembling on his collar now. His scales retracted and the poison mist began to fade.
"I'm not letting you go back to Fairy Tail," he said, his voice low and pained. "Angel's right. This guy, Resmond, he knows what he's doing. And he promised—"
"That you'll see Cubellios again?"
Erik gritted his teeth. "That's right. And that's all I care about. So, just let go."
"No, you let go."
Erik leaned back in surprise. He'd been so distracted by his own anger that he hadn't even heard them approach. The scene around him and Macbeth had changed dramatically.
The white light was gone. A hand covered Sorano's mouth. Sawyer was no longer running—he was asleep at the feet of a woman holding a vial of strange pills. It was this woman who had spoken.
She stood resolutely, a sharp glare focused on Erik—a glare unbefitting of her oversized, blossom-pink eyes. Tears sparkled on her eyelashes, but her expression was firm, cream hair fluttering in the wind, brushing against her cheeks.
"Let him go," she repeated.
A man with blue hair held his hand over Sorano's mouth, but that wasn't all. Coming down the slope of the valley to surround them, was an entire group of fairies. Natsu, the salamander, fire enveloping his fists. Titania Erza, equipped with two blades, in an action stance. The She-Devil, Mirajane. The celestial wizard who bested Angel at Nirvana. A small woman with sky-blue hair standing beside the iron-dragon slayer. A shirtless woman with a flask in her hand, wearing little more than a blue bra. There were others, every member of Fairy Tail whose life Macbeth had touched in some way.
"You's better listen to the lady," the blue-haired man holding Sorano said. "You mess with one member of Team Derelict Heart, you's mess with all of us."
Macbeth looked at the group of them in just as much shock as Erik.
Piper?
"If you mess with one member of Fairy Tail, you mess with all of us." Even their master was there, stepping forward through the crowd with a smile on his face. "How are you doing, Macbeth?"
"I'm ready for a nap," Macbeth answered, managing a slight smirk, though his body went more limp in Erik's grasp, eyes struggling to remain open.
Erik let him drop to the ground, his own shoulders heaving as he caught his breath and tried to slow his heartbeat. The overwhelming sound of all their voices filled his head.
I'm gonna kick your ass, snake bastard.
Oooh, just let him try to fight back! I'm fired up!
Macbeth… You have grown strong, after all.
Do what you know is right, release our friend.
Don't mess with Fairy Tail.
I love him.
His eyes rested on the girl standing closest to him, her fists curled, the eyes a swirling pink. He found himself caught in them, a strange nostalgia filling him. He was beginning to feel calm, even… hopeful. He hadn't felt this way since he'd met Cubellios in the Tower of Heaven. His best friend… She'd always made him feel safe and strong.
He missed her.
Who is he? Why does he seem so familiar to me?
A new voice made his heart stop. He froze, pupils retracting.
I felt like I should come with everyone… I don't know why, but it felt important. And now… That man. I feel strange…
He stood straight, trembling. His eyes scanned the faces.
Is he the one who's been calling me? In my dreams?
"Cu… Cubellios?" Erik's eyes rested on a woman in the crowd. A woman with purple hair and a green dress. She was not the snake he'd grown up with—the one he'd known and loved, but… her voice… her soul.
The woman stepped forward to stand beside the one with cream hair.
"Who are you?" she asked out loud.
He instinctively took a step toward her, leaving Macbeth forgotten and slumped on the ground. Sensing that he no longer had any intention to fight, Dreamer ran past Erik and to Macbeth's side.
"Macbeth?" She scooped his head into her lap and brushed a black curl away from his eyes.
"Dream…" he whispered sleepily, some pain coloring his expression.
"I'm here," she cried. "And… I just wanted to say… I don't want you to leave Fairy Tail! I think your freedom is here, with us! I shouldn't have told you it was okay to go back to the Oracion Seis, because it's not! I… I want you to stay! You're one of us, and… I… I don't want you to leave me…"
"Sh." His eyelashes fluttered. "Did anyone ever tell you… you talk too much?"
She laughed through tears and leaned to plant a kiss on his forehead. "You tell me all the time."
"Let me help!" Wendy rushed to Macbeth's side and placed her hands on his back, where the poison claws had struck.
"Syllest…" he said, looking at Dreamer's eyes. "Is she safe?"
"Yes. Jezran came home. She's with him and Gray, hidden in a safe place."
"Resmond—" he started.
"We'll talk about it when we get you home." She stroked his hair while Wendy healed him.
Meanwhile, now standing face to face were Erik and Kinana.
"Who are you?" she asked again, her voice quiet and awed.
"…Erik. My name is Erik." He searched her eyes. He could hear her confusion and knew that she didn't remember him. But Cubellios was still in there. Still calling out to him.
"I think it's time to go home," Makarov's voice echoed out. "Piper, Natsu, Gajeel, would you do the honors of carrying our guests, and our fallen friend, back to the guild?"
"You got it, gramps." Gajeel joined Wendy at Macbeth's side. Once she had successfully removed the poison, and Macbeth's eyelids had officially closed, Gajeel scooped him into his arms. "What were you thinkin,' Beth? You forget we have practice tomorrow?" He grumbled under his breath while he carted the man toward the valley slope. Dreamer walked immediately beside him, stopping only to pick up the discarded coat on the rocky ground.
Piper bound Sorano's wrists and nudged her forward to follow. She hung her head in the shame of defeat, but did not resist.
Natsu roughly picked up the sleeping Sawyer, while complaining about the fact that they'd shown up late for the action, and he'd still have to have a chance at Erik.
And as for Erik, he more than willingly walked beside Kinana, back toward Fairy Tail.
The situation had been strangely diffused. What had appeared to be the beginning of a rift between old friends—a struggle between light and dark, had ended with the dark members of Oracion Seis walking calmly with Fairy Tail, blending in to the group of them.
Good and evil, friend and enemy, past and present, all seemed to meld together for the time being—molded as one by the soothing magic of Dreamer's presence, which released all tension in the air. At least for the time being…
There was peace.