Hey guys! Thank you so much for the feedback, it helped a lot with the development of the chapter! I wasn't as happy with this, but after about a week of just constant revision, I came to the point where I had to simply call it good enough. I'm sorry if this isn't as long or as high quality as I usually give you all, but I promise, next chapter will make up for this one's lacking.

Standing now alone together in the hallway, Ayrae's hair whipped out behind her as her magic began to expand, White Shadow across from her, drawing her knives and spinning them threateningly.

Shadow taunted, "Well come on, I don't need any delays in killing all of you Earthlanders. I've been pulled away from hunting Fairy Tail for the second time for this."

Ayrae growled, "Then I won't disappoint. Arc of Night!" She took half a second to relish in the amazing feeling of her power returning, sliding her fists into having her palms together as if in prayer, pointed at Shadow. "Pitch Black Cannon!"

The wide column of black energy tore through the air, Shadow diving to the edge of the hall to dodge the blast, running straight for Ayrae, throwing a dagger. Ayrae quickly sidestepped, casting, "Dark Claws!" Raising her hands defensively, holding a knife in each hand, deflecting the dagger away, not noticing that the knife she deflected it with was slowly dissolving.

Slashing outward at Shadow, Ayrae yelled as the dagger she'd held completely dissolved, Shadow's knife cutting the back of her hand. Her hand began to dissolve into flaking black specks, yet Ayrae backed away, hand over the wound. She growled, "So, you use knives and darkness. Maybe we're not so different."

Shadow's face stretched into an almost psychotic grin as she drew a new knife. "Ha! Me, like you? You're weak and feel concern for others. Though soon enough, you'll be a corpse!" Shadow dove forward again, slashing a knife through Ayrae's chest- but the blade dissolved as it passed through the girl.

Ayrae smiled, watching as her hand and chest repaired themselves, turning from flecks of darkness back into herself. "Well, one difference I've noticed- you can't turn into shadows."

Shadow's eyes widened, scowling as she backed away. "How?! How is Earthland magic like this?!" Despite the seeming panic in her eyes, her hand calmly and slowly reached behind her back, her fingers closing around the handle of a sword hilt, no blade to be seen.

Ayrae stepped forward, her body turning fully back to a solid state. "It's not because I'm from Earthland. My power is my determination."

Shadow suddenly stabbed at Ayrae with her second knife again, Ayrae not bothering to block, allowing the knife to dissolve her arm. Looking at Shadow with a slightly annoyed look, she asked, "And that was supposed to accomplish what?"

Yet Shadow grinned, eyes wide and mad. "It shows just how careless you are in your arrogance." Her right hand, gripping the empty hilt, lashed outward, a blade slowly extending, about the length of a short sword as it swung for Ayrae.

The blade left a deep cut across her upper arm where she had been reforming from shadows, destroying the particles that made up a portion of her arm. Had it extended to full length quickly enough, it would've cut her in half. Ayrae stepped away quickly, clutching her now bleeding arm. Confusion in her eyes, she looked at her wound and the sword with confusion. "How? How can you hurt me?!"

Shadow's grin only grew, holding up the gleaming silver sword, the tip red with blood. "Oh, this is a little toy I picked up while raiding the royal armory. Truly, Faust was foolish in allowing me to go down there alone. He might as well have told me to steal his magical weapons. But this little beauty has the ability to destroy anything it touches, regardless of what form it takes. So even if you turn to darkness again," Shadow stepped forward, chuckling. "You'll still be at my mercy!"

Shadow lunged, Ayrae forming a knife in her hand to block the attack, but the sword cut through this as well, her dark knife shattering into slivers of black energy, quickly dissipating. Ayrae yelled, "Arc of Night: Concentrated Blackout!"

A thin beam of shadows flooded from her hands, yet Shadow sliced through the attack, the energy disappearing. "You lose, Ayrae!"

Ayrae managed to slow the next swing of the sword by creating a shield, the blade cutting through the shadows easily.

Shadow slashed again, Ayrae desperately diving away as the Edolas girl yelled with passionate rage, "I'll always win! I always have!"

Ayrae ducked the next swing as Shadow roared, "I defeated the strongest captain the Royal Army ever had!" Another slash, tearing through the wall beside her as she overswung. "That Gildarts bastard never stood a chance against my skills as an assassin! That dumbass can never walk again!"

Ayrae glared at her, suddenly standing her ground long enough to form shadow knives, throwing them at Shadow. "You're nothing but a coward with a few tricks!"

Shadow quickly cut through the knives, grinning in such a way, Ayrae suddenly knew that this version of her was completely unhinged. "Oh? Well what does that make you?!" She raced forward, slashing in a wide arc as Ayrae turned to shadow, disappearing and reforming behind Shadow.

Ayrae retorted, "Someone willing to fight for her friends! Shadow Whip!" Lashing her hand outward in an arc, a string of black lashing out and wrapping around Shadow's arms, pinning her arms to her sides.

Shadow carefully held her sword, not wanting to touch herself. "Then you're as much of a fool as the rest of the Fairy Tail brats!" Her wrist flicked, the sword twitching and cutting the whip instantly. "Those dumbasses, especially Laxus." Smirking, she proudly lifted her sword. "Nothing could compare to the feeling of watching someone dissolve, piece by piece in front of you. I can't wait to do the same to your friends."

Ayrae's eyes opened, her eyes resting on the sword as the realization clicked fully in her mind.

This girl had killed Edolas Laxus, the Fairy Tail's guildmaster in this world.

Ayrae remembered him from her short time with the guild. She'd seen the aloof boy often, though he spoke little to her that wasn't scathing. But he had been Fairy Tail, like Gildarts was. Ayrae felt her magic swell with her anger, her fists tightening. Her voice low, she growled, "You shouldn't have threatened my friends."

Her fists clashed together, her mind racing for a plan, arriving on her best option. Palms together with fingers folded inward, she announced, "Blackness Rain!"

Streaks of shadow rained down on Shadow, the assassin attempting to slash through the small projectiles, but there were too many to block, several cutting across her body, slowing her and causing her to back away, scowling. "You'll pay in blood for this!"

Ayrae's glare became even more intense. "I'm afraid I'll have to make it an IOU. Arc of Night!" Shadow began charging at her doppelganger, sword ready, yelling a battle cry. "Shade's Rebellion!"

The shadows of both girls rose from the ground, becoming fully formed as the blade descended on Ayrae's head... Ayrae dissolved into darkness, having been her shadow. Shadow's eyes widened in surprise and confusion as Ayrae appeared behind her again, using her advantage to kick Shadow in the back, knocking her to her feet. Slamming her foot down on Shadow's hand that gripped her sword, the Edolas girl yelled in pain as her fingers groaned under the force.

Ayrae leaned over, quickly swiping up the sword and holding its point to Shadow's neck. "I told you. This wasn't going to take long."

Shadow looked up at Ayrae with absolute horror and fear, sitting up slowly and attempting to crawl away. Ayrae however, held the sword closer, Shadow immediately freezing for fear of death. Shadow spat with loathing, "Well? Do it, if you have the guts."

Ayrae responded coolly, "I'm not a murderer."

Shadow laughed again. "Oh, other me. You don't seem to get it." She looked up at Ayrae with a sly, devilish grin. "We're different, but we're very much the same." She rapidly pushed to her feet, Ayrae swinging at her- the blade hitting Shadow's gauntlets. Wrists crossed, the blade caught between them in an X, the two pushed against each other. Shadow giggled madly, taunting, "I knew that these would come in handy! Oh, I'm sooo glad I raided the royal armory! Apparently, these are immune to other magics."

Ayrae growled, "We're nothing alike. I'm not a coward, like you!"

Shadow scoffed. "Oh please. I can see it in your eyes!" Shoving her arms forward, she managed to force Ayrae to step back, drawing another knife and slashing at Ayrae's exposed chest, Ayrae managing to guard with the sword, but she hadn't handled a weapon like this. Her knives were all the weapons she'd ever used. Shadow backed away, casting the worthless knife hilt away, grinning. "You've been running your whole life. You're terrified of what could happen if you stay still, of if you grow close to someone and you are hurt!"

"Shut up and fight me!" Ayrae scowled, charging Shadow again, slashing wildly, no precision to her blows, Shadow easily blocking one after another with her blood red gauntlets, grinning. She was gaining an advantage.

The Edolas girl taunted, "You're afraid of what you've seen, but that's not the fear that drives you! No, what pushes you to run and run and run from everything in your life is fear of yourself!"

Ayrae's hands shook for a moment, her anger expanding further. She couldn't waste time holding onto the sword just to keep it out of Shadow's hands. Throwing it up, she created a knife and slashed through the hilt, making it impossible to hold anything but the blade. Ayrae hissed, "You're a liar."

Shadow cackled. "Usually, but now... Oh, it's hilarious to see you! We're the same, girlie. The only difference is that I decided to embrace my power, my ambition. You still insist that you're a good person, that you want to help others. I embrace that I- we- are a horrible person." Her grin turned wild and dark. "That's what gives me strength."

Ayrae narrowed her eyes. "My strength is my friends, something obviously beyond your comprehension!"

"Then my victory is assured!"

The two charged yet again, Shadow pulling two small balls from her belt in one hand, a new knife in the other. Ayrae turned to shadow as her knife slashed, forming back to attack as Shadow threw the two balls. Ayrae reforming just as they touched her side, the balls exploded, sending her flying through the stone wall, their hallway having been on the same level as the plaza she now tumbled across. Most of the soldiers had run in panic, those remaining rushing toward the Earthlander.

Shadow stepped through the hole in the wall calmly, grinning at the other girl. "Looks like I'm claiming the win."

Ayrae, panting and teeth grit, hissed, "Not... Yet..." Pushing to her feet, she swayed for a moment before hitting her fists together. "Arc of Night: Night's Embrace!" She slammed one fist down on the cobblestones, a fifty foot dome of pure darkness rising with her in its center. Inside, it was complete darkness, blinding anyone inside. The soldiers balked from the outside, backing away from the massive sphere of shadows. Shadow, however, dove in without hesitation, no resistance in entering.

Her first mistake.

Ayrae, still able to see, quietly beginning her attack. "Concentrated Blackout." The thin beam of shadows was completely invisible in the dome, Shadow unable to dodge what she couldn't predict. The blast hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her to the ground, yelling in pain.

Ayrae ordered angrily, "Give up! You can't beat me!"

Shadow's groans of pain started morphing into gasping giggling. "Y-You can't beat me... I'm invincible!"

Ayrae stood over her, looking at her with new understanding. "You're completely insane."

Shadow's laughter increased, echoing across the now nearly empty plaza. "Insane? No no no! I'm..." She cackled. "I guess I am insane!"

Ayrae growled, "You're nothing but a mad animal, pretending to be a person." She allowed the dome to fall apart, the spell fading. Ayrae stood over Shadow, the spell she had prepared now gone. "I won't kill you- maybe there's still some human left in you."

Shadow's smile turned to a confused frown. "And why would you allow an enemy to live?"

Ayrae turned away, simply saying, "Because no one truly deserves to die. Something like that is permanent."

Shadow slowly sat up, clutching at her chest, staring after Ayrae in wonder for a moment before reaching into her belt, pulling out her final knife, throwing the knife at Ayrae's back.

The Earthlander whirled, expecting something like this, quickly raising a shield. The knife deflecting and hitting Shadow's hand, dissolving it.

Shadow yelping in horror of her hand as a blast sprung from Ayrae's palm, destroying the discarded hilt, eliminating the chance of repairing the wound. She shortly said, "But you can live with the consequences of your mistake to test my generosity."

Shadow, holding her stump of a wrist, glared at Ayrae as the other girl walked off, roaring at the top of her lungs, "Curse you and your world, Earthlander!"

Ayrae paid her no heed. She had defended her friends... now, she had to find them again, protect them.

After all, she had two more days of working for the guild.