A/N: Man, I feel bad. It's been so long since I updated, and the chapter itself ended up being relatively short too. It's only one scene. I had two more I could have added that took place after this one, but I feel that it wouldn't have flown well with the chapter.
Good news however, the following chapter is 80% written. I should be able to make a double-release within this weekend!
Anyways, enjoy, even though its short!
If she died where she stood, she'd be reunited with Lucy in the afterlife. But there was no way she'd willingly take the easy way out. She could have killed herself years ago. Was she a coward? Maybe. But the reason she didn't take her own life was, well, there were two. The first was if an afterlife actually existed. Erza had no proof that she would be reunited with Lucy if she died. So why throw her life away if it turned out to be in vain? Of course, she was already dead inside the moment Lucy was gone from her life. The second was, if an afterlife existed, and she did in fact kill herself to be reunited with Lucy, the blonde would probably hate her for having taken such drastic measures. And Erza knew she never wanted to be hated by Lucy.
So, though her illness had returned, though her hair had reverted to its cursed white self, and though she could barely breathe, she shakily got up and prepared for her past self's attack. If Erza Knightwalker was going to die, she much preferred dying in battle. She however underestimated the speed at which her younger self attacked. Unable to prepare a defensive stance, she was kicked to the other side of the cave's room, her back roughly hitting a wall. As a result, she fell face first to the ground, coughing up a bit of blood.
A dangerous, venomous and vengeful voice could be heard walking towards her. "Get up. You have no right to die peacefully after what you've done."
"Erza! Erza please wait! Let her explain what's going on!" Lucy could be heard, begging, as she ran up to the two fighters.
"Explain? Any explanation she may have is irrelevant when she's the reason we had to suffer for so long."
That was it. That was the perfect opportunity. Erza Knightwalker absolutely hated using underhanded tactics. She was a knight! She fought straight on with pride and honour. But after the Grand Magic Games in her time, she had been forced to use many situations to her advantage. And this was one of them.
Using her spear as a crutch, she got up on shaky feet, smiling at her younger self. "That's the best way to deny your weakness, isn't it?"
This automatically grabbed the other's attention. Of course it would. She knew her past self better than her past self knew herself.
"Hah. There is no way Erza Knightwalker could be weak, is there? There is no way she'd blame herself. She'll always have to blame others. Kyouka's the reason you were cursed. Kyouka's the reason you were separated from Lucy. Isn't that right? It's not that you were too weak. Oh no. You were strong. Erza Knightwalker was strong. It was just that, oh I don't know. Maybe she was caught off guard. Maybe she was tag teamed. Maybe her enemy cheated. Whatever the situation, it was never her fault. She wasn't captured by Kyouka because she was weak. She was captured because Kyouka worked with Zeref and Sayla to set a trap for her. Isn't that right, Erza Knightwalker?" She smiled, red eyes glowing, as she fought her consciousness. She would not faint. Not here, not now. Not ever. Finally, she took in a deep breath, and swallowed.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you," rage shone in her younger self's eyes, as her spear changed forms, not having paid attention to what the other woman had done.
As she charged, her spear thrust forward, Lucy's eyes widened. The other Erza dropped her spear and mumbled something the blonde had only heard come out of Wendy.
"Ile Vernier. Ile Arms. Deus Corona."
Caught off-guard by the magic circles she'd seen, her younger self stammered, long enough for her to take advantage. Quickly ducking under the woman's spear, she rushed forward, landing a solid hit both to her stomach and her jaw at the same time. "Sleep for a bit, why don't you."
And sleep the woman did. Erza immediately lost consciousness, falling into her older self's arms. Just as Scarlet and Natsu jumped through the hole she'd made, her magic enchantments ran out. She was going to faint. Not a good thing when Kyouka was on her way.
"Lucy!" Natsu roared, making his way towards her. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
"You swallowed air, didn't you." Lucy spoke, more of a statement than a question, as the older Erza dropped the younger one to the floor. "How? And, those were abilities only Wendy can use. Erza, what the hell is going on?!"
"I get that you're upset, Lucy," she began speaking. It was obvious she was having difficulty breathing once again. "But I don't have the time to explain things to you. A demon is on her way to pick her up," she pointed to the sleeping Knightwalker. "If you don't want to lose her again, I suggest you make haste back to the guild."
What the hell was she doing? Was she actually helping her rival? In her defense though, she knew she'd messed up. Lucy now knew that she wasn't really her Erza, and after having tried to kill her past self, no one would really side with her.
She had no real choice did she? And that pissed her off. It seemed as though she never had a choice in the matter anymore.
"Why are you helping us?" Lucy spoke quietly, trying to assess the barely standing woman.
Erza wanted to laugh. She wanted to hold the blonde so badly. Apologize to her for lying. Tell her everything would work out. And it probably would...Just not with her.
"What kind of stupid question is that?" She walked over to Lucy and put a hand on her cheek. "I'm not doing this for your 'us'. I'm doing this for you. It's always been about you. Lucy, your happiness is all that matters to me. So in the end, even if I'm not the one at your side, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters."
The blonde placed her hand on top of the white haired mage's, eyes widening as the other woman's hair slowly returned to scarlet.
"You can lift this curse from her Lucy. If you really love her, as clichéd as this may sound, you have to do everything you can for her."
"Knightwalker!" Scarlet called out before she could say anything more, marching towards the two.
"I don't have time for a lecture, Scarlet. You need to get out of here. All four of you."
"And what's going to happen to you?" Her younger counterpart frowned.
Letting go of Lucy's cheek, she looked towards Scarlet, "Nothing."
"You know, I may not be good at spotting when you're lying, but I can tell you are now," the younger blonde whispered, grabbing the sick mage's hand.
Intertwining their fingers together, Erza looked at the celestial mage. "I'm sorry. I've done a lot of lying to you these past few days and that's certainly not how a lover should be acting."
Shaking her head, Lucy spoke, "Erza, I know you. That's why I know you never do something without reason. I'm kind of understanding what's going on here and why there are two of you, but I need you to tell me everything or I won't be able to help you."
"You foolish girl," she shook her head and leaned down, gently kissing the blonde. "There is no helping me anymore."
Clearly noting that Lucy had no intention of leaving any time soon, Erza decided on the only way to get them out of the cave. With force. Mustering up what she could of her magic, she directed it towards them in a powerful yet harmless roar.
"Erza? Wait! What are you- Erza!" But it was too late. All four bodies had been flung up from where she'd made the hole to jump down. That was all she could do though. Whether or not they made it back to the guild was up to them. She hoped however that they weren't dumb enough to go back into the cave. There was no way they could fight Kyouka in their current state.
Trying to breathe became impossible as she coughed out blood and fell to her knees.
"No way in hell am I dying here," she mumbled, trying to get back up, however it proved to be futile. Her consciousness slipped. Her last thoughts, as she saw very familiar bird-like feet in the darkness, were of how much she'd messed up both in the past and the future.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
I'll be back within the weekend for the next chapter to compensate for the shortness of this one!
I hope you enjoyed. R&R is appreciated.