AN: So here we are with the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it. There have already been some major divergences form canon so far, but this chapter pretty much shoots some of the future canon things in the foot. So I hope you are ready for that.
This chapter was a lot of fun to write so I hope you all enjoy it and leave a comment and a review after. Also I was surprised to find out that this is now the highest rated story in the Percy Jackson/ Fairy Tail crossover section, so I would like to thank everyone for all of their support.
This chapter is longer than normal and will have a bit of action in which is quite common for chapters that finish arcs, but despite this there will also be some development going so keep your eye out for that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Percy Jackson.
( - )
(Last Time)
Brain's face contorted in rage as he heard what Angel said, his anger only growing as he felt one of the black seals on his skin disappearing, signaling that Angel had deliberately broken her link to him. He had honestly believed that none of the Oración Seis members would be brave enough, or stupid enough to leave. It appeared he had been mistake.
Angel's decision was an annoyance, it certainly made the task of eradicating the remaining Light Wizards that much harder, even with Nirvana and the few remaining Dark Guilds that were still in the Woodsea Forest at his disposal. This was why Brain gave himself a mental note to track down Angel after he dealt with the nuisances, and when he did he would make her suffer for her betrayal before he killed her.
Brain's vengeful thoughts were soon cut off however, as he felt two powerful magic users approaching, somehow the pests had already boarded the mobile city without his knowledge. Widening his eyes in surprise, Brain's grip on his staff tightened even as a sneer crossed his face. It appeared that two of the Alliances number had saved him the time of tracking them down.
Turning around to face the two who were approaching him, Brain grit his teeth in irritation as he saw that the two consisted of the Wizard Saint, Jura Neekis, and the God of Fairies, Perseus. Maybe this would be harder than he thought.
( - )
Chapter 7
( - )
(With Lucy and Erza in the Woodsea Forest)
It had been nearly fifteen minutes since Lucy and Erza had parted ways with the others, and during that time the two of them had passed through nearly a mile of dense woodland as they attempted to track down Jellal. Unfortunately though things were not going well, neither Lucy nor Erza had the senses that Natsu was blessed with and so were finding tracking down the illusive Dark Wizard difficult.
Pausing for a second to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow, Lucy came to a brief stop on an outcropping of rock, taking deep breathes of air as she surveyed her surroundings.
"Erza look over there!" Lucy shouted her eyes wide as she saw an explosion of fire a few hundred metres away, the fire just being visible over the tops of the surrounding trees.
Coming to a halt Erza turned to look at Lucy, before turning on her heel to look in the same direction the blonde was. Erza's eyes widened as she saw another burst of fire appear above the tree tops, she only knew one wizard in this forest who was capable of that.
"Natsu" Erza muttered to herself, before she twisted her head to look in the direction she had been running, trying to stare deeper into the Woodsea Forest, looking for any trace of where Jellal could be.
"Come on Erza, he could be in trouble, we have to go and help him." Lucy shouted as she began to jog in the direction of the fiery explosions, her concerns for Natsu outweighing everything else. Lucy had barely made it a few steps before she realised that Erza wasn't following her.
Turning back around Lucy saw that the red haired mage had an uncertain look on her face. This alone was enough of a reason to make Lucy stop moving. Although she had only known Erza for a couple of months, Lucy knew enough about her to know that, that look just didn't look natural on Erza's stern and beautiful face.
In all the time Lucy had known the powerful S-Class wizard, she never once had been indecisive; in fact she walked with a confidence that inspired all those around her. Even when it turns out she made the wrong decision, Erza never faltered, she just forged on making the best of what she had.
So to see her frozen, looking backwards and forwards from where Natsu was fighting to the dark trees behind her was unnerving for Lucy.
"Erza?" Lucy said as she gave Erza a cautious and questioning look.
Hearing Lucy's voice Erza snapped herself out of it. Previously she had been thinking on whether she should rush to Natsu, her friend's, aid, or whether she should continue her search for Jellal. Turning on her heel, Erza started running, passing Lucy as she headed for where Natsu was clearly fighting, cursing herself as she did for even entertaining the idea of choosing her vengeance over helping her friend.
"Come on Lucy." Erza shouted as she now led the way, her blade at the ready and a deadly look of concentration on her face.
"That's what I said before!" Lucy shouted after Erza, as she ran to keep up. "Wait for me!"
( - )
(With Percy and Jura on the King's Summit)
Percy slowly ascended the steps that led to the apex of the tall tower that dominated Nirvana, the Wizard Saint Jura Neekis at his side.
As the two of them walked up the steep, stone staircase, both of them kept a wary eye out for any potential traps that might have been set; you never could know when you are dealing with ancient weapons and insane Dark Wizards after all.
It hadn't taken the two of them long to come to the conclusion that Brain was most likely stood at the top of this tower, the massive influx of power they could sense swirling around it was enough evidence of that, it felt as if all the power Nirvana was absorbing from the ground was travelling to this power before it was being diverted to the legs, weaponry and whatever else it powered.
"Remember Jura; be careful when dealing with Brain." Percy said as he gave his companion a sideways glance. It might be stating the obvious, but Percy still thought that it needed to be said. Brain after all was a relative unknown, his magic and his motives were a mystery, as too was his power levels and state of mind. In fact all they did know about him was that he was once the head of a Magic Council funded Magical Researchers Laboratory, and that he knew a multitude of different magic's, which meant they had no idea which ones he specialized in. This was not a lot to go off of.
Finally reaching the top of the tower, the King's Summit, both Jura and Percy saw the cloaked figure of Brain standing across from them. A dark scowl on his face as he turned to face the two of them, his skull headed staff still in his hand, as he slammed the end of the staff on the paved stone floor of the tower.
"So the two of you are foolish enough to think you can stop me!?" Brain said his irritation bleeding out into his voice as he glared the two of them down, his grip on his staff tightening and his body beginning to gain a toxic green glow to it as the man drew on his vast reserves of magic. The floor at his feet began to tremble at this, as his flaring green magic then gained flecks of black in it as his staff also began to glow with magical power.
Neither Jura nor Percy flinched as they felt Brain's potent and vile magic crash over them like a wave. The man before them was clearly powerful, but both of them had faced stronger.
Shifting his left hand so that it now idly rested on the hilt of Backbiter, Percy began to draw on his own immense power. The ground at his feet cracking as a mixture of green and silver energy began roll off his body, the air becoming denser, almost insufferably so as both Brain's and Percy's power began to push against each other.
As Percy released drew on his power, dark clouds began to appear overhead, the wind around them picking up and forked lightning beginning to dance across the sky. A true storm had begun to develop above their heads as a number of localized earthquakes, centered on Percy, rocked the structure of Nirvana, collapsing buildings and causing cracks to appear all over the ancient city's structure.
Not one to back down Jura also called on his own magical power, using it like the other two had as a weapon of intimidation, orange energy quickly surrounded Jura's hulking body, the ground shaking even more as the floor at his feet shattered, and the stairs behind him and Percy began to crumble away, large crack beginning to appear up and down the tower as the pressure on it became even greater.
This is what it was like when three Wizard Saint and above level mages faced off. It was why the Magic Council heavily frowned upon any fighting taking place between their Wizard Saints; such a fight could level cities, shatter mountains and wipe out anything that got in their way. .
Unblinking in the face of his two opponent's power, the only sign of Brain's unease was that his grip on his staff became even tighter.
The three powerful warrior's tense standoff was broken by the deafening sound of collapsing rock as parts of the city began to break off and fall into the dense forest below, the large chunks of the city having been shaken loose by the earthquakes that racked Nirvana's structure. Dozens of ruined houses fell off of Nirvana as the edges began to break away, the metal supports that once held them in place being warped by the destruction the three wizards caused y just flaring their respective power.
Brains' eyes widened as he saw this, if things kept up Nirvana could be destroyed. The loss of the city was no big thing; the city was not Nirvana the metal structure that it was built on was. A metal structure that was powered by four large lacrima, which used Nirvana's massive legs to absorb the power from the ground, which in turn was used to power Nirvana's movements, its weaponry and also fix any damage done to the lacrimas. The machine was supposed to be all but indestructible; though obviously the creators had not though that the frame itself would be destroyed, this would make Nirvana useless if it was shaken to pieces.
"Enough!" Brain said loudly as he drew on his magic and sent a blast of green and black magic energy from his staff. A powerful jet of dark magic exploded from Brain's staff, heading straight for Jura, who blinked in surprise at the sudden attack. Acting quickly Jura flicked his hands through the air, raising three pillars of stone in front of him. With a loud shattering sound Brain's magic tore through all three pillars, the raging bolt of black and green energy taking on the form of some kind of snarling animal as it went to strike the Wizard Saint.
Slamming his right foot on the ground in front of him, Jura then slammed his fists together in front of his chest. The ground at his feet exploded upwards as he did this, forming two massive stone fists that slammed together in front of Jura, and succeeded in blocking Brain's spell, though the strain of blocking the attack caused the two structures to crumble to pieces.
Scowling Percy whipped his right hand forward; causing twelve large, sickle shaped blades of water to form in front of him, as Percy took advantage of the building storm he had created overhead and the increased amount of moisture in the air. Flicking his hand forwards, Percy sent all dozen of the blades of water flying at Brain.
Percy then followed this up summoning up a powerful gust of wind and sending it too at Brain, the aim being that his wind attack would give extra force to his blades of condensed water, as well as knock Brain off guard before the water blades struck.
Controlling the wind did not come as naturally to Percy as controlling the water and earth did, but he was still capable of it as things like wind and lightning were loosely covered by his father, Poseidon's, domain over Storms. It had taken a lot of practice over a number of years but he had gained a good grasp on controlling lightning and wind, almost on a par with a child of Zeus. Even so he generally stuck to controlling water, as Hydrokinesis felt more natural to him and was easily his strongest element, especially when it came to controlling water from the sea.
Brain seeing the attacks coming raised his staff, Klodoa, and channeled his magic into the sphere that was locked in jaws of the skull on the end of his staff. The sphere began to glow brightly with magic energy before the magic expanded outwards in the form of a three hundred and sixty degree defensive dome of roiling green and black energy. It was a defensive shield that was more than up to the task of protecting him from even the most powerful of attacks.
A number of large watery explosion erupted as first the wind struck the shield, only to be followed by the twelve blades of water, each of which struck Brain's barrier and dispersed, unable to cut through his defenses.
Letting out a grunt, Jura thrust both of his fists forward. Two stones fists, oversized replicas of his own, exploded from the earth and shot towards Brain. In response Brain just turned his bored gaze to Jura, as the fists collided with Brain's shield and exploded in a cloud of broken rock and rubble.
Seeing a pause in his opponent's attacks, Brain condensed the powerful dome of energy around him into a tight sphere of toxic green power.
"Dark Rondo!" Brain said grimlyusing his staff to aim the spell at Percy, sending a spiral-shaped beam of potent green magic at the green eyed wizard.
Percy swiped his hand through the air in response, creating a condensed shield of solidified water which absorbed the energy of the spell, before it exploded. Flicking his right hand again, Percy molded the remains of his shield into spears of ice before he sent more than fifty of the sharp, two foot long, two inch thick spears of ice at Brain.
Following this up Percy caused the water around Brain to become denser, restricting the man's movements and causing him to choke as a large sphere of water began to form around him.
Brain let out a gasp as he felt the restricting grasp of the air around him, letting out another explosion of magic from his staff, Brain threw up another dome of potent green energy to shield him, blocking the spears of ice that bombarded him and the grasping, clawing feel of the air around him. A bead of sweat began to drip down Brain's face as he saw large cracks begin to form on his shield, as the ice spears continued to rain down upon him. The spears were soon followed by pillars and spikes of earth erupting from the ground and slamming into his defences, courtesy of Jura. Great geysers of water also began to explode from the ground at Perseus's feet and began striking his defenses, joining Jura's continual bombardment of powerful earthen attacks.
Things were not going like Brain had hoped, in his own mind he knew he would be able to deal with each of these men individually, but together though, together they were forcing him almost entirely on the defensive, not giving him a chance to strike back as any attempt at doing so would leave him undefended for moment, which is all they would need to hit him.
"Brain, the defenses are giving way." Klodoa, the skull on the end of Brain's staff said, as it turned to look at Brain with its empty sockets. "We need to act now!"
A twinge of annoyance crept across Brain's face as he heard that. Klodoa was a powerful magical tool; he was a former Nirvit, one of the creators of Nirvana and had been the only member of his tribe who had not wanted to seal Nirvana away for the safety of the world; instead he had wanted to use the powerful weapon they had created. Use it to purge the world of darkness and set him and his tribe up as the defacto leaders of the new world order. For his sins he had been banished from the tribe.
Later he had delved into many dark and forbidden magic's, going as far as to bind his own soul to his skull in order to escape death. Brain had come across the artifact during his time working for the Council and had since learned what he could from it about Nirvana, taking the skull with him and creating his staff. A staff that when used in combat wielded both Brain's formidable magic as well as Klodoa's own, meaning that whilst using this staff Brain was twice as powerful as he usually would be.
"I am aware Klodoa!" Brain replied in irritation, more sweat trickling down his face as he once again used both his and Klodoa's magic to block another bombardment from the two powerful wizards he was facing.
"A suggestion then Brain, we are connected to Nirvana. As such we are connected to the power it is absorbing from the ground and where it is distributed. Tap into that power, use it to crush these insects." Klodoa said harshly, as Brain sent another pulse of magic through the staff, reinforcing the shield and causing some of the cracks to fade away.
"That amount of magic will kill me." Brain replied before his eyes widened as the dark clouds above his head began to form into a large fist, lighting crackling across the surface as it exploded from the heavens, rapidly descending on his position.
Letting shout, Brain lifted his staff higher as he reinforced his protections. His eyes flicking toward Perseus as he did, annoyed to see the wizard wasn't showing the slightest strain as he casually stood across from him, one hand resting on the pommel of his sword the other casually manipulating the very weather itself with frustrating ease.
The thunderous fist struck the shield and exploded tearing the ground around Brain to pieces as storm force winds buffeted his shield and lighting raced across it. Even more cracks formed this time, and Brain was forced to one knee as he had to use even more of his and Klodoa's combined magical power to keep the defenses strong. He had reached the end and he knew it. If Brain released his shield and tried to attack the two of them he would be killed before he had a chance to attack, the assault on his shield was coming in thick and fast and one slip would spell his end. However if he didn't try to fight back they would break through his shield and kill him, already he could feel his reserves rapidly depleting. Brain knew he was expending more energy shielding than his attackers were expending whilst assaulting his shield. If it came to a battle of attrition he knew he would lose.
"Do it! It is our only hope! Take Nirvana's power, and expend it as fast as you can, don't allow it to build up and you will be fine." Klodoa snapped as great fists of rock began to smash against the dome and powerful lances of water struck the swirling green and black shield only to glance off, each one leaving a crack in their defenses. "We are running out of time!"
Throwing caution to the wind Brain began to draw on the massive reserves of magic that powered Nirvana, causing the structure to stop moving entirely as he redirected its power into him. Already Brain could feel every nerve in his body burning as massive quantities of magic began to flow through him.
Unfortunately for Brain though, the concentration he needed to draw on Nirvana's energy meant that his defenses were lessened. So much so that a large fist of stone broke through his barrier and struck him. Sending him flying across the King's Summit and through a nearby pillar, three of his ribs now broken and his collar bone shattered, as he collapsed to the stone floor his staff Klodoa clattering to the floor shouting and cursing as Brain was no longer held the staff.
Moving as one both Jura and Percy went to take advantage of that. Jura already using his 'Earth Magic' to create a half dozen more, large fists of rock which shot towards the collapsed Brain. Percy also tried to take advantage, manipulating the ground around Brain, making it take on a liquid like state as it tried to drag his arms and legs beneath the earth, trapping him.
Both Percy and Jura were taken by surprise however as a sudden explosion of magic surrounded Brian's fallen and broken body. Shattering Jura's stone fists and tearing the earth around him into shreds. The sickening sound of bones cracking could then be heard as Brain's injuries began to rapidly regenerate. The man himself also began to get to his feet, his power levels much greater than before as he pushed himself up, before he turned to face a surprised looking Jura and Percy.
There surprise was due to the fact that the man they now faced looked completely different. His previously dark skin had turned an almost ghostly white colour, and his dull red eyes had become a burning crimson colour with sickly yellow irises. More disturbing however was the sickeningly, sadistic grin that was now present on the man's previously stoic face, a face that was now missing its last black seal, as whatever it was that that seal, sealed, was now released.
In the silence that followed the emergence of this new person, a person who stood where Brain had previously stood, wearing the clothes that Brain had previously worn. The reedy voice of Klodoa could be heard echoing around the King's Summit.
"Well shit it looks like you have awoken Master Zero!"
( - )
(With Gray on the Christina)
"So that's what happened…" Gray said summarizing the events that had led to them where they were now, a pained expression on his face as he felt Wendy using her 'Sky Dragon Magic' on him to heal his extensive, though nonlife threatening wounds.
The blue haired dragon slayer was already looking tired, this was not surprising considering how much magic she had expended healing Gray, Lyon and Eve.
The group led by Icihya had boarded the Christina not long ago, Hibiki having been able to connect to Gray's mind using his 'Telepahy Magic', no doubt due to the proximity of him and his group to the Christina as they waited under the trees near to where the airship floated listlessly in the air.
After having gotten in contact with the ice wizard, Hibiki had talked him through how to release the lacrima shields; this had then allowed Happy and Carla the opportunity to lift Wendy, Ichiya, Hibiki and Sherry up onto the Christina one at a time. Much to Carla's displeasure as she made nasty comments to the other wizards about them using her like a flying taxi.
Carla had soon shut up however when the group had seen the destruction on the decks of Christina. Dozens of Dark Wizards were lying around the deck most of them badly injured. They for the most part had been ignored, with Sherry having been told to make sure they were restrained for the moment. Which is what she had done, using liberal use of her 'Doll Magic' to mold the deck of the Christina into a large cage in which the Dark Wizards could be imprisoned for the time being. It was not a permanent solution but it was the best they could do at the moment.
Whilst Sherry was doing that the others had gone to the front of the ship where they had found the badly injured bodies of Gray, Lyon and Eve, with Eve still being unconscious and barely clinging onto life after having been attacked by Angel. Wendy had soon gotten to work on stabilizing Eve's injuries, a task that had been made difficult as a raging and inconsolable Hibiki had had to be put into an enforced slumber by Ichiya and his pafrum, after the young wizard he had seen the fate of his fellow Trimens. It had been a difficult thing for all of them to bear, but Hibiki and Ichiya had been hit worse, after all as members of Blue Pegasus they had known Ren and Eve best.
Ichiya himself had been very quiet since he had gotten on the Christina; in fact he had been acting very somber since he had first seen the dead body of Ren, having carefully arranging his limbs and placed his jacket over the young man's face. Since then the parfum wizard had been standing over the body, staring down at it, a glazed look in his eyes. The unconscious Hibiki meanwhile had been laid against the wall of Christina, alongside the badly injured Gray and Lyon.
Despite his silence however, he had been listening in to the events that had happened on the Christina as Gray recounted them for Wendy, the newly arrived Sherry, Happy and Carla.
"So she just left?" Wendy said in confusion, her brow damp with sweat as she continued to use her 'Sky Magic' to heal Gray, Eve and Lyon's most grievous injuries. Lyon and Eve were by far the worst off; both of them very pale, having been barely clinging to life when the others arrived.
Both of them were now unconscious, with Sherry cushioning Lyon's heads on her lap as she gently caressed his face, tears welling up in her eyes as she saw the magnitude of his wounds.
Eve meanwhile was lying next to Hibiki, his breathing steady and his injuries wrapped up in bandages form the Christina's onboard medical kit.
"Yeah, she must have been speaking to someone with 'Telepathy Magic', because one moment she was about to finish us off, the next she just turned around, removed her Guild mark and wished us good luck before she left." Gray said a note of confusion in his voice.
"We will catch up with the murderess later" Ichiya finally spoke up, the man having been quietly listening to Gray's account as he stood watch over the members of his Guild. "For now we must find our comrades. Erza, Natsu and Lucy who are alone in the Forest, we must find them before any harm befalls them."
"What about Nirvana?" Wendy asked her eyes wide as she looked in the direction of the colossal mobile city, her brown eyes widening even further as she saw the dark and ominous clouds that had gathered above the city. Just a few minutes ago all of the people onboard the Christina had felt the massive amounts of magic building up from somewhere on Nirvana. It hadn't taken Wendy long to realise that it was likely from the ongoing fight between Perseus, Brain and Jura.
Hearing that Ichiya looked away from Ren's body and instead gave Nirvana a dark glance, watching as a large part of the city collapsed in on itself before it slide off of the massive construct. What followed next was even more surprising as the thunderous dark clouds above Nirvana took the form of a clenched fist, before it slammed down onto top of a large tower that dominated the now all but ruined city.
Turning to look at Wendy, Ichiya replied. "Somehow I doubt we will be much use as we are now. No, it is best that we track down the others. Later if it looks like Perseus and Jura have failed… we will use Christina's Jupiter Cannon to destroy the tower in the centre of Nirvana, which will hopefully put an end to it."
"But what about Percy!?" Wendy shouted in reply, her eyes wide as she stood up and faced Ichiya her face showing a mixture of worry and stubbornness as she faced the squat Blue Pegasus wizard.
Ichiya's expression softened as he looked down at Wendy. Before a slight sigh left his lips "Perseus is a very powerful wizard; he is not called the God of Fairies for nothing. I have no doubt that he and Jura will prevail, but for now I think it is more important for us to find everyone else. We have already lost too much; I don't want us to lose anyone else." Ichiya replied as a pained expression crossing his face, and his eyes flickering back to Ren's body.
Any retort died on Wendy's lips as she saw that, before with a quiet nod she turned around and continued to work on healing the other's wounds.
( - )
(With Erza and Lucy in the Woodsea Forest)
Following the explosions of fire and sounds of fighting, Erza and Lucy soon exited the tree line, avoiding burning branches and collapsing charred trees as a fire began to slowly spread from where Natsu was fighting to the rest of the forest. This was concerning to both Lucy and Erza, because the last thing they wanted was for there to be a forest fire.
Heading into the clearing, passing the burning trees, and large craters that dotted the landscape. Erza led the way as she moved to put an end to whatever fight Natsu was involved in as soon as possible.
She was however completely shocked when she saw who it was Natsu was fighting. So much so she dropped her sword on the ground, causing a small cloud of ash rise up. Lucy too was completely surprised, so much so she let out a high pitched "Eep" as she followed Erza into the clearing.
Their surprise was warranted as there, standing in the middle of the burning clearing was Natsu. The pink haired dragon slayer was covered in bruises and cuts, with a trickle of blood streaming out of his mouth as he barely kept himself standing, large gasps of breath leaving him as he stared angrily at his foe.
Standing across from Natsu was Jellal. The blue haired wizard looked in an only slightly better state. The left side of Jellal's face was covered in ugly looking, bright red, burned skin, and the hair on that side of his face was also quite charred and patchy. He had also other burns on his body, primarily on his arms and hands.
"Jellal!" Erza growled as her eyes narrowed in on Jellal.
Her body quickly took on a golden glow as she re-equipped out of her 'Black Wing Armour', the revealing, black metal plate armour disappearing in a burst of golden light as she instead donned one of her most powerful and deadly armours, her 'Purgatory Armour'. This armour was a thick set of black, spiked armour, which completely covered up her entire body save for her head. Looking down Erza scooped up the black bladed sword from her 'Black Wing Armour' and held it at the ready, her gaze fixed squarely on Jellal.
Turning as he heard his name being called out, an ugly expression crossed Jellal's face as he saw the armoured red head in front of him. Images quickly flashed through his mind, showing him fighting this woman, showing him trying to turn her into a sacrifice only for her to escape and ruin his plans. Jellal knew the woman's names, he knew he did, but for some reason he couldn't quite remember it. What he did remember however was that she had been there, along with Natsu, she had been there when he had lost, when he had been defeated, she was just as too blame for his current condition as Natsu was.
"Meteor!" Jellal shouted as he turned and shot towards Erza, his body covered in his golden magic as he raced towards where she was.
Darting forwards Erza threw caution to the wind as she slashed at Jellal with her blade, releasing a crescent shaped arc of magic as she did so.
A snarl appeared on Jellal's face as he dodged the sword strike, the crescent of energy instead striking the ground, creating a twelve foot long and three foot deep gouge in the earth. Ignoring that Jellal took to the air, skillfully using his speed and maneuverability to dodge all of Erza's attacks as he did so.
"Erza!" Natsu shouted out, spitting out some blood as he did so. "Be careful, he is insane!"
Jellal soon crashed back to the ground, leaping lightly on his feet as he got under Erza's guard and slammed her onto the ground a few seconds later, a cruel smile now on his face as he sent her staggering back a half dozen steps.
"Grand Chariot." Jellal said, muttering the name of his spell under his breath.
Erza's eyes widened as she heard that, before she quickly looked overhead. A bright white magic circle appeared over her head, the circle shining brightly as six more magical circles appeared following some kind of pattern the Jellal had drawn in the air. The clearing was shining with bright light as the spell took effect. Erza barely had a chance to move, before the circle exploded, showering the area beneath them in golden magic that tore up the earth and destroyed anything it touched.
Erza was for the most part unaffected though as she charged forward, trusting in her thick armour to protect her from the worst of the spell as she instead closed in on a surprised looking Jellal. Behind her a massive crater could be seen in the ground, one which Erza had avoided being in the centre of due to her rapid reaction time.
"Not bad but as you are now you do not stand a chance against me!" Jellal stated matter-of-factly, his form once again glowing with golden magic.
Erza readied her blade in front of her as she charged, prepared for another attack, but her opponent had already moved, golden magic trailing behind him as he flew through the air. Following the trail of golden magic, Erza twisted around just in time to see Jellal appear directly behind her, his foot raised and a vicious look on his face as he sent a kick directly into her armoured chest, forcing her to be launched backwards and lose her balance.
Not stopping for a second the blue haired man used his incredible speed, courtesy of his magic, to appear in front of the still stumbling form of his former comrade a smirk on his face as he lashed out with his fists and began to deliver multiple blows.
Slamming her hands on the ground behind her, Erza heaved herself up and unleashed a two footed kick into Jellal's abdomen, sending him staggering backwards. Pushing herself back to her feet, Erza knew that she would have probably been nursing a couple of cracked ribs had it not been for her armour.
"Get away from her!" Natsu a shouted defiantly as he once again entered the fight, the fire dragon slayer shot towards the blue haired man his fist covered in fire as he ignored his own injuries and just focused on smashing this smug, supercilious arsehole into the ground.
Jellal twisted around at that, a look of surprise on his face, before with a pulse of magic he leapt into the air, a trail of golden energy following him.
Natsu let out a yelp of surprise as his target disappeared, his swing going wide as the momentum of his missed punch knocked him off balance.
Jellal scowled in irritation at the dragon slayers interruption, the scowl on his face morphing into a sneer as he allowed himself to fall, using the momentum to add force to the two footed kick he had aimed at the dragon slayers head.
"I don't think so!" Lucy shouted as she swiped a golden key through the air. "Open Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
With a flash of golden light a tall man, in a smart black suit, with golden blonde hair appeared. A smile on his face as he leapt forward, not needing any further instruction from Lucy as his hands glowed golden and he leapt up to intercept Jellal.
"Regulus Impact!" Leo shouted as he took to the air, his gaze fixed upon the form of Jellal as he moved to attack him.
Jellal's eyes widened as he saw this, his body once again taking on a golden glow as he used his spell "Meteor".
He wasn't allowed to escape however as Erza choose that moment to strike, leaping up from the ground her black blade held tightly, the scarlet haired woman delivered slash to Jellal's midsection, her blade cutting through Jellal's clothes and cutting into his stomach.
Letting out a gasp of pain, Jellal's concentration slipped enough for Leo to get to him, his fist blazing with golden magic as he unloaded a barrage of strikes on the man, knocking him out of the air and sending him hurtling towards the ground.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu bellowed as he bulled forwards, his body enshrouded in fire as he tackled Jellal as he was midair, his fire covered skull ramming into Jellal's unprotected gut.
Jellal slammed into the ground so hard that he left a crater in the dirt floor, his face scrunched up in pain as he desperately tried to stand up, despite the severity of his injuries.
"You shits! You little shits…!" Jellal snarled as he spat out a large mouthful of blood, his movements wobbly as he unsteadily made his way to his feet.
Standing opposite him was Erza, Natsu and Lucy, with Leo standing just behind and to the side of the blonde Celestial Wizard. All of them were watching Jellal warily as he made his way to his feet, all of them prepared to leap into action at any moment.
"It is over Jellal." Erza said her voice strained with restrained anger as she pushed back her negative feelings for Jellal and instead focused on the bigger picture. "Give up and we will take you to prison where you belong."
"Give up?" Jellal replied scornfully, his head throbbing painfully as yet more distorted images flashed through his mind. "As if, prepare yourself fools, for you are all about to die!"
With that said the 'Heavenly Body Magic' user crossed his arms above his head, gathering a colossal amount of magical energy as he did so. Above where his hands were crossed, a small black shadowy orb began to form, an orb that gradually began to grow in size by each passing moment.
Erza and Natsu tensed as they recognized the attack Jellal was preparing, it was the same one he had used to try and kill them in the Tower of Heaven, an attack that would have succeeded if it were not for Erza's friend, Simon, sacrificing his life to save them.
For Erza just the sight of that attack renewed her anger at Jellal all over again, he had used that spell to kill their friend Simon.
Letting out a shout Erza darted forwards her blade held to strike as she rushed Jellal, not giving him the time to finish that deadly spell. As she charged forward she could hear Leo and Natsu doing the same, both of them drawing on their magic as they made to attack the blue haired, Former Wizard Saint.
Jellal's large, shadowy orb of magical power began to take its final shape, causing the winds around him to whip about due to the sheer amount of energy within the attack.
"Perish before the might of "Altairis!"" Jellal shouted, his eyes gleaming with madness as he prepared to launch his final attack.
"NO!" Erza shouted as she appeared in front of him, so fast the blue haired man was unable to react as she dodged beneath the orb of potent, dark magic and drove her sword upwards. The black blade impaling Jellal's chest as it sheered through his ribcage and pierced his heart, the tip of the blade protruding from his back.
Jellal's eyes went wide as his control over the spell disappeared, the magic slowly dispersing into nothing as it was no longer bound together or molded by his will. Looking down Jellal's eyes met Erza's fierce hazel eyes, a look of shock spreading across his face as he reached out his hand to her.
Erza looking up at the dying Jellal felt no sadness as she watched him die. He was not the same boy she had befriended in her youth, that boy had died years ago. He was just a hollow shell of a man, someone who only spread pain and hurt wherever he went. Erza didn't even feel any satisfaction as she pushed herself up, allowing the once powerful Dark Wizard to slide off her blade, and land on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood.
Looking down at the dying man Erza could only feel pity for the wizard that this man could have been and for the kind and sweet boy he had once been. Looking down as the man drew his last rasping breath, his mouth moving as he tried in vain to say something; Erza became aware of Lucy and Natsu, both of whom were standing with her, Natsu going as far as to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She appreciated the gesture, but it was unneeded. Erza did not feel sad that Jellal was gone, nor was she gleeful. All she felt was relief that this chapter of her life was over, now she can finally move on and begin to live her life to the fullest, now that the dark shadow that had once haunted her was gone.
"Look it's the Christina." Lucy said into the silence that had fallen upon the partially destroyed and burning clearing.
Looking up a slight smile spread across Erza's face as she saw the Christina approach, she could see Gray, Wendy and the others visible at the bow of the airship.
( - )
(With Percy and Jura on the King's Summit)
Percy's eyes widened and his grip on Backbiter tightened as he saw the individual they now faced, and felt the potency of the power coming off of him. Whoever he was he was not the man they had been fighting before, not only did he look different but the power he was giving off was darker and more unstable, more than that though Percy could sense the man was drawing power directly from Nirvana and channeling it through his body.
It was a stupid thing to do, as the human body could likely not handle that amount of power before it destroyed itself, ripping itself to pieces as it tried to contain more than it was able. Even if the man did siphon off most of the power he was absorbing in his spells it would probably cause permanent damage to him. Even Percy would be wary of trying that, and he was an insanely powerful demigod with the Curse of Achilles.
"It appears Jura, that we may have a slight problem." Percy said as he warily kept his eyes on this 'Zero' as the strange talking staff had called him….
"Yes I agree." Jura replied tensely as he shifted uncomfortably on the spot, moving his body so he now took a defensive position, his stance wide and his body low to the ground. "The sheer amount of magic he is giving off is beyond human."
"That's because he is siphoning it from Nirvana himself. He is taking the magical power that usually runs this contraption and is taking it into his own body." Percy replied his eyes narrowed as he also shifted his stance, his left hand gripping the hilt of Backbiter preparing to draw it and the fingers of his right hand twitching as he prepared to react to anything this man might throw at him, in an instant.
"But that is insanity!" Jura shouted aloud his face aghast as he looked at Zero's glowing form in shock.
"Insanity? I suppose in the minds of lesser men my power would come across as insane." Zero chuckled as rolled his shoulders. "Before I kill you both I think I should first thank you. If it were not for you defeating Brain then it would have been impossible for me to be unsealed. I have to admit it does feel nice not to be trapped in that weakling's mind anymore. So for that I will give you my thanks by giving you both swift deaths."
Percy couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, what was it with bad guys and their arrogant and deluded threats.
"You doubt me?!" Zero sneered before he suddenly thrust both his hands forward, a beam of black and green magical energy exploding from his palms as he did so. Unlike the last time however the beam of magic that appeared was huge, almost overwhelmingly large as it lanced forwards.
Jura's eyes widened as he stamped the floor causing more than a dozen slabs of rock to rise out of the ground in front of him. Zero's attack broke through all of them with ease, shattering the rock like it was glass.
Widening his eyes as he saw this, Jura slammed both of his hands on the ground in front of him. Covering his body in a large suit of rock as an extra defense, as he prepared to leap out of the way of the oncoming beam of pure magical energy, trusting that Perseus could look after himself.
Zero's beam of magic continued on its path, its power greater than that of a Jupiter Cannon blast as it clipped Jura in the side as he tried to dodge. The force of the partial hit shattering Jura's rock armour and sending him hurtling off of the tower, and crashing into the ruined city below. The rest of the attack continued on its way tearing through the air as it continued on for nearly a two miles before it began to disperse.
Zero laughed manically at the power he now possessed, more than anything he had ever wielded before, he could already feel it thrumming through his veins giving him a sense of euphoria he had never felt before. Zero's red eyes quickly scanned his surroundings for his opponent's remains. The Wizard Saint he knew had been blasted off the tower, if he was still alive Zero would hunt him down later. As for the God of Fairies…?
Zero's eyes widened as he saw Perseus was still standing across from him, his coat was shredded but other than that he was completely fine. In fact the only thing different about him that had changed was that he had unsheathed his sword. The four, foot long blade was held in Percy's right hand, partially resting against his leg as the tip just touched the ground.
Zero's eyes fixed on the sword, his eyes widening as he felt the amount of power coming from the blade. Previously it had been notably powerful whilst it was sheathed, but now, now it was unsheathed, Zero could feel his skin crawl form the amount of power it was giving off, it was probably more than Brain held in his entire body. Tracing his eyes down the part gold and part silver blade, a greedy expression crossed Zero's face as he stared at it.
"After you are dead." Zero said a sneer on his face as he looked back up at the annoyed looking Percy. "I am going to take your sword as a trophy!"
Percy ignored that as he instead looked down at his shredded coat in annoyance. "This was my favourite coat!"
"What?" Zero said in surprise, his red eyes widening as he heard Percy's random statement, unsure of how he should really reply to this random topic of conversation.
"This coat! Mira, Erza and Laxus all clubbed together and bought me this coat before I went off on my Decade Mission." Percy said the irritation in his voice turning to anger as he began to take the ruined coat off. "This was my favourite coat."
"I don't give a fuck about your coat!" Zero snapped back in reply, not at all amused by Percy's comments. "Now fight or die!"
With that said Zero sent another blast of black and green magic out of his hands, this one just as powerful as the one before, the beam of power exploding from Zero's palms as he tried to kill Percy with one hit.
Seeing it coming Percy swung Backbiter up and around, the blade cutting through Zero's attack causing the beam of magic to split in two, as the two separate beams passed Percy on either side, the wind of caused by the passing beams of magic ruffling Percy's black hair.
"Impossible!" Zero shouted his red eyes wide as he took a step back from the unamused Percy.
"No, it is very possible." Percy replied before he channeled power into the sword, slowing time in a twenty metre area around him to a crawl, something he could maintain for up to a minute, as he rushed the surprised looking Zero. Within a few steps he reached Zero, his left fist raised as he landed a punch in the man's gut, aiming to lift him up and then slam him into the ground. This blow was enhanced by Percy drawing on his father's domain over Earthquakes as he released a focused earthquake into Brain's body with his punch.
A second later time returned to normal, and Zero slammed into the ground so hard that the floor cratered underneath him and the entire tower began to collapse in on its self. Blood exploded from Zero's mouth as he found his entire ribcage had been shattered, and his organs liquidated. For a normal person this would mean death, but Zero was not a normal person, he was Brain's true self, created from years of dark and illegal experiments that altered Brain's body and mind. He was stronger, faster and more powerful than Brain was, plus he also had a regenerative ability which was based off of his magical power, which at the moment thanks to Nirvana was colossal.
Brain's bones quickly began to repair themselves his organs quickly regenerating, despite this however a howl of agony left Zero's lips as both he and the tower fell.
Falling through the air alongside Zero, Percy showed no fear as he once again slowed down time, using it to help him leap from one falling stone to the other as he closed in on Zero. Appearing above Zero, Percy returned time to normal as he twisted in the air and delivered and earthquake empowered kick to Brain's side.
Shattering the entire left side of the man's body as he sent him flying through the air at an angle, smashing through half a dozen houses, Zero ended up in a twelve foot deep crater of his own creation, most of his body a shattered and broken ruin.
Taking control of the air currents around him, Percy began to ride the wind. Taking a leaf from his old friend Jason Grace's book as he flew through the air and landed on the stone floor a dozen or so feet from where Zero was struggling to get up.
"You had enough yet?" Percy asked as he stabbed Backbiter into the ground, the divine metal sinking through solid stone like a hot knife through butter. Sending a pulse of power through the blade, Percy caused the ground below Zero to explode, sending the battered looking man flying into the air.
Zero's body had once again repaired itself, however his liberal use of Nirvana's potent energy was beginning to show. His skin was now showing cracks, out of which bled black and green energy, not that Zero seemed to notice this as his entire mind was focused on destroying Percy.
Twisting his body in mid air, a pained expression on his face, Zero brought his arms backwards before thrusting them forward with a great deal of force."Double Helix!"
Two blasts of black and green magic energy shot forth from Zero's hands before they began to spiral around each other to create a double-helix shape. The double helix then exploded towards Percy. Who lifted his sword and once again slashed Zero's magic apart, the blade of Kronos easily cutting through magic. Causing Zero's attack to be wasted as it instead struck the ground behind Percy tearing great gouges into the earth.
"You think you can defeat me God of Fairies." Zero sneered as he landed on the ground, his red eyes boring hatefully into Percy. "Well you can't! I am the true leader of the Oración Seis! Compared to me you are nothing!"
"Well you say that, but you are not doing very well so far." Percy replied blandly as he raised his hand and thrust it forward, sending all the rubble around him flying at Zero.
Zero quickly erected a shield of dark magic to block the first few stone projectiles before blowing up the next few with a blasts of darkness, whipping his hands around as he sent out stream of potent 'Dark Magic' which destroyed everything around them.
Seeing he was distracted Percy decided to finish this, the man was too dangerous to be left alive, besides considering the state of his body it was likely he was about to go nuclear any second. Already the cracks on his body were growing larger as more magic poured out of him, soon he would explode, Brains' body, or Zero's body, was not built to deal with this amount of magic.
Darting forward his sword held tightly in his hand, Percy slowed down time again as he got in close. His blade slashing out; once, twice, three times, eight times, fourteen times, twenty times, twenty eight times as Percy delivered blow after blow going through a combination attack that cut tendons, pierced organs, sliced muscles, with the final slice completely decapitating Zero. Taking his head clean off his shoulders, before using the momentum of the last strike Percy sheathed Backbiter once again.
With a thud Zero collapsed to the floor dead, not even making a sound as his soul had already been destroyed, such was the power of the blade of Kronos that it didn't just kill someone, but it also destroyed their magic and their souls as well.
Not even looking back at Zero's remains, Percy instead focused on finding Jura, he would need to find the Wizard Saint sooner rather than later, after all with the Oración Seis now wiped out and Nirvana all but destroyed their mission was pretty much finished. All that was left was destroying Nirvana once and for all, and Percy couldn't exactly do that if Jura was still on it.
( - )
AN: So that is pretty much the end of the arc, there will be a bit next chapter tying up loose ends and adding the last finishing touches, but other than that it will be back to Fairy Tail where we will meet some new people and see some further character development.
Also as can be seen by the significant death in this chapter canon events will no longer happen how they would have gone and Erza will develop differently. I never really did like the whole Erza and Jellal relationship/ dynamic, it just felt a bit too sick and codependent. I mean the man destroyed her childhood, enslaved her friends, murdered and hurt her friends, tired to revive Zeref and she just forgives him like none of it ever happened, that is some grade A Sasuke/Naruto level bullshit. Which is part of the reason I did what I did, though there will be others.
Furthermore we get to see how other characters will develop based off of what happened during this arc. Also several observant people will have noticed that Lucy did not get Angel's Celestial Keys as Angel was not defeated or arrested. So we will get to see how she will develop without possessing Aries, Scorpio and Gemini. This will have an effect later on for those that know the story.
Percy's personality is also being revealed. A strong person who knows when to be ruthless and when to be merciful. A person who teaches those who want to learn, but who also makes sure to carry out his other responsibilities. So a more grown up and mature version of canon Percy.
Also the whole Fairy Tail never kills no matter what is fandom. I never understood why people all assumed that to be the case as it is never stated to be a rule or discussed really.
So yeah other than that I hope you all enjoyed the chapter I have been getting a kick out of writing this story as it has kind of renewed my interest in Fairy Tail.
Please everyone leave a review I love to hear from you all and I will see you later.
Seagate.