Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail, Dungeons and Dragons, or Pathfinder.

A/N: So the continuation of Kasai and Rhew vs Erza though the next chapter will be the finale of their fight so I can press on.

Chapter 8

Erza weaves to the left in a effort to avoid a slash attack from Kasai, the fire spirit's claws coming within a hair length of severing her nose from her face. She then flips backward, avoiding the follow-up swipe, and landing a good distance back down the street. But no sooner did Kasai pause in his attack did Rhew leapt up from behind his brother and charges toward the mage with ice shards forming in the air around him. Erza, undeterred by this, launches forward with her spear poise to attack, fully intending on meeting the attack head-on.

"Winter Triple Shot!", Rhew shouts as three ice shards appear above his head and go shooting forward the Wizard Saint. Erza easily weaves out of the way of the first one, deflect the second one with her spear, and barely bends her head backwards in time to avoid the third one, it passing so near to her that she could see her reflection in the ice.

"Close", was all she thought as she comes back up and flips out of the way of the still charging Rhew but she barely has time to recover from that before hearing a voice from her right.

"Inferno Breath!", as she turns her head just in time to see a spiral of flames coming directly at her.

Twirling her spear in front of her at speeds that would be impossible for anyone else to pull off, Erza disperses the flames as they made contact with the weapon.

"Okay, I'm a little impress but try this on for size! ", she hears Kasai says as he started to charge up a giant ball of fire at the front of his mouth for a moment before releasing it at her, the very heat from it scorching the ground despite it being at least three feet up from it.

"Fireball!"

Acting quickly, the powerful mage braces herself and swings her spear on the incoming projectile, striking it head-on and reflecting it back toward the fiery fox.

"Neat trick but stuff like that won't work against me!", Kasai declares as the fireball hits him head-on and he stood there unfazed, absorbing the flames back into himself, "But you're more than welcome to try again!"

"I won't give her the opportunity to, brother.", Rhew states as he attacks again with a lunge.

Erza quickly flips over the wolf and lands behind him, spinning around quickly on her foot in order to land an slash onto Rhew's rear before he was out of range.

But this attempt was interrupted by something grabbing her spear in mid-swing. When she turns to see the cause she was surprise to see Kasai standing there with the polearm portion of the spear stuck between his teeth in a vice-like grip.

"Think again, Queenie!", the fox says clearly despite his mouth being full before beginning to yank hard on the weapon.

With all her might, Erza struggles to keep hold of the spear, but a sudden decrease in the air around her causing her to let go of it in order to roll out of the way just ask Rhew comes pouncing down onto her previous position from above.

"You are surprisingly nimble for your kind, human.", Rhew begrudgingly admits, "And your instincts are on far above the average member of your kind!"

Erza comes up off the ground, adopting a defensive position upon doing so, "You will address me by my name, wolf!"

"Unfortunately you have not yet earn the right for me to address you like that, Rhew replies.

"That's right!", Kasai states as he flings the spear out his mouth toward Erza who easily catches it with one hand, "You're going to have to do better than that in order to earn that privilege!"

"Is that so?", Erza questions as she readies herself, "Then perhaps I need to stop holding back."

"Oh?", Kasai says, "Little late in the game for empty threats, don't ya think?"

"I do not make idle threats", Erza answers.

"Then perhaps we should move locations then", Rhew suggests, "One where none of us are limited in our martial prowess due to possibly causing massive collateral damage and then we can see your true power."

Erza raises an eyebrow in surprise, "He willingly wants me to go all-out?"

"Usually I would have no problem with burning down a few houses in order to beat somebody", Kasai interjects, "But since Icy is the one suggesting it; I guess I can play along just this once."

The unamused look that Rhew threw at his sibling was promptly ignore by the fox.

Erza mellows over the thought for a moment.

"Fairy Tail is on thin ice with the Mayor in regards to collateral damage. But this could just be a trick for them to get me into the woods or such where they might have a trap waiting for me", Erza thought before eyes land on the guild hall behind Rhew and Kasai, "But the Fairy Tail's grounds are private property though."

Erza proudly points her spear down the middle of the two spirits.

"We shall continue our fight on the grounds of my guild, Fairy Tail! The strongest magic guild in the world!", she declares.

...

"So you want us to destroy your guild hall along with you then?", Kasai asks after a moment.

Erza could feel her irritation skyrocket after that question, "My guild hall will be your final resting place unless you surrender this instant!"

Instead of responding to Erza's proclamation, Kasai and Rhew simply turn around and start heading for the guild hall, paying her no more mind.

"You coming, Queenie, or what?", Kasai calls back, shaking Erza out of her shock.

Minutes later the spirits enter the backyard of Fairy Tail, Erza trailing a safe distance behind them with her spear at the ready. A vast dirt field that laid between the building itself and the lake. It was used as a training ground for mages in practicing new spells as well as a place to settle dispute between members under the watchful eyes of a guild veteran.

Kasai and Rhew both systematically scan the entire area as they walk, taking in every detail of it within moments...

And both of them spot the gravestone close to the backdoor of the building at the same it.

"It couldn't be", Kasai whispers to Rhew.

"Your eyes do not deceive you, brother", the wolf replies.

Instantly, the two break off and head straight for it, ignoring Erza's protest and threats.

Soon they were standing in front of the grave, reading the inscription on it.

Here lies Romeo Conbolt

Son of Macao Conbolt and Enno Yubuia

Practitioner of Rainbow Fire and Purple Flare Magic

Born September 9 X777

Died April 10 X791

A Fairy Tail mage from the day he was born to the day he died

"Is there some reason you two are so curious about this grave?", Erza states from the gravestone.

"Just wondering why it is here and not at the town's cemetery", Kasai answers, noting that Erza's voice was no longer full of arrogance and pride, but now soft and full of sorrow.

The statement was greeted by silence from the Requip Mage.

"Surely there are other mages of your guild who have passed away who should be buried here as well.", Rhew then says.

"None that were as young as he", Erza whispers and both spirits could see the resemble of a tear starting to form in the Saint Wizard's eye before it was quickly wipe away, "I believe we came for a different reason."

"If you insist", Rhew answers before motioning to Kasai and the two head out to the open field. Erza mirrors their movement, leaving a large gap in between before both parties finally come to a stop in the center of the field.

"Okay, final warning Queenie", Kasai starts off, "Let me and Icy leave quietly and you can walk out of here with all your limbs intact."

"Ignoring the improper way my brother phrase it, I must concur that he is correct in saying that this is your last chance to walk away", Rhew adds.

"I refuse", was Erza's reply as she began to twirl her spear over her head, "This battle shall only end with your surrender or your deaths."

"It will end with your severe maiming if you keep pushing us", Kasai replies.

"We shall see", Erza states right as stops spinning her spear and charges forward.

"I will go first", Rhew simply says before taking off to meet Erza's attack.

"Try not to have too much fun", Kasai merely replies .

Erza struck first, delivering a downward slash at Rhew's head that the wolf immediately sidesteps out of the way of and counter with a lunge toward the mage's throat, his fangs bared. Erza counters this by bringing the end of the spear upward to intercept the wolf's jaws which firmly clamp around it. Spinning on her foot, Erza uses her strength to gain enough momentum to hurl Rhew threw the air, the ice elemental spirit flipping in mid-air to regain his balance and land perfectly on her feet.

Erza, on instinct, immediately turns around in order to meet Kasai's onslaught but was surprise to see the fox spirit calmly laying there, watching the whole affair.

"Is there some reason why you are not attacking?", the mage questions.

Kasai merely shrugs, "Not really. It's just that if both of us were to take you a bit more serious it wouldn't be fair if we both attack you at the same time."

"And I am suppose to believe that?", Erza asks.

"Believe what you want, One-Eye. By the way, you should watch your back. Don't let my brother's appearance fool you for he's not as honorable as he appears.", Kasai states.

Erza ducks just in time to narrowly miss Rhew flying over her, landing a couple yards in front of her before turning around.

"Why did you give me away like that, brother? I could have ended this whole waste of time in one blow just now?", Rhew snarls.

Kasai shrugs once more, "Would make me something of a hypocrite if while I was talking to One-Eye about being honorable and such that I allow you to get a sneak attack on her, don't cha think?"

"Have I ever disclose to you that about how much I loathe you?", Rhew growls.

"Since the dawn of time", Kasai replies.

"I cannot help but get the impression that neither one of you is taking this whole affair seriously", Erza voices.

"We ain't/We are not", both Kasai and Rhew reply.

"Then perhaps I need to get more serious", Erza declares.

"You have already tired a false sense of bravado before, mortal, and failed. It would be wise not to waste your breath on a second try", Rhew warns.

A sudden massive explosion of magic was Erza's response, the sheer volume of it causing the usually calm water of the lake to start trashing about.

Kasai lifts his head up, "Oh, seem likes someone has been holding back as well."

"I initially wanted to change the location so I would not cause damage to the town, remember?", Erza states.

"True but that fact that you were holding this much back implies that you thought you could take us on earlier without getting too serious", Kasai points out.

"An insult that we shall not soon forget", Rhew finishes, "Ice Creation: Scythe!"

Ice shards began to appear out of thin air and come together, taking on the form of a polearm similar to the one that Erza's spear. Only it was larger and a huge, sinister yet frozen blade form at the other end of it while Rhew clamp his jaws on the center of it.

"Your magic reminds me of my companion's, Gray, Ice-Makemagic", Erza says, earning a threatening growl from Rhew in response.

"Oof", Kasai says, "You shouldn't have said that."

"You obviously have no value of your life if you seek to compare my absolute control over ice to that of that severely inferior, third-rate, by-product you call magic", Rhew says.

"Here it comes", Kasai huffs.

"I do not make! I create!", Rhew declares before launching himself at Erza, scythe poise to strike.

Swinging his head sharply to the left downward, the ice wolf bring the blade crashing on Erza's head at alarming speed.

CLANK!

Luckily the mage was able to parry the blow with a upward slash from her spear but barely has time to recover as Rhew reaction quicker than expected by turning abruptly to the left once more, delivers another slash attack aim at her mid-section.

But through a combination of sheer luck, training, and instincts Erza was able to duck down in time for the frozen blade to pass harmlessly over her head at which she backflips away.

"It seems that I was not the only one holding back", she tells herself before bracing herself for Rhew's assault.

Meanwhile back in the rundown guild hall, Romeo was just now starting to calm himself down and think clearly.

"Okay, despite the large spikes in magic I have been feeling in the past few minutes, I can still sense Kasai and Rhew and since they seem to be using spells they're probably fighting Erza right now despite me explicitly saying not to do that", he tells himself, "Not a good thing but far better than what it could be."

Seconds pass in silence for him before a thought occur to him.

"I could just go down and see for myself what's going on. I mean if something happens I can just use one of the scrolls to get away", he says before donning his hood and heading into the woods toward Magnolia, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Moments later, Romeo was making his way through the forest with every step bringing him ever and ever closer to a possible confrontation he was hoping to avoid if only for a little bit longer.

"Just get in, evaluate the situation, get out. Get in, evaluate, get out", he told himself over and over as the top of the cathedral came into view.

"Almost there. I can do this. I can do this,", Romeo says as he made his way down the hill to the outskirts of town.

Just as he got to the very edge of Magnolia's town limit, he stop.

"Its okay, Romeo. All you're doing is walking into your hometown...for the first time in thirteen years", he thinks.

Without warning, Romeo drops to a squatting position and tries his best to calm his rapid breathing.

"Holy crap! It really is one thing to think about doing something but it's a whole other to actually do it!", he tells himself, "I have been away from Magnolia for half my life and now here I am, too scared to enter!"

Another magic spike reverberates throughout Magnolia, causing Romeo to look toward the guild hall.

"Seriously?! Out of all the places you could fight you decide to fight there?!", Romeo rants out, "It's like they are purposely making me confront my past!"

Standing back up and taking a deep breath, Romeo steadys himself.

"Okay Romeo. You can't desummon Kasai and Rhew or else you raise the alarm that they're summons; but you also can't let them keep fighting or else it might attract too much of the wrong attention."

He then slowly resume his short walk toward Magnolia, each steps feeling heavy and strain.

"There is also the distinct possibility that Kasai and Rhew could actually severely hurt Erza. They're spirits so they can't actually die no matter what's done to them", he thinks as he finally enters his hometown, taking a look in all direction.

"Wow, not much has change", he states, "Like, at all. It's literally the same as the day I died."

Another spike of magic and now Romeo was able to hear the clashing of weapons.

"Well Rhew did summon a Ice Scythe", he thinks, "Though I'm surprise he isn't...nope there he goes. Now he's doing it. Crap, I better hurry", he then thinks as he feels some of his magic being taken away from him to Rhew in order to cast a spell before taking off in a dead sprint to the guild hall.

But while Romeo was dealing with his internal crisis, Erza found herself beginning to hold her own against the Ice Elemental Spirit who started to increase his efforts as he reels his head back and launches his scythe at the Requip Mage's midsection.

"How foolish!", she shouts as she swats the scythe upward and over her head, the weapon spinning rapidly before imbedding itself in very top of the guild hall's roof. Erza then flamboyantly points her spear at Rhew.

"You have overplay your hand and became too confident in your abilities! While I must admit that you are a far greater foe than most of the opponents I have face in the past and your skills are to be commended, you have no chance against me when it comes down to weapons wielding!", she declares.

"I could easily summon another scythe. Observe.", Rhew states, "Ice-Create: Scythe."

Sure enough, in an instant another scythe created from ice appear in front of Rhew who clasp it with his jaws.

"Do what you will but the results would be the same as it seems that I am the greater weapons specialist and I will prevail in weapons-to-weapons combat!", Erza states.

Rhew regards her with neutral look before briefing turning his attention to Kasai who merely shrugs. After this the wolf shakes his head for moment.

"It would seem that confidence that you are radiating seem to have been cause my own actions and I have not yet taking the steps to stop it", he starts saying, "I accept full responsibility for that."

Erza raises a eyebrow at this statement.

I have already said that I am not taking you serious",Rhew states, "But you on the other hand have decided that I am worth far more effort than you usually give your opponents. Therefore, I would be insulting you if I did not do the same. So allow me to...match your enthusiasm with my own."

"What is he up to?", Erza wonders before there was a sudden massive spike in magic from the ice wolf.

"Ice-Create: Frozen Landscape"

For a second in time, everything froze...literally.

One moment Erza was closing her eyes in response to the magic spike, the next she was opening them.

Thus witnessing for perhaps the first time in a long time an overwhelming display of magic for all around her the ground was cover in ice.

Solid ice.

Everything from the top of the guild hall to the ground beneath her was frozen over.

Yet, she notice, that the only thing untouched was Romeo's grave for some reason.

But she had no time to pay anything more than a passing glance at that before returning her attention to Rhew...or more importantly the area behind him.

"Holy Mavis", Erza tells herself as she realize that the entire lake behind Magnolia, which stretch at least four miles from end to end, was now frozen solid.

"Also I could not help but notice that the entire time you have been fighting my brother and I you have not used a single spell despite being a mage", Rhew starts, "I am well aware of your ability to use Sword Magic and Requip Magic but other than calling your spear back to your hand you have done nothing else that would make someone think that you are a mage."

"Is that a issue?", Erza asks, recovering from Rhew's previous display of ice magic.

"Only if the reason you are not using your magic is because you feel that it is not require to defeat us", Rhew responses, "And if it is then it is a major issue."

"So are you expecting a apology from me then?", Erza says

"I am expecting you to know your place, mortal", Rhew answers, "But since we both know that I will not be getting that from you I will be taking another route and give you a lesson."

"Then I suppose I should feel honored then. Pray tell, what lesson could you possibly bestow upon me, Wizard Saint Sir Erza Scarlet Fernandes?", the woman asks while readying her spear.

"The difference between being handed a title vs earning one!", Rhew declares.

As Rhew spoke Erza's eyes began to grow wider and wider in surprise though it was not due to the wolf's speech.

It was because as he spoke, she notices something strange about the frozen lake behind him.

Something was raising out of it.

Across nearly the entirely of the ice over the lake, strange objects began to float up from it into the sky.

"Perhaps now is the most suitable time to introduce myself to you, mortal", Rhew starts to speak, I am the one that turned the Third Level of Hell into the frozen wasteland that it is known as to this very day. I am the physical embodiment of the cold chill of death."

More and more objects began to raise into the sky and once Erza was finally able to get a good look at them, she could not believe what she was seeing.

Weapons.

Hundreds upon hundreds of ice-shaped weapons. From swords to daggers, axes to spears, even tridents and scythes were present behind the ice wolf hovering high above him. Even the ice scythe in the wolf's mouth started to float out of his jaws and onto his immediate right

Then she felt the hairs on her neck stand on end and she ducks down swiftly, narrowing avoiding losing her head to the blade of a ice scythe that came flying over her and onto Rhew's immediate left.

When she takes a quick look back at the direction from which the blade came forth she was shock to see that the scythe she deflected into the guild earlier was gone; there was only a hole left in the roof that indicated that it was there to begin with.

"He could control his weapon this whole time?", she briefly thought before returning her attention back to Rhew, whose was now manipulating the rest of the weapons to appear directly above him.

"I am Lord Rhew, the bringer of the Eternal Winter, and it is about time you started showing me the proper respect that I have earn."

A/N: Looks like Erza about to get a rude awakening. Going back to Draconic Neutral for now although Wild Master has been calling to me. Will be working on Fiery Hurricane and Right Claw after I get far enough in Draconic Neutral.