A/N: So here is the promised Part 2! I know, it's been so long since I updated with Part 1...try to recall what it was about. :3 Haha obviously, still the same people to thank. So here ya go! :D


Gray

Must kill Rogue. That was the only thought that kept repeating in my mind. Well, that and 'kill everyone else.' I couldn't say why; I just knew that I had to kill them.

I have to kill them now. They are all my enemies. They must be eliminated.

The urge to drive my ice blade through the person closest to me—Rogue—intensified so that I was unable to resist. Not that I wanted to. I wanted nothing more than to slaughter everyone in sight, except for the woman with the violet hair. I would do anything for her.

"Ice make: Ice Excalibur!" The slender rapier materialized in my hand, ready for battle. "Here I go!" I yelled, surging towards Rogue. He turned like clockwork and slipped away, like the shadow he represented. Only to materialize behind me and land a solid kick to my back. I staggered forward and spun to face him again, but he was already gone. Growling, I turned in a slow circle, looking for any sign of him.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" The cry alerted me to his position to my left, and I ducked to the side just in time to avoid the blast of black shadows.

I switched my sword out for my ice cannon, aiming it toward the other black-haired man. The blast from my cannon knocked me backwards, and I used my momentum to roll to my feet. Once again, the Shadow Dragonslayer had vanished from sight. Clenching my fists in anger, I spun to look around the makeshift underground arena for him. Instead of finding Rogue, I saw Sting staggering toward the violet-haired woman. His hands were bathed in white light, a murderous look on his angular face.

Before I was even fully aware of what I was doing, I had thrown myself at the White Dragonslayer, sending a barrage of ice blades at him. They never had a chance to connect, though. Rogue materialized in front of me, a black vortex of shadows expanding in front of him to devour all my ice blades. I ground my teeth in frustration, slashing through his shadows with my death scythe.

We returned to circling each other, though Rogue always kept himself between me and Sting. The look on his face was utterly emotionless, not a hint of recognition in his eyes. Vaguely, I wondered if I looked the same. I certainly felt detached from everyone around me. Except for the woman facing off with Sting. I couldn't explain it, but there was just this…connection with her. I would do anything she asked of me. And I would do anything to keep her safe, which meant that I had to go through Rogue to get to Sting to prevent him from attacking her.

As it turned out, that was easier said than done. Rogue lashed out at me with his shadows, slicing through my clothes, which were mysteriously still on. Strangely, I had no urge to take them off. I sent a pack of snow tigers after him, but he managed to evade them for the most part. One of them made a slash across his left leg when he didn't leap aside fast enough, but he quickly pulverized it into a million glittering fragments. We continued in this manner for several minutes, neither of us giving. I paused to assess his condition, panting heavily. Sweat dripped from my brow and mingled with the rivulets of blood that trickled down my temple from my hairline. Rogue wasn't in any better condition; he spat blood from his mouth and was favoring his left leg.

Suddenly, I saw something off in the corner, behind Rogue. An idea came to me before I was even fully aware that it had taken root. I sent a rampart of ice towards him, and used the distraction to run past him. Skidding to a halt at the edge of the rock wall, I stooped to pick up the two small felines, lying unconscious on the ground. I couldn't tell if they were still alive or not, but I didn't care, even though there was something familiar about them. Instead, I turned and threw them at Rogue to throw him off guard. As I'd planned, he instinctively held his arms up to catch them before they could hit him. In the moment after he'd caught them and had taken a second to process what it was he was holding, his face transformed so suddenly that it almost caught me off guard. His face filled with a pain so bitter that his eyes filled with tears. He didn't have time to experience much else, because I launched myself at him and rammed an ice pike through his hands to nail him to the floor. He looked up at me with a sorrowful look just before I flipped away and brought an ice prison down over him, effectively locking him in.

Something tugged at my heart as I saw his face in my mind again, but I was unable to focus on it. I quickly shook it off and turned to my next opponent; Sting.

The White Dragonslayer was battling with the woman, his movements clumsy and sluggish. The woman dodged his pitiful attempts easily, but for some reason, her face displayed utter rage instead of humor at his pitiful state.

"You dare to fight my control?" she hissed at him, whipping a knife out from the folds of her long black evening gown. "So be it; you shall suffer just the same."

The woman leapt at him with the knife raised. Sting roared and threw his arm into the air, catching the knife's blade in a ball of white light that was enveloping his hand. Her face twisted into ugly fury, and she tried to withdraw her knife from his magic's grip. He refused to back down, and, with great effort, brought his other arm up to aim a blast of white light at her.

I immediately leapt forward to block his attack. But for just a second, something else flickered in my mind. The knowledge that Sting was my friend, my ally. And that something was terribly wrong. The brief slip was enough to allow Sting time to land a blow on the woman with his Dragonslayer magic. I reeled backwards, as if I had been the one struck. But instead of a physical blow, I had received a mental blow. I stood there, blinking my eyes in sudden clarity. The violet-haired woman was the enemy. And she was mind-controlling us.

As soon as the thought came to me, I realized that I had no idea what I had been doing. I turned in confusion to look around me. Rogue was lying unconscious on the ground with the Exceeds lying across his chest, and he was pinned beneath an ice cage with two pikes holding him down. My jaw fell open, and I gaped at him in horror. Had I done that? My first instinct was to undo the cage on him, but then I figured that he would actually be safer in it. So I settled for merely allowing the pikes nailing him to the ground to disappear.

I turned to look around me again, and saw that all the others were also fighting amongst themselves. Kagura and Ultear, Ren and Sherry. And of course, Sting with the evil woman. Elme, I thought her name was. Millianna was lying a little ways away, unconscious with a bloody gash across her forehead.

Ah, heck. Things are going to hell here.

As I stood in shock, surveying my surroundings, Sting seemed to gain strength in his battle with Elme. His movements were quicker, more precise. So I turned my attention to the other pairs, trying to gauge who was in the worst condition. Now that I was no longer being influenced, I knew I had to try to prevent the others from killing each other. I didn't know why I was the only one to have been released from the effects of Elme's magic, but I did know that it was my responsibility to do all I could to provide backup for Sting. My respect for the Sabertooth mage increased as I realized that he had been fighting her control all along.

Ren suddenly trapped Sherry in a bubble of air, and she immediately fell to the ground; in this bubble, gravity was especially strong. She weakly tried to lift herself, but was unable to move more than an inch or two. Finally exhausted, she collapsed to the ground again, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe. Ren stepped closer, and he must have started sucking all the oxygen from her lungs, for Sherry gasped and clawed at her throat desperately. Her face was turning blue already. I immediately started running toward them, prepared to knock Ren out so he would lose his hold on the magic imprisoning Sherry.

Before I could reach them though, Ren suddenly staggered backwards, his own hands flying to his throat. I stumbled in shock, wondering what was happening. His tan face paled as he stared down at Sherry, shock and horror crossing his face in the same beat. Then the bubble of air over Sherry disappeared, and Ren sank to his knees beside her. She was left gasping as air was suddenly allowed to flow back into her starved lungs once more.

"Sherry," Ren said hoarsely, reaching hesitantly out to her.

"Ren, what happened?" she responded equally hoarsely. Fear shone in her blue eyes as she reached her own shaking hand out to her fiancé. A strangled sob suddenly burst from his throat as he grabbed Sherry and hauled her to his chest. After a moment of stunned silence, Sherry wrapped her own arms around him and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.

"Sherry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking…no, I wasn't thinking. I can never forgive myself for hurting you." His grip on her tightened, and I could hear the raw, painful emotion in his voice.

"Ren, you can't blame yourself. I know it wasn't your fault. Besides," Sherry said, pulling away to gaze tenderly into his dark eyes, "you didn't kill me, did you? That means that your love for me is stronger than any magical control."

As the couple embraced each other and meshed their lips together, I could only stare in disbelief. Okay, and I was a little touched. I hastily wiped the tear from my eyelashes before it could incriminate me by falling.

As the danger with Ren and Sherry was averted, I turned my attention away from the lovers to find Kagura and Ultear battling. It was obvious that they were at an impasse. Ultear was prevented from launching an attack because of Kagura's gravity alterations, but any attempt that Kagura made to attack Ultear was rendered useless by her Arc of Time magic. I watched as the ground around Kagura alternately disintegrated into fine particles of sand, causing her to sink, and soared up into the sky, almost smashing Kagura against the sides of the enclosure.

At last, after Kagura was caught off guard by Ultear's use of Ice Make magic, the older mage was able to break free from the effects of the gravity alteration. She rushed Kagura with her orbs poised to attack, and the other girl was unable to defend, as she was trapped in the tangle of ice thorns. Seeing the need to act, I jumped in and erected an ice wall around Kagura. Now that I had joined their battle, Ultear turned her blank eyes to me. I realized too late that my ice was practically useless against her Arc of Time, as I felt the rush of water crash down behind me. Kagura was still trapped in the thorny vines, but at least she was out of the way. I would deal with Ultear, though I would do so without attacking her. I would make her snap out of Elme's control, and once she was no longer a threat, we could get Kagura to break out of it.

So I sent a floor of ice forming beneath her. This time, it was her mistake in turning it to water; she slipped and was sent sprawling just the same. I couldn't help but smile as I remembered that I had used this same trick on her once before, seven years ago. This time, I didn't hesitate to pounce on her to pin her to the ground. As I was already bleeding, I just swiped my hands across my wounds and froze the blood on my hands to bind my hands to her wrists.

"Ultear," I began, looking her directly in the eyes, "this isn't you. Snap out of it; you're being controlled!"

Her eyes remained blank and devoid of recognition, and I felt something tug at the back of my mind. Her image seemed to waver, replaced by a ghostly apparition. My eyes widened as I realized what was happening; she was attempting to possess me.

"Stop it!" I cried, roughly shutting my eyes to block out the image. "You have to fight it, Ultear! Fight the control! Your mother would want you to fight it, dammit! She would've been able to shake it off without any help!" I cracked my eyes to risk a glance at her, to see if there was any reaction yet. The tiniest flicker of understanding flared in her brown eyes before it was eclipsed again by the lifeless control.

I could feel her slipping into my mind now, and knew that I was running out of time. I was also running out of ammunition. I had to think of something, fast, or I would be completely at her mercy. The idea came to me suddenly, but I wasn't sure if it would work or not.

"Ultear," I tried again, my words coming out strangled, "you are one of the founders of Crime Sorcière. You're better than this. Think of Jellal and Meredy. They depend on you, the real you. Why did you found your guild? To atone for your past sins! If you do this, all your hard work will have gone to waste! So fight this control, dammit! Ultear, we need you!"

After another moment, I felt the pressure in my mind abate. Her chocolaty eyes cleared for good this time, and I saw the confusion that filled them as she stared up at me. Her attention shifted to the bloody ice I'd used to seal my hands to hers, and the state of our allies all around us. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

"She controlled us again, didn't she?" Her voice was a low growl, her eyes darkening to a stormy black. "I will never forgive her. She made me break my vow to never hurt a friend again. I can never atone for this sin."

I allowed the red ice to shatter as I moved my hands to her shoulders. "Ultear, listen to me," I said firmly, forcing her to look into my eyes. "This wasn't your fault. This is no one's fault but hers." I jerked my head to indicate the violet-haired woman. In a softer tone, I added, "I don't know everything about your guild, but I don't think that its real purpose is to punish you. rather, I believe it is to help those around you, as a way of giving back. So you can't continue to blame yourself for this. For anything. You have to accept that it happened and look forward now. Only then will you be able to become stronger and truly help those around you. And part of that is accepting yourself; you're only hurting your friends and those who care about you by continuing to believe you have to punish yourself for your past."

She gazed at me for several long moments, wonder plain in her eyes. A single tear welled in her eye and slid silently down her temple. "How…?" she whispered.

I smiled down at her. Then I sat up and held out my hand. She looked at it for a moment, and then placed her own hand in mine. I helped her to her feet, and we stood across from each other, gazing into each other's faces. I could feel the warmth of her hand on my palm as I said simply, "I promised I would erase the darkness within you. And even though that promise was made seven years ago, I promise that I will still fulfill it."


Lucy

I looked down on the city passing beneath us as Natsu flew low over the buildings, searching for any sign of the other groups. We were headed for the patch of smoke rising up from the buildings up ahead. I hoped that our allies were alright.

When we swooped over the burning buildings a few seconds later, we could spot no sign of the group that had been there. Several of the streets were flooded with water, so I figured that that had been the group with Juvia. Wherever they were now, there was no sign of them.

"What do we do now?" I asked Natsu, shouting to be heard over the roaring flames down below.

I could hear the anxiety in his voice as he spoke to my mind. Let's continue searching for the other groups. When I saw them in the vision, they were in pretty bad shape.

My throat tightened as I thought about what the others could be facing. I had escaped with a broken hand and numerous cuts and bruises, and that had been with the help of my spirits, Yukino and Natsu. Please, please don't let anyone die.

We continued to fly over the city, which was eerily empty. I was just about to make a remark to Natsu about that when he suddenly dove lower to the ground. I clung to his back tightly so as not to be thrown off. My protest died in my mouth as I saw what he had seen. Down below, gathered in a hole in the ground, was our original group.

As Natsu dove lower, I was able to make out some of the individuals. Ren and Sherry were…making out? Ultear and Gray were shaking hands, and Kagura appeared to be trapped in a web of ice vines. A little ways off, Millianna was lying unconscious with a smear of red across her forehead. And sweet Mavis, was that Rogue lying in an ice cage, the two Exceeds lying motionless on the ground beside him? Just what happened here?

As if in answer to my thoughts, Natsu spoke grimly to my mind, They were fighting amongst themselves. I think it was because of that woman.

I looked in the direction he'd mentally indicated. Sting was battling with a violet-haired woman in a black evening gown. Even from here, I could see the waves of hatred rising off of them both. There was also an aura of fear coming from the woman.

With a crash that shook the earth, Natsu landed on the edge of the crater and bellowed a roar. Everyone down below cried out in terror and surprise as they looked up and saw the giant red dragon perched above them, its wings still spread on either side of its body. I could only imagine the awe they must be feeling at seeing a living dragon. Especially Sting and Rogue. The latter had stood up and clasped the icy bars in his hands, a look of incredulity on his face. Sting's eyes widened as he looked up at us, his mouth falling open. Too late, I called a warning down to him.

"Sting, look out!" My cry was lost in the ferocious shriek that split the air as the dark mage lunged for him and drove a small stiletto into Sting's stomach.

The Dragonslayer staggered backwards in shock, one hand going to his stomach. The world seemed to stand still as he wrapped his hand around the hilt and yanked it out. I could only watch in horror as he turned and slammed the blade into the woman's chest. Her own eyes widened in shock as she looked down at the blade in her chest. The smugness faded from her face as she slowly fell backwards, crumpling into a heap on the ground. Then she was still.

Gray cried out and rushed to Sting's side. Rogue thrashed against the ice cage, yelling for Gray to let him out. Gray was too busy catching Sting as he fell to hear the other Dragonslayer. Ultear turned the enclosure into water, and Rogue threw himself at Sting. I could see the panic written plainly on his usually emotionless face as he grabbed Sting away from Gray and hoisted him into his arms. His eyes were feverish as they flicked up to Natsu, still perched on the ledge in shock. Rogue backed up a step, as though he were afraid of Natsu. It took me a moment to break through the haze of shock that had descended over me, but when I did, I realized that Rogue wasn't afraid; he distrusted Natsu because he didn't know it was him.

"Rogue!" I called down to him, leaning my head over Natsu's shoulder so they could get a better view of me. "It's alright! This is Natsu!" They all gaped up at me like I'd just sprouted a second head. Or maybe a fifth. Either way, I didn't have time to let them absorb the information I'd just chucked at them. "Natsu, down! Everyone, get on! We'll go take you to find Wendy and Chelia, and they'll heal Sting!"

Even before I'd finished speaking, the others had leapt into action. Natsu hopped into the pit, and it was suddenly much smaller than it had been before. Ren used his air magic to lift everyone onto Natsu's back, and the red dragon leaped up into the air again. Within seconds, we were soaring above the houses as they flashed by us. I dimly wondered if we'd even be able to see the others, traveling at this speed. However, I had much more pressing matters to deal with.

Rogue was cradling Sting in his lap, a terrified look etched into his face. His usually pale face was even paler than usual, and my heart went out to the Dragonslayer. Both of them. "Rogue, let me see."

He turned wary eyes to me, half-mad with grief and denial. For a moment, I thought he wouldn't let me come near his injured friend. Then, as I crawled closer with as soothing a face as I could manage, he reluctantly relaxed his hold on Sting to let me inspect the wound. I was by no means qualified to treat people's injuries, but at least I could help staunch the blood flow.

The wound wasn't very big, but it was deep. A dark crimson stain was already spreading across his whole abdomen, dripping onto Natsu's red scales. Sting's breathing was labored, his face ashen and waxy. As I took in his pallid complexion, I felt my own face drain of blood. Gingerly, I reached out to him and peeled the soaked shirt away from his stomach. It was heavy with all the blood it had absorbed, and I felt my stomach clench when I saw the bloody flesh beneath. A dark piece of fabric was shoved beneath my face then, and I started as I looked up at Rogue. He was shirtless now, offering me a strip he had ripped off of the material. I nodded my thanks and accepted the strip, before gently using it to wipe away as much of the blood as I could. Once the fabric could no longer hold any more blood, Rogue offered me another strip. Two more strips later, I finally deemed it good enough to begin wrapping it. Rogue had apparently already shredded the rest of his shirt, so I accepted the proffered pieces and began wrapping them around Sting's abdomen. A tiny groan of pain escaped his pale lips, and we both let out a sigh of relief. At least he was responding.

When Natsu began dipping a few seconds later, I peered over the edge of his side. My stomach plummeted further. Down below, I saw the group we'd been searching for. But they weren't alone. They were in a large, empty square that was filled with everyone else from the alliance. I could see several figures lying motionless on the ground, and splashes of scarlet were everywhere. And not thirty feet below us was a trio of mages battling in the air. I recognized Mira and Fried, but the third was a man with shaggy blond hair and a long white coat. Their movements were lightning-fast and precise; a deadly dance.

A sigh slid past my lips as I sat back and leaned my head back against Natsu's warm neck. At least we had rejoined the others. Now that we were all in one place, we stood a much greater chance of defeating the enemy. I still wasn't sure how many there were in all, but the fact that everyone had assembled here boded well, I decided. After all, we could finally join forces now and become more powerful, right?


Ooh, what do you think will happen now that they're all together? Are they out of the storm yet? Or just in the eye of the hurricane? Don't forget to leave a review (yes, on this part, too!), fave and follow! Until next time!