Well ladies and gentlemen, here we are. At long last we have reached the final battle in the tower of heaven. Will Erza be able to defeat Jellal and finally put this madness to an end? There's only one way to find out for sure. Let's get thing's stared, with chapter 70 of "A Quincy's Fairy Tail"!
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Weekly Shounen Magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun!
This was it. The end of all things.
Erza Scarlet had wanted nothing more in life but to not be here. Never again. She had run from her past, from the failures she ascribed to herself and herself alone. She had been unable to save Grandpa Rob. She had been unable to bring this tower down. She had been unable to liberate her friends. She had been unable to walk away from here, hand in hand with Jellal.
And she had failed to properly grieve, to cry it all out of her system all at once. She had sealed herself in a suit of armor to find peace, to push away the world so that it would never again see her heart. Still, the world had wormed its way inside nonetheless. She had begun to drop her guard and let people in once more. Now, she had failed these friends too, her own past dragging both her and her newfound friends back to its unrelenting cruelty. Well, no more. There would be no more failures.
Before Erza was the gnarled and foreboding stairway that would take her to the main chamber of the Tower of Heaven, the very room where she had lost an eye so very long ago. The very same room that had left her always looking to the past with one while the other tried to find a future worth living in. It was the very same room she had ascended into once before to save Jellal.
Now it was the room she ascended into to end his life.
Erza took a deep breath, the inhalation a sharp one. She held it then, her right foot rising up and coming down upon the beginning of the stairway. Only when she had done so did she allow herself to breathe once more, the process so instinctive that she did not even take notice of it.
"Every journey begins with a step," Erza whispered to herself. "But... I began this journey so very long ago. And now it's reached its end."
She had wanted to avoid this day all her life, but try as she had, it was inevitable all the same.
So she began her climb, moving through the darkened stairway until at last, she found the door at its top. Pushing it open, she could hear its metal frame creaking upon its hinges.
Then...
Jellal Fernandes.
Erza could see him. Sitting upon a grotesque throne, a chessboard at its base. He was not paying it any mind, though one playing piece was in his hand. One that looked like Erza herself.
"So, you've come at last," Jellal said, raising his hand up into the light so as to look not at Erza but at the playing piece itself. "I knew you would, you know? Whether by force or by your own instincts, you would come to me eventually someday. And here you are, proving it to be true. No matter where you hung your armor, this is your home. And your fate will forever be in my hands."
Erza glared at him, her determination to do what had to be done unwavering. "And what do you wish for my fate?"
Jellal looked at her with a half-glance... and snapped the playing piece in two. The pieces fell to the floor then, bouncing off and rolling under the table.
Then there was silence, Erza and Jellal simply holding their locked gazes upon each other. It went on for an unbearably long time...
Until Jellal chuckled. "Perhaps that was too dramatic."
Erza said nothing at first, requipping her broadsword. Gripping it with both hands, she kept the end of the blade pointing directly at Jellal. She held the weapon still, not allowing it to waver in the slightest despite its weight. Only then, her body and blade as still as they could be, did she speak. "It's time we ended this. Once and for all."
"And that as well," Jellal said, simply folding one leg over the other, unmoving from his throne. "Action does speak louder than words, and that does speak of your intended fate for me as well."
"For you, and for me," Erza said, her eyes looking about Jellal with determination and nothing else, not even life.
She stepped forward then, intent on running Jellal through even as he sat atop his throne.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Jellal spoke up then, raising his right hand. "I will live to see tomorrow while you will be the great sacrifice to make it a tomorrow worth awakening to!"
Darkness burst forth from Jellal's hand then, the darkness reaching for Erza herself. She paid it no mind, cleaving asunder the shadowy mass with one horizontal stroke. As the form dissipated, she could see Jellal once again, though Erza had never truly lost sight of him.
He was her target, and she would never let him out of her sight, no matter the cost.
Unintimidated ,Jellal raised his other hand up, fingers outstretched. Erza saw no obvious attack approaching her, but she was of sound enough mind, frayed though it may be, to turn on her heels. She cut down the shadowy tendrils that had risen up behind her with one quick motion, turning back to face Jellal.
However, in that brief moment she had her back to him the mad wizard fired off a concentrated bolt of dark magic. It slammed into Erza, overwhelming and enveloping her. She gasped in pain, stumbling backward step after step.
So potent was the attack that it could be seen from the outside of the tower itself, ripping through its twisted frame and firing out into the night sky, rubble falling due to its unrelenting force.
Inside the tower, Jellal snapped his hand shut, fingers curling into his palms as he beckoned the magic to cease its attack. He needed Erza intact and alive for the ritual after all. Incinerating her just would not do.
"Yes," Jellal said, watching as the smoke from the explosive force of his attack was sucked outside by the night's winds, "I've brought you to your knees, haven't I, Erza? There you will repent for your defiance against the will of Lord Zeref! His time is at hand, and you will accept it at long last!"
Jellal laughed, sick satisfaction evident in his voice, but it soon faded just as the smoke itself did.
Erza was not kneeling.
Far from it.
Though she was singed from his attack, she was still standing tall, her eyes unwavering as they stared at Jellal with determination unheard of. Despite the agony she was no doubt feeling, her body showing signs that it was obviously wracked with pain, she was not succumbing to it.
And at that moment did the man who had deemed himself the invincible lord of the Tower of Heaven and the living embodiment of his Lord Zeref's will begin to feel something he had not experienced since he had been a young boy in this tower. Something he had not experienced since Zeref had reached out to him.
Fear.
That fear lunged for Jellal then, twin blades at the ready, brown eyes locked with his own. Eyes that would not blink nor show even the slightest hint of hesitation.
Jellal, however, blinked. And at that moment did he feel a sword cut into him, blood splattering against the floor of his chambers. He clutched at his chest then, seeing the wound gush out against his gloves.
"It's not deep," Erza said as she watched him fall before her, "but it's clear it was enough to bring you to your knees."
Jellal looked up at Erza then, eyes wide. Before him was no sacrifice, but Titania Erza of Fairy Tail.
That very wizard brought one of her swords down, resting it atop Jellal's shoulder, the edge perilously close to his neck.
"This is the end, is it?" Jellal said, almost dejectedly. "All my plans and my schemes, all that came before me, and it will all be laid low by you. I suppose that is fitting. You would be the most worthy to bring this Tower of Heaven to earth, to reduce it to the ground, and shatter my dreams for this world."
"It's not about being worthy," Erza said, the wizard staying her hand as memories of the young man Jellal had once been and of the color of her hair raced through her mind. "It simply needs to be done."
Jellal closed his eyes and lowered his head with not another word.
However, a voice not unlike his own spoke out from behind Erza. "I, however, believe that both he and I are worthy of seeing this dream through to the end."
Erza froze on the spot then, slowly turning herself around. Though she kept the blade upon Jellal's shoulder, she looked over her shoulder and saw one she had not expected to encounter here.
"Siegrain."
"In the flesh... in a manner of speaking," the Wizard Saint said. "But we'll get to that in time."
"You... you never did wish to stop Jellal, did you?" Erza said, shocked beyond reproach. "All these years you said you had joined the Magic Council and obtained the power of a Wizard Saint solely to use it to save your brother from himself, to put an end to this madness, but-"
"Lies I spoke to the Magic Council, just as I spoke lies pertaining to it to protect your Quincy friend," Siegrain said, the man in white holding his ground in a relaxed posture. "Though I suppose I did lie to you about it as well. Yet, you trusted it all the same. I suppose it's just this face you find hope in. Such a shame then..."
Siegrain flashed Erza a wicked smile, his tattooed right eye taking on a similar appearance to Jellal's own, its iris turning into the mark of Zeref.
"... that this face has betrayed you once again!"
Erza held her ground, unwilling to give Siegrain the satisfaction of despair. She simply pointed her other blade at him, her composure as unwavering as the blade itself as she held it aloft.
"It will be the last time."
Erza stepped forward then, bringing the blade to bear as she attempted to cut the Wizard Saint down. However, much to her surprise, Siegrain's body glowed with golden light as he seemingly phased through the attack, Titania's merely striking an afterimage. He came in close once more, his nose practically touching Erza's own.
"You're right about that, Erza."
His fist slammed into Erza's stomach, breaking through the armor with ease and causing her to double over. It was, however, not nearly enough to topple Fairy Tail's Titania. Unfortunately, Siegrain knew that well enough. His body becoming encased in light once again, he spun around behind her faster than she anticipated and,with speed as blinding as the light, he kicked Erza away.
Still, it was not enough to hold Erza down, the wizard flipping in midair and landing atop her feet. She prepared to attack again, feeling no hesitation despite the complication that the Wizard Saint had added to the mix.
"You intend to fight to the bitter end?" Siegrain said, pacing around without a care in the world. "How very gallant of you, Erza."
"I wish I could say the same to you," Erza countered. "All this time you spoke of how you needed to keep the Tower of Heaven out of the limelight because you wished to settle things with your brother. But that was all a lie, wasn't it?"
"Oh, yes, I did speak of how I had obtained this strength and became both a Wizard Saint and member of the Magic Council to bring the Tower of Heaven to an end," Siegrain said. He stopped then, grinning as he looked at Erza directly. "That, however, was no lie. After all, once this plan is complete, the Tower of Heaven will serve no great purpose any longer. It will be deemed unnecessary and it will be brought to the ground."
"So, what you told me was true… from a certain point of view?" Erza hissed, growing angry at last.
"Yes, though I had to sell the story a bit more to keep you placated when I found you so close to the Magic Council thanks to your standing in Fairy Tail. You, the one who took all responsibility for their destructive actions. I had to keep you content that I was going to settle things with my brother. And we will settle things, just not as you expected. However, there was one complete and total lie I did tell you, Erza."
The S-Class wizard held her ground. "And what's that?"
"I have no brother."
Erza heard those words from Siegrain and it did give her pause. "But-"
"Perhaps that doesn't quite cut it," Siegrain continued, hands in his white coat pocket as he relaxed. "You see, Erza, there is no Siegrain. There never was. It was just a convenient name and nothing more. An identity to give me access to resources I needed that no lord of the Tower of Heaven could hope to obtain. So I split my essence, my magic, my very soul in twain!"
At that moment, Erza's spirit faltered. Siegrain being a duplicitous snake she had always been ready for, his intentions unclear, but this... "Then all this time, all this time since you cast me out of this tower and stayed behind to rule it with an iron fist..."
"That's right!" Siegrain shouted, his voice at last raising just as the one that belonged to the man she had just fought had time and time again. "All this time you were never away from my sight, Erza! You were never, ever free of this tower! And you were far too foolish, far too naive to understand that you could never escape your fate! Oh, but don't worry, I'm here to assure you that there is one fate that I can make for you!"
Erza grit her teeth then, at last pushed too far. All the lies, all the deceptions, the cruelty, the subterfuge... "I have had enough."
"What was that?" Siegrain, the Jellal in white, asked, having barely registered Erza's whisper.
"I have had enough!" Erza all but bellowed, transforming then and there into armor as dark as night. "Purgatory Armor, Requip!" The scarlet-haired mage jumped high into the air before she crashed down upon the two of them with her massive black sword, the two identical mages just barely moving out of the way.
"This ends right here, right now!" Erza cried out as she charged at Siegrain. She swung her gigantic blade at the mage, but much to her frustration, the Wizard Saint casually dodged under the blow with ease. Snarling with rage, she struck at him again, only for him to perform a somersault to maneuver out of the way.
"Yes, I suppose it will," Siegrain said, casually moving back from Erza. "Though I suppose you are quite confident that you will emerge victorious against me. No doubt for defeating my other half. My... lesser half."
"You see, since I needed Siegrain to fill in as a Wizard Saint, I had to move most of my power over to him, Erza. I only left myself with a measly 40%. More than enough to handle the average S-Class and to keep appearances, but if I wanted a high rank among the Wizard Saints, I couldn't afford less." Jellal answered.
"I care not how you've divided your strength!" Erza cried out as she swung out her blade in a futile effort once more. "I will not allow either of you two to use this tower for your nefarious gains any longer!"
Again and again did Erza try to strike at Siegrain, but it was no use. The man was a Wizard Saint for a reason, and none of her blows came even close to hitting him. Creating a sword of light in one hand, Siegrain jumped above her attack with a somersault before slashing at her back, cutting through her purgatory armor with ease. "Do you really think you'll be able to defeat me with that armor? It's far too slow."
He was right, much as she hated to admit it. She needed a change of tactics. "Requip, Heaven's Wheel!" Clad once more in her angelic armor, Erza quickly surrounded herself with dozens of her swords before she telepathically commanded them to strike at Siegrain.
However, to her dismay, the Wizard Saint casually dodged and weaved through the wave of weapons, as if it were nothing. "Really, Erza? Did you think such a simple trick could work?" Just as she tried to control her swords to strike at him yet again, Siegrain moved his right hand in front of him and smirked. "Light of Penitence." A massive beam of energy fired from his hand and destroyed all of the swords that she had summoned before coming straight at Erza.
Erza grimaced before changing armors once more. "Adamantine Armor!" Quickly covering herself with her defensive armor, Erza raised her twin shields to defend herself from the attack. The massive light crashed against the combined shields. Erza grunted with effort as she felt herself skidding back as she bore witness to her shields beginning to crack from the strain! Finally, the attack subsided, though her shields were left with one massive hole, rendering them useless.
Siegrain let out a whistle. "Not bad at all Erza. That attack would have killed any ordinary S-Class wizard. I suppose Elisabeth truly does deserve all her praise for forging such armor. But, surely you realize now that you can't win."
Erza panted as she caught her breath before she stared at the two of them, glowing with light once more and changing into her Heart Kreuz armor. "This battle… is far from over."
"Is that a fact?" Siegrain asked, grinning with confidence.
"Why, I do believe she feels it is," Jellal said, firing upon Erza from behind with dark magic. "Perhaps I should teach her the folly of her ways."
Before she could fully face Jellal, Erza was hit in the back with a cloud of darkness, Jellal's magic power shattering her armor and staggering her for a moment until she regained herself and charged at him with her weapon drawn behind her. She swung her blade at her foe, but much to her dismay, Jellal casually jumped back before opening his left hand in front of himself. Darkness expanded as it floated above his palm, swirling with traces of red. "Shade Prison!"
After his declaration, the ball was crushed in his hand. The same energy emerged around Erza's feet, rising to the middle of her shins. By the time she noticed, her body was consumed in a ball of power, both restraining her and also delivering so much pain that she could only scream. Siegrain smirked as he aimed a hand at her with flames wafting from it. "Fire Bullet!" With the spell cast, a large bullet formed of fire shot towards Erza from behind. The S-Class mage saw it from the corner of her eye as she glanced back before managing to compose herself. Her body glowed with light before the spell hit her. The twin "brothers" smiled on even as the fire covering Erza broke apart and they saw her wearing a new set of armor. "Still standing? Good, I was hoping that wasn't going to be the end of you. If it were, you wouldn't be worthy to sacrifice to Lord Zeref."
Now clad in her Flame Empress Armor, her large sword held horizontally in front of herself, Erza let out a mighty shout and swung her blade, creating a wave of fire to shoot out in all directions. Jellal leapt back towards the wall, kicking off of it to rise above and avoid the fire. At the same time, Siegrain crouched, one hand clapping to the ground, a magic circle appearing beneath himself. "Iron Rock Wall!" In front of him, part of the floor rose into a brick wall that blocked off the fire, making the flames go around Siegrain before they faded. Just then, Siegrain's other hand aimed with a smaller magic circle and shot the earthen construct at Erza, but it was broken down with a single swing of her blade before she charged at him again, swinging her blade as it was clad with fire. Though Siegrain was able to avoid getting cut from each slice, the flames from her blade nearly burnt his attire. Eventually, the flames connected and his cloak began to burn before he quickly tossed it aside. However, with his guard down, Siegrain grunted in pain as he was knocked back by Erza's free fist and fell to the floor. Fear quickly overcame him when he saw Erza towering over him with her raised sword, ready to strike.
"Relentless Torrent!"
From underneath Erza briefly shone a blue magic circle before a massive geyser erupted. As soon as she noticed, she braced herself, and light covered her before another set of armor adorned her body. It was a revealing armor modeled after different sea creatures, colored seaweed green on the inner portions and aqua blue on the fin portions. In her right hand was a long sword matching the armor's motif. "Sea Empress Armor!" Erza declared proudly with her sword held vertically in front of herself. She slashed down and held the stream of water back, though she felt herself strain from the effort.
Jellal came to Siegrain's side and both saw her stop the spell with a battle cry. "Impressive," Siegrain said as Erza charged at them with a more determined face, showing gritted teeth and eyes full of fighting spirit. "Most impressive."
Right before Erza hit the ground to swipe at them, the blue-haired duo blocked with magic, wind from Siegrain and darkness from Jellal, emerging from their hands and solidifying it to keep the weapon from reaching them. Together they pushed her back and respectively cast offensive magic at her. "Razor Cyclone!" "Dark Volley!"
The two elements hit Erza hard, the S-Class mage now caught in a horizontal tunnel of air that almost sent her flying back, blade-like wind scraping all over her body and armor while large bullets of dark energy pelted away at her. Having already been through her prior battle with Quilge, and now suffering a team attack from two powerful sources, Erza could not help but feel exhausted. Her concentration slowly began to break until she couldn't stand anymore, falling onto her back at the end of the combined attack with a shout of pain. Jellal and Siegrain looked down with sneers of amusement as Erza panted heavily, getting on all fours to catch her breath before Jellal taunted her. "Looks like I made you kneel, after all."
Erza struggled to get up, her body aching from the pain. Slowly, with a wobbly hand, she reached forward to grab her sword. "This...isn't...over."
"And yet, she still thinks she has a chance," Jellal said before he sighed. "You're only making this worse for yourself, Erza. I don't wish to bring you any unnecessary harm. We just wish to use you to bring about our ideal world."
"The same world that you promised to Simon, Sho, Wally, and Milleanna?" Erza asked as she slowly got to her feet. "The same world that you offered to Quilge so that he would join your cause? A world only filled with the strong? Is that it?" She then shook her head. "I would sooner take my own life than let it be used for your own twisted ideology!"
"As if you have a choice in that either," Siegrain hissed. "Your life stopped being your own the moment you were brought to this tower. And it became mine the moment Lord Zeref took me under his wing! The moment I gave you the illusion of freedom! But now... now I shall use you as the sacrifice to give the world no illusionary freedom, but the truth itself! Lord Zeref's hour is near, and he will show us the way!"
"Is that a fact?" Erza said as she glared at the Wizard Saint. "My life...I would gladly offer it up for the sake of my friends, my guild, for the greater good. But you? Never." She said as she slowly closed her eyes. Fighting Siegrain on his own would have been tough enough as it is, but with Jellal helping him out, I don't have a choice as things stand. Right now, I only have three options before me...
The first was the Armadura Fairy Armor. It was made for this exact purpose. To fight, and defeat any of the Wizard Saints that had gone rogue. She had prayed that such a thing would never happen again after Jose Porla, but it seems that fate hadn't decided to offer her that courtesy. However, with the power it offered...
'No, it's too dangerous,' Erza thought. 'If I used it here, then everyone else would get caught up in our fight. With the power I have at my disposal, I'd be just as much of a threat to my friends as Jellal and Siegrain. No, I can't use it...Not until everyone else is gone.'
The Nakagami wasn't an option either. Its power was far too draining for Erza to even consider it for what would no doubt be a prolonged fight. She had no choice then...but to use that modification Elisabeth had made to the Purgatory Armor. It was made for situations such as this one, when the other two armors weren't an option. She had prayed that this would never come to pass, to use that horrid power, but she had no choice. Quickly, she had changed back into her black-clad armor, the Purgatory Armor adorning her once more.
"This again?" Jellal said with a grin. "You were unable to so much as land a single hit on us with that armor of yours earlier. What difference could you possibly hope to make with it now?"
"Jellal..." Erza said, glaring at the man she knew in his two forms. "This armor possesses unparalleled power-"
"Is that a threat?" Siegrain interrupted, not showing any sign of concern.
"More than likely," Jellal continued. "The empty promises of a desperate woman. If you spoke the truth, Erza, you would have continued to use it. Power it may have, but speed is another matter."
"That's because of the sacrifice involved in wielding this power," Erza continued. "One I dared not make. But you're right. You have made me very desperate! But if it's to defeat the two of you, I'm willing to throw away everything, even my humanity!"
She was the Titania, the pride and joy of her guild. The one that almost everyone looked up to. Ever since she had inherited that title from Meifon, Erza had planned on doing nothing but upholding the honor and prestige that came with that position. But now, so many old wounds were reopening, ever since she had been brought back to this wretched tower, and she had finally reached her breaking point. If she had to become a monster in order to slay monsters...then so be it.
"Enough of these games!" Jellal and Siegrain said together, both raising their hands up, power building between them both. The light and dark came together, swirling about in a vortex before firing towards Erza. "This age bereft of Lord Zeref's presence shall fall with you, Erza!" The two sets of magic crashed against Erza then, covering the room with dust and debris as the two blue-haired mages smirked.
"Well now, that should help her quiet down before-" However, before Siegrain could even finish speaking, the dust began to clear, and to their surprise Erza still stood...but something was quite different now. Her back was now hunched over, and slowly yet surely was her body becoming surrounded by a black and red aura.
"What...is this?" Jellal asked. This magic he was sensing, it was unlike any that Erza had used before. Prior to this moment, her magic had been either elemental or pure physical in nature, but now...what he was sensing now was something...sinister.
(Song of choice: Colossus Phase 2 Code Vein)
"I warned you..." Erza said before the armor behind her head slowly melded over her head, forming into a beastial like helmet. "Purgatory Armor… BERSERKER MODE!" A furious and powerful gust of wind whipped up around her, and then, before the two could fully process what was going on, Erza jumped and leaped down at them with speed and power well beyond that of what they were before!
Jellal and Siegrain both looked on in horror as the blade was struck down, explosive magical power rippling from the impact. Both of them were thrown careening away, their bodies going limp before they smashed into the far walls.
"What... power!" Jellal gasped, blood spewing from his mouth. "Like... nothing I've ever seen!"
Siegrain roared in pain as he experienced the brunt of the attack, blood falling from both a corner of his mouth and from a gash atop his brow. "What... kind of monster has Erza become...?"
Erza turned around, her eyes glowing red before she let out a snarl of anger and charged at the two of them, her massive blade raised above her head, the warrior queen crying out with furious vigor. "JELLLAAALLLLLLl!"
"Don't think this act of desperation will be enough, Erza!" Jella hissed, raising his hand up even as he pulled his body out from the shattered wall. "Yours is a deadly power, but it cannot withstand both the dark..."
"... and the light!" Siegrain fired off a bolt of magic just as Jellal did, their light and dark powers combined into a spiral of pure power that sped towards Erza.
Their combined magical power slammed into Erza, her armor beginning to crack from the attack and Erza could practically feel her bones ache from the blow, but the S-Class wizard paid it no mind. The pain was nothing. The pain didn't matter. Nothing mattered, but seeing them dead!
Using his Celestial Body Magic, Siegrain moved past Erza with great speed before his hands glowed with lighting. "Lightning of Judgment!" A massive bolt of lightning fired from his hands, hitting Erza in the chest, but with another animalistic snarl, Erza swung her sword, parting the attack and cleaving a massive fissure through the floor of the room. Jellal tried to hit her from behind with his dark magic, but Erza continued to rush Siegrain as if Jellal's magic was having no effect!
"How far the mighty Titania has fallen!" Siegrain smirked as one of his hands became engulfed in water, the other clad in flames. "To have turned into a mad beast hell-bent on revenge! But it won't be enough to stop us! Elemental Vortex: Searing Deluge!" A mighty burst of magic erupted from his palms then, the two elements forming into a spiraling tornado far greater in power than any mere S-Class mage could ever hope to conjure!
With a roar of rage, Erza swung her blade, cutting the attack in half with the mere shockwave of her swing. The air pressure caused Siegrain to cry out in pain as it connected with him, slicing him across his chest. Erza bared her teeth and ran towards Jellal with her sword ready to strike!
"Shade Prison!" Once more did Jellal try to subdue her with his black magic, but to no avail. Erza let out a mighty battle cry, and then, simply by running forward, she broke through and shattered the shadows that attempted to bind her as if they were made of glass, closing in on Jellal.
His body glowing with power, Siegrain shouted out "Meteor!" and collided with Erza, sending her back before he delivered another powerful left jab across her face, quickly followed up with another from his right before he jumped back and conjured multiple magical circles of various elements which surrounded him. "Elemental Purge!" Countless magical bullets made of fire, ice, wind, earth, and lightning collided with Erza, not a single one of them missing their target. Once more did his body glow with light before he used Meteor to dash forward and deliver a powerful kick to her stomach, creating a massive hole in the Purgatory Armor and forcing Erza to drop her sword as she fell to her knees. "Hah, I'll admit you've grown in strength, but without your sword-"
Before Siegrain could even finish talking, however, Erza got right up onto her feet as if nothing had happened and slammed her fist right in his face, his nose breaking as he staggered back. Screaming with pure unadulterated fury, Erza quickly pounced on him as he hit the floor before she let out yet another yell of rage and punched his face, cracking the floor beneath them. Over and over, she struck him with her firsts, her left and right hands moving with such speed and fury that no normal mage could have hoped to try to push her off. Siegrain tried his best attempt at kicking her body with his body empowered by Celestial Body Magic, but no matter how hard he tried, Erza would not budge!
"That's enough of that!" Jellal said as he ran towards Erza. He reached for one of Erza's arms then, grabbed it around the bare, upper portion. He glared at her then, calling upon his magic... only to be suddenly grabbed around the face by the metallic gauntlet that had just been striking Siegrain. He felt pain spread across his skull, the fingers digging in as Erza spun around and put her weight behind her grip. "Arrgh!"
Jellal cried out as he felt the back of his skull slam into the floor, the stone breaking.
It was then that both halves of Jellal Fernandes understood one simple thing: They had pushed Erza too far... and she was going to kill them both in the most miserable ways possible if need be.
"I was... wrong... and so were... you..." Jellal grunted. "Before me is no... weak little girl broken by the tower... or Titania Erza of Fairy Tail... but the monster I made you become..."
Jellal reached up with both hands then, clawing at Erza's arm as he felt the light begin to fade. He managed to grasp her forearm one more time.
Then did he concentrate on his magic, hoping for the best. Dark snake-like tendrils spread out from his fingertips, digging their way into Erza and becoming one with his flesh.
Erza paid it no mind. Her enraged thoughts, her muscles, her everything focused solely on bringing an end to Jellal and the Tower of Heaven. However, it was then that she felt two things. The first was the cessation of her body's movement. Though her hand was still on Jellal's face, she could not feel her fingers tighten any further. No, they were growing limp. Her arm was no different as if she was frozen in place.
The second... was pain. Absolute agony etched itself into her entire body, spreading from her arm. The snake-like markings began to curl around her flesh, marking it as they bobbed and weaved about her, at least one line of it moving up her neck and onto her face.
"I didn't think you would have managed to push us this far." Jellal said as he pulled his face free from Erza's hand. "Truly remarkable Erza…"
"...but in the end, it hardly matters." Siegrain finished, standing up as he wiped the blood from his face. "The only counter to such unrestrained power was deception and trickery. Thankfully, I have that in abundance. We had planned on using this to seal you from the very start. At first, we simply planned on wearing you down before applying it, but this...new power of yours caught us off guard. However, the blind rage that accompanied such power made applying the seal all the easier. I doubt you even noticed the seals through your anger."
"Though I'll admit," Jellal said, standing to look down upon Erza, "I was unsure if I would live long enough to see it through. Any of the saints ranked below me would have no doubt perished. Take that honor with you into oblivion, Erza."
"As well as the honor of reviving Lord Zeref himself," Siegrain said, pacing around so as to stand beside his other half.
"Damn you..." Erza hissed, it being one of the few acts of defiance she had left against Jellal's machinations. However, while she knew he in both his forms was accountable for his own personal list of committed atrocities, she began to realize that she shared her own part of the blame in what was about to happen.
Erza Scarlet may have been one of the worst enemies a dark guild could face, but she too was her own worst enemy. And now all she could realize was that she had been mistaken in her victory over Quilge Opie. She had not conquered all of her own failings in rising up against his power, just one. She had conquered the fear that the Tower of Heaven had etched upon her soul. However...
Her rage, her anger, her hate… those were another matter altogether.
To think I tried to help Bambietta through her own thoughts of anger and revenge, Erza thought to herself, but I fell under their influence again. Erza closed her eyes then, realizing her failure. She had let her anger cloud her judgment and her power, allowing Jellal to turn the tides as he had.
Her eyes widened then as she noticed a large light out of one of the tower's windows. "What on earth is-"
"Ah, yes, it's finally time." Siegrain spoke with a sinister sneer. "The Etherion."
Erza gasped then, not for her own safety, but for her friends who remained below. "NO!" She tried to run, but Jellal pinned her down to the ground.
"Now, now, Erza. Why not sit still and enjoy the fireworks?"
"You fool! You'll kill us all!" Erza shouted out in a mixture of fury and terror.
Outside the tower, light was gathering into the sky directly above the Tower of Heaven. Everyone from Fairy Tail's guild, along with Simon, Milleanna, Sho, Wally, Driscoll, Shazz, and Quilge, all who had managed to get back onto the ship they had arrived on thanks to their Quincy allies, watched in a mix of awe and worry.
"What on earth is that!?" Gray exclaimed.
"It… must be the Etherion Cannon!" Quilge answered. "I heard Jellal talk about how he had planned on harnessing its power, but I had hoped it would have taken longer than this!"
Simon in particular seemed especially crestfallen as his head hung. All those years he had spent trying to prevent Jellal's mad dreams from coming true...Wasted. "We were too late."
The most worried among the whole group, however, were Candice and Wendy, Candice yelling out as loud as he could! "Come on you guys! Hurry it up and get out of there! Now!"
Wendy was faring no better, on the verge of tears. "No. You can't die, not like this! I...I need you! Lucy needs you, we all need you! BAMBI!"
In the tower itself, Bambietta and Liltotto were using Hirenkyaku to climb the stairs as fast as they could. They still weren't near the top but that didn't stop them from focusing entirely on ascending to reach the place Erza was. They were so close, so close, to finally saving Erza and ending this nightmare once and for all. However, just as they ascended the staircase, the two felt a massive weight as they noticed the glowing light outside one of the windows of the tower.
"Um, Lil, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?" Bambietta demanded. The power she was feeling right now was extraordinary! To simply refer to it as massive would have been a colossal understatement. With the exception of the Celestial Spirit King, nothing she had encountered in this world came even close to this level of power!
"I don't know!" Liltotto screamed. She was beyond terrified. They were about to be hit by an attack that, as far as Lilttoto could tell, was going to kill them.
The pair were keenly aware of the growing intensity of the light outside the windows but chose to continue running, not allowing their fear to slow them down. Bambietta herself was especially frantic and shouted for her ally that was without a doubt in mortal peril. "ERZA!"
The Etherion Cannon fired. The ray of light cast down over the Tower of Heaven, engulfing it entirely, and creating waves onto the ocean from the shock of impact. Before any of them could capsize the boat, Juvia managed to quickly manipulate the water around themselves to keep them safe as everyone shielded their eyes from the intense light. By the time the light had dimmed down enough for them to see again, the sea was calm once more, though the pillar of combined elemental energy was still pouring downwards. "Erza… Bambi… Liltotto… did we lose you?" Levy muttered, almost ready to cry like Wendy was.
Lucy watched on, her eyes widening from shock as she watched the beam of light engulf the tower, her right-hand clenching as she watched on. Part of her wanted nothing more than to cry, to scream at the top of her lungs for Bambietta to be alright, but the Celestial Spirit Mage knew deep down that it would accomplish little. There was something far, far more important that she needed to do. She walked over to Wendy then, placing both of her hands on the dragon slayer's shoulders before she spoke up.
"Wendy..." Lucy said, her heart racing hard even as she tried to hide it, "it's going to be okay."
"But-"
"Bambietta made a promise to me," Lucy said, her body shaking the slightest amount, unnoticeable to the Sky Dragon Slayer. "She said she'd come back to me... to us... and she'd never break that promise. Never."
Wendy tried to remain calm as Lucy stared, looking back up at the tower before speaking up once more. "Bambi, you can do it...I know you can. Ever since I first met you, you've constantly managed to overcome unbeatable odds. Eisenwald, Clover, Phantom Lord. Far as I'm concerned, this is no different. So please...come back to me, safe and sound."
Once the light had finally faded gone, everyone believed there would be nothing remaining of the Tower of Heaven. However, much to their surprise, what they ended up beholding with their own eyes was a crystalline spire with crystal-like structures jetting out around the edges. At the center of it were Erza, Jellal, and Siegrain with no damage having been done to any of them. The former of the trio was surprised as she looked around. "We're still alive?" Erza exclaimed.
From inside the water barrier, everyone could not help but be stunned stunned at what they were seeing. Even Ulquiorra felt compelled to ask aloud, "Inside of the tower was...some sort of crystal?"
"Not just any crystal. That's a lacrima." Gray said, surprised as everyone else. "It's a crystal that can absorb magic into itself for later use."
"I see. That would explain how the tower avoided collapsing after being hit by my Cero Oscuras." Ulquiorra answered.
"Wait a minute...that means that the tower absorbed all that energy! That means they're all still alive!" Candice exclaimed.
Lucy smiled lightly then, as her body filled with hope, the mage letting out a deep breath she had held after her words of courage to Wendy. "I just knew you'd make it."
Within what was left of the Tower of Heaven, Bambietta and Liltotto groaned in discomfort as they lay against the walls of the giant lacrima structure. Bambietta hissed in pain before she managed to start looking around. "We're still alive? How the fuck did that happen?"
"This crystalline structure… It's a lacrima!" Liltotto said as she finally got a good glance at her surroundings. "That must mean that the tower was built to specifically absorb this kind of power!"
"Why the hell would that asshole try something so reckless?!" Bambietta yelled.
"Not sure," Liltotta groaned as she got up and dusted herself off. "But now's not the time or place for theory. If we survived, it's more than likely that Erza did too."
Bambietta stood up, before giving Liltotto a small grin. "Then there's no time to waste. Let's go!"
At the center of it all, Jellal and Siegrain had iniquitous grins before laughing maniacally, their own words of evil excitement heard by Erza who watched in shock while still bound by their spell.
"It's here! At long last, the hour of glory has arrived!" Jellal exclaimed.
"Yes! This is the true form of the Tower of Heaven! A giant lacrima crystal!" Siegrain added.
"Thanks to the Magic Council, the Etherion's magical energy provided the missing piece of the puzzle!" Jellal continued.
"Which means the R-System is now finally complete!" Siegrain said as the "brothers" finally now finished with their evil gloating.
At first, Erza wasn't sure what to say, until she narrowed her eyes and scowled. "So, this was all part of your plan?"
Jellal nodded. "Indeed. I hope you enjoyed the freedom I granted you all those years ago. Your release and everything after was all part of my plan to resurrect Zeref."
Erza's anger was boiling over again as she glared at the twins. "How can you live like this, knowing your life has been one big, combined lie?!"
Ignoring her question entirely, Siegrain spoke up. "Now that we have the precise amount of magic energy needed for the R-System, there's one more thing we need before Zeref can be resurrected. This is where you take center stage for your moment in the spotlight, my dear."
"The magic energy held within this lacrima must be fused with the body of our sacrifice," Jellal said as his eyes narrowed. "Once that happens, your flesh will break down and reconstruct itself to create Zeref's body."
Another portion of the lacrima emerged behind Erza just as Jellal approached her. However, just as his hand reached out to push her back, he was sent toppling over from a blow to the back of his head before a powerful kick launched him back onto his feet. He took a moment to right himself before grimacing at the ones responsible through blurred vision. As the figures came into focus, he could see Bambietta casting a steely gaze towards him while Lilltotto stood protectively in front of Erza, a thunderous expression now adorning the petite Quincy's face. The brunette summoned her blade before she made a bold declaration:
"All right, asshole. This ends right here, right now!"
And thus ends the first phase of the battle against Jellal Fernandes. I do actually have the entirety of the fight already finished, but if I uploaded it in just one big chunk, it would be far, far too long to read in one sitting.
Erza tried her best, but it seems like her overwhelming anger ended up be her undoing. Can Bambietta and Liltotto succeed where Erza failed? Well, you'll just have to wait till next time!
MPF:
Sigreain: 6825
Jellal: 2500
Erza, Berserker mode: 8200
