The monstrous form of Aetherium rushed towards Erza with such speed and ferocity that each rubble was split evenly in its wake. Erza barely had time to react as it reached her in seconds and delivered a powerful upward swipe with its sickle, with green flames tracing across as it did so. Erza attempted to block the attack but it was in vain as it split the sword in two and sent her flying through the air before crashing into the ground with an enormous thud. "Aargh!" she yelped as her body bounced off the concrete floor.

"This is bad," Mirajane said, leaning forward and watching the battle keenly.

"Isn't that obvious?" Warren pointed out with an annoyed face.

"You don't get it!" Mirajane argued, slamming her fist on the ground causing Warren and the others to startle, "Look at his body, his arms, legs, even his face. That thing can now morph his body to his liking. Don't you get it? It's completely taken over Sasuke. Right now, he might as well be a full-fledged demon."

The revelation shocked everyone, and their jaws dropped as they tried to process everything that had just been said. If what Mirajane said was true, the chances of freeing Sasuke would be even more difficult.

"She's right, ya know?" the guild members looked to their left to see Gray looking on at the creature in front of him with a narrow gaze. His voice was shaky as he fidgeted his fingers. "If demons are involved, it's bad news …."

"Wait a minute! Are you saying that Erza's…." Warren exclaimed, fearful of being affirmed.

"At the rate it's going, Erza could die," Mirajane said, digging her fist deeper into the dirt and gritting her teeth.

The beast propelled itself high up into the sky, before diving feet straight toward Erza, who looked up with exasperated horror as she quickly rolled out of harm's way. The moment the monster touched the ground, the ground shattered like a clay pot as the earth shook violently, bringing ruin to everything in its vicinity as the shockwave spread across the area, to the point of splintering the nearby hill where the rest of the guild rested, forcing them to seek shelter in a panic.

Meanwhile, Erza had recovered from the attack and was on her feet. She immediately donned her purgatory armor and leaped towards Aetherium with a heavy thud, intending to strike it down with her mace. Yet, much to her own shock, the possessed being did not flinch or try to move out of harm's way but instead took on the full brunt of the mace with its' fist, shattering it into pieces. "What!?" an exasperated Erza exclaimed, but before she could do anything else, the beast grabbed her wrist and pulled her close and then took hold of her ankle, as it spun her around like a piece of cloth.

Erza could only gargle and gaggle as she was spun around, disorienting her. Unfortunately, this was the least of her worries as Aetherium then slammed her into the ground like an axe to a block of wood, causing her to let out a blood-curdling scream as her back exploded. Her lungs felt like they were about to collapse. And then it slammed her again, and again, and with each scream, the rest of the guild could do nothing but look on with petrified stares.

The torture session was far from over, much to her misfortune, as the empowered beast then grabbed hold of her head and began dragging her across what little wall remained of the amphitheater all the while Erza screamed out in agony. The final nail to this onslaught was her getting tossed into the air as she slowly fell to the earth with a wail of pain. As she struck the ground with a silent thud, Erza lay on the dirt with her eyes glazed over while she whimpered.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore, I'm going in!" Natsu growled as he closed his hands and started at Aetherium with furious contempt as he charged straight at the monster.

"Oh no you don't! He's mine first!' Gray angrily yelled and followed behind.

"Alright," Bickslow rose to his feet and dusted himself off, "Time for round two. Get ready, my babies." His totems cooed as they joined by his side.

The rest of the guild save for Mirajane and Warren followed as they all surrounded Aetherium and began their assault. "Not gonna join them?" Mirajane glanced at Warren and asked.

As Warren looked over to her, Mirajanes' glare was enough to send shivers down his spine and force him to sit upright. "Umm…no….I-I'm still hurt" he nervously stuttered.

Rather than chew him out of perceived cowardice, Mirajane simply sighed and rose to her feet. "Stop pissing yourself, I'm not gonna kick your ass" the she-devil reassured him, causing him to heave a sigh of relief, "But we'll still need you for what's to come."

"Ah don't worry, when you need me, I'll be right there" Warren gave a thumbs up and replied.

The white-haired girl smirked as she hobbled her way toward her current goal. But it was not the battle where her guildmates were fighting but rather towards the one person she never thought she would seek out. In front of her, was a prone, vulnerable Erza. One who had given it her all and was still soundly beaten as a result. That being said, the beast was a terrifying sight to behold and it did not dimmish her early victory over the possessed Sasuke, no matter how much she loathe to admit it.

"Fire dragon Iron fist!" Natsu yelled as he jumped into the air with his right hand covered in fire and brought it down on Aetherium, who deflected it with his scythe and tossed Natsu away. The other members of the guild took advantage and began raining down a barrage of attacks, refusing to give the monster a chance to collect its thoughts.

Cana shot out a barrage of cards which exploded on impact but did little to even faze the creature possessing Sasuke. Gray swung in with a makeshift pickaxe made of ice but was quickly sent flying with a backhanded strike while Elfman couldn't even get a single hit in as he was kicked before he could throw a punch.

Over the skies, the three wooden dolls of Bickslow harassed Aetherium with a slew of magical energy blasts and once he retaliated by throwing his sickle, the dolls moved out of harm's way and back to their master.

"Get ready babies! Battle formation" Bickslow ordered as the dolls cooed in unison and floated in front of him as they began spinning until they morphed into a blurry circle. "Fire!" he yelled as the dolls shot a singular concentrated blast that hurled itself right toward Aetherium with pinpoint precision.

The being possessing Sasuke spun his sickle in turn, acting as a sort of shield as it protected him from the magical beam while allowing it to trudge closer and closer to Bickslow. Behind him, however, Natsu and Gray began charging up their own attack, with Natsu sucking in the air as his chest became bloated while Gray slammed his left palm and summoned an ice canon.

"Fire dragon roar!"

"Ice make: Bazooka!"

It was at that point that Aetherium noticed a strong sensation of heat and cold emanating from behind him. Thinking quickly, it reached out its hand towards Bickslow as it gleaned a strong green aura, one which eventually coated Bickslow as well. 'What the?" Bickslow murmured as he found himself helplessly dragged towards Aetherium against his will before the creature then turned around and used him as a human shield against the incoming attack. "Wait! No,no, no, no!' He prattled as his eye widened until both elements exploded upon contact, both with him and each other. Once the dust cleared, Bickslow was rendered immobile, his skin ashen and his mind in a daze as he collapsed to the ground.

But this attack served as a perfect distraction as Aetherium felt a strong force connect to his head. Growling in pain, his eye glanced upward to see a monstrous fist digging itself into his cranium. Elman had taken advantage of the chaos to land the first solid hit. Sadly, it did little but anger the beast even more as it grabbed Elfman's hand and struck his torso with the hilt of the sickle, causing the young Strauss to fly to a nearby wall, only to be caught by his sister, who grabbed hold of him with her talons and flew up high. Refusing to let them get away, Aetherium summoned an orb from his hand and allowed it to grow bigger until he sent it toward the Strauss siblings. Having little time to react and having her speed hampered by carrying Elfman, all Lisanna could hope for was to brace herself as the orb detonated once it touched them and caused them to fall to the ground.

"Lisanna! Elfman!" Cana yelled as she rushed to their aid.

In front of the creature stood Natsu and Gray, their faces frowned and their eyes burning with fury. "You're gonna pay for that" Gray declared and pointed an ice sword. Nearby, Natsu was uncharacteristically quiet but the scorching flames burning in his hands was all the message he needed to send to convey his fury.

….

Meanwhile, on the other side of the conflict, Erza lay on the ground, motionless as her mouth let out soft and muffled breaths. Her eyes were fixated on the dark skies above and her body was in too much pain to move around, forcing her to remain still on one spot. However, she could still hear the sounds of explosions and the cries of her comrades as they valiantly fought whatever had taken over Sasuke. At that moment, she cursed every inch of her body for being weak, for being fragile, for not being strong enough to handle the pressure, and for rendering her immobile as she helplessly listened to their screams of agony.

As she angrily bit her lip over the helplessness of her situation, a looming shadow casts over her, blocking out what little sunlight penetrated from the clouds. Even if she couldn't move her body, her eyes were free to move about as they pleased within the confines of her face, and with ease, they were able to realize that it was Mirajane standing over them. Her rival's gaze was focused on the battle up front, refusing to so much as even look at her. "That was pathetic" The eldest Strauss blunted stated.

Erza did not have the energy or desire to angrily retort in kind for the moment. There was no love lost between each other and they were aware of it. Instead, she simply took it under the chin and smiled, 'Yeah, I screwed up big."

"Yeah, well, don't give yourself too much credit. We all knew it'd take more than just one of us to end this" Mirajane replied.

On paper, her words were meant to sting because it seemed she was castigating her prone rival, especially when she was at her lowest. But this only served to confuse Erza, who blinked and let out a bemused scoff. If one could look into her words really hard, it almost seemed like a compliment, as if to say that she had done her best.

"Hey, listen" Mirajane spoke again.

"Yeah, what?"

"This might sound crazy, but we're going to have to shove this into his mouth," Mirajane said as she took out the small vial that contained a single pill, "Getting into his mind and snapping him out of it, might be our only chance."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, it's not like I didn't know what the plan was" Erza groaned.

"Say whatever you want, but we're gonna need you to get back on your feet if we can pull this off" the eldest Strauss asserted as she placed the vial on Erza's chest, "Listen, when I give you the signal, pop that sucker into his mouth."

Erza glanced down at the vial as she weakly took hold of it with her right hand before looking up at Mirajane, "And what you're gonna do? I don't need to tell you what happened the last two times you've faced him."

"Just focus on getting back on your feet" Mirajane derided as she began walking over to the center of the conflict, "The only reason he got this far was because I went easy on him. That thing is about to find out that Sasuke's not the only one with a demon inside of him."

Erza could only look on helplessly as Mirajane's figure began to shrink further as she went away by which point, she was standing between a confused Natsu and Gray. "Hey, what's up with you?" Gray inquired with a puzzled look.

"Just stand by for now, I'll take care of this" she declared.

"No way! We're not gonna let you have all the fun here" Natsu complained, stomping his right foot.

The dragon slayer's protest earned him a quick but menacing glance from the she-devil, and that was enough to send him reeling back. "If I lose, we'll need the both of you in this fight. Just stay out of my way for now" she insisted.

By this point, both the boys knew better than to argue with her, given how terrifying she could be when angered; a fury that rivaled Erza herself. "Alright, be careful," Gray said as he and Natsu looked at each other and nodded before backing away.

Aetherium watched the drama unfold with an amused grin and chuckled to himself. A laugh that was seeping with contempt and malice as it barely seemed to contain the rage inside.

"Alright, ugly. It's just you and me now and this time, I'm not going easy on you" Mirajane cracked her neck and bared her fangs as her shoulder slumped down while her arms tensed up, evoking the image of a primal stance. Magical energy evaporated from her body as she growled viciously, her arms and legs transforming into inhuman forms with sharp claws. Her fangs became more pronounced as horns protruded from her head. As the intensity of the transformation began taking its toll, so too did her control over the demon as her screams became more inhuman. This had gone beyond a mere takeover process, for in that moment Mirajane fully intended to let the demon out. She beat her chest as her screams of anguish magnified, the final step in the metamorphosis came in the form of pure white eyes.

By the time it was done, she had fully resembled the demon she once lost control over when Sasuke once confronted her, a touch of irony not lost on Aetherium, who knew of this through Sasuke's memories. "So, you've chosen to let the demon consume you to face me? How foolish of you to waste his sacrifice. There will be no sage to save you this time" he boldly stated.

But there was no retort coming from Mirajane. No verbal jab nor any condescending remarks; all that stood in front of Aetherium was an opponent of equal savagery and temperance, whose silence was a sign of someone who was barely holding back the monster that had been unleashed, enough to form coherent thinking and distinguish between friend and foe, at least for the moment.

With a beastly growl, Mirajane and Aetherium both flew towards the other, as her claws locked in with their massive scythe. Aetherium pushed her back and swung at her with his weapon, yet in both instances, Mirajane easily evaded them by flipping back. In the split second that his body was at a particular angle and facing away from her, Mirajane rebounded and landed a solid punch to his cheeks, throwing him into the air and causing him to drop his scythe.

This sudden turn of events baffled Aetherium, for this girl was now displaying power greater than what had been demonstrated. "How did she get so powerful?" he snarled as he contemplated on their previous bout. To give her credit, she fared the best out of everyone besides Erza and was the reason why this body was wounded enough that facing Erza became more challenging than it should have been. As it watched her ascending at great speed, Aetherium realized that the demon she unleashed was more powerful than he had estimated.

Regardless, the battle was far from over, and by the time Mirajane reached Aetherium, the creature intercepted her punch, grabbed her by the throat with its other hand, and drove her back to the ground with a sudden crash. Even so, there was little room for a follow-up attack as Mirajane's hands began to glow in a dark aura as it unleashed a powerful magical beam that, once again, sent Aetherium flying back into the sky and once again, did Mirajane gave chase ascending skyward herself.

"Still trying to use the same tricks?" Aetherium chided as he unleashed a barrage of smaller magical beams, many of which collided with Mirajane, resulting in small explosions. Yet, the eldest Strauss powered through them, ignoring any potential damage that might have been done to her as if she was blinded by primal fury and had now become numb to any sort of pain. Her hands gleamed in a dark aura as her punch connected with Aetherium, whose single eye expanded and its jaw opened wide in agony as Mirajane tackled the both of them, not into the ground in the amphitheater, but straight into the body of water beneath the waterfall.

The width of the splash that they created was such, that even the nearby trees were drizzled in water. Beneath the river, the two opponents sized each other up as Aetherium made the first move and attempted to grab Mirajane. The she-devil retaliated against this show of force with the most primitive of maneuvers: a savage bite. Even underwater, the crunch that was emanated as a result of razor-sharp teeth crushing against bone was significant enough, that Aetherium had to release his grip lest the mortal body sustain any further agony. Seizing this opportunity, Mirajane landed a solid kick to the stomach before grabbing Aetherium by its legs, spinning around, and throwing the creature out of the water.

Aetherium erupted from the river like a volcanic explosion as Mirajane followed behind. But as the eldest Strauss looked up, she realized that she was floating right below a titanic green sphere of magical energy, one so large that it blotted out the sun and cast an enormous shadow underneath everything else. At that moment, it was as if sanity had been restored to her, for even the demon was frightened enough to relinquish control. And Mirajane was not the only one to have taken notice, for the other members of the guild looked on with stupefied horror.

On command, Aetherium dropped the sphere straight onto Mirajane, who summoned two dark spheres of her own and thrust them forward, colliding with the larger one and stopping them in place. The collision of two massive powers was enough to unleash a shockwave that reverberated across the entire amphitheater. It was the kick needed for Erza to finally rise to her feet as she looked on at the stalemate with an agonized expression.

Yet, just when things couldn't get any worse, Aetherium had reached an ultimatum. If he were to end not only this stalemate but this entire fight as well, then it would mean using the most powerful weapon the current Sasuke had in his arsenal. "As far as I could, I have kept my promise and refrained from killing them but I have grown weary of this fight, Sasuke. And so, I have no choice but to break our agreement for both our sakes" the creature lamented as it looked up to the darkened sky while its arm was coated in electricity. Lightning flickered as thunder followed soon with a deafening roar until a monster creature of pure lightning emerged from the clouds.

"The heck is that!?" Natsu pointed at the sky.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good" Gray clenched his fists and readied himself alongside Natsu.

"Oh man, we're so screwed" Warren gazed up into the sky, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he dropped to his knees. "Why did I even agree to this!?"

The other guild members were unconscious and thus spared from witnessing a potential calamity. But Erza did not have such a luxury, for she had witnessed this technique before and the devastation it wrought. "This is…. he's going to use Kirin" She uttered that name with the greatest of reverence and fear, for Sasuke had once described to her how it was essentially him bending lightning itself to his will. Looking at her fallen comrades and those still standing, Erza realized that she had to act quickly. The wide area that Kirin covered meant escape was out of the question and her adamantine armor could only protect so many people. "I can't protect them all, not like this" Erza's mind traced off until it hit a solution as she snapped her finger, "unless."

Heading to where the fight was happening was more difficult than anticipated, in no small part thanks to the fact that limping was the best Erza could muster at the moment. But with each step, with each pain she bared, the limping slowly gave way to walking until she could run at full speed until she too stood beside Natsu and Gray.

"Erza!?" they both yelled in unison.

"No time to talk. Get everyone as close to me as possible! Now!" she yelled from the depths of her stomach, a crack in her voice as desperate pleading squeaked out amidst the powerful command. It was an order both the boys complied without hesitation as Warren joined in on the fray, hauling the larger body of Bickslow while his smaller compatriots did the same for the others.

Once everyone had gathered near Erza, the scarlet warrior looked up to the sky and yelled at her rival. "Mirajane, get down here now!" she shouted.

"What?" Mirajane shouted back.

"Just do it! You're not going to be able to handle this! Trust me, I know!" Erza shouted again.

Her natural instinct would have been to ignore Erza and continue fighting on her own, as demanded of her by her pride. Yet, looking at the gathering of lightning above her, Mirajane's survival instinct took precedence as she swallowed her pride and with great effort, dissipated the green sphere before immediately falling back to Erza.

Once she was gone, Erza quickly turned back and tossed back the vial to Mirajane, who was caught with a look of surprise. It's better in your hands than mine."

"I hope you have a plan for this" Mirajane stated as she put it back into her back pocket.

"I do" Erza replied as her body glowed until she was covered head to toe in bulky, darkly colored armor, and with it came two half shields. Given her experience, the adamantine armor had withstood Kirin's attacks before, albeit at a great cost. The challenge now was to replicate that scenario but on a greater scale. Bringing her gauntlets together, the two halves combined to form a singular shield and as she raised it up, a large magic barrier had now been formed in front of it.

Erza's actions gave enough pause for Aetherium as he stared down while the memories of Sasuke resurfaced and with it, a strange feeling overcame him: uncertainty and guilt. But it was not enough to deter the entity, who quickly brushed aside these feelings as holdovers from its host, and by lowering the hand with which the lightning was coated, it commanded the lightning beast to descend upon the earth and strike at its' foes.

"Here it comes!" Gray shouted.

"Please work, please work, please work!" Warren was on his knees, praying, pleading, and bawling for a miracle.

Mirajane could only bare her fangs and brace herself with everyone else.

And then, everything turned white, as an enormous current of electricity assaulted the barrier while Erza gritted her teeth and held on. Pieces of her armor and shield began chipping away, but the S-class mage soldiered on, enduring for the sake of her guildmates. She could not falter, not even for a second, for she knew the consequences if she slipped up. But the cracks were getting deeper and her armor was slowly losing its luster until everything around the ruins was scorched in an explosive display of power. The earth cracked underneath the ruins, plunging it and everything in it, to the land below, the water evaporated until only a trickle remained and everything remained silent.

…..

All remained quiet as a thick smoke enveloped the world around, most of the water having evaporated thanks to the heat generated by Kirin. Aetherium landed on the ground, panting from exhaustion. The amount of energy needed to unleash such a technique was beyond even what he could maintain as the green flames began flickering into embers. As he looked around, he noticed a shadow amidst the dusty fog and as it cleared, Aetherium realized that it was none other than Erza, remaining at her feet, her brilliant armor reduced to nothing but the clothes underneath. "Still standing?" Aetherium panted as it looked on with a bewildered expression.

"Erza?" Natsu softly called for her.

The other members were too shocked to even utter a single word while Mirajane stared at her with a firm but narrowed gaze.

Slowly, Erza lowered her hands, ones that held nothing but what little remained of the shattered shield, and smiled. "I…. did it. I saved…. everyone" she mumbled as she dropped to her knees, her head facing the grounds as she fell unconscious.

Yet they could not spare the time to check up on her as the guild members heard a pained howl as they watched Aetherium fall to one knee as well, as it clutched its chest. "Looks like that move took a lot out of it too" Gray noted as he glared at the creature.

"Good" Natsu snarled as he cracked his knuckles, "That means I can still kick its butt."

"Not before I get my hands on him" Mirajane chimed in with a frown.

"Guess it's just the three of us, now," Gray said, joining the two of them.

Aetherium's expression tensed through Sasuke's face, a flurry of emotions ranging from annoyance to frustration to despair flooded his every being. "And just…..like the last time, the three of you…..will lose" The creature tried to get the words in, but the toll taken from this never-ending battle thanks to their persistence and his over usage of high-level techniques began to affect him. The wounds of the battle were getting harder to heal to the point that it was now rendered moot. His host's greatest technique had become his undoing. But it could still fight, and with great trouble, manage to draw out the sickle from its hand once more.

Mirajane rushed toward Aetherium, only to be met with a swift swipe of its sickle as it nearly cleaved her face off had she not had the presence of mind to narrowly evade it by leaning back and sliding underneath it. Aetherium then went on to thrust the front side of the sickle as Mirajane jumped into the air, spun around, and drove her claws downward as Aetherium was forced to block it with the sickle. The tug of war did not last long as the creature pushed back with great force, sending Mirajane flying and tumbling onto the ground.

Taking advantage of this opening, Gray shot a volley of ice arrows towards Aetherium, who noticed them just in time to deflect each and every one of them before retaliating by throwing the sickle towards Gray as it spun in a circular motion like a buzzsaw. But rather than head for Gray, the weapon instead changed directions and went after Natsu who was checking up on Mirajane, only to be intercepted by Gray who held it at bay with his ice shield.

"Crowding in one place? A tactical error" the creature stated as it summoned razor-sharp blades from the ground, encircling the trio before converging on the three of them and colliding in a green flare that sent all three of them up in the sky.

But rather than a look of anguish, a sharp smirk curved over Gray's lips as Natsu and Mirajane morphed into ice replicas. Once he fell to the ground, Gray looked up at the being possessing Sasuke with a deathly glare, once that indicated that it had fallen for the classic diversional tactic as the visage of Natsu and Mirajane changed into statues of ice.

Aetherium's eye darted left and right and realized that it had been flanked on both sides by Mirajane and Natsu, who came at them with their fists coated in dark and flame magic respectively that erupted in a cloud of smoke. Once the dust cleared, however, both mages' eyes widened with shock as the being held them both back with its bare hands before flipping them away.

Seeing the results of his plan bearing little fruit, Gray rushed towards Aetherium with an ice sword in hand. But having grown weary of their persistent attacks, the being possessing Sasuke simply chose to summon an orb in its right hand and smash it to the ground, thereby summoning an even greater volume of blades that erupted from underneath, each holding Natsu, Mirajane, and Gray in place.

With the three of them incapacitated, Aetherium scoured the desecrated remains of the amphitheater and saw the fallen bodies of all that chose to oppose them…. except for one. Within the far edge of the ruins was Warren, on his knees and trembling in fear as Aetherium slowly strolled over to him. "You're the last one I need to take care of" it stated with a murderous gaze.

At the sight of this monster and without much in the way of combat skills, all Warren could hope was pray for a miracle as he tightly held on to the unconscious bodies of his comrades, hoping to shield them from any potential assault. Fortunately, help arrived in the form of an angry fire dragon slayer who broke through the blades and screamed "Fire dragon Iron fist!"

Aetherium growled, its patience having run thin as it awaited Natsu's attack. But as the boy drew closer, it realized something was amiss: it could not move. As it looked down, Aetherium realized that his legs had been rendered immobile by having it encased in ice, all thanks to Gray, who had also managed to free himself. Without thinking of anything else, Aetherium intercepted Natsu's punch by catching it. However, Aetherium realized this punch was far different from his previous attack; it had far more force behind it and the intensity of the flames was even greater. Still, Aetherium was confident that they would win the ensuing clash until…

It noticed a distinct glow underneath its torso and realized too late that Natsu himself was just a distraction for Mirajane to get in close. Pressing the dark sphere against its stomach, the resulting blast left it reeling in pain, enough to let go of its grip on Natsu's hand as it freed up his fist to smash through Sasuke's cheeks and send it several feet through the ground. Aetherium gaggled and wheezed in pain as it felt powerless for the first time. But even if it wouldn't have had any lasting damage, Mirajane was not about to let this golden opportunity slide as she took out the pill from her pocket, dove in, and shove the medicine straight into its mouth. "Now swallow!" she screamed as her claws covered Sasuke's mouth the creatures' screams were muffled. Eventually, its struggle became futile as the constant battle had exhausted him of his strength and Sasuke's body was forced to reflexively swallow the pill.

The power of the medicine began to immediately take effect, as its potency was such that Sasuke's body began to shake and spasm uncontrollably while the eye glazed over. 'Warren now!" Mirajane yelled, to which Warren complied and quickly crawled over to the site.

"I'm on it!" Warren shouted back, as he placed his index and middle finger on his temple, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate. It was also in that instant that everything went blank for Mirajane as well.

…...

It felt like her body was lighter as if the wear and tear of the battle never even occurred. This strange feeling of serenity was followed by a sensation that was, to put it mildly, off-putting. It felt like she wasn't meant to be here. As she slowly opened her eyes, a recognizable face looked down on her. It had the face of Sasuke, but so far, all she could recall was the knowledge of someone wearing that face but wasn't him in any way possible. Instinctively, her first reaction was to push him off and scuttle back.

"Hold on, I'm not that thing" the person resembling Sasuke pleaded.

Mirajane quickly observed her surroundings; for some strange reason, they were in a forest. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?" she warily inquired.

The person simply lowered his hands and sighed, "I…don't. You just have to believe me."

There was something strange about this 'Sasuke'. From what she could observe, he was passive, almost like the one whose memory was lost. Perhaps, this was a result of that spirit taking over his body and imprisoning him. But before she could open her mouth to question him further, another voice interrupted.

"The boy speaks the truth. What you see before you is the current Sasuke."

"Who's there?" Mirajane frantically looked around to find the source to no avail.

"We have spoken before, young Mirajane."

"That voice" she murmured, having realized who was talking to her, "You're that creepy old guy!"

"Creepy old guy? Really?" a sarcastic voice called out, it Mirajane off guard as the figure emerged from the bushes.

With a sigh and a grumble, Mirajane said of a name in the most deadpan tone she could muster, "Erza."

"Looks like you got here too," Erza said, with her hands on her hips.

"And here I thought you were knocked out" Mirajane pointed out.

"I was but then I heard this strange voice and here I am" Erza answered, looking around.

"I took advantage of your friend's ability to link minds to bring Erza's consciousness here. Given that she has been with Sasuke throughout his journey here and that you are privy to my secret, I felt the two of you were the ones most suited to join him on this endeavor as witnesses and should the need arise, protect him from danger."

Every word that came out of this voice felt more cryptic than the last, with more questions filling up than answers. "Endeavor? You mean, freeing him, right?" the eldest Straus pointed out.

"Indeed."

"So how do we do that?" Erza asked.

"You shall see, my dear Erza"

The two of them looked towards Sasuke, who simply shrugged. "I don't know what's going on either" he replied scratching his head, "All I know is that I've had many dreams about him for as long as I can remember and they were all...vivid...and confusing, like everything is in a daze."

"Well….weirder things have happened before" Erza noted, before looking at Mirajane, "This voice, it sounds like you've talked to it before. He says he knows Sasuke and wants to help but can we trust him? What if it's that Aetherium taking on a different form?"

"If it were up to me? No. But…. he was the one who came up with the plan, so as much as I hate to admit it, he's definitely, mostly not that thing that's taken over Sasuke. Right now, we don't have a lot of options, so I think it's best to play ball for now " Mira admitted.

"Wait" Sasuke spoke up, drawing the other two's attention towards him.

"What is it?" Erza asked.

"Do you hear that? Someone's coming" Sasuke warned.

There was a rumbling in the bushes, as the leaves rustled against each other, all the while the three of them observed with their guards up. Much to their surprise, what emerged out of the bushes was not some monster but a small child, a bit around the same age as Lisanna, running past them as if they never even existed. But what was most striking about the boy, was the fact that Erza instantly recognized him.

"That's, that's …. you!" the red-haired girl pointed towards Sasuke. "But your left eye, it looks...normal?"

The Uchiha himself was in a state of shock as he watched this apparent younger version of himself happily skip past him. It felt so vivid, so clear, and yet, his mind was in a daze trying to recollect this memory. "…..." he silently exhaled.

"Well, let's go after him" Mirajane declared, to which Erza and Sasuke nodded.

Given the fact that they seem to be practically invisible to the characters in this made-up scenario, given that the younger Sasuke simply ignored them, the trio did not bother with any stealth tactics. Rather they simply strolled straight up to the young boy and observed the scenario as they stood next to him. From what they could see, this younger Sasuke was sitting next to a tree and carefully observing the clearing up ahead. As he looked to his left, Mirajane, Erza and Sasuke noticed a lone figure in the clearing. He seemed far older than any of them, though with the same raven hair as Sasuke.

"Who's that guy?" Mirajane asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before" Erza replied before looking over to Sasuke, "Any idea who he is?"

While the two of them pondered on the identity of this stranger, a new development was occurring within Sasuke, and not a good one. The mere sight of that stranger sent out a flurry of emotions, swirling inside of him. Emotions that he couldn't comprehend as he clutched his chest and his heart began pounding faster.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Erza walked up to him and inquired, placing a hand on his back and slowly rubbing it as if to soothe whatever pain he was in. Even with his memories of her gone and manifesting in this virtual world, his well-being was her top priority.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking" he nodded with a faint smile, but Erza wasn't buying it as she warily observed the stranger up ahead. Something about him was setting not only the current Sasuke off but also his younger self, who gulped and looked on. Who was he? And why was he stirring up such turmoil within Sasuke?

In the blink of an eye, the man disappeared, only to seemingly reappear high up in the air as he twirled gracefully as if the wind itself was moving alongside him. In that instant, several target boards were peppered with kunai, each lodged dead center as he landed back on solid ground.

"Whoa, he's fast!" Mirajane noted, rubbing her eyes from the strain of watching the stranger.

But as they inched closer to the stranger, they were hit with a revelation that none saw coming. As the older boy opened his eyelids, they revealed a pair of powerful crimson eyes. "That's the Sharingan!" Erza noted, as she looked back at the younger Sasuke before looking back at the older boy, "Then that means, he's also an Uchiha."

"Hold on, you're saying there are other people with eyes like him?" Mirajane questioned, scratching her head.

"Yeah, that's what he told me" Erza answered as he looked at the current Sasuke, "And honestly, we've met at least one other person who has those same eyes."

The Uchiha himself was just as surprised by this turn of events, although Erza's words did leave him a bit shaken. "It seems like the old me told an awful lot about himself to you. He must've trusted you a lot" he said in a somber tone.

"Wow Itachi, you nailed every single target! Even the one with the blind spot behind the rock" the younger Sasuke exclaimed with amazement as he excitedly got up and took out his kunai, "Alright, now it's my turn!"

"No Sasuke, it's time to go" the older boy refuted and stopped little Sasuke.

It was an answer that did not please the young Sasuke, who pouted and grumbled. "But what happened to the new shuriken jutsu you promised to teach me, huh?" he whined.

"It'll have to wait until later. I have an important mission in the morning and I need to prepare for it" the older boy answered, matter-of-factly.

His reply only sent the young Sasuke spiraling further into annoyance as he looked away and pouted. "You're such a big fat liar."

Rather than chide the boy or ignore his tantrum, the older teen simply slipped out a smile and motioned for Sasuke to come over with a wave of his hand. The boy in turn, happily rushed towards the senior only to be met with a gentle tap to the forehead. "Ow!" young Sasuke yelped.

While Mirajane was alien to this act, that gesture felt somewhat familiar to the current Sasuke and more than, Erza's eyes were widened at what she saw. "Hold on a minute, the way he poked your forehead" Erza spoke up as she looked at Sasuke, "You did it too."

"I did that?" Sasuke pointed at himself, "Who did I do it to?"

Erza's face glowered with a gentle smile as she bashful rubbed her forehead, which was all the answer the amnesiac Sasuke needed. "A lot actually."

"Indeed. Many of your choices in life are defined by the person in front of you. He was more than a mere figurehead, he was your idol, one whom you exalted above all else. His name is Itachi Uchiha. Your older brother."

The final sentence from Hagoromo made Erza and Mirajane drop their jaws as they slowly blinked. "YOUR BROTHER!" they both shouted in unison.

"My brother?" Sasuke repeated as his hands curled up.

"The events that will unfold from this moment on will shape your destiny and define the person you will become, for better or for worse. What you will witness shall perhaps shed light on who Sasuke Uchiha is. But, be warned; should you proceed with these, there will be no turning back. Are you willing to go through with this?"

There was silence as the three looked at each other. "Whatever happens, I'm with you," Erza reassured him.

"We didn't come all this way for nothing" Mirajane pointed out, encouraging him to move forward.

Staring at the frozen image of his younger self looking up at his brother, a sense of longing came over him. Longing to uncover the truth and the feelings behind them. It was then that he had made his choice and answered the Sage, "For as long I can remember, I've had this empty feeling inside of my heart, as if a piece of me has gone missing. If this is what I am meant to be, then show me the truth. Whoever I am or have become, I wish to see it with my own eyes."

"Very well, then allow me to regal you a tale; a tale of two brothers. A family bound by love, yet conflicted in loyalty. A tale of an avenger."

…

AN: I apologize for taking so long but I want to thank you all for sticking with me and continuing to read these stories. I won't give up on it for as long as I can. I've got a lot of ideas for where to take this story and I have enough material till the Alvarez arc. But it's gonna be a long journey.

Wheattus: The part about Aetherium breaking his deal is a major plot point that you'll see. As for your other point, I don't disagree because honestly, I had some trouble finding the right opponent for a possessed Sasuke, one who wouldn't completely fold against him but also not completely stomp him either since he's current in that weird phase where he's in between power levels. Gildarts was out of the question because it would be a complete slaughter by him, same for Makarov to a lesser extent. And that left out Laxus. But a battle with Laxus was something I didn't want to throw away on this arc. To me, Sasuke vs Laxus is an awesome dream match that needs a buildup of its own and I didn't want to throw it here.

Which was honestly why I felt Erza was the one best suited as the ideal opponent in this instance. In this story, she has already trained with Sasuke, so she knows a lot of his current abilities, canonically, she's also incredibly physically strong and fast even without her amor. Speaking of her armor, there were at least a few that acted as the perfect response to Sasuke's jutsus: the flame and lightning empress armors boosted her fire and lightning defense, the Adamantine armor has tanked Kirin before in the previous chapters and the flight armor gives her an immense boost in speed. Of course, I don't think she'd win in a straight up fight but it wouldn't be one sided victory either. Which was why I used the guild members as a means to soften up possessed Sasuke, and explicitly mentioned the cuts and bruises to give Erza a more plausible chance. Plus, I think it speak volumes Sasuke's skill and power that it still takes half of the entire guild taking him on just to beat him even at a stage where he's at his weakest.

Moose16364: Must be the Uchiha charisma. Attracts all the crazies.

Jim: This was kind of the vision I had for Sasuke. In a sense that his trauma and issues wouldn't just magically be cured just because he was in Fairy Tail but rather that he would continue to struggle on. After all, to be human is to suffer and struggle in life. But I think that's what makes him so compelling. He's flawed but he's trying to be a better person for those around him and help them in his own way despite his own demons.