Disclaimer: I don't own FT
"They're here," Mirajane announced, shifting into her Satan Soul takeover, preparing for battle.
A massive portal appeared above the town of Magnolia, bigger than any portal they had seen before. Demon minions seemed to rain from the sky, almost double the amount that had landed that fateful day in Hargeon. The members of Fairy Tail watched the scene with dread, unsure of how they were to defeat the threats when so heavily outnumbered.
"Finally attacking Magnolia..." Makarov commented calmly, knowing the guild was relying on his leadership. "Magnolia is our home. We must and we will protect it with our lives... until the very end!"
Everybody cheered, splitting off to meet the enemies and defend the town, each with the possibility of their own death in mind but fighting the urge to run. The end of the world potentially loomed, and its fate depended on the performance of one young woman, Erza Scarlet. She had been ordered to not fight in order to conserve her energy for her real battle, expecting to be transported to it at any moment. Natsu, Gajeel and Lucy stayed with her to ensure her safety until then.
"Erza," Lucy called, "promise me you won't give up, whatever happens."
Erza looked at the blonde with a smile, "I promise, Lucy."
They had no more time to speak, for then they were confronted by a sizeable group of demons. Lucy thrust her keys in the air, ready for action.
"Gate of the Archer! Gate of the Lion! Open!" She cried, two forms appearing soon after. They needed no explanation, setting off immediately to attack. Demons were cut through with ease, but Lucy knew it was the number, not the strength of them, that would cause real problems. She was unsure as to how long she could fight.
"You killed my brother-in-arms," A large demon said, his aura much more powerful than Rune's had been. Natsu scowled.
"Who are you?" He demanded, Gajeel next to him.
"I am Thanatos. Now you're going to die."
The two dragon slayers barely avoided a swing from the demon's scythe, which glowed with an aura matching its owner's. Thanatos suddenly appeared in front of Natsu, smashing him in the face with the pole of the weapon. Gajeel's punch was redirected towards the pink-haired boy, the force knocking all air from his lungs. Gajeel then found himself being picked up by his throat, thrown a considerable distance. Thanatos turned his attention to Erza, who was now open to attack, her assigned guardians preoccupied.
"If I kill you now, it saves Master Moros the hard work," He stated, swiftly flying at her, his scythe meeting her shield.
"You... things are despicable," Erza replied, slashing at him with her own sword, "I will destroy your leader!"
Thanatos jumped back, avoiding Natsu's flaming fist by disappearing completely. Reappearing behind him, he swung his scythe, the blade catching Natsu's shin. Blood erupted from the cut as he grunted in pain. Gajeel aimed an Iron Dragon's Roar at Thanatos, the tornado heading straight for the demon. Instead of hitting him, however, it hit Natsu.
"Gajeel...you... bastard!" Natsu shouted, getting to his feet.
"I redirect magic. It's more fun to watch prey kill each other," Thanatos said, again focusing his attention on Erza, "And I will not tolerate any blasphemy against Master Moros."
His scythe morphed into a spear, which he threw with deadly accuracy. As Erza watched it slice through the air, she found she could not lift her shield arm.
'He... he's controlling the armour!'
Without fully comprehending what was happening, she saw Lucy stand in the path of the spear. The tip ate through the flesh of her stomach easily, coming cleanly through her back. Erza caught the girl in her arms as she fell backwards, eyes clouding over.
"Lucy, stay with me," She urged, hand on Lucy's cheek. Blood trickled from the blonde's mouth.
"E-Erza... I..." Lucy managed, before her breath left her. Erza gripped her shoulders tightly, heart racing as she realised Lucy's no longer was. All the things she wanted to but could now never say passed through her mind, tears pooling in both eyes as sorrow ate at her stomach and chest. Her own body began to glow a blue colour, disappearing from the arena that Magnolia had become.
Natsu roared with fury.
"Lucy..." Erza whispered, falling to her knees in a large hall. It was old and crumbling, the pillars cracked. Mounds of rock and dirt piled up at the sides. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she looked up.
Moros was not what she expected.
A somewhat small weedy man stood at the other end of the hall. His face was gaunt, cheekbones prominent and with dark circles under his eyes. Stubble lined his thin jaw. His eyes were devoid of colour, just solid white circles set in a face of stone.
"Moros," Erza said, almost as a greeting, grief gripping her heart as she stood. The man simply watched her, shabby suit hanging from his frame.
"I don't want to be here," he said, "but my nature forces me to do things I do not want to."
"We aren't forced to do anything," Erza responded, voice hard as steel, "you kill because you enjoy it."
"No... you should have killed me properly the first time," he continued, closing his eyes.
"I don't care for your talking. You killed Lucy!" Erza raged, lifting her sword and charging at the man. He simply flicked his finger, sending her smashing through several pillars.
"I did not kill Lucy. Thanatos did. He brought me back, and I did not want to be brought back," Moros revealed, black tears streaming down his face, "but because you did not kill me properly last time, we were destined to meet again. Look how weak I am."
Erza ignored his ramblings, running at him once more, this time with the shield raised. This had the same result however, leaving her embedded in the wall. 'I thought this armour was supposed to protect me,' she thought to herself, 'yet I feel the pain of every blow.'
"Kill me properly, Lysander. Stand on your feet and kill me."
The Requip mage felt her body being removed from the wall and set on the ground. When she stood, Moros opened his eyes, looking directly into hers. She screamed as the bloodiest images of her past were played in front of her eyes. Then the scene changed to her friends, all dead and pointing the finger of blame at her. The scenes got progressively worse.
'It's just an illusion...' she rationalised, trying to pull herself out of it but unable to, 'think of something happy!'
She immediately thought of Lucy, but the image was contorted into her death, the look in her eyes haunting as her life ebbed away. She mumbled a 'why didn't you save me?' before more gruesome images appeared.
"Stop!" She begged, dropping her shield and sword, falling to her knees as the feeling of absolute fear snaked in her system. She wanted to scream and cry, feeling like a child facing a monster ten times its size.
Moros muttered, "Don't be weak."
He threw Erza's body around once more. This, combined with the illusions, was enough to make her feel on the edge of death. She struggled to breathe as she shuffled to her knees. Moros walked leisurely to her, gripping her face as he roughly turned her head to face him. His touch was the single most painful physical thing she had experienced, and she screamed in response.
"You cannot give up. Don't let this world fall, Lysander. I want you to win, but I can't just let you," he told, more tears falling. He threw her to the other end of the hall, reducing the great Titania to nothing but a toy.
Thanatos easily deflected Natsu's attack, retrieving his spear carelessly from Lucy's body. Gajeel hurtled towards him, only to have the spear smashed over his head. It morphed back into a scythe.
"You bastard!" Natsu shouted, attacks careless as his punches flew wildly, "How could you?!"
"Quite easily," Thanatos replied, slamming the heel of his palm into Natsu's nose with a crack, "but I did not mean to get her."
The dragon slayer stumbled backwards, head spinning as his nose throbbed. Rage filled his veins as he flew at Thanatos again, this time managing several hits in quick succession. Gajeel's arm transformed into a sword, the edges spinning as he too aimed an attack. The demon disappeared before it could hit, however, and he was hooked around the neck with the scythe. Natsu was smashed into the ground from a well-placed punch.
"We want this world for our own." Thanatos stated.
"Well you can't have it," Gajeel shot back, teeth snapping the blade of the scythe as he made quick work of eating it. Scales covered his body as he grinned, elbow flying back and landing a hit on the demon's face.
Meanwhile, Mirajane, Gray and Juvia were having trouble with the other significant enemy.
"W-who are you?" Gray asked, staggering forwards, avoiding stepping on Juvia's unconscious body.
Mirajane flew to the demon woman swiftly in her Halphas form, their forearms slamming together like two swords. Punches and kicks were exchanged equally, both blocking with no hits landing.
"Demon versus demon. Interesting." Emi commented, trying to blast Mira with a ball of dark energy at close range.
"Don't compare me to you." Mirajane spat, deflecting the magic with her own. She had heard Lucy had died, unable to control the despair pulsing within her.
"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray cried, the weapon in his hands as he fired at Emi. Emi allowed the ice to hit her, but was seemingly unaffected. She aimed a wave of magic at the Ice Make wizard, blasting him from his feet, he too unconscious.
Mirajane threw an attack at Emi, who had charged up her own. The two dark magical energies clashing together caused an enormous shock-wave, resulting in the destruction of the surrounding buildings. Mira was caught off-guard by a follow up blast, smashing into the ground with a crash. As she got to her feet, she was hit by a dark disc that sliced the skin of her stomach open. Flying in hot pursuit of the demon, her punches failed to inflict any damage. Emi appeared behind her.
"Hate is a powerful emotion. I can feel it in you." Emi stated, fist making hard contact with Mirajane's cheek. She was sent flying into a crumbling building.
"I don't hate anyone," Mirajane countered, immediately springing back from the attack. "Everybody has had some good in them. Even you people!"
Her Evil Explosion attack somehow landed a full hit on the demon, who staggered to her feet looking shocked.
"G-good?" She asked, smooth voice faltering, "I can't remember ever being good."
"Then I'll make you remember!" Mira vowed, large ball of dark energy narrowly missing its target. Emi seemed distracted, now struggling to keep up with the assault, haphazardly launching a counter-attack in Mirajane's direction.
"This world is built on fear," Emi proclaimed, "relive your worst memory and you will see."
Mirajane recognised the scene forced into her mind immediately. The day Lisanna died. She saw Elfman once again lose control and crush his sister, unable to master the full body take over. She choked up instantly, crying alongside her younger self and Elfman, seemingly lost in the memory, looking at Lisanna's innocent face. The blue eyes bored into her own, happy even as the light was draining from them.
"Lisanna..." she whispered, wiping her eyes as she began to glow, "I'll win for you!"
Focusing her energy, she charged a spell in her hands. She broke out of the scene, staring intently at her enemy who was clearly unsettled.
"This world is not built on fear," Mirajane spoke coolly, now in her Sitri form, "you are misguided if you think so."
"You came out of the memory," said Emi, shocked, "but how? Master Moros-"
"Fear is no match for the power of love," Mira interrupted, "you can show me the worst experiences I've had, but I will pull through all of them."
"The... power of love?"
"Because I keep loving!" the white-haired mage continued, "No matter what, I love my family in Fairy Tail!"
"I... I finally remember-"
"Soul Extinction!" Mirajane snarled, letting the attack loose. The black globe became a huge beam, encompassing Emi in a devastating blast of dark energy. Once the attack subsided, Emi was left broken and defeated on the ground. Mirajane landed next to her, taking heavy breaths as she reverted into her normal self.
"I remember. We were siblings," Emi told, gray skin glowing as it slowly turned to ash, tears falling down her cheeks. "Thanatos reawakened Moros, helping create his physical being, promising us protection with power. I never thought it was a good idea. I didn't want to, but I was tricked.
"We sold our souls for the power to strike fear into everyone, but every day, I myself, was afraid. We lost our identities to the powers. It was never worth it. I was never as powerful as my brothers, I suppose because I was never all for the idea, but I've killed so many people... even I was human once."
Mirajane sadly looked on as the woman finally disappeared into ash, glad that that battle was over. She walked to Gray and Juvia, who had awoken sometime during the fight and were gaping at her.
"And that's why I should never annoy you," Gray said, "You'll blow me to pieces."
"Of course not!" Mirajane laughed before becoming serious. "It's amazing what people will do for power, don't you think?"
"Lucy-san..." Wendy whispered, healing magic useless against the wound. Pantherlily had managed to carry the Celestial Spirit Mage through the streets of Magnolia to the Fairy Tail guild, where she was helping to heal the wounded members and Rune Knights.
Carla warned, "Don't push yourself, Wendy."
"I have to help her!" Wendy said, "She can't be dead."
Outside, they could hear the cries and agony of battle. The streets were awash with black and red blood alike, the clash between humans and demons fierce. Elfman had been one of the first casualties, having been hit by a poisoned arrow. Wendy had healed him, however, and he soon rushed back out to fight some more. Laxus and Gildarts were the two appointed to protect the guild building, and were doing a very good job. No demon had bothered Wendy as she worked.
"I wonder how Erza-san is doing," Wendy worried, knowing her and Lucy had been close. This steeled her resolve, and she swore to never give up.
"You're disappointing me," Moros whispered, Erza lying motionless in front of him. Her body was battered and bruised, psychological well-being almost at breaking point. Spitting blood from her mouth, she pushed herself into a sitting position.
"Why don't you want to be here?" she wheezed, clutching her arm. Blood poured liberally from her elbow.
"I am made of fear. It is all I feel. Tell me, would you like to feel it every second of your endless existence? That fool summoned me so early that I can't even control myself," he told. Erza looked up, gritting her teeth. Another illusion gripped her mind, this time showing her friends being tortured in various cruel ways, herself unable to protect them.
"S-stop..." Erza pleaded weakly. This earned her a kick in the face, bursting her lip wide open.
"Do not beg. It's unbecoming of you," Moros said, blasting her to the other end of the room. "Defeat me!"
As she sank against the wall, Erza did not know if she could hold on much longer. Nevertheless, she stood once more, weakly limping towards him as fast as she could. The illusion that invaded her mind this time was the most powerful. Snakes coiled around Lucy, crushing her body as she screamed, the sound of bones cracking sending shivers through her system.
"L-Lucy..." Erza whispered, reaching out to grab the snakes, only to find her hands were covered in blood and unable to move.
"She's dead because of your weakness," Moros taunted, breaking into the illusion. He put his hands on Erza's face, her cries of suffering filling the large space, the searing sensation biting through her skin.